English Football Discussion (EPL, EFL & Cups)

Flanno

Jaws
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Spurs injury crisis is pretty insane to be fair, @CrazyMatt is not wrong there. Currently missing 7-8 players who would be in their starting line up. We’ve seen how badly City have struggled since missing just one key player (Rodri). They were first after 10 games before he went down.

Return dates for spurs players;

Romero (due back late Jan)
Destiny (early Feb)
Vicario (March)
Van de Ven (late Jan)
Betancur (late Jan)
Bissouma (unkown)
Solanke (early March)
Johnson (unkown)
Odobert (mid Feb)

Positive thing is they are mostly due back pretty soon, which means he needs some luck with no other injuries to come.

All that said, the results have been dire this season and he should still be going a bit better than he has done. I personally think Spurs should stick with him because they’ve sacked so many coaches over the years and where has it got them. They have the youngest squad in the league (even before the injury crisis). That’s always going to bring inconsistent results and performances. They need to sign some players in the summer with experience that can come straight into the first team.

Ange only has two ways to salvage this season now, win the League Cup or Europa league.

If he wins Europa league, it guarantees Spurs will play CL football next season. So it’s still all to play for
 

Gards

Jaws
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I don't think Ange stirs the pot with the Spurs ownership the same way previous managers have because he is grateful to be there at the club coaching in the premier league and getting his big opportunity and he hasn't thrown he hands up and given up on the joint despite having a tough year.

This might make the owners a little more hesitant to punt him early OR they have actually relised chopping and changing coaches every 18 months isn't working out. Maybe it's simply a case of there being no suitable replacement at the ready and not wanting to pay his contract out.

Winning a Cup (or even just making a final) will buy him some time but patience will eventually run out of if he doesn't improve their PL position on the ladder next season. If they managed to get relegated (long shot I know but they haven't been getting results for months in the PL now) I don't think the owners would have a choice but to dismiss him as the fans (and owners) would be livid.

Alot of injuries in his squad for sure but even earlier in the season when he had a mostly fit and available squad to choose from they were not playing that well, at least not consistently or convincingly although they had the occasional impressive victory.

Ange won't budge on his approach, he is playing more or less the same aggressive high line play it out from the back style of football that he did when he had his regular starting 11 and strongest squad available. Problem is he is currently working with a patch work defensive line, blokes out of position and playing more minutes than usual and his team is getting punished.

Has got a handful of promising young players in the team but they aren't ready to be relied upon week to week but he is forced to by having no one else available.

The biggest criticisms leveled at Ange are that he is too stubborn and doesn't adapt to different teams or during a game, doesn't manage his subs or selections correctly and that the injuries are caused by his intense style of training and play.

Some say he his out of his depth at this level or he hasn't got a clue which I don't agree with. You don't fluke a 5th place in the PL last season and get wins over Man City, Liverpool ect just by luck.

Maybe Ange is playing the long game with his philosophy or he simply just doesn't know any other way to coach and manage a team. I hope the tide starts to turn for him because it's getting pretty savage from parts of the media and fan base.
 

CrazyMatt

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Socceroos pair Brisbane Roar striker Tom Waddingham and Sydney FC defender Hayden Matthews are both joining Portsmouth in the Championship. They’ve really been vocal about tapping into the Australian market over the past few years. Fellow Socceroos Kusini Yengi and Jacob Farrell are already there.
 

Flanno

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Socceroos pair Brisbane Roar striker Tom Waddingham and Sydney FC defender Hayden Matthews are both joining Portsmouth in the Championship. They’ve really been vocal about tapping into the Australian market over the past few years. Fellow Socceroos Kusini Yengi and Jacob Farrell are already there.
Interesting, thanks for sharing mate. I had no idea they had so many Aussie players. Will keep a close eye on their results for the rest of the season. Let’s hope they can stay up.

Quite a few youngsters in that list , good moves for them
 
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Been a great loan for all parties by the sounds of it

I hope Boro get promoted and then we can loan him back to get a season of PL under his belt
Ipswich and maybe Crystal Palace have been interested in him, but hopefully he stays for the rest of the season
 

Flanno

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Ipswich and maybe Crystal Palace have been interested in him, but hopefully he stays for the rest of the season
Yeah I saw that. I think it would take a bid of at least $30mil for it to even be considered, but the best option would be he just stays where he is. His value will only continue to rise if he keeps going well

Palace just signed a young winger from Milwall so I’d say that’s an indication they won’t sign Doak. As for Ipswich, well they are probably heading to the championship anyway so not sure Doak would be interested in a move there
 

CrazyMatt

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This is hilarious


Just a quick follow up on this. Micah and the boys were sent a thank you note and some gifts from Brest for their support. 😂

IMG_9155.jpeg

Look at the pure delight on Micah’s face and the pure shock on Thierry’s. 😂
 

Sharky Pete

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I don't think Ange stirs the pot with the Spurs ownership the same way previous managers have because he is grateful to be there at the club coaching in the premier league and getting his big opportunity and he hasn't thrown he hands up and given up on the joint despite having a tough year.

This might make the owners a little more hesitant to punt him early OR they have actually relised chopping and changing coaches every 18 months isn't working out. Maybe it's simply a case of there being no suitable replacement at the ready and not wanting to pay his contract out.

Winning a Cup (or even just making a final) will buy him some time but patience will eventually run out of if he doesn't improve their PL position on the ladder next season. If they managed to get relegated (long shot I know but they haven't been getting results for months in the PL now) I don't think the owners would have a choice but to dismiss him as the fans (and owners) would be livid.

Alot of injuries in his squad for sure but even earlier in the season when he had a mostly fit and available squad to choose from they were not playing that well, at least not consistently or convincingly although they had the occasional impressive victory.

Ange won't budge on his approach, he is playing more or less the same aggressive high line play it out from the back style of football that he did when he had his regular starting 11 and strongest squad available. Problem is he is currently working with a patch work defensive line, blokes out of position and playing more minutes than usual and his team is getting punished.

Has got a handful of promising young players in the team but they aren't ready to be relied upon week to week but he is forced to by having no one else available.

The biggest criticisms leveled at Ange are that he is too stubborn and doesn't adapt to different teams or during a game, doesn't manage his subs or selections correctly and that the injuries are caused by his intense style of training and play.

Some say he his out of his depth at this level or he hasn't got a clue which I don't agree with. You don't fluke a 5th place in the PL last season and get wins over Man City, Liverpool ect just by luck.

Maybe Ange is playing the long game with his philosophy or he simply just doesn't know any other way to coach and manage a team. I hope the tide starts to turn for him because it's getting pretty savage from parts of the media and fan base.
The Aussie Marcelo Bielsa in that sense.

As a Leeds fan I'd never bag Bielsa but the two have the same thing in common.

Stubborn as **** and the intense training and game play style.
 
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I would just like to say this:

West Brom 5 Portsmouth 1 New manager bounce seems to have worked - under the Mowbray regime goal scoring and as often as possible is the nature of the game. Their goal came in the last seconds of the game and it was from Aussie player Thomas Waddingham.

BUT

I will concede that Portsmouth are a relegation team with not the best players despite the recent influx of Aussie players. Also, they rested 5 of their better players for a midweek clash with Millwall that they obviously felt more confident in winning.

So I will reserve judgement until our game next Saturday against bottom placed Plymouth. :LOL:
 
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