Football thread 15

[Lord Baelish]

I think he was referring to Bendtner, not Eduardo.

[Fireball07]

^Yeah, that's what I thought too.

[DJDonegal]

Oh yeah. Oops. :blush:

[Renasko]

And so George Burley gets fired as Scotland manager. Can't say I'm surprised. Just goes to show how folks from these waters take bad results, even from friendly matches.

No, George, you weren't good enough. Who's next onto the plank?

[Ser Howsmelly]

Perhaps a formation change? Not that I'd relish that. And in response to one of the posters above, re: isolation up front, there were fears that RVP would be isolated in his role as central striker, however the overall movement of the team quashed these fears and there is no reason that this would not continue to be the case with either Arshavin or Eduardo in that role.

[Paddy]

Some posters here will be right behind Japan on this one.

They are calling for the banning of vuvuzelas banned from the world cup.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/8363909.stm

[polishgenius]

They bloody well better. I can barely stand Pompey games at Fratton Park because of the twat with the bell - vuvuzelas are just step too far.

[Black Wizard]

I feel sorry for George Burley. He's a decent manager but unfortunately things didn't go his way as Scotland manager. The players had no respect for him and he never won over the fans or the media. Now the blazers at the SFA have the problem of getting a new one. Craig Levein is the bookies favourite, but I hope he wants to stay at Dundee United for the forseeable future and John Collins & Jimmy Calderwood have both stated their interest. I don't think the SFA have to go for a Scottish manager though, but since Scotland aren't a fashionable team I doubt any foreign manager would be stupid enough to take the job.

My first choice is David Moyes but the SFA could never pay his wages. :(

[Renasko]

My first choice is David Moyes but the SFA could never pay his wages. :(

Not that Moyes would leave Everton, anyway.

[Alcibiades]

How about Fergie Jr? Would he take the job? He doesn't seem to be in the conversation, in speculation for the Scotland job.

[Black Wizard]

I don't know if he has the experience for international management although he did do an excellent job over two seasons at Peterborough, and the board were stupid to chuck him. I would be concerned if he'd be taken seriously though i.e. would he be Fergie Jnr. or Darren Ferguson? He could be accused of favouring an underperforming Darren Fletcher or not selecting him for friendly matches out of loyalty to his father. It's an absurd thought I know, but anything is possible in the Scottish media.

[mormont]

While Darren Ferguson is a promising young manager, the only thing you need to consider is 'would his name even be in the frame if it was Darren Smith and his dad was a car salesman?' Certainly not. Therefore it should not be in the frame now.

The name that isn't being mentioned but perhaps should is Billy Stark, the under-21 coach. He has no major club experience as a manager, but neither did Craig Brown on being appointed. He has a solid record in competitive matches with the U-21s (7 wins and 2 losses, IIRC). Promoting from within would at least be affordable - if I see one more article suggesting Eire's appointment of Trap as a model, which fails to mention that we couldn't begin to afford the salary of a manager of that calibre, I will beat the author with a hefty stick. Since we'll also have to rely on youth players, going with the coach they've been working with for almost 2 years makes sense.

John Collins will be expensive and has a track record of pissing players off, including falling out with some of the players he will be expected to manage when he was at Hibs. Besides, his main strengths as a manager are in day-to-day coaching. Levein, on the other hand, has a track record of falling out with the people he'll be expected to work for. After some of the things he's said about the SFA, it would be difficult for him to take a job with them. Besides, I don't think he really wants it just now. Calderwood used to be good but his recent record is mediocre: he's severely underachieved at Aberdeen IMO. Besides, I can't see him commanding the respect of the players - he's never played or managed at a high level and never won anything of note as either player or manager. Souness has (thankfully) ruled himself out.

My first choice would be getting Walter back. Joe Jordan might be good too. Jim Jeffries perhaps.

[Renasko]

If the players did not respect George Burley, then I fail to see how they're going to respect any of the managers being touted for the job, so far. Whoever is chosen, I would not expect to see a miraculous turn around, as some at the SFA might be praying for. Though there are some good players available for the country, and when all fit, they can field a decent XI. However, they're a bit short in depth, so, it's not going to be plain sailing for a very long while.

[mormont]

If you don't think Walter Smith or Joe Jordan (to name but two) would command the respect of the players, then honestly I don't think you know an awful lot about the candidates.

There'll be no miraculous turnaround, certainly. But as for depth - as I said above, the U-21s are doing OK. There should be players coming through. The crucial thing, as far as I'm concerned, is that the next manager has a proven ability to bring through young players. Vogts at least recognised that he had to try to do that, but he was awful at it.

[Renasko]

I was not meaning Walter Smith, and Joe Jordan is best known as a number two, not a number one, these days. So I doubt he'd command that much respect.

[Paddy]

I'm not really sure why a lack of respect for one manager would automatically carry over to another.

Surely most or all of them will see a new manager as a new situation?

[Black Wizard]

I think it's a bit harsh to say that Calderwood severely underachieved at Aberdeen. The past three seasons under him they finished 3rd, 5th, 4th and reached the knock-out round of the UEFA Cup thrashing Copenhagen and drawing at home to Bayern on the way. The main failure of Calderwood's reign was Aberdeen's inability to beat crap teams in the cups: Queen of the South, Queen's Park and Dunfermiline all knocked them out. There was the abysmal performance in the CIS semi-final against Dundee United as well. Remember that he didn't have any money to spend either and when he took over the club had just finished 11th in the SPL, so I'd say he did good job in his time at club.

[mormont]

The Aberdeen fans (and board) disagree with you, and no wonder. No money? Nonsense. He had a bigger wage bill than any other club outside the Old Firm and Hearts.

Yes, his team beat Copenhagen 4-0 but they got one point from other three group matches that year. They also needed the away goals rule to overcome Dnipro even to get to the group stage. Their draw with Bayern was one leg of a tie they lost 7-3: the away leg was their worst ever away defeat in Europe. In context, that 4-0 looks like what it was - a freak result. Their league results were decent, granted, but considered an underachievement by almost everyone including the board. Sorry, but Calderwood didn't do a good job. Not nearly good enough to be considered as a Scotland candidate.

[Paddy]

Thierry Henry is a coward and a cheat.

[Jon AS]

My condolences to our Irish boarders (Except Pod. I'm sure it's all his fault). Go watch Eboue's fantastic 'goal' against Germany, it might cheer you up a little bit.