Agreed. I’ve not seen the photos etc, but if what is being said is true, and worse there has been some kind of coverup, it’s quite sad. These things do seem to happen far too often. Let’s hope things get resolved quickly for a change.
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The 2021-2022 Football Thread
- Thread starter Scepticalscribe
- Start date
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An absolutely shocking story. The evidence appears not only highly damning but quite appalling in nature - I feel greatly for the victim first and foremost, and hope justice is done. The club will certainly face some hard questions over this, and rightly so.
Not sure this is an upgrade, but doesn't feel as inherently wrong as Benitez did from day one. Of course the first job is to get us a few places up on the table and stop flirting with the relegation zone, then - on a bit longer term to start regularly challenging for a top 6 spot (and the occasional top 4), as we did during _most_ of Moyes' reign.
richmond will be awesome next season. as is coach lasso. same with keeley, rebecca and roy.
anywhoos, it beats american footdull any day of the week.
anywhoos, it beats american footdull any day of the week.
Liverpool have ostensibly signed a Sadio Mané replacement in the form of Porto's winger/wide forward Luis Díaz. On paper this looks like a another good signing - a direct replacement for an aging player in terms of position, the right age, not overly expensive (by the standards of the current market). Still, he has big shoes to fill so fingers crossed.
Milner, Mané, Firmino, Ox, Keita, Minamino Origi - these are all players that could move in the summer (though I tend to doubt Liverpool will move on all of those at once). The Salah contract situation remains unresolved as well. So there is plenty of work to be done to sort out the squad beyond the end of this season.
Milner, Mané, Firmino, Ox, Keita, Minamino Origi - these are all players that could move in the summer (though I tend to doubt Liverpool will move on all of those at once). The Salah contract situation remains unresolved as well. So there is plenty of work to be done to sort out the squad beyond the end of this season.
My primary criticism of Everton's recent series of managerial appointments is that they reveal no pattern indicative of a broader strategic plan or preferred tactical philosophy. Lampard's appointment continues this shotgun approach. At this point supporters are just happy to be shot of Rafa, but I doubt they'll achieve anything under Lampard. We shall see.
I disagree. I think he's got a point to prove and as he did at Derby, will get some good results and end up winning the fans over.
He may not be great, but he's good enough, I feel.
Deadline Day:
I really hope he remains well and does great things with Brentford.
As a Saints fan, I am interested to see Matt Targett go to NUFC. He's not bad, but wasn't good enough for us a few years ago and while he's been pretty solid at AVFC, he's gone a bit off the boil. Hope he does well though - seems a nice chap. Much like Harry Reed at Fulham - another good one we let slip...
What's happened so far today?
These are the major moves that have been confirmed involving Premier League teams so far today. Click on the name to read all about each move.- Donny van de Beek [Manchester United - Everton] Loan
- Deniz Undav [Royale Union Saint-Gilloise - Brighton] Undisclosed
- Matt Targett [Aston Villa - Newcastle] Loan
- Dejan Kulusevski [Juventus - Tottenham] Loan
- Rodrigo Bentancur [Juventus - Tottenham] £15.9m
- Julian Alvarez [River Plate - Manchester City] £14.1m (returns on loan to River Plate until July)
- Wout Weghorst [Wolfsburg - Burnley] £12m
- Christian Eriksen [Unattached - Brentford]
I really hope he remains well and does great things with Brentford.
As a Saints fan, I am interested to see Matt Targett go to NUFC. He's not bad, but wasn't good enough for us a few years ago and while he's been pretty solid at AVFC, he's gone a bit off the boil. Hope he does well though - seems a nice chap. Much like Harry Reed at Fulham - another good one we let slip...
Agree on the Christian Erickson story. I expect he’ll get a good reception wherever he goes.
Truth is, Everton think they should be one of the big six. But ther really (normally) a top half side at best. Too good to go down. Not quite good enough for Europe (most years). Good cup run if your lucky.
There's a few clubs I throw in that bucket (normally):
- Everton
- Spurs
- Hammers
- Leicester
- Villa
Then there are the ones that flirt with disaster and end up near mid-table every year (and occasionally lose the will to live and end up relegated):
- Palace
- Saints
- Toon
- Wolves
- Watford
- Burnley
- Norwich
- Leeds
- Brentford
Nothing lasts forever in football. Teams time at the top come and go. One things for sure. It will be a good while before Preston NE get back to their glory days!
Now there's a blast from the past!!
I remember back in the 70's there were all manner of now unfashionable names that were 1st Division stalwarts - PNE being one of them. Along with Derby, Blades, QPR, Coventry, Birmingham...
Lol. Ipswich were a good side for a while. Forget about that.
I love this as a description of PNE:
For one of the oldest professional clubs in England, Preston North End FC has had a surprisingly underwhelming history -- at least silverware-wise. Though they’ve won two First Division titles and two FA Cups, they’ve spent the biggest part of their history in the lower divisions of English football. They play their home games at Deepdale, the oldest continuously used football stadium in the world.
Preston North End won the first ever double (the league championship - and the FA Cup) in 1889, a feat that was repeated by Aston Villa in 1897.
This achievement then remained tantalisingly out of reach for several decades, until Spurs eventually managed it in 1961.
Preston were also the original ‘Invincibles’, going undefeated in the league in ‘88-‘89. Eighteen eighty eight, that is.
I agree, sort of.
The biggest problem is that _some_ managers have been given the sack a bit prematurely, and some maybe a bit too late, and then Ancelotti who got a better gig and quit, so all in all, we've been changing managers too often... and - as you say - often the new appointment is just "the best we could get, with the money and posistion we've got", and not necessarily following any kind of plan.
Much like Man Utd, but just more frequently, and with near-disasterous results, or at least some of those spending the most money and getting the least in return for the last decade or so...
I think we've been roughly 7th or 8th in terms of turnaround (and thus spending power and wages) in the 10-15 years, and thus - on a purely financial league table - will have to over perform slightly to (regularly) be in the top 6, and punch well above our weight to (very occasionaly) end in the top 4.
So we won't always succeed being up there, but I think we should aspire to fight for a top 6 spot and thus manage to qualify for EURO play every other year or so.
Moyes managed this before going to Man Utd. After a disasterous start with a near relegation, mind you, but we still stuck with him, and were rewarded with about 10 years of being a good team, one of "the best of the rest". And - in the short run - that's all I ask for. Now, if Lampard is the man to do this, only time will tell. I kind of prefer him over Rooney or Big Dunc, but I'm still not sure if he will be the one who can make us make a believable challenge for the 6th or 5th or even 4th place most years.
As to a good cup run, I would love that, but lets face it, we're not particularly good at that, and haven't really challenged for that since winning the FA cup in '95 (!).
The most crazy thing is what happened the next year when Nottingham Forest, who was promoted as the 3rd and last club, won...and went on to win the Champions Cup _twice_ just to fade away again...
In slightly more up to date football news, good bit of business for you @Scepticalscribe yesterday. Getting Barcelona to take on those huge wages was a master stroke. Saved you £28 million.
Indeed.
Mind you, it had not escaped my notice that the onset of the marked decline in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's performance (commitment, motivation, passion, interest, focus, not to mention the minor matter of goals scored) dates from almost immediately after he put his signature to his most recent contract extension with Arsenal, the one which brought his weekly wage to in excess of £300,000 per week.
Nevertheless, it is striking that the current rather bizarre football economics have meant that:
1): Our former captain departs on a free transfer,
2): This happened with 18 months remaining on his Arsenal contract,
3): And - notwithstanding the absurdity of this, a free transfer plus 18 months remaining on his contract - it still made some sort of economic sense to release him (in fact, send him winging on his merry way),
4): After all of that, I believe that Barcelona (whose financial headaches are legendary) managed to persuade our former captain to take a wage cut.
Now, as with Ozil, it all ended with a regrettably sour taste, but, Aubameyang is no longer a kid, and, moreover, was the team captain, and - frankly - failed to deliver both as a footballer or to take responsibility as a leader of some sort on the pitch.
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Supposedly Moshiri, in addition to being relatively free with his money, also likes to get involved with big club decisions, which (given his inexperience) partially explains the scattergun approach to hiring managers.
As I see it, the owner, club and fans should be less worried about moving up the world and more worried about maintaining 7th/6th in the league - just doing that will cost more money every season. To put it another way, with Newcastle's rise Everton are no longer the 7th wealthiest club in the league, so staying in that position is going to be harder than ever, let alone a push for something higher.
Arsenal are looking a bit threadbare now. You could argue that the departures were necessary to maintain Arteta's authority, but nobody has come in. This season looks like a wash, and a raft of summer signings is going to be needed.
Agreed, they are more than a bit threadbare, but - in a way - that is better than ageing (and underperforming) bloat we could ill afford.
Some of the youngsters are progressing nicely, although their development will take time.
Re Aubameyang, while I think his departure was necessary to maintain Arteta's authority, (and, at his age, such disciplinary issues ought not arise), I also think that - had Aubameyang been turning in decent - or even half-decent - performances - it might have been a bit more difficult to argue in favour of his departure.