Alone in the Park - it's the Prem 2020-21 thread

seems a bit two-faced idk

𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳.

The end of an incredible journey.

💛 pic.twitter.com/e2PDdos12t

— Wolves (@Wolves) May 23, 2021

Unsure why Nuno has left.

I see Nuno is now odds on favourite and you can get 20-1 on Poch 👀
― groovypanda, Friday, May 21, 2021

He wouldn’t but has just failed to win the title in France so there’s speculation he could leave PSG, though that seems unlikely.

20-1 is throwing money away but you cant beat sentiment as a bookie

Nuno and Rodgers are still no.1 and no.2 favourites despite the rumours that the former is seen as too defensive, and has been ruled out by the board, and the latter explicitly saying he won't leave Leicester, which suggests nobody really knows anything.

Ten Hag also still floating near the top despite him signing a contract extension with Ajax only last month

Nuno has been sacked basically but they've done it with a veneer of no blame no shame

this is from aforementioned Athletic article

A source close to the club says: “There has been a few problems there since October. Players were questioning things about Nuno’s approach. He didn’t lose the dressing room, but they were wondering whether he was as good of a manager as people were making out. There’s a real lack of structure and leadership there, too. Kevin Thelwell (the former sporting director) was very good at bringing departments together, he was very good at managing processes, but things haven’t run as smoothly since.

“It goes as far down as bringing together the medical team and the players, basic things that used to be very clear in the past.”

Fosun began to look elsewhere and it seems Nuno did too. Jorge Mendes, Nuno’s agent and close friend (and of course a close friend to Wolves), began talking to other clubs to explore the possibility of where could be an option for Nuno’s next move, should he leave Wolves this summer.

Chairman Jeff Shi spoke to Nuno at the beginning of this week before Wolves’ trip to Everton and a parting of ways was agreed, believed to have been instigated by Wolves. While the timing of the announcement, before Sunday’s final game, wasn’t ideal, too many people were beginning to share the news and it was felt it couldn’t be kept secret any longer. As far as statements about a departing manager go, the one Wolves released on Friday lunchtime was about as positive from both sides as it gets and that reflects the amicable nature of Nuno’s exit.

For Wolves, acting now rather than dithering and perhaps seeing things take a turn for the worse next season was at the forefront of their thinking. But Nuno is also believed to have come to the conclusion that it was the right time to leave. He had anticipated that a Champions League level club may have approached him by now, preferably in England, but in the absence of that there was a risk he could damage his reputation should this summer’s rebuilding job (with a small budget in terms of net spend being offered to him) not go to plan.

“It’s just the end of a cycle,” a source close to today’s developments said. “It has been four successful years but he decided that the right time has come to go out and close this beautiful journey. That’s all there is to it.”

They added: “The decision to leave Wolves was not due to the interest of others clubs. He will now consider the future, but there are no clubs behind this decision.”

sad for Nuno :(.

i would have preferred he stayed but i'm not shocked because the signs of what was bubbling away under the surface were there on the pitch. he's built a great foundation for the Wolves and now it's the classic dread/excitement of what happens next. it was obvious that something needs to change this summer, whoever oversees it.

Slight air of Alex Ferguson being sacked by St Mirren about this.

How does he feel about Europa Conference level clubs? Asking for a friend xps

Poch now 3/1 favourite with some bookies. Still very silly but getting a lot of press coverage this morning.

Levy masterclass incoming

ie hes leaking shite and in the end everyone will be furious with him, the results will be a disaster and he will sack somebody at random and throw a discount on club branded compasses to distract

We're getting martinez, is the fear

Inter have just paid Conte to leave, having just won Serie A.

It's a shit business

lol i'm actually starting to believe that poch will indeed be back. what price conte-real,zizou-psg,poch-spurs?

The sources reporting that its being tried are good sources

Madrid may make a grab, youd have thought

Which might be for the best tbh

Spurs arent ready for a manager atm

barca putting the release clause on erik garcia's contract at 344m is outstanding.

Marca: Carlo Ancelotti will be the new Real Madrid manager.

— Francesco Porzio (@fraporzio95) June 1, 2021

pep's clearly yesterdays man. his idea of a team of midfielders has evolved into garteh southgate's quest for a team of RBs. only 4 this time around but hopefully by quatar in 18 months time he can add a couple more.

xp thought that said marcello carlin at first

they were told not to "fuckin try it"

"big man up front, huh? Dont fuckin try it"

Comstock Carabinieri to partner Norwegian wonderkid Hongro up front.

Tottenham have made a proposal to former Juventus director Fabio Paratici to become new Spurs director of football. #THFC are waiting for Paratici to answer in the next days. ⚪️

Antonio Conte was together with Paratici at Juventus - and Conte is in talks for Spurs job now. 🇮🇹

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 2, 2021

Conte would be a great appointment but equally important to have a proper DOF for the first time since 2015, I think.

another counter attacking manager. lets see if that spurs defence depresses conte as much as it did mourinho.

If there's any coach who could fix Tottenham, it's surely Antonio Conte. But if there's any club that could break Antonio Conte, it's surely Tottenham.

— Tom Williams (@tomwfootball) June 2, 2021

This tbh

manager's a conte

Lage in at Wolves.

so he coached Benfica?

Noodle, what say you?

i was all ready to go, tho technically it's not official?

i'm gently excited, we should expect more direct football than under Nuno maybe, our current squad will have to change if he wants to go to a back four but then i expect the squad to change over the summer and it's good if he's got the time to start to put his stamp on it

lads are we doing the Euros thread on ILE or ILF?

ILM

De Subjectivisten

both fine answers

This FUCKING club

wouldn’t want that whiny cunt at my club tbh

It’s going to be Eddie Howe, I can feel it.

Whose lane is it, an e howe?

I see Joel Pereira, who Mourinho described as ‘the best Portuguese goalkeeper of the next generation.’ has been released on a free. He had an absolute mare at Hearts and I think it finished 7-0 on his full debut for Town.

Emiliano Buendia to Villa for ~£35 million by the looks of it. Could be a good bit of business given how much Villa struggled for midfield creativity once Barkley's form fell off a cliff post-injury and Grealish got injured himself. And of course it gives Norwich funds to strengthen a little, so everybody's happy!

Skipp in for 35m so

Villa bidding for Ward-Prowse as well, assume they’re getting a fortune from City for Grealish...

Great value from Roy having the piss out of Jordan Henderson here

"does he do card tricks?"

Ashley wondering if fans know what taking the knee means

Yes they do bud, that's why they boo