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The 2015-2016 Football Thread

Silencio said:
They said the same thing about Sir Matt Busby, I assume. This period is shaping up exactly like it did after Sir Matt retired, with a serious lack of direction and focus at the club. I hope the nearly two decade long period of malaise isn't repeated, but I'm not feeling too optimistic at the moment.
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Liverpool are still waiting for their next Shankly or Paisley. Still it's easier to stay on top now because of the money in the game, especially among the wealthiest teams - if this were the 1960s or 70s, losing Ferguson could very well have resulted in relegation for Man Utd. As it stands, Man Utd are essentially immune from relegation, even if the league title seems a long, long way off at the moment.
 
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Pep?:

Liverpool; winning the Title is a Ferguson situation,

Manchester United; again the weight of history - distant and recent,

Chelsea?,

Arsenal; London and aspire to be FC Barcelona, but a while since Champions - should win it this year - and how free is the money?,

Manchester City; not many ghosts, great facilities, new sponsor companies will be created to provide the money, buy a defence plus DM and he is good to go.

Meanwhile, Kirk has just defeated another computerised foe with Does Not Compute/Error.

Cheers,
OW
 
Pep has never yet failed to deliver - though he had the best teams with which to do it. Man City will be a little more work but most of the raw materials are already there.

Pep is not a long term manager though. He might see out his three-year contract, but won't hang around for 5 years, let alone 10-20. He'll get bored or homesick after a few seasons, even if he wins everything under the sun.

Still, if he builds a juggernaut of a team it won't be hard to find a quality replacement for him when the time comes. And by then the academy might start producing players.
 
Feel for Pellegrini, the way he's been treated is kind of a joke. Don't like the way Pep handled it either with his pointless premature announcement. In general i'm bored of Pep story already. Its so predictable.

Sidenote Pep's arrival almost guarantees the end of the line for Yaya Toure and Demichelis. Might also mean the days of Alexis as an Arsenal player are numbered. There'll probably be some Bayern defectors too.

On another note, bored of the transfer window too...not much has happened in the top-half clubs. Shelvey to Newcastle was interesting...as was Afobe to Bournemouth and Adebayor to Palace.

Otherwise its been very meh...where's the Berbatov, Torres, Arshavin type moves
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Pep has never yet failed to deliver - though he had the best teams with which to do it. Man City will be a little more work but most of the raw materials are already there.

Pep is not a long term manager though. He might see out his three-year contract, but won't hang around for 5 years, let alone 10-20. He'll get bored or homesick after a few seasons, even if he wins everything under the sun.

Still, if he builds a juggernaut of a team it won't be hard to find a quality replacement for him when the time comes. And by then the academy might start producing players.
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no way will he be able to manage his 83% win ratio in the epl
 
Newcastle and Chelsea are the only clubs doing desperation buys. January is statistically a bad time to make signings, though Liverpool have done some good deals in January.
 
Word on the street: Falcao has been seen in Madrid today, could be there with Mendes trying to cut a deal with Atletico or Valencia
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
Liverpool are still waiting for their next Shankly or Paisley. Still it's easier to stay on top now because of the money in the game, especially among the wealthiest teams - if this were the 1960s or 70s, losing Ferguson could very well have resulted in relegation for Man Utd. As it stands, Man Utd are essentially immune from relegation, even if the league title seems a long, long way off at the moment.
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Of course Man Utd did get relegated in the 70s - the manager, Tommy Docherty!
 
Liverpool's season is mostly a wash, and nothing big is going to happen till the summer (barring an unlikely Europa League win)...I won't even be upset if Leicester win today, because I want to see them win the league.

Loge said:
Of course Man Utd did get relegated in the 70s - the manager, Tommy Docherty!
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I know - if we were living in the 70s right now, 70s, either Moyes or LVG would have probably taken Utd down division. Of course, it was also easier to get promoted then.
 
Leicester looked very good, I can only applaud their performance, I really hope they go and win it all this season. I would be thrilled to see the season end with the table just as it is now - a one-in-a-lifetime season for Leicester and Spurs making a rare appearance in the CL.

Liverpool can't score, or defend. The midfield's pretty good. Klopp needs a summer break + transfer window before expectations can be raised. To be fair, Leicester had plenty of rest before this match and Liverpool's match schedule has left them exhausted.
 
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Breaking News:::: I cant believe it. Jackson Martinez signs with Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande F.C. It is a big pay day for him but his football career is over. The only way he can rekindle the interest from big europe clubs again will be if he does really well in his national team but i doubt it especially since he turns 30 in October. I totally disagree with this move :( cause i think he still has some gas in his tank.
 
Centaurr said:
Breaking News:::: I cant believe it. Jackson Martinez signs with Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande F.C. It is a big pay day for him but his football career is over. The only way he can rekindle the interest from big europe clubs again will be if he does really well in his national team but i doubt it especially since he turns 30 in October. I totally disagree with this move :( cause i think he still has some gas in his tank.
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Went from a team where he was the main man in a less competitive league to one where he wasn't in a more competitive one.

Must've gone to China after realising all the top clubs had lost interest

EDIT: Neville and his team humiliated by Barca
 
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Ironduke said:
lol is that a joke
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Such an appointment would finally bury the idea that very good players automatically make very good managers. A few do, obviously, but I wonder if the 'strike rate' is any higher for Champions League winners than it is for Auto Windscreens Shield winners? We'll never know, because journeymen footballers from Divisions 1 and 2 no longer get the chance of managing in the Premier League. To get one of the big gigs you need to be either a) a well-known continental European manager or b) a former 'name' player.

Lord Blackadder said:
Why not Mark Hughes?
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It looks as though Hughes has a good chance of leading Stoke to three consecutive top ten finishes, which is a fantastic achievement. He's also made them a much more attractive team to watch, with more focus on rapid counter attacking and less emphasis of snapping opposition legs. I think Man U could do far worse, although obviously he's not been tested in quite such a high profile / high transfer budget job bar the strange, transitional phase at Man City, where I suspect he always knew he was on the way out.

Obviously Hughes now has to be viewed as a 'manager' rather than an 'ex player' after a dozen years with Premier League clubs, and four years with Wales before that. But generally, I believe all ex-footballers should be required to spend at least three seasons managing at Division 1 or lower level before they're considered for a Premier League or Championship position.
 
I'm not entirely serious in suggesting Hughes, but he has a proven record - not always successful, but not disastrous either - something Giggs and Neville lack. The same goes for Steve Bruce, they are competent managers with plenty of experience. But I think the problem is that many people perceive Hughes and Bruce as mediocre managers - good enough to get by, but they'll never be "top" talent.

Perhaps they are. But why, then, promote Giggs and/or Neville, who might be much worse for all we know?
 
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So Man U should hire a manager who's an ex player, has managed a mid table club quite successfully, given them a good team spirit, improving their performances while playing more attractive football and finishing above where the critics believe they'll finish





David Moyes anyone?
 
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