BG

Agreed, but there was no need to say it in the v way hodgson did.

Hodgson has used all his man management expertise to tell Martin he's unlikely to play much of a part in the tournament.

think so yes. Those boots have worked everywhere over a period of 35 years from Orebro to Halmstads to Neuchatel Xamax. To say they wouldn't work for England is insulting.

I've never really understood the Carra will be a great manager line of thinking. He might be but analysis like this makes me think it's less likely. Hodgson failed at Liverpool for many reasons but important among them were that his tactics are suited to being an underdog with less technically gifted players trying to avoid losing rather than going for a win and because he bought players that were very obviously nowhere near good enough.

Diame should take legal action for that unless he gave his (ex) employer permission to speak about his health.

I'm of the view that Ayre probably shouldn't have said it but that an awful lot of fuss is being made out of a very small thing.

Piara is on the case now. Henry Winter is also flaying Hodgson today.

Totally agree. Shame we can't buy one of his stones and implant it into one of the many current squad players deficient in this area.

Fixed that for you too. It's what David Brent would do.

I was a big fan of Rafa. Thought he should have been kept. And would have put him back in now. You might be right about Rodgers but there are decent grounds for optimism too - something which you seem determined to avoid acknowledging. When the criticism of a guy who got a promoted side to 11th with unheralded players and averaging 57% possession is that this isn't the right kind of possession it seems to me that we may be casting around to slate the guy. I would fully expect that if he gets better players playing the same way then there'll be more time in the opponents final third.

One of my first thoughts too although you never know. Adams improved at Arsenal on the ball massively when Wenger took over.

Massive gamble but reasonably excited as I like the way his Swansea team played.

Bascombe saying B-Rod and Martinez refusing to work under LVG and that our interest in LVG is cooling. Which is a big shame as LVG would be hilarious/brilliant/both. That said I suspect he would be very, very hard to work with for everyone as he's a massive ego.

As I say Rafa is the obvious low risk option. As for Rodgers I disagree. His Swansea side were very very different from Hodgson's Fulham. Additionally Hodgson has a long record of mediocrity and football unsuited to a big club. I think Rodgers methods may translate very well to a big club. It's definitely the case that he represents a big gamble but there are some decent signs. As for the owners I totally disagree. Sacking Kenny and getting in a new manager with cash to spend was clearly going to be a far more expensive option than letting him go another season with him reasonably happy with the squad as it was.

He's a massive risk B-Rod and as I've said my inclination would be to put Rafa in. But he has something. His possession based game is appealing and was effective in some of the games against big and expensively acquired sides.

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Well obviously no two situations are the same and as I say I'd err on putting in Rafa or LVG as I think the risk is smaller. But plenty of managers have stepped up to big clubs off limited experience and done very well. To add to the list, Sacchi's experience pre-Milan was essentially a couple of years in the Italian third division, George Graham's experience pre-Arsenal was a few years with Millwall, Rijkaard had zero experience when he got Holland to the Euro semi-finals and then relegated Sparta before he got the Barca gig. There are doubtless more but those spring to mind.

I can't say I'm particularly inspired by either but I do think both have something. Rodgers especially. I've rarely seen any side in the Premier League dominate possession against Arsenal as well as they did. Right now I'd be keen on putting Rafa or LVG in but the owners seem keen to go for a younger manager. It's a massive risk but sometimes these judgements pay off. Guardiola had exactly one season in (?third division) management before he took the biggest job in club football, Kenny had none last time round, LVG had none when took over at Ajax in 1991, Del Bosque had about ten games as a caretaker some years before he got the job at Madrid etc etc. In some ways I admire the owners for taking the risk and being prepared to back their judgement.

Tend to agree.

AVB apparently odds on now with most bookies

He actually did what the big sam twitter had allardyce doing before the play off final.

Press Association saying reports in Holland saying LVG would rather be manager than Sporting Director. I'd take him in a shot.

IIRC correctly Parma under Ancelotti played 3-4-3 quite a bit and I think Ancelotti may even have written some long thesis type thing during his coaching training on it's merits. Martinez has something and his switch to that formation given their run in was seriously brave. That said there's plenty of cause for concern given his record more generally. He'd represent a massive gamble in my view. I'm also not convinced he has the kind of cast-iron self belief which we need right now to turn us round. AVB may have this though my biggest fear about him (he undoubtedly has something) is that he seemed to have issues at Chelsea managing not just the established players but some of the younger ones like Lukaku.

Seek medical attn immediately if you are. More than about 12 hours and it could end up falling off.