Unbelievable

Imagine if Argentina actually do it

Put down Neymar's shirt you tart

If true, that's more like it. Very much doubt it though.

I'm not inclined in any way to do the latter, but several of our cheap squad players have improved in Pardew's time; the likes of Perch and Williamson. That probably tells you everthing you need to know about Pardew's level as a manager.

Enjoy the match Flip. Said earlier I hope Germany win, but that's only because I think Holland would stand no chance vs home country Brazil in the final, and my dream is to see us hold the cup after having seen off all three teams we were beaten by in finals before. Hope for you that you win and have a great game as well as a fantastic party afterwards.

Althought the fee seems excessive, you have to consider what is at stake for Fulham regarding promotion or the very real possibility of lingering in the lower leagues for years to come. Having just been relegated I assume not many good strikers are available to them at this point in time, and they've gone out and got he very best they could get (proven in the division and likely to bust a gut to get them promoted) and probably overpaid significantly for a bigger chance of coming straight back up. It's a calculated risk, and I think they deserve credit for taking it. I've said this before, but as Newcastle fans under Ashley we are conditioned to frown at any transfer fee over 8 million. LRD is absolutely correct in saying that 10 million for a striker isn't all that much nowadays all things considered. Yet I would be gobsmacked if we spend that much on a single player this summer when we are absolutely desperate to recruit the very best striker we can get in our position considering how light we are in that area and how very palpable the prospect of relegation seems. People may laugh at that fee for a player of McCormack's ability, and rightly so to an extent, but to me it just points out how much we are in trouble with Fat Mike unwilling to invest any serious amount of (our) cash. We may not even get a striker of his ability in, let alone one we require to have this club back challenging where it belongs.

It's back on today! Germany to win tonight please (didn't think I would ever say that )

That's probably how Fat Mike sees it. Expect a lower bid this time around, and the lad to be poached by another club while we continue to haggle about relative pennies.

RIP Alfredo, but I wouldn't quite go that far.

Who is comparable to wor Matty?

It's not too uncommon for former internationals like Wilmots to get into international management without having had a stellar career at club level. Niko Kovac, Maradona, even Klinsmann when he was managing Germany came into their jobs with little to no experience. Obviously Wilmots wasn't on the same level as a player as some of those names, but it's all relative I guess. I know it's not uncommon. Rijkaard and Van Basten got the Holland job in similar circumstances. I just don't think it's a great idea. On the other hand apppointing a successful club manager is equally no guarantee for success, mainly because the mentality to perform well in an international competition for a few weeks under huge pressure from the entire nation is completely different to managing a club side for a full season across multiple leagues and cups. You only have a limited set of potential players at your disposal, some of which may not want to work together or complement each other. You don't have much time to work on tactics, or to implement your style of play. It requires the manager to be much more pragmatic, to focus only on the next match/opposition and perhaps most importantly on the mental side of the game, i.e. squad unity, implementing a clear hierarchy and making sure that your best players are played in such a way that they can express themselves and feel confident. I just think generally speaking more experienced, respected managers are more suited to this kind of task. I also feel that to become the manager of a national team should be a huge honour (preferably reserved for people from the nation itself), something a manager hopes to achieve one day to cap of a distinguished club management career.

Genuinely intrigued why some think Wilmots has a good enough track record to have been appointed Belgium manager in the first place or even performed well enough for them in this World Cup. I guess objectively a WC quarter final for Belgium is a decent result, and they won their first four matches, albeit vs poorer squads than their own. Only vs USA however can they claim to have played well. Their tactics have been nowt special in my opinion and he didn't get the best out of his best players, mainly Hazard and Lukaku, at all. Whilst losing to Argentina is nothing to be ashamed about, I do feel they have underachieved looking at the quality of their squad. Put it this way, if Pardew was sacked and Wilmots appointed I would be happy about the former, but still be massively underwhelmed overall.

I like you as a poster and you know that but sometimes you post without thinking . Wilmots was given the job because he's one of the most respected players to grace the Belgian football. He has a huge respect and is the hero of many of the guys on the team as they grew up watching him. He did a fantastic job with them during the qualifiers and friendlies since he took over. His Belgium side had one of the best performances in the WC when they played the US. He only lost to Argentina due to a single goal. To take his old achievements and pedigree as football manager and condemn his achievements with the national side is ridiculous. His win percentage as a manager for Belgium is the highest ever with the national team. I mean van Gaal didn't qualify Netherlands with a pretty good team to the 2002 World Cup. He also had a terrible return to Barcelona after that if I'm not mistaken, or did he resign from that? Just because a manager has failed at one job doesn't make him a bad manager, I disagree regarding Wilmots. Holland appointed Rijkaard (EC 2000) and Van Basten (WC 2008, EC 2010) in a similar situation: both highly respected (ex) players without any relevant management experience. They both failed to deliver. Argentina did it with Maradonna and it didn't work out. I can't really think of any successful NT manager without at least some experience at top club level. In my humble opinion a great football (and I'm not even sure Wilmots is that) does not a great international manager make.

I was intrigued to see if I perhaps underrated Wilmots' pedigree and was oblivious to his many exploits as a football manager. Turns out he was interim manager for Schalke for 2 months when he played there in 2003, and was the manager for Sint Truiden for 23 games in 2004/05 (won 5, drew 5, lost 13). Following that disaster he became a real estate agent until Advocaat, then Belgium manager, asked him to become his assistant in 2009. When Leekens, next Belgium manager, quit the job in 2012, Wilmots took the job ad interim and ultimately was given the job full time. After the WC qualification he was handed a new contract until 2018. How did the Belgium FA give this unproven f***er the job of leading their most talented crop of players ever to a World Cup?

Wilmots isn't even fit to lace Van Gaal's shoes man. Wasn't a couple of weeks ago people everywhere would tell me that Belgium had the much better players, were outsiders for the World Cup whereas Holland wouldn't even get out of the group stage. Belgium failed to impress against really mediocre opposition four times and than went out without a whimper in their first real test. Add to that the fact Marc Wilmots couldn't settle on who his best players were even after the tournament had started and he's been an unmitigated disaster. Belgium was less than the sum of their parts, whereas Holland are more. To compare Van Gaal to Wilmots is laughable.

It's not just this goalkeeper sub that was inspired and proved decisive, there is also devising a tactic to tear World and European champions Spain a new one, changing formation and bringing on match winner Depay vs Australia, the Fer and Depay subs that turned the Chile game, the crucial Huntelaar sub vs Mexico. I don't think he's a genius of course, but there's no denying he has this squad performing at the very top of its ability, full of confidence and for some reason whatever weird scenarios he prepares before a game seems to happen in reality. Some of the players have also remarked on his uncanny knack of predicting events in a game and prepare the team for it on numerous occasions the past few weeks. Contrast that to plenty of managers who just rely on their players to conjure up some magic or only have one plan regardless of opposition and circumstances, and it's evident the man is on another level to most managers. This coming from somebody who absolutely loathes Louis van Gaal by the way. He's a grumpy, paranoid, bipolar cunt who failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup with an extremely talented group of players. For that I thought I could never forgive him, but to be honest he's mightily close to doing exactly that right now.

That's because it doesn't exist. Praised for a 0-0 draw to the weakest side in the knockout stages They hit the woodwork, what 3 times? Tbf. Its also pretty creative & bold to devise the penalty strategy that he did aswell. Let alone to put all of that on a guy who has no history of being good at saving penalties, very confident stuff & he got it right. Pretty impressive for me. Against Costa Rica. Couldn't score a goal in 120 minutes lol. They sat very deep and only conceded twice vs Uruguay, Italy, England, Greece (120 minutes) and the Netherlands (120 minutes) tbf. You either give them credit or ridicule us as well as those other 4 teams for not being able to find a way through. I'd be inclined to do the former in this case.

Brilliant player cam vid of wor Tim here: http://nos.nl/wk2014/video/671414-playercam-van-een-ontketende-krul.html Hope this content plays for you outside of NL. Well worth a watch

Probably haven't thought this through once again. Hope they clarify before the final round.

Looks like it's part of the final round then. Interesting.

Di Maria, if he's out, could be a big miss. Will be interesting to see how Argentina handle that situation. His energy seems very important to the way they play.

Wildly excited about the semis now. There is no standout favourite for me now Neymar is out, so I expect two very nervy semi finals. We may not see sparkling football, but it sure as hell will be tense and unpredictable! Can't wait..

Sure did. Deal with it..