Football XLI - The end of an era

[baxus]

Terrified that Abramovich will try and get Rooney or something. Don't want him anywhere near Chelsea.

there are rumours of arsenal going after rooney.

supposedly, they are willing to pay 30 million for him.

that certainly doesn't sound like wenger to me, but i think rooney is a quality striker and could impact arsenal's squad greatly.

of course, that would depend on how well he'd adapt to the new team, new manager and new style of play.

still, i'm rather confident he could break 15 premiership goal mark for arsenal, even if he didn't fit in 100%.

i guess that deal would be closely tied to whether or not arsenal qualify for champions' league.

[mormont]

The reason I have a hard time believing a 'Rooney for Arsenal' story isn't the fee, isn't the tactical question, isn't even about Wenger, it's the fact that Arsenal would have to absolutely shatter their wage structure. Rooney would likely be getting twice what their current top earners are on. That kind of spend doesn't fit Arsenal, to me.

[baxus]

honestly, i can't see rooney getting the same or greater wages than what he makes at utd at any club he leaves for.

after his performance this season, he will have to reduce his wages expectations.

whether he'll go all the way down to 100k(-ish) per week that would suit arsenal is questionable, and i agree it's unlikely.

[Inigima]

We're keeping Sam Allardyce on as manager for another two-year contract. You can say what you like about his style, but he put us back up our first year down and we finished mid-table the year after. Glad to have ya, Big Sam.

City, on the other hand, are sacking Mancini after all.

[Paddy]

I think Man U should say screw it and make Paul Scholes the manager. It doesn't even matter if he could manage. It will be weird to have a steranger at the helm, at least Scholesy is ManU to the core.

An odd statement given that Paul Scholes is a life-long Oldham fan.

I'm happy with Moyes as the new United manager.

While I've previously been happy to consider Mourinho as a future ManU manager, something about his demeanour as the Real manager made me reconsider. I changed my mind around the Real v ManU champions league tie. While I've always been interested in the way he gets things done, I'm happier to watch that with some other team than with the one I support.

That said, those who are saying that Mourinho just destroys things, what is that based on exactly?

[Jon AS]

Oh joy, Sokratis tipped to leave Werder for Leverkusen. Considering he has three years left on his contract, would it really be beyond the pale for Werder to tell him to stay put? Even if they do get the ten million Leverkusen don't want to pay right now I'm not convinced that they'll manage to reinvest that money in players that'll make this seem like a good deal.

Of course it's possible the club's financial situation is worse than I think it is.

That said, those who are saying that Mourinho just destroys things, what is that based on exactly?

It's mostly about both his Chelsea and Inter teams not having sustained success after he was gone, I think.

And his spectacular ability to antagonise people during his time in Madrid.

[Castel]

Falcao heading to Monaco? Cavani heading to City? Fuck it all.

[Faraday]

I'll believe Falcao to Monaco when I see it. I know they can pay him a boatload, but come on.

And I don't think Rooney will go to a Premier League team if he leaves.

[Castel]

I would assume that his eyes are on PSG no?

[mormont]

Least surprising football news of the week: Mark van Bommel sent off in his last professional appearance. :lol:

[Faraday]

I would assume that his eyes are on PSG no?

Would think so, never know, though.

[Faraday]

MANCINI GONE.

[Winterfell is Burning]

Least surprising football news of the week: Mark van Bommel sent off in his last professional appearance. :lol:

:lol:

Regarding Van Bommel, Zonal Marking had one of the funniest football related sentences of recent times:

"Van Bommel was later seen complaining to Poulsen about his persistent fouling, which may be the most ironic incident in the history of football." :lol:

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2013/04/16/psv-2-3-ajax-eriksens-influence-helps-ajax-attack-down-the-wings/

[Alcibiades]

MANCINI GONE.

Sounds like they wanted to wait until the summer, but Man City leaks like a sieve it seems. I haven't really disagreed with the decisions to sack either Mancini or Hughes, but it doesn't seem the club are great at managing the news and keeping a lid on things.

[kairparavel]

Hooray for Crystal Palace! They made it to Wembley to play Watford.

I would love to see Eddie Izzard in the stands next season during EPL games.

[Darth Visenya]

It's mostly about both his Chelsea and Inter teams not having sustained success after he was gone, I think.

And his spectacular ability to antagonise people during his time in Madrid.

He is great, don't be criticizing Mouriniho.

[MercenaryChef]

He is great, don't be criticizing Mouriniho.

mourinho is a genius and a fop.

his ego is his greatest problem and he has notoriously put himself above both club and player. he is short term success and glory. should he end his days with the 49 trophies of sir alex he will have done it with 30 clubs. his inability to help provide and be part of consistency and longevity will be his legacy.

[Paddy]

I can't believe I'm defending Mourinho, and I don't think he really needs it, but I just don't think the claim that he leaves teams in a bad state matches up to the evidence. At all.

I'd agree with MercenaryChef in so far as I don't think Mourinho has prioritised longevity as far as I can see, but I don't see that as much of a mark against him. There's a great distance, IMO, between that and saying that he leaves clubs in a bad state.

Clubs are hiring him to win trophies straight-away. That's the expectation of him and so far, he has delivered that pretty well.

Were he to be employed for longer at clubs, I could start to see that being something that ought to be prioritised more.

And really, isn't it sort of a nothing accusation? How many top managers -- especially around his age -- are there who we could not construct the same accusation against? I respect Carlo Ancelotti a lot, but what has he done to provide consistency and longevity at his clubs... A.C. Milan have clearly declined since he left, but anyone who claims that he is responsible for that are out of their minds. I guess I'm arguing this because it just seems like lazy thinking to me.

I think it's pretty clear that Mourinho left Chelsea in better state than he found them. Last season was the first season they finished outside the top 3; they've won the league, cups and were a penalty kick away from winning the Champions League the year he left.

If anyone thinks "yeah, but they should have done more", I can't see how anyone could argue that that's more Mourinho's fault than Abramovic.

I don't know much about Italian football, so I won't be able to argue about how he's left Inter, but surely they were bolstered pre-Mourinho by Calicopoli? The team that he won the Champions League with were not great and it seems that most people consider them to have greatly overachieved. If that's so, I think I can argue that their decline is not Mourinho's fault, but rather, something more like regression toward the mean.

Finally, going by this thread and what I've heard elsewhere, the fans of Inter generally think well of Mourinho and do not seem to think that he left them in a bad state. The same thing goes for Chelsea. I think that if what people are claiming was true, that the people who would be shouting it the loudest would be those clubs' fans.

With Real Madrid obviously the fans aren't happy with Mourinho, but what has Mourinho done that might leave them in a bad state for the next few years?

As far as I can see all the bad feelings are directed at him, and I haven't heard much indication of bad feelings between the players. Madrid have an amazingly talented squad, and they're still going to be next season that's to Mourinho's credit.

Look, the original claim appears to be that Moyes offered United more stability than Mourinho. I agree with that, but I think it's much more to do with the his egotistical and antagonistic behaviour bringing more attention on him while he is at clubs than it is to do with how his clubs are set up after he leaves them.

To take that and turn it into "Mourinho destroys clubs" or "Mourinho leaves clubs in position to decline" just doesn't fit the evidence, IMO.

Sounds like they wanted to wait until the summer, but Man City leaks like a sieve it seems. I haven't really disagreed with the decisions to sack either Mancini or Hughes, but it doesn't seem the club are great at managing the news and keeping a lid on things.

The Guardian is claiming that Man City's directors were adamant that a deal for a replacement be done before sacking Mancini. I'd argue that this policy means there's a good chance that the leak did not come from Man City.

Surely, this policy makes the press getting a scoop much more likely than the alternative.

[Calibandar]

Least surprising football news of the week: Mark van Bommel sent off in his last professional appearance. :lol:

He's been such an irritating shit. I'm glad he's retired. I saw the post-match interview of the final game and yes, he was actually complaining a bit that the ref should have given him more warnings instead of two yellow cards, because it was his last game. Sure Mark.

Mancini sacked at City. Cool. He's deserved his sacking.

[Paddy]

On Mancini's sacking: I know that City fans still supported him and that they are afraid that they are going down the route of firing success, but I will say that myself and several other Man United fans wish that he was kept on because we reckon that Man City will do better without him.