Apparently, decent Sissoko performances at St James Park were as rare as those at WHL. It's Wembley or international tournaments only. Moussa likes a big stage.
One day other fans will realise that Santini was by far the biggest cancer the club ever had in the dugout.
When I done the stadium tour with Ledley last season, it's safe to say Juande wasn't exactly the most liked of managers judging by comments. From what I can remember: Ledley praised him for being well prepared for "big games" but said Juande never tactically approached the other matches and just expected his side to turn up and win. Mocked him for the ketchup/ condiment ban. Didn't like the fact he isolated a number of players for no apparent reason. Forced Ledley to train with the rest of the squad knowing full well his knee wasn't capable of handling the intense sessions.
I remember an article in the Standard from a few months back where Jenas said how bad training sessions got, citing the time he arbitrarily decided to stick THudd on the left wing even though anyone who ever saw him play knew how illogical that was, and when the players pointed this out Ramos just ignored them and said carry on. Coincidentally that also happened to be his last training session at the club...
That is one bold statement my friend. I present you with the following exhibits: a) Terry Neil ... completely destroyed the team then left Keith Burkinshaw to cope with the mess. b) Christian Gross ... gave THAT interview, was more interested in telling Ginola to cut his hair than in using his skills and his high spot was stopping us being relegated...just! Won just 9 matches from 30 (all competitions) c) Bloke in a coat ... 4 nil nil draws in a row, selling Ginola, being bloke in a coat, Won 50 matches from 128 (all competitions), 15 nil nil draws (over 12%), 34 games without us scoring (almost 30%) and the dullest cup final in history. Over to you!
To which my counter arguments are... Frank Arnesen didn't even suggest Santini for the job: he suggested Martin Jol, but Levy got cold feet as he thought a "big name" was what was needed so he gave Santini the job while hiring Jol as AssMan. Santini's training sessions mainly consisted of attempting to drill any form of attacking instincts out of the full backs, with him blowing a whistle every single time they crossed the halfway line as a not-so-subtle form of Chinese water torture. This is why he favoured the likes of Timothee Atouba and Noe Pamarot at full back, as both of them were so slow it usually took them 45 minutes to get near the halfway line. When a journalist suggested his overly-defensive approach was causing us some glaringly obvious problems, Santini dismissed the suggestion by saying that any team with Keane, Defoe and Kanoute up front would score goals - failing to address the obvious problem that the ball wasn't actually getting to them often enough for them to score goals, hence between the three of them they scored four league goals during his reign - and Defoe got three of those. He stubbornly refused to play Michael Carrick on the basis that he didn't sign him, meaning he either had a complete misunderstanding of the DoF role or decided the hill he wanted to die on was one where he looked like a complete berk for failing to play a midfielder capable of passing the ball forwards who also happened to be a key part of Levy's plan of the club nurturing young English talent. In the ten league games Santini was in charge of that season the team scored just six goals, which included a sequence where we went 358 minutes without a league goal as well as consecutive defeats to Portsmouth, Bolton (on the day Bill Nick died) and Fulham in which just one goal was scored - with Santini gone less than a week after the Fulham game. The complete lack of respect he showed to the club and the fans by shrugging his shoulders at Bill Nick's death and fobbing it off with a passing comment on the club's website was supremely tactless - and I've always believed this hastened his departure
http://www.skysports.com/football/n...make-loan-offer-for-tottenhams-moussa-sissoko I'm in my car with the key in the ignition. Let me know where and when and I'll drop him off at the airport.
For a loan? Cash or nothing, for me. Our squad's depleted enough. He did alright against Juve, so I'd rather have him than nobody. If they want to give us money, so that we can buy a replacement, then that's different.
I can't believe I'm saying this about Sissoko, but I agree, PNP. I know levy loves a late deal, but we realistically need about 3 players to boost the squad depth. I'd be amazed if we get those deals over the line, bearing in mind how long it takes us to complete a deal with Levy's firm negotiating skills.
It's been reported that Joao Cancelo has become actually attainable in the past couple of days, with him handing in a transfer request which means Valencia cannot hold out for his €50m release clause as the player wants to leave, and their price has lowered to around the €25m region ...I say "around" because Juventus are reportedly offering €25m + one of Tomas Rincon or Mario Lemina, which is where things become problematic for us as we can't match the cash + central midfielder package Juve are offering due to our central midfield having as much depth as an EL James novel (and this is without taking into account Barca making moves to secure Cancelo ahead of the 2018-19 season) so on the basis that Juve's offer equates to around €30m that's likely what we'd need to pay. Or, you know, we stop pissing about and pay Porto the £22m release clause for Pereia, as that sound like it involves about 37% less dickitry.
My god me too... with a squad that looks unlikely to be strengthened any time soon, I'd rather keep what we have than offload everyone and look thread bare. I can't believe I am saying this about a team that finished second last term. WTF!
I told you miserable gits once but you were obviously not paying attention so I will tell you all again. Bale is coming. It's been foretold by the bloke in the chippy brother in law's aunty's neighbour's second cousin's grandad's doctor's receptionist's son. How ITK am I huh?
I know the market is all over the place, so waiting until the end makes sense to Levy to potentially grab a bargain. However, with it being in such a mess, and the fact we've lost a first team player and a squad player, at the same time it's a risky move leaving it all so late. What if it doesn't pay off? - which is quite likely based on the fact we panicked last season with Sissoko. It could be even worse this time round. To be starting the season in a few days weaker than how you finished the last, is absolutely batshit crazy IMO. Then there's the injuries and suspensions we have to consider, too. I honestly can't believe we've not even made 1 signing that would boost the match day squad. I don't buy all of this "Poch wants to put his trust in the academy" bollocks. Looking amongst a group of academy players available for the following season in May/June, surely you get an insight in to which (if any) will be ready to play premier league football in a matter of few weeks time, and who won't. - Onomah was arguably one of the closest to doing so, and he's gone out on loan! KWP, our other highly rated prospect who had an excellent World Cup is apparently not ready yet either, according to quotes from Poch. So seriously, who is it going to be? It's a load of ****. The long and short of it, is Levy is playing a dangerous game of poker where the end result will be what it'll be and Poch will have to get on with it.
