OzzieMandias

Not prepared because they are not good enough. Exactly, it's a circular argument.

At one point I would have blamed the European ban after Heysel -- and note that Joe Fagan, Howard Kendall and Keith Burkenshaw all won European trophies right before the scousers' night of shame. But hell, it's been, what, 17 years now? True. But you can also wonder what it is about the Scottish system that the English system hasn't got?

They all try and play safe football defensive tactics Why are there no English managers who are more tactically adept?

What's the other side of the equation?

There's been all this talk about how there aren't enough good English players, the Premiership is to blame, blah blah blah. But I think the bigger question is: Why are there no decent English managers? That the most credible English candidates are Allardyce or Redknapp is, well... incredible. Since Bobby Robson eased out of day-to-day football, there is no English manager in work who can claim a place at the games's top table. It's not a new problem, either. Last English manager to win the domestic league? Howard Wilkinson in 1992. Last English manager to win a European trophy? Bobby Robson in 1997. And before that you have to go back to the mid-1980s to find one. The last English manager to win what's now called the Champions League was Joe Fagan in 1984. So what's up with that?

I'm sick of hearing about it too, but I guess we'll carry on hearing about it until he gets a go. Maybe we should just get it out of the way, but my suspicion is that he's too sensible to take the job on.

One of them is definitely 'Arry.

Good assessment.

Looks even better when you take meaningless friendlies out of the equation. In over five years he lost five competitive games in total -- once each to France and Brazil, twice to Portugal on penalties; only the Northern Ireland game was any kind of dishonour -- and got us to the last eight of three consecutive major international tournaments (a feat not manaaged by any other European country in the same period). He beat Argentina, he tonked Germany, and he's ranked by the FA as the second most successful England manager of all time. When he took over we were 17th on the FIFA list. When he left we were 5th. We're currently 11th. When the next list is published we'll probably be back down where we were when Keegan walked out. Sven's at times overly defensive tactics look, in retrospect, like a sensible way of handling a group of overrated players, and he can hardly be blamed for Rooney's 2004 injury, or Rooney's 2006 stupidity, or Beckham missing a penalty against France. Quarter-finals not good enough for ya? Well, we all hoped for more, but who wouldn't take that over not qualifying at all?

Where are all the posters who thought SGE was a crap manager?

Meanwhile... http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/newcastle/article2836096.ece

that makes me laugh Why? do you block out sigs or something Yep, and avatars too. And that ain't going to change just because I'm flattered that I've got so deeply under your skin that you've devoted yours to an obviously failed attempt to needle little old moi. Now, if you really are as old as I am -- old enough to have gone to his first match in the mid-1960s -- why don't you try acting your age instead of always snapping at my heels like some retarded, yappy mongrel? after your colossal boob ie the Stephen Spence business........if you were truly to act your own age you would come clean and admit that you are not such a big supporter as you make out, and people like me would respect you a bit more......same as if you were big enough to admit that you backing Souness was a sad mistake, as is the fact that the team were massively worse off for selling Craig Bellamy. I'm not really bothered how regular a supporter of the club you are Ozzie, if you saw those games in the 1960's but now live abroad or something and can't make it, thats fair enough. Just be honest and upfront about it. Instead of being such an idiotic WUM so often. Which you know you do, I suspect. This is why I found your post amusing. Yeah, I saw plenty of games in the late 1960s and early 1970s and I now live abroad. I've never once pretended otherwise. I also have a part share in some family season tickets and go to games when I'm back in Newcastle -- sadly less often than used to be the case since my father died a few years ago. As for the Spence thing, posted in haste and regretted at leisure, I admitted my mistake immediately. Get back to me on that one if you ever grow up enough to admit a mistake of your own. I'm not holding my breath.

that makes me laugh Why? do you block out sigs or something Yep, and avatars too. And that ain't going to change just because I'm flattered that I've got so deeply under your skin that you've devoted yours to an obviously failed attempt to needle little old moi. Now, if you really are as old as I am -- old enough to have gone to his first match in the mid-1960s -- why don't you try acting your age instead of always snapping at my heels like some retarded, yappy mongrel?

that makes me laugh Why?

Against Southampton at home, August 1967. We won 3–0 and Gordon Marshall saved a penalty (which incident is the only thing I can clearly remember from the game).

Selling our only world-class player to one of our main rivals would be, let's face it, bonkers.

True, but maybe he'll fancy it next time.

There's also this place. They have Sky but not Setanta. http://www.old-emerald-isle.de/

Almost worth starting a thread to imagine what songs he'd play.

Thank heaven for small mercies, eh?

This is a move probably more sensible than magnanimous. I don't know how it would otherwise work for him in tax terms, but if he's got the cash lying around, he might as well shift it to SJH Holdings from wherever else it was, and thus both avoid paying the interest on the debt and giving the club a better shot at developing from the income it generates year by year.

I already knew that the World Series wasn't named after the newspaper, but I dug up the links (only took about two seconds' googling) because I didn't think you'd believe me if I just said so.

Try being a fan in the States. Wait, don't. You'd lose your s***. i feel sorry for you.. when i visited a family friend (a brit) who lives in queens, i hated those pricks who interrupted (his yankydoodle friends) saying "its called soccer", real football is more of a man's game um.. no it f****** isn't, we invented the sport so we can call it what we want- do we call basketball spamalamdingdong. and yeah american football is a man's game ffs, those guys are more padded up then their illiterate soldiers. needless to say things got violent Ah that would prrrrrroper grind my gears that like. I would have brought up the whole 'world series' thing with baseball to see how they'd justify naming it that. American football might be tougher than football, but its hardly tougher than rugby. And you'd be just as guilty as those yanks for ignorance - the World Series is named after the sponsor of the competition Er... no, it's not. http://www.snopes.com/business/names/worldseries.asp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Series

It's a laugh that Real Madrid are now making noises about buying Drogba and Ballack, and maybe hiring Mourinho, while Abramovich is adopting Real's old "galacticos" policy and chasing after Ronaldinho and Kaka.

I know I said....but can't resist.... Its often the case that the ones accused of "bigotry and prejudice" are far less bigotted and prejudiced than the subject of the original complaint. Not in your case, however.