S-Clarke

So is it now Black and Puel out?

Eric Black also speaks french, and this was one of the reasons Garde brought him in at Villa.

Replacing Sammy Lee?

I thought he was ITK?

WTF is that all about? Why are Bournemouth selling their best players to NPC clubs?

Seeing as that's not Virgin Media's logo, I doubt it's that.

It's obviously Claude, will probably be announced tomorrow.

If we beat Stoke to Berahino, as we did with Redmond and Cedric, that would be a giggle.

They seem to be going along the ''promote from within'' line. Have managers coaching the U21's, then they move up to the senior team etc. It may have worked in other nations, but let's be honest, the pool of 'English' managers we have is pretty pitiful. I don't know why they don't try and appoint the best manager they can get. Foreigner, English - whatever, just the best man for the job. We need a 'coach', someone who will get his hands dirty on the training pitch and drill the players constantly. I still can't quite get over at what a non-team we were last night, it was literately just a rabble of blokes put together with a football, there didn't seem to be any thought, idea or philosophy of how we were going to play (over the entire tournament to be honest). So the first thought if i was in the FA would be to get a proper 'training ground' coach, let him develop a system, a style and then include the players best suited to that style. We need someone who is allowed to think outside the box, go down to the NPC, or 'smaller' PL clubs to look for players who 'fit' the style that he wants to play. All this shoehorning of the likes of Rooney and Sturridge into positions they don't play is wrong, there are players available to pick from who would allow us to create a far better team shape tactically. I doubt the FA will be letting that happen though.

There's not really any need to be bitter is there?

Good thread.

I'm sure Charlton and Cardiff would advise us not to.

Oh well, that's over. How long till the actual football I care about kicks off? Hopefully we start to hear about some signings/manager's soon, that's all that really matters tbh.

Oh good, he's resigned. About time too.

I have a positive.....!!! At least Bertrand and Fraser aren't going to be associated with that ****e!

Ok, backwards. He certainly hasn't taken us forward. A dinosaur of a manager who has no feeling for the game in this day and age.

Not really, this is probably on par with Bradford beating Chelsea a season or so ago. They're L1/L2 quality.

I've never seen a performance as bad as that. Individually awful, but no shape, no idea, no tactics. If Hodgson doesn't resign in his press conference before 10, then someone should do it for him. He has taken this England team no where. All this crap he speaks about building a philosophy, a shape, a plan - there's nothing. The plan in the end was Gary Cahill up front and long balls. How he has managed to make players like Ali, Kane, Vardy look so ineffective is talented as hell - he's a genius for that. He should never set foot on a coaching pitch again.

Gary Neville to kick him into touch, literally.

This is a tactical mess. Players don't seem to know where they're supposed to be, all the talk pre-game of playing with width and you have Sturridge and Sterling coming infield. No composure in the middle of the park, no understanding when to sit or go, or visa versa. Harry Kane needs movement around him, close to him, we're not playing to his strengths what so ever. This is an absolute tactical shambles. Well done Woy.

Sounds to me as if we're trying to build a British core again.

Are you drunk?

All this talk of having a rich sugar daddy to bankroll us. We have one, they're called Liverpool.

It's a fire sale I tell you, a fire sale. Hold onto your hats #meltdown

I think Jay is excellent, but I'm with a few others who have a nagging fear. The bloke has spent 2 years, pretty much, injured. He's coming on 27 now I think, so right into the prime of his career. He had a full pre-season last year, lots of goals in the games and played a part on the EL games....but then got injured around September and we didn't really see him again. I want nothing more than to see him back on the pitch rampaging down the left and cutting in as he did so well.