[Archived] Nicko's Thread

[USABlue]

What annoys me is that we always try and pick the best known player for each position rather than building a team.

As for this being England's chance, having no talent coming through and all that malarkey: rubbish. There's plenty of good, young, English players coming through. The problem is when you put players out there on name and not merit.

I think this happens due to the pressure on the England Manager. No one in recent history has had the balls to be unorthodox, pick players from a team like Rovers. It's about self preservation and protection from the media. Constantly picking players from the big teams just because the play for big teams is a "safe" bet, less criticism when it does not come off. I'd have had Bents or Beckham from the start yesterday if I was going with Crouch up front alone. I wide man who can not cross is simpley a waste of space. Also before the game I was thinking if I would have thrown young Abgonwalkabout in there.

We do have some good young talent but we have to find the right boss who can use that talent and not stifle it, then kill it all together.

[Ricky]

It was a very long drive back from Wembley yesterday!!

[Cocker]

It was a very long drive back from Wembley yesterday!!

How much are they charging for a pie and a pint now a days?

[Dunnfc]

How much are they charging for a pie and a pint now a days?

Well theyve somehow got to pay off McClaren.

[Ricky]

No beer as it was UEFA sanctioned, which is a joke really.

Mate bought a pie and I think it was either £3.90 or £4.50.

The place we drnk before the game had put beer up from £3 to £4, bit steep although they did do a 3 for £10 promo which made it a bit more acceptable.

Im still gutted, thinking of putting all of my concerns in writing to the numpties at the FA, sure it wont help but will probably help get it off my chest.

[Cocker]

No beer as it was UEFA sanctioned, which is a joke really.

Mate bought a pie and I think it was either £3.90 or £4.50.

The place we drnk before the game had put beer up from £3 to £4, bit steep although they did do a 3 for £10 promo which made it a bit more acceptable.

Im still gutted, thinking of putting all of my concerns in writing to the numpties at the FA, sure it wont help but will probably help get it off my chest.

Thats mental but I suppose if there is a demand people can charge what they hell they want.

[Ricky]

I now have the decision to make about my Englandfans+ membership.

Do I renew or do I say sod it, guess by not renewing I'd have more cash for Rovers Euro trips. Following Rovers away in Europe has given me far far better memories than England away. Think my mind is pretty much made up.

I feel absolutely gutted at the moment, I was all sorted to head out to Switzerland / Austria next year.

[Cocker]

I now have the decision to make about my Englandfans+ membership.

Do I renew or do I say sod it, guess by not renewing I'd have more cash for Rovers Euro trips. Following Rovers away in Europe has given me far far better memories than England away. Think my mind is pretty much made up.

I feel absolutely gutted at the moment, I was all sorted to head out to Switzerland / Austria next year.

Rovers or England - Rovers every time.

[Lee]

I now have the decision to make about my Englandfans+ membership.

Do I renew or do I say sod it, guess by not renewing I'd have more cash for Rovers Euro trips. Following Rovers away in Europe has given me far far better memories than England away. Think my mind is pretty much made up.

I feel absolutely gutted at the moment, I was all sorted to head out to Switzerland / Austria next year.

Do preson with Rovers in Germany and Austria instead? Assuming they follow their normal pre-season pattern.

[Ricky]

its never been an either/or thing for me before.

[Jordan]

its never been an either/or thing for me before.

You know Preson is the way forward Ricky.

[USABlue]

Rovers or England - Rovers every time.

Me too, just, only just.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Name them. Better still, go from the top.

MANU - Rooney, Hargreaves [maybe].

ARSENAL - Walcott...gets a game sometimes when he has been good in class.

CHELSEA - Terry, Lampard, Ashley Cole...but NO young ones coming through.

LIVERPOOL - Gerrard...NO young one coming through.

ROVERS - Bentley...and you can't push young Derbyshire yet.

EVERTON - Lescott [just been put in perspective]...and NO kids.

ASTON VILLA - Young is arguably the brightest but still unproven, Agbonlahor maybe.

PORTSMOUTH - Campbell and James...thank you and goodbye.

MAN CITY - Richards has a bit to learn still, Johnson is a real diamond.

TOTTENHAM - Lennon has too many injuries for a kid, Jenas overlooked already...I suppose we better wait for Danny Rose to make it.

So, where's the best young talent coming through at the better clubs.

I don't think it matters whether we've got lots of great youngsters coming through but I think it's important that young footballers become better players by the time they've reached their mid-20s/late 20s. A lot of the time we tend to bring in players who aren't ready for international football because they've got a lot of pressure on them at a young age or they've not fully developed into a proper footballer who mentally and physically can handle the pressure of tough games.

Despite injuries to a few of the key England players, I believe McClaren used around 39 different players in the qualifying which is only a total of 12 games yet a Premier League boss would probably use around 20-25 in total for the entire season. We need pick players who are capable of fitting into a certain style of play where they can feel comfortable and if those players get injured then replace them with similar players who can fit into that system...not change the entire system to suit certain individuals.

Say for an example we played 4-4-2 with a defensive minded midfielder and an attacking midfielder (let's say Hargreaves and Gerrard) and Gerrard got got injured...we could bring in someone like Lampard who offers an attacking style of play to fill the void. If Hargreaves got injured then we could bring in someone who players regularly for their club side who plays in a similar defensive way. The same goes for the strikers. If Owen got injured, we'd replace him with an English player who offers a similar style of play...someone like Andy Johnson who is quick and can finish. Of course not everyone can match everyone elses ability but as long as they offer a similar style of game then when teams do adapt then it wouldn't be a major change but a small change which wouldn't affect the whole style of play. Similar to what happens at club football when Benni gets injured or when Savage gets injured...we replace them with players who will just slip into the same position and not have to worry about changing the style of play and instead they will just adapt to the teams style.

[robborover]

So why do we get played off the park by Russian and Croatian teams who play nice attacking football, and yet, are deemed to be less skilled than us?

The truth is that we are not as good as we think we are. Gerrard needs a holding midfielder (Mascherano/Alonso), Rooney needs a runner next to him (Ronaldo/Tevez).

We play with two narrow midfielders, short strikers and nobody wants the ball. The result is a formation that mirrors an under 12's school match.

I hope that the FA consider bringing in a policy of 2 young English players per every Premier League team. It seems to be helping the Scottish team.

[Eddie]

The problem is that a rule like that wouldn't have any impact unless you required that those 2 players be in the match squad, which you surely couldn't do. Every premiership team will have two you english players in their league squad (I would think, if not they could easily promote a youngster), but that doesn't mean that they get to play. Personally I support Blackburn over England, so I wouldn't like to see rules that put restrictions on Rovers simply so that England could do a little bit better. We are still producing talented youngsters, all that rule would ensure would be that the most talented English youngsters would be snapped up by the big teams even faster and the rest would be left with players who would never normally have made it.

[modes98]

I hope that the FA consider bringing in a policy of 2 young English players per every Premier League team. It seems to be helping the Scottish team.

It would also help if they opened up the academy that is sitting empty with the gates locked.

[Exiled_Rover]

Name them. Better still, go from the top.

MANU - Rooney, Hargreaves [maybe].

ARSENAL - Walcott...gets a game sometimes when he has been good in class.

CHELSEA - Terry, Lampard, Ashley Cole...but NO young ones coming through.

LIVERPOOL - Gerrard...NO young one coming through.

ROVERS - Bentley...and you can't push young Derbyshire yet.

EVERTON - Lescott [just been put in perspective]...and NO kids.

ASTON VILLA - Young is arguably the brightest but still unproven, Agbonlahor maybe.

PORTSMOUTH - Campbell and James...thank you and goodbye.

MAN CITY - Richards has a bit to learn still, Johnson is a real diamond.

TOTTENHAM - Lennon has too many injuries for a kid, Jenas overlooked already...I suppose we better wait for Danny Rose to make it.

So, where's the best young talent coming through at the better clubs.

Manchester United: Rio Ferdinand, Ben Foster, Rooney, Carrick, Hargreaves

L'Arse: Theo Walcott, and a bunch of promising kids (they wouldn't be in Wenger's squad if they weren't decent, especially as he loves a foreign kid).

Chelsea: Terry, Lampard, A. Cole, J. Cole, Sinclair.

Liverpool: Gerrard, Carson, Guthrie, Crouch, Pennant, Spearing (apparently).

There's your top four, and that's without knowing their youth systems. I could go on, but I don't have the time. Your argument loses a lot of merit once you say teams like Everton have nobody coming through; players like Baines, Vaughn, Jagielka are all top quality.

[nicko]

There's your top four, and that's without knowing their youth systems. I could go on, but I don't have the time. Your argument loses a lot of merit once you say teams like Everton have nobody coming through; players like Baines, Vaughn, Jagielka are all top quality.

Baines can't get in the Everton team. Jagielka? Vaughan maybe in a few years.

I have seen the youth teams of the big four and most of them are full of foreign youngsters.

Man U have a kid called Wellbeck, a striker. Arsenal have one or two, like Henri Lansbury but will they ever get a game. Liverpool won the youth cup last season with a side with plenty of foreigners and a couple of English kids who will make a living in League One.

Take a look at the Rovers academy sides and see how many foreigners are there too? And I'm not being anti-foreign, just stating a fact.

[Cocker]

Baines can't get in the Everton team. Jagielka? Vaughan maybe in a few years.

Thats because he is injured? Moyes said when he was fit and playing that he was doing very well

[nicko]

Thats because he is injured? Moyes said when he was fit and playing that he was doing very well

Not the case...he has been overlooked and isn't happy about it.

[Ben-2000]

Rovers or England - Rovers every time.

Club before country? absolutely 100%

[USABlue]

Shearer for England.

The campaign starts here...

Oh perleeeese. Let's keep it real shall we.

[LeChuck]

Oh perleeeese. Let's keep it real shall we.

Why USA? It's a very good suggestion.

Germany put Klinsmann in charge when it seemed their national team was on the decline, but he did wonderfully there and his presence just gave the whole country a lift. Van Basten seemed to sort out a lot of the riffs that had plagued the Dutch team for ages, probably because of the respect he held in the game. Brazil had no problem appointing Dunga despite him having no experience, and our very own Sparky didn't do badly at Wales without experience did he?

In fact, the recent record of top players going on to successfully manage their country is very high (notice I used 'top' there, so that discounts Staunton). I'd be happy with Mourinho if he would take the job, but after that I'm not keen on any of the foreigners...especially Capello, I think the clash of Italian and English playing styles would be too much, we saw a little of that with Sven.

I'm still yet to be convinced by O'Neill, I feel he has to do something significant at Villa before he can be considered. Aside from the relatively meaningless SPL titles, all he has to his name is a UEFA Cup final appearance and a League Cup...both of which McClaren can boast.

I hope Venables keeps his place in the set-up with whoever comes in, I think it's obvious that he had no real part in McClaren's disaster. He was nowhere to be seen on the bench with McClaren last night, instead probably choosing to distance himself from the train wreck ahead. From everything I've ever read in his newspaper columns too, none of the tactics or selections sound like they came from him.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

I'm still yet to be convinced by O'Neill, I feel he has to do something significant at Villa before he can be considered. Aside from the relatively meaningless SPL titles, all he has to his name is a UEFA Cup final appearance and a League Cup...both of which McClaren can boast.

I really don't see what other people see in him. At times he plays awful football at Villa, his signings haven't been that great and he hasn't really turned Villa into a top club despite the amount of signings and money he's spent. They are still a team I try and avoid watching if I can help it. At Celtic he won a lower standard league and struggled in the Champions League and at Leicester he did very well but that alone isn't good enough to become a top international manager. I don't think he has the right attributes that I'd want to manage our country. I want someone who knows about the English national team, someone who has the experience of knowing what it's like to represent England and the pressures that come with it.

Who better than a man who has captained England.

Who better than a man who has led the line for England in so many important matches

Who better than a man who has been a match winner on so many occasions.

Who better than a man who has the respect of the English public

Who better than a man who wears his heart on his sleeve

Who better than a man we can ALL rely on and never lets us down.

Who better than this man:

[philipl]

And he creosotes a mean fence.