White Walker Texas Ranger Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 While I don't think Klinsmann is particularly brilliant as a coach/manager, I think he was put in a bad situation there. Bayern wanted an all around reform of their club philosophy, win lots of titles and not spend a lot of money on players (both Hitzfeld before and van Gaal after his tenure at the club got some shiny new starplayers; Klinsmann got Tim Borowski, Massimo Oddo and Hans-Jörg Butt, and the latter he wasn't allowed to use as a starter because Hoeneß had promised Rensing the number 1 spot; during the winter break he got to add Landon Donovan on loan...).That's a pretty tall order for anyone.If upper Bayern management has lost its impatience and allows Sammer to do his job for a few years even if they go without titles this might amount to something. They'll also need a coach to work with mid- to longterm, as Heynckes really isn't the guy for the future.I've heard a rumor somewhere that their in talks with Guardiola for after Heynckes leaves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon AS Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Guardiola has been linked with every club under the sun (and probably with a few in adjacent solar systems), a few weeks ago his agent released a statement that Guardiola was so sick of the rumours the agent wasn't allowed to talk to club representatives on his behalf, no matter how vague the interest they expressed was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Mongoose Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Guardiola has been linked with every club under the sun (and probably with a few in adjacent solar systems), a few weeks ago his agent released a statement that Guardiola was so sick of the rumours the agent wasn't allowed to talk to club representatives on his behalf, no matter how vague the interest they expressed was.Haha, yeah, like that will work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon AS Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 It seems to have died down a bit. It'll probably pick up again as the first big clubs across Europe start underperforming. And then it'll be in full force from Christmas onwards until Guardiola declares that he's leaving football for good in order to become a Jedi or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inigima Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea) may have meningitis :oAlso, Motherwell says fuck you to Rangers too as the results of the 'Well Society poll have come in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stubby Posted July 4, 2012 Author Share Posted July 4, 2012 Lambert's first signing at Villa Park is Karim El Ahmadi. This puts together a midfield that includes KEA, Brett Holman, Barry Bannan, Chris Herd and Charles N'Zogbia. Good depth or is someone going to be disappointed about time on the park? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Lambert's first signing at Villa Park is Karim El Ahmadi. This puts together a midfield that includes KEA, Brett Holman, Barry Bannan, Chris Herd and Charles N'Zogbia. Good depth or is someone going to be disappointed about time on the park?I wouldn't necessarily call that depth . Herd and Holman in my opinion are never going to be starters. Bannan maybe but not Herd or Holman . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horza Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Herd and Holman in my opinion are never going to be starters. Bannan maybe but not Herd or Holman .???Holman I can see not starting as he was a McLeish signing, but Herd started 19 games last season, on a weekly basis from March onwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 They'd probably be unstoppable but for Brazil. They probably have even more quality players ( Neymar, Ganso, Lucas, Hulk etc.) and they let their Olympics team play all their international games for the last 10 months. IMO Brazil will be unbeatable in London.Certainly, the personnel for Brazil is amazing, though they still have to cut a lot of names from the squad. Three overage players only, of course, and including Hulk takes one of those spots: this leaves only two for the likes of Dani Alves, Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Diego Alves and Dede.Neymar, Pato, Ganso, Hulk and two of the aforementioned five is still a pretty awesome basis for a squad, if a little attack-heavy: but what Spain have and Brazil don't is a clear footballing philosophy that the whole squad have grown up with. There's also the problem of fitting all the big-name attackers in (ask Argentina about that one). On the other hand, Brazil are able to put forward something much closer to their actual first team: with Spain, even the overage players are very clearly the reserves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 ???Holman I can see not starting as he was a McLeish signing, but Herd started 19 games last season, on a weekly basis from March onwards.Apologies that was very poorly phrased , meant more along the lines that Herd and Holman are both just not very good and should not be starting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horza Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 How much of either have you seen play? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rorshach Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Everton sign Steven Naismith.Don't really know much about him - except he's been injured quite a bit - but he's in our price range (free, that is..). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 How much of either have you seen play?More than enough to have an opinion on them , to be specific though I've watched a fair few games last season . Certainly not every one of them as mostly on weekends I stick to watching the Arsenal games. Holman I've seen mostly in the EL and glimpses when he's played for Australia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horza Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 More than enough to have an opinion on themAnd quite a definitive one, but I'm still left wondering what it's based on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Back to Rangers: after the totally sincere apology from newGers chairman Malcolm Murray yesterday (in no way timed to coincide with the SFL meeting yesterday and the SPL meeting today), we get the following comments from SPL chief exec and newGers chief cheerleader Neil Doncaster:Doncaster said three options were available regarding where Rangers should play next season."The three viable options are effectively: bringing "newco" Rangers back into the SPL with a range of appropriate sanctions; putting Rangers into the second tier of Scottish football or Rangers going into the bottom of the pyramid into Division Three," he added."The third option, I was keen to stress yesterday, would inflict massive damage on the whole of the game in Scotland; and effectively punish 41 innocent clubs for the misdeeds of one."Yes, that's right. Doncaster is telling us that by making newGers follow the rules and take the consequences of their actions, the other Scottish clubs will only wind up punishing themselves. What we should actually do is ignore the 'misdeeds' of the one, so that we get to keep on playing with them, which is really better for us. We should presumably be glad that Rangers deign to grace us with their presence, like the popular kid in the playground. You know, the one who does what he likes, because everyone else is so desperate to be seen with them. Rangers, like that kid, are doing us a favour by agreeing to play with us, really. It would be silly to expect them to play by the rules!No. Fuck that. Doncaster should be fired for these comments and for his whole approach to this issue, which has been a joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inigima Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 More on Doncaster. I can't source this because their website appears to be down, but Vando over at Something Awful is reporting the following statement from Clyde FC of the SFL Third Division:The club sent two directors to attend the meeting of the SFL clubs yesterday and they have reported back to the Board. The meeting and conversations covered the best part of 5 hours but there were only a few overarching themes.The clear message portrayed is that Scottish Football is in a very dark place indeed and there is simply no good solution to what is now a structural problem that has gone beyond a one dimensional issue of where Rangers should play next season. No matter what happens now there is going to be enormous fallout across the Scottish game. Whether some good can be extracted from the impending mess will depend entirely on the SPL clubs, guided by the currently absent leadership of the SFA.Neil Doncaster wanted only one thing from the meeting, to get a steer from the SFL clubs whether they would allow Rangers into SFL1. He talked the clubs through a detailed explanation of where the SPL clubs would lose £16m next season if Rangers were not entered to the top division of the SFL. This was delivered as a matter of fact, it was a "reality". It seems that most, if not all, major sponsors of the SPL have exit clauses if either of the 'Old Firm' are not within the SPL. The total figure was not new, but the detail behind the number and its impact on individual clubs in the SPL was set out clearly. There were challenges made regarding the flip side of saving the central income from sponsors and media, the obvious impact of loss of supporters to the game who have strongly voiced their intent. Supporter reaction has not been factored in, again there are realities, the SPL clubs are waiting on their Sky cheques in August and clearly that was more important. Nowhere in the presentation was account taken on the impact to the finances of clubs, and more importantly the relevance of the game, should supporters stay at home.The consequential impact on the SFL from the presentation was that the SFL would lose its entitlement to circa £2m per annum from the Settlement Agreement put together to compensate the SFL for the SPL breakaway, this was made very clear by Neil Doncaster. He told the clubs that if the SPL didn't have the money then they could not pay the SFL. The reality however, which was clear from the detailed figures, is that the SPL, whilst losing an enormous amount of funding, would have the cash to make payment; it is just that the SPL would not meet the legal obligation to the SFL as the cash would be used to finance the SPL teams.The undeniable statement made on behalf of the SPL is commercially understandable. The SPL would not allow £16m to flow out of their coffers, the impact would be too catastrophic for the SPL clubs to contemplate and as such the only options are that Rangers enter SFL1 or, as a less attractive backstop, a breakaway SPL2 will be formed. There is no prospect, from an SPL point of view, that SFL3 can be allowed to happen.Neil Doncaster was delivering a very unpalatable proposition and he did it clearly and effectively, hence the representatives of Clyde Football Club understood that the only thing that mattered was the impact on SPL clubs from the loss of money from media and sponsors.It was to the credit of every SFL club, and probably to the surprise of Neil Doncaster, that nobody asked him to improve on the £1m offer.The SFL clubs were given a steer for themselves by Neil Doncaster, if the SFL could not tell him how they might vote, then he would expect the SPL clubs not to vote at their meeting either.There were a few new things learned in the meeting, not least that the rules of the SFL would allow any club accepted into the SFL, by a simple majority, to be placed in any division. The rules do not state, nor imply, that they must join at the bottom tier, only custom and practice around good governance and integrity has seen teams join in the bottom tier. In addition, the attendees at the meeting were left in absolutely no doubt whatsoever by Stewart Regan that if the SPL clubs voted to allow a Newco into the SPL then it would be blocked by the SFA refusing to transfer the SFA membership. It was however caveated well enough to make it less than an absolute statement. The meeting was full of implied actions and outcomes, the use of clever language when delivering the speeches allows anyone to defend with ‘that is not what I said'. However, nobody will have left the meeting with anything other than the very clear messages being put across. Denials of the substance of the message being delivered do not assist anyone in this absolutely dreadful situation.There will be no winners. Any level of integrity for the sport will be lost by one outcome and financial collapse, we are told, will fall upon the SPL with the other. Sadly, the SFA and SPL have decided that whilst they say they are looking for a collaborative solution, they have very clearly made sure that by their own inaction that the blame will sit with the SFL - no matter what the outcome. The Board of the SFL are being put under intolerable pressure by the other bodies looking to avoid the implications of properly applying their own governance procedures.In summary, the SFA implication is that there will be no entry to the SPL. The SPL implication is that it therefore has to be SFL1 with a bit of restructure, or an SPL2 with the rest of the SFL cut adrift. There were no other options. Whilst Stewart Regan said that the SFA did not favour an SPL2, there was no equivalent abhorrence of that proposal as was attached to the proposal for a Newco in the SPL, leaving the implication that the door remains wide open for the SPL to secure their £16m with or without the SFL.The Board of the club will consider the feedback from its representatives and also the outcomes of the next few days and will keep its supporters fully appraised, but in the meantime see no reason to amend any previous comment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 I've heard some of that information elsewhere, from what I believe to be different sources - specifically, that the SFA won't allow the SPL to vote newGers straight in. (ETA - this article suggests independent conformation from the Livingston chairman). And, of course, Doncaster has been quite blatant about the fact that he wants the SPL meeting today not to hold a vote at all.I'm rather hoping (odd as it feels to say this) that Mad Vlad will save the day: Hearts are the one team that might well turn round and say 'fuck this, we're having a vote', purely to set the cat among the pigeons. The club's owners detest the SFA and Rangers in equal measure, and Vlad has the resources and the mentality to take a financial hit just to embarrass them both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inigima Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Turnbull Hutton, director of Raith Rovers, has some choice words on this subject:http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/rangers/109094-raith-director-we-are-being-bullied-and-lied-to-over-rangers-situation/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon AS Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Former Bayern defender Breno has been sentenced to 3 years and 9 months in jail after being found guilty of arson, having burned down the house he was renting last year. Wow, did not see that coming, I thought he'd get off with probation.He's (allegedly) only 22, so he might get another chance at the professional game in a few years, though probably not at the highest level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 SPL clubs vote 'overwhelmingly' to reject Rangers newco entry.It would be inappropriate to celebrate this exactly, for a number of reasons, but I'm glad someone found the balls to go ahead with the vote. Now let's see what happens next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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