moanday football thread.
Harry's Allstars can't beat Stevenage.
Police talking to bookmakers as Brighton's defence ensures Liverpool make the quarter finals.
AVB continues to unravel as Chelsea hold Birmingham to credible draw.
Arsenal fall over a bit as their season's ended by in-form Sunderland.
Stoke, Bolton, Leicester and Everton all through.
On his 200th league appearance for Barca, Messi takes his tally for the season to 42.
Niall Quinn quits Sunderland. Wouldn't mind seeing him take up a role at City. He's the sort of humble, classy bloke who'd fit right in here.
Roy Keane to be new Wolves boss.
Simon Grayson going to Huddersfield.
Any other business?
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Warnock and Leeds
or something
Wednesday's poor form continues
And it's the derby this weekend. Not feeling confident at all.
Absolute must win or our automatic promotion chances will be over, with United 8 points clear and 2 games in hand.
I said from day one we wouldn't get promoted with Megson in charge.
we've shown great improvement over the past year
megson has cut the overpaid deadwood from the squad - a squad who were only good enough to finish in the lower reaches of mid table last year. the football isn't pretty (then again, it wasn't under irvine!) but there has been vast improvement all across the board this season.
not only that but mandaric has had to try and get some form of infrastructure implemented at the club. our scouting system was entirely non-existent. money has had to go into other areas of the club other than the playing staff because of the way it was run into the ground by the previous clowns on the board. mandaric and megson have said themselves they didn't realise all the work that needed doing but they have done an exceptional job so far.
i do think megson will get the sack if we don't go up this year, however.
Completely agree
I have no problems with the way Mandaric has run the club and I like everything Megson says about the club and instilling in the players the desire and the need to step up to play for the club.
But some of the signings have been very poor and the tactics haven't changed too much since Irvine. I don't understand how we still haven't signed any permanent wingers. Jones came in from Bury, but he seems to have disappeared!
I said 'club' a lot there in that first paragraph
he seems to insist on playing one of our central midfielders
on the right. first o'connor, now prutton. i was surprised to see o'connor go to america as i'd thought we'd signed him for a full season!
with jermaine johnson injured now would be a good time to bring mike jones into the team. failing that, o'grady did very well as a left winger for rochdale - i'm surprised he hasn't been given a run of games out there to accommodate an extra striker.
has he gone through his full-back fetish yet?
He played Gavin McCann on the wing once. He got sacked after that game.
centre-backs at left back
full backs on the wing
central midfielders at full back
central midfielders on the wing
wingers in central midfield
wingers up front
we've seen a lot of that. sometimes it seems to work, other times it fails miserably.
that said he's a decent manager - he understands the club ethos and the players appear to have bought into his belief. only sturrock and laws have had any reasonable success with that since we dropped out of the premier league.
Roy Keane?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Surely the Wolves board aren't that silly? Literally the only man who'd be worse than Bruce.
If they don't give to to Curbishley they're idiots.
finished article
:D
There's zero info coming out of the club so papers are just making stuff up to fill column inches, it's still most likely going to be Curbishley.
Interesting to see both Steve Morgan and Jez Moxey at Anfield yesterday though. Poyet, perhaps? Or maybe a senior coach at Liverpool who wants to move into management...?
King Kenny!
Maybe whoever Morgan usually goes to Liverpool games with was on holiday, so he had to take Jez instead...
Jamie Carragher & Roy Keane dream team
Make this happen
Morgan's a lifelong Liverpool supporter, isn't he?
Probably just there watching Kenny's Kop Kings effortlessly brush aside the latest visitors to Anfield en route to their glorious treble.
Yeah he is.
It's that Moxey was there too that made it interesting.
All the best to Warnock at Leeds
He's one of those guys who you hate and then he manages your club and you think he's amazing.
He's got his faults (can't wait to hear his standard lines about how great the support is, best ever!) but for what Leeds are trying to achieve he's perfect
I feel for Warnock really - any job he takes he's basically doomed from the outset.
If he doesn't get the team up he'll ultimately be seen as a failure. If he does get the team up he'll be replaced sooner or later for not being good enough for the next level...
-> gets Leeds promoted
-> insists that they are just some poor little minnows trying to have a good old time in the big league, enjoy it while it lasts etc.
-> gets progressively more irked in post-match interviews
-> melts down, gets replaced by whichever manager is currently fishing for a job
The minnows having a good time stuff REALLY grated
Especially after the Man City game. We've just pushed one of the best teams in Europe the distance! Don't fob this off.
Also his 'I said to Tony' proclamations were beginning to sound like what Del Boy's mum said on her deathbed
The guys a nob
but he is good at what he does and Leeds need what he does :/
Not going to enjoy the post match breakdowns half as much now they are about Leeds though.
Oh and he's already came out with how good the Leeds fans are.. I though he sounded sincere too ;)
It's odd, because when we were in the Championship
I was incredibly taken aback by how gracious he was in post match interviews.
Then we got promoted
The biggest news of the weekend
was that Ever Banega ran over himself with his car, breaking his ankle.
*You're just a shit Brian Harvey*
Was this after binging on baked potatoes?
It doesn't say, I'd imagine so.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/ever-banega-reportedly-ran-himself-over-own-car-182512216.html
Haven't seen the goals from the Liverpool game
But saw on the reports that there had been 3 OGs...
I'd like to think Brighton came to the realisation that they were going to lose, so started pissing in their own net to take any credit away from Liverpool - like you would on FIFA if you were getting destroyed.
the guy who did keep ups into the Liverpool goal
:'D
Outsanding stuff.
the third OG is worth seeing
Just seen it.
Great stuff :D
:D
Poor Lewis Dunk.
Local News
Notts County sack Martin Allen
Forest manage to win a game, pulling us out the relegation zone!
Forest win a game
At home!!! Albeit against a side who are on something like a 9 game losing streak away from home, but they all count. In the unlikely event of us winning our game in hand we could be six points clear of the relegation zone, which would be ridiculous considering how shit we are.
Can't say it feels too brilliant to be out of the bottom three at the expense of another club going bust though.
You nicked their manager aswell, fuckers
I couldnt believe the bottom of the tabel, it feels like you havent scored in about 6 months nevermind got a point! We're gonna paste you on the re-arranged match
How are Adlene and Big George doing?
No idea, didn't see the game
Think Boateng's been injured all season. The loan guy from Wolves with the funny name must be doing alright though - he's started and we've won a game (and could have spanked Watford...).
Millwall game was weird
they had the majority of the possession after the early goal, we just seemed content to let them knock it around the park and then balloon a cross over the goal-line.
Then we got bored and scored a second.
Didn't once feel threatened. In fact, it was mainly Bolton fans giving it the large-one, thinking they were the big man which was the problem. Wankers.
No chance we'll get past the quarters, though.
When are fixtures moved for Sky?
Train tickets to Manchester for our game against Utd are already £70 odd
all the time, mate :(
I thought there was a set point by which they had to say this game's going to be on telly?
Ordinarily I'd just go for it, but as it's Easter weekend I'm weary. My dad is desperate to go, but tbh I'd rather save my money and go to WBA
Should be in the next few weeks.
Waiting on it myself 'cos I need to make some plans for April. Chelsea have Newcastle, Arsenal and QPR on Saturdays at 3pm and I know that's not going to happen. It's a bloody ballache having a fixture list and knowing it means fuck all.
Interesting interview with Harry
confirming our interest in Eden Hazard, which of course doesn't qualify as tapping up because we've already had permission from Lille to speak to him (supposedly). Leandro Damiao has also alleged that we've made a bid for him. Pretty exciting stuff after what have been fairly uninspiring transfer dealings during Harry's time at the club, especially during the last couple of seasons. Which has confused some people - Spurs fans included - because it appears that we suddenly have money where we didn't before. But that's the funny thing about money, isn't it - if you don't spend any, you eventually end up with quite a lot.
And I don't think it was ever the case that we didn't have money to spend, just that there was nothing to spend it on. We had a strong interest in Juan Mata, but he went to Chelsea; strong interest, too, in Falcao and Luis Suarez, but our scouts doubted their suitability to our system; strong interest in Rossi, but felt Villarreal were asking over the odds; strong interest in Carroll, in Dzeko, in probably plenty of other £20m+ players I've forgotten about, we were just either unsure about their value or unable to compete with other clubs.
Now, though, we're both an attractive proposition to players - certainly ahead of Chelsea and Arsenal, if only for the time being - as well as in a position where serious investment could realistically produce tangible results, i.e. long-term contention for the Premier League title. Plus there are issues of convincing Harry to stay or sending out a signal to potential new managers about our ambitions, but either way, it looks like Daniel Levy is going to take the financial plunge and really make everyone else shit themselves.
Spurs suddenly being linked with good players seems a bit fishy...
given that they'll be looking for a new manager in the very near future.
When do next year's season tickets go on sale?
Not that fishy
Not fishy at all, in fact - teams sign players between managerial regimes all the time. Look at Chelsea. It takes months to scout a player, especially at a club like Spurs where there's heavy involvement in the process at all levels. We supposedly don't have a director of football anymore, but plenty of our signings have been made with very little input from Harry (Sandro and Van der Vaart, for example). And bringing in a new manager can take months too. So if we just gave up on all our long-term targets now, knowing that Harry probably won't be at the club come the end of the season, and instead kept all our funds available for the new manager to spend, we could be left with less than a month to scout and negotiate with a raft of new signings who had previously not even been on the radar of the club. That's no way to run things. That's no way to run things at all.
How many big players are going to want to sign for a club
when they don't know who the manager will be?
Loads, if Chelsea are anything to go by.
Many will quite happily sign for sides that aren't in the CL too, as plenty of recent evidence suggests.
when do season tickets go on sale, though?
all smells a bit Rivaldo-y to me.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2002/aug/01/newsstory.sport4
Memories.
Qu Bo
:D
bollocks does it take months
you go on player search, filter the positions you want, request "report card only" on the three most expensive results, then buy the one who comes out on top
I am certain that's what Dalglish has been doing at any rate
Is there anyone Eden Hazard has flirted with recently?
The minute I read any transfer rumour story that makes reference to a release clause I tend to switch off. Even when they're true, they sound like the fantastical ramblings of Football Manager enthusiasts.
*hasn't
fml
The thing that pisses me off when release clauses are mentioned
is the implication always seems to be that the player would only be available at that price, which is often bollocks. Porto, for example, would surely let Hulk go for significantly less than £80m or whatever it is.
Pretty sure I read that Spurs net outlay in the last 5 years
was £76m. Only spent less than Liverpool and Chelsea. This may or may not be true.
(Imagine spending all that money on nets though, right!?!!)
Possibly
Most of that would have been during the first 2 of those 5 years though. During the last 3 years, it's been nothing.
Hmmm, fair enough
It would suggest that money isn't a massive problem though. I assume Bale/Modric et al are all being paid megabucks now though? That's what I thought 'chance to play in the Champions League' effectively means. Chelsea shouldn't have a problem attracting players because even without the CL they'll still be minted, can see Arsenal being squeezed out though.
Anyway, another exciting summer transfer window to look forward too zzzzzzzzzzzzz
Went to the Sunderland Game, got a free pie as they had made too many
and found someelese program so save abot a £10
Game was good apart from the announcer was obviously dunk
I don't understand how a drunk announcer can be the only thing about the game that wasn't good
Can only see it adding to the experience...
One of my favo things about actually going to the game is immersing myself in the full experience
this took away from it as I couldnt here him say
Oh, not being able to hear it is a different matter. Thought you meant he drunken ramblings
It is a right pain in the arse when you can't hear a PA system properly.
Yeah the man was either drunk or the muffler was on the PA?, you would have thought a Pro would have removed it before
Maybe first day? if so sorry for the man but he has gone to learn some time? hasnt he?
*you would have thought a Pro would have removed it before?
:'')
Liverpool's name's definitely on the cups, isn't it?
Thinking about the good fortune they've had in pretty much every round - questionable officiating decisions at Stoke, the David Luiz non-pen for Chelsea at Stamford Brigge, in both legs against City (our best players suddenly becoming unavailable just before the first leg due to suspensions, injuries, illness, international duty, them getting two pens, one when there was no contact, one for an accidental handball, us being denied two, iirc for fouls on Dzeko and Silva), Oldham spunking about five clear-cut chances in the first half-hour of their game at Anfield, three OGs yesterday.
If they play like they did second half yesterday then i've no qualms about seeing them win either or both...especially if it keeps Dalglish in a job.
[some of the above may sound like sour grapes...but, y'know, it was the League Cup, like].
Not really sure we've been that lucky thus far in either cup.
I mean we deserved to beat you over 2 legs and drawing United isn't all that lucky. However we've been very fortunate to have home legs in all 4 rounds of the FA Cup so far it has to be said. 2 of them against lower league opposition. And the semis are at Wembley aren't they so if we get there we'll have been very fortunate with that.
Don't worry though - we'll get Spurs in the next round (Stoke game notwithstanding) and they'll hump us and hump us hard.
No doubt that Liverpool were just about the better side over two legs.
Though we wouldn't have been at all worried about not beating them at home had we suddenly not found ourselves without Kompany, Silva, Toure, etc...and i said, both penalties were incorrectly awarded (though in truth, in real time you can see why either could be given).
Injuries and bad decisions are part of the game, though...but Liverpool certainly seem to have been getting a few go their way in the knockout competitions.
Aye, fair enough.
We've had a bit of bad luck in the league (where was that stat about how we'd hit the woodwork more than the rest of the top 6 combined) so I'm not going cry about it.
That said Suarez's undeserved suspension has probably taken up most of our lack of fortune...
subthread
With the Niall Quinn thing, what other players are pretty much universally liked?
I don't mean icons of the game though, because that's too obvious. I reckon Matt Le Tissier, I think even Portsmouth fans will admit that.
Friedel, Given, Kevin Phillips...
Ba, Jose Enrique, Modric, Scholes, Hart, Silva?
scholes?
nay chance.
Zola...
I'm not sure how Jose Enrique has sneaked in there too. I'm pretty 'meh' about him to be honest.
if were talking retired players...
Irwin, Bergkamp, Rob Lee?
Okocha
Sir Chris Powell
:D
Gary Speed
:(
Bebe
Les Ferdinand
Demba Ba's contract...
means he gets 50% of any transfer fee Newcastle get from him. They also paid his agent a one-off fee of £2m to sign him. The release clause in his contract is £7m, meaning Newcastle will make roughly £1.5m on him when he moves on, not taking into account his wages.
Sounds like Hoffenheim got royally shafted. They agreed a deal with West Ham of £500k upfront then £25k per game (or £10k per game if they were relegated) that he played for them after the end of his first season. He they agreed a relegation release clause with West Ham, so Hoffenheim only got £500k in total for a player Stoke were willing to give them £6m for.
This is all from David Sullivan.
It also sounds like United have got a buy-back option on Ravel Morrison. Newcastle offered them £4m, but wouldn't agree to any clauses. West Ham offered £2m in total (half upfront, half in add-ons), so United sent him there knowing they can have him back if he stays out of prison.
* willing before his medical, obv.
thats £2m foregone in my book
I can see Newcastle trying to renegiotiate something with Ba
it happened with Tiote when it turned out he was actually good in the Premier League and the rumour rags started mentioning his name.
Chelsea are being linked with Bielsa apparently.
Given how our squad reacted to AVB's 'radical' ideas, I'd quite like to see John Terry trying to get to grips with a 3-3-1-3
I love Bielsa.
Might start a 'Bielsa to Wolves' rumour, see if it sticks...
international news
james mcclean called up by the republic of ireland having previously been left out of the squad. if i were trapattoni i'd be inclined to start him against the czechs.
matty phillips selected for scotland, having previously played for england's under 20 team. they've got themselves a very good player.
aaron hughes returns for northern ireland in michael o'neill's first squad.
McClean's a left winger, right?
I reckon he and Ward combining down the left could be a really good attacking outlet for Ireland.
yeah he plays on the left
i agree than he and ward could do a very good job on the left. with duff edging closer to international retirement (he's 33 this year) he's a good bet to be on the left for ireland for the next decade.
McClean and Jarvis look very similar types of player.
And Ireland play not dissimilar to Wolves (which is helped by having so many current and ex-Wolves players in the team).
Will be interesting to see how they work together.
i really rate Matt Phillips.
i don't see him becoming any lesser a player than several of the turkeys England have tried on the right wing since Beckham stopped performing about ten years ago, Adam Johnson included.
i'd have Phillips at City as a squad player, certainly.
the loan spell
at sheffield united seems to have paid dividends. he was a squad player at blackpool until he went there - fitted in perfectly with danny wilson's brand of attacking football, similar to the style that holloway has them playing at blackpool.
he'll be a premiership player next season, whether that's with blackpool or another club.
regarding McClean
was there a reason why Bruce never played him? Was he really just that incompetent or has he just come ridiculously good recently?
When he was signed Bruce said he would play the first part of the season in the reserves while he got up to speed.
For all his many failings, it looks like this is one time he's not going to get credit for being bang on the money.
heard somewhere over the weekend that...
Bruce scouted him and signed him, but thought he needed half a season of reserve team football befoe making the jump up, which is fair enough, i guess.
really enjoying watching him, but i'm not convinced bunging him in the side during an injury crises is quite the managerial masterstroke people would have you believe.
another young player i'd be very happy for us to sign providing the fee wasn't extortionate. think he'll end up a top club sooner rather than later.
Problem with Mclean is he is very one dimensional
ie, gets his head down runs to the bye-line then whips one in. Give it another few weeks and he'll be completely worked out. We will then see whether he has a plan b. Cannot knock his workrate tho...man,this cat puts in a shift
Aye.
He's a bit of a throwback - effective at the minute but not someone the English Barca™ should be persuing IMO.
Curbs has chinned Wolves off.
Top stuff. He's been out of work for years, is dying to get back into management, but puts long-term principles first and turns down the job. Always have liked Curbishley (if not actually watching his teams...)
Looks like it's Steve Bruce lads. Bet you can't wait for that.
I really don't think it will be Bruce.
The club are well aware that there would be a huge backlash, and they don't want to upset fans while ticket sales are in the balance. His personality would clash too much, too, with the existing staff and players, I think. I am fully prepared to eat my words, though.
Moxey said at the weekend they're talking to managers currently at other clubs as well as those currently out of work - and we're such a tight-lipped club that any candidates offered by the bookies are based on guesswork and little else.
Both Morgan and Moxey at Anfield yesterday, when you'd expect them to be busy canvassing candidates, makes me think that Poyet must under consideration. But as I say, it's all conjecture - we just don't let info slip. We told Greg Halford to leave the club because he tweeted that we were in contract negotiations with a player last January, Wolves don't like information leaking out - and it means that the 24 hour news cycle has to rely on rumour piled upon rumour.
Poyet??
They said the job has to go to a seasoned professional. Don't think Gus quite has the chops for it yet. Wouldn't surprise me if they were sniffing around Ian Holloway though. Think it's the sort of job he'd turn up in.
I fucking hate Steve Bruce.
Quite a bit of money going on Souness, apparently.
12/1 now.
That said, Graham Taylor's down to 20/1, so i wouldn't take too much notice.
I still think Dave Jones will get it.
Hmm...
...whilst I would love to see Dave Jones having another crack in the 'Prem (I loved his Southampton side of the late '90s) I can't see him going back to Wolves. Don't think he'd take them back, would he?
Good bloke is Dave Jones. Deserves a top job. Reckon if he'd taken Cardiff up he'd have made a Stoke out of 'em.
Dave Jones was a Hayward appointment.
Experience manager given loads of cash to spend on established stars who then found themselves totally unable to compete back in the top flight once they got there. When he left the team was an absolute shambles and in the bottom half of the Championship.
Morgan has stated many times that Wolves will focus on younger players now with the longer-term in mind. Dave Jones, apart from the way it all fell apart towards the end, wouldn't work in the slightest these days with our setup.
Souness is realistic.
Taylor, less so.
Yeah, Poyet would be a surprise, but if you rule out Curbishley and Bruce then who's left?
There are rumours of approaches for Poyet, Holloway, and McDermott at Reading, but as I say, it's all conjecture based on absolutely nothing from the club. Moxey was on SSN on Saturday and refused to name a single name.
My personal belief is, if we can't get Curbishley, then we're more likely to go for an up-and-coming manager rather than someone who might piss off the fans even more, like Bruce. Morgan's all about long-term planning - the stadium, the new youth academy - so one season back in the Championship isn't the end of the world.
How about getting Glenn Hoddle back?
Heh.
Jfc.
Don't make me try to pick between Dave Jones and Glenn Hoddle.
*He.
It's Lee Clark!
and Betfair are still taking bets on it at around 3/1
interesting article about arsenal dealing with their tactical shortcomings
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/feb/20/arsenal-flaws-exposed-sunderland-hybrid
when Arsenal's chief exec started giving it Billy Big Spuds in the press at the end of January...
i had a feeling Arsenal's season might be over quite soon.
they've become so bad that i'm actually starting to grow fond of them.
this is like alex ferguson patting wenger on the head.
when forzaborza ceases to pull the piss out of arsenal, times are bad.
By an Arsenal supporter
Very biased.
(I haven't read it)
Fergie...
reveals he could've signed Joe Hart for £100k, and desribes him as the best goalkeeper we've seen in England for 20 years.
Interesting.
its not really
He missed out on farzel haar too, a while back
Malaga's Joaquin Sanchex was breastfed until the age of seven
When we played football in the town square, the other lads would run to the water fountain for a drink; I ran to my mum's tits.
I don't know why you would share that information with anybody
I thought people might find it funny. Sor-REE.
I meant, sharing the information that you were breastfed until the age of seven.
:D
She must have been the Niagra Falls of lactation
His champions league final joke as well
I wish he was playing in England
Stoke appeal Delaps red card.
Do clubs know that the appeals process isn't supposed to be for "c'mon ref-fer-eeee, that was never a foul" cases?
What did I tell you - SSN reporting Wolves have asked Brighton to speak to Poyet.
#itk #onion
I hope we say no.
the bookies must be laughing their cocks off.
the word on the grapevine's been Clark all day.
14s to even favourite, which indicates there's been serious money gone on him across the board.
Bah :(
And I'm one of those suckers who just lumped on Clark. Was reading that he'd had a meeting this morning and it was done earlier.
Seen that rumour going around all day, but could never find a source that wasn't a blog dressed up as a news site.
that's not how a bookie works now is it.
looking forward to Srallex on MNC, tonight
shame it's with that chump Spoony, tho
haven't heard of Spoony.
is he dubstep as well?
Fergie on 5live
seems like a nice guy! talking, laughing and stuff
Paul Lambert after Saturday's defeat
"Nobody would thank me if we got to the semi-final, got knocked out and then got relegated."
That's the Norwich who are currently fourteen points off the relegation places with thirteen games left.
Magic Of The Cup