Dave Braisford is the new Clive Woodward - really exceptional talent coming through the ranks and some good man management elevated their successes to such an extent that they start to believe they can work in other sports...
The plastic magnate seems to have a reverse midas touch when he's not burning the planet to line his coffers.... Just look at the shite cars.... He must love the cybertruck for being even more crap than his Grenadiers...
Lovely club. Probably also sulking from the hiding Barca gave them at the weekend.
Rodri deserves it. Vini Jr's problem is that he did have a good season but had to share the limelight with Bellingham and others at RM. He also did not win an international trophy with this country.
The suggestion that Carvajal should have got it by RM is total nonsense.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/ckgr1nem1gwo
Rodri has been magnificent for a couple of years, and well deserved it.
RM's hissy fit is pathetic and embarrassing, I am not sure why the press are being so gentle to them. I can only imagine the back pages, derision and scorn if City had done the same, in fact if City had done that I bet EUFA would have charged them with bringing the game into disrespect.
Rodri totally deserves it - City even with all the players they have & the money are not as good without him in the team.
The only thing is he's not a glamour player - he's not topped the scoring charts he doesn't make fancy moves & run past 3 players.
RM’s open letter with their supposed justification could have been written by a toddler who’s just thrown all his toys out of the pram
I did love the bit about them being ‘the greatest club in the world, as recognised by everyone in the footballing world’
Actually, I’d say after the embarrassment of last nights hissy fit ‘everyone in the footballing world’ thinks you’re just a bunch of childish, petulant twunts
Rodri has been awesome for the last few seasons and thoroughly deserves the award
It's simple really, Citeh are probably the best team in the world at their best performance level. Without Rodri they are simply not as good.
RM can still reach very close to their best level without Vini whinge-bag.
I did love the bit about them being ‘the greatest club in the world, as recognised by everyone in the footballing world’
They're clearly still magnificently salty about the El Classico result, and this has pushed them right off the edge.
Evil dictator's Franco's club. It laid the foundations for its European success by being state funded. Reeks of entitlement.
That said the stadium is magnificent.
"The fact that Vini Jr wasn't awarded the title of best player in the world at the Ballon d'Or is yet another way to try to penalise the Brazilian for his outspoken stance on racial issues, both on and off the field," wrote Douglas Ceconello, a journalist for Brazilian sports website Globo Esporte.
Nice to see the Brazilians aren't overreacting.
Also regarding Utd - pretty sure the new lot are just as bad as the Glazers - good business sense - sack 250 staff to save £4million a year (including removing a legends admittedly ridiculous £2 million/year ambassador salary) to sack the manager you have just given a contract extension to that costs your £15 million.
Aren't billionaires great.
You would have thought the person calling for a players strike would be more likely to be politically fixed to not win.
It doesn't surprise me they have played the racism card (Vini jr himself hinted at it with his "they're not ready" post), but it is a stupid and shameful thing to claim. There is a serious problem with racism and Vini jr has suffered a lot, but claiming that Rodri's win was about racism damages the cause, claiming racism for this will put doubt in peoples minds when genuine racism needs to be fought.
And some Real Madrid fans were happy enough to dish out some racist abuse to Lamine Yamal at the weekend.
'Not ready' for a black Ballon D'Or winner? Has he never heard of Ronaldinho, George Weah, Eusebio, among others?
Honestly, if there's an award for the least classy performance in sport this year, RM are a shoe-in.
Also regarding Utd – pretty sure the new lot are just as bad as the Glazers
A horrible realisation but it now looks like we have two lots of meddling incompetents as owners, rather than just the one
sack the manager you have just given a contract extension to that costs your £15 million.
… plus the 200 million you gave him (on top of the previous 450 million) to spend on dubious overpriced players, then also let him get rid of all the backroom staff over the summer and bring all his own appointments instead
What a total shambles. So much for Sir Jim being financially astute? We’re also about to pay the 10 million quid release clause on the next managerial career to be destroyed at old Trafford, who will no doubt cost another 15 million to pay off when they sack him in 18 months time
It's all very entertaining
We’re all just resigned to the ongoing farce now. We’ve had ten years of it and it just seems to keep getting progressively worse.
Ten Hag ‘built*’ this present squad and then couldn’t get them playing like they’d ever met each other before, so god knows what somebody else is going to do with the assembly of overpriced, overpayed mediocrity
* The word is used figuratively in this instance and in no way denotes any kind of plan or strategy
We’re also about to pay the 10 million quid release clause on the next managerial career to be destroyed at old Trafford, who will no doubt cost another 15 million to pay off when they sack him in 18 months time
So what's the answer ? You couldn't really stick with Ten Hag as he was useless.
Some kind of plan might have been nice. It’s clear they sacked him without anything as novel as anyone asking ‘then what?’
I mean… why would you ask that? So having sacked your manager (who you’d just given a new contract and blank cheque to) you’re now scrambling around desperately to find anyone daft enough to take the job.
So no plan or strategy. Just yet another self-inflicted headless chicken routine. Sums the club ownership up perfectly. Meet the new boss… same as the old boss
I thought they were having discussions with blokes a few weeks back ? Wasn't there talk of interviews etc even then ? So clearly they had a bit of a plan... sorta.
Obviously they didn't work out for whatever reason. But whether Amorin is the answer or not i wouldn't like to say. But realistically you can't turn a team around quickly that's not great. Liverpool were lucky that Klopp left an excellent side so the transition to the new manager was fairly simple, but look at things like Arteta at Arsenal, it takes a while to build the team.
This is where Utd and even Utd fans are going to struggle, no-one is coming in and making Utd into a top 4 team within 18 months... They need a good couple of years to remove players, build squad, build tactics etc etc.... Will they be allowed that... Well, maybe. But clealry Ten Hag was only just allowed that, but i imagine if the signs of improvement were there he'd have been given longer.
Utd need to sort out the behind the scenes stuff too - there is clearly something wrong in training given the lengthy injury list & general player performance.
Other teams buy talent & improve them, Utd destroy them - they can't just be getting unlucky all the time.
Other teams buy talent & improve them, Utd destroy them – they can’t just be getting unlucky all the time.
I don't see how the management structure or the ownership can play a factor in that sort of stuff though. Each manager bring in their own assistants, coaches, goalie coach, strking coach, so how is it possible that these are a constant.
I completely agree that Utd are crippling players careers though, but i can't see how
I think the main problem was that when we had so many injuries that we were playing a cobbled together formation, with attacking midfielders slotted in as central defenders, we actually looked better than when we had a full squad out playing the ‘style’ that TH wanted (whatever that was?)
His legacy is the club being saddled with more useless donkeys like Antony, who we overpayed for to the tune of 65 million, sat on 350 grand a week contracts and not even playing, because he belongs in a mid-table Championship squad
I would not be so negative.. not all those players were horrible buys, they just haven't fitted into whatever system Ten Hag imagined. So apply a new coach and a change in strategy and things can look a lot better fast. Case in point from another team - Joelinton. Your problem right now is that whoever takes the job doesn't have long to look at them in training and assess how you might put them back together , so right now the onus is on Ruud van Nistelroy, who has seen the players to start doing that.
I'd agree with the assertion that if you're consistently getting a lot of injuries, that's not bad luck. Part of coaching is to manage that, either by making players more robust, but without training them into injury in the first place. But an ability to take a lot of training without getting injured is all a part of 'talent'...
a lot of teams are getting a lot of injuries, there's a reason for that and that is too many games having to be played. It's no coincidence that as games are increasing the injuries in all clubs are too.
It’s funny because it’s probably true…
Me and my youngest are off to OT tonight, hoping for a bit of new manager bounce 😉
I can dream.....
because he belongs in a mid-table Championship squad
you never know…
I'm not sure I buy that injuries are down to appearances. Aberdeen's Willie Miller played about 68 games in the 82/83 season l and I'm guessing Liverpool players etc. would've been similar Players have much better sports science to help them and squad sizes are much bigger. Not to mention the game is much less aggressive now. There's definitely too many games but I don't think that's the main reason behind injuries.
a lot of teams are getting a lot of injuries, there’s a reason for that and that is too many games having to be played.
Think the injuries are more down to the intensity of the modern game. It's faster, harder and generally more physical in every way than it was even a few years ago let alone 20 or 30.
Intensity is probably the thing. And efforts to replicate it in training? Changing the back pass laws sped the game up too.
This is where Utd and even Utd fans are going to struggle,
I think they forget that Utd has only had two sustained periods of success in its history. What we are seeing now is normal.
Oh don’t worry, some of us are plenty old enough to remember when we were shite (and Liverpool won everything)
Anyway..: I can’t even watch us being shite again because Sky Sports+ is borked and it seems the Liverpool game is the only one that’s actually streaming due to ‘a technical issue’
Nice one Sky!
Well it appears that for United to score more in one half than they’ve managed all season, all you have to do is make sure nobody can actually watch it.
Maybe Sky can **** up their coverage every week?
Snappy the Hamstring man didn't last long did he. Boo.
Maybe Sky can **** up their coverage every week?
What you need is dodgy IPTV tellly box that gives you every match whether it’s on sky or not. 🙂
Is Amorim just haggling over his contract/transfer budget? Getting cold feet?
He’ll be wondering whether the kiss of death managerial appointment is worth the Agro
But more importantly he’ll have his agent negotiating his pay off for when he’s sacked in 18 months time for finishing 8th when he should have won the champions league, having spent 600 million on players.
The managerial merry-go-round of doom continues.
You never know though. He might come to his senses and sack it off and we end up with Big Sam. The ineptitude of the club ownership is now so total, that could actually happen and nobody would be surprised
**** it! Give it to Ruud. On the back of one half-decent performance. Like Ole, at least he gets it. We all love him and it’d be entertaining.
Well looks like Utd can win - just need to play Leicester's reserves.
Looks like Man City are the latest team in trouble with injuries. It is getting silly when even the richest club don't have the players to fill a bench.
Pep has always preferred a small squad (despite what the media say about having the biggest squad) so it is at least partly on his shoulders.
But looking at how well the kids performed last night in an extremely high intensity game, I don't have that many worries, as long as we are in touch at Christmas I think we will do just fine.
Couldn’t everyone just borrow some players from Chelsea?
Was that picture taken from the moon?
MSP
But looking at how well the kids performed last night in an extremely high intensity game, I don’t have that many worries, as long as we are in touch at Christmas I think we will do just fine.
I just read city average player age last night was 26, spurs was 23.
So it's confirmed - from Monday 11th November - how long will this one last?
It seems a similar appointment to ETH in some ways. Done well in a smaller league, developed young players, attacking football etc. Unlike ETH this guy seems to have a bit of charisma so may inspire the players more.
That Liverpool and West Ham had a look and decided against him is interesting. Rumours are Liverpool were concerned he’s too wedded to three at the back and it’s hard to see many of the United squad adapting to this. I can see Martinez as left centre back of three, Dalot right wing back, Rashford/Garnacho left sided attacker, Hojlund striker, Mainoo and Ugarte centre mid. Wondering where Bruno will play? Doubt he’ll have a massive budget either for new players.
The graveyard of reputations.
Doubt he’ll have a massive budget either for new players.
That was probably a large factor in his appointment. At Sporting he had little cash and kept losing good players to bigger clubs, so he knows how to operate on a small budget with diminishing resources.
It'll be interesting to see if he's flexible enough to change his style of play to suit the players he has.
If he lines them up how he wants from his first game in charge I can see Utd getting a few hidings. This weekend with RVN managing against Chelsea we'll get a better idea of how bad these players might be
It’ll be interesting to see if he’s flexible enough to change his style of play to suit the players he has
After TH it’d just be a novelty to see any ‘style’ of play at all and for the players to have at least a rough idea of what it is they’re meant to be doing
Man City’s version of an injury crisis means a bench including Doku, De Bruyne, Savinho, Lewis, and Ortega. Hard times.
Judging at the first half performance, which is as bad as I can remember in the Pep era, there are a few players on the pitch who probably aren't fit to be, so the bench must be in even worse shape.
Oh FFS!
Another lead squandered by Ipswich.
Forest up to third? Blimey! Chris Wood is banging them in for fun
Oh FFS!
Another lead squandered by Ipswich.
It does feel like the prem might be a league too far at the moment. Survival would be nice but feels like we need turn around in defence and to learn to avoid the second yellow
It does feel like the prem might be a league too far at the moment
I always felt we'd struggle to stay up, finishing 4th from bottom would be a dream result. According to the BBC we've lost 12 points from winning positions, saving just half of those points would have been lovely.
Really looking forward to going into an office of Forest fans on Monday.
Sorry, as a Forest fan this is strange, not since Frank Clarke have we been this high in the table irrc...
I didn't think the City v Forest game in December could be a title decider 😉
Bar Man City the top of the premiership looks like division 1 circa 1979. Forest!
Just watching MOTD. What a performance by Bournemouth! A thoroughly deserved win against City. If it hadn’t been for Ederson making a few critical saves, that scoreline could have been even worse for Pep
I had a season ticket in the Frank Clark days, I never thought we'd see these heights again.
Hard set of fixtures in the run up to Christmas, feel Nuno has some points to prove.
Bar Man City the top of the premiership looks like division 1 circa 1979. Forest!
Except in 1979 Ipswich would have been where Man City are.
Whatever people think of Phil Jones there is little doubt in his skill as a wordsmith: "Phil Jones just said Bruno Fernandes is 'misinterpretated'". He's has now fulfilled his potential. - Someone on twitter.
I have much admiration for Phil Jones. He managed to get 9 years at United picking up 120 grand a week for playing as many games for them as I have.
He just had to sit on the bench every once in a while if absolutely everyone else was injured.
Not a bad gig.
Surely the easiest ‘job’ in the world is third choice keeper at a big club?
I don’t know how much they’re on but it’s probably several multitudes, per week, of what most people earn per year. Yet even the clubs most ardent fans don’t even know who you are because you never even make the bench
Just turn up for training every week and count your money
We hear a little about failed players and how rejection affects their latter years but we hear very little of those players like Jones, who become multimillionaires for basically doing nothing. Like Trump.
There was an article about that I remember - here it is - ultimate benchwarmers.
Not a bench warmer as such as he’s usually too injured to make it, but Luke Shaw has apparently missed 250 games since he signed for United. Or roughly six seasons. I guess as he’s actually decent he gets less stick than that doled out to Martial, Jones etc.
Millwall v Leeds tonight if anyone needed reminding of the 70s and 80s hooligan nostalgia.
PAOK pretty sure they're from Greece - remember them from playing Sensible Soccer back in the day
Seems like the Floodgates have opened against Noah.
IGMC
Unbelievably good decision by the ref to allow play on for Liverpool’s first goal.
So there's only one team in the top 4 levels without a win this season.
Spurs had better watch out tomorrow....
Do you think if Nunez had missed the ref would have sent Bailey off, after playing advantage? Funny to see Nunez finish that, it’s the easier ones he has trouble with.
Pep out BTW.
So there’s only one team in the top 4 levels without a win this season.
Indeed, the only other team until today having just sent Shrewsbury bottom of L1... hrmph
We are not gonna make it!