Association Football Discussion Thread (club level)

[anonymous]

Cardiff are promoted!!! Warnock for all his undeniable flaws has done an incredible job.

The Premier League is all but finished. But we have the World Cup and Various playoffs ahead of us.

Use this thread to discuss all things football.

[Prime Time]

Warnock always does a great job in that division. His record is tremendous. There's a few guys who do - Mick McCarthy is another one despite what some malcontented Ipswich fans would have you believe. But I think Warnock might be the best.

It won't stop him from being pretty much universally considered a cretin, mind!

[Mazza]

#WengerOut

[Gooner]

Just one more week to go. Who's people's pick for the Arsenal job?

[Prime Time]

Ray Parlour.

[Mazza]

Merse

[Prime Time]

In all seriousness they're making the Juventus manager, Allegri, the favourite for the job.

[Mazza]

Whoever it is will get a grace period from me. I mean the last guy did fuck all for a decade and kept his job.

[Prime Time]

Won a few FA Cups mind. There's always a chance you'll go backwards badly.

Anyway, Villa have Boro in the playoffs. Fair to say with Derby and Fulham in the other tie that a reasonably big club is coming back up this year, regardless of which one of the four it is.

[Oliver]

Arteta should get the Arsenal job. Him or Viera, anyway.

Moyes is apparently now no longer our manager, his short-term deal expired at midnight, so we're back to being managerless West Ham. I actually think the last three games have been as good an audition for getting the full time job as he has had in his time managing us, but have my concerns still about the defensive side of things - something which is possible as much personnel as it is Moyes himself. Converting Cresswell, who never really liked a tackle anyway, into a left-sided CB is probably the only poor decision he really made there, but otherwise the fact that we sold Fonte and Nordtveit (who was sadly much maligned and will be in the Champions League next season, assuming he stays at Hoffenheim) plus loaning Burke and Oxford out and Reid getting his inevitable injuries. Basically for the last couple of weeks we've only had Ogbonna, Cresswell, and Rice because Collins tweaked a hamstring too.

It's the obvious area we need to improve in the summer, plus a new goalkeeper (or number 2 goalkeeper, because I'd just keep Adrian between the sticks), right back, and (again) a defensive midfielder. And we're going to start that process with no actual manager so...joy, I guess?

Prime, I really hope you give Collins a contract. I don't think he's getting his with us renewed this summer and it makes me sad.


Oh, and something I've always meant to ask fans of other clubs - what do people think of Winston Reid? A lot of our fanbase seem to think he's severely underrated and should be alerting the big clubs every summer, but I'm not sure if that's really an opinion held outside of our little bubble.


And a third thing, because I love doing this - here's a starting eleven from the players who are set to be released this summer:

---------------- Hradecky
Fredericks - de Vrij - Chiellini - Shaw
Bamba - Can - Ozyakup - Meyer - Bernard
---------------- Balotelli

[Gooner]

Oh, and something I've always meant to ask fans of other clubs - what do people think of Winston Reid? A lot of our fanbase seem to think he's severely underrated and should be alerting the big clubs every summer, but I'm not sure if that's really an opinion held outside of our little bubble.

Was clamoring for Arsenal to sign him maybe 2 or 3 years ago. Can't honestly say I've heard much from him since then. Good defender, same level as perhaps an Ashley Williams in that not elite.

[BEAR]

Best person for the arsenal job?

Rafa Benitez

He’s the best person for that particular job.

Second best: Graham Potter

Who will get it. Some big name who managed at a big club before and will be gone in two years

[Gooner]

Rafa would have to bring results in though, because the style will lose him brownie points. I think the fans would only accept a slight change in style if it meant were there or thereabouts come May. If not, they'll turn on him. It doesn't have to be tiki taka, but it does have to be attacking.

The biggest legacy Wenger left isn't the FA Cups or Premier Leagues, it's the style of play that was never seen before 1996 in the league. Garth Crooks (though I hate him) said it pretty well; he was Pep Guardiola before there ever was Pep Guardiola. The game has changed and Wenger hasn't adapted enough to new methods and tactics.

[BEAR]

Rafa has played attacking before, Liverpool and Real weren’t as cautious as he’s had to have been at Newcastle and probably Chelsea too.

With the players he has there, he could go back to what he does best, being a tactician.

It’ll never happen, but he has the coaching knowledge, budget ability and high level expertise to make it work

[Prime Time]

Liverpool had cautious and attacking seasons. You're right, it's totally about what's available to him. I don't know whether he'd look at Arsenal, though, and see a side that needs to be attacking, or one that needs solidifying and a defensive hardness. It could go either way.

I've regretfully had to admit over the years he's a good coach. I still really don't like him though.