The Beautiful Game Thread 10/11

[pk500]

Sitting on the bench won't help Rooney much and while rumors have him possibly moving somewhere in Spain, I would doubt that. If anything happens between red nose Fergie and the spoiled one it would be in the summer time.

But wouldn't United earn more money on a transfer in January, especially if Shrek's form continues to plummet and his impasse with Sir ExLax grows even wider in the spring?

[10spro]

Sitting on the bench won't help Rooney much and while rumors have him possibly moving somewhere in Spain, I would doubt that. If anything happens between red nose Fergie and the spoiled one it would be in the summer time.

But wouldn't United earn more money on a transfer in January, especially if Shrek's form continues to plummet and his impasse with Sir ExLax grows even wider in the spring?

It's a battle of egos at this point. Rooney claims that he was never injured. An excuse brought up by his manager because of his off field activities. So he sits and rots according to Fergie. The only time he may reclaim his March form is if he's plays the full 90 minutes which at this point it doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon.

[fsquid]

Sitting on the bench won't help Rooney much and while rumors have him possibly moving somewhere in Spain, I would doubt that. If anything happens between red nose Fergie and the spoiled one it would be in the summer time.

But wouldn't United earn more money on a transfer in January, especially if Shrek's form continues to plummet and his impasse with Sir ExLax grows even wider in the spring?

But he's cup tied in the Champions League.

[RobVarak]

Richard Williams' opinions on John Henry and the current state of Liverpool Football Club:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog ... hn-w-henry

To sum up:

Of course Hodgson needs and deserves more time, and in the meantime he can be expected to take the pressure off his players by shamelessly exaggerating the quality of their performances. Few managers in his position would not do the same.

The entire editorial was a shambles, but that last bit is ridiculous beyond measure. First, the logic is flawed. It starts with the conclusion that Uncle Roy not only "needs" more time (arguably true), but that he "deserves" more. Based on what? His actions thus far, both in the transfer market and his tactics, have been almost universal failures. What matters is not what Roy deserves; He will be compensated handsomely in either case. What matters is what Club deserves.

Moreover, making ludicrous statements like he did yesterday does only two things. Neither of them takes any pressure off the players and all of them harm the club. First, it makes him look incompetent. This reflects badly on him and worse on the club putting its faith and pounds behind him. Secondly, it contributes to the crisis atmosphere of a club. If anything, this just puts more pressure on the players and hurts their already-flagging confidence.

Finally, saying that most similarly situated managers would take the same course doesn't mean that they should.

A club in crisis like this needs a manager who has the tactical nous to overcome their shortcomings in talent, the ability to improve the club in the January window and the motivational capacity to turn around the poisonous lack of confidence in the dressing room. They do not need a friendly journeyman so far out of his depth that he thinks spinning post-game yarns will help the team down the road.

If the club thinks Roy's the man for that job, he should stay. Otherwise, they need to replace him with someone who can do those jobs better...immediately.

[davet010]

Rooney - only a few teams could really afford him

Barca (don't need him)
Real Madrid (Mourinho says don't want him, but who knows)
Chelsea (possible)
City (never in a million years, not even to drive the Scots Drunk to an early grave)

AC and Inter possibly on that list, but can anyone really see him lasting there, temperamentally ? There are very few Brits who've done well over there, and only really those with the composure to deal with the niggles and the press attention (Ray Wilkins, David Platt...and Graeme Souness, but mainly because people were s***-scared of him). Wayne Rooney has 'Gazza de nos jours' written all over him.

I can't believe that any of them is going to punt £80m (50m plus 30m wages on a 4 yr deal) on that arse with the Gallic Gonk's finance rules coming in. Yes, I know they'd fall over if a lawyer breathed on them, but he believes they'll work. Rooney just looks short of ideas at the moment.

As for Liverpool, as little as I rate Woy as a manager, can I point out that Ferguson took 5 years to win anything at Man U, and that was a spawny FA Cup run. He was nearly out on his arse three times, and partly hung on because there was no European football at the time (thanks Liverpool fans) so finishing in the top 4 or so was irrelevant, nor was there the ludicrous hype of the Premiership. Constant chopping and changing won't do any good, and unless Henry identifies what sort of dollar a new boss will have to spend, it's only an attractive job because of the name...there is little else about it to bring in the real big names.

[rhymes450]

Here in Spain, rumour has it that Mourinho is in fact keen on Rooney and it certainly would be very much in line with Florentino's history of big-impact signings. Apparently, the idea would be to fit Benzema into the deal. Don't know if Fergusen would be into that. I have a feeling (call it intuition, a sixth sense, ESP or just pure stupidity) that Mourinho sees Benzema as a challenge and a way of stamping his authority and proving his man-management skills. The fans don't like the Frenchman's apparently lazy attitude and the press are on his back and trying to pressurise Mourinho in this sense. I suspect that Mourinho would like nothing better than Benzema to start producing the goods under him. Pure speculation on my part but anyway...

[rhymes450]

Correction on that last post...As usual Dave has the right up-to-the-minute info. Apparently last Friday, Mourinho stated that he didn't want to sign any players during the upcoming transfer window and when questioned about signing Rooney for next season, he pointed out that he might not even be in the manager's seat at that stage.

[pk500]

What about Arsenal? Could Wenger be the Phil Jackson-like, Zen manager that works for Rooney, the freeze to Sir ExLax's boil? Do the Gooners have the bucks to splash for Rooney or are they still in hock due to the construction of Emirates Stadium?

[Jimmydeicide]

- there was no European football at the time (thanks Liverpool fans)

Your team wouldnt have been playing anyway so that doesnt matter.

[davet010]

- there was no European football at the time (thanks Liverpool fans)

Your team wouldnt have been playing anyway so that doesnt matter.

Wrong - City finished 5th in both 1990/91 and 1991/92, and hence would have had a UEFA Cup place in all likelihood. And all because your drunken fans couldn't manage to behave themselves for one day in Belgium.

[Jimmydeicide]

Or the Intertoto at least surely

[fsquid]

- there was no European football at the time (thanks Liverpool fans)

Your team wouldnt have been playing anyway so that doesnt matter.

Wrong - City finished 5th in both 1990/91 and 1991/92, and hence would have had a UEFA Cup place in all likelihood. And all because your drunken fans couldn't manage to behave themselves for one day in Belgium.

I thought the ban was over then because Wednesday played in the 92-93 UEFA Cup based on their performance in the league in 1991/92.

[davet010]

You might well be right, as Wed came 3rd that year. AFAIK, the first season that English clubs entered the Intertoto cup was later than that. The issue with not reaching Europe despite coming fifth can still be put at the Scousers door, as all of Englands UEFA coefficients (which determine the number of places) were reset to zero owing to the absence of English clubs.

Of course, Everton have more reason than City to twine about that.

[fsquid]

that is true because the English teams all started in the very first round in those Euro competitions that year. Wednesday played a team from the new russia I believe in the first qualifying round.

[davet010]

Scots Pisspot just been on to confirm the tales

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 104392.stm

I'm hoping that if City do acquire him, that it's in a swap deal for Jo and Santa Claus - and then we loan Shrek out to Doncaster for a year, as we can't have our fourth choice striker getting splinters on our bench.

Still, Fergie didn't seem too downhearted, as he contemplates Armageddon.

[miget33]

Can i blame Hicks and Gillett for this Rooney mess as well? How bout Rafa?

[RobVarak]

Love this!

[davet010]

Blame the Sheikhs. Or Nigel de Jong. Or global warming. Or the brasses that Rooney shagged.

But you know what is really at the bottom of all of this.

Fergie and horse spunk

And was it just me who heard the Everton fans singing 'Hope you've kept the receipt' to Henry ?

[pk500]

Like the looks of that, DaveT?

[miget33]

Like the looks of that, DaveT?

I dont

[Macca00]

Wasn't Rooney the same lad who said "Once a blue always a blue".

Of course, we all thought he was referring to Everton but........


Why isn't Hodgson fired yet? Waiting for Napoli and then Blackburn to spank us first I guess. Oh, sorry, I guess he deserves more time...for what I don't know but all the media geniuses who would be crucifying any other manager if Liverpool were 19th seem to think he's doing a bang up job. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact he's English.

[davet010]

Like the looks of that, DaveT?

I dont

Not really, we don't need him - ffs Jo has scored more goals than him this season.

Chelsea I reckons.

[JRod]

Could it be that Rooney wants to go to another country to escape the British media?

I think we'll see him at AC Milan next year. Though, I suspect that the powers that be at Real Madrid could see Rooney as a way to get more people in the UK to watch Real. I wouldn't put it past the board to go around Jose and pick up Rooney.

[davet010]

Could it be that Rooney wants to go to another country to escape the British media?

I think we'll see him at AC Milan next year. Though, I suspect that the powers that be at Real Madrid could see Rooney as a way to get more people in the UK to watch Real. I wouldn't put it past the board to go around Jose and pick up Rooney.

1. British people don't give a f**k about RM. Anyone watching them will be doing so as a second to their original club, in the same way that I follow 1860 Munchen. It's not likely they will be selling loads of shirts either if Shrek goes under a cloud. Plus their matches are already covered over here through Sky's contract with La Liga, and it's not as if RM will want to be using the services of a habitual user of prostitutes to market stuff in a more conservative and religious society like Spain.

2. Escape the British media ? Oh OK, we are sending him to countries both of whom have far more intrusive media (as difficult as that may be to believe), and who's best selling daily newspapers are devoted to sports, or just football. Wanna know what Ronaldo had for breakfast - have a look in Marca.

I hope he does go to AC Milan. That'll make their investment in Ibrahimovich and Robinho look worthwhile. Or Bayern Munich.

[rhymes450]

Having a free read of Marca this morning, while in a bar having a coffee (just to emphasise that I don't pay money for the thing), it seems that the RM board wouldn't really have to go round Mourinho to sign Rooney. In the post-match press conference following last night's win over AC Milan (the brilliance of which was more than slightly exaggerated by Marca IMO) he was quoted as saying, "if they're selling him, I hope they give me a call". I get the impression that it was a hunky dory press conference, in which both parties were happy with the performance of the team. I'm not sure that many managers would object to having Rooney as an option. Dave's right in that many Spanish football hacks are all-consuming vultures (they have to come up with daily "news") and are brutally impatient as regards performance on the pitch. If players are performing though, they tend to turn a bit of a blind eye to off-the-pitch exploits and in that sense are maybe a bit more lenient than the British tabloids. Watching the video of Ferguson's press conference made me wonder whether Rooney was adamant about his wanting out because he's already got something set up or because he's hoping to force a better offer from United. There was a lot of talk about the door being still open and Ferguson's tone seemed pretty conciliatory to me, as if he didn't want to damage any prospects there might be of holding on to the player.