Football 2016-2017

[jeremyp]

The new season is upon us. How about a new thread?

[ad_orientem]

Let's kick this off then. Two games into the Premiership season and already refereeing controversy. Costa, it seems, can't get sent off despite being a pig. Two clearly second bookable offences and the referee lost his bottle. To rub salt into the wound he goes and scores the winning goal in both games. The geezer should be banned from football. He's a psycho.

[Hope]

Albeit written before this weekend's matches, this makes interesting reading, what with the international break coming up.  Is it just another attempt at an excuse for international failure?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37200647

[jeremyp]

Albeit written before this weekend's matches, this makes interesting reading, what with the international break coming up.  Is it just another attempt at an excuse for international failure?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37200647

I think it's an indictment of the quality of current English players that so few of them are able to hold down a regular position in their team's starting eleven. Take our number one goalkeeper, for example, he is third choice at Man City. Are there really no English goalkeepers better than that?

[jeremyp]

Let's kick this off then. Two games into the Premiership season and already refereeing controversy. Costa, it seems, can't get sent off despite being a pig. Two clearly second bookable offences and the referee lost his bottle. To rub salt into the wound he goes and scores the winning goal in both games. The geezer should be banned from football. He's a psycho.

Let's look at the Man City v West Ham game. It looks like Aguero is going to be in trouble for elbowing a West Ham player in the face which the referee missed. However, at that point, West Ham should have been playing with 10 men because somebody (Masuaku I think) made a horrendous two footed challenge for which he only received a yellow card. Also, Man City had an open goal scoring opportunity that was disallowed for off side, but the replays showed there was no off side.

So there's two bad decisions by officials and one totally missed decision.

[Hope]

I see thatMark Hughes' managerial tenure at Stoke is under threat - again - with the club's directors looking at Steve Bruce to replace him.  http://bit.ly/2cMNZZZ

Could this trigger a new round of managerial changes in the Premiership and other leagues?

How about this for an idea?

In the same way that there are transfer windows for players, how about similar windows for managers?  Perhaps not at the same time as for players, so as to allow a new manager to get their feet under the table before the playrs become available, but would it allow for more stability and perhaps less pressure on managers who may hve bneen denied the opportunity to buy in the players' windows anyway?

[jeremyp]

I see thatMark Hughes' managerial tenure at Stoke is under threat - again - with the club's directors looking at Steve Bruce to replace him.  http://bit.ly/2cMNZZZ

Could this trigger a new round of managerial changes in the Premiership and other leagues?

How about this for an idea?

In the same way that there are transfer windows for players, how about similar windows for managers?  Perhaps not at the same time as for players, so as to allow a new manager to get their feet under the table before the playrs become available, but would it allow for more stability and perhaps less pressure on managers who may hve bneen denied the opportunity to buy in the players' windows anyway?

I don't see how you could do that. If a player isn't performing to acceptable levels, you can drop him from the team because there's usually somebody else in the squad who can take his place. There isn't a squad of managers.

[jeremyp]

This thread has been unusually quiet this year. Probably because the Hammer contingent is in shock.

Anyway, we now know who the greatest ever England manager is: Sam Allardyce retires with a 100% record and no major failures in any international tournament.

Now Big Sam is available, how long will Slaven Bilić last?

Or David Moyes?

[Humph Warden Bennett]

The team that really matter (Bromley) won today :-). And find themselves in the exactly the same position in the League as if they had lost :-(

[ad_orientem]

Has Mourinho finally lost it or is he just a dick? Both, I reckon.

[jeremyp]

Has Mourinho finally lost it or is he just a dick? Both, I reckon.

What's he done now?

[jeremyp]

How long before West Ham bring back Big Sam? A win for Hull on Monday (OK that is a somewhat improbable scenario) puts them in the relegation zone.

[ad_orientem]

Graham Taylor just kicked the bucket.

[ad_orientem]

Payet no longer wants to play for West Ham. Ok, we've been poor this season and how much of an impact Payet's poor attitude has had, I don't know. What I reckon West Ham should do is put him up for "sale" top whack. Either someone will buy him and we'll get lots of cash or he can rot on the bench. 29 years old and not many years left. Might make him think again. Might then play well for the rest of the season and then sell him for 30 million.

[ProfessorDavey]

Graham Taylor just kicked the bucket.

Sad news as he was 72 which isn't really old these days.

I know he became a figure of ridicule due to his England tenure, but that should diminish from his incredible achievements in club football.

Has any other club manager matched his achievement at Watford in terms of improving league position.

He took over the club in June 1977, following a season in which they finished 7th in the old 4th division, in the 1982/83 season they finished second in the old first division, and achieved a place in Europe. So in his 6 seasons he achieved promotion 3 times and rose (I think) 74 places. Perhaps someone else has bettered this, but I'm not aware.

A lot of the tributes today and yesterday evening are talking about what a nice person he was as well as a great manager.

[ad_orientem]

Yeah, I remember him as England manager. They weren't happy times. However, as you say, he was a great club manager and seems to have been universally liked by those in the game as a genuinely decent guy. Football could do with more such people.

[ProfessorDavey]

Yeah, I remember him as England manager. They weren't happy times. However, as you say, he was a great club manager and seems to have been universally liked by those in the game as a genuinely decent guy. Football could do with more such people.

He also really suffered during his time at England due to badly judging media approach. I think that was a time before the very carefully managed media we have now.

I can see why England went for him - on the basis that his track record looked an awful lot like Bobby Robson's - achieved great things with a small club - indeed in both cases their highest finish in the top division was second twice. The difference was probably that Robson had more experience, and more success, at the highest level (he won the FA Cup and EUFA Cup) - the latter perhaps being critical to a broader understanding of international football. Taylor's sole foray into European football was very short lived.

So he was perhaps a man out of his depth as England manager, but he wouldn't be the only England manager over the past 30 years to fit that bill!

[jeremyp]

Yeah, I remember him as England manager. They weren't happy times. However, as you say, he was a great club manager and seems to have been universally liked by those in the game as a genuinely decent guy. Football could do with more such people.

Well, a lot of the criticism of him during his England term was unjustified IMO, but he did take Lineker off when England needed a goal against Sweden.

Anyway, he was a great football pundit as well as being a superb manager in charge of Watford.

[ProfessorDavey]

Well, a lot of the criticism of him during his England term was unjustified IMO, but he did take Lineker off when England needed a goal against Sweden.

Anyway, he was a great football pundit as well as being a superb manager in charge of Watford.

I think he was an unlucky manager on the international scene.

He came in after Italia90, when the country felt that another World Cup or Euros win was surely just around the corner, so expectations were high. problem was for Taylor that he hit the multiple misfortune of some good players who were past their prime, e.g. Lineker, others who had already retired (Robson), plus lost his most creative player (Gascoine) through injury for a significant period of his tenure.

The next wave of talent (Shearer and then later Owen, Beckham etc) was either only just coming on board (Shearer - regularly injured) or a few years away from their first international cap.

But that's how things go sometime - some managers get lucky, others don't. Taylor didn't.

[ProfessorDavey]

I think he was an unlucky manager on the international scene.

He came in after Italia90, when the country felt that another World Cup or Euros win was surely just around the corner, so expectations were high. problem was for Taylor that he hit the multiple misfortune of some good players who were past their prime, e.g. Lineker, others who had already retired (Robson), plus lost his most creative player (Gascoine) through injury for a significant period of his tenure.

The next wave of talent (Shearer and then later Owen, Beckham etc) was either only just coming on board (Shearer - regularly injured) or a few years away from their first international cap.

But that's how things go sometime - some managers get lucky, others don't. Taylor didn't.

That said he did regularly pick Carton Palmer, which remains unforgivable!!

[jeremyp]

I think he was an unlucky manager on the international scene.

He came in after Italia90, when the country felt that another World Cup or Euros win was surely just around the corner, so expectations were high. problem was for Taylor that he hit the multiple misfortune of some good players who were past their prime, e.g. Lineker, others who had already retired (Robson), plus lost his most creative player (Gascoine) through injury for a significant period of his tenure.

The next wave of talent (Shearer and then later Owen, Beckham etc) was either only just coming on board (Shearer - regularly injured) or a few years away from their first international cap.

But that's how things go sometime - some managers get lucky, others don't. Taylor didn't.

I agree. I think he did as well as anybody could with the players he had.

[Rhiannon]

Holy Moly i've just seen Andy Carroll's goal v Palace today. 

[Rhiannon]

Kingstonian v Learherhead match report.

http://www.kingstonian.com/news/leatherhead-match-report-1742477.html

[Nearly Sane]

St Wengerslast Day?

[Humph Warden Bennett]

Palace have got away with it again.