Football 2015/16

[eFestivals]

Hes a terribly uninspiring chap. Who has spend £292 million in 3 years.

 

says the man whose team spent more than half that in just one and were still shite.

 

And of course when you lost skippy you never justified anything with "yeah but we've lost skippy".

[TheGayTent]

Yeah and one of Italy's teams has been knocked out already. We won't lose our fourth spot any time soon.

Yes, Lazio have dropped down from the Champions League into the Europa League and Sampdoria are already out of the Europa League.

England still have four representatives in the Champions League whereas Italy only two. They really need Juventus and Roma to go far in the competition and our four representatives to not get out of the groups.

[eFestivals]

Liverpool still look like a 7-8 team tbh. I say Rodgers out by X-mas and Jurgen Klopp in

 

agree on the first bit.

 

as for the rest, I reckon it'll depend whether he's able to work a miracle by xmas again this year.... and despite all the flack he gets, he does seem to be someone who keeps at it and finds something that works, even if it takes him a little time to get there. There's plenty of managers who don't try that or try that and fail.

[zahidf]

agree on the first bit.

as for the rest, I reckon it'll depend whether he's able to work a miracle by xmas again this year.... and despite all the flack he gets, he does seem to be someone who keeps at it and finds something that works, even if it takes him a little time to get there. There's plenty of managers who don't try that or try that and fail.

I think the problem is that it's been like that for a while now. Fans want results and two seasons out of the champs league isn't what the owners want. They have spent loads after all!

[zahidf]

agree on the first bit.

as for the rest, I reckon it'll depend whether he's able to work a miracle by xmas again this year.... and despite all the flack he gets, he does seem to be someone who keeps at it and finds something that works, even if it takes him a little time to get there. There's plenty of managers who don't try that or try that and fail.

I think the problem is that it's been like that for a while now. Fans want results and two seasons out of the champs league isn't what the owners want. They have spent loads after all!

[pink_triangle]

Liverpool may have spent loads in the normal world. However in the top 4 premiership world there net spend isn't loads in relation to those that they chase.

[eFestivals]

I think the problem is that it's been like that for a while now. Fans want results and two seasons out of the champs league isn't what the owners want. They have spent loads after all!

 

Yep, but getting CL requires progress, and last season he managed to show that (post-Suarez) progress after a shaky start. When you also bear in mind that he'd lost Sturridge for the season too, and the Suarez replacement-transfer (perhaps not his doing) had been a failure, I'd say he did good by getting the team ticking as he did even tho he failed to keep it up (and some of that might have been not his doing too, such as Sterling's determination to move on).

 

I doubt he'll get away with similar this year particularly as Sturridge is back, but he can certainly point to the loss of Sterling as team taking another similar hit by losing of the major players, causing him to start again.

[zahidf]

Yep, but getting CL requires progress, and last season he managed to show that (post-Suarez) progress after a shaky start. When you also bear in mind that he'd lost Sturridge for the season too, and the Suarez replacement-transfer (perhaps not his doing) had been a failure, I'd say he did good by getting the team ticking as he did even tho he failed to keep it up (and some of that might have been not his doing too, such as Sterling's determination to move on).

 

I doubt he'll get away with similar this year particularly as Sturridge is back, but he can certainly point to the loss of Sterling as team taking another similar hit by losing of the major players, causing him to start again.

 

Logically, that makes sense, but stuff like 4 goals all season so far isn't really helping. And fans are definitely not willing to give him a second chance!

[TheGayTent]

The 'loss' of Sterling was surely a bonus?

[eFestivals]

Liverpool may have spent loads in the normal world. However in the top 4 premiership world there net spend isn't loads in relation to those that they chase.

 

yup, and of course it's a harder job to chase as the players available to you are those rejected by the 'top' clubs.

 

Some of the transfers have been rubbish but I don't think they're much out of step with other managers cock-ups either. Some work out and some don't.

 

Where he does seem to fall down is the way he supposedly freezes players out very quickly when they piss him off in one way or another. Markovic seems to be an example of this, and Lovren last season. Here's betting one of those 3 new strikers falls out of favour.

[eFestivals]

The 'loss' of Sterling was surely a bonus?

 

you can argue about how good he is or isn't, but there shouldn't be any argument over his importance to the team last season. If they hadn't had him they'd have been worse than they were.

[thetime]

you can argue about how good he is or isn't, but there shouldn't be any argument over his importance to the team last season. If they hadn't had him they'd have been worse than they were.

Isn't that one of the main problems at Liverpool, losing players to teams that can challenge for the major titles? Would anyone be surprised if Coutinho did the same next summer.

Brendan Rodgers can't keep going back to square one surely.

Edited September 21, 2015 by thetime

[The Nal]

Liverpool may have spent loads in the normal world. However in the top 4 premiership world there net spend isn't loads in relation to those that they chase.

 

£292m gross, £127m net spend by Bren in his time there. Their highest spending manager, both gross and net, ever.

 

Spending money doesn't guarantee anything though in fairness. Theres nearly been as many flops and players who end up on the bench.

 

 

Liverpool in the bottom 3 by the end of October?

Away to Everton, Spurs and Chelsea and a home game versus Southampton.

Brendan gone by then, Pardew to come in.

 

Lets not get carried away. Utds October - Arsenal, Everton, CSKA (all away), City at home and then Palace away.

Edited September 21, 2015 by The Nal

[eFestivals]

Isn't that one of the main problems at Liverpool, losing players to teams that can challenge for the major titles? Would anyone be surprised if Coutinho did the same next summer.

Brendan Rodgers can't keep going back to square one surely.

 

I agree, it's an excuse that wears thin pretty quickly, but I'd say it was justifiable for last season all the same, and is probably the reason he's still there now. Losing a player of Suarez's stature would hit any team hard, as would losing Struridge to injury.

 

And yep, you might well be right about Coutinho being off too. and then it'll be Sturridge, then Firmino, etc, etc, etc.

[eFestivals]

£292m gross, £127m net spend by Bren in his time there. Their highest spending manager, both gross and net, ever.

Being the highest spending is probably the case with nearly every manager who's been in the post a year or two. That's more about the market than anything else.

And £40M+ a season net is pretty much what all the teams above them do, so he's unlikely to catch up with them on that spend (unless he gets lucky with a player) as he's starting with a weaker squad.

The Fenway plan, supposedly, is all about getting lucky, and I guess that's most likely via lots of player trades where you try them out and move them on if they're not the gem you're looking for.

[TheGayTent]

you can argue about how good he is or isn't, but there shouldn't be any argument over his importance to the team last season. If they hadn't had him they'd have been worse than they were.

Oh dear. That very much sounds like Allardyce's Kevin Nolan argument.

You can't prove a negative though.

[eFestivals]

Oh dear. That very much sounds like Allardyce's Kevin Nolan argument.

You can't prove a negative though.

 

lol, true.

 

Ok, they might have been better without him, tho they used him and he was of major importance.

 

Better?

Edited September 21, 2015 by eFestivals

[pink_triangle]

£292m gross, £127m net spend by Bren in his time there. Their highest spending manager, both gross and net, ever.

Spending money doesn't guarantee anything though in fairness. Theres nearly been as many flops and players who end up on the bench.

.

Net spend in isolation is irrelevant, without the context of what rivals are doing. The spending isn't enough to guarantee closing the gap with players not wanted by the clubs above you. The greatest manager in the world will still have the same problems. To guarantee top 4 liverpool would probably have to do a city and massively increase spending, which the owners are never going to do.

[TheGayTent]

lol, true.

Ok, they might have been better without him, tho they used him and he was of major importance.

Better?

Better.

[mjsell]

Can't remember wenger complaining when the likes of Keown did similar to Ruud van Nistlerooy back in the day.

 

Your memory is very selective with that example - do you remember that game at all? I love that this is one of the only examples being used by people who are trying to defend Costa as well.

 

And yeah I will accept that the reaction was over the top from Keown (and Parlour) but in the circumstances it is more understandable than Costa who is ready to fight when you give him a compliment

[thetime]

Your memory is very selective with that example - do you remember that game at all? I love that this is one of the only examples being used by people who are trying to defend Costa as well.

And yeah I will accept that the reaction was over the top from Keown (and Parlour) but in the circumstances it is more understandable than Costa who is ready to fight when you give him a compliment

Why was it understandable? You are either into fair play or you're not. If the likes of Gary Linekar was being righteous fair enough, keown though and most of that arsenal side could mix it.

Exactly why Wenger will never win another league title in England.

[The Nal]

I like Costa!

[thetime]

I like Costa!

The FA don't.

[pink_triangle]

Why was it understandable? You are either into fair play or you're not. If the likes of Gary Linekar was being righteous fair enough, keown though and most of that arsenal side could mix it.

Exactly why Wenger will never win another league title in England.

I'm not sure that's the main reason, can you name another team in europe winning league titles with 3 bigger spenders in the league.

[mjsell]

Why was it understandable? You are either into fair play or you're not. If the likes of Gary Linekar was being righteous fair enough, keown though and most of that arsenal side could mix it.

Exactly why Wenger will never win another league title in England.

 

I did say that I accept it was an overreaction, but 'more understandable' - not completely.

 

It was the last minute of a tense game, where Van Nistelrooy had been perceived as diving to win a penalty that would win them the game, he then proceeded to miss such penalty, thus causing an outpouring of emotions (not good ones) on the side of the arsenal players.

 

Costa just wanted to fight following a cross in the 40th minute. Slight difference.