Sven Goran Eriksson c/d

However, he gave me Munich, he gave me Sapporo, for which I am truly grateful.

But still, if you asked any England fan who'd just seen us crash to the Germans in Keegans last game - "would you be happy with beating Germany 5-1, beating Argentina in a World Cup game and then going out to Brazil in the Quarters?", what do you think the answer would be?

One friend of mine likens his disappointment with Eriksson to that of his disappointment with the Blair government. I tell him to look at the results in both cases! But inside I know my friend has a point.

IN THE NAME OF GOD, GO!

(Obv the answer to this is to win a major tournament and as far as I can see Euro2002 is the only real opportunity we'll have to do that and even that depends on Italy and France fucking up probably).

(x-post - D'oh!)

i like sven for all the reasons listed above

Also the repeated doubts cast over his loyalty and commitment strike me as a very thinly veiled "See? We told you we can't trust these foreigners managing our national team!"

If he did leave - no change really. Still no English candidate, as since he took over, there's been no change at a big club. Although there are good English managers out there, none have been tested at the highest levels and so the problem still remains. Until one of the big clubs take a chance on an English manager, I can't see the FA trying someone from outside the charmed circle.

Look at Scotty Parker - mjoving to Chelsea as it'll improve his international chances. The same is true of managers. But those big clubs are even more unlikely to take a punt on someone who has the air of the untried, as they don't have a patriotic notion informing their managerial chocies.

Interesting that Steve Mclaren may well be in the unusual position of his next job being most likely to be either as manager of England's biggest club (still seems the logical successor to Ferguson but who knows really) or as the England manager itself.

Steve McLaren to England at this point in his career is mentalism... see how he does at Manyoo or wherever first, if they'll have him.

Surely part of the problem with Engerland over the past decade or so is that Hoddle, Keegan, Venables, Taylor were all untried at the top level. Boyler OTM I think.

Yesterday Garth crooks said that Svenm had been flirting with other employees. I think, and hope, he meant to say employers. Who knows. I have an image of him perched on the end of a secretary's desk in Soho Square saying 'Yes, you type in a beautiful way, for sure'.

My thesis will be born out because some hack will push the cause of Venables again. I betcha.

The real issue with any successor (assuming here that people are with me in the view that he'll not be with England for long) is that international football is still having a battle with the clubs; twas ever thus. But which manager would become an international manager without part of it seeming to be a pre-retirement winding down? Most people who want to achieve things want to do it in club football. The interesting thing for me is the viability of international football in the modern age. It garners the highest ratings by a long long way, yet is perennially in some form of crisis, and is beseiged by powerful forces within and without the game. It endures though, in the same way those who prophecise the end of the nation-state turn out to be somewhat premature. The issue isn't an all of nothing one, but what the nation-state turns into; the same questions need to asked of international football.

The rest of the time Leeds were mid-table or pushing for a UEFA place at best, and lets not forget the Sunderland debacle. Technical Overlord = we want to shuffle you quietly to the sidelines without you throwing too much of a strop about it.

Also - Leeds under Wilkinson - went from winning the League to almost relegated the next season. Worst defence of the title ever.

I think Wilko got lucky - he took a team that 2 years earlier had been in Division 2 and got a great blend of players - the old and wise and the young and hungry - to play a great season. It was the last old-style title win in my book, and arguably, Manyoo choked as much as they won it. It's often the case that teams choke, and that doesn't take away the fact that they were there with the points on the board.

looks like Svenm has got his Midwinter break wish in exchange for pledging alleigance - I have no problem with the idea myself. Plus with FIFA pushing for more frequent World Cups, the Confed Cup and for countries to take the friendlies more seriously it seems that international football is as healthy as ever really, despite the rise of the Superclub undermining the international cause.

Actually, yes. Agreement sucks ass.

Conversely, I think he has a great understanding of English football. Apart from Michael Ricketts, natch. But even then, the guy was in form, so why not?

There is not a single English manager who could step into his shoes at present.

Presenter: "What is your point?"

Spurs Caller: "YID ARMY, YID ARMY"

And that was one of the more eloquent ones.

Chelsea's treatment of Ranieri is disgraceful

i wouldn't mind seeing O'Neill at Liverpool tho Celtic fans everywhere will be exchanging green & white hoops for black i suspect

Black and black hoops? Are you mad? I'm resigned to losing MON...more a case of when, not if...

"We've got four top quality strikers. Five of them are internationals."

Only France, Italy, Spain, England and possibly Germany would be that bothered about having a manager not of the same nationality I think.

No-one up here was too chuffed at the appointment of Berti Vogts, you know.

I did well with this little lot, didn't I?

despite all this, sven gets a major C from me, it is because of he that i support england in this tournament, as i've always wanted him to silence those that moaned when "johnny foreigner!" took over the england team (not talking about any ilxors here, more something picked up on footie phone-ins)

-- kilian Murphy (kilian.murphy2...), March 27th, 2003.

henry, I mean.

This may not last.

Calamity's been really good I thought - his first flap was last night, when he came for a cross and didn't quite get it, which he made amends for with a magnificent save. His shot stopping has been really excellent - see how Buffon and Van Der Sar etc have been punching shots away, and how he's smothering them cleanly - that's good goalkeeping.

x-post - he couldn't use his hands as it was a backpass - had he used his hands and gotten it, he'd have given away an indirect free kick 10 yards out. Not good at all. He'd also have been more likely to get sent off as it would be a double crime - he'd have broken the backpass rule and brought down a attacker as the last man. The truth was that Gerrard played the ball back without looking, and Henry anticipated seeing how Gerrard had played 4 backpasses earlier - he'd shown it was his default 'lets not fuck up now lads' move, and so with Englanbd rattled, Henry gambled and won. He's also quick. You shoudl know Julio, seeing how you've been waxing lyrical about hgim elsewhere.

come off it dave: he should've made a better attempt at saving that free kick at the very least.

I think when it comes to the back pass he really panicked and hacked henry. I guess you're right but what he did with that free kick was unforgivable.

He is essential.

http://www2.raisport.rai.it/news/sport/calcio/200010/31/39fedf2600f6d/lazio5.jpg

Dave spot on re: both the back pass and the free kick - esp the free kick, that was all about the weight balance and a step to the right instead of the left would maybe (a big maybe) have given him a better chance of saving it, however, Zidane could just as esily have placed it over the wall and into the top left, leaving him looking stupid if he had.

What would have happened if he'd gone with no wall? I never had the guts to try that in a game

I'd panic if given a hospital ball in the 93rd minute with Henry bearing down. But to say the freekick response was 'unforgivable' is quite the most ridiculous hyperbole I've heard for some time.

You're not a gooner are you?

ILX fap regulars in patting each other in the back non-shockah!

order of BLAME:

1. heskey (a lot of ppl were pro-heskey before this thread started, they've all gone quiet since the france game).

2. david james (what N. said apart from 'I don't blame him' bit).

3. Sven for taking rooney off.

Beckham's at his best for England when they're up against it, for example.

Changing goalie now would send the wrong message to the players, I think.

Anyway, we are in the quarters everybody. Lets not harsh any buzzes, and instead, feel da love. Lets party!

i think even Sven's ears are burning here. not that he 'hears' your posts somehow.

x-post

to be fair, englands pluses have far outweighed the minuses so far. top scorers in the tournament, two comfortable victories on the trot. my work hours have been switched from 1-9.30pm to 8.30(am) - 5 on thurs, cannot wait to watch the portugal game.

And N.

Julio goes to many FAPs - he is a FAPPER without doubt.

I think blame for individual errors is a red herring. But it is also wrong to react the other way and say, - Everything's OK, we're just unlucky. The thing to consider is the *overall pattern of play*.

We are poor at holding the football, making it work for us, keeping it off opponents, conserving energy. We tend to get hit by wave after wave of attacks. We need to consider this, and alter it. That is where 'blame', or critique, ought to come in.

One reason all this is irritating is that we *still* get suckered by the idea that England are as good as their rivals - when it would appear that we are not. The visitor to Sainsbury's, McDonalds etc could be forgiven for thinking that Beckham, Gerrard et al are dramatic, heroic figures, not the bunglers and last-ditch rangers that they always become in tournaments.

I would not want to fire Eriksson. But he is overpaid. I think he should be paid, say, £50,000 a year. Though, he gets into footy matches for free, so maybe less?

just out of curiosity, which post were you referring to?

I was just about to copy this to the excelsior thread when i realised that the PF didn't write "...McDonald's etc could be... heroic figures, not the BURGLERS and last-ditch.. etc"

like as if it was a clever HAM BURGLAR reference. now i'm disappointed

xpost

Well, it certainly hasn't helped.

Doesn't Nancy Dell'Ollio have incredibly dubious far-right sympathies? In which case I think Sven's better off out of it.

Also Billy Dods OTM - if England had come home from Euro2004 victorious, no one would have given a fuck where Sven was putting his you-know-what.

what if they roasted her in the F.A offices ? would that be a sackable offence?

Nancy makes Nadia from BB look feminine. Lady looks like a dood. They will one day mhandbags out of her.

Nancy v.2 is alright. Nowt spesh though.

Interesting things:

The Sun saying this shows a web of deceit and lies at the top of the FA (trans: People tend to keep schtum if they are shagging colleagues - especially if you shacked up already)

The FA putting out a statement that Palios had indeed shagged the PA in question. What business is it who a single guy shags? If my employer confirmed that, I'd be serious pissed off.

I very much disapprove of SGE's philandering. I find it disgusting and shameful. He should be ashamed of himself.

The Clinton question is difficult, for me, but at least Clinton was morally accused and was contrite, in his phoney dixie way. SGE seems to think he can just what he likes. I think it's appalling. It's very bad about Palios too.

I have not heard 'boff' before.

I am not married, neither, so why can't I 'boff'?

Unlike SGE, I was not in a long-term relationship neither.

If the former, it's the easiest way to get rid of a manager who isn't really performing and you'd quite like to replace, without paying him £14M in compensation.

I'm having a fit of the giggles now.

Also, Nancy didn't seem overly bothered about Ulrika, so maybe they have a fairly open relationship?

xpost

I reiterate that the outcry here, in official terms anyway, is not who he was sleeping with but whether he lied about it and bought the FA into disrepute etc etc.

In a game where gang rapists and racist thugs can get off scot-free, continue to play for top clubs and rake in massive salaries, I find this whole situation quite depressing.

Two words though - Bill Clinton

if he could get away with it in his position, why can't Sven?

Because the team for the Holland game, plus some of his comments here make me wonder if he actually has anything resembling a footballing brain at all.

SWP to start - but on the right, in front of Beckham also playing wide right? Doesn't this essentially leave him with only a two man midfield, and mean if he wants to bring Stewart Downing on he has to take off a forward?

But the Rooney thing is equally interesting. "I really do not know where Wayne's best position is. He is extremely good everywhere he plays." is fair enough in isolation - but he then follows it with "I am talking about on the right". Another one? Is there no word for left in Swedish?

How's the dutch form been this last year or so?

That said, SGE doesn't half spout some crap - I sometimes think England play well in spite of him rather than because of him.

My point stands.

I think.

The general 'on paper' quality of the opposition combined with the terrible performance make it seem horrendous, and it is, but it's still his FIRST defeat in a qualifier, after FOUR years.

But Steve, he hasn't succeeded in any championships either! Fuck qualifiers - he'd have had no excuse to get knocked out at any stage in his career. It's a disgrace how HIS team played last night, and the other night, and against denmark, and god knows how many other times. He needs to go, and he needs to forego the £4m out of embarrassment.

So I don't think sacking Sven NOW would solve anything. There's a much larger problem that needs addressing that is beyond him really - the mentality and culture of most of the players, symptomatic of this country as a whole's attitude to training and competing as a team successfully in the position of 'favourite'. If you look at Italy, Spain and France - they are all experiencing the same problems as England with the same general quality on paper of players. I don't how this problem is overcome but I'm convinced it doesn't involve sacking a coach before the campaign is over and the dust has settles. There are two to four games left in which to make that decision based on results as opposed to performance (unless there really is a clear cut candidate who would clearly do a better job than Sven, but there isn't - certainly not an Englishman, at this point).

The combined salaries of the four coaches who took their teams to the last Euro semi finals is less than Erikson's!

Surely English football has more important things to spend £4M a year on than reaching the odd 1/4 final?

The bit where we had three midfielders playing in each other's positions (Gerrard, Beckham, Cole). The bit where, desperately needing a goal, he took off the best goalscoring midfielder we have in favour of Owen Hargreaves. The sense of world class, very experienced players not knowing quite what their roles were supposed to be, epitomised by Beckham's confused gesture to the bench at one point. The fact that we've been playing this fashionable formation for a couple of games and losing effectiveness in many areas because of it, in obvious ways, and he had no obvious idea what to do next. These are all terribly worrying things.

I think he's no fool in some ways, but he's a slow thinker, so if Plan A isn't working, he struggles for a Plan B. I think he's not very brave, which leads to going with prevailing currents, but also means dropping off when we get a lead and inviting the opposition to come back at us, and this has often led to problems. I think that he's short of ideas of how to open up difficult opponents.

All that leads to a competent record, which after the likes of Taylor, Hoddle, Keegan is an improvement, but it's not likely to win us anything. I don't see much benefit in sacking him now, but unless there is a very big improvement I can't see how he can hold on beyond next summer.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4229036.stm

So there's no longer any justification

roffle

haha but if there IS!! it'd be awesome. him and charlotte church i reckon. england 1 - 0 wales!

In any case, sacking Sven and replacing him with McClaren would be mentalism of the highest order considering he's supposedly almost as culpable in any failings.

Good things about Big Sam as England manager -

1) He is called Big.

2) He makes an unlikely national hero.

3) he would get loads of foreign players to become English, somehow.

4) He likes a scrap.

5) He will not release any classical music compilations, or anything else "poofy".

'Appen 'e'd release a brass band compliation, a video on rearing ferrets and an instruction manual on breeding whippets

yep, even more dour than we played on 15/6/96

Can't remember that far back, my memory only goes back to, oh, around 17th November 1999

With Charlotte waiting for him, who could blame him!

but there bumsex with beckham for the england managers though - I hear he could really bend it.

it all depends at the end of the day which team you want to play for.

Anselmo = England fans
Camila = Sven Goran Erikson
Lotario = The News of the World
Leonela = Faria Alam?

-- Dave B (dave.boyl...), March 29th, 2004 11:32 AM. (daveb)

I note Boyler made this comment a good few months before the Faria Alam scandal broke. I bet it was him what pushed the stories to the papers...(not really).

I wish Sven or Nancy were in Celebrity Big Brother right now, to make Faria be interesting.

Timing notwithstanding, it's pretty cut and dried if true*.

* the curious wordings of the denials does nothing to imply otherwise, plus no mention of legal action. Also, we've seen before that if there's one thing the NotW do make sure, is that they have the evidence to back up these kind of stories (video, audio etc - many of the stills in the article are obviously from a hidden video camera).

It doesn't appear that Erikkson hasn't said anything that many people wouldn't assume anyway (would anyone expect Owen to be that happy at Newcastle when he's crocked and the team seem to be going nowhere rather slowly right now? the comments about Beckham were rather more cryptic but who knows - if anything it's the comments about Doug Ellis that seem most disrespectful but then again no less true/what everyone is thinking deep down). He should have known better than to be so candid and speculative in this way but I don't see how the media attention is helping anyone, esp. given how the whole thing was orchestrated by 'the media' in the first place for their own purposes.

And they're angry cos that's THEIR job...

If England leak six goals against T&T and go out in the first round, would the tabs show much "loyalty" to Sven, or just demand that he go?

Bobby Robson announced that he was quitting England before Italia 90 kicked off, and we were unlucky not to reach the final of that, so I don't seen what everyone's so fussed about...

(According to SGE, the reason he went to Newcastle.)

(Now I am going to look upthread.)

oh has he stopped that particular habit then?
http://www.cafc.co.uk/uploads/CharltonMatch7675.jpg

Coincidentally, I have seen Sven's Classical Collection turning up more often in charity shops these days. Is this a sign that the public have finally tired of him?

That's Boyle, still, not Eriksson.

This idea is even better than I thought. Beckham could go to Tyneside - joining Owen - which would probably make Shearer want to play again - a Great English Players of the 1990s reunion club.

Is there any way he can do this without admitting the article was actually true, damaging himself further in the process?

(As a side-bar, assuming the likely date would be April/May, that puts both him and Rooney in court when you'd have thought they'd be better spending their time preparing for the tournament.)

Or is admitting you're actively looking for other jobs OK in the run-up to the World Cup?

CLUB THREE is another leading side which allegedly paid over the odds for players in "illegal deals".

Club One featuring a manager who just recently went back to them?

Come on, the image of Sven doing this is fucking hilarious.

Is anyone in any doubt he is talking about Harry Redknapp here?

Bit stumped on clubs two and three mind - someone direct me to the best source of scurrilous football gossip forthwith.

if they weren't premier league managers - what would they be, based on their personality / character and style

here are 4 for starters

mourinho - senior creative executive in advertising - could talk bollox all day and get paid for it well

harry redknapp - secondhand car dealer - loves doing deals: buying/ selling

wenger - economics professor - has that distinguished high iq persona

steve mclaren - national express coach driver - looks exactly like one, dull and dour

...any other suggestions

also in terms of ground capacity they are

*i.e. it was never going to say "Has a manager who rhymes with Dead Cap"

I thought it was well known that managers get bungs. Big Ron springs to mind.

How do we decide a fair price for a player anyway?

Maybe Ericksson was trying to hypnotise the fake sheik by swaying from side to side.

Can a manager really have nothing to do with money?

Fancy That!

I vote Big Phil.

*Apart from the one who won the Carling Cup and has just leaked seven goals to a mediocre Arsenal side.

It CAN'T be Mclaren, it just can't. I'd take Ranieri first.

I'll never even think of buying the News of the World again after completely fucking our already-slim chance of doing anything at the World Cup.

i already saw a fawning fluffpiece interview with 'big sam' (i bet we'll never hear his surname in the next 6 months now) in a tab yesterday - poss thenewsoftheworld itself. with him blatantly superimposed on the england flag even! matt is as usual oootttmmm that the fa will cave in to any old balls so i'm interested in what part newcastle have yet to play wrt him if they sack souness now - then again, i suppose if said big sam has any sense he'll already know the job's in the bag if he stays cool. and that he wouldnt want the job anyway. where was i? something about kevin nolan.

tbf, i want curbishley exactly as much as i do mclaren. (ie NOT AT ALL). also i literally cannot imagine what paul jewell as england boss would be like!

errr england job in bag - doesnt want magpies job, i meant. it's 3am and i can't sleep.

The xenophobic jobsworths at the NOTW will now be able to proudly claim they brought down the England manager/have that much power (see also Hoddle in 6 years ago). If England win the World Cup there will be no backtrack talk of 'Stay with us Sven!' but the tabloids will claim that it was their meddling that spurred Eriksson and England players on to prove themselves worthy, so essentially THEY won it for the fans. They'll use Bobby Robson as the previous example to say it's okay to have an England manager know he'll quit the job right after the tournament, and look how well England did in that position last time. Eriksson will be 'forgiven' only if England reach at least the semis and go out on penalties to Brazil (no forgiveness for losing to anyone else probably), which is worth putting a tenner on let's face it.

Case for the Defence:
He got us qualified for the 2002 World Cup from a seemingly hopeless position. He treated us to a stunning 5-1 victory over our biggest rivals. In the last World Cup we beat another of our biggest rivals at their own game (very tight defence and cynical diving) before reaching the quarter-finals - our best showing since 1990. He has got us through the qualification stages for Euro 2004 and the next World Cup.

Case for the Prosecution:
He's too cautious. He keeps faith with his 'chosen' players long after their form has justified them being dropped. He's too defensive, and seems to plan everything around keeping it tight and nicking a goal. When his teams go behind he appears utterly bereft of any plan B. He lacks passion. He made a poor job of qualifying for the last two tournaments, scraping through at the end despite England being drawn into very easy groups. He doesn't really seem to know how to fit together a high-quality group of players into the best formation.

Everything else is just tabloid nonsense. I don't care who he's been shagging. I don't care if he's been looking for another job. But I was hoping he would leave after the World Cup anyway.

Venables is the only England manager in my lifetime who DIDN'T do this AFAIK.

But I was hoping he would leave after the World Cup anyway.

But who were you hoping would replace him? A lot of Sven-haters don't seem to have a decent plan B either!

That doesn't make Sven right, it makes all of them wrong.

But who were you hoping would replace him? A lot of Sven-haters don't seem to have a decent plan B either!

It's been difficult to see an alternative over the last few seasons, and I think that's part of the reason he's been kept on so long.

I don't really care who's the next England manager as long as he can inspire discipline, teamwork and belief in the disparate bunch of egos that make up the team. I must state now, however, that if Trapattoni gets the job I will publicly assassinate him before he can ruin everything.

Martin Allen meets Sven:
http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article340188.ece
who is brenford?

"I was lucky enough to attend the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year," recalls the Bees' manager. "I won the award for London Sports Personality." He pauses before adding with a satisfied smile: "I beat Jose Mourinho. Anyway, during the evening I asked Mr Eriksson if he'd like to pop down to Brentford one morning, watch us train and have a chat.

"Well, he didn't even know who Brentford were. 'Who's Brentford; where are you? What division are you in?' he asked me. I replied, 'Thank you very much; goodbye',

Ignoring the fact that the tabs and the "experts" ripped him a new arsehole at the time and claimed his sickening disloyalty had lost him the dressing room and thrown away any chance of doing well.

Robson, whose team leaves from Luton Airport this morning, explained that he had agreed with [Graham] Kelly to keep the announcement of his decision quiet until next Monday - the day scheduled for England's first training session
in Sardinia.

Jabbing his finger at journalists he snapped: `All you needed to do was to keep out of it. Keep your noses out of it. You've just caused an absolute bodge-up.'

However, striker Gary Lineker said: `I don't think it'll have an adverse affect on the team. The players learn not to take any notice of this sort of thing.

`The World Cup is too important to let something like this worry you. We'll just concentrate on playing. We've always given everything for Bobby and we will continue to do so.'

JACK CHARLTON, the man who once wanted to be England manager, passionately defended the departing Bobby Robson last night and insisted: `Anyone who applies for the England job now is bloody crackers.'

Charlton's outburst came as his Republic of Ireland team prepared in the 90 degrees heat for their opening fixture of next month's World Cup Finals, against England, in two weeks time.

Ireland will play Turkey tomorrow in their final competitive match before the finals start but the Irish manager was scathing in his criticism of the public attack launched on his rival manager Robson.

`I sometimes wonder what people want,' said Charlton. `They've been campaigning to get rid of him for a year, then when he decides to go, he's called a traitor. What a nonsense. There's not a prayer for me wanting the England job now.'

A GLEEFUL rush to put the boot into Bobby Robson, a media vendetta reduced to teeth-gnashing impotence through almost two years without an England defeat, must not distract the Football Association from its real priority.

It will have come as no surprise to regular readers of this newspaper in recent weeks that England were preparing to change manager, win or lose the World Cup in Italy, nor that the one that they have at the moment was preparing to move on to even more money in Holland.

Quite right, both parties. Eight years is long enough for any man in this job and there is nothing wrong with Robson organising his future. Offer the more strident of his critics £200,000 a year and watch the stampede to the
banana boat.

The pious nonsense heaped on Robson in the past 48 hours tells us more about the accusers than the accused. The Press-ganging-up on England's manager following the retreat from the European Championships scaled heights
of offensive absurdity which would have been comical were it not so wounding.

Not content with persecuting the man for losing three football matches, often in language more suited to the hooligan terraces than newspaper pages, some journals saw fit to delve into Robson's private life with malicious vengeance.

So, just how far have we come in 16 years?

They should be with the players he's got

Not long after he joined I caught some BBC2 programme about the goalkeeper's fear of the penalty (the actual fear, not the book), in which Sven could be seen applying various hi-tech techniques to training. This was juxtaposed with a hoarde of El-Tel-types who think it's all a bit foreign and poofy and that there's nothing wrong with doing things the way they've always been done.

Five years later and the top of the table is packed with Joses, Wengers and Jols, while Redknapp et al drift towards relegation.

"i didn't like sven until i read that article about brentford lol! who are ya? who are ya!"

Flightpath near Heathrow, you're just a flightpath near Heathrow...

But he's rubbish. He doesn't do anything. Sammy Lee takes all the coaching session. Mclaren makes the substitutions (which is one reason he should not be considered for the job!) Sven doesn't even know the names of the players we're up against, let alone what their strengths/weaknesses are (or produce a dossier/dvd on them like Mourinho). The diamond formation came about as an emergency substitution, not suggested by Eriksson, then somehow became part of his tactical plan. They had never trained with it (or any formation other than 4-4-2) before. Heskey's triumphant series of games as a left winger began in the same way.

His only job appears to be to handle the media, which he's just great at, isn't he? Oh, yeah, and order special mattresses to be made for the players and delivered to their already-luxurious hotel in Portugal. It's all about that extra 0.01%, eh?

What a waste of space.

I think the most telling comment of his whole reign came from Gary Lineker, who said that it was all a bit long ball and reminded him of a certain other England manager, who didn't like that, apparently.

It was in the paper, so it must be true. Unless, of course, you are some England insider who knows better.

Mclaren makes the substitutions

By which you mean "McClaren talks to the fourth official when substitutions are being made".

I think the most telling comment of his whole reign came from Gary Lineker

Ah yes, and what a suburb highly rated pundit he is.

"Sven doesn't even know the names of the players we're up against, let alone what their strengths/weaknesses are (or produce a dossier/dvd on them like Mourinho)"

That'll come as news to passport control at all the countries he's visited while watching players ahead of England games. And again, how do you know he doesn't have dossiers drawn up? Even sunday league teams do that these days.

a fuck lot of good that did then.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40311000/jpg/_40311581_vassel_owen200245.jpg
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40311000/jpg/_40311591_port_win300200.jpg

He does watch lots of premiership matches and invariably leaves 10 minutes early, to beat the traffic, presumably. Our £5 million per year doesn't stretch as far as an actual 90 minutes, apparently.

I think I last noticed him being pointed out on MotD at Arsenal-Boro. Let's look at those squads...

Arsenal: Lehmann, Lauren, Djourou, Senderos, Cygan (Cole 34), Ljungberg, Silva (Hleb 69), Fabregas, Pires (Flamini 69), Henry, Reyes.
Subs Not Used: Almunia, Lupoli.

Middlesbrough: Jones, Parnaby, Bates, Riggott, Taylor (Wheater 61), Morrison, Rochemback (Johnson 70), Doriva, Mendieta, Yakubu, Viduka (Cattermole 70).
Subs Not Used: Schwarzer, Hasselbaink.

So, presumably he was only there on the off-chance Ashley Cole came on. Looks like more of a nice day out, than anything which could help England in the World Cup.

What, you don't want England to win in the final?

(And of course I don't want England to win)

lol he'll be too busy in the actual tournament shagging the german ladies innit. won't be watching any games.

(oh yeah)

But then, Boyle perhaps, or indeed presumably, knows football today better than I do.

Really, I don't get it - I don't think I see what has happened.

I have not followed the bung revelations.

Why doesn't Tord Grip take over? Presumably he's not a rampant shagger, and the team will play the same brand of exciting football.

In that world cup England only managed to beat one team in normal time — a 1-0 squeeze past Egypt in the first round. We drew 1-1 with the Republic, got a goalless draw with Holland, beat Belgium 1-0 with a 118th minute wondergoal by Platt, were getting caned by Cameroon until a soft penalty got us a late equaliser leading to a 3-2 extra time win, then lost to the Germans on penalties.

Plus we crashed out of Euro 88 early doors, and lost to the eventual winners of Mexico 86 in the quarter finals.

And yet there are still some people saying we should get Robson back as manager because he was so much better than Sven could ever manage. It's absurd.

Also, in the 86 World Cup, after a shaky start Lineker went on a goalscoring spree and we only got knocked out (again by the eventual winners) because of the most blatant bit of cheating in the whole history of cheating.

Little did Vicious Cop (about 8 posts up) know that Wenger's master plan was groom Walcott for the 2006 World Cup, as opposed to 2010 and beyond.

-- Onimo (gerry.wat...), September 8th, 2005

I've changed my mind.

Oh, he's classic, at least for today anyway.

Immense

hee hee hee where's matt dc

Immense

Massive.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/7370698.stm

crazy

At least he's not to be tortured

great news for Newcastle

He's great at making huge amounts of money for doing nothing - get fired here and he still gets paid off the £5m for the last two years of his contract?

He'll be quids in, for sure.

It's an absolutely potty decision. Blues fans have been really pleased with the progress under Sven, despite the poor second half of the season. He talks sense, the football was good when he got it right. Now there's a danger Thakin's City are going to turn into Hearts.

Dreadful.

great news for Chelsea

OH FFS

Man City are now Hearts as Daniel says.

who is going to get the city job? who'd take it?

It's all set up for Martin Jol innit

There's a rumour going round work (at least among those who give a toss about football!) that it's going to be Luis Felipe Scolari, Sven's nemesis.

Cruel

McClaren then?

Mourinho to Barca, Rijkaard to City, Ronaldinho to Newcastle. Eriksson may get whatever club just squeezes out of relegation from the Prem.

Eriksson for the Hammers

Oooh good one.

Is Sven's reputation so shot that an Italian club wouldn't take a punt on him now?

No no, he'd be welcome back in Italy like a shot, I reckons

Eriksson would work wonders with Dave Kitson.

But who can pay him enough? (xp)

McClaren then?

DON'T give them ideas like that. They might be reading.

Thaksin only posts on crutisborad

No no, he'd be welcome back in Italy like a shot, I reckons

-- Tom D., Tuesday, 29 April 2008 13:25 (24 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

F'real. There's gonna be a vacant seat on the Milan bench assuming they don't get their Champs League qualification this year...

Tell you what though, just like Randy Lerner has won plaudits by showing his love for and understanding of AVFC traditions, Shinawatra shows a similar love for a venerable old City tradition by getting rid of a half-decent club manager for no real reason at all.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7373404.stm

Jay-Z in

Say what you want about Shinawatra, I'm sure he'll take all this criticism squarely on the chin.

http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/75961861.jpg

"Critics say I'm money, cash, hoes/ I'm from Chiang Mia stupid, what type of facts are those?"

"Yes... fingernails... yep... then soles of the feet? Oh you think electrodes on the testicles will be more effective on Gallagher?"

Shinawatra bankrolled eight summer signings at a cost of more than £46m shortly after buying the club....It seems certain that any new manager will have a considerable amount of money to spend in the summer. Shinawatra has hundreds of millions of pounds worth of assets in Thailand frozen as he awaits trial on corruption charges later this year. Yet his former lawyer, Noppadom Pattama, who is now Thailand's foreign minister, told BBC Sport that he expected these assets to be "unfrozen in the near future".

It's been repeatedly alleged in a Man Utd fanzine that Thaksin hasn't actually put any money into City yet - that the transfers were all done on the never-never on the understanding that his assets would be unfrozen at some point.

if you havin' girl problems i feel bad for you Sun Jihai

Purchase of Manchester City Football Club

While Prime Minister, Thaksin offered to buy Fulham F.C. from owner Mohamed al-Fayed. After Fayed rebuffed his offer for the club, Thaksin unsuccessfully bid to buy Liverpool.[155]

On June 21, 2007 Thaksin Shinawatra lodged, and had accepted, an £81.6 million bid for Manchester City F.C. On 6 July he completed purchase of the required 75%[156] of the club's shares to take the company off the Stock Exchange and became Chairman of the club. Sven-Göran Eriksson was appointed the new club manager.[157]

He has caused controversy by apparently sacking Eriksson after only a season, despite the fact that Manchester City had not left the top half of the premiership all season.

Manchester City supporters have nicknamed him Frank, after the singer Frank Sinatra.

In short, Thaskin Shinawatra emobdies everything that is wrong with modern day football.

Somebody start a "Soulja Boy For City Manager" Facebook group.

well, Leicester's Thai owners obviously think Dud:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3891235/Leicester-sack-boss-Sven-Goran-Eriksson.html

still the eighth highest earning manager in the world according to france football