Kid Dynamite 6828 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Gary Neville the new Valenica manager. Random Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew 4650 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Gary Neville the new Valenica manager. Random  I bet Phil is delighted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 10430 Posted December 2, 2015 Author Share Posted December 2, 2015 You reckon they'll get John Carver to replace him on Monday Night Football? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew 4650 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Gary Neville the new Valenica manager. Random  Apparently less random than it may initially appear.  Phil is a coach there already, and Peter Lim (Valencia owner) is the bloke who is the real money behind "The Class of 92s" Salford team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohhh_yeah 2884 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 You reckon they'll get John Carver to replace him on Monday Night Football? He has been banging on about wanting another MLS gig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 10430 Posted December 2, 2015 Author Share Posted December 2, 2015 He has been banging on about wanting another MLS gig. Christ, that'd be the worst thing for trans-Atlantic relations since [ insert your submission here] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohhh_yeah 2884 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Â Apparently less random than it may initially appear. Â Interesting read. Â As the final whistle signalled the end of Valencias 3-0 local derby home win over Levante last weekend, a familiar chant rang out loud and clear around the packed Mestalla. Â This was not, however, the song of celebration you might expect at the end of a comfortable victory over rivals. Instead, the Valencia fans were calling again for the head of manager Nuno Espirito Santo with the popular refrain: Nuno vete ya (Nuno go now). Â Paco Polit, a Valencia-based journalist for Diario de Mestalla, told Sport360 that the complaints against Nuno are nothing new. Â Perception of the managers work and all-round figure have been on a slippery slope since the summer, said Polit. There were chants and boos even before the season began, against Roma in a friendly in August. Â Why? How can a manager who led his team back into the Champions League at the end of his first season in charge find himself under so much pressure? To understand Valencias present situation, we have to rewind a decade. Â In 2005, Los Che were one of Europes biggest powers, having won La Liga under Rafa Benitez in both 2002 and 2004 and appearing in back-to-back Champions League finals a few years earlier. Â But they were also on a road to disaster, attempting to stay within the elite by forking out wages they couldnt afford plus, crucially, sinking tens of millions of euros into the construction of a new stadium. Â Then came the global financial crisis, which hit particularly hard in Spain and especially in the domain of property prices, making the clubs plans to sell Mestalla for development a sudden non-starter. Â Despite the enforced sale of stars such as David Villa, Juan Mata, David Silva or Jordi Alba, debts reached a staggering 350 million by 2013, while the vastly expensive Nou Mesta-lla stood half-built, with work suspended since 2009 and no likelihood of completion. Â The only option was finding a Sheikh Mansour or Roman Abramovich-style sugar daddy. Then-president Manuel Llorente scoured the globe including at least one secret trip to Abu Dhabi in search of an investor. Â Finally, the club got the man they desperately needed: a billionaire businessman from Singapore, Peter Lim. A deal was agreed and Lim was presented amid scenes of great euphoria before a home game against Elche in October 2014, receiving a heros welcome from Valencia fans who clearly believed he was their great saviour. Â Now, though, those same supporters are not so happy, because it has become clear that Lim arrived with strings attached. Namely, those strings are pulled by Jorge Mendes, the notorious super-agent supreme who was instrumental in bringing Lim to the club and, it quickly emerged, had no intention of finishing his involvement there. Â Even before the takeover was completed, Mendes enabled the appointment of fellow Portuguese Nuno his first ever client as an agent as new manager to replace the popular Juan Antonio Pizzi. Â And since Lims arrival was confirmed, the club has signed an unsurprisingly high number of players who are managed by or have close links with Mendes, including Joao Cancelo, Zakaria Bakkali, Danilo and Enzo Perez, creating suspicions that they owe their chief loyalties to the agent rather than the club, and that they will only stay until Mendes decides it is time to sell them. Â There are further concerns over the true intentions of Lim, who first came to the attention of European football followers with an aborted attempted takeover of Liverpool in 2010. He has also invested in Salford City alongside Manchester Uniteds Class of 92, appointing one of that consortium, Phil Neville, as Valencias new assistant manager this summer. Â Does Lim genuinely want to convert Valencia into a superpower, or is he only using the club as an initial entrance into European football before launching himself into what appears to be his first love, the English Premier League? Â Nobody can be sure, and Lims policy of not speaking to the media has hardly done himself any favours in winning over doubting fans. The number of doubters increased significantly during the summer, which was marked by a distinct lack of the expected big name, big money signings. Â Conversely, fan favourite Nicolas Otamendi was sold to Manchester City, with the deal facilitated by his agent Mendes, of course. For many fans the most troubling aspect of the summer, however, was neither the clubs failure to significantly invest in players nor the Mendes links with those who did arrive. It was a political battle between Nuno and three of the clubs key backroom staff: president Amadeo Salvo, sporting director Francisco Rufete and scout Roberto Fabian Ayala, who felt marginalised by the powerful influence of Mendes and threatened to leave unless the situation was rectified. Â Nuno stood his ground, Lim backed him, and Salvo, Rufete and Ayala all departed with the startling fact that chief scout Ayala was not even replaced speaking volumes for the clubs current recruitment policy, which appears to be based upon little more than shuffling around Mendes personal portfolio. Â Polit believes that episode was crucial in shaping the current negative atmosphere among the famously volatile Mestalla fans, explaining: Mendes had absolutely the same influence last season and fans were eager to forget it if the team performed well. Â Salvo and Rufete were the umbrella that kept Nuno, Mendes and ultimately Lim sheltered from criticism. They all thought they would do OK without that cover but now harsh rain is slapping them Nuno and Mendes, mostly in the face. Â The concerns of the supporters were also voiced by the legendary Mario Kempes, the former Argentina striker who scored nearly 150 goals for Valencia between 1976 and 1984 and now serves as a club ambassador. In September, the influential and revered Kempes turned up the heat on the current regime by expressing his displeasure at the concentration of power in the hands of Nuno and Mendes, angrily concluding: Where money is king, nothing else matters. Â The case of Alvaro Negredo has intensified the situation. Bought for a club-record 30m last year, he hasnt played since October 4. Nuno first said the decision was tactical before then questioning the players attitude. Negredo, Negredo, Negredo they sang from the stands against Levante, the conspiracy theory being he is being treated unfavourably because his agent is not Mendes. Something Nuno vehemently denies. Â As well as the stands, the uncertainty seems to have spread to the pitch, where Valencia have often looked this season as though they are going through the motions, even when individual quality has allowed them to sneak victories. What happens next is unclear. Ultimately, sacking the coach would be the easiest way to appease those fans, and Mendes would find him another job easily enough. Â And for his next trick, dont rule out the super-agent recruiting his close friend and perhaps his most high-profile client, who may well become available for employment soona certain Jose Mourinho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohhh_yeah 2884 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Â Is Gary as fluent in spanish as his brother? Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12496 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayatollah Hermione 13608 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Nailed on that the pair of them will need to be sent care packages full of Blue Ribands and Birdseye Chicken Dippers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkeys Fist 41326 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Odds on the locals chuck one of them off a church tower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haydnator 45 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 (edited) Scousers 1-4 up at Southampton. Sunday is going to be mint.  EDIT: 1-5 now  Make that 1-6 Edited December 2, 2015 by Haydnator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noelie 103 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Best not to score first like Southampton did against the Scousers.......... and we did at Palace. 6 - 1 to Liverpool & 5 - 1 to Palace. Liverpool tuning up for us on Sunday, double figures maybe!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12496 Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 Aye it's going to be one hell of a kicking, probably worse than the 6-0. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essembeeofsunderland 811 Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 Iron Mike's back man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meenzer 15121 Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 Fuck off FIFA Â http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/dec/03/world-cup-expand-40-teams-fifa-reform?CMP=share_btn_tw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 34100 Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 What Blaydon wanted but too late Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 42666 Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 Some of the shite you'll have to wade through to get to the later stages. Scotland might even qualify. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 10430 Posted December 3, 2015 Author Share Posted December 3, 2015 Of course they want more countries the corrupt aresholes. Â Fingers crossed the FIFA that emerges from the investigations by the Swiss & US authorities will be sufficiently different from the current coterie that we'll see real change and the end of this kind of self-serving bullshit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12496 Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 Some of the shite you'll have to wade through to get to the later stages. Scotland might even qualify. Aye it'll be utterly fucking shite. I can't see it helping the world cup at all even from a viewership standpoint, saying that it's probably just Blatter and co trying to further guarantee all those votes they have sewn up from Africa, Asia etc. I love how it points to Oceania having half a qualifier as if it's a problem, Australia is now in the Asian qualifier iirc so without them it's just New Zealand, Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Soloman Islands, Tahiti, Vanuantu, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga, do we really need more than one of those teams having a shot at playing in the world cup finals? It's like watching the really early rounds of the Olympics and seeing some bloke from a random country competing in the 100m sprint with his 11.2 second personal best, totally fucking pointless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 34100 Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 Aye, the footballing giant that is New Zealand are now comfortably the best side in Oceania. I could get a game for the likes of Tuvalu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 10430 Posted December 3, 2015 Author Share Posted December 3, 2015 I can see this (if it were to pass) accelerating the big clubs weighing in and failing to release their players for the competitions. You really want to increase the risk to your stars of injury and fatigue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 34100 Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 Think 32 teams is too many tbh. 40 is fucking ridiculous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12496 Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 Aye, the footballing giant that is New Zealand are now comfortably the best side in Oceania. I could get a game for the likes of Tuvalu It would just mean longer group stages in order to accommodate more teams that have absolutely fuck all chance of winning. The real reasons will be the same as always mind, money in the pockets of Blatters crew plus the votes and loyalty of smaller nations whose votes carry the same weight as countries like Brazil etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayatollah Hermione 13608 Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 You lads are ignoring the real victory here: more games to half-watch in a pub while having a pint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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