Odear

I'm liking these purposeful signings, especially before anyone has been sold. Reminds me of when we signed Bellamy, I was very underwhelmed.. boy was I wrong. Sometimes going forward, all that's needed is that spark which makes things happen. I would have liked Townsend to stay but he wasn't here long enough to be attached. Good luck to him, I suppose he's going to need it once Pardew get's a hold of him. I wonder is this Rafa putting the foundations in.. i'm really more interested in who and how he's going to play at the back.

Has he agreed terms with Palace? All seems quite out of the blue, he'd be smart to wait and see who else comes in for him if he ACTUALLY does want to leave. I suspect he doesn't and this is all the mischief of agents who haven't had much action yet this summer.

Unlike most footballers, Townsend seems to have a brain. Whatever he does he will do for the right reasons, next season is a nothing really in terms of International football, so he could easily afford a season below.. he'll weigh this up. I'd like the lad to stay as i think he'd tear it up this season but ultimately, this club is now gonna be going places.. so i'm not gonna get bothered by who's staying or going in the short term.

Here's my tuppence. The reason why England are so very very average at international level is down to a few factors. In summary: media, money, education, seeding. The media, Sky are included in this but i'll get to them in a moment.. but the press.. they know essentially half these guys are stealing a living and it's quite down to them in first place.. they build up these kids as the next big thing, in the hope maybe one of them may be the next Gazza. Well newsflash.. Rooney certainly was not a Gazza.. he was above average for a short time but never world class.. how the fat cunt can earn 300k a week is bewildering.. he should never have been in the squad, let alone playing every minute. The media made sure he was a household name, made sure he was talked about in comparison to Englands best ever players and they made sure he remained a household name. Too big to drop? If that's the case, it's down to them. Rooney is just one example but you could nearly name a player in the side and draw same comparisons, just not to the same scale. Sky, BT etc, they've made the Premier League the wealthiest in the world but it simply can't compete with La Liga or even Serie A for quality.. the money props up this shit heap and let's guys who should never have really made it, earn ridiculous amounts of money.. so much in fact that, their attitude is terrible.. they expect everything and don't feel the need to repay such life's luck by working hard enough to actually be better. Education is another thing, half of England's players can't string a sentence together. Thick as pig shit.. but no vision, no intelligence, you could see this tonight.. they can run about for 90 minutes just fine but having the intelligence to act on the field to do something different? It's non existent. Other nations do not have this problem. The solution would be to make kids pass their exams in school instead of having them tied to pro contracts at 16.. let them develop to around the age of 21 or 22 before going anywhere near first team football. It would be good for them in the long run as well as the national side. And finally.. the FIFA/UEFA seeding system is not fit for purpose. England are a top 10 side my arse.. but yet every 2 years they get favorable groups which enable them to qualify for these tournaments at ease. Put them in a tougher group, which they may not qualify from.. it will actually give the players some experience of playing true competitive football.. they might develop an edge. I firmly believe that if England had to face teams like Germany and Italy in a qualifying group, they most likely wouldn't get through. This is why it's seen as such a miracle for the likes of Ireland/N.I to get through to these things, or Iceland for that matter.. they had to dump the dutch out to get here.. how any of you thought this match was going to be a formality is staggering, it also mirrors the arrogance that media would have had you believe about the nations chances. So the conversation about the next manager? It really doesn't matter a fuck who takes over... all these issues will remain for the next guy, all those pressures created by the media. Unless these fundamentals are addressed this shit will keep happening every 2 years.. and no amount 8-0 victories over San Marino will change that fact.

Fairly limited pool i'd imagine.

If there was ever about 50 seconds that could sum up how much of a bullshit artist the man is. What's particularly satisfying is that he's effectively killed his managerial career and his punditry career in one fell swoop. Sky Sports do seem to be like a homeless shelter for these down on their luck types, probably put on a great soup kitchen though.. you'll see Merson, Le Tissier and now McClaren queing up early

It's not comparable. Rafa's got this.

Ireland usually make up for the lack of talent with motivation and work ethic, kind of the opposite of a few of the Sweden players. Zlatan will win the game if he's in the mood but if it all seems like a bit too much effort, i fully expect Ireland to get a point here.. can't see where the goals are going to come from though so a win would be unlikely.

I can't believe Germany were not the favorites for this tournament, they took the foot off the pedal in the group stage once they had qualified. Ladbrokes had them at 5/1 before a ball was kicked. But they were comfortable tonight against a very decent side. France were 11/4.. I mean, home advantage can be a factor but not over recent history. These Germans are the golden generation, and a lot of their stars are still very young so they could be dominating for a few years yet.

That's football for you.

f*** me you are dumb. Not really, England fans have been absolute cunts for decades. Now they're getting a taste of their own medicine. I do feel bad for the average people caught up in the whole thing but how many innocent supporters from other nations have suffered because of some of the tougher sets of English fans over the years. And my point is that if the Russians didn't think they could own these fuckers, they wouldn't be bothering. It's a pissing contest

French and Russian Ultras, totally organised and up for it. This slightly more pc version of England fan haven't a fucking clue what to do. Can you imagine any of the proper 80's firms being flogged like that? A point to remember is that plenty of tournaments have passed with far less trouble than what we've seen this summer, perhaps a lot of this was down to a bit of respect for the old school hooligan? Now that they've gone, it's all to play for now. If the Italian Ultras turn up as well this could get far uglier, they do not fuck about.

Isn't it wonderful to have such confidence in a manager that i don't really care who stays or goes, i know for certain that whatever he decides to allow will be good in the long run.

Why single Wijnaldum out alone for this though?, our whole squad were bottlers, if some of the others have redemption in them, why not Gini? For what it's worth I think he'll be sold for most of what we paid for him.

My gut feeling is that his terrible attitude is simply from walking into a poisonous atmosphere after a terrible fucking season for the club before, it never corrected itself (until Rafa), I think if he sat down with the club and bought into the direction it wants to go, he could be the main man. Did PSV not have a half time presentation to him mid season with the fans thanking him for all his efforts before? That kinda stuff doesn't happen to genuine bad eggs. Could be a massive mistake selling the lad (if we don't have to)

Well that's the thing, Rafa has to get it right, chopping and changing the foundations will do us no good for bein back in the PL. If Mbemba does stay, let him and Lascelles play together as much as possible, it would be the sensible thing to do

A lot of the current squad could really do with a year in a lower league, so many factors to consider though. Age, likelihood of them staying for the long term etc.. if Rafa is gonna build a team going forward, he has to get the foundations right first. Perez and Mitrovic could really get a good partnership going so I don't really wanna consider bringing anyone else into that mix until the more urgent matters have been addressed. These players in particular are the right age and right type of player to be the bedrock of the team, Lascelles to be captain. Darlow ??? ??? Lascelles Dummett Townsend ???? ???? ???? Mitrovic Perez If's and buts for the other positions.. I like Mbemba, but will he stay? Will he improve enough? I can't see Janmaat staying long term so cash in I say. I like Anita but he's a short term solution, ultimately I think he should head back to the eredivisie, for his benefit as much as us, but he'll always be welcome back here. Wish more players had his attitude and work rate. Shelvey can fuck off back to chemotherapy. Wijnaldum can do one too, I suspect he could end up being very good in this league.. we should sell back to a European team. Sissoko will be off, unless nobody comes in with a serious offer for him. He's probably our most valuable player so Rafa will only sell for the right price. If we keep Aarons, start playing him on the left, or through the middle like against spurs. Colback will never be quite good enough but he's enough to compliment the right player in the middle. Tiote too old, but probably good enough for another 2 years.. not forward planning though. And no guarantee he'd be motivated like the last few games. - the back and the middle needs to be sorted out before we start considering what forwards will be in the mix

I didn't look back to see if this had already been posted, but an hour after his press conference he made an appearance at the disabled supporters association annual gig. The man is a class act, such a contrast to the con men we've had to suffer. http://www.rafabenitez.com/web/datos_web/1464342608_RafaWithNUDSAPortadilla.jpg

haha, I think it's really a sign of the times that there can be some good banter about it at this stage without fuckers getting precious. If it's Kildare, the place is called Carlton House, it's a top notch place and only 30 minutes drive to Dublin city centre. I assume they're gonna arrange a friendly over here too.. we played Bray Wanderers around the time Didi Hamann signed for us, was perhaps his debut.. scored an absolute belter from way out.

Congrats man! Good work. You should play it a bit smart, Rafa is a bit obvious.. but suggest Rafael

Mitro is gonna have to win over a lot of people if he stays, that sending off in last game was a disgrace. I fear he'll get off the hook because of the nature of the win. I agree a year in the lower league will do his confidence the world of good, defenders are terrified of him as it is.. now if he could work on that shooting..

It's doing the rounds on the usual circuits. That gold contraption isn't bad actually. A fan made mock up or a genuine leak?

Relax. Tongue in cheek about Rafa remark. The whispers about Wonga being ended early seem to have legs though

whispers going around that Wonga have been removed. One of Rafa's conditions??

Here's the word on Granit Xhaka and our interest. The papers picked up on the story before January about us wanting him. But the offer was made by the club at the start of the summer last year. We bid 15m (before McClaren joined) which was turned down of course but they may have accepted somewhere between 18-20.. we never followed it up. Then again in January his father (and agent) was touting him around Europe, and as we were one of the few clubs spending cash there was contact.. there could have been a chance to sign him. McClaren made a fuss and instead we got Shelvey and Saivet instead. Great signing by Arsenal but 30m seems steep considering he was available for about half that not so long ago.