Finishing: '19 - footballfootballfootballfootballfootb

[Ferris]

had a quick check and stumbled across this

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/american-football/15941495

That's the good stuff.

[monkfromhavana]

Never mind all that Blodz, CPL kickoff this weekend! Getting excited now.

I hope the BBC coverage is good so everyone in the UK can stay informed.

Friday night is Forge FC night.

[phantom_power]

That's odd seeing as they were pretty decent for a spell after Ole took over - new manager bump hiding massive flaws?

In short yes, though I think "massive" might be overstating it a bit. There was really not a huge amount Ole could do without changing the squad a bit and even though the reversion to the mean has been even harsher than I expected I still think he should be pretty free from blame, for now. Building a team around a star player who them proceeds to do absolutely fuck-all for 3 months apart from bat their eyelids at Real is never the recipe for a functional team.

Give him a summer to get rid of the troublemakers and lazy sods and get in some grafters and a bit of inspiration, formulate a tactical plan that suits the players and then have a pre-season where the players are coached in the right way and then judge him. Although I still have little faith that those above him have the nous or appetite to all pull in the same direction to make things happen.

Basically if they can get a football director in with a clear vision of the future of the club who works with the manager to achieve that, supported by the board, then I don't think the squad needs a huge amount doing to it to compete. I don't have faith that any of that will happen though unfortunately, or fortunately depending on who you support.

[MidnightShambler]

Imagine when you're searching for the background on your new manager, you find this on Wikipedia:

'X had a relatively successful spell as the manager of the Manchester United reserve team, his remit, like Ricky Sbragia before him, to ensure a seamless passage to the first team for such homegrown stars as Paddy McNair. X then found the lure of his homeland, and the chance of coaching his own team at the top level, too strong and left United to return home to Molde, where he achieved his dreams by winning the Norwegian league.

Soon, Cardiff City came calling and x answered. After an impressive mid season recruitment campaign of Norwegian teenagers and other Scandinavian players already known to him (including a club record purchase of crack Dane Andreas Cornelius)' he was unable to prevent relegation to the Championship. Thereafter, things didn't improve and Cardiff and x parted ways with the club lying 15th in the second tier. X returned home to Molde, vowing to improve.

After another couple of years in the Norwegian top flight, Manchester United asked about his availability, x being the ideal man, amongst all other coaches in world football, to arrest the alarming decline of a once great club'.

And X's name wasn't Solskjaer. You'd cry if he was appointed.

[DrGreggles]

Imagine when you're searching for the background on your new manager, you find this on Wikipedia:

'X had a relatively successful spell as the manager of the Manchester United reserve team, his remit, like Ricky Sbragia before him, to ensure a seamless passage to the first team for such homegrown stars as Paddy McNair. X then found the lure of his homeland, and the chance of coaching his own team at the top level, too strong and left United to return home to Molde, where he achieved his dreams by winning the Norwegian league.

Soon, Cardiff City came calling and x answered. After an impressive mid season recruitment campaign of Norwegian teenagers and other Scandinavian players already known to him (including a club record purchase of crack Dane Andreas Cornelius)' he was unable to prevent relegation to the Championship. Thereafter, things didn't improve and Cardiff and x parted ways with the club lying 15th in the second tier. X returned home to Molde, vowing to improve.

After another couple of years in the Norwegian top flight, Manchester United came calling, x being the ideal man, amongst all other coaches in world football, to arrest the alarming decline of a once great club'.

And X's name wasn't Solskjaer. You'd cry if he was appointed.

I did enjoy the phrase 'crack Dane' though.

[Ferris]

Friday night is Forge FC night.

Saturday night's* alright for Forging.

_{*1pm kickoff}

[MidnightShambler]

I did enjoy the phrase 'crack Dane' though.

Thanks! It's one of the things that pisses me off most about modern football, the lack of that word when discussing foreign teams. Any side from the Eastern Bloc was always prefixed with it......' unfortunately, their heroic run to the quarter finals ended with a loss to crack Bulgarian outfit CSKA Sofia, a defeat compounded by an outbreak of food poisoning on the eve of the game'.

RIP Gerald Sinstadt.

[BlodwynPig]

In short yes, though I think "massive" might be overstating it a bit. There was really not a huge amount Ole could do without changing the squad a bit and even though the reversion to the mean has been even harsher than I expected I still think he should be pretty free from blame, for now. Building a team around a star player who them proceeds to do absolutely fuck-all for 3 months apart from bat their eyelids at Real is never the recipe for a functional team.

Give him a summer to get rid of the troublemakers and lazy sods and get in some grafters and a bit of inspiration, formulate a tactical plan that suits the players and then have a pre-season where the players are coached in the right way and then judge him. Although I still have little faith that those above him have the nous or appetite to all pull in the same direction to make things happen.

Basically if they can get a football director in with a clear vision of the future of the club who works with the manager to achieve that, supported by the board, then I don't think the squad needs a huge amount doing to it to compete. I don't have faith that any of that will happen though unfortunately, or fortunately depending on who you support.

Much like my frustrations with the French squad 2002-2010, Man U seem also to have a perpetual culture of rollercoastering - underpinned with a constant need to "get rid of the troublemakers".

My solution:

Cantona as manager, Ole off-the-bench assistant
Griezmann and Hernandez signed
Sanchez, Fred, Pereira out

[phantom_power]

I would give Fred another season to prove himself. He has got better as the season has progressed and South Americans can take time to settle in England. Perriera is also too young to abandon. Sanchez out obv and if Real want to give somewhere near silly money for Pogba I would bite their hand off. Valencia and Young are past it and Herrera is off anyway so that is probably enough players shed in one transfer window. Without Pogba they may then be able to build a more balanced team, bringing in a creative midfielder, right back and centre back. Maybe tell Martial to buck up or fuck off as well

I don't think there are that many trouble-makers and I think some of the under-performing players would work better in a different system.

[DrGreggles]

Pogba in the PFA team of the season.

His agent is REALLY fucking good!

[Blinder Data]

Pogba in the PFA team of the season.

His agent is REALLY fucking good!

TBF he did have a really good spell when OGS first came in, which probably happened when they were submitting nominations. Plus, you know, football players are stupid and like shiny things, like Pogba.

[DrGreggles]

football players are stupid and like shiny things

That's probably true.
I'm sure there was a foreign manager a few years ago who came to the PL and expressed his shock at how few of his players actually watched any football.

[MidnightShambler]

Watching the summing up last night, Keane and Souness only just stopped short of calling Pogba shit and a cunt. I'd like to see what they said when the camera's weren't rolling, you can tell his presence on a football pitch just makes them want to murder him. Gary Neville called him world class at one point and just as he said it they switched cameras and Souness instantly put his head in his hands at the fucking mention of it.

Ferguson was a lot of things but he knew what he was doing when he let him go.

[BlodwynPig]

Pogba - World Cup Winner, European Championship Runner-up

[DrGreggles]

Pogba - World Cup Winner, European Championship Runner-up

Premier League carthorse

[BlodwynPig]

Premier League carthorse

Premier League is just a Saudi Prince's cocaine-fuelled fever dream. It's not real.

[MidnightShambler]

Pogba - World Cup Winner, European Championship Runner-up

I raise you Stephane G'uivarch and Bernard Diomede

[Gerald Fjord]

Hypothetical scenario:

League finishes
1.Man C
2.Liverpool
3.Arsenal
4.Man U
5.Spurs
6.Chelsea

Spurs win the CL, Chelsea win the Europa.
No CL place for 4th, right?

This is correct I think

[BlodwynPig]

I raise you Stephane G'uivarch and Bernard Diomede

G'uivarch unfairly maligned as Premiership's worst ever striker. He only played 4 games and he scored on his debut against Liverpool.

[Ferris]

This is correct I think

Spuds and Chelsea will finish ahead of Arsenal and Man utd.

[MidnightShambler]

G'uivarch unfairly maligned as Premiership's worst ever striker. He only played 4 games and he scored on his debut against Liverpool.

He wasn't unfairly maligned, he was absolutely fucking terrible. There was a reason he only played four games and was sold before Christmas you know.

[BlodwynPig]

He wasn't unfairly maligned, he was absolutely fucking terrible. There was a reason he only played four games and was sold before Christmas you know.

He should have been given more time. His problem was that he was not tough mentally.

[MidnightShambler]

He should have been given more time. His problem was that he was not tough mentally.

Nah, he wasn't cut out for English football. Or Scottish because he had a year there and hardly played. It's not to say he was a bad player in general, he just was in Britain.

Look at Iago Aspas, scores regularly for Spain and is generally regarded as the best player not playing for the big three. At Liverpool he looked like a little boy who'd sneaked onto the team without anybody noticing.

[Deanjam]

Some Solskjaer humour, which I thought was well made.

https://twitter.com/NandosHip/status/1121167157600112640

[MidnightShambler]

Some Solskjaer humour, which I thought was well made.

https://twitter.com/NandosHip/status/1121167157600112640

Ha! That's brilliant!

[BlodwynPig]

Didnt take long for the grudging respect to descend into petty sneering

But i liked that

[The Culture Bunker]

I would give Fred another season to prove himself. He has got better as the season has progressed and South Americans can take time to settle in England. Perriera is also too young to abandon. Sanchez out obv and if Real want to give somewhere near silly money for Pogba I would bite their hand off. Valencia and Young are past it and Herrera is off anyway so that is probably enough players shed in one transfer window. Without Pogba they may then be able to build a more balanced team, bringing in a creative midfielder, right back and centre back. Maybe tell Martial to buck up or fuck off as well

I don't think there are that many trouble-makers and I think some of the under-performing players would work better in a different system.

Someone is leaking team line-ups for the press again, that much is for sure.

I can't see Fred ever being up to scratch for a team with serious hopes of being successful. A trier, but you can't blame a chronic habit of giving the ball away on being a Brazilian in England. Pereira isn't that young (23), but then I've never been a fan from his days in the U21s, when I had him down as a showpony who once competed with Januzaj to see who could score direct from a corner. However, Solskjaer seems to like him.

Martial is a slapped arse at the moment who I wouldn't be sad to see go: talent to burn, but it'll vanish in flames the way his wages will on maintenance payments to his ex-wife (ex-wives in future) and child support. Quite how much the club will get for him, I don't know, but knowing Woodward, it'll be £5m and United paying his wages for a year.

Made my thoughts of de Gea upthread. I'd cash in, basically, though his value may well drop with every clanger he throws in.

Not that any of it really matters, as as long as the Glazers/Woodward are there, they're not to challenge for top prizes. The massive fuck-off leak in the Old Trafford roof sums up my earlier words at them letting the place fall into ruin.

[thraxx]

Thanks! It's one of the things that pisses me off most about modern football, the lack of that word when discussing foreign teams. Any side from the Eastern Bloc was always prefixed with it......' unfortunately, their heroic run to the quarter finals ended with a loss to crack Bulgarian outfit CSKA Sofia, a defeat compounded by an outbreak of food poisoning on the eve of the game'.

Those were the days when every team that didn't just lump it up to the forwards and run about steaming into people were tarred as having a 'continental' style of play.

Even the first championship manager on the Amiga had only three styles of play you could choose: long ball, direct ball, and 'continental'.

[phantom_power]

Not that any of it really matters, as as long as the Glazers/Woodward are there, they're not to challenge for top prizes. The massive fuck-off leak in the Old Trafford roof sums up my earlier words at them letting the place fall into ruin.

Yeah. We could argue all day about which players need to leave, need to be bought and what the style and tactics should be but until that shower of cunts either fuck off or let someone else take charge of the footballing matters there will be no real progress. How long have they been discussing getting a Director of Football in? Is it in any way clear how far along they are in the search, what the roles and responsibilities will be or any fundamental issues with such an appointment?

[Jockice]

Nah, he wasn't cut out for English football. Or Scottish because he had a year there and hardly played. It's not to say he was a bad player in general, he just was in Britain.

Look at Iago Aspas, scores regularly for Spain and is generally regarded as the best player not playing for the big three. At Liverpool he looked like a little boy who'd sneaked onto the team without anybody noticing.

Teemu Pukki, mediocre and sold soon when he was at Celtic, now regarded as the English championship's star player. Of course Scottish football is SO inferior to the English variety, so that couldn't possibly happen. Or maybe there are other factors involved. Timing, team styles etc.