Football (Soccer to those across the pond)

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by Ursa major

And speaking of the un-nice, here's something that may soon have that attribute for Dundee Utd fans:

From: BBC Sport - Football - Craig Levein to be offered Scotland manager's job.

And so it came to pass.


In limbo, now. Waiting to see what the future brings with a mixture of (mild) excitement and (overwhelming) trepidation.

I hate the SFA.

I wish Levein all the best, but I've lost all interest (well, what little I had in the first place) in the Scotland team. For the third year running, someone has thrown a spanner in the works mid-season. Only, this time it's a giant spanner, and it's our own national association (rather than one of the OF) doing the throwing.

I just hope we can keep our momentum into the second half of the season. Our assistant manager, Peter Houston, has been appointed as caretaker. Hopefully he can keep the ship steady while we search for a successor to Levein.

If he does well enough, he may even be that successor... who knows? The other names being bandied around at the moment are hardly inspiring. :S

[pyan]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

And so it came to pass.


In limbo, now. Waiting to see what the future brings with a mixture of (mild) excitement and (overwhelming) trepidation.

I hate the SFA.

He could have turned it down, you know...


Perhaps Mr Strachan wants a new challenge, seeing that his present team seems to consist entirely of donkeys...

[Sephiroth]

He says he almost did turn it down, several times. I guess in the end, the opportunity to manage his country was too much to resist. He obviously feels he may never have been asked again.

Personally, I don't think it's a good move for him at this stage in his career. I think international jobs are best suited to older bosses with heaps of experience, and for all that I rate Levein highly, I think that if there's one area where perhaps he's still learning, it's tactically. When he can't use his eye for a player to pluck gems out of obscurity and polish them up, I think he may find it difficult at times. He's done a great job at Tannadice, but if there's one criticism could be levelled at him, it's that occasionally he seems to set us up all wrong, or use players in baffling ways. Perhaps the same could be said of any manager, though?

The Scotland job is the proverbial poisoned chalice, IMO. We simply don't have the Scottish-born players to compete at the level we aspire to, right now. I think it could do Levein's reputation more harm than good, if things don't go well. There's no doubt that if he does succeed with the available resources, it will advance his reputation greatly, however.

But there's also the question of Dumb and Dumber (George Peat and Gordon Smith) at the SFA. He took the job because they assured him he'd be given control over national youth development and various other things. Already at his first press conference, the limelight-hogging idiots had started to undermine him. "He'll be given some input," said Smith. Not exactly a ringing endorsement of his having far-reaching power to change things at the thoroughly rotten top of what is, essentially, an old-boy network.

I understand what you're saying, Py. And yes, he could have stayed, but I don't hold it against him. I can't help but feel bitter toward our joke of a national association, though. Perhaps that's not entirely fair, but given the disdain I already had for them, it's not surprising, either.

To me, international football is just a sideshow. Club football is the 'real thing', and in my heart, club wins out over country ever time. If United end up doing okay, I may come 'round again to the Scotland team (though I still think we need to rebuild the SFA from the ground up). For now, though, I'm utterly, er... cheesed off.



As for attracting managers such as Mr Strachan... pah! He may want a new challenge, but I doubt he'd be willing to take a pay cut of gargantuan proportions to move to a club he no doubt considers inferior to the one he left up here before he got his new job. I fancy we're a better team on the park than his current lot at the moment, but in financial terms, we're not in the same league, and we can't offer a prospective manager the chance to move up to the world's most prestigious league (though nor, it might be argued, can Middlesbrough right now ).

It's true that the success of various players, and now our (ex-)manager in moving on to what most would consider bigger and better things, should attract a wider range of applicants than those off the parochial merry-go-round of Scottish football... but at the most, our new boss will be offered an annual wage of around 250-300k p.a., which is unlikely to tempt any of the biggest or best names to Tannadice.

So I'm holding my breath, and crossing my fingers.......

[Sephiroth]

Update: I HATE FOOTBALL.

[chopper]

i'm a bit ambivalent myself, y'know.

[Ursa major]

Meanwhile, down on the south coast, things are not necessarily much sunnier:

Portsmouth Football Club has said it is "shocked and surprised" by the winding-up petition by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) against the club.

HMRC applied for the petition on 23 December, but a full court hearing will not take place until February.

If the club is unable to strengthen its financial position by then, it could go into administration.

(From BBC News - Portsmouth FC's 'shock' at HMRC wind-up petition.)

And it gets worse (from Sacha Gaydamak casts doubt over Portsmouth owners | Football | The Guardian):

Sacha Gaydamak, the former owner of Portsmouth who says he is owed at least £28m by the club, has demanded that the current proprietor, Ali al-Faraj, tell him when he will be paid and has cast doubt over who is in control at Fratton Park.

Speaking to the Guardian last night the Franco-Russian businessman revealed he feels "frustrated" at the confusion on the south coast, and that he wishes to know the identity of the "ultimate beneficial owner" as he is finding it difficult to engage in dialogue with the correct parties in regard to recouping his money.

And in light of the season (goodwill and all that), some of you () might try not to gloat.

[pyan]

Who would gloat over such a thing, Ursa? Shame on you for suggesting such an unworthy thing.

I mean, Portsmouth supporters were so supportive when their neighbours of 20 miles down the coast dropped to League One....

[Ursa major]

There seems to be have been a rash of south coast teams failing on and off the pitch in recent years. It's looking as if Pompey will be following Saints and Cherries in dropping a divison with a less-than-handy points penalty to overcome.

[Wybren]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

Update: I HATE FOOTBALL.

Yeah WTF happened there?

I think I am going to stop supporting teams, this year both my teams lost their coach and suffered humiliating defeats, I think I am bad luck.

[pyan]

Ever considered supporting Man Utd, Rangers, Celtic or Pompey, Wy?...

[Ursa major]

Don't you mean Man Utd, Rangers, Celtic and Pompey, Py?

[Wybren]

Ohhh theres a thought, I like that logic!

[The Ace]

We went through the whole mess in the late 70s when we lost Bertie Auld (and Alan Rough) to Hibs.

That little lot really knocked us for six, turning us from Premier League regulars into yo-yos.

[Wybren]

My A-League (australia league that is) team lost their coach because he was busted dui on the way to a coaching session - then the new coach goes and gets rid of Charlie Miller, who was one of the teams better players and then last weekend the team Charlie got picked up with goes and thrashes us 5-1. And it is alleged that Craig Moore is to be sold off next year, and is apparently looking to go back to the SPL. The only good thing the new coach has done was get rid of Bob Malcolm.

[Ursa major]

Manchester Utd 0-1 Leeds Utd


It looks like Wybren's support has already kicked into action.

(Shame it benefitted Leeds, though, but beggars can't be choosers.)