Essential The Official Football (Soccer) Thread - The Scriptures Prophesied the Messiah Plays 3-4-3

[TobiOT]

 

[gho3st]

I get Honest ‘Arry is his uncle but this is typical British xenophobia, blaming “Ze Germans.” No accountability for your nephew eh?

Ole was on the brink a couple times too. You know what saved his ass? He came back and won...in the PL not no Lutton

That’s been the running Joke on here “Ole pulling wins out of his ass when shyt gets tough”

 

[ThrobbingHood]

Ole was on the brink a couple times too. You know what saved his ass? He came back and won...in the PL not no Lutton

That’s been the running Joke on here “Ole pulling wins out of his ass when shyt gets tough”

See how he tried to throw other managers onto the fire? “Zee Germans” have been there half a season but Lampard needs more time after a year and some change? These people are shameless.

 

[Trajan]

But Carragher and Keane are just perfect huh.

Carragher is a great pundit

Neville too

Despite their biases they're much better than Micah Richards

 

[Montez]

 

[nyknick]

I don't care about Fat Frank at all but it's obvious Marina set him up to cover her own tracks

Marina only wanted Frank for the short term to begin with and then had to keep him after top 4 finish and the cup.

Headlines make it seem like he alienated most of the players but it was mainly bytch ass Kepa, who she of course wanted rehabilitated because she spent 72m on him.

Another player he wanted out was Rudiger and asked for complete defense overhaul but only got Chilwell.

He also wanted to fix the midfield by getting Rice but again it would make management look bad by paying big money for academy player they let go.

Frank got Newton, Marina's spy, out of the club. But then Marina got Cech in there as a double agent.

So in summation Frank wanted to boot out Kepa, fix the defense and midfield, basically all the Chelsea weak spots, but instead ended up with Werner, Havertz and Ziyech.

But it's still fukk Frank because he should've known how Chelsea operates, where he was a part of backstabbing coaches himself, and he should've managed better

You're allowed to change your tactics if you didn't get what you wanted

 

[Yayo Toure]

Man dem want to get super militant over fukkery and want one of the few black pundits taken off TV.

Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face

 

[Trajan]

 

[MikelArteta]

Lampard was a bum
Glad don’t have to see his smug face again

 

[Montez]

Man dem want to get super militant over fukkery and want one of the few black pundits taken off TV.

Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face

What if that black face is validating regressive views?

Alex Scott does well. I have my issues with Troy Deeney but he brings a point of view that doesn't make Brexit folks feel welcome. I'm not saying there isn't a place for Micah but his conduct during the PSG-Istanbul Basaksehir was disappointing given all that has gone on in the last year.

 

[Gilver]

Man dem want to get super militant over fukkery and want one of the few black pundits taken off TV.

Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face

I like Micah, he's not the greatest 'analysis guy' and has the odd shocking take out of no where(mostly re: City as he's bias but i don't mind) but i love him and Roy Keane's odd couple dynamic.

It's sad cos Micah gotta be careful because his natural personality might give the wrong impression to the militant types

 

[TobiOT]

 

[Gilver]

Breaking News: A bus carrying 56 school children has been involved in an accident today, with all 56 dead...

Micah Richards:

Spoiler

Tragedy struck today as an extremely powerful earthquake hit parts of Asia, causing thousands of deaths and unprecedented levels of damage to properties...

Micah Richards:

Spoiler

Our thoughts go out to former Manchester City defender Micah Richards today as his entire immediate family perished in a house fire...

Micah Richards:

Spoiler

 

[Montez]

#mymanager

Arsenal didn't sign Virgil from Celtic because he was too casual on the ball. Virgil exposed a few clubs.

 

[Kunty McPhuck]

From The Athletic

Lampard's Chelsea sacking: Tension with Marina, unhappy players and secret job offers

The buzz around Chelsea before the new season hadn’t been this upbeat for years. Manager Frank Lampard was ready to build on an impressive first year in the job and the club appeared to be backing him with the biggest transfer splurge in their history.

There was talk of a title challenge and Lampard establishing his reputation as one of the brightest emerging coaches in the game. But all was not what it seemed.

“The moment he goes on a bad run of four-five games, Chelsea will decide to make a change,” a prominent source told The Athletic in August. It was hard to believe but spoken with real meaning.

This revelation came when the summer sun was still shining and a ball had yet to be kicked in anger in the Premier League. But the individual couldn’t have been more sure of what was really going on behind the scenes at Chelsea. He added: “Lampard won’t last long if there is a serious downturn in form, especially after all the money that’s been spent. He’s in a very precarious situation and I can only see it going one way.”

It has taken several months but the gloomy forecast has now come to fruition. Lampard has gone, the players told this morning that training was being moved ahead of their midweek game against Wolves. To many outsiders the speed of the Englishman’s downfall looks like another example of Chelsea being harsh and ruthless — they went top of the table after beating Leeds on December 5.

But this is a scenario long in the making and The Athletic can now for the first time explain what went wrong, including how:

• Lampard’s relationship with influential director Marina Granovskaia deteriorated
• Ralf Rangnick was offered interim job last week for four months but turned it down
• Calls were made in recent weeks to sound out Leipzig’s Julian Nagelsmann before deal was struck with Thomas Tuchel
• Leicester game was tipping point and morning after spent trying to finalise successor
• Lampard shook players’ hands and thanked them for efforts under him after Leicester match
• Petr Cech involved in talking to new stars’ agents as form dipped
• Some players complained about lack of tactical instruction and not being spoken to for months
• Desire to re-sign Declan Rice annoyed his bosses
• The dressing room felt manager showed no empathy and were hurt by his public criticism
• Lampard would have walked out had he been working for any club other than Chelsea

As is usually the case when a manager departs Stamford Bridge, there are many sides to the story.

As 2020 was drawing to a close, Granovskaia had seen and heard enough. Chelsea’s results were in steep decline after one Premier League win in five and the performances of the team were uninspired to say the least. She began calling contacts to discuss possible replacements. The hierarchy had wanted to treat Lampard well and give him time to succeed. Now they felt that wasn’t possible.

“Marina said she was considering her strategy, was actively replanning the managerial situation and would get back to them,” a source reveals. “I think they were surprised about that because it was still so early and the managerial market would be better for Chelsea in the summer.” Cech had a role to play here too naturally in his role as technical and performance advisor, holding informal discussions with agents of key players about Chelsea’s slump in form. He took part in training too, meaning Lampard had the strange situation to manage of support from his long-term friend but knowing the Czech is close to the club’s hierarchy.

To document Lampard’s fall from grace with Granovskaia, one has to go back to the very start. There has always been a school of thought that Lampard was a useful appointment for the club rather than their ideal one following Maurizio Sarri’s departure in 2019.

Chelsea knew 2019-20 would be tough due to being handed a two-window transfer ban, later reduced to one on appeal, by FIFA for breaching regulations over the signings of foreign players under the age of 18.

To the cynics, appointing Chelsea’s all-time leading goalscorer after just one year’s managerial experience at Championship side Derby was a ploy to keep the fans onside in troubled times.

Lampard knew the risks of accepting such a job so early, yet there was no way he could turn down the club he formed such a strong emotional attachment for during his playing days there between 2001-14.

As one insider explains: “Lampard actually had a very good offer from another lucrative club but this was Chelsea. He wasn’t going to ignore them. But he was on the back foot a little from the start. He’d already told Derby he was leaving so Chelsea had him by the balls when it came to agreeing the contract. He was paid a lot less than other managers they had hired.”

The size of his salary — thought to be around £4 million a year — was not the only thing that didn’t go Lampard’s way during negotiations with Granovskaia. It is commonplace for a coach at any club to make requests for who he wants to be on his backroom staff.

Lampard wanted to avoid the large group Sarri used and have just a few trusted voices around him instead. The former midfielder’s desire for Jody Morris, Joe Edwards and Chris Jones was granted, but the appeal for goalkeeping coach Shay Given to join him from Derby was rejected. On top of that it is understood Lampard was told that loan technical coach Eddie Newton would have to be part of proceedings for continuity.

“Newton’s role was seen as being like the one Carlo Cudicini had under Antonio Conte and Gianfranco Zola had with Sarri,” the insider continues. “They were people with a Chelsea connection. But Lampard didn’t think it was necessary given his time at the club as well as the experiences the other three had working at Chelsea. Lampard knew from his time as a player that Chelsea is a political club and there were things he had to take on the chin.”

Notably, Newton was not really involved in the coaching of the team and was very much intentionally kept on the periphery. He went back to working with the loan department before leaving for a job with Trabzonspor in January 2020. Lampard, the club and Newton downplayed suggestions he was forced out and Newton did have managerial ambitions of his own, which were rewarded when he was briefly put in charge of the Turkish club. But it was pretty clear from early on that Newton wasn’t going to have much of a role in Lampard’s set-up so it is believed it was a factor in his decision to leave Chelsea.

But these few examples were just the prelude to the main issues of contention. It is believed tensions behind the scenes really began to emerge during the January transfer window 12 months ago.

Timo Werner was a long-term target with the summer in mind, but with Chelsea’s pursuit of a top-four finish and Champions League qualification in jeopardy, Lampard wanted to recruit there and then, especially as the club had successfully fought to get FIFA’s embargo reduced.