Great news for the future, but I do think an old head is useful - we will mist Holt's dressing room presence when backs are against the wall. Another good reason to bring in Quags
I'd love to see/hear Quags having a conversation with Snodgrass! How many translators would that require? Glaswegian -> English -> Italian
Did I mention Pilkington? Did I mention Bennett? What I said was that your "monkey" comments were made in a particular context where you were advocating the kind of player we needed to sign for our Championship campaign. The fact that we continued to sign League One players and that they have done us proud even in the PL, just shows how wrong you were back then.
i think you're wrong robbie. i'm certain that the debates that i had with carrabuh over league one players were upon our promotion to the premier league. if there was an incident the season before then i apologise but i can't recall it.
I understood there were two debates - one on 606 before my time and another that you refer to which I remember. So - everyone makes mistakes and is judgmental. Let's move on
The debate I am referring to took place not on 606 but I think on the old 12 Yards forum, which unfortunately is now no longer accessible. It was about team strengthening for the Championship campaign. If carrabuh was never on that forum, then I am indeed mistaken and will apologise.
as i say, the same argument may have taken place on another forum or in a different year, but certainly when i was involved it was during the pre-season of our first premier league campaign. in reality it doesn't matter when it was, his remarks were disrespectful and extremely naive. i remember saying when we were in league one that the top 7 or 8 teams were all of a far higher standard than usual and that they were all capable of finishing near the top of the championship. that remark was laughed out of town by championship fans at the time but the following season all three promoted sides challenged for promotion and finished in the top 8 whilst the year after two of the three reached the top 7. league one is as strong as it has ever been in terms of quality because the numerous imports at the top of the game mean a number of players who would normally play at a higher level have had to find a club lower down. of course the standard overall is not brilliant - its the third tier, but what grated me enormously was his assumption that there was no talent in that league, 'full of monkey's' apparently. well lets have a look at this lot: carl jenkinson, alex oxlade-chamberlain, matt lowton, ashley westwood, nick powell, russell martin, bradley johnson, robert snodgrass, elliott bennett, anthony pilkington, wes hoolahan, grant holt, adam lallana, rickie lambert, billy jones, gareth mcauley just off the top of my head, running through the premier league, i can think of these players who have all had decent seasons at premier league level but were plucked from league one (or have been promoted from there) in very recent seasons. yes there's some dross in league one - there is in the premier league too - but it was always the term 'monkeys' which i found utterly pathetic. edit. ignore mcauley. don't think he played in league one as the binners bought him.
Ha me too, or the Roy keane variant. Guess we could do a mc carthy one if we ever needed it Unlikely though that is
i like mick mccarthy though! i know he's ipswich boss but he makes me laugh (as do they, with their impression of a football team)
Me too. Good guy. He sort of typifies the best and worst of the traditional British manager. Now could anyone imagine him being appointed manager of a Spanish or Italian club?
I've always been a big fan of McCarthy. His Wolves and Ippy connections have managed to not diminish my opinion on him.
He'll always have massive respect from me for standing up to Roy Keane's petulance during the 2002 World Cup. No player is bigger than the manager, regardless how much the player rates himself
Don't think it was just the player that rated himself. Keane would have got in any team in the world IMO.
ive got a good soft spot for him too, seems well humoured. this always makes me chuckle [video=youtube;0OQT1psCoAc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OQT1psCoAc[/video]
Of course he was a top rate player but no player is bigger than the team! Big Mick was absolutely right in his handling of the situation!
