I'll always have an affection for Jose but I can see myself eventually growing to dislike him as Man Utd boss.

I think he means he's never been at a club that had that sort of support at a friendly.

I can see this jumping in everything Jose says thing getting tiresome. Let's just move on folks.

I can see this jumping in everything Jose says thing getting tiresome. Let's just move on folks.

Yes please.

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but I feel bad for Demba Ba, horrible leg break, hope he recovers well.

The Sunderland fan forum is saying that Sam Allardyce has resigned, presumably because he's been offered the England job. They're also saying that Sunderland are pursuing David Moyes with secondary consideration of Roberto Martinez.

Mind you, nothing is official. There are also reports that the FA have scheduled an interview with Eddie Howe which makes it less likely that they've already formally offered Allardyce the job.

If Big Sam takes the England job and Moyes replaces him at Sunderland, I think it'll be a good outcome for all parties.

Sunderland are working with a shoestring budget. They can't even afford to permanently sign DeAndre Yedlin, the American on loan from Tottenham who started most games for the second half of the season. They've been trying for two months to buy him. Tottenham want £5 million, which seems like a bargain for a first choice defender, but Sunderland can't afford it and were working to secure another loan instead of buying him. It's a stark contrast to the rich clubs.

Moyes is good working with a tight budget.

I really wanted for Guardiola's first Premier League game to be against an Allardyce Sunderland side. Looks like we'll have to wait until they play Pulis's West Brom in late October. I hope Pulis destroys him.

Edited July 17, 201610 yr by offside

Martinez's approach to that Sunderland squad would be interesting. He's worked with Jordi Gomez and Van Aanholt before at Wigan - I wonder whether a scrappy underdog like Sunderland might be better-suited to Martinez than Everton, a side who naturally play better football but who also come with actual expectations.

I think Martinez would probably keep them up first year, then they'd get gradually worse as time went on but he'd still talk of believing in 'the project'.

Ten point deduction?

 

http://www.foxsports.com/soccer/story/finland-s-rops-celebrate-a-goal-by-catching-pokemon-071716

Does anyone know much about Georges-Kevin N'Koudou who Spurs are signing?

Lots of transfer tidbits today:

- Stoke have bid £20 mil for Berahino

- Georges-Kevin N'Koudou is having a medical at Spurs

- Ragnar Klavan is having a medical at Liverpool

- Negredo is having a medical at Boro

The Sunderland fan forum is saying that Sam Allardyce has resigned, presumably because he's been offered the England job. They're also saying that Sunderland are pursuing David Moyes with secondary consideration of Roberto Martinez.

Mind you, nothing is official. There are also reports that the FA have scheduled an interview with Eddie Howe which makes it less likely that they've already formally offered Allardyce the job.

If Big Sam takes the England job and Moyes replaces him at Sunderland, I think it'll be a good outcome for all parties.

Sunderland are working with a shoestring budget. They can't even afford to permanently sign DeAndre Yedlin, the American on loan from Tottenham who started most games for the second half of the season. They've been trying for two months to buy him. Tottenham want £5 million, which seems like a bargain for a first choice defender, but Sunderland can't afford it and were working to secure another loan instead of buying him. It's a stark contrast to the rich clubs.

Moyes is good working with a tight budget.

I really wanted for Guardiola's first Premier League game to be against an Allardyce Sunderland side. Looks like we'll have to wait until they play Pulis's West Brom in late October. I hope Pulis destroys him.

 

He's not too hot on foreign languages, though; had a hard time adapting to learning Spanish so getting his head around Mackem could be a struggle.

 

Klavan eh, Klopp loves a Bundesliga signing!

Update on the England manager hiring. Four candidates confirmed to have been interviewed - Sam Allardyce, Steve Bruce, Eddie Howe, Jurgen Klinsmann. The three person committee meets on Thursday to pick the candidate to make the formal offer to. Negotiations would then take another few days at least.

It's reported that Howe isn't that interested at this point in his career, and many people feel it's too early for him. There is considerable resistance to the idea of a German coaching the English team, so Klinsmann isn't that realistic a candidate either.

That leaves Big Sam and Bruce, both of whom have expressed enthusiasm about the job. The consensus is that Allardyce will get the offer, and if those negotiations break down, then Bruce will get the offer.

Allardyce really wants the job. He's been talking about wanting it for over a decade. He's been gathering endorsements from prominent figures in an effort to pressure the FA. On the other hand, the FA prefers a yes man, and I have a feeling Bruce would be a yes man more than Big Sam.

This is really crappy timing for Sunderland and Hull, and both clubs have issued public statements expressing their upset about the FA taking so long. All their transfer activity is on hold, and one of them will have to scramble for a new manager just a few weeks before the season starts. As both clubs are expected to be in a relegation battle, every game is vitally important, so the uncertainty could really cost them.

Steve Bruce as England manager would possible be the most depressing thing I've seen in international football. 

 

Tbh neither Bruce or Allardyce fills me with excitement

What I don't get is why they have to wait until Thursday to meet. All the interviews are completed, and it's only 3 people on the selection committee.

The fine details of course need to be negotiated, but they could at least give a formal initial offer so the candidate's current club can recruit a new manager.

I'm sure Sunderland, Hull, and Bournemouth have already reached out to some potential replacements, but I'm not sure they can conduct formal interviews yet.

As far as I know, none of those three clubs use a director of football or transfer committee, so all their transfer activity is on hold until the manager situation is sorted. They also don't know if the new England manager will take some club assistants with him.

My hunch is that they'll offer it to Howe first with the expectation that he'll turn it down (but still offer it to express their interest in him taking the job in the future), and then they'll offer it to Allardyce. That means Sunderland could be waiting another week.

He's not too hot on foreign languages, though; had a hard time adapting to learning Spanish so getting his head around Mackem could be a struggle.

lol good point. Glaswegian is practically a foreign language itself though. Ronaldo had to use a translator his entire time at Man United only for conversations with Ferguson.

Edited July 19, 20169 yr by offside

Steve Bruce as England manager would possible be the most depressing thing I've seen in international football.

Looks like he's swallowed a couple of footballs

On a serious note about Bruce, how do you think he'd do? Would be be better than Hodgson?

Bruce took Hull, which I think were newly promoted at the time, to the FA Cup final a couple years back. This past season in the League Cup, they beat Leicester and Swansea before losing to Manchester City. In the FA Cup they took Arsenal to a replay. He also got them promoted through the playoffs despite not having the best record going in.

That suggests that he might be good in tournament settings. I think that some managers are better in tournaments than over the entire season. Maybe they're more motivated or thrive from being in a must-win situation.

Looks like he's swallowed a couple of footballs

Have you seen what Neville Southall looks like now? He's a heart attack waiting to happen. It's really quite sad.

I'm confused when former professional athletes become morbidly obese. They clearly aren't physically lazy people. They probably didn't adjust their diet to account for their greatly diminished calorie burning once they stopped playing, which might make someone mildly to moderately obese, but that shouldn't make them morbidly obese.

I wonder if they have depression or another mental health issue that makes them develop an unhealthy relationship with food. A former national level gymnast I know got that way after stopping gymnastics. She was pushed into having an eating disorder by her coaches, and food became a psychological thing. I would think that wouldn't happen with football the way it happens with girls gymnastics.

Man City looking to sign West Ham's Reece Oxford. For 15 million.

 

 

 

 

 

Reece Oxford.

 

 

 

 

 

15 million.

 

 

 

 

 

15 million. Reece. Oxford.

Man City looking to sign West Ham's Reece Oxford. For 15 million.

 

 

 

 

 

Reece Oxford.

 

 

 

 

 

15 million.

 

 

 

 

 

15 million. Reece. Oxford.

 

If they're going to play him and he will be the future of this club, good price for a good defender. But if they're planning to loan him after or give him a spot on the bench, then they're destroying him and this money will overrate him. 

Who?

Who is Reece Oxford?

If they're going to play him and he will be the future of this club, good price for a good defender. But if they're planning to loan him after or give him a spot on the bench, then they're destroying him and this money will overrate him. 

 

I thought he was an attacking midfielder?

I thought he was an attacking midfielder?

 

He's CB.