The Road to Russia 2018

[The Bear]

If Hoddle gets the job we all must have done something terrible in a previous life to deserve him again.

 

[pavlosmacwolf]

As if tonights wolves result isn't depressing enough, i just found this in the Grauniad

There is no greater condemnation of England than the state of some of these people apparently in the running for the job …

Harry Redknapp 25/1
Neil Warnock 50/1
Tim Sherwood 66/1
Francesco Guidolin 66/1
Alan Curbishley 66/1

Roll on World Cup 2018!

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

As a general rule anyone that far out for a national job has no chance whatsoever of getting the gig, they may as well be 2,500,000/1 but obviously the bookies have to protect themselves.

Hoddle was on BT tonight, if he has been approached then he didn't give any indication at all of it, didn't really even seem especially up for it when gently nudged to see if he'd be interested and I cannot see us sacking one bloke for inappropriate comments and replacing him with another who got sacked for the same reason 18 years ago. Plus all the other reasons I mentioned in my blog on the last page.

 

[Langers]

What a shambles.

Firstly, I'll make it clear that Allardyce had to go - idiotic in the extreme and the FA had no choice.

But I cannot ever accept the depths to which the British media will stoop to get a 'story'. The way they've set him up is absolutely disgusting. Whilst he deserves to lose his job, he doesn't deserve to have those personal, private comments he made about Hodgson, Neville etc plastered all over the place. I think that's totally out of line - two wrongs don't make a right and although they'll no doubt be felating each other over their 'sting', The Telegraph should be utterly ashamed at such gutter press tactics. It makes me livid.

It doesn't by any means excuse Allardyce but the whole scenario absolutely stinks.

As for England, I hope it's a blessing in disguise as I was never enamored with his appointment initially. I just hope they take their time and find the right man for the job. Not just the easiest English manager to entice to the role, but the right candidate.

The national set up is in a right sorry state at the moment.

 

[YoungWolf]

I would be doing everything to convince Wenger to take the job when his contract expires at Arsenal next summer

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

But I cannot ever accept the depths to which the British media will stoop to get a 'story'. The way they've set him up is absolutely disgusting. Whilst he deserves to lose his job, he doesn't deserve to have those personal, private comments he made about Hodgson, Neville etc plastered all over the place. I think that's totally out of line - two wrongs don't make a right and although they'll no doubt be felating each other over their 'sting', The Telegraph should be utterly ashamed at such gutter press tactics. It makes me livid.

I'm not sure about that mate. It's been common knowledge for years that Allardyce is dodgy (not as much as Redknapp, but not far off) but nailing him on that isn't the easiest thing to do. So if you can engineer a situation to conclusively prove that the guy is totally unfit for the office of national manager, then I would say it's necessary to an extent given the FA don't seem to be overly concerned with due diligence. It also doesn't look like this exposé is limited to Allardyce, they seem ready to dish the dirt on others too.

I don't think it's really stooping to any depths, it's investigative journalism and it's not really a hatchet job, the fat idiot dug his own grave.

 

[machin05]

I was going to say, isn't this just part of a bigger investigation into a much wider spread problem?

 

[Johnny75]

I think it's in the public interest to go after Alladyce and his ilk. The England manager is a very public role and as such should be under that level of scrutiny.

 

[Langers]

I'm not sure about that mate. It's been common knowledge for years that Allardyce is dodgy (not as much as Redknapp, but not far off) but nailing him on that isn't the easiest thing to do. So if you can engineer a situation to conclusively prove that the guy is totally unfit for the office of national manager, then I would say it's necessary to an extent given the FA don't seem to be overly concerned with due diligence. It also doesn't look like this exposé is limited to Allardyce, they seem ready to dish the dirt on others too.

I don't think it's really stooping to any depths, it's investigative journalism and it's not really a hatchet job, the fat idiot dug his own grave.

I can't agree with the phrase 'investigative journalism'. It's a scummy thing to do and there should be no place for it in the media.

I've no sympathy for Allardyce whatsoever but I can't condone those methods of getting a 'scoop'. TBH no-one comes out of this sorry episode particularly well.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

How would you suggest it should be exposed in that case? He's hardly likely to make the same statements in an open press conference.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/g...-telegraphs-sam-allardyce-sting-was-justified

I think that is a fair justification of the methods used.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Only two junctions up the A38....

You been driving with your eyes closed Frank?! There's a damn sight more than 2 junctions between St. George's Park and Pride Park!

 

[Tredman]

From today's telegraph:

Hmm, I wonder which manager has had more backhanders than Wimbledon. Really difficult to work that one out. Anyway, off to take the dog for a walk.

 

[FrankMunro-371]

From today's telegraph:

Hmm, I wonder which manager has had more backhanders than Wimbledon. Really difficult to work that one out. Anyway, off to take the dog for a walk.

I think the Allardyce incident has opened a can of worms. Is English football really in such a corrupt state?

 

[machin05]

It's not opened a can of worms - it was all part of the same investigation.

 

[FrankMunro-371]

You are wrong, these are new allegations.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

The trouble is Pino Pagliara is hardly the most reliable and snow-white of witnesses.

More is definitely coming out, and I think it is fairly easy to conclude that the surprise occupant of the Derby bench last night is caused by this investigation too.

The Telegraph have carried out investigative journalism to get Allardyce after they unearthed enough to make them suspicious. He attended with his agent and his lawyer. He should have referred the matter to his employers up front and been in attendance with an FA rep. He wasn't.

However, the Telegraph are not naming names at the moment. That suggests to me that their remaining evidence isn't concrete enough to do so without significant risk of getting sued. They are leaving it to the FA and the Police to decide whether to take action. With that in mind we probably need to be careful in our speculation on here as to the names that are potentially involved, until such names come into the public domain.

 

[Johnny75]

Could it be that there were criminal wrongdoings and they can't print names at this time until they get the OK from the police?

 

[machin05]

You are wrong, these are new allegations.

The original article said they'd be revealing more over the coming days.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Could it be that there were criminal wrongdoings and they can't print names at this time until they get the OK from the police?

Quite possibly. However, the spectre of libel litigation looms over this too. We need to be careful.

 

[AndyWolves]

The saddest part of this for me is that it just further confirms what an absolute gravy train football has become. No wonder players are motivated purely by money when everyone else is doing the same.