4117 réponses à ce sujet

[OBakaSama]

Was noted on the websites and also TV. I think the context is, to be fair, whether he will get to be England manager in the future to which his answer was.....here. Given age and everything it is unlikely if Roy manages to do a good job; though with the media against him....

I assume that Ferguson would try and get him to make a decent woman out of her and get them to settle down. If memory serves that's what he did with most of his players so they were more emotionally stable (I guess). I think he doesn't want his players to be distracted by their hormones too much. Which....well...in Kagawa's case if true.....er.....draw your own conclusion.

Indeed. Rooney seems more of a form player, though he has been scoring this season. Personally I still can't believe his goal was voted as the best in Premier League history. I mean, it's good but...the 'best'? Criteria thing again I guess.

We know that, but do their fans? Hm.....

Haven't seen that yet. It was a week of cracking goals though it seems.

The balls do favour the outfield players more it would seem. Now....given how players used to hit the balls when they were heavy, so players like Pele, Bobby Charlton, etc. imagine how players of their ability are around now with the equipment/technology now. Conversely, let's have an old fashioned game with the old balls and footwear and see how modern players handle it (after a fair bit of training of course). Would be interesting to see the results I think from a fitness point of view.

Well...Chelsea won the FA Cup. And the Carroll effort was never a goal, despite the commentators arguing that it was debatable. The clearest angle suggests that a huge chunk of the ball never crossed the line. It's true that the decision could have gone either way though. Can Chelsea pull off a victory over Bayern Munich is the question now.

I know, I know. Would have loved them to have beaten them as well. Still....pretty good stuff. I heard we had a couple of good penalty shouts not given; might have even won the game. Still able to score against the bigger teams, if only we can defend.... Hopefully Lambert will make that a priority come the transfer window. Making the assumption he stays of course.

[Druss99]

Ah I see. Spurs resurgence is pissing me right off, its getting him off the hook with all the comments about how now the England situation is cleared up Spurs are winning again. Playing your best players in their actual positions(seriously, how longs it take to spot that Gareth Bale isn't a striker, support striker, right winger or central midfielder and that Luka Modric isn't a left winger?), having Aaron Lennon back from injury and playing teams on awful form at the bottom of the league would have nothing to do with winning these games?

Maybe after the whole Rooney and Giggs fiasco's dating a porn star isn't that bad. Though I did hear that the journalist who started that story was infact a fake account and theres no evidence that Kagawa actually said that, just twitter quotes that all the football websites picked up without checking out. Seems thats how things go now.

I thought it was crushingly inevitable but don't agree with it. I'd have gone for Cantona against Sunderland or Yeboah against Liverpool. What would you have gone for?

I've no idea what their fans know anymore, it seems to change based on what they want to moan about/declare a sign of it going to be their year next year.

I don't think I'd fancy hitting one of those old balls. Although I may be confusing them with medicine balls, quick tip: don't attempt to kick a medicine ball.

I just saw a replay of the Carroll effort on ESPN, they used fancy computerised technology to prove that the ball never crossed the line but still kept going on about it. It was....odd. I'm still praying for a Bayern win, apparently its the same day as the Championship playoff final which has enraged Ian Holloway.

I'll hold off on putting a curse on Norwich for now.

[OBakaSama]

Oh indeed. The thing is...well...the media are helping him with damage limitation now anyway it would seem. The Iron Gerbil questioned why it took so long, and the press had even (momentarily) managed to spin other a German point of view to agree that the process was wrong. Still dreading The Iron Gerbil being a pundit on the BBC, is it? Might be one of the few times that the BBC coverage shouldn't be the better choice....

Ah...Twitter....oh dear. Still, might have been amusing if true all the same.

Cantona's strike was sweet. Certainly be my choice. Thing is with these sort of things is that those freshest in mind tend to be the popular vote. Always the problem with polls really.

At this moment in time I am wondering whether Liverpool supporters will be claiming this season to be a success. In terms of trophies then...they've got one; and not all teams can claim that. I would question whether that's enough given the disposition to claim Liverpool is a top club.

Medicine balls: not recommended to play football with. I have in mind the old leather balls myself. I also had in mind that news article claiming that it was ineffective for soldiers to have worn suits of armour back in the day for battle. (Sure, a modern man can't do anything in a suit of armour but to then claim that the people in the past, who were likely to have been conditioned to wear them and fight in them, couldn't do anything is a dodgy inference.)

I think there was a brief Hawkeye-like showing on ITV's coverage as well. It was only the commentators who made it seem that it was questionable. With goal-line technology such silly claims would stop. Or will they?

Thanks. Only Aston Villa left to play for us. Would be good to end the season with a flourish that's for sure. And it looks like the last two Champions League places are still up for grabs. The relegation battle is looking good too, if that makes any sense. It seems that Bob's team will be heading down unless they can beat Wigan. For some reason I fancy Wigan's chances in that game than Blackburn.

[OBakaSama]

Didn't expect to see Blackburn get a result against Wigan (though if I were being picky they did get a result, just that they lost the game), and....they're relegated. Venky's cunning plan coming into fruition?

Third relegation place is still up for grabs between Bolton and QPR who have to play Stoke and Man City respectively. With Stoke being a bit hit-and-miss this season I can see Bolton getting a win; or at least a win for them would be easier than a win for QPR. Bolton must win to have a chance of staying up; QPR need a draw to be certain. Bolton aren't going to make up that goal difference.

Also read that West Ham are through to the play-off final.

[Druss99]

Yip he's on the BBC, being paid a fortune to sit there and say nothing until its time to undermine Roy. Great, now both Redknapps are on tv offering nothing but annoyance and I'm paying for both of them. Atleast if they were on ITV we wouldn't be paying for them. I found this article a decent read...http://www.football3...oy-On-The-Radio

Indeed thats the very reason I knew it was going to be Rooney's goal, that and there's an ad on tv constantly re-showing it as if its the most glorious strike ever. Yeboah nearly took the bloody crossbar off and David James admitted to having nightmares about that strike for years. Cantona's was a ****** though, Le Tissier had a few brilliant ones. Beckham's wouldn't have been in if it was anyone else, all he basically did was punt the ball into an empty net. Surprisingly few freekicks, I expected some Riise or Robert in there.

Undoubtedly its a sign that next year will be their year...

I'm not sure why I equate those old balls with medicine balls. It's all a load of balls. I've seen modern men using armour quite effectively, there's often shows on the Discovery channels about such things. I'd assume people in the past would have trained for using them like you said, not just fired one on, fell over then declared it useless.

It doesn't seem that way, ESPN were trying to drag comments out of Di Matteo and Dalglish about it. The answer seemed to be "How could I see from the halfway line? You have tv and just told me it wasn't in, what do you want me to say?" Paraphrasing ofcourse. It was...awkward. I expect thats the future when hawkeye comes in. Actually theres a show on ESPN now call Press Pass, its an ok show from what I've seen, ex-pro's giving opinions and talking nonsense, good times. Steve Nicol is currently claiming the linesman should have given it as a goal, not because it crossed the line but because it should have looked to him like it did. They just can't win. Shaka Hislop is a decent pundit but who isn't compared to The Copper Rat?

I watched bits of the Blackburn - Wigan match, it was hard to watch with an awful atmosphere, strange things kept happening. At half time Bob came out and called the Wigan(not a typo, he called the other teams players in) players back in while paramedics were called to Blackburns dressing room for Gael Givet. Then it emerges during the second half he had just tweaked his hamstring. I was left confused. The pitch invasion and fans surrounding Paul Robinson, one clearly ranting at him while Robinson looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him, was morbid. I missed the chicken incident but just saw a replay on ESPN, what next for Bob and Blackburn? Am I right in thinking Wigan are safe?

Didn't hear that about West Ham, I also didn't realise it was a bank holiday so it seems my finger isn't exactly on the pulse.

Modifié par Druss99, 07 mai 2012 - 10:57 .

[OBakaSama]

Knowing the influence of The Iron Gerbil and his ilk in the impending coverage of the Euros....well...been a bit apathetic towards international tournaments for quite a while now, but that just might be the final nail in the coffin for me. At least for this tournament anyway..... Actually...I guess there's always the radio.

It's why I think polls tend to lack that...impartiality as it were. Usually it's pretty much a flavour of the moment thing. Maybe in a few years time or longer there will be more perspective. As for freekicks....I don't think the technique is in question just that goals from open play are more impressive because it's usually spur of the moment (genius as it were).

I'm sure it will be......

Goodness knows what the depth of the study was, but the apparent conclusion seems wrong to me. It seems like giving Messi a pair of boots and a ball made back in the...say 60s for argument's sake and telling him to play his game.

The interviewers will always try something I think. Currently not too enamoured with ITV football coverage as the comments they made regarding the non-goal is a bit....well....unbalanced. And whatever happened to the apparent criterion that the person has to be certain in order to make the appropriate decision? Seemingly out of the window....

That sounds like more a ploy from Bob to try and unsettle Wigan to me. Maybe....hm...overthinking again. Or is Bob indeed a master manipulator? And yeah, Wigan are now safe. Why they put themselves into this position year after year is strange.

Oh well...don't think you missed much about it being a bank holiday.

Just had a look at today's game of Liverpool against Chelsea. 3-0 up before the break. Crikey.

[OBakaSama]

Well...that game between Liverpool and Chelsea finished 4-1 in Liverpool's favour. Blimey! A definite 'what if' scenario there.

Seems there are rumblings that Arsenal are to sign M'Vila (yeah, I see Wenger denying it). Will that bear fruit or just the usual gossip? The press are certainly making Arsenal seem busy with the transfer talk.

It's a curious situation over at Blackburn at the moment. Will Venky's run Blackburn into the ground? The FA's fit and proper persons test is really inadequate for what it is supposed to prevent, if we assume it is to protect the interests of the clubs.

EDIT: further on the 'fit and proper persons' test (which has been renamed apparently) and this makes for interesting reading, though I admit that it can be somewhat worrying and provoked an 'are you serious?!?' from me. The stance the FA takes is apparently they are not responsible for whether the owner is competent to run a club (success is of course a different consideration). So....what precisely is the test for then? The last part seems at odds with the idea that competency does not play a part as these prospective owners have to show that the club would be financially sustainable. I take it then the FA would reject a takeover if the prospective owner cannot show how the club would be financially sustainable; in which case they still have to answer for the Portsmouth debacle. Which of the owners had managed to show that Portsmouth were financially sustainable that it changed hands (seemingly quite often) in the last few years?

EDIT 2: after reading this it sounds like Defoe is no experiencing The Iron Gerbil's (in)famous man management skills.

Modifié par OBakaSama, 11 mai 2012 - 09:47 .

[Druss99]

Best thing about tournaments is the barely known player having a blinder and ending up at a top team afterwards. Trying to spot that player is often...fun...

I'm just biased and partial to a good freekick, about 90% of them seem to end up in the stands so when they go in it feels special.

ITV have always been like that, they pick and choose replays ignoring incidents that don't suit their particular agenda. But then most broadcasters do that, MOTD can be very misleading too.

I genuinely don't even know what to say about Blackburn. I saw that PL interview on SSN where the guy said that about them not garanteeing competency and it was baffling, aslong as you have the cash you can have a club. Did you hear about the Blackburn director being sacked for calling for Bob's head?

Liverpool - Chelsea was bizarre, Liverpool played well but Chelsea were laughable, they must be glad Lionheart is suspended against Bayern because he was truly awful. I can't remember ever seeing a professional footballer get nutmegged twice in one game before, his slip for Henderson's goal was truly inspired too.

The M'vila rumours have been rumbling for a while, time will tell. Sir Alex and Mike Phelan are at the German cup final tonight to watch I assume Dortmund players or they would have waited for the CL final to watch Bayern players. It's assumed its Kagawa they are there to see. They clearly mean business because Mike Phelan isn't wearing his shorts.

I was going to pose the question of outside of the obvious candidates peoples most hated footballers. Defoe would have been well up on my list, I can't stand him and quite frankly he isn't a top class striker, mid table at best. The strangest thing is why does The Iron Gerbil want him to stay? He clearly doesn't fit into their system. He was on that A League of their Own last night(I watch it to see if it will genuinely make me throw up some week) last night and good god it was horrendous, you'd think he was Jesus, Alice Cooper and Chuck Norris all rolled into one person. He got an ovation for his scoring record which considering how long he's been in the PL is a tad crap.

[OBakaSama]

It can be. Then that player will be highly sought by clubs around Europe, and his club will inflate the asking price. Cue transfer shenanigans....

Yeah, looking at the stats of some games shows that can be a problem even on MOTD. No show can really be neutral. ITV's commentary team were just a bit blatant in their opinion, which made sense given the evidence that was presented to the viewer. In general, when I'm reading match reports online I expect certain incidents to be shown and sometimes they're not.

I'm not sure if even having cash is a prerequisite to owning a club now (such is my faith in the FA in handling such affairs). I read about him being sacked after his plea letter about the direction of the club and the sacking of Bob got leaked out. Venky's probably thought he was just asking for a pay rise....

The Lionheart: all brave 'n' all that, but couldn't play for squat during that match.

That does indeed sound like serious business if Phelan isn't wearing shorts....or....maybe the club requested he had to wear suitable attire....

The Iron Gerbil moves in mysterious ways. After all, who would open a bank account in their pet's name? And Defoe being touted as being greater than Chuck Norris? What has the world come to? One must despair at such things.... Anyway...looking on Wikipedia (yeah....) I would suggest Defoe's best period was when he on loan at Portsmouth where he scored in all his appearances for the club. Granted he only made the one appearance during that loan spell, but he scored in it! Seriously though, his best spell was playing for Bournemouth and then Portsmouth. His strike rate for his second spell at Tottenham may be better than his first.

Not actually sure who else would be on my hated list...the vast majority don't really earn my ire. I could mention some cheating incidents though that doesn't quite do it....

[OBakaSama]

That was a humdinger of a final day of the Premier League.

Man City managed to win the league in the final moments when it looked like it was slipping away in Man Utd's favour.

The tussle for survival for Bolton and QPR, with Barton going somewhat crazy.

Liverpool continue to convince.

All three promoted sides survive their first season in the Premier League. Chuffed with Norwich's win over Aston Villa.

[superduperkoala]

United lost the title in 5 mins. Guess I will remember 2012 for this instead of the last 5 mins of ME3.

[Torrible]

superduperkoala wrote...

United lost the title in 5 mins. Guess I will remember 2012 for this instead of the last 5 mins of ME3.

What was that saying...something about...still a better ending than ME3? [smilie]http://social.bioware.com/images/forum/emoticons/devil.png[/smilie]  AGUERO = LEGEND!

[superduperkoala]

Torrible wrote...

superduperkoala wrote...

United lost the title in 5 mins. Guess I will remember 2012 for this instead of the last 5 mins of ME3.

What was that saying...something about...still a better ending than ME3? [smilie]http://social.bioware.com/images/forum/emoticons/devil.png[/smilie]  AGUERO = LEGEND!

I was a great ending for a exciting football season.........for quite a lot of people at least.

[Druss99]

Blah. 8 points clear and we threw that away, chances to make up the goal difference and we just didn't look bothered. We could have scored 5 or 6 last week, we could have been 5 up by half time today and just didn't look arsed.

On the one hand, as far as the injury table goes (1 player missing per game = 1 point) United were top with 268 points and City bottom with 48 points(mostly Owen Hargreaves) when I last saw it, so only losing out on goal difference to a team that cost half a billion and had no real injury problems is a pretty good acheivement. On the other hand, how we threw it away is soul destroying. Hopefully that will get Sir Alex cash to spend on established players.

I'm tempted to call conspiracy after seeing how Paddy Kenny was performing today, he was almost trying to give City a goal every time I flipped over to that match. City were the better team over the season and deserve to win the league, but that was bizarre. Cisse celebrating with Nasri was a bit odd too. I'm not calling conspiracy but it was strange.

Bolton are down, not all that surprising really. Villa must be favourites to go down next year if they don't spend.

Everton finished above Liverpool, one bright spot atleast.

[OBakaSama]

The title was pretty much Man Utd's to lose, which they did do. Was listening to Final Score at the time and the games against Everton and Wigan were brought up; though in a way it was that last game against Everton which probably epitomised Utd's season in a sense with respect to the title. Man Utd do seem in need of a striker who can score goals (odd to suggest seeing how many Rooney as scored this season), or, more effectively, put away their chances.

Will have to see that on MOTD tonight. The pundits made out QPR to have played tremendously well for most of that match right up until they knew that Bolton were relegated; it was then that Man City staged that late comeback. Barton did all he could to put the City players out of the game by the sounds of things with Garth Crooks using 'assault' a lot (elbow to Tevez and a kick to Aguero I understand).

Now...Cisse celebrating with Nasri did seem strange. One could suggest that Cisse celebrated not being relegated, and that Nasri is French.

Bolton were poor all season after what seemed to be a good first match. Never managed replace the players who left; I would be tempted to blame their inability in the transfer market for that.

Liverpool's season....well....wasn't exactly a good end to it. Can supporters really back Dalglish after a Carling Cup victory but wholly indifferent league performances? I think it probably says a lot that Liverpool supporters were celebrating that Man Utd didn't win the league.... Everton managed to find form, something that Liverpool never managed to do. Not often they finish above their neighbours, especially with their derby record as well.

Rather pleasantly surprised that all three promoted teams managed to stay up this season. I wonder how often that happens?

[Druss99]

Well it was City's to lose today and they almost did it. At one point I was thinking you called it right, then fate turned. But in the end up it was United's to lose in the first place so you were right all along. Like a crazed sage living halfway up a mountain shouting your wisdom at the wind and the occassional goat.

I didn't see what Barton was sent off for, just the aftermath and his kick to Aguero, not sure where that came from, it was alot like Terry's assault on Sanchez. He also attempted to headbutt Kompany. Not sure I can really blame him for (alledgedly) elbowing Tevez. Tevez was awful from what I saw too, much like how he spent a fair bit of his second season with us.

Cisse is a strange guy at the best of times I suppose.

Indeed. It was like a lottery down at the bottom though, did QPR and Villa really deserve to stay up more than Bolton? Thems the breaks though. Be interesting to see if any of the three relegated bounce back, if Big Mick was still incharge I'd back Wolves to bounce back.

Liverpool didn't have a good season but as we know, they showed enough to prove next year will be their year. Will the board back Dalglish with cash? Could be scary for them if Everton find some cash.

I'm not sure if it's happened before I suspect it has happened once, but don't quote me on that. I do recall saying to a Norwich fan last season, possibly Auto, that there's so many poor teams at the bottom of the PL that any promoted team coming up has a more than decent chance of staying up. The problem now is that three of those teams are gone, one of the teams that came up last year has massive money. two proved to be very decent teams and so now promoted teams this year have much more of a scrap on their hands.

Be interesting to see what happens at City this summer with FFP coming in, I read they have 16 international players out on loan this season, players they paid big money for and want big money to sell on. The main problem is not only are they going to be looking for decent fees for these players, but they also pay over the odds on wages, players going to City clearly went there for the money so why would they accept less money elsewhere? They are going to struggle to move players on unless they subsidise wages I assume. Same problem Leeds had if I remember correctly.

Modifié par Druss99, 13 mai 2012 - 07:52 .

[OBakaSama]

I think I can get off that fence now....

QPR are an odd team to evaluate really. Got promoted as Championship champions quite convincingly, though with the uncertain nature of the ownership they just didn't really perform. Yet it was the other two teams that performed better over the season. Furthermore, it was the team that got promoted via the play-offs that finished highest of that group and the champions finishing lowest.

Everton has struggled for cash in what feels like forever. While never extravagant in his spending (not from my recollection anyway), Moyes generally does well with what he has. Would wonder if he will try to either buy Pienaar back or get him back on loan for next season. I would imagine that the owners of Liverpool are trying to figure out whether Dalglish is the man for the club. Surely there is some doubt about that. Or is a Carling Cup convincing enough for them to think that it is a platform to relaunch the club?

That's a problem when you try to attract a certain calibre of player. The question remains concerning whether UEFA will indeed enforce FFP as we expect. Am I right in thinking that Leeds had to subsidise Robbie Fowler's wages after he left the club for a quite a while afterwards?

[Merci357]

Amazing weekend for me. I ordered cards for the german cup finals in Berlin months ago, when I had no clue who would be in those finals in the first place. Turned out it's my team, Borussia Dortmund, against Bayern München.
That alone is great, you couldn't ask for a better final setup (okay, one of those two teams against Schalke might be close enough to count ).
But even better, Dortmund won 5:2, erning them their first "double", Bundesliga title (they defended their title scoring record points, unbeaten since december) and cup title in the same year.

If Bayern plays again that way next weekend, Chelsea might steamroll them as well; It's not that Dortmund was that great, Bayern's defense was terrible. Then again CL finals in your very own stadium is something special, I'm sure they'll do far better then.

And the only downside is, Alex Fergusson was there, watching Shinji Kagawa. If he moves to Manchester United, you'll get an amazing player. And since he, like most asian players, dreams of playing in the Premier League one day (and there's nothing left in Germany he hasn't already won at least once), I guess it's very likely he'll make the move. Dortmund has already spent 17m € for Marco Reus, a young (and amazing) german international for the very same position, so I guess the only thing left to do for both clubs is to agree on the money.

[Druss99]

Nice one, Merci. I saw bits of that game on tv, Bayern were shocking defensively and Dortmund took full advantage. I liked Kagawa's pass for I think it was the third goal. Rumours are going around now that United are after Hummels and Lewandowski aswell. I'm very sceptical about those though.

You'll be back on that fence as soon as the first ball is kicked next season, Obaka.

Indeed, I wonder how often the team that won the play-off's actually does better than the champions when they get to the PL. Something tells me it happens more often than you'd think. Did you hear Barton's attempted explanation of his sending off? Idiot. Tevez should probably be punished too, he started the whole mess.

Scousers get convinced of that every year without winning anything the year before, so perhaps the management will get caught up in the wave of stupidity and keep Dalglish on. Could be his last season either way though, he doesn't look like he's enjoying it. I expect Everton will try to re-sign Pienaar and fail, The Iron Gerbil still won't play him and will play the same 11 every game again.

Yeah, Fowler and a few others I think. It emerged they were paying more for players that left the club long ago than they were for current players at one point. City are going to struggle to shift the mercenaries on high wages.

Speaking of which, I'm getting really tired of Eden Hazard, its a different quote every few days from him now about where he's going. Now he's saying he will be playing in Manchester next season but is undecided on which team. Considering everything he's said in the past about dreaming of playing for Real Madrid and any club forking over massive wages, it seems obvious to me he is using the threat of signing for us to get bigger wages from City. Expect him to be glamming up Cities bench next season.

Anyone hear about the hundreds of Athletic Bilbao fans who went to the UEFA Cup final and went to the wrong city? They went to Budapest instead of Bucharest or the other way around. Quite a way to spend the final lol.

[OBakaSama]

Sounds like it was a cracking game to watch. Congrats on the way the final fell to you, Merci. Man Utd supposedly wanting three of Dortmund's players, though I can't see that happening myself. Kagawa seems to be the only realistic acquisition but there's plenty of time to go as yet.

It's why I'm off to find a comfy cushion.

Hm....sounds like an excuse to trawl through the old league tables to find out. Can't be bothered right now though.... It's probably rare though, at least that's my gut instinct. As some pundits pointed out, Norwich and Swansea came up with basically the same squad and are a tight-knit group (Swansea's attacking play when done well shows that) so played effectively; whereas QPR had finances to assemble a squad to tackle the Premier League.

That sounds about right. The Iron Gerbil can then say stuff about going down to the bare bones again.

We'll have to see how many of those who went there for the money will get to play regularly and actually put in a shift as it were. How Blanka will continue there will be a saga all in itself. Oh, and did you read the 'stunt' he decided to pull with Man City reps entering damage control very quickly? Question is whether they get him to apologise. (Or will it just be a case of Blanka not having good English?)

Those inflated wages will come back and haunt Man City I think. If FFP is strict I can't see how Man City are going to dominate as some pundits have suggested; unless they forego European competition. For the club to generate the sort of income to pay for those wages, i.e., for the club to be self-sufficient, will take decades (maybe even that hundred years Ferguson mentioned). Unless they've managed to somehow exempt themselves through some agreement with UEFA I just don't see that happening. FFP wouldn't just protect the status quo, but also prevent teams like Man City from breaking into that upper echelon quickly. The only way to do so is having wealthy owners in for the long haul with steady investment, i.e., not-Venkys. Bad example?

I get the inkling that Wayne Bridge is one of those mercenaries. Didn't Mancini recommend he find another club for the sake of his playing career only for Bridge to essentially say he needs the money? Some of the others at least play regularly for the club.

Glamming up City's bench. Couldn't they just hire some models or something? Might be cheaper too.

Sounds like a horrendous typo there as well I can imagine. Definitely a d'oh-worthy moment.

McLeish has been sacked following the conclusion of the league season. Considering the rumblings of Aston Villa wanting Lambert in charge....time to be worried as a Norwich supporter. Certainly wouldn't begrudge him the move if that's what he wants after all he's done for the club: saving the club from apparent relegation from League 1 and achieving back-to-back promotions. Though without Lambert it's hard to see who will take up the reins and do such a sterling job. Chris Hughton is supposed to be a possibility.

Tottenham supporters will be cheering on Bayern Munich in the Champions League final to secure their entry into next season's competition. Might be a match I'll manage to sit down and watch for a change instead of just reading results and match reports.

Oh...and Gary Neville as an England coach.

[Druss99]

And Dalglish has been fired. Liverpool fans writing into SSN are hilarious, they think they are going to get Guardiola or Mourinho. He deserved to go, at the end I was torn between feeling sorry for him and being disgusted by his attitude but it was a disastrous year all round for a club that thinks it's bigger than it is.

Read about the Blanka stunt, he really is utterly classless. Man City issued an apology, not sure if Blanka offered one too. Small club with a small mentality. Seems Yaya Toure either wants to leave or wants more money. Shock, horror.

Nevermind FFP, what happened the rule where you have to have a certain amount of home grown players? Surely they are going to have issues with that. FFP was specifically set up because of teams like City and Chelsea, so letting those very teams dance around the rules seem's like it would make FFP a complete joke. Malaga seem to be trying to do things differently but time will tell with them too.

Indeed, Bridge is one of the prime examples he is on something like £90k-£120k a week and no one else is willing to pay him anything close to that. Same with Adebayor on £170k-£200k a week bracket. They way overpaid and now can't offload. There's also Santa Cruz and a fair few others that they have loaned out.

Depends on the models I suppose.

I can't see why Lambert would want to go to Villa they arguably have a weaker squad and less money. I hear Dalglish is looking for work...

Gary Neville as England coach and the same squad again. Apparently Terry has been on great form, not when I've seen him. They seem to be surprised that Ferdinand was left out, why? He seems to break down atleast once per match these days, he barely manages one match a week nevermind three a week. Though I know where he's coming from with his back, you can be grand one minute, go to kick the ball then can't walk for days. Three games a week is too much for him I'd say. Defoe somehow is still in the squad, how? Surprised Carrick didn't make it.

Have you heard the whole Big Same versus Bob ordeal? Speaking of Bob I was playing last year's FM today and about to play Celtic in the CL, their manager starts slagging me off in the press and its Bob! So I checked his stats, this is last year when he was still a coach and he hasn't managed Blackburn at all in the game, he has Mourinho like stats. Maybe thats where Venky's got the idea?

[Kaiser Arian XVII]

[Seeker Sparrow]

I heard about the Big Sam vs Bob thing on SSN. Apparently there was a video shot of Kean bad-mouthing Allardyce last summer at an event (something to do with Venky's I assume). Bob also allegedly predicted a top 10 finish in the league and League Cup success.

Ouch!

McLeish for Liverpool manager then anyone next season? With League Cup success usually comes relegation (or close to it) is a pattern that could repeat itself....

United's CEO has gone on to state that there are plenty of funds for Fergusson to spend this summer. As long as there's at least 3 and they're of somewhat better acclaim than perhaps the 3 signings from last year then hopefully there can be another season without the pre-season groans. Honestly don't expect them to crazy or anything, expect Chelsea, Liverpool and City to dominate the transfer window once again though.

[OBakaSama]

Yep, Dalglish is gone. Sort of a bit of a...trudge to fly all the way over to the US to give an end of season report and be fired as well. In that aspect the sacking seems harsh, though I would guess that Dalglish was only installed as manager because the fans were clamouring for him to be in charge. He's had a bit of time and hasn't really got much to show for it. Well...a Carling Cup perhaps, and that doesn't really make the season a success that some may want to think. I'm sure the Suarez incident and how that was handled played a part in FSG's decision as well; if you look at who they have dismissed.... Still who's going to get the job now? Will Benitez go back to Anfield? I think FSG can now get the person they really wanted in charge since the fans' favourite has apparently shown he wasn't really up to the task. It will be interesting to see who they decide to get to try and build Liverpool back up as a club.

Haven't seen an apology from Blanka, but an article seemed to suggest that he did apologise as Ferguson had accepted his and Man City's apologies. At least Man City moved quickly to defuse the situation. (Hm...and reading a bit more it seems that whatever is said has been taken back by Blanka. Somehow not too surprised....)

Hm...good point. The limit of foreign players. Probably why they spent a bit to get certain players. They have...let me think...Hart, Richards, Lescott, Barry, Milner, Hargreaves, Johnson....I think that's it. Does seem thin on the ground. Will wonder where the limit is and whether they'll cross it at some point and be penalised for it.

I'd forgotten about Santa Cruz (don't even recall where he went to). Even when Hughes was manager there he didn't really seem to play that well from what I recall, though I also think he had an injury which couldn't have helped. But yeah, all those players on inflated wages should hamper their progress. Man City can dominate domestically for as long as they are bankrolled if they forego European competition (though still think them upstairs will find a way to help them get around the regulations).

Well...hopefully attractive ones but I digress....

That will be Lambert's decision. With Liverpool also on the lookout for a new manager....hm.... He left Coventry to take over a battling relegation Norwich in League 1 back then, so he might just like a challenge for all I know. Aston Villa have sold themselves when I read one article about their managerial search, I rather liked the line like 'why wouldn't they come here?'

The worrying thing is that even if the obvious players who are thought of as not good enough are removed from Hodgson's squad, the subsequent squad with replacements doesn't seem that much better. I think it goes to show how lacking our football players are really. Sure, he has Gerrard and Lampard in the same squad but he doesn't have to play them together. (Probably will like every other manager before him, but one can hope.) One of those I would question is Carroll. If Hodgson was choosing players for footballing reasons (and it is understandable why he left out Ferdinand, especially the gamble with King during the World Cup), surely someone like...oooo....I don't know....Holt?....should have been given the nod given how he played during the whole season. Oh...Downing and Henderson are odd inclusions as well.

Yeah, heard about Bob. Was filmed making those remarks in Hong Kong last summer I think it was. Big Sam is threatening legal action, and fans are at it (again?). Maybe Venky's does use FM to make appointments....

Man Utd will need reinforcements. Losing the title on goal difference is perhaps one of the worst ways to lose it I think.

[Druss99]

Look up Steve Kean rant on youtube for the um...rant. To be fair to Kean, he was taking the time to have a chat with some fans when he really didn't have to, it was good of him to do that and they had no right to film him. On the other hand, doing it when he had been drinking and coming out with the nonsense he did was highly stupid.

To be fair Sparrow, De Gea was a sound investment, he may have had a rocky start but he's been top class for the last few months. Jones is a good prospect even if he does leave me with brown stains in my underwear when I see him attempting to play defence. I agree on Young though, we spent way too much on him when we could have got better if we went foreign, he has a really annoying face too. Gill is trying to sell season tickets at this time of year so has to talk things up. Kagawa has been in Japan claiming to have met with Sir Alex and discussed where he will play in the team alledgedly. Hazard is meant to be trying to decide between United and City, can't see him ending up at United.

I don't even know what to say about FSG's plans. But I agree it looks like the whole Suarez thing seems to have played a big role in the dismissal's, yet the man who caused it all remains on the payroll as usual. Spending £100m on average players can't have helped either.

Just read the Blanka thing, again with the lies. Now he's claiming Sir Alex says horrible things about him to the press and no one makes him apologise. First off, no he hasn't, I keep hoping Sir Alex will reveal what a prat Tevez is, given the disrespect the ugly **** showed him before he left United but he's remained mostly quiet on Tevez. Secondly, Tevez doesn't speak English so how would he know if these awful things are being said about him and other players anyway? So he apologises in one country then goes to another to make claims thinking they won't get back to the first. He truly is an idiot.

Hargreaves is being released, Milner and Johnson being sold apparently. Don't a certain number have to be trained at your club aswell for Europe?

I think Santa Cruz went on loan to a Spanish team. There's alot more than him, I read 16 full international's they have out on loan. Santa Cruz has had injury problems for years and only seems to have had that one good year under Hughes at Blackburn.

Where do we start with reasons not to take over Villa? No money, poor squad and angry fans might be a good jumping off point. Atleast at Norwich Lambert knows the affection the fans have for him will get him some leeway if results don't go well.

Unfortunately England only have two world class players really. One's a leftback who about 90% of the fans hate because well he is very hateful. The other is 37 year's old, in international retirement, is ginger and allergic to grass but is the best midfielder of his generation and possibly the best player England have produced in decades. I agree with you that even the replacements don't add up to much, but to me its better than the same old clowns letting everyone down again. Given the limitations it would give me even more reason to take Carrick. I'd have him and Parker in midfield then work from there be it 4-4-2 or 4-3-3/4-5-1. Atleast with those two you know they give the defence protection and Carrick while not spectacular will keep the ball, something players like Gerrard are not great at. I'd also have taken Holt, Welbeck, Walcott, Rooney and Bent if fit as strikers. That's right, Walcott through the middle where he actually looks good and frightening with his pace.