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

totally

maybe right now the CdR is a bit more prestigious because madrid and barcelona are so strong that any other club winning it would be a significant achievement

even so, europa league would be worth more, i doubt the bilbao players will be crying nearly as hard if barca schtup them 3-0 like atletico did

yeah totally

fa cup is probs unique among domestic cups in this regard where even now still there is residual resonance to winning it even as a bauble for big clubs with bigger fish to fry

i would guess the cdr is only a big deal for barca/real if they happen to have to overcome the other to win it

i must stress again i was talking specifically about spurs and their partic sitch, imo cup ranking resists generalisation generally

like for fulham winning the uefa would have had 5000 times the value of an fa cup

I would much rather win the FA Cup than the Europa League. The old UEFA Cup may have been a different kettle of fish, I remember when getting into that was still seen as an achievement.

s'always seemed to me that the el is a massive hassle for all clubs until they accidentally find themselves in the latter stages of it.

maybe if it wasn't on a thursday and interfering with weekend game preparation?

how is playing thursday- sunday different than wednesday- saturday?

isn't it in the premier league clubs' interest to take the europa seriously though in order to keep those uefa coefficients healthy? if the english clubs bomb out of europe early won't that affect the number of champions league and europa league places we get in the future?

xpost

I'm not sure playing on thursday is different, but in my head it makes the games feel a bit tacked on, coming at the end of the week when i've pretty much had my fill and am looking to the league again.

anyway, do all el teams play their weekend fixture on sunday? i've never paid that much attention.

there's the travel to consider for a start

oh yeah italian clubs are starting to think about coefficients now right? don't think the greater good matters until a club's personally deprived, society innit

A healthy co-efficient is of no use if you end up not qualifying for the EL the year after because your meagre squad ends up being so stretched fighting on two fronts. Prisoner's dilemma-ish I suppose. xp

the winner of the europa should get into the CL

The EL component of the coefficient must be pretty hefty because, despite recent English/Spanish domination in the CL, five different countries have won the coefficient race in the last five years, inc Portugal and Ukraine, who presumably wouldn't be getting a look-in otherwise.

Winner of the CL into the EL imo, and not allowed back into the former until they win the latter. That'll keep them honest.

Oh look, an injury setback for Wilshere.

winner of el into cl, with the next league spot for that country being subsumed like what chelsea are gonna do to us

Argh: Wigan give permission for Liverpool to speak to Martinez. "He will be a difficult act to follow," he said.

'he' being Dave Whelan

The first 'he' or the second 'he'? Or both?

Tevez otm

"It seems like Ferguson is the president of England. Every time he speaks badly about a player or says terrible things about me, nobody says that he has to apologise. (But) when someone comes out with a joke or banter, you have to say sorry - but I don't say sorry."

What has Ferguson said about Tevez?

so martinez is on the list! oh the newxt few weeks are going to be fun.

I swear Dave Whelan has been talking Marti into this job for weeks. I don't want him anywhere near it, they're borderline relegated every year.

"You cannot just go away and forget about a huge commitment he has made and what he [Rodgers] has done for Swansea," said Desailly. "You have to cross your fingers, but technically if Liverpool ask him, he will go. You cannot keep him.

"The potential is there in Swansea and it's a shame to leave your baby on the street. He should hand it to somebody who will look after him before he moves on."

solskjaer to villa?

Europa League vs FA Cup talk seems unnecessary to me

I'd like Spurs to win either

what I was saying is: the EL is a very big competition and would be a big deal to win, and we should try seriously to win it, not treat it as a laughable distraction.

will never understand why they dont allow the winners to go straight into champions league, every single team would take it seriously then.

its kind of an integrity thing -- winners of a cup have to defend it

same reason the cl winners rightly get a chance to defend it even if they fail to qualify in the league, and even if liverpool 2k5 and (heaven forfend) chelsea 2k12 scarcely deserve it

prob with this thread during the afternoon is that nobody sleeps at a decent hour imo

epl 24/7 the drama never stops in the best league in the world

right now at a taxi rank in newcastle, sylvain marveaux and hatem ben arfa are arguing with a romanian dude

in a west kensington alleyway, two <redacted> youth teamers are propositioning <redacted> about <redacted>

meanwhile in cheshire little michael owen has been tucked up in bed by his governess and is dreaming about scoring a goal for england in the world cup final

tomorrow after breakfast he will colour in his new brochure

who had the better career owen or fowler

idk i like martinez and i hope he does well at liverpool

are we gonna have a summer thread? or three (off-season/euros/olympics)?

eh just two i'd say mehlympics

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/8799/picture1ma.png

Is there any need to put it like this, now?

who had the better career owen or fowler?

Good question. I think comparing their brief peaks when they were really good, Fowler was better. But Owen was good for longer and did more for England. And comparing post-peaks, Owen's underwhelming Madrid/Newcastle/Man Utd spells were arguably better than Fowler's time at Leeds/City/wherever the fuck he ended up.

Does anyone think Suarez will probably be the next one for the chop?

That would be insane. I'd be surprised if leaving hasn't crossed his own mind though.

Fowler's record post-Liverpool is surprisingly good, at Man City especially. Owen had a pretty decent return with Madrid.

xp Are the Olympics really regarded as meh? Surely a player would rather win an Olympic gold than a Carling Cup?

Heard Whelan on the radio this morning saying he wouldn't stand in the way of Martinez going to "Liverpool, or a big club".

When, if ever, etc...

He will not shut up, that guy.

That would be insane

I'm not suggesting he would just get sacked. Obviously they want to pick up £15-£20M and then reinvest it in the team. There would probably be a shitstorm from the fans if they just announced he was being sold, so they'd have to have a replacement already lined up. They would probably also want the new manager installed first and let him identify the replacement. But I wouldn't be surprised if he went at some point this summer.

I meant it'd be insane not to keep him. He's the one top-class player we have now, pending Lucas and Reina returning to form. It would be such an admission of defeat to sell him, even if a bid came in at double that amount.

woop woop: Brendan Rodgers turns down interview for Liverpool manager's job...

Some managers don't realise when their star might be at its highest. If Rodgers ends up fighting relegation next season his "they play great football" pats on the head will dissipate and he'll be back in the Holloway bracket.

Owen and Fowler had a similar strike rate at Liverpool over a similar span of time (about eight seasons in the first team), but Robbie is far more revered, right? Post-Liverpool, Owen has only played 138 games in eight seasons, scoring 44 goals; Fowler didn't play all that much more football in the eight seasons after he left L'pool either - 156 games*, 46 goals. (* - incl that spell back at Anfield, stopping short of his Aussie twilight years).

Rogers has shown he can organise a defence though, at home at any rate. A lot of "can play a bit" promoted sides can't - see West Brom at any given season up until Woy.

All these guys need at least another club under their belts in between taking on a job like Liverpool. Doing something great at a team like Villa first would be a better stepping stone.

Would love to see Solskjaer managing in the Premiership but being thrown straight into it would probably be a bad idea at this point.

Amazed that Fowler has played more. Poor Mikey. Also, any idea how many of Owen's post-Liverpool appearances have been starts?