Soccer thread 07/08

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 6:35 pm

It makes no sense to go to Birmingham other than for a huge paycheck compared with what the SPL pays him.

His stock was high after the good run Scotland had. In EPL terms, guys with less of a record have been given jobs with better teams. I'm not saying he's qualified to coach somewhere. I just think McLeish could have held out for a better club with more money. And Simo, you can't say to me that big clubs wouldn't have offered McLeish a position. I'm not talking the big four, but the rest of the teams. When Bolten makes decisions that include Sammy Lee are you saying that the majority of EPL teams upper management know what the hell they are doing. In that climate, Dave Tyrell has been rumored to manage Middlesboro.

You have to think that Newcastle would have offered him the job if they canned "You don't know what you are doing" Candy Bar Sam. Again would he have done a good job, I don't know. But going to Birmingham, I would think, is not a great decision.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 6:55 pm

Maybe McLeish wants to bang Karren Brady ...

Take care,
PK

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 8:24 pm

JRod - I wouldn't employ McLeish if I were chairman of a reasonably prestigious football club, because success as an international manager does not translate into success as a club manager, his record with Rangers wasn't stellar and frankly I'd rather let a Birmingham or a Derby take him on and make a move for him later if he does the Premiership business. Then again, I wouldn't employ Megson, Bruce or Sanchez either and they seem to find jobs without too much trouble, so what do I know?

You touched on how the Birmingham job is far better paid than the Scotland job would have been - that's bound to be a factor. There's also a match every week through the season, which must be worth something if you're a manager and love the game. As Dave said, there might be a pot of money waiting for him should the takeover bid ever end, or start. I don't think it's that bad a move to make, to be honest, as long as you're not already a Premiership manager.

Would he have ended up at Newcastle? Living in that part of the world as I do, I'd say the good folk of Newcastle would need to rid themselves of the idea that they're a massive club before they'd accept an appointment like that, though if Sam Allardyce can get a job there you've got to think they're on the way to realising it. If he's any good at Birmingham, though, he'll end up somewhere better before too long in any case. It's a chance to prove himself in the Premiership, pocket a pay increase managing at a higher level than any job he's been seriously linked with in the past, and it could lead somewhere bigger.

Edit:

JRod wrote:In that climate, Dave Tyrell has been rumored to manage Middlesboro.

Middlesbrough is 10 miles up the road from me - if I hear anything, I'll let you all know in time to make a killing at the bookmakers.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 4:54 am

[quote="JRod"] In that climate, Dave Tyrell has been rumored to manage Middlesboro.

[quote]

No, that would imply that EPL chairmen DO know what they are doing...I could hardly do a worse job that Gareth Southgate

And my surname uses the Irish spelling, with two 'R's, like the old F1 team, ta very much

On an interesting side note, Middlesboro is the only team in any version of FM that I have been relegated with, and they didn't sack me (well, not til I didn't get them back up again, anyways).

Post by **Jared** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:50 am

Mourinho interested in the England job.

http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/7 ... 62&ATT=177

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 1:42 pm

Jared wrote:Mourinho interested in the England job.

http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/7 ... 62&ATT=177

Speaking from the point of view of entertainment, that would be freaking awesome!

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 2:41 am

Here's a petition web for the former Chelsea manager:

www.mourinhoforengland.co.uk

Mourinho was also quoted saying: 'You will have to speak to the FA to see if they are interested in offering me the job' and quote 'I cannot say what I think until they say they are interested. Tell the FA to come and get me.'

Can the guy be a bit less arrogant?

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 3:20 am

Maybe I'm used to him, but that seems pretty tame for him.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 11:15 am

I don't care if you are arrogant as long as you get wins.

Macca00 · Post by **Macca00** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 6:35 pm

I really hope Jose becomes England manager, just for pure comedic value. I don't think he realizes that you can't actually buy players for international teams and that Didier Drogba isn't English.

It's a bit late but congrats to Bolton on the weekend! Fergie left a bunch of starters on the bench. In mediaspeak that's called "resting" your players ahead of a Champions League game....except for when Benitez does it. Then it's called "Rotation", and it's only done by managers who don't know what they're doing.

JRod,
How much is membership to the Alex McLeish fan club? Hopefully it's not more than the "Blindlessdevotiontoallthingsliverpool Club" that I'm already a member of.

EDIT: I mean blind devotion. I don't think blindless devotion makes much sense....but I could be misunderestimating my command of the English language.....

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 6:42 pm

It looks like cooler heads may prevail at LFC

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story ... 80&cc=5901

The interesting part of this story is whether Hicks and Gillett are really going to insist on turning player acquisition responsibilities over to Parry, and if so if they are consciously eschewing the traditional European structure in favor of a US-style GM/coaching paradigm.

I can definitely empathize with Rafa if they are intent on limiting his role. I think he may have handled it better, but I think he was justified in being angry.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:27 pm

Rafa is correct in demanding some kind of action for players transfers but at the same time the lack of domestic titles is getting to his head.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:42 pm

Macca00 wrote: EDIT: I mean blind devotion. I don't think blindless devotion makes much sense....but I could be misunderestimating my command of the English language.....

If it's easier for you, you can just post in your native Canadian. We'll run it through Babelfish or something to translate.

dougb · Post by **dougb** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 8:19 pm

RobVarak wrote:
Macca00 wrote: EDIT: I mean blind devotion. I don't think blindless devotion makes much sense....but I could be misunderestimating my command of the English language.....
If it's easier for you, you can just post in your native Canadian. We'll run it through Babelfish or something to translate.

Only a portion of the inconvenience that Office causes me at work when it insists on 'Merican spellings!

BTW Lavan, I thought we'd agreed you wouldn't be let out of the chains at your computer desk until you'd finished the Pro Evo 2008 review!

Best wishes,

Doug

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 9:59 am

FA Cup 2nd round is this weekend.

Horsham v. Swansea - Friday 2:30 EST
Harrogate Railway v. Mansfield Town - Sunday 11:00pm EST (Tape Delay)

Also on Sunday, Championship and EPL clubs get tossed into the hat for the 3rd round draw.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 2:43 am

David Bentley can surely bend it like Becks as he scored two beauties putting Blackburn back in the winning column.

Messi, Kaka and C. Ronaldo are the candidates for footballer of the year.
My vote goes to Lionel.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 5:40 am

10spro wrote:David Bentley can surely bend it like Becks as he scored two beauties putting Blackburn back in the winning column.

Messi, Kaka and C. Ronaldo are the candidates for footballer of the year.
My vote goes to Lionel.

When does Allerdyce get the boot?
Surely Man City should have done better. I didn't see the game only the scoreline so maybe they were unlucky. I need to watch MOTD to get the flavor of Saturday.

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 12:45 pm

fsquid wrote:FA Cup 2nd round is this weekend.

Also on Sunday, Championship and EPL clubs get tossed into the hat for the 3rd round draw.

Last season, Hartlepool's embarrassing capitulation away from home in round two cost us a trip to Stamford Bridge. This season it's cost us a trip to Prenton Park, home of Tranmere Rovers. I'm still breathing.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 3:03 pm

City get their usual away draw at another Prem team...still, at least we can concentrate on the league

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 3:25 pm

Another boring outing by Rafa's boys today.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 9:27 am

Yea, Wednesday to Derby in the first round.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 11:58 am

Shearer on the brink of managing Newcastle?

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Sto ... rss&feed=5

Not so sure what to think about this. Big Al is a legend and will lift the spirits of the Toon Army. But he has ZERO management experience, so feeling groovy only will go so far before winning results must arrive.

Take care,
PK

Macca00 · Post by **Macca00** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 6:46 pm

RobVarak wrote:Another boring outing by Rafa's boys today.

Indeedy. Then again, it's 'only' Bolton. Isn't that right, Fergie? How good is the boy Fernando? Particularly since it's his first season in the Prem. Man, I feel absolutely silly for wanting Carlos 'Quasimodo' Tevez rather than Torres in the summer.

PK,
While I can't imagine you could get much worse than Meatloaf , I would hate Shearer to show up and be a bust. Joey Barton really is crap...can't believe Meatloaf thought he'd be a replacement for Scott Parker.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 7:02 pm

Funny how Crouch is now starting. Rafa still needs to be fired just because he's a f'n idoit. And his antics early in the season might be why Liverpool doesn't win the league. We'll see.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 7:28 pm

JRod wrote:Funny how Crouch is now starting. Rafa still needs to be fired just because he's a f'n idoit. And his antics early in the season might be why Liverpool doesn't win the league. We'll see.

So, so wrong. Crouch is starting because it's a rotation. Everyone gets some starts, and Kuyt has been very poor of late. Of course it's this revolutionary madness that brought all the heat on Rafa to begin with.

I'm not sure what you mean by his early-season "antics." They came out of the gate like a house a-fire. They haven't lost a match in the EPL and they're a win away from dodging a bullet in the CL. Sure they played poorly in Istanbul (in an absoulte nationalist cauldron where others have faired poorly this season), played a bad half against Porto and were awful against Marsailles at home. And they still managed to avoid a league loss during that stretch. Hardly an implosion.

This criticism of the rotation was won of the dumbest things I've ever seen. Every manager does it to some extent, and it's unbelievable to think that one wouldn't have to rotate over the course of such a long season. If Rafa were managing in Spain or Italy nobody would bat an eye at it, but the reactionary soccer culture in England reacted like he was using Futsal tactics and crapping on the Three Lions flag.