If Croatia beat England again they've got to offer him a new contract.
(UEFA) Football Thread - Football not Soccer
- Thread starter Jax
- Start date
If Croatia beat England again they've got to offer him a new contract.
Almost 100% accurate. Just need to replace the word 'if' with 'when'.
I'll be looking at the backs of those players for glue. It seems these guys think Man City is a big Panini sticker album!
Apparently, Dr. Al-Fahim has a form of Tourette's Syndrome where he randomly shouts out famous players names and amounts of money.
It's unfortunate. Curbishley deserves better treatment than he's received of late.
I don't buy that at all. Prior to the Champions League, it was dominated by Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Milan, Ajax, Liverpool and whoever else won one of the big leagues.
Perhaps more smaller teams took part in the later stages, but they stood no chance of winning the title, as they had to get through so many European heavyweights to get to the final.
If you look at the Champions League, the winners are the same old suspects. However, since there are more top teams in it, it's no longer a case of will the Italian, Spanish or English team win, but which of 16 teams in the knockout round will manage it. Porto weren't at all fancied, and Liverpool wouldn't have even been there under the old rules to get to two finals in three years. Arsenal too in 2006.
There may be more big clubs involved in the later stages than in the old European Cup, but the result is a more competitive tournament.
He did well to keep them up. I say well, but all he had to do was play Tevez, a tactic which obviously was beyond Alan Pardew.
He squandered a lot of money in transfer fees and wages on injury prone players in 2007, and has had to pay for it this summer.
However, he has been treated very poorly by his board, and has shown great integrity to walk away rather than wait to be sacked. He's a decent manager - Charlton's rapid fall following his departure is proof enough - and he'd be an asset to a team looking to consolidate themselves in the premiership. I don't think he's creative enough to prosper at a top club, or at least one with ambitions of Europe in the case of West Ham.
Certainly take your general point, but Steaua Bucharest and Red Star Belgrade were and are far from European heavyweights themselves but still managed to win the competition. Now though to do so they'd have to navigate through even more heavyweights from England, Spain, Italy et al.
It is however usually a case of WHICH Italian, Spanish or English team will win. In the last seven seasons, they've won six between them.
I'd agree that it has made things more competitive on a certain level, but ultimately, with the lucrative nature of the CL, it just means that the same teams keep getting to the latter stages, picking up more and more money which just widens the gap yet further between them and the smaller teams. It almost becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
As they did in the European Cup. Unfancied teams can still win it, but the competition as a whole is more competitive.
A fair point about the money issue however, and I'd like to see a fairer distribution of funds. Especially with regards to the UEFA Cup, which is a shadow of its former self.
Absolutely. I'm glad to see that the rules around CL teams dropping into the Uefa Cup are about to be changed. I think it's hardly fair that those teams get a second bite at the cherry.
The Uefa Cup used to be a pretty good competition, but in recent years it's little more than a subsidiary cup, which greatly devalues it. They got rid of the Cup Winners Cup in order to protect the importance and value of the Uefa Cup, but to me, that's just not happened at all.
Personally, I'd rather they kept the CWC and dropped the Uefa Cup. The CWC would actually be closer to the old European Cup format than the current CL. Sadly though, money dictated the direction, as highlighted by the expansion into including group stages in the Uefa Cup.
The Uefa Cup used to be a pretty good competition, but in recent years it's little more than a subsidiary cup, which greatly devalues it. They got rid of the Cup Winners Cup in order to protect the importance and value of the Uefa Cup, but to me, that's just not happened at all.
Personally, I'd rather they kept the CWC and dropped the Uefa Cup. The CWC would actually be closer to the old European Cup format than the current CL. Sadly though, money dictated the direction, as highlighted by the expansion into including group stages in the Uefa Cup.
^ They're changing the rules about CL drop-outs? I haven't heard of this what's the plan?
Shame about Curbs - he may well have squandered a fair chunk of cash on useless players, but hey, Sam Allardyce bought Joey Barton to Newcastle!
Hope to see him back in management soon, although hopefully not too soon. He's openly stated his intention to go for Premiership clubs only, and I'd love to last until at least December without another sacking.
It won't happen *sigh* I should start putting money on this really.
Shame about Curbs - he may well have squandered a fair chunk of cash on useless players, but hey, Sam Allardyce bought Joey Barton to Newcastle!
Hope to see him back in management soon, although hopefully not too soon. He's openly stated his intention to go for Premiership clubs only, and I'd love to last until at least December without another sacking.
It won't happen *sigh* I should start putting money on this really.
^^ Could be wrong, it's just what I'd heard off a mate. He seems to think that from next season the 3rd placed team in the CL groups don't drop into the Uefa Cup. That, to me, sounds a lot fairer for the teams who're in the UC from the start. As I said though, it's word of mouth, not something I've confirmed via any official sources so it may well not be true.
"" That sounds even worse than the current system. The 3rd placed should have to qualify as they do now, with the 4th placed team going into 1st/2nd qualifying round.
I don't buy into this seeding system and the whole 'best teams must be at the latter stages cos it'll be the best games' argument. I would really love to see the whole thing done the same as the domestic cup competitions ie anyone can get anyone else in a straight draw. It'll never happen I know, but I'd love to see it just to see the end of the ridiculously inevitable group stages.
I don't buy into this seeding system and the whole 'best teams must be at the latter stages cos it'll be the best games' argument. I would really love to see the whole thing done the same as the domestic cup competitions ie anyone can get anyone else in a straight draw. It'll never happen I know, but I'd love to see it just to see the end of the ridiculously inevitable group stages.
Croatia must be scared 
Hah, Austria beats France, and though somewhat lucky it wasn't even undeserved; I really would have thought that's possible. 
