The 2011/12 Gary Speed Memorial Thread

[Hobo]

Rockbox, do you want carra as the manager, or you just think he will end up as the manager? I can't see him having good tactics as a manager, unless you consider a back line of hoofing long balls to a target man a good attack

I'm reserved on the rodgers appointment. Yes, there are questions. He is unproven, he's a bit of a dick, etc., but he's the best option available, I feel. I prefer him over martinez. I like martinez, but he's in demand for simply doing well at the end of the season. However, people seemingly forgot how poor wigan were before in the beginning of the season.

And apparently sigurdsson isn't a done deal. From what I heard on talksport radio today the medical isn't done, so perhaps he is stalling with rodgers set to leave. He would certainly be an upgrade over henderson or adam in a 4-3-3. Now did rodgers run more of a 4-2-3-1 once he got sigurdsson? I would like to see liverpool look at running a 4-2-3-1 under rodgers with suarez playing behind another striker, kind of like aguero did at times with tevez. I think suarez could thrive in that role

I'd certainly dump Adam for Sigurdsson. Henderson really was over exposed this season. He's got great potential but he's still raw.

Liverpool in a 4-2-3-1 would probably be a good thing. Suarez could play more like he does internationally and we could have Carroll up front, which if he plays more often like he did in the FA Cup final then he is sure to do better.

He played 4-3-3 at Swansea with Gylfi loitering behind Graham and two fast wingers. I imagine we'll see a different tactic at liverpool since he needs to work around the players there and won't be able to spend that much.

And Suarez playing deeper has been why he seemed to struggle, so I hear? So would he thrive in a Trequartista position as opposed to playing up front?

Suarez does struggle in deep roles, he is forced to over play. Which him getting played up front alone a lot last season year tended to result in. I think such a role would suit him, he's a real creator high up the pitch. He has such amazing ball control in tight areas that he can make and score goals for fun inside the box. But if he has do do all the work, his final shot is usually pretty tame.

[IAceI]

I'm not surprised by either Rodgers' or Lambert's decisions to be honest. Both are obviously quite ambitious men with the aim of managing at as high a level as possible. In Lamberts case he ditched Colchester quite quickly when the chance to manage a team with better resources came along in Norwich and it's no surprise to see him do it again for Aston Villa. With Rodgers', well as much as it annoys me, the Liverpool job is a massively enticing carrott being dangled in his face and he won't be the first or last man to snatch at it even if it perhaps seems ill-advised.

In regards to Lambert, he doesn't really owe Norwich anything, he's done a phenomenal job getting them a double promotion - but like Swansea - you don't know how solid the foundations are that the clubs are built on. In five years time you'd wager that Norwich are more likely to have slipped off the radar than Aston Villa, even if Norwich perhaps look a more cohesive team right now. If both Lambert and Rodgers stayed and next season both their teams did poorly I wouldn't be overly surprised. It's not a shock to see a team do well in their first year of the Premier League and then essentially 'get found out' and subsequently struggle. It does take quite a while for a team to really establish themselves as capable of succeeding in the Premier League.

I think we'd all like to see just how capable both men are at building a successful team where they currently are but in terms of a profession both moves make a lot sense.

[Lineker]

The proportion of income that Premier League clubs spend on wages hit a new high in the 2010-11 season, says a Deloitte report into football finance.

Clubs in England's top football league paid some 70% of their income on salaries for the first time.

Manchester United, who won the league that year, spent 46% of revenue on pay, but Manchester City spent 114%.

The Deloitte report says that control of wages "continues to be football's greatest commercial challenge".

Its 21st Annual Review of Football Finance also says that pay discipline is needed "in order to deliver robust and sustainable businesses".

Total wages across the Premier League rose by £201m (14%), equivalent to more than 80% of the £241m increase in club revenues that season, to give a final salary bill of £1.6bn.

Chelsea once again had the highest wage bill, at £191m.

The overall wages increase was driven by the clubs that finished in the top six positions in 2010-11, as well as Aston Villa. Between them they accounted for £145m of the total increase in pay.

However, clubs in the top league did manage to reduced average net debt by £351m, or 13%, to £2.4bn by the summer of 2011.

This was the lowest level since 2006, and largely due to significant debt reductions by Manchester United and Liverpool.

The Deloitte report also shows the huge growth in revenues since the Premier League was created two decades ago.

Premier League clubs' combined revenue reached a record £2.27bn in 2010-11.

In the same season, the 92 Premier and Football League clubs' combined revenues were £2.9bn, with average Premier League club revenues having risen to £114m.

"There is little doubt that the league is a tremendous success in revenue terms," said Deloitte.

Average attendances were close to 35,000 in the Premier League in 2011-12, with more than 90% of seats sold.

However, the growth in revenues has been accompanied by rising costs, especially players' wages.

"The Premier League's key wages to revenue ration, which had stood at around 60% for most of the 2000s, has risen sharply in recent seasons to exceed 70% for the first time," said the report's author, Dan Jones.

"With broadcasting revenues likely to deliver limited growth in advance of the next Premier League deal commencing in 2013-14, the focus will be on the clubs themselves to grow revenue in areas directly under their control."

As a result of tougher economic conditions in the UK economy, Premier League clubs' match day revenues have now remained broadly constant for five seasons.

Deloitte adds that "the overall environment remains challenging" despite some recent big commercial deals by Manchester City and Liverpool.

Outside of the top flight, Deloitte says that for many years the second tier of English football, the Championship, has struggled financially.

This is due to a combination of clubs adjusting to the impact of relegation from the Premier League, and others attempting to to achieve promotion, often taking financial gambles to try and get to the top flight.

It means that the Championship has delivered six seasons of increasing losses.

The Football League and Championship clubs have agreed to financial fair play rules, which seek to achieve a better balance between revenue and costs.

"We hope introduction of the regulations is the catalyst for a long awaited improvement in financial balance," said Deloitte.

From 2013-14 season Premier League clubs looking to participate in Uefa competitions will need to complete with its financial fair play rules.

Deloitte says a combination of fair play rules and straitened economic times, which are limiting revenue growth, may see a majority of top flight clubs reporting operating losses rather than profits.

And it says that with funding sources becoming more constrained it may "finally bring about a change in behaviour".

Meanwhile, on the wider European picture, of the "big five" leagues - England, Germany, Italy, Spain and France - all but Ligue 1 in France saw growth.

Total collective revenues for the five leagues rose by 2% to 8.6bn euros.

Outside the big five, in Scotland the big two, Celtic and Rangers, accounted for 67% of Scottish Premier League clubs' total revenues.

[Jimmy]

I don't overly like it either but then everyone complains that young English managers don't get a chance with the bigger jobs, we can't have it both ways.

But...these two managers are Northern Irish and Scottish, respectively.

I know what you're saying though, and it's very true. I just wish there was more longevity and loyalty in modern day top level football.

It's different with management to playing, though. As a manager, oppertunities to move are few and far between. If Liverpool and Villa appoint a successful manager, what other clubs are going to offer them a better deal? United, City, Arsenal, Spurs and Everton all have long-term managers who aren't getting sacked and replaced by British managers and Chelsea aren't going to take a chance on them. What I'm trying to say - is if both men don't move now, who knows when they'll next get the chance to move to a bigger club. And yes, Villa is much bigger than the Norwich job.

[stokeriño]

I hate these financial releases because I immediately start wondering a dozen statistical questions and am unable to find the answers because there's never a full compilation of the figures (even Deloitte's own website only provides the 'highlights').

If total revenues are up by 12% and total wages by 14%, which club has contributed the most to this?

Are perhaps some of the clubs whose wages have increased the most also those who have seen revenues rise the most?

Which clubs are net 'contributors' (more revenue than wage rise) to these figures?

How different are the finances of this year's promoted clubs from last year's relegated clubs, and what effect has that had on the total league figures?

And so on.

The following bit interests me:

Total wages across the Premier League rose by £201m (14%), equivalent to more than 80% of the £241m increase in club revenues that season, to give a final salary bill of £1.6bn.

Because if we were to look at pure cash rather than percentages, the Premier League is £40m better off than it was the year before. Well, on the isolated revenue v wages plane that we seem to be operating on.

However, these stats look at percentages, which are credible but only up to a point. In a ridiculously extreme example, a club that pays 90% of its revenue on wages but its revenue £1 billion (or whatever) is arguably in a much better position than a club that pays 50% of its revenue on wages but its revenue is only £20 million, simply because all of the other overheads are not nearly so elastic as wage costs and much more likely to be covered by the spare £100m of the first club than the spare £10m of the second.

So, yeah. Annoyed that I don't get to completely dive into the figures and come up with interesting things. Instead I have to make do with a dozen news articles all saying "NUMBERS GO UP".

[Lineker]

Paul Lambert's representatives are to meet with Aston Villa officials today.

[Summers]

If we don't get Lambo I'm going to be pissed. Some hilariously bitter Norwich fans on twitter. As for some comments on here.. McLeish was the 21st best paid manage in Europe last season.. We can of course pay Lambo more than Norwich. As for them being a better team - last season yeah. Not next season. Add in the fact we've got better foundations, some of the best facilities in the world, a wordwide name and fanbase, and plenty more I could list.. I don't think the size of the clubs/jobs is even close.

[Matticus]

And I was the only person who made a big deal about Swansea getting him on loan.

Sometimes, I feel like I am awesome.

Just sometimes.

Being a Reading Fan, As soon as he left the club, I said he could go on to play at one of the biggest clubs in the world. Still think he can, bags of potential, was annoyed that he went to Swansea on loan and not a return to the Royals!

[Lineker]

Sky Sports understands Gordon Smith has withdrawn his interest in becoming Liverpool's director of football.

Liverpool's American owners are thought to be keen to bring in director of football to work in their tiered structure at Anfield.

A number of names, including Louis van Gaal, have been linked with the role to fill the position left by Damien Comolli's departure in April.

Former Rangers director of football Smith was also in the frame for the role at Liverpool, but his adviser, Jonathan Hope, has confirmed the ex Scottish Football Association chief executive has ruled out a switch to Anfield and is considering several offers from abroad.

"My client Gordon Smith was in talks via myself for the Liverpool FC director of football role, although Gordon has had no talks with the club, I have," Hope told skysports.com.

"I have spoken with the general manager on several occasions and I have decided to pull my client away from the role as we have options in the Middle East.

"Liverpool has become a second home to me because of my involvement with Vaughan Boxing but as a football prospective I believe this would be the wrong move for my client.

"I am not going to hold any more talks about Gordon Smith joining Liverpool Football Club.

"We have options abroad and I will spend a few days with Gordon and discuss what's best for him and his family.

"I have always maintained Gordon was used at Rangers FC for his credibility and nothing will change my mind on that.

"Gordon Smith and myself would like to wish Liverpool FC every success in the future. Gordon Smith and myself have a relationship and a friendship. I'm not his agent but his representative in football matters."

Smith has confirmed he has left it up to Hope to find him a new role in football.

"Jonathan Hope has been working non-stop to find not just a job, but the right job for me," he said.

"That's important and I commend him for it as that's what being a real agent is all about - client care.

"I respect whatever Jonathan Hope decides."

[Sam]

Apparently Paul Lambert has walked out of Norwich, perhaps because they refused to let him talk to Villa.

I would be shocked if that was true. Figured he would have a bit more respect for the club. And besides he had the huge bust up with the reporter for even daring to ask the question about a move to Villa. He shouldnt really be suprised Norwich have that stance, they said a week ago they would not entertain any bids for him.

He did it to Colchester so why be shocked? I don't feel any sorrow for Norwich when they took him they acted badly in the way they did things and now the boot is on the other foot, classic lesson in karma.

[MJB]

Steve Bruce would also be on Norwich's shortlist I'd think, unemployed and a former player aswell.

[Christain#1]

Ian Holloway for me please. He has been missed in the premier league.

[Summers]

No he hasn't.

[Christain#1]

Well then I missed him.

[Summers]

Then give him a call.

[Colly]

I liked him up to the point that all interviews became 'we don't have the resources' on loop, don't think I could take another season of that.

[Lineker]

I personally find it impossible to hate anyone who speaks with a Bristolian accent.

[Christain#1]

Then give him a call.

I'm too shy. Besides he was only in the championship.

Yeah he wouldn't have much resources at Norwich either. But still I liked him when he was at Blackpool. Saw them in their last match at old Trafford and they impressed me and Ian got a standing ovation and I hoped they would get back up.

[Summers]

I do hope he leaves Blackpool. Love the city, like the team, hate him.

[Christain#1]

Everybody loves Blackpool. Or they should. Why don't you like holloway? Hates a strong word.