Premier League

[Oldgregg86]

17 minutes ago, 47er said:

Got their keeper and their captain off us for £2M! No wonder we are broke.

If it helps send them down it’s money well lost 

[47er]

1 hour ago, Oldgregg86 said:

If it helps send them down it’s money well lost 

I'm taking it you're referring to Burnley!!

[Exiled_Rover]

1 hour ago, Tom said:

No controversy for me it’s never been a foul just weak from the keeper 

It's clearly a foul, but as we've been on the end of a dozen  horror decisions under JDT - f' em. 

[Exiled_Rover]

19 minutes ago, 47er said:

I'm taking it you're referring to Burnley!!

You want Luton in the Premier League? There are enough nothing southern clubs up there as is. 

[Mattyblue]

What I like about Luton up there with their shoestring budgets and ramshackle ground is that it’s a constant reminder that it’s more than possible for Blackburn Rovers to do it too.

We are just missing that ‘ambition’ bit.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

28 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

What I like about Luton up there with their shoestring budgets and ramshackle ground is that it’s a constant reminder that it’s more than possible for Blackburn Rovers to do it too.

We are just missing that ‘ambition’ bit.

We’re missing everything that makes them what they are. We’re a Zombie club. Dead but we don’t know it.

[Upside Down]

17 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

We’re missing everything that makes them what they are. We’re a Zombie club. Dead but we don’t know it.

Just ambling around feasting on the brains of the unsuspecting. 

[ABBEY]

Just watching utd spuds...

How soft has footy become . Sliding tackle , took ball and trailing leg caught him , free kick and yellow card . Arguing with modern generation grandson, he says disgrace and shouldn't be allowed.  I say clean tackle and get up ya soft get.

 

[RoverDom]

[Upside Down]

10 hours ago, RoverDom said:

As if it wasn't like that for the red scum or Real Madrid for 20 years.

[ABBEY]

Ivan Toney's 8 month ban is now over. He has returned to training and says he will be available for Brentford's 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

[simongarnerisgod]

1 hour ago, Upside Down said:

As if it wasn't like that for the red scum or Real Madrid for 20 years.

big difference between city,utd and real madrid,the latter two are huge global giant clubs and they don`t need to resort to cooking the books,city could win 20 titles and 20 european cups and they still would`nt be half as big

[riverholmes]

A vague thought about Man City who really start getting into gear when Foden and De Bruyne (and, others in the past) are played regularly. That is, when Guardiola stops altering the team game to game and plays them more consistently.

I question Guardiola with caution given all that he's won, how he has helped to transform the game tactically in the UK, manages a squad of stars and motivates them and so on. But I do wonder what would happen if he stopped his constant tinkering and played his best players regularly. I'm quite sure that now until the end of the season, Foden and De Bruyne will play most games. However, for the first half of the season, my impression (I don't follow them closely) is that he is  nearly always changing selections.

My feeling is that Guardiola and others like to treat the team as a machine of interchangeable parts. It comes across as rather self-indulgent, as if they are the master technician and the players are machine-like tools. And, yet, when his best players get a run and start to express themselves, that's when the team are at their best.

The contradiction (or hypocrisy) to me, is that these managers want there to be no dominant stars in the team - in a way, they are the centre of attention or the star. And, yet, when Foden and De Bruyne start starring, the team goes to another level.

Edited January 18 by riverholmes

[DanLad]

1 hour ago, simongarnerisgod said:

big difference between city,utd and real madrid,the latter two are huge global giant clubs and they don`t need to resort to cooking the books,city could win 20 titles and 20 european cups and they still would`nt be half as big

I'd posit that City are now a bigger club than United. Depends how you measure it. United will have a bigger turnover, but City will win now more trophies for the foreseeable future. Personally, I think trophies are more important than turnover. 

[AllRoverAsia]

2 hours ago, riverholmes said:

A vague thought about Man City who really start getting into gear when Foden and De Bruyne (and, others in the past) are played regularly. That is, when Guardiola stops altering the team game to game and plays them more consistently.

I question Guardiola with caution given all that he's won, how he has helped to transform the game tactically in the UK, manages a squad of stars and motivates them and so on. But I do wonder what would happen if he stopped his constant tinkering and played his best players regularly. I'm quite sure that now until the end of the season, Foden and De Bruyne will play most games. However, for the first half of the season, my impression (I don't follow them closely) is that he is  nearly always changing selections.

My feeling is that Guardiola and others like to treat the team as a machine of interchangeable parts. It comes across as rather self-indulgent, as if they are the master technician and the players are machine-like tools. And, yet, when his best players get a run and start to express themselves, that's when the team are at their best.

The contradiction (or hypocrisy) to me, is that these managers want there to be no dominant stars in the team - in a way, they are the centre of attention or the star. And, yet, when Foden and De Bruyne start starring, the team goes to another level.

Insightfully spot on. Pep's career has always been about Pep.

[Upside Down]

2 hours ago, riverholmes said:

A vague thought about Man City who really start getting into gear when Foden and De Bruyne (and, others in the past) are played regularly. That is, when Guardiola stops altering the team game to game and plays them more consistently.

I question Guardiola with caution given all that he's won, how he has helped to transform the game tactically in the UK, manages a squad of stars and motivates them and so on. But I do wonder what would happen if he stopped his constant tinkering and played his best players regularly. I'm quite sure that now until the end of the season, Foden and De Bruyne will play most games. However, for the first half of the season, my impression (I don't follow them closely) is that he is  nearly always changing selections.

My feeling is that Guardiola and others like to treat the team as a machine of interchangeable parts. It comes across as rather self-indulgent, as if they are the master technician and the players are machine-like tools. And, yet, when his best players get a run and start to express themselves, that's when the team are at their best.

The contradiction (or hypocrisy) to me, is that these managers want there to be no dominant stars in the team - in a way, they are the centre of attention or the star. And, yet, when Foden and De Bruyne start starring, the team goes to another level.

That's exactly how he sees the team.

The changes that have come into the game as a result of his influence are for the worse in my opinion.

I do question just whether his is that great. He's always had a near unlimited budget and at Barcelona they literally had referees on the payroll.

He's not a shit manager by any stretch of the imagination but it'll be interesting to see if he could achieve anything with a budget more what palace or wolves have.

[K-Hod]

7 hours ago, simongarnerisgod said:

big difference between city,utd and real madrid,the latter two are huge global giant clubs and they don`t need to resort to cooking the books,city could win 20 titles and 20 european cups and they still would`nt be half as big

Probably because they’ve had years of having their own way and the only way to compete with them, is to spend loads of money. Let’s not forget the United benefitted the most from the inception of the PL and Sky TV. 
Unless everyone would rather the teams that have been huge for years would just win everything every year forever anyway….

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

10 hours ago, riverholmes said:

A vague thought about Man City who really start getting into gear when Foden and De Bruyne (and, others in the past) are played regularly. That is, when Guardiola stops altering the team game to game and plays them more consistently.

I question Guardiola with caution given all that he's won, how he has helped to transform the game tactically in the UK, manages a squad of stars and motivates them and so on. But I do wonder what would happen if he stopped his constant tinkering and played his best players regularly. I'm quite sure that now until the end of the season, Foden and De Bruyne will play most games. However, for the first half of the season, my impression (I don't follow them closely) is that he is  nearly always changing selections.

My feeling is that Guardiola and others like to treat the team as a machine of interchangeable parts. It comes across as rather self-indulgent, as if they are the master technician and the players are machine-like tools. And, yet, when his best players get a run and start to express themselves, that's when the team are at their best.

The contradiction (or hypocrisy) to me, is that these managers want there to be no dominant stars in the team - in a way, they are the centre of attention or the star. And, yet, when Foden and De Bruyne start starring, the team goes to another level.

The “ Phil Spector “ of football minus the madness and guns.

[Upside Down]

2 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

The “ Phil Spector “ of football minus the madness and guns.

And the tupe.

[speeeeeeedie]

Guardiola is a superb manager. is he good because he's only had the best jobs, or did he get the best jobs because he's that good? Mancini and Pelligrini won titles at City but didn't have the sustained success. I used to say it about Mourinho; if he was that good he should take the Stanely job and get them into the Prem. Could Guardiola do it? I think Mourinho's style would have been better suited to it. Anyway, it's hypothetical and Mourinho has certainly fallen off his early 2000's perch.

He started at Barcelona after an internal promotion and hit the jackpot. His home grown players dwarfed the "class of 92". Valdes, Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Pedro, I'll include Pique and Messi too. This allowed him to play his way from the off as they all knew what to do. It also allowed him to buy good players to complement them. As mentioned he also benefitted from some under  the table antics from the club.

His stint at Bayern was successful but the playing field was at least level. 

He's been great for City but they are knee deep in shiftiness. UEFA let them off the hook when they were caught bang to rights. I think their owner told UEFA something along the lines of - do it, and we'll sue because we have enough money to pay for the best lawyers forever. Will the FA buckle too? 

[Norbert Rassragr]

Brian Clough's achievements stand up to all of Pep's. Though the financial playing field was not as imbalanced then, I doubt Pep could take a Burnley or Leeds and instantly get them challenging for the league without spending billions replacing the current squad.

[ABBEY]

Breaking news on Sky sports….

 

Reports that Real Madrid are showing an interest in Spurs full back Destiny Udogie this January....

 

They have asked chairman Daniel Levy how much is Udogie in the window...

[Norbert Rassragr]

Cue Levy doing a Doctor Evil "one million million pounds".

 

[Adam C]

Whether Guardiola could win the league with a smaller club is an interesting question, and ultimately a question we will never have answered as I doubt he’d be interested in taking on a club without massive resources. 

Is it more impressive to win consistently at the top level or to win when the odds are overwhelmingly against you? Claudio Ranieri or Pep Guardiola?

I don’t think Pep has anything to prove by taking on a smaller team. He won the treble in two different leagues and the top league in three different countries. His list of achievements is incredible and will probably lead to him being remembered as City’s greatest ever manager and a legend to Barcelona fans. 
 

 

[Ianrally]

22 hours ago, ABBEY said:

Ivan Toney's 8 month ban is now over. He has returned to training and says he will be available for Brentford's 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Once upon a time when the football authorities had balls, players caught gambling were given life time bans not a paltry 8 months. It’s sickening to think that players at the top level earning massive money are still greedy bastards. They know the rules and choose to flout them. Throw them out the game.