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2010-2011 Football Thread

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awmazz said:
I'm not exactly clear as to why you are so against Kenny when his track record is superb, yet you have always been so for keeping Roy on when he is clearly out of his depth.
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I agree that his track record is outstanding. What I question is whether he will simply pick up where he left off. If you look at the statistics, managers who do a second spell at a club they had previous success with rarely do anywhere near as well the second time around. The Premier League tests even the best managers, and Dalglish will have the odds stacked well against him.

For the record, I am definitely not convinced that Hodgson is a long-term solution. He's been given a chance, under difficult circumstances, and the results are very poor. But I am strongly against hiring and firing managers willy-nilly, which is why I think Hodgson should be allowed to finish the season. Once the season is over, the club can change managers and set about strengthening the squad.

I know I'm in the minority of Liverpool fans (probably the small minority) in supporting Hodgson at least in the short term. Also, I wasn't a Liverpool supporter yet at the time Dalglish was in the technical area, and I'm American to boot - so I'm very aware that quite a few Liverpool fans probably would not give me the time of day (or worse). But my opinion, for as little as it's worth, is that Dalglish is a rallying figure that the fans love, and I can understand why they want him. He was a great manager and a winner, and to fans he represents Liverpool as they want the club to be - successful, feared by opponents, entertaining. None of those things guarantee that he will be able to win games with the current squad - many (most?) of whom do not look to Dalglish the way the supporters do.

But in a way I agree with you. If they DO sack Hodgson, and they can't get a top manager in immediately, perhaps they should bring in Dalglish. Because if they don't bring him back, fans will always be calling for him and every single Liverpool manager from now till who-knows-when will be living in Dalglish's shadow in the Kop's eyes. Perhaps the owners really have no option. Maybe they have to bring Dalglish in, if they hope to stay on good terms with the Kop. If he succeeds, everyone will be happy. If he fails, the fans will at least have gotten what they want.
 
I don't think Dalglish would be a good choice, despite his past record with Liverpool – and his title with Blackburn, let's not forget. Mind, I don't think Hodgson's right either. Dalglish has been out of first team management for a decade, which would be a concern, and although he's been linked with a number of club and national jobs in that time they've come to nothing. I'm sure that's not a reflection of his abilities or reputation, so I wonder if he's simply not interested in taking on a manager's job after so long out of it.

He may be of the feeling that going back into management at his age – he'll be 60 in a couple of months – isn't worth the headaches. He's in a good position at Liverpool, working as an ambassador for the club and with the academy, and he may be perfectly happy to continue fulfilling these roles and not wish tarnishing his reputation there.

Anyway, injury news – I'd like to put forward a nomination for the 2010-11 Stupid Injury Award. Young Tigers' midfielder Tom Cairney wasn't in the squad today despite us being rather injury ravaged, and according to Pearson's (Nigel) post-match interview he had a bit of a cold over Christmas. To try and relieve his aching sinuses, the young Scot resorted to the old method of sticking his face over a bowl of hot water with a towel over his head, and letting the steam do its work.

As such, he missed today's match due to a scalded head. Heh. :D
 
There are too many unknowns with Dalglish in my opinion. Supporters who want to see him managing Liverpool again are thinking with their hearts, not with their heads. He was a great manager - but is he still? And can he do it with the current squad/league environment?

Ultimately, fan pressure might get Kenny in. But I fear it may not be the dream reunion that some fans hope for.

Jaffa Cake said:
As such, he missed today's match due to a scalded head. Heh. :D
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Maybe he went for that old remedy because he was afraid to go to the Tiger's physio staff? :D

How did Guzan perform? He had to face a penalty I see, given away by Gerrard's cousin.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
Maybe he went for that old remedy because he was afraid to go to the Tiger's physio staff? :D
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Heh. They probably told him to do it. :D

Lord Blackadder said:
How did Guzan perform? He had to face a penalty I see, given away by Gerrard's cousin.
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I wasn't at Portsmouth, so I can't assess today's performance from the prematurely aged shot stopper, but he looked okay against Leicester a couple of days back. I'd prefer Mannone though, to be honest. I liked Mannone.
 
Mannone's departure from Hull City was a little acrimonious between the clubs, but he's only had 13 club appearances in the last four years. He seems pretty good, I wonder if/when Arsenal plan to give him a shot as a starter.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Mannone's departure from Hull City was a little acrimonious between the clubs...
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I don't think there was any problem between us and Arsenal over Mannone, the loan was due to end around about now but he went back a few days early after suffering his injury. Prior to said injury Pearson (Nigel) was talking about extending the loan, and Mannone seemed to be enjoying his time here – for one thing, he was playing regular first team football (he's made more league appearances for us than he has for Arsenal, for one thing ;)).

There are noises that if Mannone's injury is sorted before the end of January we'll look at getting him back in until the end of the season, of course this depends on the goalkeeping situation at Arsenal as much as anything...
 
Ah, that's good. I must have had my loan players mixed up. I'm sure Mannone relished the chance to get some first-team action in.

One wonders just what the goalkeeping situation is at Arsenal. They still don't have an established, go-to guy. If Mannone ends up being good enough he could become Arsenal's No. 1 for many years.
 
Ah, that's right, it was Ayala. I'm actually working this morning, sometimes it gets in the way of the football. :D

Jaffa Cake said:
Do you reckon Kenny will let us have Ayala back? If so, I'm going to get a petition or something started up with awmazz. :cool:
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You can have him, but you have to take Christian Poulsen too.
 
One thing that Kenny will be able to do straight off the bat without having managed for 10 years is put Liverpool immediately on par with Man Utd and Real Madrid and Arsenal with their Fergusons, Mourinhos and Wengers able to attract the better players, just through his mere presence and reputation as a winning manager. No effort required, it's all purely past track record. Which is what you want in a manager whose first job is to sign new stars who want to win.

This is something I don't think Hodgson can do. He simply doesn't have the 'come play for me and win heaps of titles and champions leagues' reputation required. This January purchasing being done by one of the Anfield executives sounds odd to me, as in his job description is to buy the best players available to the club but the only way he can do that is by telling them (or their agents) that they will be signing on to play not under Hodgson, but rather Dalglish or maybe Deschamps instead. Otherwise why not just let Hodgson do the selecting and buying? Because I suspect they know the players will turn Liverpool's offers down.

PS. The Euro ban on English clubs after Heysel was the beginning of Dalglish's managerial career, so if he's hungry for anything in management it would be to win the Champions League. The domestic title he's proved he can win in his sleep, but Euro glory is something he never really got the chance at as a manager like he did as a player. Edit - he did beat Barcelon with Newcastle, how many managers can claim that? So I think he maybe had a taste for it that is yet unfulfilled.

Jaffa Cake said:
I don't think Dalglish would be a good choice, despite his past record with Liverpool – and his title with Blackburn, let's not forget. Mind, I don't think Hodgson's right either. Dalglish has been out of first team management for a decade, which would be a concern, and although he's been linked with a number of club and national jobs in that time they've come to nothing. I'm sure that's not a reflection of his abilities or reputation, so I wonder if he's simply not interested in taking on a manager's job after so long out of it.
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That's possibly true, I think he just wanted out after Newcastle. Maybe it was all the press pressure (which Hodgson's actually going through right now) not the actual game pressure that got to him and he finally said sod this for a game of soldiers.

But coincidently, the last time he was appointed as a club director in his 'post-management' era at a club he previously played at (Celtic), exactly like he is now, he was asked to take over the managerial reigns mid-season and he accepted. And won some silverware.
 
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Dalglish is surely a big name to Liverpool fans, and his name carries a certain cachet - but the current crop of players are young and many are shockingly ignorant of their club's own history. I think it is a bit of a stretch to expect players in their twenties (particluarly the foreign players who may not have followed the Premier League closely) to be especially attracted by Dalglish's name and reputation.

You are right, though, that Hodgson's name isn't going to bring big names either.

I'm sure that the ownership have already drawn up a list of candidates and are doing their homework as we speak to come up with a shortlist. It seems fairly clear to me that Hodgson (barring a total reversal of fortune this season) is not going to be in the club's long term plans.

It will be interesting to see whether Dalglish steps up in a caretaker role if Hodgson is sacked (but that would be bypassing Sammy Lee...) before the season is over; if that happens, the club will probably be under mountains of pressure from the Kop to keep him on permanently.

EDIT: I see that Frederico Macheda has been loaned out to Sampdoria, who have unloaded Cassano on AC Milan. Not exactly a one-to-one replacement, despite what Samp are saying. Cassano will have some pretty stiff competition at Milan.
 
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By the way, I'd like to draw your collective attention to the splendid new Hull City 2011 Calendar, on sale now from the club shop. Each month features an exciting action shot of one of your favourite Tigers players, and Mr January is none other than popular defender Daniel Ayala.

Oh. :(
 
Columbus Crew news flash: Columbus has continued their rebuilding project by signing 30 year-old central defender Sebastián Miranda from Chilean side Unión Española, where Miranda was captain. Apparently Columbus' rebuilding project involves replacing all our over-30 players with 30 year-olds. On paper, it's a successful move towards a more youthful squad...

I had a look-see through the Chilean press and the move appears to have been a sudden one for Unión Española, who are now scrambling for a replacement. The Chilean pundits deemed the move to MLS to be financially motivated, which demonstrates how little footballers in Chile must be paid.

Also, somewhat hilariously, one Chilean paper translated our teams name as los “Constructores” de Ohio. Close enough, I suppose. ;)
 
Blackburn seem to be settling into the Premier League's 'delusional owner' position very nicely, giving Mike Ashley a well earned break after a solid couple of years of boardroom-based buffoonery.

On the outside chance that Ronaldinho does go there it's clearly not for glamour or top football, but rather for lure of cold, hard cash. Or maybe lots of tasty chicken. Who knows?
 
At this point, the only place where Ronaldinho is going to show committment is back home. If he plays in Europe, particularly in England, it will be for money, as Jaffa says. The money they'd spend on him would be better spent on a younger, fitter, hungrier player.

As for Becks, I hope Galaxy tell him to shut up and get back to training for MLS in March.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Very expensive players with committment issues. Good luck.
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As a Spurs fan, I wouldn't worry too much about that. Whatever gets them another Champions League spot is worth it, so not really worried about commitment issues.

Whether he would actually help them finish in the top four, I have no idea. Probably not.
 
Does Beckham bring anything to the Premier League (and I mean on the pitch)? That's the real question. As you say, I'm not convinced he'd be worth what he costs. Also, I think he's a bit of a defensive liability, something Spurs can ill-afford to compound at the moment.
 
I personally think both players are past its and wouldn't want them for anything other than pep talks in the dressing room...and maybe selling jerseys in the club store.
 
I've heard a few people say that one way in which Spurs would benefit from loaning Beckham is the effect it will have on other players. Aaron Lennon is one name mentioned, the thinking that training with Beckham will improve him as a player.

I'm not convinced, though. I've no doubt Beckham is a good role model to younger players and all that, but he'll only be there for two months. Lennon will have been trained to become the player he is since he was nine or ten years old — he's not going to be reinvented as a player after two months training.
 
Jaffa Cake said:
I'm not convinced, though. I've no doubt Beckham is a good role model to younger players and all that, but he'll only be there for two months. Lennon will have been trained to become the player he is since he was nine or ten years old — he's not going to be reinvented as a player after two months training.
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Beckham's sojourn in MLS has taught Americans that he is a largely washed-up player propped up by a LOT of marketing. His presence at a club for only two months may raise their profile, but not their game.
 
One Spurs-based move that certainly looks to be on is Robbie Keane's transfer to Birmingham City, for a reported £7million.

No doubt the Irishman is bubbling with excitement at he prospect of playing for the team he supported as a boy. :p
 
Moving on from flop players transfering to smaller clubs, it seems that Ronaldinho is not really interested in going to Blackburn.

Of course, the big transfer is Edin Džeko to Man City.

EDIT: A full raft of matches today, which means my morning at work is not going to be productive. :eek:
 
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