Tragic Football Stories - Let us Kick Around the misshapen Jabulani that is English football right here

Klinsmann talking about it being ok to lose and take risks to make German football have a philosphy is terrific - this dude is like a football nabisco.

Has it ever occurred to anyone in the English games that if foreign players can come to England, English players can equally go and play in foreign?

lol @ Klinsmann's gag about Germany taking their attacking philosophy too far a couple of times in the 20th century.

huh never knew german club teams have to have 12 germans in their squad.

lol @ Klinsmann's gag about Germany taking their attacking philosophy too far a couple of times in the 20th century.

― meta the devil you know (onimo), Monday, 4 October 2010 17:39 (54 seconds ago) [IP: 86.11.143.38] Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah this was great.

lol @ Klinsmann's gag about Germany taking their attacking philosophy too far a couple of times in the 20th century.

Haha that was brilliant! Laughed out loud at that. Love the way his voice goes really high-pitched when he's about to laugh, too.

I think something that hasn't been touched on is that Klinsmann point that he and the German FA looked at a German philosphy. He didn't say it was the recognised 'right way to play the game' (ok Cryuff, you can occasionally close your mouth). Chelsea won this weekend against the supposed Barca way through efficient, 'English' style - strength, character, smart but not indulgant. There is no reason why a team of Lampard's and Rooney's shouldn't be able to win and we shouldn't try to take this character away from the English game. It's just that we don't have enough notable players of top ability to play that way.

Has it ever occurred to anyone in the English games that if foreign players can come to England, English players can equally go and play in foreign?

Well, one of the reasons foreigners go to England is that they'll finally be getting all that r€$pect they're owed. And I think most English players would take a steep pay cut by going to play in other European leagues, with a few exceptions I'd guess (Real, Barca, Inter, AC Milan, Bayern etc). I can't back this up with numbers but that's the feeling I get. And well, seeing as in France we keep being told that the Premier League is "the best league in the world", I'm guessing players in England listen to that even more, so considering leaving said best league must be difficult.

i.e. it won't be long till its like the 80s again - less money and less reputation sees the 'best' skip town.

Pennant was on £40k a week at Zaragoza, working out at £6.24m over 3 years.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jul/10/jermaine-pennant-real-zaragoza-transfer

Of course you're right Jibe - I'm thinking more about young players (and even more about managers) constantly bleating about not getting opportunities because they're stuck on the bench at Blackburn. Are they out hawking their arses around the lower reaches of the Bundesliga just to get a game?

Are they fuck.

kinda like the idea of academy kids emailing their cv to teams across europe with a note saying "giz a game".

Just finished watching this. Jose's still kind of great, Jurgen really is great especially his gag - but the bit I liked best for some reason was Ancelotti having to make the coffees himself.

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/49362000/jpg/_49362381_englandgraphic466index.jpg

I really like this bbc graphic. If Capello issued his squads in comic form it'd make a good front page.

It's like they're getting ready to form Voltron.

I like the look of confusion on Rooney, Rio and Green's faces, like they can't believe Davies has been named, and Davies is all like "yay I made the team!"

http://www.clubcall.com/international-football/fa-wont-rule-out-mcclaren---brooking-1105014.html

Thought this might merit a mention today but don't really know what to say/think except "guh"

"not ruling him out" is the polite term for ruling him out

nah my "guh" was more about why are some reporters trying to make this a thing?

cos he's a top top manager now

Most successful English manager in the past twenty years who is still alive is naturally a candidate? Even if he wasn't ready first time around.

lol

Gary Lineker has claimed that hosting the 2018 World Cup in England would help bring attacking football back to the tournament.

Lineker, an England 2018 bid ambassador, said that the previous two tournaments had suffered from some negative tactics but that the atmosphere in the English stadia would help the flow of the game.

Lineker told reporters at the Leaders in Football conference in London: "I think it would be great for the game of football to have the World Cup in England.

"I think we would have a really good tournament in this country because of the passion we evoke from the stands and that can sometimes help the flow and the attacking nature of football.

"That's important because the last couple of World Cups at times have been a little bit on the negative side.

England did play attacking football in the last World Cup. Against Germany. They got smashed on the counter, time and time again.

and it helped the flow of the game and made for an exciting spectacle - so Lineker otm :)

Makes for a very short tournament though.

england play football with everyone charging up the field, it's not actually attacking football unless you can kepp the ball while doing so, it's essentially a garryowen

It doesn't sound like Lineker is saying it will make England play more attacking football, but that it will make the whole world play more attacking football (during the tournament). So, if he was right, it wouldn't make for a short tournament, and would lead to lots of exciting games like the Germany 4 England 1(+1) match. But he isn't right, so it doesn't matter.

Darragh - it *is* attacking football, it just isn't *effective* attacking football. You can be attacking and shit.

ha no shit, jol out

Turn up to watch Jerez ­Industrial in the Spanish third division and you would be forgiven for doing a double take at the team sheet.

In goal, Billy Lumley once of Wolves’ youth team. Full-back Daniel Spence, rejected by Reading. Midfielder Matthew Richards, winger Nathan Woolfe who started out at Bolton. Adriano Moke, formerly on Nottingham Forest books.

All but two of the team is English or Irish. Rejects of our system, trying to relaunch careers on an unusual stage.

In the stands overseeing the team is former England boss Glenn Hoddle. Nigel Spackman, Graham Rix and Dave Beasant take turns on the ­touchline.

Hoddle is at the centre of a pioneering experiment that gives a fresh chance to a handful of teenage casualties of our youth system, and provides the Spanish lower league with a fascinating English dimension.

The young lads, who during the week train at the Glenn Hoddle Academy, have just battled out a feisty 3-3 draw against Ayamonte, another small step in their education. Hoddle provides the players for Jerez Industrial, a small outfit in the sherry making lands of Andalucia, and picks the team. The club benefits from getting an entire playing staff for free.

Hoddle takes English lads who were kicked out of the game at 18 and gives them a second chance. The hope is they will develop with twice-daily coaching in a beautiful sunny climate, and win professional contracts around Europe.

For the first couple of years Hoddle worked on his squad, they played friendly games to showcase players to scouts. The most notable success so far has been Ikechi Anya, who landed a two-year deal at Sevilla, and is now on loan at Celta Vigo.

But this season is different. Hoddle helped rescue Jerez. They were about to fold in July, when the former Spurs and Chelsea boss offered to provide a 22-man squad from his academy free of charge, ready for league action.

And six games into the season, the Brits of Jerez Industrial are fifth in the league, with promotion the aim.

Hoddle could probably find easier ways to make a living. He has had 26 job offers in the last three years, but is committed to the project he dreamed up as a boss in the 1990s charges with the “horrible” task of telling teenagers they were not going to be kept on.

He said: “We ­basically saved Jerez from going under. Financially helped them out. And we have filled their squad so they don’t have to pay them contracts.

“It’s a cheap way for them to survive, and it’s a good way for us to play competitive ­football.

“How have the locals taken to having a bunch Englishmen playing for their team? Very well. When we first arrived they had a reception for us. They made it known they were grateful.

“It’s been very positive. Lots of people come up to us to say they are pleased we have kept the right habits on the pitch. We are playing in a technical way. They are impressed at how we pass the ball.

“I think they have this idea abroad of English football being direct all the time. It’s not true 100 per cent, and has been in people’s minds for years. We try to play from the back and have started well. We’ve two Spanish players. The other 20 are English or Irish.

“I have to protect the development of my lads rather than get carried away winning football matches.

“I’m overseeing everything. They have a manager who we work with through the week. I pick the team, but I’m not on the bench. We look at the group in the week, and work out the team.

“We don’t own the club. It’s a ­showcase, a competitive game at the end of the week, the icing on the cake.”

He set up the Glenn Hoddle Academy, a live-in base at the ­Montecastillo Resort in June 2008. He explained: “The first seed of the academy was in the early 90s.

“As a manager I kept having to do this horrible thing – telling 18 and 19 year olds they’re not going to be signed on. It happened every year and it was then that I thought it was far to young to judge these lads, they were still maturing.

“Football is a harsh world and you have to grow up quickly. It is OK for the likes of Rooney, Owen and Ferdinand, who will be fast-tracked, and rightly so because they are special players. But there are a lot of players who I felt needed more time, and that football would lose some talent at these ages.

“I always thought one day I would try and do something about that. It took 18 months to put together. It was right for me and for English football.”

Hoddle’s managerial CV surely means he could land a cushier job elsewhere. He has bossed Swindon, Chelsea, England, Southampton, Spurs and most recently Wolves, four years ago.

He added: “I didn’t do this to replace management. I feel it’s right for me at the moment. We’re opening a second academy in South Africa. I spoke at SoccerEx and have expressions of interest from 62 countries. We’ve 2,000 kids on our website asking for trials. It’s changing people’s lives.

“For me doing that’s more important than winning medals and cups.

“I’ve had lots of offers in the couple of years we’ve been doing this. But I owe it to myself and the hard work the staff have put in to stay and do this. I feel very fulfilled at the moment.

“You couldn’t do this and a club job together. An international job yes. If in 18 months’ time I think I could go back and work, if the offer was there, do an international job.”

So Hoddle’s will continue on his mission abroad? “The first five games with Jerez were been like a pre-season for us. We are doing OK.

“The main thing is the way we play. They have a Spanish coach and assistant. We have Rix, Spackman and Beasant who rotate and go on the bench for two games at a time. I oversee it all in the stand. It’s a great experiment.

“I think we’ve hit on something. I can see how this blueprint helps a club. It’s thrown up a few positives and I bet people are looking at it and thinking this could work.

“We can’t get all the lads back into the game. We’ve said that to them. We can’t guarantee it. But we can guarantee they will improve.”

That's really excellent. Who knew?

Anyone who plays Football Manager. I'm forever knocking back invites to play a friendly with the Glen Hoddle Academy.

Altho that article has fleshed in a lot of details.

they've all made mistakes in a previous career imo

Let's not bring that story back to life.

i always accept playing the gh academy - even found a 2 star regen playing them one time! made about three million on him iirc.

chamakra

I've got Lineker's show on in the background just now - a nice little detail I hadn't noticed is the caption 'Michael Owen, England 1998-2008'. I guess that's official then.

Lineker doc was hilarious. Show would be lost if Eng were humiliated like this after 2006: er...Italy, yeah Inter Milan have...mostly foreign players, the league is corrupt etc etc. The whole doc rested on an Eng-Spain comparison.

Martin Samuel otm: all English in the 70s and 80s, zilch on the pitch.

Best thing on it was Mourinho's 'every policeman pulling together' speech.

Jose's perception of the country was a bit strange all round: "One thing I know - every Englishman ... is a very proud Englishman"

Actually, my absolute favourite thing might've been the footage of Venables coaching at Barca, all eye movement and gesticulation ("'e trie'a cover that, cover that, cover that ... 'e covered nothing") - and then the poor translator having to run in and reenact the whole thing in Spanish.

Has it ever occurred to anyone in the English games that if foreign players can come to England, English players can equally go and play in foreign?

Rohan Ricketts has just been on Talk Of The Terrace on ESPN, currently plays for Dacia Chisinau in Moldova. Also said there might be a chance for him to join a German team.

Presenters asked Stephen... (didn't recognise him) if he ever fancied playing abroad. He said he had the chance to go to France but he preferred the British game, and that his style of play would have resulted in a few more bookings abroad.

Going to play in Moldova is pretty hardcore, top respect to that lad whoever he is.

The other bloke's name wasn't Gerrard, was it?

McManus? Pressley? Caldwell? Plenty crap tacklers called Stephen/Steven, tbh.

(twitter tells me it was Steve Lomas)

whoever he is?

that's only rohan bloody ricketts mate, the proto jenas

Steve Lomas? Really? Didn't recognise him at all.

My bad - have done my research and do vaguely remember the fellow. I love the multiple levels of myth-making here:

In an reported interview with FC Dacia, Ricketts said that he has played with England at the under-18, and under-21. It is believed that Ricketts also played with the England B team as well

not to mention:

American rapper 50 Cent has been seen sporting the midfielder's shirt

nobody knows

Ricketts mentions 50 Cent in his latest blog.

http://www.sabotagetimes.com/football-sport/what-really-happens-when-a-manager-loses-the-dressing-room/