A thread to discuss some general football stories of the weekends events. Not necessarily Saints related and some items not always worthy of a seperate thread. To start off - some things that have happened over the last few days, i look forward to hearing your views on - 1) Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - after his impressive hatrick for the u21s word is going round he will likely make the full England squad for a friendly v Spain in November. Is this too soon. Is this Sven and Walcott all over again. If he was still playing for Saints scoring goals for a club at the top of the championship would he still have made the squad? 2) England qualify for Euros 2012 - Should Capello be allowed to stay on as manager, especially if we were to win it. Who at this moment in time should replace him -Ray Wilkins has suggested Glen Hoddle should be appointed again. Agree or disagree? 3) Ex saint Andrew Davies is sent off playing on loan at Bradford -yes Bradford who were 3rd bottom of league 2. From saints player of the season to bottom of league two in a few years. It makes you wonder, if he stayed at saints would he have picked up thoses injuries and could he have gone onto better things. Not a good day for another ex saint Matty Oakley who scores an own goal whilst on loan at Exeter. 4) Congratulations to Huddersfield who have now gone 37 unbeaten games in the league since Saints last beat them. That is a huge amount of games - shame they lost the game that really counted in the play offs. What else has caught your eye.What grinds your gears- made you angy, Anything made you laugh. Any good news stories?
1) if Chamberlain was still here, scored a hat-trick for the U21s Capello or the media wouldnt bat an eyelid - its only because he's at Arsenal he gets all the media fawning 2) Capello has decided he's leaving no matter what happens but I think Redknapp should replace him 3) Davies really has suffered hasnt he? He's not really settled anywhere and his injuries have held him back 4) if huddersfield were a top side like Arsenal, the media would be fawning over their unbeaten run but as its Huddersfield they hardly mention it OH, and I hope Rooney SNR is happy with his sons sending off - probs earned him a few quid
Does anyone know if add ons were included in the transfer for international caps for oxo- if so this could be sooner rather than later. He has progressed quickly but as this article in the metro shows he is still just a kid and needs his mum to do his washing. http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/oddbal...ing-his-mum-will-do-his-washing#ixzz1aCeaApHF
If football was fair then Huddersfield would be in the Championship, and probably top half. They would have gone up any other year, hopefully they will do it this season but there's tough opposition.
1) Chambo benefits, we benefit(another £3m ching ching), thats as far as it goes with me. 2) England seem to have lost the fans belief, this is due to Fabio Capello, hope he goes before the tournament, I'd rather McClaren......seriously. 3) I was a massive Andrew Davies fan, he'd stick his head where no-one else dared if it would defend the goal, but, leaving like he did left a sour taste. No pity. 4) Huddersfields record will be the reason they fail in their bid for promotion. Happy to draw so as not to lose. My own number; 5) Kia Jocarababumba or what-ever his name. Did he mastermind Tevez bench stance so as to get a free transfer away from city? Hmmmm. And lastly, great post Batman, its what we want to post, but can't figure out how to fit it in.
England lost my support waaay before Capello. Some when back in the early/mid 90's is when they lost mine. The writing was on the wall even then.
Really, that is bad. Although I've never thought we'd win a world cup or even make an appearance in a final, 96 was exciting. The team of 98 actually deserved more than what they got. Down hill from there, but under Sven it raised a smile occasionally, 5-1 in Germany anyone.....
i so want to support and be more interested in England. It seemed to mean more when i was about 10 years old. Now it doesnt come close to club football. in fact i have resented this international break as its a week of not following the saints. Not sure what can change my mind. i am very patriotic and i love football. been to wembley to watch England and still cant get that excited. In fact looking at the current england team as individuals rather than a team i have a dislike for most of them - cole, terry, Rooney etc. If chamberlain does make the next england team i will be hoping he does well.
In fact some when around about Ron Greenwood's appointment was where my support first started to go downhill. I couldn't understand why the FA would appoint someone who hadn't won anything for donkey's years. He wasn't the top manager, he was an also ran, whose teams played pretty football. The management team that should have been appointed, was staring the FA in the face - Brian Clough & Peter Taylor. The England set up would be a pretty different affair, to this day, if they'd been in charge. No disrespect to Bobby Robson later on, but the job should have been Clough's. The 5-1 turned out to be a blip. The England setup, the pundits, and the football media could hardly believe they'd beaten Germany by so much, themselves. They were almost hysterical about it, instead of just being happy. They had hoped for a turnaround in England's fortunes, but it was a false dawn.
TheSecondStain - Who would you like to see take over from Capello - Maybe we can have a new positive era - does his successor need to be english?
Good question. Where have all the good English managers gone. They turned into Scotsman..! Ever since Matt Busby, it's been Scotsman. Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Alex Ferguson - they're all Scots. It tells you something, doesn't it..? The last great English manager was Bobby Robson, but slightly before him was the genius of Cloughie, who should have had the job the moment he inclined his head at the mention of his name in the frame. You ask whether the English job needs to go to an Englishman, and one truly wonders who to pick from..? Is Harry the best we can come up with..? Roy Hodgson is a fine manager, but even Liverpool was a problem for him, as I don't think he can get past big egos, because he's too much of a modest man himself. The rest simply haven't had enough experience with successful teams with elite players. Even Harry is easily doing the best he's ever done, so he might be the best real candidate. I think it's essential that whatever manager England appoint, he doesn't necessarily have to be English, but he does have to have a very good command of the language. It means Capello was wrong, even if he was a perfectly good manager in another sphere. SGE was also in that same category, and was unable to unlock the potential of the golden generation's talent and fuse it into a team. Martin O'Neill..? Now there's a proper manager, but he's been away from the game, for some time now. Does he have the appetite..? If I thought there was even the slightest chance that he'd consider it, I'd move heaven and earth to ask Alex Ferguson. There - we're back to our Scotman. The modern day Brian Clough, but with a kilt..!
Well there is one English manager, and like many of the current players, he too is still relatively young and up and coming......
As for Huddersfield, I agree completely with HR. Their unbeaten run isn't actually getting them anywhere. I'd be interested to know exactly what position they were in after they lost to us last December - I'm betting not far off from their current position, nearly 10 months later. Be a bit braver, be willing to sacrifice one point in the aim of finishing in three, and they'd be much better off. They might even be in the Championship right now. Draws are useless at the top end of tables, and thus this unbeaten run is fairly useless.
Agreed, it's impressive, but it's not going to get them promoted on its own. Of course, it helped Saints last season, in a way, althought they pressed us hard. Another team who haven't lost this season is Middlesbrough, and they keep drawing when they could have headed the Championship. Another classic example there.
lets merge these 2 topics together. Lee Clarke for the next England manager - we can draw our games and have a good old penalty shoot out. Fair points guys. Fergie as next england manager -what are the odds on that but like you say no obvious candidate, redkanapp, Big sam, no exciting appointment. Jim Magilton might leave Ipswich for it.
Is the myth that Jim Magilton is stiil at Ipswich, the new/replacement Rudi Skacel signs for Saints phrase, by any chance..? Try as I might, I can't stop the smile appearing on my face..! please log in to view this image
I hope Huddersfield make it this season. They have had such a terrific run and deserve to go up auto and avoid the dreaded play-offs. It's strange but when Theo went to Arsenal I took pride in his achievements, but still feel a tad resentful about AOC. Have to say that although they don't mention Saints on TV, the written media do usually mention us in most articles about Alex (though that too will fade with time). Time for us to move on I suppose.
