This weekend I think all football fans will be glued to the telly to watch 2 of the greatest managers in football go head to head. One of them shops in Harrods and one in Asda, so it should be interesting to watch. When you look at some of the transfers and the cash paid for players, in this so-called Covid period, its amazing and head bending to look at, with no sense of reality. I look at 2 really good managers who spent similar amounts and you can see the clarity and intention of both these great managers. Ancelotti spent circa £70m on 4 players and are topping the league and you can see the vast improvement and what the manager wants to do. Bielsa at Leeds has spent the same on 3 players but will be paying much less in wages. By the time Leeds are done it should be around the £100m mark but we also brought in half a dozen kids for the academy. So here’s hoping that Leeds get the same bang for their buck as Everton and so far so good as 3 Leeds players were selected for team of the week, including Koch. Then you look at Brighton who bring in 8 new players and get rid of 12 and actually spend £10m, but you compare that to Aston Villa who spend yet another £90m on 4 players and got rid of 6. Villa remember spent over £120m last season and should have been relegated. I really hope Villa get relegated and I hope Brighton stay up because even though we seem to be at war with Potter they do it sensibly and not be flash like the useless gits at Villa who can pee £200m up against the wall. Look at Burnley who had all their loan players sent back to their clubs in June so that the Ginger fella only had half his squad available after lockdown. This time he has brought in 3 new players for peanuts and got rid of 5, so I also hope he survives. Chelsea spend over £250m and I want Fwank sacked by Xmas, Arsenal have brought in 11 new players and got rid of 10 including Sam Greenwood to us, but Arteta has spent £90m this Summer and the players he got rid of are fringe and academy lads not the big earners who are still on the books. So my ideal table will look like: Leeds Utd Everton Burnley Brighton Sense and sensibility in a time of Covid? I could go through this club by club but you can see the have’s and the have not’s and sometimes you want the have not’s to survive and watch clubs like Man Utd, Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal get relegated as cash is getting top 6 every season. Yes we spent a few bob but only because we have a Championship squad and needed a bit of quality to try and compete in our first season. Maybe its time points were added and deducted at each club at the end of the season. So you finish the season with so many points and then after working out how much each point cost in player valuation and wages start deducting from top spenders and adding to bottom spenders. Guessing the league will look different?
Didn't realise that you rated Roy Hodgson and specifically Fat Frank that highly Doc, but to each his own
Rodrigo enjoying the difference in training and never experienced anything like Bielsa before. He says its more scientific in the preparation, then he mentioned murderball
Good OP the words ‘’Fwank sacked by Christmas’ were the highlight if I can have that I can do without the boxes of overpriced Hotel Chocolat choccies
Morning all... Although I’m happy with our three signings I can’t say they are great value at the moment. I’ve noticed we’re all referring to them as “promising”. Rodrigo is not going to replace Bamford for a while and Llorente will struggle for game time. Rodrigo won’t be happy continually coming on for 45 minutes in midfield. It’s a let’s wait and see how they’re settling and how we are placed in another 4-5 games time. At the moment we’ve beaten the bottom two teams, I disagree with those who believe Bielsa is aiming for top 6 We need that creative spark in the middle.
Sort of agree, though after 3 games the REASON they are at the bottom is partly because we beat them.
As time gets shorter to find a winger and middy we are down to a handful from overseas: Kerk Koopmeiners Milanovskyi Campana From the UK: Cantwell Wilson Buendia Benrhama if we see no movement from Victor this weekend then we can say we will either be signing one of the English based players or nobody as Bielsa doesnt fancy them. Burnley looked like they were signing Harry Wilson last week but only offered £13m and Liverpool will now accept £15m but Burnley have said no. If Bielsa sees Wilson as someone who can play 8 or 10 as well as wing then we should give them the cash. I would much prefer us to have a good creative middy who can play win too rather than a middy and a winger as we have wingers like Poveda and before long young Summerville who played for the first team last season in Holland and he looked scary fast yesterday. No doubt the next day or two will show us what Orta has or hasnt been doing and what Bielsa actually thinks about the players listed above. We know he wanted Benrhama but that video put Bielsa off and suppose the price had something to do with it as well.
They were dangerous but they were missing both CBs and haven’t scored a goal yet. I’d have been disappointed if we hadn’t beat them. I’m chuffed to bits with our start, signings are better than I thought we’d get but our promising start is all down to last seasons players stepping up to be counted, Bamford is playing like a £50m player at the moment. I like we have a bit more depth in defence, if we don’t sign anyone else I still think we’ll be safe but that’s as far as my ambition for this season would stretch
You can just tell from this snippet from Koch how much work Victor Orta puts in and how long he spends involving potential signings At the time, the club were still playing in the Championship and it was not certain that they would be promoted to the Premier League. “Over time, however, the interest grew and I became more and more involved with the club.“ Koch went on to reveal how Leeds’ ambitions and long-term plans convinced him to choose the Whites over other interested clubs. “At some point I told my agent that I could actually imagine moving to Leeds, despite several requests from other clubs“, the centre-back added. “The more I dealt with the club, the more it worked for me. “Leeds are not a normal promoted club. The club have big plans for the next few years.“
Just on Koch. What I’ve liked most about him so far (very early days!) is his ability to put the mistakes behind him. We know he can play, but centre backs will make mistakes and at the top level they cost goals. It’s a great quality to have. Gives a penalty away and loses his man from a corner in the first 20 minutes of his debut... plays well the rest of the game... ditto against Fulham. very good against the blunts. The differentiators in top class sport are between the ears. When I snap hook a drive into the trees on the golf course I spend the next three holes stewing on it.
Best clickbait headlines today: “Leeds go in for Cantwell in a big way” We told you exclusively last week that Leeds had bid £15m for Todd Cantwell (er no they didn't) well this week we can exclusively they have come back and gone in with a bigger bid (I bet they didnt) “BIELSA wants Dan James badly” i really wish the red top media would go away and by the way he aint worth £25m “Newcastle go in for Cuisance” Yeah I can just see the tight gits want to spend £20m on a player who could have a trick foot
The differentiators in top class sport are between the ears. When I snap hook a drive into the trees on the golf course I spend the next three holes stewing on it. I've usually done it again within 3 holes
Have you considered turning pro ? I do 3 from the same tee and then hurl my club after them....I've retired, too bloody stressful golf.
I don't consider golf a sport. If you can't physically hurt someone it's not sport. I believe its frowned upon in golf.
Finally finished watching the take us home (1&2) last night. I’m not normally a fan of these stylised ‘documentaries’ with cheesy dubbed commentaries and schmalzy narration. When they’re commissioned by the club and clearly have editorial control, they’re just adverts designed to make everyone look great and likeable. Having said that, they did a good job of that and the 3 amigos in charge all came across as very likeable. The thing they can’t fake is the emotion and passion... and watching the pain from serious 1, turn into a genuine explosion of joy throughout all involved in the club.. playing staff and management... managed to move even this old cynic.
