The Domestic Football Thread

[Lee]

The only thing that ruined the 4-4 game for me was the refereeing seemed to inconsistant I think I remember Diaby getting a straight red for a nothing incident

He did the Barton challenege then pushed Nolan. Two yellows = Red. I think the ref just went for a straight red, but it was two fouls and he did clarify that after the match. Nolan got a yellow for his thing on the keeper, but that was just one foul, not two. On top of that both teams had a perfectly allowed offside goal denied (Leon Best and I believe Bendter).

The masses who left isn't as big as the media made it out to be, after the fourth goal a lot of people left the inside of the stadium, but they all went to gather an early pint and the majority returned after half time. It wasn;t as bad as MOTD and the Sun made it out to be, though still a few fans left.

With regards to Daglish I think next season is pivotal to Liverpool. Supporting a club that he's managed in the past I know what he's like, he has the new manager boost and then didn't do too well after that half season (though that half season got us 2nd in the Premiership and an FA cup final). I think he'll get a lot of leeway as he's Liverpool legend but I can't see him doing too well long term.

 

[Constipated Badger Bottom]

He did the Barton challenege then pushed Nolan. Two yellows = Red. I think the ref just went for a straight red, but it was two fouls and he did clarify that after the match. Nolan got a yellow for his thing on the keeper, but that was just one foul, not two. On top of that both teams had a perfectly allowed offside goal denied (Leon Best and I believe Bendter).

Yeah your right, just went to Youtube to find highlights and Barton went in for a hefty challenge but won the ball fairly then Diaby grabbed him round of the back of the neck and pushed him then he pushed Nolan for no real reason, but I was watching Match Of The Day on the night of the match they all seemed to suggest that he got sent off for the Barton incident alone and I never knew the referee clarified it.

the daily Liverpool transfer rumours are, Ki Sung-Yong (Hands off! same goes for our Izagguire) Ji Dong-Won, Antonio Cassano, Jay Bothroyd, Scott Dann and Cristian Zapata.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

So it seems Spurs have joined the chase for Bolton's £17m rated Centre Back Gary Cahill. I am resigned to seeing Gaz leave us this summer, as he has broken into the England squad and probably needs to be playing at a higher level to become a really establsihed international.

With Arsenal, Man City and now Spurs looking at him, it looks an almost certainty that he will be leaving, but where does everyone think he will end up? Is he worth £17m? I think he is....

Personally, I would rather he went to Arsenal. They badly need a centre back, and Cahill's style of play will fit in at the Emirates. At City, he would only be a squad player and I do not think that would be best for him. I will be sad to see him go, but as we got him for £4m we will make a huge profit on him, and will hopefully use the money to strengthen the rest of the squad.

 

[Барбоса]

So Chelsea are paying through the nose for Andre Villas-Boas, someone people see as the next Mourinho. The comparisons of their early careers is difficult to deny as both are essentially 'professional' managers having trained for that purpose while holding translator/scouting positions rather than being footballers.

It is a big gamble though as from what I have seen, Villas-Boas is nothing like Mourinho personality wise. The Special One's biggest talent was in creating a togetherness in his squads at Porto, Chelsea, Inter and now Real rather than actually building a squad itself and I do not know if Villas-Boas will be able to do the same.

 

[Constipated Badger Bottom]

I bet Futureshock is dead happy about Villas-Boas leaving Porto for Chelsea and I bet he'll be over then moon is Falcao joins Chelsea aswell.

But I think it's a bit of a gamble by Chelsea appointing him, sure he has had a fantastic season as Porto boss but the Portugese League and the English Premier League are completly different so it will be intresting to see how he copes with that but he has got alot of work to do at Chelsea with there ageing squad be intresting to see if the likes of Anelka, Essian maybe even Drogba will be staying over the summer.

On the Cahill subject I pray that he doesn't go to City as I carn't see him being appreiciated at a club like that and I don't think he'll get reguler first-team football so I hope he considers eithier Arsenal or Tottenham, I personally would choose Arsenal purely because of Champions League football although going to Tottenham wouldn't be a bad deal because eithier way I think he will get weekly first-team football.

 

[Барбоса]

Not sure if Cahill would get weekly first team football at Spurs. Dawson was easily one of their best players last season while Harry Redknapp has an inexplicable boner for Ledley King. Sure, he is a good player but if he cannot play or train twice in a week then he should not be getting anywhere near the first team regardless of how good he is.

It is not just Redknapp that has this love for Ledley. One of the main reasons I dislike the treatment of King so much is that it detracts from more deserving players. The most obvious occasion (and the root of most of my bias) was under Steve McClaren when he picked Ledley King, who had not played for months, over Jamie Carragher, who had been one of the best centre halves in Europe over the previous 2 years, to play against Estonia. Was it any wonder that Carragher told McClaren to forget about picking him again.

 

[Lee]

Congratulations to Comrade Chris who has been appointed as the new manager of Birmingham City Football Club.

He's a great manager who can work wonders with next to nothing putting a team spirit first with performances on the pitch matching that. As a Newcastle fan I wish him the best with this job and look forward to seeing what he does with Birmingham.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

So we've had a pretty weird start to the summer at Dundee United. We've lost the majority of our first team midfield four in Conway, Bauben and Gomis, all of whom left after their contracts ran out. The good news though is that they're all leaving for England so they won't be playing against us. Hooray. We also lost a couple of defenders in Darren Dods and Mihael Kovacevic. Not too problematic as we plaid most of the season without Kovacevic, but he will be missed, while Dods was used mainly as a substitute and while he was a useful older head among our relatively young squad, he's pretty expendable.

Then there's of course the David Goodwille issue which continues to rage on despite a year of weird happenings. Goodwille is undoubtedly one of our best players, if not our very best player. He's rated at £2 Million, which for the young player of the year is pretty reasonable from what I can see. The way I see it, Goodwille hasn't shown any intention to leave the club and we still love him at the club as he's a fantastic player, if Rangers want him, they have to spend that £2 Million, or they can kindly go fuck themselves.

On a more positive note, we've managed to re-acquire the services of Willo Flood. The poor boy should never have left to be honest, but he did and was poorly used elsewhere so it's a real pleasure to welcome him back and he'll be an excellent replacement for Conway. John Rankin has also joined from Hibs which isn't too bad as he's another experienced player who's still got quite some time left in him.

 

[Ming]

Villas-Boas has been appointed Chelsea Manager, I'm not sold like most Chelsea fans.

The man, undoubtedly, had a very impressive first season in charge of Porto, finishing the league unbeaten and quickly adapted to the winning mentality after leaving Academica and avoiding relegation. He's also received tutelage from Bobby Robson and Mourinho. Most managers have said that he doesn't lack experience or that if does it doesn't matter because he's good enough.
However I'm still feeling that sacking Ancellotti was a big fucking minus. Andre Villas-Boas is welcome to prove me wrong, but I don't feel that he's Mourinho 2.0 like so many people. Mourinho won the Champions League at Porto, Villas-Boas won the Europa League, winning the Champions League alone made me want Mourinho at the Bridge not just how he trumped then-Premier League Champions Man United. Villas-Boas won the treble an' everything but this was in Portugal, Mourinho winning the Champions League proved that he was a force to be reckoned with throughout Europe, winning the Europa League doesn't prove that IMO. He does, however, seem to relish the challenge and he's obviously committed to doing well with Chelsea if he left the club he supports within Porto.

I'm not exactly expecting a Mourinho-Era under Villas-Boas. He's welcome to prove me wrong though.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Congratulations to Comrade Chris who has been appointed as the new manager of Birmingham City Football Club.

He's a great manager who can work wonders with next to nothing putting a team spirit first with performances on the pitch matching that. As a Newcastle fan I wish him the best with this job and look forward to seeing what he does with Birmingham.

I totally agree, Lee. I like Chris Hughton as both a man and a manager. He was very unfairly treated at Newcastle (which so many managers seem to be, including the great Big Sam), and I am glad he has ended up at a club who should have the genuine potential to come straight back up to the Premier League, rather than having to take a job at a lower-end club. Hughton deserves all the success he gets, I have not a bad word to say about him

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Not sure if Cahill would get weekly first team football at Spurs. Dawson was easily one of their best players last season while Harry Redknapp has an inexplicable boner for Ledley King. Sure, he is a good player but if he cannot play or train twice in a week then he should not be getting anywhere near the first team regardless of how good he is.

It is not just Redknapp that has this love for Ledley. One of the main reasons I dislike the treatment of King so much is that it detracts from more deserving players. The most obvious occasion (and the root of most of my bias) was under Steve McClaren when he picked Ledley King, who had not played for months, over Jamie Carragher, who had been one of the best centre halves in Europe over the previous 2 years, to play against Estonia. Was it any wonder that Carragher told McClaren to forget about picking him again.

I agree that Cahill may not be an automatic starter at Spurs, although I think a Gaz and Dawson centre half partnership would be absolutely quality.

I also do not understand the hard-on that managers have for Ledley King. Yes he is a very very good player, but he has such injury worries that he is unable to play more than 1 game a week, and usually not even that. I was telling all my friends that it was a stupid idea to take him to the world cup, where the games come thick and fast, and that he wouldnt be able to play in the them all, and would be a liability. What happened? He got injured in the 1st few mins of the 1st game and was out for the tournament, what a waste of a place in the squad.

I don't see why Spurs persist with the guy, and ALWAYS play him when he is fit. Cahill and Dawson could make a great partnership but would need to initially play together to build an understanding. Why disrupt that to accomodate an injury prone guy like King? He surely won't be around for much longer anyway. If I was Redders I would focus on building a partnership between 2 centre backs who could be the centre half pairing for England for years to come.

I still hope we sell Cahill to Arsenal though, it would be best for him...

Although I utterly hate Arsene "I didn't see it" Wenger...

 

[Lee]

Great big sam?

Viduka? Cacapa? Geremi? Faye? A manager of the only team that was beaten by Derby that season? Losing 4-1 to Portsmouth AT HOME? A 3-1 to Blackburn AT HOME? A 4-1 loss to Villa at home? Under him we scored 27 and had 39 against us with a total of 26 points. That was in 22 games. He wasn't unfairly treated at Newcastle, he overhauled the squad and we suffered terribly for it. Yeah he signed Barton and Enrique but it took them 2 years to come good (after Fat Sam had left).

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Great big sam?

I am a Bolton fan. I still worship the man after what he did for us, taking us from the Championship to Europe and bringing players like Okocha, Hierro, Djorkaeff, Anelka and others to the club!

My understanding is that Sam had actually brought you the highest points total at that point in the season that his more recent predecessors? But his style of play wasnt popular with the fans? I still do not believe he should have been sacked so quickly, he would have done well for you.

 

[Барбоса]

I also do not understand the hard-on that managers have for Ledley King. Yes he is a very very good player, but he has such injury worries that he is unable to play more than 1 game a week, and usually not even that. I was telling all my friends that it was a stupid idea to take him to the world cup, where the games come thick and fast, and that he wouldnt be able to play in the them all, and would be a liability. What happened? He got injured in the 1st few mins of the 1st game and was out for the tournament, what a waste of a place in the squad.

Rather ironically given my early post, I think that King's ridiculous lack of even short term fitness and injury-proneness directly contributed to Jamie Carragher being asked to come out of retirement to provide cover at centre half as well as full back for the World Cup in South Africa. While Jamie did not have the best of times (like the rest of the England squad), I still think he would have done a far better job against the Germans than Matthew Upson did at centre half...

 

[Constipated Badger Bottom]

I think Redknapp did Acknowledge at some point that they did need better players at the back at some point last season and on top of that in my opinion if they can sign a striker who could get 20 a goals a season for them then they could get back into the top 4 since they have such a strong midfield

Anyway Ashley Young has signed for Manchester Utd wether or not he's going to be playing regulerly or not next season is yet to be seen since Utd already have Giggs, Nani, Park & Valencia as wingers so Alex's thinking behind this transfer is a strange one but i'll guess we will have to wait and see

 

[Ming]

Man Utd signing Ashley Young must mean Park or even Nani leaving, I rate Young higher than both of them and Nani doesn't seem like a player that would tolerate sitting on the bench all season.

A manager of the only team that was beaten by Derby that season? Losing 4-1 to Portsmouth AT HOME? A 3-1 to Blackburn AT HOME?

I thought Newcastle were always prone to results like that.....I mean, under Keegan, didn't you go something like 10 games without a win, also, Stevenage knocked you out of the FA Cup this season. I've always thought that Big Sam was overly criticized at Newcastle.

 

[Lee]

Stevenage knocked you out of the FA Cup this season. I've always thought that Big Sam was overly criticized at Newcastle.

Yes but that was Stevenage playing our reserves, away from home with a ref who sent a player off for a perfectly legal challenge.

I thought Newcastle were always prone to results like that.....I mean, under Keegan, didn't you go something like 10 games without a win.

Yeah with who's team? keegan came at the end of the January window and he inherited a team from who else? I'll give you a clue, it begins with F and ends in at Sam.

Any manager who can get their support to chant "We're shit and we're sick of it" away to Wigan on boxing day is not a manager who was unfairly treated. I agree we have a bit of a reputation of getting rid of managers but Fat Sam wasn't wanted before he came, he wasn't wanted during his tenure and isn't ever wanted again after his tenure.

EDIT: And to Naitch it doesn't take much, we had Graeme Souness and Glenn Roeder before him so it doesn't take much to beat their point tally.

 

[Ming]

Yeah with who's team? keegan came at the end of the January window and he inherited a team from who else? I'll give you a clue, it begins with F and ends in at Sam.

I know it was a pretty bad side with no real chemistry but still, Newcastle fans hyped his return so much, I couldn't help but feel that Newcastle were supposed to do well under him, no matter the team.

I couldn't resist comparing him to Dalglish when you brought this up. Dalglish had a similar story with Liverpool when he came in after Hodgson but managed to do well, there isn't that much of a gap between Keegan and Dalglish's managerial skill. Is there?

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I know it was a pretty bad side with no real chemistry but still, Newcastle fans hyped his return so much, I couldn't help but feel that Newcastle were supposed to do well under him, no matter the team.

I couldn't resist comparing him to Dalglish when you brought this up. Dalglish had a similar story with Liverpool when he came in after Hodgson but managed to do well, there isn't that much of a gap between Keegan and Dalglish's managerial skill. Is there?

Just 4 league titles and 2 FA Cups, anda ctually having some idea as to how to build a successful team.

Keegan has always played entertaining football, but has no clue as to tactics or a balanced team. Just look at his 95-96 Newcastle team. Upfront you have guys like Ferdinand, Beardsley, Ginola, Asprilla and then he completely ignored the defense and ended up with players like Barry Venison, Steve Howey and Darren Peacock. You cant win leagues with players of that quality.

He even admitted as England manager he was out of his depth, and having read several players autobiographies they all say Keegan is a great guy who was not a great tactical mind at all. He does get players to WANT to play for him though, which is a good thing.

 

[Ming]

Just 4 league titles and 2 FA Cups, anda ctually having some idea as to how to build a successful team.

Keegan has always played entertaining football, but has no clue as to tactics or a balanced team. Just look at his 95-96 Newcastle team. Upfront you have guys like Ferdinand, Beardsley, Ginola, Asprilla and then he completely ignored the defense and ended up with players like Barry Venison, Steve Howey and Darren Peacock. You cant win leagues with players of that quality.

He even admitted as England manager he was out of his depth, and having read several players autobiographies they all say Keegan is a great guy who was not a great tactical mind at all. He does get players to WANT to play for him though, which is a good thing.

I've always known that Dalglish is a better manager, for some reason though I've always thought that Keegan was on par with him in terms of managerial skill, maybe it has something to do with Keegan's return to Newcastle being hyped more than Dalglish's return to Liverpool.

 

[Constipated Badger Bottom]

I'm watching the Germany VS Canada game in the Women's World Cup right now and I'm not enjoying it as much as the man's game (although it's better when you have a bet on it) but football is football and I refuse to go cold turkey till the SPL season starts next July but the thing that amazes me is how Germany get's it so right when it comes to football on and off the pitch, domestic and internationally.

This women's match is being played at the 75,000 capacity Olympic Stadium and it's a sell-out and I carn't see a single empty seat and this is for a Women's game and through out the World Cup 80% of the matches have been sold out, if the Womens World Cup was being held in this country (the so called home of Football) and a match between England and Canada at Wembley then the stadium probably would not be even half full and hardly anybody would turn up for a match between France & Nigeria.

Also Domesticly, Tickets are cheap and away tickets for certain clubs also can double up as a Train Ticket so most of Bundesliga matches are sold out, most of the clubs are ran by the fans , the style of Football is mostly attacking and the Quality now is slowly getting better and better (there now probably a better league than Seria A) there National team look amazing and they will probably reach the final of the Euro's next year and will probably amongst the favorites for the next World Cup in Brazil.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Woooo I have finally sorted out my season ticket for next season at Bolton Wanderers.

I had a season ticket from the 1998-99 season right up until the end of the 2008-09 season, where the Gary Megson era had led to me going home from matches having been bored, not enjoying it and starting to think "why the hell am I wasting my money on this?!". Because of those reasons, and that I was in the process of moving out of my parents, I decided not to bother getting a ticket for the 09-10 season, and didnt buy one for last season either.

However, during the campaign I started to get the craving again. We were playing good football, there was a sense of optimism about the club under Owen Coyle, that hadn't been there since the days of Big Sam, the big name players and European football, so I asked for a 1/2 season ticket for christmas, and was back at the Reebok for the second half of the season. I was by myself, but got to know the people around me and loved it once again.

I have persuaded my brother to re-sign up for a season ticket for next year, and I can't wait to get back to the 'bok to watch the boys next year!

Come on white men!!!

 

[Lee]

For as much as I hate them Sunderland are making some good signings.

Larsson, Westwood and now the absolute steal of Connor Whickham for £8million. That's £8million spent and three quality players brought in plus there's the likes of Craig Gardner on the fringes of a signing would be a few good buys for sure.

 

[Ming]

Yo guys, who in your minds was player of the season last season in the Premiership? And who do you reckon was your favorite club's best player last season?

Scott Parker and Petr Cech are mine. I'll explain why later.

If anyone supports a club outside of the Premiership, they're welcome to mention who they thought the best player was in their league and their club last season.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Yo guys, who in your minds was player of the season last season in the Premiership? And who do you reckon was your favorite club's best player last season?

Scott Parker and Petr Cech are mine. I'll explain why later.

If anyone supports a club outside of the Premiership, they're welcome to mention who they thought the best player was in their league and their club last season.

The player of the season has to be Scott Parker. He was the only man to come out of West Ham's season with any credit and almost single-handedly kept them up. He deserves a move to a much bigger club, he is absolute quality.

I am a Bolton fan and Stuart Holden was our player of the season. He came in on a free transfer and he is a fantastic player. He dictated play for us from midfield and scored a few important goals himself. He was so important to us that our season fell apart when he got injured against Man Utd. If he had been fit for our FA Cup semi final maybe the result would have been different.

Also, after joining us in January on loan, Daniel Sturridge was a revelation, scoring 8 in 12 games and looking like an England star of the future. We are trying to get him back on loan next year, but I am unsure if Chelsea will want to loan him out again. He is a definite star of the future, so fast, so good on the ball and an awesome finisher.