Sport Football Thread 2011/2012

[DC Lemon]

England Manager's job is a poison chalice. England are a middle of the road team and eventually the media followed by the fans will turn on the manager, who ever he is, when he fails to deliver them the World Cup or European Championship.

Every manager gets a honeymoon period, it's just that they rarely get the chance to have them at a major tournament.

In other words, we're gonna win Euro 2012 regardless of who we go with. Happy days.

Harry can stay at Spurs till May.

[Blooming Marvellous]

He only had 5 months of his contract left anyway and they negotiated a settlement last night regardless.

[Hello Goaty ♥]

Is there anybody else other than Harry ( sponsored by nintendo ) Redknapp to manage the England team?

[Graham]

He walked, didn't he? there was no dismissal.

[El Pibe]

Really? Was it Capellos fault Robert Green couldn't catch the ball against the USA? And would England have really beaten that German side even three times out of ten? (And the Lampard non-goal had little to do with it.)

I agree with the sentiment but if that goal had stood, I firmly believe we'd have won that game as the Germans were all over the place.

As it was, of course, the goal didn't stand and Terry was horribly shown up as the Germans pulled away.

I think he did make mistakes, though. I don't think Carragher should have gone, for example, and I think James should have started against the US.

Might have been worth taking Gazza, as well.

[Smoothy]

He walked, didn't he? there was no dismissal.

Yes but I was thinking on the lines of Kevin Keegan who also walked due to being undermined in his job. But radlord above seems to not think so.

He only had 5 months of his contract left anyway and they negotiated a settlement last night regardless.

[aidey6]

Just had a quick look; Harry RedKnapp, Roy Hodgson and Alan Pardew, a rather small list to say the least....

As other posters have said, at least Fabio learnt from the WC and brought in fresh faces and accepted that Lampard and Gerrard do not work together in midfield despite all the MOTD pundits saying otherwise. I hope whoever takes over doesn't try and force that to happen again.

Fabio's agent (his son??) certainly saw the FA coming a mile off, getting them to renegotiate his contract prior the WC was a masterstroke. I hope the FA have someone with better negotiating skills this time around.....

[Pants McSkill]

Is there anybody else other than Harry ( sponsored by nintendo ) Redknapp to manage the England team?

Roy Hodgson is the only other decent choice. Otherwise it's the likes of Pearce, Pardew and... Er... Warnok? Southgate? Big Sam? Oh Christ we're short of contenders.

I think Chris Houghton just moved to third place on my English Contenders list.

[Daley]

Harry's being interviewed on BBC News. Through his car window.

All is right with the world again.

As someone said on Twitter this morning, you couldn't really make up the England situation if you tried.

The England manager leaves due to a storm over the captain being accused of being racist on the day the leading candidate is found not guilty of tax evasion. It's better than Eastenders.

[Danster]

There can be only one!

'Olloway, 'Olloway

Ollie 'Olloway,

When he gets the ball,

He shoots at goal,

Ollie 'Olloway!

[Dude Ranch]

That hilarious GIF of John Terry throwing himself at the ball should be posted at FA headquarters with a huge caption "THIS IS WHAT IS WRONG WITH ENGLISH FOOTBALL".

All I can see there, in that split second, is him willing to take the ball or a boot in the face for the team.

[Art Vandelay]

All I can see there, in that split second, is him willing to take the ball or a boot in the face for the team.

That doesn't win you tournaments though.

[Mr Do 71]

Just had a quick look; Harry RedKnapp, Roy Hodgson and Alan Pardew, a rather small list to say the least....

It's even smaller as Alan Pardew has ruled himself out.

[Dudley]

He walked, didn't he? there was no dismissal.

Not that I'm suggesting it happened but that's what "constructive dismissal" IS, being forced to walk out because you've been undermined or given deliberately shit tasks to do.

If I've employed you as a developer say I can't make you clean the toilets till you quit just to avoid paying redundancy.

In this context, being hired to manage and then having decisions like that forced on you would certainly be evidence of that.

[JohnC]

That doesn't win you tournaments though.

Neither does standing there and not even trying. I'm really not sure why there is a problem with someone making an effort to stop a ball. Sure, it didn't succeed in the end and it does look a bit funny, but at least he tried. Would people still be saying it was wrong if he had managed it?

[stefcha]

All I can see there, in that split second, is him willing to take the ball or a boot in the face for the team.

Nah, turns his head away, the coward!

[Dude Ranch]

That doesn't win you tournaments though.

It does in the last minute of the final and he makes the block.

[Dudley]

Yeah, ignoring everything else about the man, another 10 of that attitude on the pitch and we'd be doing a lot better.

[Smoothy]

It does in the last minute of the final and he makes the block.

Pity he didn't actually do it in the last minute of any final.

[Plissken]

I could n't find the gif, I presume you're referring to

!

That is the bunny!

[Art Vandelay]

Well I suppose that's why players like John Terry have carved themselves a pretty cosy and extended England career. Despite his obvious shortcomings as an international footballer he's been a national darling because he's willing to put his head where some people won't put their foot. I put it to you that running about a lot and shouting at people and getting stuck in doesn't win football matches consistently enough to win tournaments. It's the same old 'back to basics' philosophy we always gravitate towards every time we're faced with any level of crisis in the England team. I'm not saying application isn't important, but it shouldn't be favourable to ability. It's like the way fans love to see a heroic last ditch tackle, but the reality is that the defender who consistently cuts balls out before trouble arises is never as high profile.

[Hello Goaty ♥]

What about a wildcard?

Sam Have A Slice!

[shock33]

Well I suppose that's why players like John Terry have carved themselves a pretty cosy and extended England career. Despite his obvious shortcomings as an international footballer he's been a national darling because he's willing to put his head where some people won't put their foot. I put it to you that running about a lot and shouting at people and getting stuck in doesn't win football matches consistently enough to win tournaments. It's the same old 'back to basics' philosophy we always gravitate towards every time we're faced with any level of crisis in the England team. I'm not saying application isn't important, but it shouldn't be favourable to ability. It's like the way fans love to see a heroic last ditch tackle, but the reality is that the defender who consistently cuts balls out before trouble arises is never as high profile.

See people like Hargreaves, who I thought got criminally lambasted for not doing much, when in reality I thought he quietly managed the opposition coming through the middle and usually slowed or stopped attacks. Of course he didn't do it by running around like a headless chicken and going red in the face, or making massive hollywood passes that worked 1 in 10 times.

[Sirloin]

And Greece pretty much won the euros by running around a lot and not much else.

[Daley]

English football is massively schizophrenic. It sways from wanting a up-and-at-em English manager who shouts on the touchline and has his players running around alot (all about passion!) to wanting a more cultured approach from a calm European sort (we need to change the way we play!). Obviously, having just dispensed with the latter I have no doubt it will revert back to type as can be seen from all the "must be an Englishman" bollocks in the papers. I also have no doubt that the next England manager after this one will be foreign. This has been going on since Hoddle who was seen as a more European style coach. He replaced Venables, and was replaced by Keegan, then Sven, then McClaren and then Capello.

All the while, nobody dares speak about the real problem. The players are just not good enough.

[shock33]

Really Bernstein? REALLY?

The squad don't get together until May [for the Euros], there is pelnty of time for a new man to get in place and do what he needs to do, so we're actually in a much better place than it may appear

[John0]

See people like Hargreaves, who I thought got criminally lambasted for not doing much, when in reality I thought he quietly managed the opposition coming through the middle and usually slowed or stopped attacks. Of course he didn't do it by running around like a headless chicken and going red in the face, or making massive hollywood passes that worked 1 in 10 times.

Not sure that's true at all. He was lambasted when he was terrible and couldn't pass sideways. Then when he was brilliant everyone admitted he was brilliant and probably the most important name in the lineup until his injury.

All the while, nobody dares speak about the real problem. The players are just not good enough.

Are people really still saying this? I think everyone's been admitting and acknowledging that for years. But don't forget apart from Germany and Spain everyone else is pretty average as well. And Spain have had a bad run of form for a little while now from what I hear. England always have a chance in a major tournament, it's just that chance is pretty slim. Nothing special about that Dutch side who reached the final in 2010, or that Greece side who won the Euros, for example. With a bit of luck it's possible to do very well with average players.. it's the way the major tournaments are. That's why hopes always rise towards the start of them.. not because we all haven't realised by now how average we are.

[Oh Danny Boy]

English football is massively schizophrenic. It sways from wanting a up-and-at-em English manager who shouts on the touchline and has his players running around alot (all about passion!) to wanting a more cultured approach from a calm European sort (we need to change the way we play!). Obviously, having just dispensed with the latter I have no doubt it will revert back to type as can be seen from all the "must be an Englishman" bollocks in the papers. I also have no doubt that the next England manager after this one will be foreign. This has been going on since Hoddle who was seen as a more European style coach. He replaced Venables, and was replaced by Keegan, then Sven, then McClaren and then Capello.

All the while, nobody dares speak about the real problem. The players are just not good enough.

I think Greece proved in 2004 that if you are discplined and work together as a team that you have a chance regardless of the individual quality. I always thought the 'we're not good enough' argument to be very weak, England did very well in tournaments during the 90's, only missing the finals through penalties twice, and this was during a period of very gifted Italian, Dutch and German teams. Arguably the 90's England teams were individually less talented than the sides of the 00's although certainly more efficent. The recent England sides have the talent but they never seem to operate as a team, neither do these players consistently show their ability in an England shirt. I don't pretend to know what the answer to the current side's failing are, its the £6m a year question, but lack of talent is the lazy answer. The fact that 'the golden generation' didn't reach a single semi is a great underachievement.

[Calashnikov]

It is a lack of talent. These players are not as good as they're hyped up to be. The Euro 96 England squad was superior to the squad you took to South Africa, in my opinion. It's just that they weren't hyped up as much. The hype and bullshit that surrounds football all comes immediately after Euro 96 if you ask me.

[Daley]

Greece was a massive fluke where a super super organised team took advantage of others relative weakness and won.

I think it does come down to a lack of talent and a lack of belief in the manager. England's players are neither good enough to play an open attacking game or clever enough to play a more controlled patient game (as Capello found out) and that's why they consistently fall short.

I don't even really blame the players. The coaching in this country (a country of 50 million football mad people) is just not up to standard. Just look at the numbers:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/01/football-coach-shortage-england

Three years ago an official report concluded that coaching is the "golden thread" leading to international success, but new Uefa data shows that there are only 2,769 English coaches holding Uefa's B, A and Pro badges, its top qualifications. Spain has produced 23,995, Italy 29,420, Germany 34,970 and France 17,588.