EPL GOSSIP
MOURINHO OUT
Dave Kidd is the man in the know, and he reports that players now believe it is a case of ‘when not if’ Chelsea will lose patience with the manager and show him the door. Kidd reports that players are not rebelling against the boss, but are growing more ‘bemused’ with each week as the fines and charges continue to roll in for Mourinho. The best part is this:
‘While a handful of players have aired grievances about Mourinho, there is an insistence that the manager has not “lost the dressing-room” and a feeling, in the words of one, that “we just want our Jose back”.’Like a grieving parent praying for the safe return of their missing child, Chelsea’s players ‘just want their Jose back’.
But what of Mourinho’s future? There’s some confusion, with the Independent claiming his representatives are ‘investigating’ a move to the obvious destination of Paris Saint-Germain or the less obvious return to Inter Milan. Spanish newspaper Sport believe Monaco could be his next calling, while the Sun claims Pep Guardiola is the overwhelming favourite to replace Jose. The Times believe the Spaniard is open to extending his stay at Bayern Munich, however.
Basically, no-one’s got a f***ing clue.
AVB WANTS FALCAO
More terrible news for Chelsea fans: Radamel Falcao could be on his way out.
The Colombian striker has scored one goal in eight Premier League games since joining the Blues on loan from Monaco in the summer, and has carried on his stellar form from his spell at Manchester United.
The Telegraph believe Zenit St Petersburg are willing to hand the striker an escape route, with Andre Villas-Boas keen to link up with the forward he once won the treble with at Porto, scoring 33 goals in 36 games. He’s a very different striker now, Andre.
Zenit are keen on bringing Falcao in as soon as the January transfer window reopens, but it would require Chelsea cancelling their loan deal with Monaco. While he’s a bit rubbish, he is an actual striker (according to reports). Chelsea don’t have many of those.
THE END FOR TOWNSEND
Ladies and gentlemen, Charlie Wyett has an exclusive. The Sun’s man in the know reports that Andros Townsend actually plays football at club level. Not only that, but Andros could be moving clubs in January. Mental.
Wyett reports that Tottenham are willing to let professional international and part-time club footballer Townsend head out on loan in January, with the winger failing to win a place in the starting XI under Mauricio Pochettino. Swansea and Newcastle would be interested in the 24-year-old’s services.
The thing is, Spurs would need a replacement. Fear not however, as Wyett has us covered. He believes Spurs could go back in for Crystal Palace winger Yannick Bolasie, but that the Congolese would cost upwards of £15million.
DELE RIGHT UP PSG’S ALLI
More worrying for Spurs than the exit of perennial substitute Townsend is the future of Dele Alli, who has been in fine form this season. Alli has acquitted himself to the Premier League with aplomb since joining from League One MK Dons, but his excellent performances could come at a cost.
According to reports in French newspaper L’Equipe, PSG assistant sporting director Olivier Letang was in attendance for Spurs’ 2-1 defeat to Anderlecht in the Europa League in midweek. Letang’s subjects of interest were Anderlecht’s Youri Tielemans and Alli. Letang was likely disappointed therefore to see Alli play only 25 minutes as a second-half substitute, but it’s fair to note PSG’s interest nonetheless.
MAN UNITED WANT ANDERSON
…and while his name is indeed Anderson and he is Brazilian, it unfortunately is not the plump one. No, this is that fella at Lazio who’s meant to be really good.
Felipe Anderson is the guy, and you might remember him from last summer. United were reported to be heavily interested in his services and even apparently lodged a bid of close to £30million for him, but Lazio stood firm and the Red Devils settled for Anthony Martial. ‘WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY’, eh, the Mirror?
Anyway, Gazzetta dello Sport claim United will be back in for Anderson come January. He has started this season well with four goals and one assist in nine Serie A games. That valuation is unlikely to have changed an awful lot.
Mourinho just Allardyce with a budget
Date published: Tuesday 27th October 2015 3:20
Replace Rooney with a team, not a player
One of the main defenses I have seen of Rooney this season is that there is no direct replacement for him. And that is probably true, United would be hard pressed to replace a player of his stature and (former) ability in the current market. The likes of Agureo and Lewandowski are not going to move there. Higuain is probably more of a temporary fix than a long term solution. The issue is that people are ignoring the replacement that is already there.
No, not Martial (not yet anyway) but you replace Rooney with a fully functioning team rather than ten men lumbered with an immobile focal point. Put Martial in as centre forward. Your midfield base is two out of Schwienstiger, Schniderlin, Blind and Carrick. Behind a committed, mobile centre forward with an actual first touch, any three out of Herrera, Mata, Depay, Young and Fellaini. You could add Januzaj to the list next season.
You get a team with more guile, movement, invention. You get a team of 11 instead of 10+1. You get a collective that is better than the current collective. That is your replacement. Maybe Martial can become the proper focal point of the team. Maybe not. But the main point is that, at the moment, he is a damn sight better than Rooney.
Kev (Even Rooney must be hankering for some MLS by now)
No, replace him with Aubameyang
Dan Wardle: the question of who United replace Rooney with is much more complex than a simple comparison of the hassle of selling him and buying in a narrow talent pool with his current performance levels (which have been laughably poor since 2012, a fair few United fans called Rooney’s decline years ago).
If you want to replace Rooney with a bona fide world class striker, you aren’t replacing like-for-like. Rooney had, at best, two seasons in which he was a genuinely world class striker, and five or six years as a world class attacker, all of which are long gone. There’s certainly a compelling argument that United should move heaven and earth to sign a genuinely elite attacker. Hence why Ed Woodward spends most of every summer sending blank cheques to Munich and Madrid for Muller and Bale.
But United’s acquisition of any player of this calibre is entirely separate from the Rooney situation. United and Woodward want one, for commercial and sporting reasons, and eventually somebody will sell. It might be Bale, it might be Reus, it might be Muller, but it’ll happen irrespective of Rooney.
If United want to replace Rooney with what he’s become, a utility attacker who can be relied for about ten to fifteen goals a season, can play across a front four, and will do a tactical job for his team, there are no shortage of them. Januzaj, Pereira, Lingard et al. are already at the club. Kevin Kampl would a decent shout, albeit with atrocious hair, and most CL level clubs have at least one such player who plays that role. Florenzi at Roma can do that job, and play at right back too.
If United want a versatile attacker who would add a meaningful goal threat and isn’t a youth project, they could always look at Aubemayang. 20 odd goals already this season, can play across a front three, terrifying pace, mid-20s, and has the ego and arrogance to lead the line at United. Might be expensive, but the saving on Rooney’s ludicrous wages would help.United, at the club and on loan, currently have a young, talented, quick and versatile battery of attackers. Memphis, Martial, Januzaj, Wilson, Lingard, and Pereira, with Mata, Herrera and Young, are as exciting as anything at Old Trafford since 2007. Given the time and space to develop without having to accommodate a slow, technically limited has-been in attack, they might become something very special. RvN was sacrificed for Rooney and Ronaldo, I would suggest it’s now Rooney’s turn.
There is absolutely nothing to fear from a post-Rooney world. He has long since exhausted any patience he was due, and should have been moved on years ago. LvG could United a massive favour by putting a bullet in his career at the club this summer.
Chris MUFC
GNev and Rooney
Something I would like to address regarding G Nev and his lack of criticism of Wayne Rooney. He is still Rooney’s coach with the national team, a position he seems to value highly. Rooney is currently an England player so I don’t see how Neville could tear strips off him in commentary and then go try and coach him a few weeks later. I understand that this is a conflict of interest but I’m sure that was discussed with Sky when he took the job. I don’t think Neville can be 100% honest in his assessment of any current England player because of his role with the National side. I have never heard Neville properly criticise a current England player (happy to be corrected if he has). It’s a shame really because I would love to see him do a piece on Rooney’s declining performance standards but I don’t see that happening as long as Neville still works with him.
I also fully agree that Rooney has been rubbish for a while now and deserves every bit of criticism he gets. That’s just how it is when you are paid that kind of money and performing as he has been.
It’s never a good idea to publicly criticise your current colleagues, I’m sure Neville learned that from Roy Keane.
Dan, Ireland MUFC
Dat Guy (S)
Harry the Manc needs no defence from me, since he clearly sits on the side of ‘facts’, ‘evidence’, ‘logic’ and alongside the likes of previously-acclaimed-but-now-dismissed-because-they-disagree-with-your-n*rrative Neville. That he made some strong arguments is discounted because he had the audacity to call out a distant fan for some daft comments.
But it’s fascinating psychology to see the plot twist that “Mata and Herrera can’t do much if Rooney isn’t able to run the channels to give them options to pass to” as a retort. Funny that this wasn’t the case against Everton a couple of weeks back. Hmm… what could have changed.
I wonder if – just possibly – it was the increased standard of the (6 man) defence that Rooney was facing (and keeping on their toes)?
Had Lingard not got in Rooney’s way with his crossbar grazing effort, had Martial picked up Rooney’s reverse pass, had the ball been delivered in to Rooney rather than the near post after he’d spread the ball out wide, had we had the penalty that Sterling should have conceded, this anti-Rooney n*rrative would have been on hold for another week again.
But close tight games can happen when both sides set up with 6 man defences and one striker. Apparently though, that’s all Rooney’s fault. Damn him and his huge wages.
Guy S
Transfer request
Have to have a word on this famous transfer request that many United fans use to bash Wayne Rooney.
Firstly, remember the situation – we’d just sold Ronaldo, lost Tevez having messed around, and signed Obertan and Michael Owen on a free as their replacements. We had a season where Rooney led from the front banging in goals left right and centre, and he questioned the ambition of the club. Basically he was repeating what every single fan was saying at the time. We were feeling the full force of Glazernomics and things looked pretty dire. With hindsight, we still had Fergie, so he managed to continue working miracles for the next few years. That is with hindsight.
Secondly I would like to mention a few things which are worse than (or at least on a par with) handing in a transfer request and subsequently changing your mind:
- Ronaldo agreed with the President of FIFA that Manchester United Football Club were “treating him like a slave” by forcing him to honour his contract and actually play football for us. A SLAVE!
- Eric Cantona left the country and said he was never coming back – Fergie had to follow him to go to France and beg for him to play for us again
- Paul Scholes refused to play for us. Refusing to play is up there with the cardinal sins of football
- George Best has a statue outside OT – however he had also reached a difficult situation with the club. Had reached the point of seeking a transfer? “Yes, I’m sick enough to ask for a move, I’ve got nothing against the management. It’s the team. It’s just not good enough. It’s just not going anywhere. I could go right through the team and find things wrong. People knock me when I’m not doing it, but when I’m not doing it who is?”. Sound familiar?
- David De Gea was pen in hand ready to actually sign for another club, having run down his contract.
- Countless examples of players trying to maximise their income from the club, which Rooney also did (Rio, Keane, etc).
Brian D. (P.s. I agree it’s time to drop Rooney for a few games and make him fight for his place again)
Mourinho is not the problem
Hi F365 –
I wrote in at the start of the season expressing my concern about the way the season was shaping up at the Bridge and as a Chelsea fan I am, sadly, not surprised. I did want to offer a slightly different perspective however on the problems at the club – I don’t actually think that Mourinho is part of the problem and nor do I think he is trying to get himself sacked. First up though, let me just state that I am not a Mourinho apologist – the man got it wrong with his treatment of Carneiro and the medical staff and has on occasions this season made statements that sound paranoid at best. However, while he has contributed to the issues this season, it is clear to me that he is not the cause of the of the problem, he is merely failing to solve it.
The cause of the problem is, very simply, the players. Take a really critical look at the squad and, pretty much across the board, there has been a 10% drop off in performances in all, bar maybe 1 or two players. But allow me to group them into the following categories :
Elite level players performing at their level : None
Elite level players underperforming : Hazard, Fabregas
Top level players performing at their level : Willian, Pedro (arguably), Azpilicueta
Top level players underperforming : Matic, Ivanovic, Oscar, Costa
Squad players performing at their level :Loftus-Cheek, Begovic
Squad players underperforming :Cahill, Zouma, Ramires, Mikel, Remy, Falcao, Terry
Others, not enough game time : Courtois, Traore, Rahman
At the start of the season the message from Mourinho was clear : the same players would all need to improve if they wanted to retain the title – he made this abundantly clear to through the media bright and early. The squad was not significantly invested in and he recognised that more would need to come from the players to be able make a similar impact on the league as last year. Unfortunately, for whatever the reason, this message was not understood by the players and it was very much a case of “standing still is essentially going backwards”.
The problem was caused by a) the players dropping off their performance and b) a real lack of appropriate investment in the team over the summer in 2 problem areas (centre back and centre midfield).
This problem has been caused by the players and the director of football and Mourinho is the one struggling to pick up the pieces and solve it. Unfortunately for him, as each week passes it looks more and more like he is not the man who can do this. It is a shame as, like him or not, his record as a winner is untouchable.
Lee
But he’s Big Sam with a budget
I have to laugh when I read mails like this morning’s offering from Ahsan, AFC. Some people really are salves to hype. “Mourinho is a genius”, he’s the “special one” – this is the kind of shite that the press were happy for years to pump out to sell newspapers.
Let’s look at his career a little more critically, shall we?
Porto, Chelsea (first time around) Inter & Madrid. Notice a common theme there… they were all the biggest spenders in their respective leagues. The biggest spenders, with the biggest budgets, paying the biggest salaries. Everything was skewed for their success and not winning the league with any of them is a sackable offence.
However there is more to the Mourinho magic. Not satisfied with every financial advantage, Mourinho also insists on referee baiting, cheating, time wasting, eye gauging, siege mentality etc…basically every possible variable also being skewed towards him and his team.
With absolutely everything in his favour, then he will deliver leagues playing defensive, dour, negative football.
Yep, he won Champions Leagues with both Porto and Inter. Porto had an easy run of oppenents (Monaco in the final???) and Inter won by replicating Greece 2004 Euros winning tactics.
So brainwashed are people that even when his reputation is being shattered as it currently is and he’s being exposed as the charlatan that he is, people assume it must be part of his own grand plans as opposed to being discovered for what he actually is…Fat Sam with a bigger budget and better PR team.
Sean
Lamela a rip-off or a good buy?
With Spurs playing quite well at the moment, I keep hearing commentators, pundits and the like saying things like “Lamela is beginning to repay his transfer fee”. Here is a list of the prices of attacking players who regularly start and have been signed within roughly the last 3 seasons for the big six this season;
Man City- De Bruyne- £55mil, Sterling- £49mil, Bony- £28mil
Arsenal- Ozil- £42.5mil, Sanchez- £35mil
Man Utd- Mata- £37.1mil, Martial- £36mil, Depay- £25mil
Chelsea- Hazard- £32mil, Costa- £32mil, Willian- £30mil, Pedro- £21.4mil
Liverpool- Benteke- £32.5mil, Firminio- £29mil
Spurs- Lamela- £30mil, Son- £22mil
I suppose you can look at this two ways; compare Lamela to a number of the other players and say he’s not as good and conclude that he is over priced.
Or, conclude that if you want a player who is good enough to play week in week out for a top 4 challenger, even if the player is not a superstar performer but is not a young prospect you are developing, you have to pay £30 million for them. Spurs paid about market value and got about market value.
Wondering what other mailboxers think? Is Lamela is a rip off? A good buy? or just about what you expect for £30 million these days.
Also, looking through these transfers made me think that the following are all relative bargains; Rooney- £25mil, Eriksen £11mil, Coutinho £8.5mil, Walcott £12.5mil, Ramsey 5mil, even Giroud at £12.5mil.
Joel (running the numbers) Nottingham
Didcot directions
Dear MC,
I’m sure that the mailbox will be packed full of fans celebrating or panicking about the FA Cup 1st round draw last night (sorry, I mean the Emirates FA Cup, other cup competitions are available). For my lot there is a worrying feeling of déjà vu, drawn away from home to the lowest ranked team in the draw, hopefully this time all the media focus will be on FC United and Salford City, meaning we can carry on with the job of winning a football match without a media narrative following us around for the next 10 days.
This draw did however bring to light the reason for me writing this mail, which is that Didcot is perhaps the rap centre of the UK. Don’t believe me? Just check out the directions on how to get there, driving north:
Straight Outta Compton, 8 Mile.
Terry Hall, Switzerland (unable to claim this as original comedy, entirely willing to plagiarise in the interest of publication.)
Sturridge a busted flush for Liverpool
Date published: Monday 26th October 2015 2:34
Blame Mata, Herrera, Kagawa…
In response to Saladinho, MUFC, Botswana, take you self-entitled, glory hunting, we-haven’t-won-so-I’m-going-to-spit-my-dummy out approach to fandom, and p*ss off. That’s our club captain you’re talking about. A player who has contributed 200 goals to the cause, a player who had a decent game yesterday for all the carping and whinging this in this morning’s press. He was certainly no worse than any other attacking player on the pitch, and yet we find his name and pictures splashed all over the papers again this morning as though he’s the only footballer in the world? Did we all of a sudden forget that Mata and Herrera were both on the pitch yesterday and were just as flat and uninspiring? And this rumour that Rooney somehow denied Kagawa the chance to become the reincarnation of Ferenc Puskas is laughable. Kagawa was disappointing from start to finish for United, barring a handful of games. I won’t get started on the transfer requests; they must have really hurt from Botswana.
Harry The Manc.
Is Sturridge a busted flush?
There was an air of inevitability about yesterday. Bright start, a few reasonable chances then the inevitable nerves from both team and crowd as time wears on and the breakthrough is not forthcoming. I agree with a great deal of what CB, Washington DC wrote in this morning’s mailbox. I’m not one to point fingers (other than to Mr Veneers’ and his lack of competency at his day job) as many of our current woes are collective but it felt as if we’d swopped one limited, English Captain who’s want to try and score a thnderb*stard from last season for another. Can someone please tell Milner not to shoot. The Captain had an absolute shocker! Silly foul leading to their goal. It was every bit as bad a performance as Stevie Me was dialling in all of last year.
Anyway, I’ve been through enough 5yr plans (who many corners did that French imposter turn!?) to still have plenty of patience. And as I wrote recently we’ve got ourselves proper class gaffer for the first time in eons. Pinch ourselves to remind who’s been in the Liverpool hot-seat… Roy Hodgson FFS!!! I do hope Mr Veneers’ refreshing silence for once is due to embarrassment at how he performed.
We did look a different side with the Belgian beast on the pitch.. I’m starting to worry for Sturridge though. Is he a busted flush? I hope not as when fit and firing there’re few better in my humble and red-tinted opinion. Chelsea, Palace then Citeh in between League Cup and Europa… Not getting any easier any time soon for KloppMeister.
Gregory Whitehead, LFC
More on Klopp
I’m hoping that by the time we play Chelsea we will have Benteke ready to play 90, Firmino ready to at least start & hopefully Sturridge fit enough for the bench.
When Klopp came in, he didn’t make any grand announcements on playing style, formation etc. He wanted us to be aggressive in pursuit of the ball & be hard to beat. That was it.
So far, we have been hard to beat (still making defensive mistakes but conceding 1 doesn’t lead to 2 or 3 and I don’t fear every set piece whereas I did under Rodgers) and have shown periods of aggression in getting the ball back. Exactly what he’s said he wanted. The trouble is, when you’re making yourself hard to beat, you rely heavily upon the quality of your forwards to win matches. And we’re only just getting our quality forwards back to fitness.
I’ve seen you do a piece on comparing how others would cope with the same level of injuries but this can be reductive reasoning. The fact is that we were forced into playing our 4th choice striker (who many media outlets were linking with a loan away in January) and we’ve struggled for goals as a result. Looking for a set piece to pay off (against Kazan and almost against Spurs) or for a moment of quality from next to nothing (Benteke yesterday).
Footballers are human beings and matches aren’t played in a vacuum. Klopp says that he saw a lack of belief after we conceded yesterday and that ties directly into the goal threat. We’re getting Benteke and Firmino up to fitness and we laboured for ¾ of the match to get a goal. Everyone knew as soon as they scored it was a draw nailed on. When we start getting these lads playing together and scoring a couple, then when we concede it won’t be the killer blow it has been because the team will believe more. Hopefully.
Kris, LFC, Manchester
As disappointing as it was to see Liverpool trip at the final hurdle there is much to be optimistic about. Liverpool look more in tuned with what Klopp wants to do, now it’s all about getting the player up to speed fitness wise. It is obvious that the team is not yet at the required fitness levels because most of the players looked knackered by the 80thminute.
The Red’s upcoming fixture list looks favorable in this moment. Bournemouth trip to Anfield could not have come at a better time. The league cup game could be the perfect springboard for the Reds. It will also give those who have been playing a lot a much need rest while those in the fringes (I’m looking at you Lovren) will have a chance to prove their worth.
With Chelsea in full blown crisis mode and revenge on the mind in Russia, Liverpool could be unbeaten in 6 while cementing their place in their Europa league group, beat a premier league rival at their home and still be in 4 competitions by the start of November.
Paints a rosy picture doesn’t it.
Brian (Congrats to my New York Red Bulls for finishing top of the league last night!) LFC
Chelsea playing chicken
A couple of things on Chelsea. Firstly, who is most at risk from their current position and form? After the previous defeat against Southampton a stat was trotted out that no team had made the top 4 after such a slow start. Now, with another added to the mix, those hopes must be getting slimmer and slimmer. Granted, it’s not impossible, but if we were to write off their top 4 chances now, and also (perhaps generously given recent games) say they won’t go down either, isn’t Jose staying in the job more damaging to himself and his reputation than it is to Chelsea?
Every other week (at least) another poor performance comes along suggesting that he can’t right the ship, which he then compounds with his childishness and/or arrogance on the touchlines and with the press. If Chelsea were to fail to qualify for Europe, they would still be a team that could lavish money on any players they wanted, as Man united did in their year-long absence. Sure, their reputation would take a bit of a hit, but they could weather that storm. But if the team continues on this path, how damaged will Jose be? Which other European giants would want him? Real wouldn’t have him back, surely? Barca wouldn’t want him, both given his Real past and his eye gouging past. Bayern wouldn’t want him, would they? Would any English club? Maybe PSG, I guess…
The point is, really the only way for Jose to go is down and the longer he stays at Chelsea the further he’s going to plummet. From Chelsea’s point of view, they’d have to pay £30m (so I’ve read) to dump him and have been very wise when it comes to investing money in recent years. Are they now at a point where they’re daring Jose to quit to save himself? He seems to have been daring them to sack him for the last couple of weeks. Which one will give in first? As a non-Chelsea fan, I hope neither of them do. I’d love to see it all go up in flames…
Toon their own worst enemies
Rob Madeley is going to attract the majority of the ire of Newcastle fans for his (admittedly, absolutely awful) refereeing display in the Wear – Tyne derby, but for me (Clive), the biggest problem created by the referee’s incompetence is that the sense of injustice will almost certainly see to it that the club’s persistent internal errors go without investigation.
Up until the sending off, Steve McClaren would no doubt have been happy with the performance; Newcastle were turning the screw and looked the only side likely to score, never mind go on and win the game. And then the turning point. Chancel Mbemba, for the fourth or fifth time this season (that lead to a goal) was turned inside-out by a simple slide-rule pass. Rob Elliot, lard *rsed League Two-standard goalkeeper that he is, is about half an hour too slow off his line to make what would have been, for a keeper more alert / carrying slightly less timber, a routine claim of the ball. That left 33-year old wantaway Coloccini, inexplicably handed a new deal in the summer instead of being replaced, to be outpaced by the ponderous Steven Fletcher, and forced into jostling him. The result was, in fairness, not a foul and should not have been given as a penalty; it’s the correct and allowed usage of the shoulder, and the striker did not have control of the ball; whether he is first to it or not is subjective and for that reason it’s impossible to state it was a definite goalscoring opportunity. However, Coloccini is an experience defender who should know better than to give the referee that type of decision to make in that atmosphere. Likewise, questions should be asked as to why he is even still at the club, having proved unreliable for a period of two years now.
The defending for the corner leading to the goal, again, farcical. Elliot’s organisation of his defence is extremely questionable, and despite the heft he’s carrying, he does not pose an intimidating physical figure in the penalty area. Given the protection afforded to goalkeepers, there’s no reason he shouldn’t be throwing his not-inconsiderable bulk into the melee to claim or punch clear crosses, and he’s rarely successful in doing either.
Third goal, fair enough – we’re chasing the game and always likely to get caught on the break, no real complaints.
However, the overall feeling in the reports / social media is that NUFC “were robbed” by the refereeing; and I fear this is the stance that will be taken by the club’s hierarchy, rather than questioning why defensive reinforcements were not prioritised in the summer over spending £14m on a poncey haircut, sorry “Florian Thauvin”, to sit on the bench and why we’re still making the same academic mistakes week in, week out – even against Norwich we’d have conceded FIVE if not for the woodwork and a clearance off the line. I’ve heard time and time again that NUFC dominated possession – sorry, but again the worst team in the league, and a Sam Allardyce-managed team, who will always cede possession in favour of counter-attacking, that’s not something which should be celebrated, it should be expected. The bottom line is, Newcastle have been catastrophically mismanaged since their return to the Premier League. Persisting with a failing Alan Pardew, hiring Joe Kinnear, giving John Carver the manager’s job, all the while selling the best players and replacing them with cut-price imports… it’s not a foundation for success on the pitch, is it? You reap what you sow, and Newcastle have been sowing the seeds of relegation and a subsequent lengthy spell outside the top flight for a while now.
P.S. I’m a Newcastle fan – or at least I always was before they became a Sp*rts D*rect billboard, anyway.
Steven Mole
British ain’t best
This proper football man does my nut! Had this discussion with my dad this morning and he insightfully said “yeah, its all well and good to look for a British manager who knows the club… but this isn’t the 60’s anymore?”
Football is now, and has been for awhile, an elite sport played by elite athletes. You need an elite coach to manage this situation, to get more than the average out of the team. As John Nic rightly said, the alarming trend seems to be “British is best” which is horrifying on so many levels…
And the lazy journalism is to point to the German and Spanish leagues and say “oooooh… they have got plenty of krauts playing AND managing in there and the Spanish manager he can pick from loads of players starting in the Spanish league… Why not give our Brits a chance because we are bloody brilliant they’re always coming over here and stealing our jobs and our wives!”
The glaring misconception of unfairness and it being a god given right because we are bloomin’ British couldn’t be more wrong. The Bundesliga and La Liga play more players of their leagues national origin because they are technically more gifted – end of discussion. The same goes for managers, are you saying that Liverpool for example should’ve either let Rodgers lead to club to further down the league or replaced him with a “non-foreign” because they’re a British club?
Sherwood just simply isn’t good enough. Say what you want about Levy but the guy makes the “hard” calls when needed… Redknapp didn’t achieve the minimums, so was cut lose. Sherwood did well on paper but still didn’t achieve the minimums so its bye bye. He has done the same to AVB so can’t be accused of “Anti-PFM” bias.
Lerner did/has done the same. Lambert was let go, McLeish too and Sherwood was dragging the club further and further down that previously thought possible. Christ, listing those managers and the problem might be in who is having the final say but thats a topic for another day…
Whether you look at Owners/Chairman with a cynical or realistic eye, the more successful the club the more money/glory the Owner/Chairman has?
Should the Owner think “F*ck, we are bottom but this Sherwood is a proper football man and by god is he British so relegation be damned!”
We are happy to trot out the cliche for a player “if you’re good enough, you’re old enough” but for managers “if you’re good enough… show us your passport and you better bloody love the Queen and by god you better be a proper football man…
No comments:
Post a Comment