Official Football Discussion Thread 2013/14

[The Cork]

Szczesny saved our ass a few times.

Lukaku didn't do shit all though.

Looking forward to Podolski coming back next week.

 

[Keith]

I never hyped Moyes up. I knew this season would be bad, most of our fans did. It's funny that a lot of people thought that our fans believed Moyes would bring instant success when it clearly wasn't going to be the case

Its good that you are level headed, but I can't say the same for all Utd fans based on what I have been hearing on phone-ins the last couple of days. I don't think anyone expected you to start quite this bad, but personally I think Moyes is a good choice and needs to be given time.

 

[Dale]

I never hyped Moyes up. I knew this season would be bad, most of our fans did. It's funny that a lot of people thought that our fans believed Moyes would bring instant success when it clearly wasn't going to be the case

Except I wasn't on about Moyes and what sort of job he would do. I was merely stating that you in the past in these threads and other United fans on other forums have bagged on Arsenal and Liverpool for falling way off, so now it's rather hilarious to see the tables being turned and you getting touchy over it.

 

[Prodigy]

I'm not bothered anyway. It's nice to see Arsenal doing well. Wenger deserves some gold.

 

[CGS]

Anddddd another one bites the dust

Tottenham have sacked head coach Andre Villas-Boas after less than 18 months in charge following Sunday's 5-0 home defeat by Liverpool.

The Premier League defeat to the Reds appeared to have been the final straw for the White Hart Lane board, coming just three weeks after the 6-0 thumping by Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

A Spurs statement said: "The club can announce that agreement has been reached with head coach, Andre Villas-Boas, for the termination of his services.

"The decision was by mutual consent and in the interests of all parties."

Early candidates which headed the Sky Bet betting to replace Villas-Boas were former England boss Fabio Capello, now in charge of Russia, Spurs' current director of football and Capello's assistant at the Football Association, Franco Baldini, Swansea manager Michael Laudrup and a currently-out-of-work and the former Chelsea caretaker boss Guus Hiddink.

Villas-Boas endured a shorter turbulent time at London rivals Chelsea, moving to Stamford Bridge from an extremely successful stint Porto in June 2011 before being sacked in March 2012 by Blues owner Roman Abramovich.

He was soon lured back to the Premier League in July of that year and managed to guide Tottenham to their first win at Old Trafford since 1989, beating Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United 3-2 in September.

Spurs went on to accumulate 72 league points in the Portuguese's only full season in charge, the largest haul not to qualify for the Champions League in Premier League history.

The 36-year-old then revealed in the summer that he had turned down offers from Paris St Germain and Real Madrid to remain at Tottenham before star asset Gareth Bale was sold to the Spanish giants in a deal worth a reported world-record 100million euros.

Tottenham used the Bale money to strengthen their squad with the acquisition of, among others, Spain forward Roberto Soldado, playmakers Christian Eriksen of Denmark and Argentina's Erik Lamela, and midfielder Paulinho of 2014 World Cup hosts Brazil.

However, after an encouraging start to the new season, a 3-0 home defeat to a striker-less West Ham raised first questions over Tottenham's strengths before they continued to struggle to score league goals.

Last week, a convincing 4-1 victory over Anzhi Makhachkala saw Spurs advance in the Europa League and appeared to ease concerns over their attacking potency but Sunday's north London humiliation precipitated the club's decision to finally part company with Villas-Boas.

Speaking after Sunday's humiliation by Liverpool, which followed a 6-0 drubbing by Manchester City last month, Villas-Boas had insisted that he would not quit.

The 36-year-old said: "The call to make that decision is not mine, because obviously I won't resign and I'm not a quitter.

"The only thing I can do is work hard with the players to get them back on track.

"This is a top-four squad but in our Premier League form we are not there."

Spurs are currently seventh in the table, two points ahead of Manchester United, and won their Europa League group with a 100 per cent record, scoring 15 goals and conceding just two in six games.

Villas-Boas also had a good record overall as Tottenham manager, averaging 1.83 points per league match, the highest of all Spurs bosses in the Premier League era.

A bright start in the Premier League was not maintained however and it appears the manner of the defeats by City and Liverpool proved too much for Spurs chairman Daniel Levy and the board.

SkySports

 

[The Cork]

Panic sacking after two hidings.

I dont see anyone out there better than AVB, which is great news.

 

[Keith]

Its pointless because Spurs are not going to do any better than challenging for the top four (which i doubt they will get in now) and maybe win a cup which they could have done with AVB there. There was always going to be preassure with the silly money spent, but I quite like the guy and thought he did pretty well in his first season so should have got longer.

 

[Keith]

Very sloppy from Villa yesterday the way we dropped those points, we are making those errors far too often, a point at Stoke would not have been terrible. It was odd that Lambert dropped Bentake altogether hope it was due to fittness, if not it's a bit harsh to drop him from the squad given his goals pretty much kept us up last season and this is his first real dip in form. At least his replacement Kojak got a goal and along with the keeper was possibley our best player in a other wise dire performance.

The next few games are key, if we pick up a couple of wins we should be fine, if not we could still get dragged into the fight at the bottom.

 

[Keith]

Big blow for both England and Arsenal Walcott being out for six months. Wenger will have to try and get a couple in over the next month now otherwise staying top and competing on other fronts will seem a very tall order.

 

[Keith]

It was a fair result tonight overall, but Lambert deserves credit for making the right changes in the second half and the players did restore some pride in the end. Its just a case of taking that last twenty to Anfield on Saturday. I think he needs to start with Weinmann to give the attack better balance, if Ron Vlaar shows his leadership qualities again then I think a result is there for the taking. Famous last words, but Liverpool are not that good, and away from home we can reverse the pressure onto them.

 

[Dale]

Liverpool aren't that good and they're there for the taking? : : :

 

[Keith]

^Famous last words I did say, and yeah I know it'll probably be 5-0 now, but hey I can take it, and don't mind sticking my neck out from time to time.

 

[Dale]

I admire your optimism, but where on earth that comes from I have absolutely no idea.

 

[Keith]

The last twenty minutes tonight against a team who are much better than Liverpool, the fact that we are better away from home, and that they are a bit of a one man team. Tall order, but I just have a feeling on this one...

 

[Dale]

One man team or not, if Arsenal beat you pretty comfortably in second gear then I fully expect Liverpool to put an absolute dicking on you.