The football thread

[Hicks]

(10-09-2015, 03:31 AM)SexiBack Wrote: Yeah, we can talk about this in 6 months time. He's a good manager, for a small team. On the big stage... he's never quite delivered. So let's just see.

That's ok then, Liverpool won't be anywhere near the big stages this season. Although I am really concerned about this appointment, he's literally the last manager I wanted to see take that job.

[Sexiback]

Dude...you haven't been near the CL places in how many season? 6?

And with the EPL teams continuing to perform this poorly in CL and europa league...the premier league will lose it's 4 CL spot either next season or the one after for a while, which will naturally make it harder to get into the CL.

[Hicks]

You??? I'm a Manchester United fan, we're in the Champions League this year and have only not been in it for one year since 1995.

The drop in coefficient is a concern though. It seems like yesterday that we were having 3 teams in the semi-final stages.

[JJ Roberts]

(10-09-2015, 04:04 AM)Hicks Wrote: Although I am really concerned about this appointment, he's literally the last manager I wanted to see take that job.

You should be worried.

* rubs hands with glee *

[Hicks]

(10-09-2015, 10:23 PM)JJ Roberts Wrote: You should be worried.

* rubs hands with glee *

Do you think he'll be able to do much with the current squad or do you think he'll need a couple of transfer windows to make his mark?

[JJ Roberts]

He can do plenty with the current squad

[JJ Roberts]

CL Draw and predictions for quarters

Draw
===
Gent v Wolfsburg
Roma v Real Madrid
Paris St-Germain v Chelsea
Arsenal v Barcelona
Juventus v Bayern Munich
PSV Eindhoven v Atletico Madrid
Benfica v Zenit St Petersburg
Dynamo Kiev v Manchester City

My predictions (tell me yours)
===================
Gent v Wolfsburg - Wolfsburg win
Roma v Real Madrid - Real win
Paris St-Germain v Chelsea - PSG win
Arsenal v Barcelona - Sorry arsenal but Barca gonna trounce you
Juventus v Bayern Munich - Bayern win
PSV Eindhoven v Atletico Madrid - Athleti
Benfica v Zenit St Petersburg - Benfica win (they are due and have a good team)
Dynamo Kiev v Manchester City - Man City (quarter finals for first time ever and they will be the only English team left standing)

Quarters
=====
Wolfsburg
Real Madrid
Paris St-Germain
Barcelona
Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid
Benfica
Man City

[Hicks]

I agree with all of your predictions, I think the closest tie will be Zenit-Benfica, but other than that they all look pretty clear cut.

It's painful not to have been a part of that draw. I'm really hoping that this will be Van Gaal's last season in charge.

[Captain_Macarena]

Stoked to finally see a Belgian team going through after 15 years, even though it's not the team I support. Then again the entire country has sympathy for Gent, as it's the coolest city we've got.

On another note it sucks that Arsenal drew Barcelona, that'll be an early exit once again. We're nothing if not consistent...

[JJ Roberts]

Bye bye Jose Mourinho

[Hicks]

Hopefully LVG will be the next to go.

[Sexiback]

I'd rather it be Wally witha Brolly. Sick of the guy already.

Then again, we've won two on the bounce, so maybe he is the new Mesiah.

[Hicks]

McLaren took over a team in disarray. I'm not saying he'll be the best manager ever but he deserves some time, especially considering the limited means he's working with. Although I do enjoy seeing Newcastle fail. I think they have the worst fans in the league; always quick to get on a manager's back. If they had stood by Allardyce or Pardew they'd be in a far better position now. Pardew is arguably the best English manager working today.

[Sexiback]

Pards is alright, I didn't want him out, he jumped ship at the first opportunity, he's a solid manager. He's full of himself though, and the shit he pulled on occasion was just nuts. like he was trying to get himself sacked. headbutting Myler? Handbags with Wenger over and over. It was ungraceful.

The squad we have by name isn't that bad. We've got about 15 internationals. Coloccini is god awful and he must have some serious dirt on the fat controller so that he keeps being kept at the club and keep being paid. We had a really good team in 12/13 but then we went and sold Cabaye and Demba Ba. For whatever reason we keep finding good strikers then keep selling them off to Chelsea where they rot in the benches and end up in China. Look at Remy. Remy was the cloesest thing I've seen resembling Thierry Henry in 10 years. He can't get a game. If he was at Arsenal he'd have scored 10 goals this season already, but he's a greedy bastard, so fuck em. He can end up at Lorient for all I care.

Newcastle biggest problem is and has been the injuries. And you're not top of the injury table for 10 years running without reason. There's something wrong with the training pitch. They're not even getting injured in games, they just suddenly appear injured. Let's have a look at http://www.physioroom.com/news/english_p..._table.php . Oh look, 10 injuries. 40% of the squad injured... by november. I mean Obertan the Alien...hamstring...till march?! I could grow myself new hamstrings by march. You're always going to struggle in one of the strongest leagues in the world if you have 20-30% less players available than everyone else. The other big issue is a lack of leaders on the pitch. Pardew or whoever was calling the shots at the time wanted all the mentally strong players out. Selling Kevin Nolan really set up back. And there was absolutely no reason to do that, he had a few good years left in him and was integral to the team not folding like a pack of cards.

Don't get me started on Fat Sam Allardyce. He's insufferable. I actually physically celebrated when I found out he was the Mackems new manager. He'll take them down and blame the fans. And even if they somehow survive they'll have to suffer from his shit long ball game for the unforeseeable future. You forget when Allardyce was appointed NUFC manager, NUFC had been a top 8 sometimes top 4 team for 6-7 years running. When he got sacked we had like 26 points and were at risk of relegation; something that at that point in history was considered unthinkable.

[JJ Roberts]

Laughing so hard at Gary Neville right now

Barca 7 - Valencia 0

4 for Suarez 3 for Messi