The Beautiful Game Thread 10/11

[toonarmy]

Martin Jol to Newcastle? I think he's a solid manager - bought Gareth Bale and Berbatov when he was at Spurs (don't tell that donkey Damien Comolli). Still shitty what that fat f*** did to Hughton though.

It's interesting that Jol resigned from Ajax this week, right as the Newcastle job opened up. Perhaps a coincidence. Perhaps not. In either case he did a good job at Ajax and has a proven track record. I believe Hughton was one of his assistants at Tottenham. Some of the bookies in the UK have Pardew currently as the odds-on favorite. Now if that happens I will be inclined to throw my hands up in the air and boycott watching this team as long as Fat Mike is the owner. Pardew would be a f***in disaster. I can only hope getting rid of Hughton before signing him to a new deal is not a money-saving move, but is a case of trying to upgrade. Hopefully someone will pick up Hughton and give him a chance, as he seems like a genuinely great guy and motivator of players.

[pk500]

Martin Jol to Newcastle? I think he's a solid manager - bought Gareth Bale and Berbatov when he was at Spurs (don't tell that donkey Damien Comolli). Still shitty what that fat f*** did to Hughton though.

It's interesting that Jol resigned from Ajax this week, right as the Newcastle job opened up. Perhaps a coincidence. Perhaps not. In either case he did a good job at Ajax and has a proven track record. I believe Hughton was one of his assistants at Tottenham. Some of the bookies in the UK have Pardew currently as the odds-on favorite. Now if that happens I will be inclined to throw my hands up in the air and boycott watching this team as long as Fat Mike is the owner. Pardew would be a f***in disaster. I can only hope getting rid of Hughton before signing him to a new deal is not a money-saving move, but is a case of trying to upgrade. Hopefully someone will pick up Hughton and give him a chance, as he seems like a genuinely great guy and motivator of players.

Very well said. Agree on all points, especially Pardew and Hughton.

I wouldn't mind O'Neill in charge, either.

[toonarmy]

Martin Jol to Newcastle? I think he's a solid manager - bought Gareth Bale and Berbatov when he was at Spurs (don't tell that donkey Damien Comolli). Still shitty what that fat f*** did to Hughton though.

It's interesting that Jol resigned from Ajax this week, right as the Newcastle job opened up. Perhaps a coincidence. Perhaps not. In either case he did a good job at Ajax and has a proven track record. I believe Hughton was one of his assistants at Tottenham. Some of the bookies in the UK have Pardew currently as the odds-on favorite. Now if that happens I will be inclined to throw my hands up in the air and boycott watching this team as long as Fat Mike is the owner. Pardew would be a f***in disaster. I can only hope getting rid of Hughton before signing him to a new deal is not a money-saving move, but is a case of trying to upgrade. Hopefully someone will pick up Hughton and give him a chance, as he seems like a genuinely great guy and motivator of players.

Very well said. Agree on all points, especially Pardew and Hughton.

I wouldn't mind O'Neill in charge, either.

Well, clearly O'Neill would be a good choice, but do you really think he wants this job? A man of O'Neill's stature might not want to work under Fat Mike. I agree that he would be a good choice, but have a lot of doubt whether or not he will take the job if offered. The only way I see him coming is if he is offered a lot of money and assurance that Fat Mike will open the wallet and bring in some more talent.

There are quite a few names being batted around right now. Lambert and Curbishley also seem to be popping up in the press a lot as well. Lambert would be a gamble I think, but would be an intriguing choice. Of course Lambert does not have the wealth of experience that the Newcastle board allegedly are seeking. I'm still trying to figure out how Hughton was not given the whole season to show what he can do. The man took over under dark circumstances and did an amazing job and had the backing of the players, as well as appeared to be doing well in developing young players. The fans are owed a detailed and honest explanation of why he was let go. I don't for a minute buy into the corporate response that "they wanted a more experienced manager." WTF? I guess getting back up to the Premiership in one year, having the best result against Sunderland in 55 years, beating Arsenal, and being near the middle of the table is not good enough. I am getting more pissed the more I think about this situation. Stability be damned when it comes to Fat Mike.

[pk500]

You're right, dude. Hughton did a terrific job last season, not only on the pitch but managing such prickly personalities as Andy Carroll and Joey Barton.

Hughton was a coach and assistant manager for Spurs for 14 years before coming to Tyneside. That's not enough experience for Fat Mike? F*ck him.

[fsquid]

Newcastle makes Wednesday management look competent.

[pk500]

Newcastle makes Wednesday management look competent.

No doubt. I've seen kids' lemonade stands run more wisely than Ashley runs NUFC.

[Naples39]

Jack Warner, man of honor.

Suffice it to say the Fifa exco as a body could not have voted for England having been insulted by their media in the worst possible way at the same time. To do so would have been the ultimate insult [to Fifa].

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010 ... d-cup-fifa

Other goodness;

Ogura said his colleagues were angry at the Sunday Times sting on Nigeria's Amos Adamu and Tahiti's Reynald Temarii. "The African members of the executive committee were furious over the Sunday Times report," Ogura said.

"They even suggested suing the paper at the executive committee meeting. The people being accused were from Africa and Oceania, not Europe or Asia, and some felt racism was behind it."

As it turns out, several of the FIFA voters were unaware (seven hours after the fact) that the round-by-round, secret-ballot vote totals had been released to the public.
The result: By 11 p.m. on Thursday, at least three FIFA voters had told England '18 bid committee members that they had voted for them -- even though England got only two votes in a first-round elimination. And at least three voters had told the Australia '22 bid committee the same thing, even though only one had voted for the Aussies.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/w ... z17X16kEoR

The whole thing would be laughable if these clowns didn't have so much sway.

Press Freedom Index WC bids: 1 NED. 11 JPN. 14 BEL. 18 AUS. 19 UK. 20 USA. 39 ESP. 40 POR. 42 KOR. 121 Qatar 140 Russia

Iran and China may be looking good for WC 2026 based on this movement.

[fsquid]

Alan Pardew to Newcastle. That's fantastic for those of us who need a laugh.

[10spro]

Alan Pardew to Newcastle. That's fantastic for those of us who need a laugh.

How many of those 5+ years will he last?

[pk500]

F*ck Pardew. F*ck Fat Mike. F*ck me.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010 ... -fans-poll

Pardew couldn't even manage a Championship side. Comical.

[toonarmy]

F*ck Pardew. F*ck Fat Mike. F*ck me.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010 ... -fans-poll

Pardew couldn't even manage a Championship side. Comical.

LMAO. I literally was about to post a link to that article just now, so I will paste a bit instead:

Despite the rumours about Pardew's imminent appointment, he does not appear to have the backing of the Newcastle fans, who made their opinion clear in a poll for the city's evening paper, the Evening Chronicle.

In the poll Pardew attracted only 14 votes when fans were asked who they want as the club's new manager.

Indeed, Hughton, who was sacked on Monday, received more backing in the on-line survey.

There were more than 1,000 responses to the poll with Pardew winning less than 2% of the vote – Hughton managed three times that.

Predictably, Martin O'Neill was a runaway favourite with a 42.3% share, while Martin Jol attracted 32.8% of the votes before it emerged that his interests may lie elsewhere.

The club's owner, Mike Ashley, hopes to have the new man in place by the weekend, when Newcastle face Liverpool.

I am still trying to digest all of this foolishness. I'll post more thoughts once I can compose myself and type something that is not 90% censored with asterisks.

[pk500]

Remember this about Pardew during his time in charge of West Ham: He didn't think Carlos Tevez or Javier Mascherano were good enough to play for the Hammers.

'Nuff said.

[wco81]

Europe and US could band together and hold their own tournament in 2018 or 2022 and they would siphon TV contracts and ticket sales from the WC, no?

[Macca00]

Alan Pardew?

Honestly, I don't like using the word 'retarded' but.....

PK is right on the money about Tevez and Masch. Hopefully, Pardew decides that Carrol and Guttierez are crap and doesn't play them this weekend.

[fsquid]

Europe and US could band together and hold their own tournament in 2018 or 2022 and they would siphon TV contracts and ticket sales from the WC, no?

Do that and FIFA could decertify your domestic league.

[toonarmy]

I supported Big Sam. I supported Keegan. I supported Fu-Kinnear. I supported Shearer. And I supported Hughton. In other words, I always support the manager of Newcastle and hope for the best. This 6th manager under Fat Mike within 3 years I will not support if it is indeed Pardew. I will still hope the team succeeds on the pitch, but I have come to the point that I truly believe Fat Mike could care less about the fans and the team. It's a damn shame that the owner feels that way. I will never quit rooting for Newcastle, however this latest stunt pulled by Fat Mike has made me emotionally detached from the club like never before. If the rumors are correct, Pardew will be getting a low salary that is based on performance, with little to no funds being spent on bringing in more talent. That right there tells me how much Fat Mike cares about the fans and this club -- none. He knows a chump like Pardew will accomplish very little, thus Fat Mike does not have to dole out much money. I'm still holding out a tiny bit of hope that the official club announcement will reveal a manager other than Pardew has been named. Obviously "tiny" is the key word there. Six managers in 3 1/2 years pretty much says it all about how much Fat Mike knows about owning a football club. He's a first-rate moron and jackass, and he can go f*** himself as far as I'm concerned. It's absolutely sickening to see Newcastle finally start making the fans believe in the club again, only to have it flushed down the drain by a tinkering fat clown.

[wco81]

And why do you need FIFA certification? Is the TV money going to disappear because nobody is going to watch the big clubs anymore after their leagues are decertified?

Are EPL fans going to say start following teams in other countries if the EPL is decertified? Not like FIFA has that great an image these days in the UK.

I'm thinking of boxing, which created the WBC, the WBA, etc. after certain boxers decided they didn't like how a certain organization was treating them and they realized fans cared about them, not the certification or the sanctioning body for big fights.

Which would draw more fans and ratings if the European countries held their own tournament and invited whoever else wanted to join versus a WC without those European countries, possibly the US, maybe some of the South American powers?

Instead of complaining about FIFA and Blatter, maybe they should do something about it.

[fsquid]

And why do you need FIFA certification? Is the TV money going to disappear because nobody is going to watch the big clubs anymore after their leagues are decertified?

Are EPL fans going to say start following teams in other countries if the EPL is decertified? Not like FIFA has that great an image these days in the UK.

If the EPL was decertified, the teams couldn't play in Europe. Any player that plays in the EPL regardless of nationality would be ineligible to play in FIFA competitions like the World Cup, so no more foreign players or Arsenal as a whole. Would imagine if FIFA decertified, then UEFA would decertify and thus players also would be ineligible for the Euros.

[wco81]

Well the European nations or at least UK, Germany, Spain and Italy would have to band together, do their own club tournament if necessary. No single country is going to go out on a limb by themselves.

The South American players would then have to decide between playing for big European clubs or playing in a weakened WC.

Of course, the sheiks and the Russian oligarchs may balk if the move is seen as a way to torpedo Russia 2018 or Qatar 2022 but what are they going to do, buy Russian clubs instead of EPL clubs?

[RobVarak]

It's all about incentives, though. The only aggrieved parties are the nations who lose out on hosting a particular tournament, and even that is only a short-term loss. In the long run, all of the FA's benefit from FIFA's corruption. FIFA aggregates and distributes an enormous amount of money...and that's just the on-the-table cash. As attractive as cutting them out as the middle man may seem, there's just no incentive to do it as long as they keep the cash flowing, particularly when you factor in the risk of doing so.

[wco81]

Loudest complaints are coming from US and UK. Spain lost out too but what are they going to do give back their Euro and WC trophies?

Germany had the WC in '06 so it may be what, 20 years before it can go back to Europe?

So the most practical thing people could do is not buy tickets or watch the events.

[fsquid]

You wouldn't get Germany on board because Der Kaiser is an ExCo Member.

[toonarmy]

Great win by the Magpies today over Liverpool, 3-1. It was Hughton's birthday and the players wanted to win this one for him, and boy did they ever deliver. Pardew was smart to let them run primarily Hughton set pieces (ie 1st goal), and the Ranger sub when Ameobi got dinged up proved to be good for Newcastle. One note: Sol Campbell is old, and plays like it.

[RobVarak]

Well-earned win, for sure. First goal was offside, but didn't matter in the end. Nice strike by Carroll, although the defending was ghastly.

Warning to the world at large: If anyone uses the words "world class" and Lucas in the same sentence, even accidentally, I will hit them square in the face with a cast iron skillet.

[10spro]

It's clear that the tension between Tevez & Mancini has reached its peak. The owner has to make a decision quickly before the situation blows in their face and the whole team become distracted.