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Football: Mo Please!


AncalagonTheBlack

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22 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Gomez has been very poor in his last two games, but prior to his injury his general play was excellent apart from some costly inattention at the back post a few times.  As a young player, and one who is finding his rhythm after injury, I would hate to see us condemn him too quickly. 

Agreed, young players are going to make mistakes and defending at the top level isn't easy. That he has the ability to put in the number of excellent performances he has this year shows he definitely someone worth sticking with for me.

Having said that I do think we need to commit to developing him as a centre back over the summer and next year. Alexander-Arnold's clearly the bigger prospect at right back and hopefully we should have Clyne back next year so we shouldn't really need him to fill in too much.

23 hours ago, Consigliere said:

I'd be inclined to keep Gomez and get rid of Klavan or Lovren and sign another CB. Klavan and Lovren are 32 and 28 respectively so this is as good as they are going to get whereas Gomez is only 20. If he doesn't improve over the next 2-3 seasons then maybe it will be time to look for an alternative. 

Klavan's ok as a 4th/5th choice centre back. He's basically fine to come in and play the odd game against weaker sides, if he's having to start every week it's a problem but I doubt we're going to invest the money to have to significantly stronger player in that sort of position.

Ideally we could do with a stronger option instead of one of Lovren or Matip, especially if Van Dijk picks up an injury, but I really doubt it's a position we're going to spend money on over the summer. Gomez really kicking on next year's probably the best case scenario for us. 

36 minutes ago, JordanJH1993 said:

Surely Steven Gerrard won’t fancy this as his first major job in football?

It does seem an odd one. I don't watch Scottish football but aren't you going to be viewed as a failure as Rangers manager if you don't catch Celtic but they lack the resources to realistically compete?

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33 minutes ago, ljkeane said:

It does seem an odd one. I don't watch Scottish football but aren't you going to be viewed as a failure as Rangers manager if you don't catch Celtic but they lack the resources to realistically compete?

The thing is, it’s not just Celtic Rangers need to catch; Aberdeen look like finishing ahead of them again this season. Celtic are miles ahead of Rangers, as recent Derbies have shown, so surely Rangers’ owners wouldn’t be brining in a new manager and saying, ‘Finish above Celtic next season or you’re getting the boot,’

I’d guess the short term goals are to make Rangers the second best team in Scotland and to at least get the team to be able to hold their own in the Old Firm Derbies again. 

There was a stage this season, going into the last Old Firm in the league, when it looked like there could have been a decent title race if Rangers had won. Rangers lost 3-2 and Celtic have steam rolled into a massive lead, while Rangers have fallen down into third.

In a way, you could see how it would appeal to Gerrard. Right now, you wouldn’t imagine too many PL teams would take a shot on him, so he might have to start at Championship and League One level in England, which we all know are incredibly difficult divisions. He certainly won’t be able to land the Liverpool job anytime soon, as Klopp has many years left on his contract.

Rangers, while miles off Celtic, are still likely to finish high in the Scottish Premiership every season. If Rangers were patient with him, gave him money and set a realistic goal of stopping Celtic win 10 in a row (they are currently on 7), it would be a job that would come with high risks, such as the shambles at Celtic Park today, but also a high reward in having the potential to be the first Rangers manager since they got sent down the divisions to stop Celtic winning the title. Something like that would be good to have on his CV should he wish to suceed Klopp at Liverpool.

Looking at Rangers today, though, they practically need a whole new squad if they are to compete with Celtic anytime soon.

If he does take it, you have to take your hat off to him for the bravery of taking on a job like that as his first managerial role.

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43 minutes ago, JordanJH1993 said:

Rangers, while miles off Celtic, are still likely to finish high in the Scottish Premiership every season. If Rangers were patient with him, gave him money and set a realistic goal of stopping Celtic win 10 in a row (they are currently on 7), it would be a job that would come with high risks, such as the shambles at Celtic Park today, but also a high reward in having the potential to be the first Rangers manager since they got sent down the divisions to stop Celtic winning the title. Something like that would be good to have on his CV should he wish to suceed Klopp at Liverpool.

Not having any ties to the Huns on your CV in any shape or form (be it sevco, newco, zombieco or whatever will come out when they next enter administration) is the only way to go.

On a semi-serious note. I don't think SPL overall is that great a stage to set you up for a bigger European club. The competition is simply too weak. All it usually gets you is a gig at a relegation battler in the EPL or some English Championship club.

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Man Utd: De Gea; Valencia, Lindelof, Smalling, Young; Herrera, Matic, Pogba; Lingard, Lukaku, Sanchez. Subs: Pereira, Rojo, Mata, Martial, Rashford, Fellaini, McTominay

vs

Arsenal: Ospina; Bellerin, Mavropanos, Chambers, Kolasinac; Maitland-Niles, Xhaka; Mkhitaryan, Nelson, Iwobi; Aubameyang. Subs: Cech, Holding, monreal, Welbeck, Nketiah, Osei-Tutu, Willock.

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24 minutes ago, Notone said:

On a semi-serious note. I don't think SPL overall is that great a stage to set you up for a bigger European club. The competition is simply too weak. All it usually gets you is a gig at a relegation battler in the EPL or some English Championship club.

Generally speaking that is true, but maybe the idea of ‘Steven Gerrard’ having success at one of the Old Firm clubs is going to be different to, say, Alex McLeish or Gordon Strachan, for instance. Perhaps his name mixed with success at Rangers would be enough to get a bigger gig than one at a relegation club or Championship side. This all depends on him actually taking the job and actually being successful in it, of course.

Even Brendan Rodgers has found himself linked with the Arsenal job, despite being sacked from Liverpool. It must have been his recent time at Celtic that got his name mentioned for Arsenal job, as he most certainly wouldn’t have been on the radar immediately after he was sacked from Liverpool.

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1 hour ago, JordanJH1993 said:

Generally speaking that is true, but maybe the idea of ‘Steven Gerrard’ having success at one of the Old Firm clubs is going to be different to, say, Alex McLeish or Gordon Strachan, for instance. Perhaps his name mixed with success at Rangers would be enough to get a bigger gig than one at a relegation club or Championship side. This all depends on him actually taking the job and actually being successful in it, of course.

 

Any success would be tainted by the mere fact of it being linked to the Huns. Almost any half decent human being wouldn't want to get buried there, let alone be their manager. And that's not even taking consideration that the club could enter administration again within the next 5 years or so.

Besides Gerrard has just started to get some managerial experience at Liverpool's youth. He'd do well to take his time and learn the trade a bit more (1-2 more full seasons) away from the spotlight. That should give him a rough idea of what happens/what to do when things and results are not going your way. What works, and what doesn't. Managing juniors and and managing a senior squad are two different things, yet it should give a more solid foundation.

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Pretty typical of United this season. Pulling out a win despite not playing well. The attacking fluidity, off the ball movement and pressing still isn't that good. We manage to do better in those aspects during patches but mostly our movement is static and build up slow. In saying that Mourinho has improved us this season - more goals, more points and an improvement in results against top 6 opposition. 

 

ETA. And it looks like Napoli have blown their chance at winning the Scudetto once and for all this season going down 3-0 at Fiorentina. 

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It was a weird game. Each opponent had chances to finish the other, but that being said, none clearly deserved to win. 

Matic and Lindelof had a solid performance though. Every other Man Utd player was awful, especially the attacking ones, which does raise an issue, considering we were playing against an Arsenal B side.

In the end our savior is named Marouane Fellaini... what a time to be alive.

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18 hours ago, ljkeane said:

It does seem an odd one. I don't watch Scottish football but aren't you going to be viewed as a failure as Rangers manager if you don't catch Celtic but they lack the resources to realistically compete?

Well, there has apparently been talk of investment money coming into the club. Having a big name as manager, even if he's not actually a big-name manager, will presumably help in that regard. And if there is investment, then the realistic goal will be not to beat Celtic, but to get on a level where the club is at least providing them with some competition.

Meanwhile, Gerrard gets to learn his trade at a club where he can play in Europe, even if only in the Europa League. That's got to be more attractive than managing, say, Ipswich in the Championship or fighting relegation with a lower-level Premiership club. 

Mind you, if he's going to Rangers he has to learn to sulk with the best of them. No talking to the media. Petulant club statements on the website. That sort of thing. :P

16 hours ago, JordanJH1993 said:

Even Brendan Rodgers has found himself linked with the Arsenal job, despite being sacked from Liverpool. It must have been his recent time at Celtic that got his name mentioned for Arsenal job, as he most certainly wouldn’t have been on the radar immediately after he was sacked from Liverpool.

I'd say it's probably the combination: success at Celtic makes up for the last season at Liverpool, but wouldn't be enough without the experience and relative success of his previous season at Liverpool. 

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31 minutes ago, mormont said:

 

Mind you, if he's going to Rangers he has to learn to sulk with the best of them. No talking to the media. Petulant club statements on the website. That sort of thing. :P



He once beat up a DJ for not playing Phil Collins, I think he'll fit right in.

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27 minutes ago, mormont said:

I'd say it's probably the combination: success at Celtic makes up for the last season at Liverpool, but wouldn't be enough without the experience and relative success of his previous season at Liverpool. 

Yeah, I'd say Gerrard would be hoping that if he could bring success to Rangers, that success coupled with the name 'Steven Gerrard' would make up for his lack of experience elsewhere and would make bigger clubs in Europe show an interest in him. That depends on whether Rangers show him any patience, for there is little chance of them mounting any kind of serious challenge next season.

 

For those interested (I doubt many!) in my previous post about the title race in Northern Ireland, here's how it played out:

It wasn't quite 'helicopter Sunday' but, on Saturday afternoon, the Irish League title was held in a car supported by police cars somewhere between Ballymena and Lurgan.

I mentioned in my previous post how Ballymena United fans would have been happy to see their team lose to Crusaders on the final day of the season if it meant Coleraine lost the title. To put it into perspective, a colleague of mine, a big Ballymena United fan, was in a deli for his lunch last week and ran into one of the Ballymena players and offered to buy him his lunch all this week if he was to score an own goal against Crusaders.

Anyway, the games kicked off at 3pm on Saturday and the first blood, much to the ire of their own fans, went to Ballymena United, 60 minutes in. As it stood, Coleraine, who were drawing 0-0 at Glenavon, were going to win the league, thanks to their eternal rivals. Thankfully, for Crusaders fans and Ballymena United fans, Crusaders struck an equaliser on the 77th minute, and an ex-Ballymena United player popped up on the 86th to score a winner for Crusaders, meaning the Crus won the title by two points, as Coleraine only managed a 0-0 draw away to Glenavon.

All in all, it didn't really live up to the potential of having either side winning the title by goal difference, but it was a bit of entertainment for a semi-professional league, all the same.

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