Kenny Dalglish Won't Be Delivering the Module: English Premiership 2011-12

isn't a truth about England team that they have done poorly of late whoever has been in charge - at least since Sven went off the boil, c.2002 or 2004 say?

Capello is a major manager but produced mediocrity. McClaren produced mediocrity.

Hodgson might produce mediocrity but I don't see it as esp likely to be worse than the above, and I doubt that anyone would do much better except maybe Redknapp would attack more.

Would have been good idea maybe to send them out without a manager - but then, maybe EBJT would just run it.

I'll be interested to see them this summer 'cos they've now got a lot of v good players who play in the same position. I guess Cf is a straight fight btw Klose and Gomez, but the attacking players behind that could be any 3 of Ozil, Gotze, Kroos, Reus, Podolski, Schurrle. I can't see them making the classic England mistake of "they're the best players so fit 'em in somewhere"
xp

xxp ya i guess this is more like a lone rehhagel with no organization behind him managing a squad made up purely of effenberg and mattheus clones without the talent

everything fails with england, woy's cheap and he wanted it.

is cheapness that decisive for the organisation that's just employed Fab and Sven?

also what on earth have you got against Graham Turner?

a squad made up purely of effenberg and mattheus clones without the talent

this is beautiful

think I'm sort of agreeing with D-Mac, ie: as whoever does it is not going to succeed, might as well not throw extra tons of cash and hype at it

I am more optimistic than some about RH on the youth-coaching-set-up sort of front - think he could be really good for this, engaged, committed, etc

xposts. hodgson said something about how he was going to tap into dalglish's knowledge etc, unlike when benitez was here and he wasn't allowed to step foot into melwood. rafa actually brought kenny back to the club. he wanted him to have an ambassadorial role, but purslow shunted him off to the academy. hodsgon obv got his info from christian purslow, but he should've either kept his mouth shut or got his facts right before spouting shite like that.

r|t|c otm re. hodgson and youth development. i said a while ago that a selection panel of southgate, brooking and, fucking hell, i dunno, lee dixon would be my choice (if it had to be all english). i actually think hodgson will do alright. he'll lower expectations, win a few games, charm the press with some long words, and put the focus on youth development (rightly so). just what this country's youth develoment will look like if hodgson gets his claws into it i don't know.

is cheapness that decisive for the organisation that's just employed Fab and Sven?

― like Joe Pasquale and Gandhi (Noodle Vague), Monday, 30 April 2012 14:05 (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

Was just pondering this last night. Maybe the coffers actually are running a bit low after those two

selection panel -- return to pre-Winterbottom mode

Accusing McClaren of producing mediocrity is being harsh on mediocrity.

The way the FA have governed, or failed to govern, the game over the past 20 years or so means that it doesn't actually make the blindest bit of difference who's in charge of youth development. Well, actually it does, it's the clubs and not anyone at the FA.

the papers are saying Park is gonna play tonight btw :(

Fergie doesn't play for draws

Park always plays in massive games at the business end of the season. He does fuck all for a season and then suddenly Fergie wheels him out and he usually scores at least a couple of vital goals.

i can't think of a single time in his career where woy put his faith in kids over experienced pros. even kenny had the nous to blood kelly/spearing/flanagan rather than persist with poulsen and konchesky.

oh wait, he did sign kevin davies for £7m that time.

Has Owen made the bench?

I know he's done it before but he's probably been Utd's worst player this season

nothing on his twitter pandemic

oh balls, somehow managed to forget all about mega monday. or the fact that the premiership exists.

i still can't really laugh about yesterday but you gotta admit that win or lose, qpr manage to embrace the grotesque like no other. that was like watching the ss storm an orphanage.

number none gets it- cost becomes the defining factor when there is simply no difference in results regardless.

I don't think anyone expects return to non-qualification under hodgson, and if capello could do no more than squeeze another game out of them at an actual tournament, then why on earth pay another 4/5m per annum just to give the tabloids another stick to beat you with come final whistle of the first knockout round?

English, cheap, safe hands, should get you to the finals. Compares favourably with Capello, imo (using a tabloid/ingerland fan/accountant's eye)

another thing I have not seen said:

if there is any truth that England speculation has damaged Spurs' form, then we should logically expect a post-Hodgson bounce in our last 3 games

with the players' NEW CERTAINTY about HR being there next season - their minds no longer confounded by doubt and future confusion.

xp even that depends on how long his contract is tho, sack him after two years of a five year contract and it's still gonna cost ya

let alone of course the classic english nonsense of having the man first in line for the chop having the greatest say over legacy

xp

don't think it was the players confounded by doubt tbh

five years is fuckin nonsensical, jesus lol i didn't spot that oh ye're fucked ye're fucked run by clowns etc

if the players were that blinded by doubt because harry might have been leaving then i don't credit them with the mental strength to surge back, tbh

But it was mainly awful selection and tactics, and individual exhaustion imo

maybe it was mostly bad luck with fixtures, leading to self-perpetuating lowered confidence, etc

bad luck with fixtures applies to lesser squads like newcastle or liverpool or arsenal imo, we had, in january, a squad to rival city or utd (rival city, match utd imo) and the majority of fixtures were ours to win.

OK: well, almost every team's form goes up and down - and so did ours.

certainly! I've been arguing with n1ck uptoeleven on the 'who'll finish 4th' thread about a team's internally judged form not really being equivalent to their results in fixtures of varying difficulty all morning.

i don't have it in me tbh. just hoping newcastle finish 4th and you get stuck with the fooballmanja

if we're not the ones to get tossed out by ebjt's last minute winner in germany, i'd rather it was lfc tbh

It's official:

Podolski, who has 95 caps, said: "I'm so happy to be joining Arsenal and the Premier League. They are one of the top clubs in Europe with a huge history.

"There are many top-quality players at Arsenal and their style is fantastic."

He added: "I have made this decision not against FC Cologne but because it is a great opportunity.

"This was not an easy decision for me at all, as Cologne, our fans and the city are something special for me."

The Poland-born forward, who had one year left on his contract, has scored 18 league goals so far this season for a side battling relegation, which is his best ever top-flight return.

He added: "I will always carry FC Cologne in my heart. We need to pool our strengths now and have to be fully focused on our survival in the Bundesliga."

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said: "He is a top-class player, a very good finisher and a proven performer at club and international level. He is a very strong player and will provide us with good attacking options."

good stuff!

gonna miss rvp tho

need a rvp comment today, "will be happy to play w/ lukas" or he's off.

I am touched to read that Roy Hodgson won the title with Malmo 5 years in a row.

no englishmen in that team i will bet

nobody else managed to put malmo on the map until easyjet

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/30/article-2137372-12D865A5000005DC-737_634x361.jpg

england managers who look like old lesbians

wait is woy tiny?

no just getting into a seat that's too big for him

(I know it's a merc but go with it, okay?)

fyi here is how today's game is being advertised on american espn
http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2012/0429/soc_e_manc_manu_ill_b1_576.jpg

http://www.balls.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Aru_fSDCQAEuGu1.jpg

had a lol the other day when derek rose went down injured for the bulls and the first images that were plastered all around the chicagoland internet was him lying on the court with a dude in a man city scarf standing in the immediate background

Right, off to the pub. Play nice lads

otm

Just heard the United team. Think we're going to lose.