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The 2011-2012 Football Thread
- Thread starter Jaffa Cake
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I feel bad for Wolves fans. Their team completely gave up and I think they're going down. On a positive note for Fulham fans, it looks like Pogrebnyak has adjusted to the Premiership just fine. With 5 goals in 3 games, he has as many goals as Andy Carroll, and 2 more than Torres.
He's big, he's game
We can't pronounce his name
Russian lad Russian lad
He's big, he's game
We can't pronounce his name
Russian lad Russian lad
Now that Phil Brown's magical flying flat cap has been shooed away from Stamford Bridge, I begin to wonder what the immediate future holds for Chelsea. Since they have a reputation as bossy prima donnas, maybe Lamps, EBJT and Drogba should manage the team themselves.
Mourinho can't arrive till the summer, so this gives teams like Liverpool the perfect opportunity to cash in on the situation if Chelsea continue to plummet.
Clint Dempsey is now on 18 goals in all competitions. Well done, Deuce.
Mourinho can't arrive till the summer, so this gives teams like Liverpool the perfect opportunity to cash in on the situation if Chelsea continue to plummet.
Clint Dempsey is now on 18 goals in all competitions. Well done, Deuce.
Roberto di Matteo has been installed as interim boss until the summer, which suggests that the manager they have in mind won't be available until then - and given that Mourinho has said he'd like to leave Madrid at the end of the season and return to the Premier League his name has been getting mentioned a lot.
I don't think EBJT would have the time to manage Chelsea, given that he already plays in and tries to referee their matches.
I don't think EBJT would have the time to manage Chelsea, given that he already plays in and tries to referee their matches.
Maybe he'd be interested in management if they gave him some sort of manager's armband.
I was thinking that Abramovich is going through managers like Darth Vader went through admirals in The Empire Strikes Back. The job at Chelsea is a poisoned chalice.
Not a very good United performance at all against a depleted but very game Spurs squad today, but champions absorb the pressure and finish their chances. Unlucky for Adebayor to handle the ball before back-heeling in, but he clearly did.
Guus Hiddink once wrote in a Dutch paper that Abramovich, is a control freak, he constantly rang about tactics, and players selection. It was one of the major reasons that Guus didn't want to stay.
I believe that was also the reason their Special One left as well, so it does surprise me he'd want to go back.
I know we always say that managers should be given time, but there's also making the best of a bad job, and AVB hasn't even managed that
Edit: Fear not Arsenal fans! For Wenger has said he's going to have a go at Milan tomorrow night. So all of you thinking he was going to play for a draw, or sit back and defend and hope to snatch 5 on the break can breath easier!
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I think we're doomed.
Our Chairman and Chief Executive are extremely unpopular after the manager debacle and if we don't get a result against Blackburn on Saturday things could turn very ugly.
I don't think the problem was McCarthy's sacking, but by replacing him with Terry Connor and expecting the results to be different.
Mourinho won't stand for that. I think that if he comes back, it will be with the understanding that he calls the shots in return for guaranteeing silverware withing a season or two. Mourinho might be the only manager on the planet who has enough power to strongarm Abramovic a little.
I think sacking Villas-Boas was a stupid idea. He should have been given 2 seasons, regardless of where they finished in the league, and given the money to replace half the squad. EBJT Out.
Given the many horrors of the 90s in terms of kit design, that USA kit is actually somewhat restrained. Also, I've always like the Sampdoria kits myself.
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Abramovic needs Mourinho more than Mourinho needs Abramovic.
I agree Mourinho has turned around Real Madrid. He might be an arrogant man, and not very nice person, but he does know all there is to know about managing a football team. It would also liven up the Premiership championship next year as Chelsea have not contended for the top spot.
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Abramovic needs Mourinho more than Mourinho needs Abramovic.
I agree Mourinho has turned around Real Madrid. He might be an arrogant man, and not very nice person, but he does know all there is to know about managing a football team. It would also liven up the Premiership championship next year as Chelsea have not contended for the top spot.
As a Liverpool fan I hope they plummet, it could help us fight for an (unlikely) fourth-place finish. Abramovic deserves to be punished with a 7th place finish for going through managers like they grow on trees.
Mourinho is just as big of an ******* as Abramovich. And, as you say, nobody can deny that Mourinho knows how to manage a football club, isn't frightened of pressure and wins everywhere he goes. He's also very entertaining to watch. From that perspective I'd like to see him back in England.
He also provides a good contrast with Ferguson. Ferguson's dealings with the Man U ownership are clouded in secrecy, though in public they march in lockstep. Ferguson is nothing but loyalty to his club - at least on the surface - and his long tenure at United backs that up. Mourinho, on the other hand, is an extreme mercenary who is willing to publicly battle with the ownership and players. He doesn't settle down for the long haul, but flies his feather before the wind, always looking for a new challenge. Once he succeeds, he's off somewhere else. He's a 'troubleshooter'.
Mourinho is the archetype for the modern football manager. He guarantees short-term results, is dedicated to the project but neither expects nor desires long-term tenure.
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I must be the only one who doesn't see Mourinho returning to Chelsea. I think Guardiola might be an even likelier choice. Although my money is on Benitez. Experienced with Champions League and may even *gasp* get Torres firing again. Maybe.
I'd go as far as to say Mourinho is instead gunning for Fergie
Would be funny if Guardiola came to Arsenal and Mourinho went back to Chelsea though. Would shake up the EPL...or at least the press.
I'd go as far as to say Mourinho is instead gunning for Fergie
Would be funny if Guardiola came to Arsenal and Mourinho went back to Chelsea though. Would shake up the EPL...or at least the press.
I can't see Benitez or Guardiola taking the job. The former because of his own loyalties but more importantly because he is wary of Abramovic. Plus, I don't think Abramovic rates him. The latter because I don't think he'd like the environment.
There is still time for that. Ferguson will be around for uyears yet. Mourinho is maybe the one man I could see managing Chelsea for a few years and then stepping in after Fergie retires.
I feel like Guardiola is going to struggle to find success outside Barca. Not because of any lack of competence, but because he is Barcelona through and through. It's hard to see him anywhere else. But with that being said, Arsenal seems the best fit for him in England. I could see him at Liverpool too, I think the fans could get behind his philosophy.
Appointing Terry Connor was an act of desperation from Morgan and Moxey when it became clear no one in their right mind was interested in taking the job with the terms and conditions on offer. The squad isn't good enough and we're now stuck with an inexperienced manager at the helm with 11 matches to turn it around.
We were very lucky to stop up last season, I think our luck may have run out this time.
Managers are sacked too often. The only reason this is so is because they are by far the easiest high-profile member of a football club to get rid of.
If players or board members/chairmen/owners could be hired and fired as easily, no club would go a season without massive personnel turnover.
Maybe we should add managers to the transfer window rules, so that they can only be hired and fired in the summer or in January.
EDIT: And as soon as I spout off about how I can't see Benitez taking the job, he throws his hat into the ring.
I personally have no qualms about him taking the job from a club loyalty perspective. Not sure if most Liverpool fans would agree. I doubt he can do much with them in what's left of the season though.
If players or board members/chairmen/owners could be hired and fired as easily, no club would go a season without massive personnel turnover.
Maybe we should add managers to the transfer window rules, so that they can only be hired and fired in the summer or in January.
EDIT: And as soon as I spout off about how I can't see Benitez taking the job, he throws his hat into the ring.
I personally have no qualms about him taking the job from a club loyalty perspective. Not sure if most Liverpool fans would agree. I doubt he can do much with them in what's left of the season though.
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By all accounts, the job Mourinho covets above all is the big chair at Old Trafford. Problem is, Sir Alex isn't going anywhere for a little while yet. Would he take the job at, say, Spurs? Would he try his hand at managing an international squad and guide England to WC14? That might actually be the perfect solution to get back him back to England for the short term, as he wants.
As a United fan, I have pretty mixed feelings about Mourinho, but overall I would be pleased if he became our next manager. The man sure knows how to win, though I wonder how he'd feel about the Glazers' miserly ways.
I agree with Lord Blackadder about Guardiola: he's so imbued in the Barca way, and everything there is lined up so perfectly for him, any other job would be a big step down for him. Maybe eventually he'll want a new challenge or Barca's board of directors will take him for granted...
As a United fan, I have pretty mixed feelings about Mourinho, but overall I would be pleased if he became our next manager. The man sure knows how to win, though I wonder how he'd feel about the Glazers' miserly ways.
I agree with Lord Blackadder about Guardiola: he's so imbued in the Barca way, and everything there is lined up so perfectly for him, any other job would be a big step down for him. Maybe eventually he'll want a new challenge or Barca's board of directors will take him for granted...
Right, if anyone needs me I'll be off shouting naughty words at Colin.
How'd you like that then Colin? Not much, I'd wager.
How'd you like that then Colin? Not much, I'd wager.
Don't shout too much at Robbie Rogers. He got knocked out in his debut for Leeds.
(Not even sure if he's in the squad)I just read this article in the Guardian about the 11 million pounds Blackpool's owner paid out of the club into one of his companies. They claim it was for tax purposes and the money is available should the club needs it (in the form of an interest-free loan).
Fans are outraged, but it does seem there are two sides to it. Certainly the Blackpool ownership doesn't seem to be running the club in an unsustainable fashion. But I can see why fans would be worried of a potential asset-stripping.
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