Premier League 2017/18

[Adam]

He did a good job at Hull to be fair. Pulled them up a good deal, just not quite enough to salvage them. And his Watford team were in the top 6 for a good chunk of his reign, it all fell off after Everton distracted him funnily enough.

[The Lusophone]

This is my big issue with him though. His entire career is being stage managed. Everton isnt the destination it's a temporary stop on the road and you guys could be looking for a new manager again 12 months down the line.

[Noah]

5 football scarves were among the scarves that were part of our recent snow gear sale.

2 for @Kaney 2 for @Lineker and who the hell was our resident Fullham fan again? 

[The Lusophone]

5 hours ago, Noah said:

5 football scarves were among the scarves that were part of our recent snow gear sale.

2 for @Kaney 2 for @Lineker and who the hell was our resident Fullham fan again? 

One of the Liams I think?

[Kaney]

Yeah, @Liam likes Fulham, @Liam Mk2 likes Arsenal.

[FLiam]

I was just a part time Fulham glory-hunter at the end of the season. 

They can go away now.

Also, bit of news re Unai Emery's contract in that the Times are reporting that he has a break clause in his deal that can be triggered after two seasons. It means that he won't be entitled to compensation if he was sacked after that point. 

[Liam]

8 hours ago, Noah said:

5 football scarves were among the scarves that were part of our recent snow gear sale.

2 for @Kaney 2 for @Lineker and who the hell was our resident Fullham fan again? 

Yep, that would be myself. I think Mysti was the only other Fulham fan that posted here, but he is long gone.

[Lineker]

Quote

Mauricio Pochettino has said that “when Real Madrid call you, you have to listen” after the Champions League winners identified him as the manager they want to replace Zinedine Zidane.

Pochettino signed a new five-year Tottenham contract just over a week ago but was quoted by the Spanish newspaper El Confidencial: “When Real Madrid call you, you have to listen to them. Although in this case it doesn’t depend on me. I have just signed a long contract with Tottenham and I am very happy here.

“I am happy at Tottenham because they let me work and we are growing together. Right now I want to focus on planning for next season and keep out of all the things that are being said. There will be lots of rumours, lots of things said, but I have no news from Real Madrid.

“I’m working very comfortably at Tottenham and it’s my obligation to focus on that. I do not want, nor can I, comment on Zidane going but what he has done is undoubtedly very big: no one has won three Champions Leagues in a row recently.”

They need to hurry up and appoint someone who isn't Poch already so I can unclench my flapper.

[stokeriño]

Meanwhile, at Chelsea...

1. Existing manager in limbo, having effectively been a dead man walking for months
2. No new manager choice confirmed
3. No Director of Football for seven months and counting
4. Owner in 'exile' from the country over visa dispute
5. New stadium plans on hold until further notice
6. Star players (Hazard, Courtois) reluctant to extend expiring contracts

I would write my own irritation off as mere impatience, but the combination of an impending World Cup and a transfer window closing 3 weeks earlier than usual don't help matters.

Nor, indeed, do posts from Chelsea's official FB page saying things like "On This Day in 2000, we signed Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink!". Thanks for the reminder of a time when the club looked capable of pressing ahead with important business.

SORT YOURSELVES THE FUCK OUT.

[Noah]

1 hour ago, stokerino said:

Meanwhile, at Chelsea...

1. Existing manager in limbo, having effectively been a dead man walking for months
2. No new manager choice confirmed
3. No Director of Football for seven months and counting
4. Owner in 'exile' from the country over visa dispute
5. New stadium plans on hold until further notice
6. Star players (Hazard, Courtois) reluctant to extend expiring contracts

I would write my own irritation off as mere impatience, but the combination of an impending World Cup and a transfer window closing 3 weeks earlier than usual don't help matters.

Nor, indeed, do posts from Chelsea's official FB page saying things like "On This Day in 2000, we signed Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink!". Thanks for the reminder of a time when the club looked capable of pressing ahead with important business.

SORT YOURSELVES THE FUCK OUT.

Well if Mad Jack's christmases all came at once and we actually got rid of Jose, you could always go back there for a 3rd time.

Edited June 4, 2018 by Noah

[stokeriño]

A third Jose reign would absolutely not qualify as anyone at Chelsea "sorting themselves the fuck out".

[The Lusophone]

1 hour ago, Noah said:

Well if Mad Jack's christmases all came at once and we actually got rid of Jose, you could always go back there for a 3rd time.

Deal. 

[MDK]

8 hours ago, stokerino said:

I would write my own irritation off as mere impatience, but the combination of an impending World Cup and a transfer window closing 3 weeks earlier than usual don't help matters.

In a way that might work in your favour with Hazard and Courtois

[stokeriño]

Just now, MDK said:

In a way that might work in your favour with Hazard and Courtois

You mean in the sense that Courtois might not sign a new contract before the window shuts and be all like "welp, I'll be off on a free next year yeah?"  

[MDK]

2 minutes ago, stokerino said:

You mean in the sense that Courtois might not sign a new contract before the window shuts and be all like "welp, I'll be off on a free next year yeah?"  

I've been playing too much FM recently. I forget that it is much trickier in real life.

And anyway I didn't specify which Hazard.

[Lineker]

Quote

Yaya Touré has accused Pep Guardiola of seeking “revenge” against him, claiming the Manchester City manager’s coaching reputation is “a myth” and that he did “everything to spoil” the Ivory Coast midfielder’s last season at the club.

Touré left City in May after eight seasons at the club but became increasingly marginalised as they claimed the Premier League title with a record number of points. It was not the first time that he had found himself surplus to requirements under Guardiola, having left Barcelona in 2010 to move to the Premier League.

But despite being assured that their previous issues would not have an impact on their relationship at City, Touré believes he was unfairly singled out and alleged that the manager refused to select him for matches out of spite.

“Pep likes to dominate and wants to have obedient players who lick his hands. I do not like this kind of relationship. I respect my coach but I am not his thing,” he told France Football. “Like all players, I have bickered with my coaches. But at a certain point, men who do not understand each other reconcile. This is not possible with Pep, who is very rigid. The other players will never admit it publicly but some have already told me that they ended up hating him. Because he manipulates and plays a lot with your head.”

Touré added: “When he arrived at City, he told me right away that he needed me to coach the youth. Even if I had some options to leave, I thought that I would be able to enter the legend of the Citizens. The same thing last summer when he asked me to stay. Maybe he was afraid of losing control of the dressing room if I left because he knew what I was representing for the group? But after the transfer window closed, I saw that I was removed from the team.”

Having previously been a crucial member of the City side since his move from Barcelona, Touré had to wait until the final home match against Brighton last month for his first Premier League start of the season. In total he played just 228 minutes in the league and was left out of the EFL Cup final victory over Arsenal despite having played in four of the previous ties in the competition.

“I think I was dealing with someone who just wanted revenge on me,” is Touré’s explanation for his treatment. “I do not know why but I have the impression that he was jealous of me, that he took me for a rival. There you have it. We always looked at each other weirdly. He was spinning around me without saying anything, watching me, gauging me, but not talking to me. Yet he knows that I speak Catalan, Spanish and English. It should be enough to communicate both. But apparently no ... Every time we passed each other, he seemed embarrassed. As if I made him a little self-conscious. As if, also, he had understood that I knew him perfectly.”

The 35-year-old also stated that he considered posting his training statistics from the club’s physical trainers on social media in a bid to vent his frustration before deciding against it because he did not want to “hurt the team”.

“As someone proud, he wants to succeed with his players, those he has chosen and not those who have been chosen by others. This is his project. And woe to him who does not belong to it,” Touré added. “Actually, I want to be the one who breaks the Guardiola myth a bit. Barcelona, he did not invent it. He just had the intelligence to adapt what Cruyff had set up. Then, at Bayern and City, he tried to reproduce the same patterns but with this requirement: working with ‘his’ players and with almost unlimited means. It would not work at Crystal Palace or Watford. For me, Zidane is bigger because he has fewer requirements and shows great respect for all his players. Pep, he wants to be considered a genius. He loves it. But there is a lot of comedy behind all this, it’s a bit of anything. He creates a character. When I see him scratching his head in full match to show that he thinks thoroughly, it makes me laugh. It’s comedy.”

To mark his departure last month, City chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak arranged for the club’s main training pitch to be named after Touré in recognition of contribution to the club. A tiled mural of the midfielder celebrating his winning goal against Stoke City in the 2011 FA Cup final also stands as a permanent memorial, although the man who won seven trophies in his spell in Manchester admitted his memories will always be marred by the circumstances of his departure.

“He was a hypocrite praising me but I let him do it,” Touré explained. “I would have preferred to have no ceremony and leave with my head higher. I have the impression that Pep, without acknowledgment or respect, did everything to spoil my last season. It hurts when you spent eight years in a club. He stole my farewells with City, a club where the fans are beautiful. I would have liked to leave with emotion of this club as could [Andrés] Iniesta or [Gianluigi] Buffon. But Pep prevented me. The worst part is that at the end I was happy to leave this club that yet I loved so much. I was frustrated and so I felt neglected, neglected. If I did not shed tears at the time of the goodbyes with the supporters, it’s because there was a break and I could not see this guy anymore.”

[Gazz]

'Detail orientated coach with a highly structured tactical system doesn't pick player who wants to do what the fuck he wants'.

[Adam]

Yaya embarrasses himself with stuff like this. You've left now, move on to the next club and forget about it.

Still not as ridiculous as the cake thing.

[Colly]

Nice little safe standing video (even if I can't understand a word he's saying). Hadn't even considered the fact it's better for paramedics to get to people. 

 

[MDK]

12 minutes ago, Colly said:

(even if I can't understand a word he's saying)

Stick from a Geordie about an accent? Behave.