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Football: Fox hunt failed - Leicester are Champions!


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44 minutes ago, Soylent Brown said:

Frank de Boer then?

Perhaps. There have been several rumours flying around, but de Boer seems to be the most substansial so far. 

Still, early days. I'm not even sure the board has started working properly with finding the new manager. 

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2 hours ago, apovsic said:

Thanks. And what about Villa? Are there any rumors about new manager?

Don't know what's going on at Villa but I'd say that they are in serious danger of suffering a double relegation. Wouldn't surprise me one bit to see them drop into the 3rd division.

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Add to that, that Ancelotti more or less told Götze he won't get more playing under him, than under Guardiola, and it would be best if started looking for a new club.

Dembele and Dortmund: it had been rumored for weeks, they were close to signing him. 

Now that move is complete, maybe Dortmund are more open to talk about Mkhitaryan or Aubameyang. Mkhitaryan is rumoredly atm aiming for a much higher salary in contract talks and Dortmund are very reluctant to pay the kind of money he demands, and he appreantly wants a release clause in a new contract, which Dortmund absolutely are not willing to agree to. And Aubameyang has been linked to Real for a good while now. I'd be surprised if they both played for Dortmund next season.

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Roberto bounded into the house with his usual exuberance.  He removed his hat with a quick flourish and spun it onto the hat rack next to the front door.  He was whistling a song that he had heard in the car on the way home.  "One Direction" was the name of the band who wrote it, the DJ had said.  He liked that: one direction.

"How was your day, dear?" called the familiar voice from the other room.

"It was awesome," he called back enthusiastically.  "A day like no other!"

Mrs. Martinez was used to her husband's relentlessly positive attitude, of course, but something in his voice drew her from her knitting and into the front hall--a little quaver in his tone, she thought.  "Is everything okay?"

"Well, I got fired."

His broad smile betrayed Roberto's words.  He kissed his wife on the cheek and then kicked his shoe off his right foot, high into the air, then stopped it dead against the floor with the same foot when it finally returned to the ground.

Mrs. Martinez was suddenly concerned.  "And...how do you feel about this...?"  She let the words trail off to give her husband time to consider his response.  She had seen this coming for many months now.  She read the papers.  She heard the hushed whispers and the open revolt while she was out running errands in the city.  Though she could never ever admit it aloud, in the deepest, darkest parts of her heart she was thrilled that it had finally happened.

Roberto's brow furrowed slightly as he considered his response.  "Obviously I had hoped for a better result.  But there are many positives that we can take from this.  We were phenomenal today, I thought, despite the result."

 

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1 hour ago, Nasrudin's True Love said:

Roberto bounded into the house with his usual exuberance.  He removed his hat with a quick flourish and spun it onto the hat rack next to the front door.  He was whistling a song that he had heard in the car on the way home.  "One Direction" was the name of the band who wrote it, the DJ had said.  He liked that: one direction.

"How was your day, dear?" called the familiar voice from the other room.

"It was awesome," he called back enthusiastically.  "A day like no other!"

Mrs. Martinez was used to her husband's relentlessly positive attitude, of course, but something in his voice drew her from her knitting and into the front hall--a little quaver in his tone, she thought.  "Is everything okay?"

"Well, I got fired."

His broad smile betrayed Roberto's words.  He kissed his wife on the cheek and then kicked his shoe off his right foot, high into the air, then stopped it dead against the floor with the same foot when it finally returned to the ground.

Mrs. Martinez was suddenly concerned.  "And...how do you feel about this...?"  She let the words trail off to give her husband time to consider his response.  She had seen this coming for many months now.  She read the papers.  She heard the hushed whispers and the open revolt while she was out running errands in the city.  Though she could never ever admit it aloud, in the deepest, darkest parts of her heart she was thrilled that it had finally happened.

Roberto's brow furrowed slightly as he considered his response.  "Obviously I had hoped for a better result.  But there are many positives that we can take from this.  We were phenomenal today, I thought, despite the result."

 

Are you mrs. Martinez?

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15 hours ago, Mark Antony said:

Probably have to win Europa for it to happen but I wonder if Gotze will actually go to Liverpool. Definitely the player I've seen us linked with the most, put in a good word Xabi. 

Götze is definitely the player I'd like to see in Liverpool's shirt next season.

I think Liverpool has more than a decent shot at signing him, even without the Champions League spot next year. Klopp has helped Götze break through, I don't remember any falling out between the two of them and he will have a spot in the starting lineup all but guaranteed. Add big money to the mix and there's not much to put him off from coming to Merseyside. Sure, he may not play in the Champions League next season but it's not as if he's playing in it now.

4 hours ago, Teng Ai Hui said:

Are we going to draw teams for the Euro like we usually do for the World Cup?

We did it for the Euros, too.

I can't remember who was in charge of that, though.

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44 minutes ago, mormont said:

I believe it was that little-known boarder who goes by Run? Ron? Something like that. ;)

:thumbsup:

I always forget, even though last WC subforum was active until recently :D

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I hope Bayern aren't expecting too much of a fee for Gotze.  If a player is injured and on the bench for two years, and your new manager tells him to leave, you can't demand a top fee.  It may depend on whether Gotze is open to other clubs, which is all you need for a bidding war.

Aside from 4th spot, there's not much at stake this weekend.  Cup finals next and then thankfully we have the euros to help fill the long summer.  I hate when there's only transfer rumors for all of June and July.  But it is a pity that Klopp won't have the squad for a "proper" pre-season.  I don't know if we can call it "proper" when we know every other year will be interrupted by euros or WC. 

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Bayern are delusional if they think they can get anywhere as much for Götze as they paid for him. Götze will probably have a few clubs after him but I sincerely doubt anyone would pay 30+ million for his services after the last two seasons.

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Since I'm stuck on a long, irrelevant conference call, I'll start early on my end of season accolades. 

Leicester, Spurs and West Ham are the obvious success stories that we're all discussing, all fully deserved and testaments to good managers and a team being better than sum of parts, but Southampton were below the radar as their results since Christmas were very, very good and dragged them up to likely EL qualification.  Koeman has quietly done a very good job with them despite another year of big departures.  Alderweirald was a big loss but the emergence of Forster really helped.  Similarly Bournemouth succeeding despite crucial injuries and little spending deserves a lot of recognition.  I hope they can build on this next year.   It has to be noted that of all the successes, only Spurs had a long run in Europe and none of them went far in more than one cup/European competition, allowing them to play with less rotation or fatigue.  League success is easier without distractions - just ask BR - so let's see whether they can handle more games next year.

Chelsea and Everton were the big collapses, and Utd, Arsenal and City all got dinged for failing to challenge for the title despite big spending for 2/3 and because of not spending for the other.  But Palace and Watford's collapse in form after strong starts reflects poorly on their managers.  Although Palace had a good cup run, neither can claim massive distractions.  Injuries at striker seemed to disrupt Palace especially and they never found a way to adapt.  Hopefully Wickham's return makes them competitive in the cup final.  And Newcastle's underperformance was shameful.  Villa, Norwich and Sunderland (not to mention Bournemouth) all had weak squads that you would expect to battle relegation, but Newcastle should have been comfortably a notch above that level if they had a semi-competent manager and/or any self-respect among the players. 

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No, they probably won't expect a return of invest for Götze.

But Götze won't be exactly what I'd call a bargain either. And they have a realistic hope to salvage something. Götze is still fairly young (he is turning 24 this summer). He has won the World Cup and is an established German international. Despite his not so succesful stay at Bayern, nobody really questions his skills. The question is, whether it will be cheaper to go for him before or after the Euros. A succesful tournament might increase the demand for him. So overall there will be a market for him. 

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Who knows.

Atm Germany is a bit thin on attacking options. Gomez has found his form again at Besiktas, but I have no idea who will be the other attackers.

Podolski has not really impressed at Gala, Wolfsburg's Kruse has damaged his chances with off the field behaviour and his form is rather poor atm, which leaves Schalke's Sane as next in line. And he had struggled a towards the end of the season. Leverkusen's Bellarabi has picked up on form lately. So I would think, depending on the opponent Götze should have a fair chance to play. Maybe not in midfield, but as a forward. 

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1 hour ago, Notone said:

No, they probably won't expect a return of invest for Götze.

But Götze won't be exactly what I'd call a bargain either. And they have a realistic hope to salvage something. Götze is still fairly young (he is turning 24 this summer). He has won the World Cup and is an established German international. Despite his not so succesful stay at Bayern, nobody really questions his skills. The question is, whether it will be cheaper to go for him before or after the Euros. A succesful tournament might increase the demand for him. So overall there will be a market for him. 

Considering Marković was paid 20m£, I'd call Götze a bargain since he won't be priced much (if at all) higher than that.

His skills are beyond doubt, but his form is very questionable and he's been under the radar for a while now and is not as lucrative player as he was when he left Borussia. It will all figure into the price, I'm sure.

I'd definitely love to see him wearing Liverpool's shirt next season and I'm certain he'd be back in form rather quickly.

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