(Soccer) Is Chelsea's Manager the Special (G)One?

[SirFozzie]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...464751&cc=5901

Jose Mourinho is set to quit as Chelsea manager after his latest bust up with owner Roman Abramovich, according to reports.

Abramovich called crisis talks following Tuesday night's disappointing 1-1 draw with Norweigan minnows Rosenborg in the Champions League were the duo had a falling out.

Mourinho is believed to have informed two senior players of his decision to quit following training on Wednesday.

The information was subsequently leaked to the press and a Soccernet source insists the press pack are ready to run with story, despite apparent phone calls to Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon and director of sport Avram Grant, who both deny having any information on the rumour.

Mourinho's rocky relationship with Abramovich is public knowledge and despite an apparent thaw in relations last season the duo were again at odds over the role of £30million striker Andrei Shevchenko and the Blues' dour style of football before Tuesday's result brought events to a head.

The Portuguse manager, who has won the Champions League with Porto and two Premier League titles as Chelsea manager, hinted at an exit last summer when he admitted he 'was a bit fed up with certain things' at the club.

Many betting companies have stopped taking odds on Mourinho quitting Chelsea.

[Critch]

Breaking news on BBC too, seems to be fairly certain.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foot...ea/7003912.stm

[Crapshoot]

Time till Jurgen Klinsmann or Juande Ramos is appointed? And time till Mourinho takes over at Real Madrid or Barcelona (I call next summer)?

[Big Fo]

Great news for Man Utd (and anyone else who thinks they have a shot at the league) fans if true, though I won't believe it until it happens. He's a very good manager, hopefully Roman is dumb enough to drive him away.

[Marc Vaughan]

Funniest thing I've heard regarding this so far is a group of Chelsea fans who are refusing to admit he's gone and reckon its just 'mind-games' and that he'll turn up for work as usual on sunday for the Man Utd match ....

(would be funny as heck if it turned out to the be true )

[Critch]

It's official now, it's on the Chelsea website;

http://www.chelseafc.com/xxchelsea18...list_2209129_0

[Big Fo]

Damn. I think he's one of the best managers in the world, up there with Ferguson, Capello, and Hitzfeld.

Who might they go after to replace him? Juande Ramos or Capello maybe?

The big game this weekend is Manchester United - Chelsea in case anyone forgot, crazy timing for this to happen, neither team is playing all that well, I have no idea what might happen on Sunday.

[Crapshoot]

I gotta believe its Klinsmann, or Ramos as a backup. Jurgen has the name and cachet. A guy who wants flair (Abrahimovic) isn't going to hire the master of the catenaccio (Capello). I wouldn't be surprise if Chelsea does okay nonetheless - there's some great talent there (as 400 million pounds of spending will get you).

[Critch]

I'm betting on Guus Hiddink.

Hopefully it will be somebody who has them playing a more attractive style, Mourinho may have been successful but his team was painful to watch half the time.

Havent a few Chelsea players mentioned wanting to leave if Mourinho goes?

[Crapshoot]

Its interesting to see what will happen with Lampard - his contract can be bought out for 4 million pounds this summer. Might be harder to hold on to a couple of Jose's guys (Ie - Makalele, Carvalho, Ferreria) if this happens, but none of them would be an earth-shattering loss. Could be great for Shevchenko.

[Katon]

Wow. That came out of left field. I still can't manage a coherent reaction. Random thoughts . . .

- Thanks for three great years and a lot of trophies, Jose

- why now? This is really not the best week for a change of managers. Who'll be managing the team against Man U?

- wonder who we'll get in for a replacement

- not sure this is necessarily a bad thing in the long run (though of course it could go horribly wrong if we don't get a good manager now).

Jose's a brilliant manager in a lot of ways, but he's not a very good offensive tactician, and his transfer dealings follow the same pattern. Our attack has been on the decline since his first year, both in attractiveness and in actual efficacy; having him in charge of the offence for the long run didn't look like it was going to work all that well.

[ISiddiqui]

Hey, Souness is still available, isn't he?

Shocking news though!!

[Calis]

Wow, I really expected him to be gone at the end of the season but I didn't expect this to happen.

I'm not sure it's a terrible move, Chelsea has looked terrible so far and I don't see them going too far so might as well make the change now if there's someone out there of good quality.

[Ajaxab]

I really can't stand Chelsea, but I'm actually sorry to see Jose go. He was a great villain. That being said, I'd hire him to manage my club in a heartbeat.

[Crapshoot]

Its wierd - I really can't stand Chelsea (this isn't a team with the support of people - its a sugar daddy with stolen Russian money, with a majority of fans who probably wouldn't even know who Dennis Wise or Gianfranco Zola is). Despite that, I kinda like Jose - he's an arrogant bastard who knows he's an arrogant bastard, and has earned that right to some extent. I hope that makes sense.

[Katon]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Its wierd - I really can't stand Chelsea (this isn't a team with the support of people - its a sugar daddy with stolen Russian money, with a majority of fans who probably wouldn't even know who Dennis Wise or Gianfranco Zola is).

Not to say we don't also have a lot of annoying glory-hunters, but if you look at all-time attendance statistics we did actually have a few fans pre-Abramovich

[TazFTW]

So to whom do I email my FM resume?

[bbgunn]

Wow... no more brilliant "can't make omelettes without eggs" quotes from the Master.

[law90026]

Used to really not like him but he slowly grew on me (even though I support Arsenal). He's so entertaining in post-match interviews

Not completely shocking I think, considering the constant rumour is that he never wanted Ballack and Shevchenko but was overruled by his boss. Ultimately, Roman needs a manager that's malleable, rather than someone like Mourinho.

What would be shocking now would be for Mourinho to take over Spurs :P

[Critch]

Chelsea have announced that Avram Grant will be in control of the team, though they're not very clear about how long he's got the job for.

Apparently a friend of Abramovich's, and also one of the reasons Mourinho quit as he opposed Grant being hired as a coach from Portsmouth at the beginning of the season.

[Big Fo]

A big job for somebody who has only managed in Isreal so far.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by law90026

Not completely shocking I think, considering the constant rumour is that he never wanted Ballack and Shevchenko but was overruled by his boss. Ultimately, Roman needs a manager that's malleable, rather than someone like Mourinho.

You might as well strike out the word manager here, if your superiors don't let you even manage the team. The way things were handled, Mourinho was basically a trainer/coach, the true managing is going on higher a couple of sports higher in the organization.

[OldGiants]

Here's hoping this is the start of a George and Billy routine with Grant playing the part of Bob Lemon.

[Critch]

Looks like Mourinho is going to the Portuguese FA with a view to him being the new Portugal manager when Scolari moves on.

Scolari may be on the move fairly soon, as Portugal have been underperforming in the Euro qualifiers, plus he punched a Serbian defender after their last game and is suspended for 4 games.

[Fighter of Foo]

Klinsmann turned down Spurs this summer citing family concerns.

[Mac Howard]

Not many top managers would be willing to take on a club whose owner interferes as much as Abramovic now does. It's great to have so much money to spend but not when you're told which players you should buy. Grant doesn't have the record that allows him to complain too much and I wonder if he was brought in with this scenario in mind.

[condors]

This could get very interesting. I thought Mourinho did a good job with all the egos in that the guys played hard for him on the field. I think all of the players respected him and listened to him. How many points did they get in extra time the last few seasons? It seemed like every other week he would bring on Joe Cole or Robben and it would change the entire tempo of the game and they would end up getting the 3 points. If a guy comes in to do whatever the boss says i don't think he will get the same commitment on the field from the players and they could end up falling behind Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester United and no champions league for them next season. If that happens i could see alot of guys espcially those who don't play as much as they would like wanting out at the end of the season. I would enjoy seeing a new team finish in the top 4. (although i think this whole thing could be wishful thinking on my part)

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

I gotta believe its Klinsmann, or Ramos as a backup. Jurgen has the name and cachet. A guy who wants flair (Abrahimovic) isn't going to hire the master of the catenaccio (Capello). I wouldn't be surprise if Chelsea does okay nonetheless - there's some great talent there (as 400 million pounds of spending will get you).

i hope klinsmann isn't stupid enough to take the job. i rather like him and i think the job is just . . . doom-tastic with the tinkering from abramovich. sorry, katon.

capello would be a great fit as he's used to handling a lot of big names/egos with a lot of interference from above. on the other hand, i agree with crapshoot's point that his preferred offensive style doesn't fit with what abramovich wants.

an unlikely choice that i think would be a great fit is scolari. i don't think that he's "fashionable" enough for abramovich but he'd be a great fit. he's used to a lot of interference from upper management and can still put together an offensive-oriented team.

i cannot stand mourinho. i think he's a self-absorbed ass. on the other hand, he's a proven manager with tons of results to back him up and i don't like this move (from chelsea's perspective -- i think it's brilliant from the perspective of an arsenal supporter).

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by Critch

I'm betting on Guus Hiddink.

Hopefully it will be somebody who has them playing a more attractive style, Mourinho may have been successful but his team was painful to watch half the time.

Havent a few Chelsea players mentioned wanting to leave if Mourinho goes?

interesting name. he's a great coach and he has connection to the russian national team which kind of brings a natural connection to abramovich.

[Katon]

Originally Posted by daedalus

i hope klinsmann isn't stupid enough to take the job. i rather like him and i think the job is just . . . doom-tastic with the tinkering from abramovich. sorry, katon.

The downside of having a billionare owner: we have to put up with a billionare's whims. We're not actually the worst club out there for this - Mourinho did get two years of full control, and even after that while there was definitely some interference it's not entirely clear how much there was. Compare that with, say, Capello getting sacked this summer. Chelsea Football Club: Somewhat Less Interference From Above Than Real Madrid.

Seriously, the interference will definitely be a downside for whoever's interested in the job, but a lot of the big clubs on the continent have pretty interfering ownership as well - Berlusconi at Milan, Moratti at Inter, the election campaigns at big Spanish clubs. They still manage to get good managers; hopefully we'll be able to as well.

[daedalus]

and then there's the GOOD side.

don't forget too that they had been building a strong youth program. i'm not sure where that stands but my understanding is that it was on its way up. of course, the likelihood of those players EVER getting onto the pitch is darn low.

i'm definitely not saying that abramovich is bad. heck, like you said, he left mourinho alone for quite awhile. the first move that i was really aware of with his interference was shevchenko. and i totally agree that the big clubs of italy and spain have just as much, if not more, influence/pushy-ness. on the other hand, mourinho seems to have abramovich sufficiently annoyed that the next bastard will not have nearly the free reign (that mourinho had early on). maybe the guy AFTER that will be able to get back into more control.

i also prefer to see some people be where they are allowed to exercise more control: klinsmann, juande ramos, wenger. i personally think hiddink and scolari would be perfect choices. hiddink has the russia tie and enough reputation to warrant what control he may ask for. scolari has shown that he can deal with the side show and ego and still win.

another thought from left field (and highly unlikely) would be vicente del bosque. he may not seem fashionable enough for abramovich but he's dealth with egos (large egos), seems to just ignore the interference and, well, the part that counts the most: won. the footie that his team play wasn't bad, either, which would fit one of abramovich's requirements (granted, with THAT bit of talent, it's understandable).

[Katon]

Our youth program is definitely much improved, we've got quite a few very promising youngsters although as you say it's not clear how much they'll get onto the pitch.

I think Abramovich, even apart from whatever personal meddling he does, is trying to move away a bit from the manager-in-charge-of-absolutely-everything model of club management. He brought in Frank Arnesen to be in charge of youth scouting (which seems to be working quite well so far), Avram Grant as director of football . . .

That's not a common structure in England, but it's a bit more frequent on the continent. Hopefully it'll be less of a problem for a manager who was hired after the structure was built than it was for Jose having it built around him. There are some managers who it still definitely wouldn't work for - Wenger's a good example, not that I want someone that associated with Arsenal anyway - but hopefully there are enough who can deal with it to let us get a good manager anyway.

I doubt Del Bosque will get the job, but it's an interesting thought. Hiddink seems to be the favorite so far. He's definitely got the CV, and the fact that he's not likely to be available til Russia get eliminated from Euro 2008 (either November or next summer) would explain why the club's being ambiguous about how long Grant'll be in charge.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by Katon

I doubt Del Bosque will get the job, but it's an interesting thought. Hiddink seems to be the favorite so far. He's definitely got the CV, and the fact that he's not likely to be available til Russia get eliminated from Euro 2008 (either November or next summer) would explain why the club's being ambiguous about how long Grant'll be in charge.

It's no big secret that Hiddink and Abramovitch go along well already. Knowing Hiddink, he'll probably find a way to combine the two jobs if Russia does manage to qualify for Euro'08. He'll just put Igor Korneer in charge of everything around the Russian team and find someone else to do the core of the training stuff in London. He did the same thing with Australia and PSV in preperation for the 2006 World Championships.

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by Katon

I think Abramovich, even apart from whatever personal meddling he does, is trying to move away a bit from the manager-in-charge-of-absolutely-everything model of club management. He brought in Frank Arnesen to be in charge of youth scouting (which seems to be working quite well so far), Avram Grant as director of football . . .

stealing arnesen was f'ing brilliant. i was pissed. arnesen + chelsea's financial capability is disturbing [for opponents].

Originally Posted by Katon

That's not a common structure in England, but it's a bit more frequent on the continent. Hopefully it'll be less of a problem for a manager who was hired after the structure was built than it was for Jose having it built around him. There are some managers who it still definitely wouldn't work for - Wenger's a good example, not that I want someone that associated with Arsenal anyway - but hopefully there are enough who can deal with it to let us get a good manager anyway.

as you said, it is a more common set up on the continent and the most likely candidates are from the continent anyway so i wouldn't expect a problem.

Originally Posted by Katon

I doubt Del Bosque will get the job, but it's an interesting thought. Hiddink seems to be the favorite so far. He's definitely got the CV, and the fact that he's not likely to be available til Russia get eliminated from Euro 2008 (either November or next summer) would explain why the club's being ambiguous about how long Grant'll be in charge.

i seriously don't think del bosque gets enough credit or consideration. do i think he's absolutely brilliant or "the best"? no. i just think he makes a perfect fit for certain situation. [y'know, take a metric crap load of talent and ego, sauté it with a desire for attractive footie and add a splash of up above interference? yeah, he's your guy.]

hiddink, though, i don't think can be argue against in any way, shape or form. and, as you and matthijs said, everything fit in for that particular appointment. as a supporter of their rival, i'm less than thrilled about it.

[Big Fo]

Part of a long Guardian article on Mourinho's departure:

'Turncoat' Terry


Duncan Castles
Sunday September 23, 2007
The Observer

Jose Mourinho's relationship with John Terry has broken down completely over the Chelsea and England captain's central role in his departure from Stamford Bridge last week.

The Champions League-winning coach was replaced on Thursday by Avram Grant, a former Israel national team coach with no experience of club management outside his own country. According to many Chelsea sources, Grant will defer on football matters to owner Roman Abramovich, who has already started to take a hands-on role with the first team.

Mourinho holds Terry responsible for charges levelled by Chelsea's board of directors that he had lost the support of his playing staff after Tuesday's Champions League draw with Rosenborg - a match that was followed by club owner Roman Abramovich lecturing a senior professional on his on-field tactics behind Mourinho's back.

Half an hour before the Group B fixture, claims a dressing-room source, Terry told one of Mourinho's assistant coaches that he had 'things on my mind'. Only the intervention of a team-mate put him in the right state of mind to take part in the pre-match warm-up, for which Terry arrived late.

Midway through the first half Rosenborg scored, after Miika Koppinen beat Terry at a set piece. When Mourinho then directly criticised the centre back's defending at half time, Terry refused to accept responsibility for the goal or even to respond to his manager.

Earlier on Tuesday, Terry had been informed that Mourinho had gone to the club's medical department to ask whether there was any physical reason for the player's sub-standard performances in matches this season. Mourinho hoped to find an explanation for a significant decline in Terry's play following an operation to remove a disc from the defender's spine in December.

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon was made aware of the dispute and, according to the dressing-room source, presented the information to an emergency board meeting on Wednesday as evidence that the manager had lost the trust of key players. The club subsequently asked Mourinho for his resignation, which he refused to tender, but ultimately settled on dismissal by 'mutual consent'. Later on Wednesday, Mourinho sent Terry a text message sarcastically thanking him for talking to the club's hierarchy.

On Friday, several first-team regulars apparently took their captain to task during a 50-minute team meeting called by Terry in the aftermath of Mourinho's dismissal. Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda are believed to have accused him of not doing enough to keep Mourinho at the club.

Terry is England's best-paid footballer after agreeing a five-year, £131,000-a-week contract this summer. In initial negotiations he had requested a 'limitless parity' clause to ensure he was the club's biggest earner for the duration of a proposed nine-year term. According to a Chelsea insider Terry also wanted - and was refused - a contractual option for him to manage the club at the end of his playing career.

As far-fetched as that request might be, Abramovich's actions in the aftermath of the Rosenborg draw were equally bizarre. In front of the entire Chelsea team, but while Mourinho was occupied with press conference duties, the Russian billionaire decided to hand out an impromptu tactics lesson to Michael Essien.

Employing striker Andriy Shevchenko as translator, he instructed midfielder Essien, player of the year last season, to hit passes wide rather than through central areas where the Norwegians had compressed play. Abramovich is expected to take an increasingly hands-on role in the team following the appointment of Grant to replace Mourinho and, according to several sources, will effectively select the side. In a press conference on Friday, Grant insisted he would not tolerate interference but declined to respond when asked who was the most important individual at Chelsea. 'Look, the owner gives the financial support,' Grant said. 'I'm not going to make remarks.'

Watching Abramovich run his team into the ground could be very entertaining.

And well played John Terry on helping drive out the most successful manager in your club's history. What a captain.

[Crapshoot]

I was just about to post that. Terry's a good player, but I don't know if he's a better defender than Jonathon Woodgate, to take one example - the Chelsea sheen has a lot to do with it.

Aha, this is going to be fun. Couldn't happen to a classier team.

[daedalus]

wow.

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

I was just about to post that. Terry's a good player, but I don't know if he's a better defender than Jonathon Woodgate, to take one example - the Chelsea sheen has a lot to do with it.

i've never watch chelsea very much [as is telling from me being a gooner, attractive footie is damn important to me] but i was always under the impression that terry was a damn good centreback. i never knew of "this side" of him. too bad.

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Aha, this is going to be fun. Couldn't happen to a classier team.

QFT. happy ashley cole to y'all!!!

sorry, katon.

i wonder what the possibilities of this new development alienating essien would be. as good as diaby will be and as much as i rate denilson, i would love - Love - LOVE to have essien partner cesc in the middle. that wouldn't be a good midfield . . . that'd be an insane one. and, having been with lyon, he'll ALREADY have the prerequisite french knowledge for the arse!!! yay!

[Katon]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Part of a long Guardian article on Mourinho's departure:



Watching Abramovich run his team into the ground could be very entertaining.

And well played John Terry on helping drive out the most successful manager in your club's history. What a captain.

Chelsea fans want someone to blame for Jose leaving, and the press has been happy to oblige. At this point I think the only person at the club who hasn't been faulted by some paper or another is the tea lady. Conspiracy theories sell more copies than writing that a relationship which everyone knew was deteriorating finally passed the point of no return.

This story would be extremely bad news if it was true, but I really doubt that it's a perfectly accurate account of what was/is going on.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Its wierd - I really can't stand Chelsea (this isn't a team with the support of people - its a sugar daddy with stolen Russian money, with a majority of fans who probably wouldn't even know who Dennis Wise or Gianfranco Zola is). Despite that, I kinda like Jose - he's an arrogant bastard who knows he's an arrogant bastard, and has earned that right to some extent. I hope that makes sense.

I agree about all of that. He's highly entertaining, and I'll miss his interveiws. The good news is he said he definitely wants to coach in England again, though not for his next job.

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by Katon

Chelsea fans want someone to blame for Jose leaving, and the press has been happy to oblige. At this point I think the only person at the club who hasn't been faulted by some paper or another is the tea lady. Conspiracy theories sell more copies than writing that a relationship which everyone knew was deteriorating finally passed the point of no return.

i vaguely recall some issue with the tea lady, too.

[Critch]

Originally Posted by Katon

Chelsea fans want someone to blame for Jose leaving, and the press has been happy to oblige.

During one of the interviews outside the Chelsea ground over the last few days, there were a group of Chelsea fans in the background holding their homemade "Fuck Off Roman" sign, so they'd made their mind up quickly

[Katon]

Originally Posted by Critch

During one of the interviews outside the Chelsea ground over the last few days, there were a group of Chelsea fans in the background holding their homemade "Fuck Off Roman" sign, so they'd made their mind up quickly

Well, yes, but you can't have a proper conspiracy theory with only one villain. If you went off what all the various papers are writing, or the consensus from some of the Chelsea forums I read, you'd have to believe that the entire Chelsea management structure was dedicated solely to the purpose of undermining Mourinho.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

I was just about to post that. Terry's a good player, but I don't know if he's a better defender than Jonathon Woodgate, to take one example - the Chelsea sheen has a lot to do with it.

I'm far from being a Chelsea fan - however I am a big fan of John Terry.

He is a very competant defender and does what is required when its required consistently and very reliably.

I rate him on a par with Tony Adams (for those of you who remember him) which is about the highest praise I could give ..

[Critch]

I've read it mentioned on other boards that Duncan Castles (the guy who wrote the piece about Terry undermining Mourinho) has been one of Jose's tame journalists over the last couple of years. The first journalist Mourinho goes to to get his story out.

So I guess the Terry story will be direct from Mourinho, but heavily slanted to be only his side of the story.

[MIJB#19]

Latest rumors in the Netherlands: Henk ten Cate is about to leave Ajax (after their worst performance in Europe in the past, like, 50 years) to take up a field trainer job with Chelsea. I know it worked for Barcelona (they won that thing called Champions' League with him), but it's nevertheless kinda weird. Well, maybe not when you consider that Ten Cate has a good reputation in working with veteran players and a so-so reputation in working with youngsters.

Ten Cate today denied it... Which usually is a sign of things being a signature away from finalized.

[Ajaxab]

I was listening to the BBC 606 Phone In podcast show from Wednesday and heard the latest Avram Grant chant: "He's old! He's glum! He's not the Special One!" I love the football fan sense of humor.

Also, as an Ajax fan, I'm not sure what to make of the ten Cate situation. For someone of his apparent caliber, he has been extremely poor this season.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by Ajaxab

I was listening to the BBC 606 Phone In podcast show from Wednesday and heard the latest Avram Grant chant: "He's old! He's glum! He's not the Special One!" I love the football fan sense of humor.

Also, as an Ajax fan, I'm not sure what to make of the ten Cate situation. For someone of his apparent caliber, he has been extremely poor this season.

Strange move for ten Cate, you assume the manager job at Ajax would be a big deal especially for a Dutchman but I heard he's going to at least triple his salary by taking a lesser role. I wonder how much cash Chelsea will burn up trying to spend their way out of their predicament in January.

By the way, how is Huntelaar playing so far this season?

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Strange move for ten Cate, you assume the manager job at Ajax would be a big deal especially for a Dutchman but I heard he's going to at least triple his salary by taking a lesser role. I wonder how much cash Chelsea will burn up trying to spend their way out of their predicament in January.

By the way, how is Huntelaar playing so far this season?

Well, funny enough, people are expecting Ajax to nuke Ten Cate sooner or later. With him in charge, Ajax got knocked out in the Champions' League qualifying stages two years in a row and yesterday they got their earliest elimination in Europe competitions in the lifetime of most players currently on the team. In fact, I think Ten Cate has never received the credits of doing good things with Ajax, even though they won the cup last season and lost the championship by one goal in goal difference. Missing the key motivational players Jaap Stam and Edgar Davids way too often doesn't really help either. And you really can't blame him for Ajax selling Wesley Sneijder. You can blame him for Kenneth Perez fleeing to the rivals PSV.

What makes me laugh is the cycle of trainers rumors that goes around now:
Mourinho: Chelsea -> ???
Ten Cate: Ajax -> Chelsea
Marco van Basten: "Oranje"/"Holland" -> Ajax
and then what? Martin Jol to "Oranje"? Or a return of Frank Rijkaard? Van Basten could pull a Hiddink by doing both at the same time (Although Hiddink did a PSV-Australia combo).

Huntelaar is doing his usual trick: multiple goal-games against weak teams or when they lose, shutout in the big games. 8 goals in 6 league games so far, but one has to consider that Ajax already played their two easiest home games, which doesn't take away the excellence of that goals per game average. I think he's still looking mediocre in crucial games, but he's playing a very team-dependant position in the sacred 4-3-3 system.

[daedalus]

i can't see rijkaard leaving barça.

i can see jol saying, "this is bullshit, i've had enough" and leaving -- which would be too bad for spuds because i think he's done well but good for us because, well, i think he'll go back to doing well again in due time.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by daedalus

i can't see rijkaard leaving barça.

i can see jol saying, "this is bullshit, i've had enough" and leaving -- which would be too bad for spuds because i think he's done well but good for us because, well, i think he'll go back to doing well again in due time.

I am firmly of the belief that Jol has both a) done a good job and b) taken the team as far as he can. He's like the Schottenheimer of EPL coaches.