Village Idiot

Dafuq?

Got to be QPR, surely? Kazan aren't even challenging for the Russian league anymore.

To be frank, I remember his Swansea side and it was pretty great; quite a few promotions too, so he knows how to manage a team that aims to win every game, not one only worried about relegation.

Oh! That would be brilliant Give him a good AssMan to manage the dressing room and he should be fine, imho. His problems at Barça began when he lost Ten Cate. Probably would want big money/will try to get a CL club though. I didn't know you liked Rijkaard that much. The general perception seems to be he's not done particularly well at Barca, just taking over and not really building on Van Gaal's foundations. Anyway, I personally don't rate Rijkaard as a manager either. His track record is not particularly impressive and I really don't understand how he went from relegating Sparta Rotterdam to being the Holland manager and and not doing particularly well to then managing Barcelona. As you point out, he needs people with tactical knowledge around him as he's very limited himself. Wouldn't want to see him here, he'd be another Gullit. Are you crazy? He saved Barça. When he took over we'd just finished 6th, and had 5 year barren spell. It was the lowest point in the history of the club. He took Van Gaal's tactics and updated them to the times. I talked about it on another thread; how he killed the "Guardiola role" and put a proper DM as #4, played Xavi further up the pitch, pushed up the defence line and started the pressing system we still use... without Rijkaard current Barça wouldn't simply exist. Most people soured on him in the last two years, but I blame that on his lack of man management skills, and how the star players began running the show; not his tactical nous. Guardiola sat on the throne that Frank built. Fair enough, I must have mixed up Van Gaal's first and second period. Doesn't take away from the fact he's done nothing before and after Barcelona to suggest he's a great manager. It'd be a great risk to have him come in here whilst we're in the middle of a relegation fight. I will be honest with you; you don't really need Guardiola or Mourinho to get you out of your current predication. Just somebody who isn't an idiot and plays to your strengths while giving some belief back. You have way too much quality. Might as well go for somebody that will get you play some enjoyable football. My fear is that if you sack Pardew you'll get one of those "relegation fight experts" type cloggers.

Apologies Was just trying to show that Rijkaard didn't just ride the wave, he took over at a difficult time. Much more difficult than when Pep became manager, for example.

I know, I know... It was still the longest barren run in our history and our lowest league finish since the 1940s. Pampered children and all that...

Oh! That would be brilliant Give him a good AssMan to manage the dressing room and he should be fine, imho. His problems at Barça began when he lost Ten Cate. Probably would want big money/will try to get a CL club though. I didn't know you liked Rijkaard that much. The general perception seems to be he's not done particularly well at Barca, just taking over and not really building on Van Gaal's foundations. Anyway, I personally don't rate Rijkaard as a manager either. His track record is not particularly impressive and I really don't understand how he went from relegating Sparta Rotterdam to being the Holland manager and and not doing particularly well to then managing Barcelona. As you point out, he needs people with tactical knowledge around him as he's very limited himself. Wouldn't want to see him here, he'd be another Gullit. Are you crazy? He saved Barça. When he took over we'd just finished 6th, and had a 5 year barren spell with multiple managers and absolute lack of direction as team or club. It was the lowest point in our history since the 1940s. He took Van Gaal's tactics and updated them to the times. I talked about it on another thread; how he killed the "Guardiola role" and put a proper DM as #4, played Xavi further up the pitch, pushed up the defence line and started the pressing system we still use... without Rijkaard current Barça wouldn't simply exist. Most people soured on him in the last two years, but I blame that on his lack of man management skills, and how the star players began running the show; not his tactical nous. Guardiola sat on the throne that Frank built.

Oh! That would be brilliant Give him a good AssMan to manage the dressing room and he should be fine, imho. His problems at Barça began when he lost Ten Cate. He always came across as a bit of a football savant that was great at developing the tactics and football philosophy but lacked man management skills to keep the dressing room in line and motivated. Probably would want big money/will try to get a CL club though.

We have 6, of which 3 are fitness coaches. So I don't think a beefed up backroom is important at all. The main man and the assistant are the ones that one has to look at.

Yeah, we were linked with Mbiwa in the summer, but never looked like anything solid.

Surely someone must have seen this if true. Can't find anything about this. A "Canal Plus Mbiwa" search returns this as first result http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2138745/Mapou-Yanga-Mbiwa-wants-Man-United-move.html

They know the same as you; they are mostly speculating about the replacements, if their board will reinvest the money, if more key players will follow after seeing that the captain is sold... actually they are pretty gloomy. Eerily looks like this place in some parts

You're not the only ones. I'm seeing this creeping up a lot in Spanish youth football as of late. The prestige and media hype of youth competitions have increased tenfold in Spain in the past years; this has provoked that clubs go for the win with bigger/faster players instead of building for the future. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DYr1sRx_JIg/UNzdmKl3KNI/AAAAAAAAqq0/8psJEZOwqYg/s1600/pro_photo1356643076.jpg

Fair enough, then. It's a pity; he doesn't get much credit but I have him for a pretty talented midfielder. Reminds me of how Atlético dissolved their reserve sided and prompted Raúl to join Real Madrid.

How come Carrick slipped from your grasp? I seem to remember he was quite rated as a schoolboy when he still lived in the NE.

Yeah Carroll fits the bill, if only for the big money you got for him. And I rate Hughes, actually. I had forgotten he was one from your setup.

"Successful" = starters for NUFC (or sold up to richer teams) I suppose Forster would have been one if it weren't for Krul. Carroll...

How many successful players have you produced in the 2000s? Taylor? And yeah, it takes time. When we first revamped our youth system in the Cruyff years, most of the players that came through in the following seasons were pretty s***. It took about 10 years until we developed players that could do a job in the first XI.

I hope you're right. I'd agree that they do have the least talented squad. Mind, that f***ing Hull squad that survived 4 years ago was dog awful and they stayed up. It's going to be biting nails from here on out. Feels woeful slagging off on other teams for their quality, considering ours. Thing is you have lots of it.

QPR Wigan Reading You'll be fine.

Pity Emery just got the Sevilla gig, he'd be ideal in my opinion; gets the basics right, speaks English and has a very upbeat attitude. Not a puppet manager though; doesn't put up with s***. There's Schuster too. He had great stints before being sacked from Real Madrid; and always has implemented an attacking style of play on his teams. There are some other Spanish managers I quite rate, but they would be riskier.

Must be a tough day for you Honestly, between this and your result I'm feeling really sour

3-2, Real scores in ET. Some day we had to get our first defeat. Don't think we deserved it tbf. What a sour day between this and your result...

2-2...

Piqué sent off for us, this could still get hairy.