madras

How about the formations that are used nowaday, there has to be a reason why the 433 is now so popular when it wasnt 15 years ago? What reason to do you cite for the change in formations preferences? What about the immaculate organizsation of teams since mourihno came into the game. What about allardyces "contain" them mentality which gears teamm towards defendeing. These are all changes in my book, remeber when Derby would go out and try and outplay Man U with inferior players and still come out with 3 points. Would that happen ever again? Things have changed, and i think people are being navie by saying that it hasnt and all these managers who have studied and been apart of the game continuously for 40years are simply "over complicating" things. If football hasnt changed then you'd all agree without thinking twice that successful managers nthe past, such as Shankly, Clough etc would be successful managers now with the exact saem style. chelsea often use a 4-3-3 whereas man utd go more 4-4-1-1 as do arsenal.(no dramatic change) liverpool still 4-4-2.(hey 4-4-1-1 think beardsly playing off ferdinand or andy cole) but anyway they are fluid and moving,only chelsea play quite rigid. keegan like his players to move,to have the nouse to use space and to cover for others. it's not subbuteo...players can move. one of the most disappointing things about nufc's play since robson left is that you could tell which nufc player had the ball by where on the pitch it was see the connection with those 4 i quoted..they are the ones with the best players

he has a point thogh..what has dramatically changed in football over the past 3 years ? the teams who are doing well are playing the same style,pass and move with the best players. it's not like a shift fron 3-2-5 has occurred. you reckon 3 years ago the likes of derby would have tried to outplasy man utd ? containment is new....think liverpool in the 70's ?

hey... nothing wrong with clowns except the stuff a thousand nightmares

the manager will guide the overall strategy,which in keegans case is basics (as is best). if there is a defender on the coaching staff when this is all sorted my guess is he willwork on the basic skills of the players defensivly and that shouldn't just mean the defence. well done, i'm sure that is the first time "opacity" has been used on this forum. I like it !

I'd rather come second and win the FA cup. would be nice but one or t'other was the point.

in fact i'd rather finish in the top 4 than win the FA cup

and i'd still rather come 2nd in the league than win the FA cup

ahhh. gotcha now. mark robinson then (brokenlegathartlepooltastic)

saw him more as a carl serrant

a 17yr old comes to this country from Hungary and gets a job. this would cause a 20 page immigrantfest on general chat

doesn't really work that way. just because manager was a forward doesn't mean he can't organise a team to defend (think alex ferguson). beckenbauer's germany were canny going forward for a team coached by a defender.

try the joke shop on percy st. think it's called "party party"

good tactics,using getting keegan as manager to keep this quiet.

aye,but they'll be back to normal if we don't win the league next season

do you want him to have a go at players he may have to try and get the best out of for a little while yet. remember what all his ex players about him giving them confidence and how often do you hear him have a go at anyone in the press ?

i'm panicing slightly. the press will have a field day if we get turned over. who will he play in centre midfield alongside n'zogbia....barton, rozenhal ? is there anyone else....kazenga ? i'm looking forward to the boro game more than this.

Good journo. He's from up here as well. it's not positive press,it's just press,now we aren't on our uppers they'll be up our arses again. d'you think ashley would have got slagged off for sitting with the fans and wearing the stripes if we were top of the league and spending wads ? no! he'd a been a "charcater" . i hope he remembers and fucks the press off big style at some point.

wonder if keegan burger's will come back

does he still know the game ? he was always prone to hyperbole so the idea that he hasn't watched a game in 3 years could fall in to this. does he know who is good retc ? as above the football that is the norm ? would deschapmps know ? is boltons or arsenal the norm for this league. ? pass and move with good players will win more than lose and be entertaining does he know the transfer market ? £5mill for chopra. £18mill for bent...who the fuck does know the market. new ideas ? in my view, he got swept up by the whole managership thing,trying to be too tactical instead of doing the basics.

Why the heck did you post my internet details for? They're not yours. It's an IP range. And why did you post an IP range? To show people the effort you go to every time you log in. bastards....just spat out beer laughing at that exchange

loads of geordies in singapore (i know 2 working out there)

Same, haha. I'm checking footy sites daily for any news at the mo and its wearing me down. Whomever is chosen is going to get backed by Mike but it looks as if there'll be no new players in this window so I guess its summer spending only. chill man. ride it out. we've been here before and been let down. hopefully this time is different. but it's pointless getting too worked up over every bit of speculation

Yeah,but one thing stays the same,both of them taste rubbish like.

How anyone can say the sacking of a manager who persuaded his chairman to part with 6 million for a player with an upcoming criminal trial, who is then s**t on the pitch and gets himself arrested again is 'a bit unfair' is beyond me. Sam took a massive risk with Barton and it predictably backfired. That alone should've been good enough reason to dismiss him. not forgetting the "not infear of relegation" bit .......6 points and dropping

the way robson tells it the successes were his buys,the flops were someone elses. who'd a thought it. and if true none of them had the bottle to stand up (for this reason i find it hard to believe)