Soccer thread 07/08

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 10:52 am

Weeellll...big Sam Allardyce has 'ruled himself out' of the England job, which is good news for England fans (although Newcastle fans may not agree).

The only job he is suitable for involves the wearing of stupid clothes and a big red nose - and I'm not talking about Man U manager (although, I must admit that would make my century..)

Macca00 · Post by **Macca00** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 10:54 am

Back from vacation and just watched Newcastle vs. Liverpool.

I think the Toon would be better suited to the SPL. Allardyce for England.

EDIT: Sorry, I forgot to mention, "Boooooooooooooooooooooooooo"

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 1:19 pm

In a very rare magnanimous gesture by me to Fat Sam, anyone who tries taking on the Newcastle job in FM 08 can only utter one sentence after getting the job..

"Blimey, this squad is sh*te"

On the plus side, the Sky Blue 3/4 of Manchester are now only a point behind the Spawn of Satan. How on Earth can anyone lose to a team mis-managed by Gary Megson ?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 2:26 pm

davet010 wrote:In a very rare magnanimous gesture by me to Fat Sam, anyone who tries taking on the Newcastle job in FM 08 can only utter one sentence after getting the job..

"Blimey, this squad is sh*te"

Yet every pissed supporter at the pubs on Tyne still will insist tonight, "Newcastle is a MASSIVE club."

I dig the Magpies, and I'm sick of hearing that. I can swallow a lie only so long.

Take care,
PK

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 4:41 pm

The new chairman, Mike Ashley or whatever he's called, strikes me as a bit of a nob - and he owns a sports goods chain or something, so Wednesday's debacle will have shaved his profits for next summer.

I don't think Allardyce is his preference, and therefore he isn't likely to go putting lots of dollars into the January kitty unless either (a) Allardyce gets fired or (b) they generate funds elsewhere.

(b) is quite likely, with Owen the most likely suspect, although his price will have fallen since his latest injury. Without that, there was a good chance for him to end up at City in Jan.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 5:18 pm

Where was Rooney in all this?

When was the last time England failed to qualify for Euro Cup?

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 5:37 pm

wco81 wrote:Where was Rooney in all this?

When was the last time England failed to qualify for Euro Cup?

Rooney is injured, and our last European Championship non-qualification was in 1984. Our last World Cup absence came in 1994.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 5:39 pm

Shrek managed to injure himself playing head tennis in training for Man U (although his international goalscoring record is abysmal anyway).

1984 was the last time England failed to progress...tournament was in France and the hosts beat Spain 2-0 in the final.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 5:51 pm

OK, so it's not like it's a once in a lifetime event.

Still, there are a lot of big names who are stars in the EPL.

Many of them in their athletic prime it seems.

Could 2010 be their last chance to do something?

Where's the next generation other than Rooney?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 6:08 pm

Dave:

I wouldn't mind if Owen and Duff were shipped out. Neither can stay healthy, yet both still have some name marquee value -- especially Owen -- so some club will overpay for the pleasure to have Owen play in about 10 percent of the games possible during his tenure there.

Another player who would secure some coin and with whom I'd be willing to part is Given. He's been injured a bit in the last year, and I don't think Harper is that much worse than Given right now. I just get the sense that Given is heading down the east side of the parabola of his career even though he remains a quality keeper.

Take care,
PK

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 8:06 pm

If I was the chairman of newscastle here's what I would do. Fire Big Sam tomorrow. Then do whatever it took to get Alex McLeish. You probably would have to give him 20 million in this transfer window or over the summer. I think he could see the team get back into europe. I think Allerdyce was a huge mistake.

Jimmydeicide · Post by **Jimmydeicide** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 2:05 am

Best part of the Liverpool -Newcastle game was when Big sam took off Nzogbia for Milner and those 2 fans were just screaming" you dont know what your effin doin" while he stuffed another packet of gum in his mouth, Classic.

Torres is shite .

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 3:28 am

wco81 wrote:OK, so it's not like it's a once in a lifetime event.

Still, there are a lot of big names who are stars in the EPL.

Many of them in their athletic prime it seems.

Could 2010 be their last chance to do something?

Where's the next generation other than Rooney?

The u-21's have breezed their way through qualifying for their Euro Championship equivalent.

It's also worth remembering that bar one international, Shrek has been pretty much a waste of space in the games that he has played for England.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 9:53 am

Looks like Rafa Benitez is trying to engineer his own exit from Liverpool - firstly by stating that he is interested in the England job, then by calling out the owners on TV again last night.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 12:30 pm

davet010 wrote:Looks like Rafa Benitez is trying to engineer his own exit from Liverpool - firstly by stating that he is interested in the England job, then by calling out the owners on TV again last night.

Indeed. I thought to myself during the game that a nice away win would help calm the waters. Then I saw that interview...

Looks like that Bayern approach that didn't happen also didn't contain a big-ass wage offer

This is the troubling part to me:

'They told me to be focused on coaching and training because Rick Parry will be looking after signing players.'

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 3:38 pm

I found Arsenal's travel guide for visitors.

http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2007/1 ... of-london/

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 5:58 pm

Given where the blob is, I'd say that was Chelsea

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 3:03 am

Guess who the British have to face for the preliminary draw for the 2010 WC? Croatia will be in their face all over again...

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 4:16 am

That'd be the English, not the British

And England were always going to get at least one difficult team, once they had been put into the second seeding pot.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 11:28 am

Too bad that "difficult" team couldn't have been the Greeks!

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 12:34 pm

We had enough trouble with them last time, vide Beckham's last minute goal

Maybe we can ask UEFA to revert to having the Home International Championships as a qualifying group.

I would have said 'but we'd need to watch out for Scotland..', except that Alex mcLeish has had his mind turned by the big time of the Premiership and joined Birmingham City...so that's 6 months til Championship football for him. Still, I guess managing in the SPL will have prepared him for that.

Best bit of business for the week must surely be Birmingham paying the SFA compensation of about £1m for McLeish, and charging Wigan £3m for Steve Bruce. Wonder whether Wigan chairman Dave Whelan is feeling a bit sick now ? There again, he did describe the oft-clueless Bruce as 'one of England's top young managers', so he is probably drooling and waiting for his afternoon nap about now.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 12:37 pm

All I can say is up the Owls.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 1:46 pm

McCleish could have his choice of clubs if he holds out until summer to see what's open. I don't understand why he would want Birmingham. Heck Liverpool might be open by Xmas.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 3:12 pm

He may be thinking that Birmingham will have a lot of dosh to spend if this Carson Yeung guy ever gets round to completing his takeover - it was obvious that Yeung didn't think Bruce was up to much.

Having said that, McLeish was hardly brilliant in the Scottish Pub league - he won one title on a last game failure by Celtic in what is a two team race, and my Rangers supporting buddy says that they were hardly crying into their beer when he left (well, not until they'd seen Paul Le Guen in action, anyway).

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 5:11 pm

Liverpool might be open by Advent, never mind Christmas, but I'm not sure I understand why they or any other big club would look at hiring Alex McLeish, JRod. If he's a success at Birmingham then it's a different matter and he'll become hot property, but a reasonably successful stint managing Scotland isn't likely to bring that about.

I wonder, if I were a Birmingham fan, how I'd feel about the managerial appointment after my club had made very loud noises about approaching Marcelo Lippi...