Benitez being tactically torched by Lage here. He is in real trouble if Conte is appointed at THFC tomorrow. It's funny how one managerial sacking completely changes the entire complexion of the table.
Remember Oscar, the Brazilian midfielder who used to play for Chelsea? He had an eventful day in the Chinese FA Cup semi-final, which was a Shanghai derby. His club, now named Shanghai Port, ran out 5-1 winners over Shanghai Shenua: Lovely ball out wide for the first, four assists, then a straight red card in injury time! Misses the 2nd leg, which will probably be irrelevant.
Emery has declined the offer to join Newcastle, as he's not convinced by the club's vision. Either that, or they weren't willing to pay him enough. To be honest, this is probably good news for the Geordies. As impressive as Emery's Europa League record is, his managerial prowess in the league isn't to the required standard. And with them 19th in the division, I'm not convinced he's the right man to get them out of this hole they're in.
It also has to be said trading up the Champions League, where they're currently placed to reach the knockout stages, for a Premier League relegation scrap is hardly as encouraging as Bonesaw McGraw thinks it is
Eddie Howe would likely be seen as a good appointment, but he is largely unproven. Apart from a short spell at Burnley- which wasn’t particularly successful in terms of results- he’s only managed Bournemouth. His record in getting them up through the leagues and then holding their own in the PL is impressive, but it was a very different challenge to Newcastle. He managed to bond a team of mainly lower league players into a winning team. He was always overachieving, so there was never any pressure on him. He didn’t have to take on a club with big expectations, look to recruit big name players and get them to give him their best. It won’t be easy for someone who isn’t a well known name outside the U.K, who hasn’t won things as either a player or manager and whose success can only be measured relative to a small club. Doing well to improve players underperforming at other clubs like Wilson and Ritchie (who he’ll now manage again) is admirable, but he’s going to have to buy in a very different marketplace now - where a premium will be added because the club is known to have money. It’s not as though the club itself is a selling point either at present - just the ability to pay big wages. And he will have to bring in a number of better players quickly to even be sure of keeping them up. It’s a gamble.
Eddie Howe also had to leave Burnley because of his family: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/19937083 It remains to be seen if this situation is any different now.
In the latest edition of You Don't Know What You're Doing, we have last night's red cards: The commentators sum that one up. It was a red card for the tackle, according to UEFA. Next up is the Dortmund v Ajax game and a red for Hummels. https://www.gsoccer.xyz/p/soccer-ed.html?m=1 Take a bow Michael Oliver and Stuart Atwell in particular, who was on VAR. At the other end of the scale: Absolutely insane "tackle" from van Hecke, leading to his team getting an absolute battering.
I won’t post the tweet for obvious reasons but looks like a West Ham fan lost a finger (or thumb) at the Genk game. That’ll be a story for years to come… though as someone said when replying, “you win thumb, you lose thumb”.
No, they're back on the anti-Semitic abuse train again, sadly. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59169405
As much as this only applies to a contingent of Chelsea, West Ham, Leeds, Millwall and lower league clubs with far-right followings things like this will continue to give football fans a bad rep. As a gesture West Ham should compensate the man or pay for flights to a destination of his choosing.
