I am naturally a worrier and always look for things to go wrong. For my first article on Not606, would you like to hear the direction my fevered neurosis is taking me today? No? Tough! Everything seems to have gone very quiet at the Walkers Stadium. It's almost like there's nothing happening to generate rumours any more. We've had nothing from Sven or Faz, no players in the news telling us this or that, no real news from the club. Also, Lee Hoos has left the club. In some ways this is not surprising but there are odd things about it. First of all, the news he had left broke quite late at night. If you are announcing your resignation then this seems a strange time to do it. It certainly does not seem planned. The Thais, far from having an able replacement lined up, have not yet even admitted it has happened. So what could've happened to upset the apple cart? Well...there is one thing which seems to coincide with the sudden silence from LCFC, namely...a managerial vacancy at Aston Villa. Aston Villa were reportedly interested in Sven in the summer. Villa are being very reticent about admitting who their managerial candidate is, apart from ruling out the favourite, Mark Hughes. Could yet another spanner be thrown into the works of LCFC this off-season? The truth is out there...
I think Sven might go Villa given a chance but i dont think he would go to Fulham. With Lee Hoos leaving it may slow down transfer dealings
This is not relevant to the post but why are Sky Bet inviting bets on Forest's new manager? http://www.skybet.com/betting/football/manager-specials/t10002896.html Billy Davies is still there isn't he?
I cant see Martin O'Neill managing in the championship. Chelsea or Fulham would be more likely then Forest
Its normal at this time of year for managers, players and, presumably, club admin to all go on holiday. Its been a long season for them all and everything does tend to go very quiet until mid-June when contracts are nearing their end. But, you never know in football. Strange decision by Mark Hughes to resign at Fulham if he is not going to Villa.
You're right Cosbyfox, I hate this time of year until players come back from holidays. It's just there was enough movement to create a bit of news last week and it has all dried up , to the point where we are reporting on Cov! Obviously our chief exec has left, (or not) so our chief negotiator is missing. Does this mean we are no longer negotiating with players, is someone else doing it, or is there some calamity currently befalling the club which we are not aware of? It reminds me of the calm before the storm this time last year.
problem is all the players we have been associated with are being snapped up by other clubs. As far as hoo's is concerned, i think the guy was starting to stick his nose into team affairs like the artical in the leicester mercury about everyone playing for their places. cant see sven putting up with that...... unless of course some one may have run away with all the dosh.
Yeah...maybe. There seemed to be a difference between how the owners and Hoos saw things too. The owners seem happy to throw cash at things while Hoos maybe wanted a more restrained financial policy. It's worth noting that the financial bloke left too. I wonder who didn't want to pay Yakubu's wages? Hoos or the owners?
Well Sven has always said if he could get the loan players back from last season then he'd have a good squad. However, that was then contradicted by Faz when he said that we would look away from young, inexperienced players; so that was odd as well. There was no doubt that the timing of Hoos' departure was strange too. One of the most vital people in a transfer window is a Chief Exec. so to get rid of him at this time doesn't really make sense. Although having said all that, I trust that Sven knows what he's doing in the transfer market and he won't jump in and buy players for the sake of it. I'd prefer the signings to be carefully judged purchases rather than Allen's approach of 'he's available, lets buy him'.
I wouldn't be too worried, there's hardly any news coming out of other clubs as well. It's just that time of year when everyone's off on their hols before reporting back for pre-season in 4 weeks time. No doubt Sven will be having behind the scene discussions even when he's away with a phone constantly by his side. With regards to Mark Hughes he has to wait until the end of June before he can talk to any clubs because he's serving his notice period but certainly looks like he will be on his way to Villa then when he can officially talk to them.
oadbyfox - it must be good to be calm, relaxed and reasonable! I think something untoward did happen regarding Hoos. Much of the speculation could be laid to rest if the club just commented on it though. If there was any proper news then we (I) wouldn't have to analyse to death the snippets we do get. Maybe....just maybe... there is nothing wrong at LCFC. For once!!!
I thought about spending all my summer worrying. But then I was a nervous wreck before the play-offs had started! I take Hoos leaving as a positive, he never really won the fans over and was instrumental in Pearson leaving (though I still blame Mandaric as he was the chairman). Anyhoo, if Sven went to Villa it would be an absolute catastrophe and almost worst case scenario. I think it's very unlikely though and I can't start thinking about that possibility! I think Sven is working hard towards signings, it might take time to get the players he really wants and it's early days. Like OadbyFox says there isn't much news anywhere else either. If O'Neill goes to Cardiff or Forest though I'll be very upset. But why would he have left Villa to go to crappy jobs like those? And why would Davies go to Cardiff???
Well if the unthinkable happened and Villa pinches yet another manager from us I think Top should go all out and convince O'Neil to recreate his massive achievement at the club - He will have the funds in place which was his stumbling block at Villa
On the Villa front, I'd be surprised if Hughes wasn't being lined up. I can't see why he'd resign without having another job lined up. I think the reason for all this talk from Villa and Hughes of not talking to one another is just to get around that June 30th notice period. Also, I too don't think O'neill go to Cardiff (absolute mess financially and stupid to sack Jones) or Forest (despite the playing links I think they'll keep Davies) - in fact I don't think he'd drop down to any Championship club. He's not desperate to get back in the game like Big Sam was. Besides, he's favourite for the Fulham job.
I went to that evening with Sven thing organised by the Birch. Sven said the same there he has said every time he has been asked about leaving in the press. He said he has only left one job by choice and that was Lazio to manage England. The rest of the time he has come to the end of his contract or been sacked. In other words he claims to want to see out his contract and maybe extend it. Sven has me believing in football and loyalty again and I would be pretty gutted if he left after I have suspended my cynicism and had faith in him. So let's hope he is as good as his word. I would like to know what is happening behind the scenes though.
Stourbridge we would all love to knwo what is happening behind the scenes.. but if we all knew what was hapenning it wouldnt be.. "behind the scenes" anymore and all our top secret stuff would be known tot he world!
