[Bertrand]

Wasn't there a team with no logo on the players' shirt somewhere? Madrid?
Money money money...
When Arsenal moved, the new stadium had the name of a company. Companies aren't linked to a particular place like Highbury.
Such thing already existed in Germany.
It's getting painful to retort to friends who don't like football that it's also a game - they will always attack on the ground of money. Robinho won't help.

Once I get rich I buy Aston Villa, just to make sure noone is sacked.

And yes, West Ham were 10th last season, memory didn't serve me well. Still don't think they'll do better this time.

[pokkeherrie]

Madrid are sponsered by BWin, a large betting company. Are you thinking of Barcelona? They've never had a shirt sponsor. A couple of years ago they started wearing the Unicef logo on their shirts, but Barca is paying Unicef instead of the other way round.


Re: Man City - it's just not right when a team that finished 9th in the PL and barely qualified for European football is paying 3 times the salary that Real Madrid does...

[demonrail666]

I think at the moment there's a real crisis of confidence amongst fans in the English league at the moment. And now the Berbatov, Keegan/Wise, Man City, Curbishley fiascos all happening in the same week, have really brought things to a head regarding issues like club ownership, player power, fan power, etc.

I mean imagine the consequences on Man Utd as a club if the Glazers had an argument with Ferguson and decided to just sack him. You'd have riots.

[Bertrand]

Right, it was Barcelona.
Two mistakes on one page.
Arsenal and Man Utd have kept the same manager for over 10 years. Looks like an anomaly when it's what's supposed to create a particular style.

[PAULYBEE2656]

hey... the spurs are good at something this year already!!!

 

 

great racing by a great team

the new superleague formula....

[blunderbuss]

From Eurosport:

West Ham are expected to start talks with Gianfranco Zola on Tuesday with a view to appointing the Italian as the club's new manager. Zola remains the clear favourite to succeed Alan Curbishley after the club's board ruled out Slaven Bilic's claims on Monday.

The club's directors are understood to have made Zola, 42, their top choice narrowly ahead of fellow Italian Roberto Donadoni. West Ham will look to complete talks as soon as possible but may face a slight delay - the former Chelsea midfielder is joint coach of the Italy Under-21 side and they are in action in Croatia on Tuesday night.

It is understood Zola's years of experience in the Premier League have given him the slight edge over Donadoni, the former Italy coach who resigned from that job after a disappointing Euro 2008 campaign. Donadoni still remains in the frame in the unlikely event a deal is not clinched with Zola, but Bilic's hopes of succeeding Alan Curbishley foundered on the complications surrounding his release from his current job as coach of Croatia, though he was never top of West Ham's wish list.

West Ham hope they will unveil their first foreign manager at a news conference on Thursday.

Kia Joorabchian, who works as an advisor to West Ham, said both Zola and Donadoni had impressed. He told Sky Sports News: "Zola has a lot of experience in the Premier League, he was admired by every fan in the league irrespective of which club they supported. He has built a big reputation for himself in Italy. He hasn't Premier League experience as a manager but he understands the Premier League very much. But Donadoni has vast experience and is a good candidate. They are moving fast. They would like to appoint a new manager before the weekend but it is a process they will consider carefully. It is a different system, a more European system of working and it will be a manager who will be working under that style in order to minimise and avoid errors which have occurred in the past."



Your thoughts, demonrail666?

I can't help but think that West Ham's problems aren't going to be solved by a new team manager, their problems are at boardroom level. Zola will only able to turn them around if he is given the chance to get rid of the sort of players that WHU seem to end up buying, and keep the sort that they generally end up selling. I don't think the current West Ham squad is necessarily capable of playing the style of football that Zola would want them to.

[demonrail666]

I agree with pretty much everything you say. Zola may be popular but his lack of managerial experience is far too big a risk to take. But the board are looking for a yes man (with 'flair' credentials) and Zola looks very much the part. I can't see them giving him a lot of money to spend. My prediction is that he'll load up the squad with cheap Italians (like Sven did at Man City) and we'll struggle.

It's no wonder that we'll probably end up with Zola. A more established manager would surely run a mile from Upton Park right now, given what's been going on. I give him till the end of the season. Personally I'd have preferred Coppel.

[PAULYBEE2656]

i feel sorry for curbishley. he doesnt deserve all the flak he gets at all....

[blunderbuss]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

I give him (Zola) till the end of the season.

Yeah, thinking about it, I feel sorry for him if he does become WHU manager. He could easily end up marked as a bad manager without ever having the chance to be a good one.

If you think about it, there are very few really good players who have gone on to be really good managers. Most of them end up as capable managers at mid-table teams, I can't think of any top managers who were top players in their day.

I'll stand aside now to be ready for the avalanche of names that prove me wrong.

[PAULYBEE2656]

bring back di canio......

[Bertrand]

West Ham and Newcastle should approach Raymond Domenech; he might be released from his French team job tomorrow.
He's a good hate-magnet, that'll spare the board.
What do you say?

[demonrail666]

Hate magnet is fucking right! What a tosser Domenech is.

I'd like the excitement of a Di Canio but in real terms it'd be a nightmare. An entertaining nightmare, but a nightmare nonetheless.

There are some very good players that've made very good managers (Dalglish, Rijkaard and I'd even say Hoddle) but I generally agree that one really leads to the other.

I hope Curbishley lands a decent job soon. He's a good manager but he was never right for West Ham, just as Allardyce is a good manager but would never be accepted at Newcastle. It's weird that what happened last week happened to both West Ham and Newcastle. Two teams with a similar footballing philosophy - as unrealistic as that philosophy might be nowadays.

[blunderbuss]

I work with a Charlton fan, and he's thrilled that Curbishley's on the market. Thinks he's the best manager they ever had, and that his return to The Valley would be a wonderful thing for them.

[demonrail666]

I think Curbs did a brilliant job at Charlton and they should get him back asap. West Ham's problem was that he was trying to turn them into one of those mid-table mediocrities that might be stable, but hardly make for an exciting season.

[PAULYBEE2656]

hammers always reach to tottenham for their inspiration yeah?

[demonrail666]

Er, yeah. Right.

Seriously though, I never know what to make of Spurs. Clearly a good team, they do seem to struggle to reach that other level though. West Ham are a bit schizo when it comes to success (which we'e not had much of really). It wants success but insists on getting there with attractive football and young players. I do admire their ethic but fail to see any signs of it translating into any great success.

[PAULYBEE2656]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

I think Curbs did a brilliant job at Charlton and they should get him back asap. West Ham's problem was that he was trying to turn them into one of those mid-table mediocrities that might be stable, but hardly make for an exciting season.

just sayin man!!!

[PAULYBEE2656]

zola new hammers manager!! just announced...

[punkaspoo]

I really can't stand Miroslav Klose at the moment.

[GrungeMonkey]

has Zola even managed a club before?