wacko

Me too, be worried he'd get kicked around in the Premiership a bit though. I mean that literally. He likes to draw people in and then use his quick feet to nick the ball away from him at the last second quite a lot, I'd be worried some clumsy. overly aggressive Phil Stamp-esque character would cripple him. Couldn't see it happening, to be honest. He's one of those players like Owen or Giggs who react too fast to ever get caught by bad tackles. Their injuries are always self-induced. Ronaldo has done nothing to deserve comparison with Kaka yet (or even Gerrard). I think RTE had it spot-on when they said that Ronaldo does things that great players do, but he also does things that a great player would never do. It was one of his silly flicks that gave the ball to Milan just before they scored their first. Kaka is light years ahead in terms of maturity and brains. What Kaka and Gerrard have that Ronaldo has never demonstrated (like Henry) is that big game mentality. These are players who rise to the occassion and can win the biggest games almost single-handedly. Ronaldo just fades into the background. Week-in, week-out in the league, give me Ronaldo to tear the weaker sides apart. In a big game, I'd rather have Luis Garcia. Probably. Chelsea second. Not having that. We regularly dominate Chelsea in midfield. In the semi, Mascherano and Gerrard totally bossed their central trio. Or were you including wingers?

We'll take Carr off your hands. Then we'll have a defence of Carr, Agger and Carragher.

He wasn't going to be investing hundreds of millions in LFC. Basically, his "offer" was to underwrite a share issue, whereby all existing shareholders would be asked to double their investment to maintain their current stocks, and he would buy up on the cheap anyone who didn't want to pay twice for something they already own. He was trying to get the club on the cheap. There's no comparison with Wolves because Wolves isn't worth hundreds of millions.

Your avatar made me piss myself. Brilliant.

Right. They'd have gone to Italy or Spain where the richest clubs were then. Eejit.

http://www.boreme.com/media/yr2007/chelsea-dartboard.gif http://momama.net/images/stevie.jpg http://momama.net/images/rooney%20avatar.png Scouse keyboard: http://momama.net/images/keyb-scouser.jpg http://momama.net/images/improbables.jpg http://momama.net/images/mynameisrafa.gif http://momama.net/images/cisse7.jpg http://momama.net/images/57400572.jpg http://momama.net/images/Pongolle.gif http://momama.net/images/parker.gif http://momama.net/images/josewank.gif http://momama.net/images/argie_handbags.jpg http://momama.net/images/Evolution%20of%20the%20Irish%20Manager.jpg

Momo's been a bit off form since his shoulder injury, while Mascherano has been an absolute monster. He's overtaken Momo and Alonso to become first choice centre mid. I imagine we'll keep Momo because Rafa has already bought him twice, so obviously rates him, but he's clearly second choice to Masch now, and will stay that way unless he can learn to pass to people wearing the same colour shirts. It's possible he might leave in the summer, but only if he wants away or he's used in a swap deal against a striker or winger we need.

He was absolutely brilliant in his first season for the Glams. I see no reason why he can't recapture that form. He'd be a good addition to most squads.

But then we'd whine about it...

Brilliant OP and comments! Laughed my arse off. No idea who'll win on Wednesday, but there's no way we'll let them play the way the Glams did. Look at the way we shut down Barcelona. Instead of Carrick and Scholes, there'll be Mascherano, Alonso and Gerrard. That is three of the best tacklers in the Prem instead of two of the worst. There's Momo, too, if we need to go atomic. I dare say Carragher and Agger will prove a bit more useful than Wes Brown and an unfit Vidic. They've still got the quality to cut apart any team, though. In our favour, we are very hard to beat and have a great record: 6 finals, 5 wins. English sides have very rarely lost European Cup finals because the fans turn it into a home game. But they changed the rules to keep Liverpool happy. Originally, both UEFA & the Premier League gave Everton the place, then just because Liverpool went crying, they were given a place in the Qualifiers. Not exactly what happened. If you'd followed it more closely, you'd have seen that UEFA place the title holders in position number one on the list (i.e. there's actually an extra space reserved for the defending champion, but that falls away in the case of having 4 places). UEFA expected the FA to follow precedent (Real Madrid) and send Liverpool in Everton's place. When they caved in to the Premier League, UEFA went ape, did their best to wangle Liverpool in without annoying the Turks (while Everton sank out of Europe without trace), and promptly changed the rules to guarantee the defending champion a place and stop an FA doing something that daft again.

Hargreaves is an excellent defensive midfielder. He had Kaka in his pocket when Bayern played Milan. I dare say that only Liverpool and Chelsea have DMs of the same quality in the Prem (Mascherano and Makelele), and Makelele will be off in the summer.

I'll never forget the time they wiped the floor with us in the Champions League, home and away. At Anfield, we were lucky to score 0. We hardly had a touch of the ball. Easily the harshest drubbing I've ever seen us take. Apparently, when Ged was on the way out, the board asked the senior players which team had been the hardest they'd ever played against. They all said Rafa's Valencia...

I'd expect Newcastle to be pushing hard for CL footie in 2-3 seasons.

Agree with every word apart from this bit. One of the defining characteristics of the game's best DMs (Makelele, Hamann, Gattuso) is that they NEVER concede possession precisely because they keep their passes short and simple and concentrate almost entirely on breaking up the opposition's play. They play as fifth defenders and in terms of attacking play, they are carried entirely by the more creative players. If a player is as good as them defensively, they don't need to be able to drive forward, and, arguably, shouldn't. Mikel, Mascherano, Essien, (Gerrard, too, if played in that role) and Sissoko are different. The first four are more "midfield generals", like Keane, who can dominate the game up and down the pitch, driving forward and chasing back. Sissoko simply can't pass.

You've got to fire Roeder. He's rubbish. But can Freddy be relied upon to find a decent replacement?

Gerne

Would cream my pants if he did. He'd fit perfectly into the second striker role in Rafa's preferred 4-2-3-1 formation. 'Pool to sign Kaka, Eto'o and Alves in the summer. The PL is ours! Mwahahahahaha!

Not good enough? He's been pushing the top 4 for some time now on a shoestring budget. I think he's one of the best managers in the league, certainly the best English one. I think he'd be brilliant for Newcastle.

Bejeezus! Lay off the Google translator. That's horrid bollocks. You wanted to say: Hier gibt's einen guten Überblick von Hotels in der Nähe von Newcastle. Travelodge und TravelInn sind günstig gelegen, haben gute Service und ein gutes Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis. Flüge nach England und Newcastle findest du unter http://www.hlx.com It's a pretty common name in Germany. It rhymes with "owl".

Great for training, I think, but not ideal in a competitive match. There you want players in their strongest position if possible (obviously subordinate to the team's balance).

Very true. I can occassionally get tickets for Schalke (they're like rocking-horse shit), and then in the Nordkurve, the home terraces. The atmosphere is phenomenal compared to sitting elsewhere in the stadium. To the right of the Nordkurve, as you look at it, are the Ultras. They never stop waving their flags and making an awful din. There's one guy on a little platform at the front with a megaphone who, as far as I can tell, doesn't see a second of the game as he spends all his time getting the Ultras going. The sausages are pretty damn good, too, and if you buy 6 pints, you get a free cardboard thingy to carry them in. One thing the article fails to mention is the incredibly cheesy music German clubs play when they score. Status Quo is a staple and, until recently, Schalke played "I Will Survive". Also, Dortmund is shite and they're going down. Ha ha ha.

Superb analogy - I wonder if it's too clever for some people though... Both here and in the boardroom Thanks, guys. It's cos I thought it up myself. I think.

How many managers reach the quarters and semis of the CL every year? Particularly those not from the three big-money leagues. In the last four seasons, Milan were the only reigning champion to get as far as the quarters the following season. You can't judge a manager on two seasons' performance in the CL. The quality of opposition is too high. Even Bayern and ManUtd managed to go out at the group stage, bypassing the UEFA Cup at some point. Two League Cups, a Charity Shield, a European SuperCup, a UEFA Cup, an FA Cup and second place in the league is what he achieved with us. But he's not good enough? To be fair he never said he wasn't good enough, which he clearly is even to the most critical. Nowt wrong in wanting different things from a manager though. I have my reservations about Houllier but would welcome him with open arms, ideally he wouldn't be top of my list though. He did in the subsequent post! Should have been more precise: I wanted to point out that he does have a lot of quality as a manager and that a quarter final and a last 16 appearance following Le Guen's quarter final appearances is not really indicative of "ruin[ing]". And the quarters last year. Agree about the heart attack thing (apart from the fact that it wasn't actually a heart attack). He was never the same for us. Hard to say how much it still affects him, though. I don't understand the point of turning your nose up at steak and continuing to eat dog sh*t while holding out for caviar. Roeder's a mid-table manager at best and that's where you'll stay with him in charge. Houllier would have you as favourites to challenge the top 4 in a couple of seasons (depending on budget). I think a UEFA Cup wouldn't be unrealistic, either. He'd sort out the training and medical facilities, too, and generally be FF's best hire since SBR. He has proven quality in the EPL, which Rafa still appears to be struggling with, and you'd be risking the same with any other foreign manager.

How many managers reach the quarters and semis of the CL every year? Particularly those not from the three big-money leagues. In the last four seasons, Milan were the only reigning champion to get as far as the quarters the following season. You can't judge a manager on two seasons' performance in the CL. The quality of opposition is too high. Even Bayern and ManUtd managed to go out at the group stage, bypassing the UEFA Cup at some point. Two League Cups, a Charity Shield, a European SuperCup, a UEFA Cup, an FA Cup and second place in the league is what he achieved with us. But he's not good enough?

As a manager, Souness's track record is a string of disasters. After you outbid us for Owen, he daren't risk refusing the move in case Real stuck him back on the bench meaning he might miss what would probably be his last World Cup. He at least has a bit of a CV though. Won titles with Rangers, FA Cup with Liverpool, promotion, League Cup & top 6 with an average Blackburn side. Roeder has feck all as a manager or a player. True enough. Did Roeder not turn down the NUFC job originally?