Re: Football Chat Thread : Sat Jun 04, 2011 4:08 pm  

Roddy B wrote:

Lad in work told me we're strongly linked with Phil Jones and Connor Wickham. Both seem top prospects, although they will probably cost a lot, too.

Both strange ones. Liverpool are being linked with spending about £200m this summer, but I just don't see that happening. As good a prospect as they both undoubtedly are, they wouldn't be signings that would make Liverpool any stronger this coming season.

Re: Football Chat Thread : Sat Jun 04, 2011 4:20 pm  

Saddened! wrote:

Both strange ones. Liverpool are being linked with spending about £200m this summer, but I just don't see that happening. As good a prospect as they both undoubtedly are, they wouldn't be signings that would make Liverpool any stronger this coming season.

Maybe the new owners and Dalglish and looking beyond just next season and are looking to build a new look squad based on talented young players.

BtW England are pants.

Re: Football Chat Thread : Sat Jun 04, 2011 4:25 pm  

Roddy B wrote:

By two or three real quality players, do you mean players like Messi, Xavi and Iniesta? If so, I'd slightly agree.

Still, I'm surprised so many think Moyes will get the United job; why is this? Me personally, Moyes is sort of stuck. He has the choice of:

a) Staying in the same, pressure free environment. Little is expected of him and little is expected of the club, so leaving makes little sense when his reputation is still sky high yet he has it so easy.

Or

b) He goes to a club where he'll be given cash, little time to 'build' and things like European qualification and domestic cup pushes are expected. He has money to spend, but he's also renowned to be extremely picky in the market. Will more cash being available mean he'll go out and spend more recklessly? Can he handle the expectations of a club with ambitions higher than 8th? Can he turn a mid-table side into a top side, or is he only capable of turning the average into decent?

He's a good manager but there's a lot to be asked of him. I don't think moving to Villa would be a good move, sure, money's there to spend, but if he wants to move on, he has to 'step up' and ask more of his abilities. Villa would be a poor choice, IMO.

I think that's a great post, except I'd like to know how you define 'little is expected of him and the club' there's a lot of expectation from the fans and Moyes has came in for a lot of stick at times from fans for the way he approaches games and his negative tactics. At the start of last season a lot of people where tipping us to go very well and even push for a top 5/6 place because, in Moyes' own words, it was the best squad he's had at Everton. There's a lot expected of him and the squad, just because the media/pundits don't expect a lot it doesn't mean the fans don't either. I also think we're a lot closer to pushing for the top four than you give us credit for, a fully fit squad we've got an exceptional bunch of players right throughout the squad. We do need some improvement, especially upfront but at the moment we've got a very good starting 11 with a decent back up.

Dita's Slot Meter wrote:

Villa don't want him, they want Moyes.....Hughes heading for Chelsea in a role under a director of football.

Kenwright holds the key to Moyes' future.....Can he sell the idea of selling your best players and being content to finish top half, year after year to the ambitious Moyes, while Lerner offers him a tidy deal which involves an ample spending pot??

Bill's a persuasive man, but Moyes must surely be tempted to go down the M6??

I still don't see why, Moyes will leave and possibly sooner rather than later if Kenwright doesn't find investment/new owners but he's got to have more ambition than Villa, he's making a really good name for himself over the last 9 years but when he leaves I'd expect it to be for someone better than Villa. Villa continually fail season after season, they do nothing special and it's likely a good few of their players will be off soon anyway so he'll probably have to spend a lot to rebuild their side.

Re: Football Chat Thread : Sat Jun 04, 2011 4:30 pm  

Was that the worst 2 man wall ever?

Re: Football Chat Thread : Sat Jun 04, 2011 4:43 pm  

From that half of football I think its plain to see that we have not made any real improvements on the dire performances in South Africa last summer and I can't see it improving much under Capello, we seem to be just treading water until the new manager takes over next year.

Re: Football Chat Thread : Sat Jun 04, 2011 4:55 pm  

Boom

2-2

Much more energy from England in the second half so far.

Re: Football Chat Thread : Sat Jun 04, 2011 5:38 pm  

England are absolutely pathetic. We're not an elite nation with the likes of Brazil, Germany, Italy and Spain etc. We're an also ran, a team on the level of Norway or Poland. There is nothing special about any of them, despite how hyped up and inflated their egos are.

Wilshere is the big man of the moment. But his performance has been shocking. He's strode round like he's the king and done absolutely nothing. He doesn't get forward enough and doesn't do any work at all in defense. Utterly pathetic.

There is so much rubbish in that team. Johnson, Cole, Wilshere, Parker, Bent, Downing, Milner etc. None of them are international quality footballers and the big names live purely on their reputation. How out of shape did Ferdinand and Terry look? Like two rookies who've never played together.

I feel sorry for anyone stupid enough to pay money to watch that rubbish. None of the England players care and none wanted to be there. If you'd offered Wilshere the chance to go home at half time I bet he'd have taken it.

Re: Football Chat Thread : Sat Jun 04, 2011 7:14 pm  

England are a second tier team in the world and surely even they must realise this.

Re: Football Chat Thread : Sat Jun 04, 2011 7:21 pm  

Do the problems England face mirror those in Rugby League? Too many "foreigners" and not enough home grown talent playing in the top league? The attitudes of clubs/club chairmen to Internationals is the same as those attitudes in RL - they just don't give a stuff. Then, when the Internationals come around we're all baying for blood because we're crap. Also, get a bloody English manager ASAP. I've had my fill of listening to the likes of Sven and Fabio bumbling through post-match interviews - just what you need to hear after a crap performance. Step up to the oche 'arry.

Re: Football Chat Thread : Sat Jun 04, 2011 9:25 pm  

You won't ever get a group of people so deluded as the die-hard England football fans