Isegrim

Herzlichen Glückwunsch.

I want Chayton back.

Yeah, the majority of them. Y'know I'm guessing the majority of them haven't been, hence why there have only been about 5 suggested, unless there hasn't been any more than 9 Italians in the PL. There haven't been that many, no. It's also really ridiculous to say 'this guy's <nationality> ergo he's shit because I can't personally remember very many good players of <nationality> in the Premier League.' Let's forget for a second that you were wrong about the Italian success rate. How many dutchmen have been successful in the Premiership? I'd still have taken Bergkamp in his prime. Portuguese? Few successful ones, but I'd take Ronaldo. Argentines? Often unsuccessful. Tevez, though? Yes please. Etc. It's still difficult to foresee when you get the exception and when the rule... I agree totally that the nationality of a player should never put you off when you think the player is right. But I do also think that the likeliness to adapt to English football is connected to the football culture and way of life where players come from. So yes, I do think that players from southern European leagues or South America find it generally more difficult to be successful in the Premierleague than (less talented) Scandinavians for example. Signing them is a bigger risk than signing others imho.

Whenever the German system is mentioned it gets totally romanticised. The legal structures have changed in the last decade very much and are much more similar to the English system now. Most clubs here are in fact public or private limited companies where "members" have little to say, but decisions are made on by governing bodies. What's the difference between a members club and a private company with fan shareholders? Do the german clubs have specific limitaions against the amassing of share blocks? There are loads of differences, a major one is that in a member club every member has one vote among shareholders his votes reflect the quota of his shares. Most professional clubs in Germany now have the structure that the football department is spun off into a separate private limited company where the member club holds a minimum of 50% of the shares. Members basically don't elect presidents, chairmen etc. as well which is done by supervising boards (who are at best elected by members). In the end the members of the "clubs" have nothing to say. And rightly so. So the member club, made up of one man one vote shareholders, only has a veto power on the management decisions of the commercial shareholders of the football company, and no say in the actual decisions made by the company? Don't they even get to ratify progress plans? Where is the benefit in coughing up to become a member fan? You get free pens at AGMs . ...as well as preferential rights regarding tickets etc., but your power to influence is very limited to non-existent. Tell me they at least get a dividend of some sort? No. A member club is an idealistic not an economical corporation.

Whenever the German system is mentioned it gets totally romanticised. The legal structures have changed in the last decade very much and are much more similar to the English system now. Most clubs here are in fact public or private limited companies where "members" have little to say, but decisions are made on by governing bodies. What's the difference between a members club and a private company with fan shareholders? Do the german clubs have specific limitaions against the amassing of share blocks? There are loads of differences, a major one is that in a member club every member has one vote among shareholders his votes reflect the quota of his shares. Most professional clubs in Germany now have the structure that the football department is spun off into a separate private limited company where the member club holds a minimum of 50% of the shares. Members basically don't elect presidents, chairmen etc. as well which is done by supervising boards (who are at best elected by members). In the end the members of the "clubs" have nothing to say. And rightly so. So the member club, made up of one man one vote shareholders, only has a veto power on the management decisions of the commercial shareholders of the football company, and no say in the actual decisions made by the company? Don't they even get to ratify progress plans? Where is the benefit in coughing up to become a member fan? You get free pens at AGMs . ...as well as preferential rights regarding tickets etc., but your power to influence is very limited to non-existent.

Whenever the German system is mentioned it gets totally romanticised. The legal structures have changed in the last decade very much and are much more similar to the English system now. Most clubs here are in fact public or private limited companies where "members" have little to say, but decisions are made on by governing bodies. What's the difference between a members club and a private company with fan shareholders? Do the german clubs have specific limitaions against the amassing of share blocks? There are loads of differences, a major one is that in a member club every member has one vote among shareholders his votes reflect the quota of his shares. Most professional clubs in Germany now have the structure that the football department is spun off into a separate private limited company where the member club holds a minimum of 50% of the shares. Members basically don't elect presidents, chairmen etc. as well which is done by supervising boards (who are at best elected by members). In the end the members of the "clubs" have nothing to say. And rightly so.

The decisions made by the members are normally just to elect the person promising the most "trophy signings"...

Whenever the German system is mentioned it gets totally romanticised. The legal structures have changed in the last decade very much and are much more similar to the English system now. Most clubs here are in fact public or private limited companies where "members" have little to say, but decisions are made on by governing bodies.

My money is on either Newcastle/Australia or Lukas Ramsauer tbh

The aqueduct?

3rd in Italy to top in France his home country. Not really a bad move is it? Especially if you haven't played a league game so far this season...

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2249017,00.html

Statistically speaking, Allardyce vs. Wenger V Keegan vs. Wenger, it's pretty clear cut if you wanted to bet on it. Statistically speaking 99% of your posts are utter nonsense. And I bet your next one is too. Well the above post is accurate, so I must have hit the lucky 1% this time. Just ignore my next 99 posts. Damn, I should have put money on this. The odds wouldn't have been any good though...

Statistically speaking, Allardyce vs. Wenger V Keegan vs. Wenger, it's pretty clear cut if you wanted to bet on it. Statistically speaking 99% of your posts are utter nonsense. And I bet your next one is too.

Allardyce won at Arsenal loads of times. Just not when they were playing with their reserves, eh...

You could see today that his timing today is still pretty perfect if it hadn't been for the stupid linesmen who only suffer from their Parkinson fits at the wrong moments. A couple of other runs behind the back of the defenders were decent too, shame he has to get the service from the likes of Butt and Rozehnal in midfield...

Anyone who expected points from the games against ManU and Arsenal away wants shot. Bolton was a bit disappointing but the damage was done in the games before. We desperately need a result against the Smoggies now to stay clear of the relegation zone. It will be essential to get 40 points as quick as possible to get a bit of a feeling of safety, otherwise the rest of the season will be nailbitingtastic.

I hope modern chip technology is putting those sideline numpties on the dole.

Poor performances from several players. Especially N'Zogbia is awful. Given just can't play football. The difference in passing accuracy is just frightening.

Can we have thread/post moderation?

I simply don't believe that we approached KK before HR. I know it is the official line, but I just don't believe it. I think Redknapp, Ashley, Mort, Wise et al are either freemasons or Jews.

I don't know if this would be very wise as this could severely undermine Keegan's position. There's no reason for it to. If it had been left for a few months and Keegan was struggling, it might heap pressure on him to breaking point. As it is, it's a pre-emptive move that ensures stability at the club long term while the current manager has the full backing of both the board AND the fans. I'm sure Keegan must be alright with it, because he's never been known to compromise (apart from accepting Arthur Cox couldn't be on his staff at England, which he's still bitter about and sees as a huge contributor to his international failure). A manager brings in the best young players and trains them to push the first team for places, Morshley is just making the same common sense preparation that Keegan does with his team. Pressure to produce is a good thing to be placed on EVERYONE at the club from the get go, rather than from a point of free fall. As this is described as a "continental" structure I judge it from a continental perspective. It is foremost working successfully at clubs where the director of football has absolutely no interest in taking over the manager job. Wherever the d.o.f. is seen as a replacement it creates unnecessary pressure for the man in charge. It gives the press an easy way to create sensational stories about fractions etc.

The only thing worse than judging players by youtube video compilations is to do it by slideshows...