Anything that can go wrong will go wrong

*in leaving make Spuds potential relegation fodder? I think that would be a better solution than Kane staying.*

Souness often makes good sense when talking about players and I admire his honesty in admitting in the press he couldn’t handle today’s untouchable pre-madonnas.

His Rice thinking I thought made sense as the attacking side is the weaker side of his game and would be something Arteta would need to coach. Moyes is not the coach for that.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-11899615/GRAEME-SOUNESS-Declan-Rice-not-forward-thinking-showed-win-Italy.html

This shameless about from the fat cats at the FA. Has anyone eve really played the game and been injured? The money the FA has?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-11900061/National-League-captains-seek-urgent-talks-FA-controversial-contract-changes.html

Seems not only is Haaland the wonder boy goal scoring machine because he’s not touch and go for the Pool game. Apparently, he went to Barca to a miracle worker with better results than Lourdes. Shocker and looks like you were right on the money, Marc.

A more concerning injury recovering player is Kante now back in training after his hamstring injury has kept him out since August.

Final note today was reading Kenny Samson finally begin to rid himself of his drink demons. A wonderful player who had a record to this day: 86 caps at right back. For our younger gooners here’s a player profile of an earlier Arsenal great.

Thanks to Cannon Fodder for the profile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9keTR102eQ

Tony-my assumptions regarding Nags stems from the fact that he both appeared to be on their radar following Jose’s exodus, which became a moot point once it was determined he was going from Leipzig to Munich, and that he’s previously expressed his desire to manage in the PL…of course, he might want some time away to reflect, considering what has just transpired, but he seems like a get back on the horse right quickly kind of character…I would suspect that Levy will be under considerable pressure to get things right, so Nags might have some significant leverage regarding the terms of his employment…that said, none of this guarantees anything, which could be rather problematic, as their Kane window appears to be closing at a rather accelerated rate…all in all, a retool or a rebuild could be quite beneficial for us, at least in the short-term, which is all that really matters…take care

presumptions rather than assumptions

TRVL – JN came on my radar when he was at Leipzig through LG if I’m honest. I agree with you about JN being the type to jump on his next challenge quickly, but he seems savvy more than Conte and is still making his Nut as an elite manager. 74% win rate at Bayern was decent in a league they mostly dominated, as was league and cup wins in 2 years; him leaving Bayern because the players didn’t like his GF was a Bild reporter.

Ooooh I wonder what there is to hide? His Gf is hardly going to sabotage her BF’s career, is she? Won’t the next dressing room feel their privacy could be invaded? I thought she offered to leave her job or something and Bayern are just upset at recent results. I relate Bayern to 90s Manure. Their players and staff’s derision when getting us in the CL was typical manure. Although that was on Wenger, too.

With your knowledge of the game and ability to understand more than many, what would you do if you were Nagelsmann?

Use his leverage and nail Levy on all of his requirements to successfully manage Spuds or wait to see who else is interested?

I’m still of the belief that JN will find a better managerial solution rather than put his trust in Levy. The club has had no winning history pedigree for 48 years(?) If I were JN, I’d look closely at why such a long time has elapsed losing. The history is there for all to see, so Levy can’t put a snake oil sales spin on it.

Certainly, puts pressure on Potter to deliver, as we know Father Ted loves his big names and stats. Howe is doing ok at Newcastle, but come summer if no Europe, JN’s name will surely be pitched in. A few more clubs will be looking at their results and looking at JN.

Have a good one. 🙂

Tony-the GF factor, if that was truly the proverbial straw, would likely be a non-issue in the PL, as her ties to the media, as a former Bild reporter, aren’t nearly as problematic if he seeks employment abroad…as for his managerial pursuits, I can see him going one of two ways, either he sees the Spurs as a Hoffenheim-like challenge, with an exceedingly higher profile and up-side, or he sits back and waits for another “dream” appointment, where things are semingly more readymade…in the past, the latter would seem far more appealing, as it used to provide considerably more job security, along with the obvious cachet, but nowadays that’s no longer a given, in fact, it might make more sense to find a club willing to pay top dollar for a longer term rebuild of sorts…with this in mind, the Spurs provide him with a rather unique opportunity, due in large part to their location/stadium profile, in that they have the resources to pay him handsomely and if he were able to get the kind of results he’s accustomed to, he would have to be considered one of the best in the game, especially in light of their glaring lack of trophies and the list of esteemed managers who’ve failed to change that narrative in the more recent years…have a good one

seemingly

Bayern paid +20mill to get JN early than they signed him to a 5 year contract only to make a snap decision in firing him. Rapha Hoenigstein who covers the Bundesliga for the Athletic came up with this theory.

In 2018 Bayern wanted to hire Tuchel but they lost out on him as he went to PSG. Rapha thinks that Tuchel put pressure on the Bayern hierarchy by threatening to join another club and they were forced into the change now rather than waiting till the summer what they had in mind. Bayern didn’t want a 2018 repeat. Hard to believe, but I can imagine it, as Tuchel took up residence in Munich.

For me personally I hope that Bayern aka FC-Hollywood would end up empty handed this season as Kahn and Salihamidzic deserve this humiliation for the way they handled the dismissal of JN. I also would love to see JN in the EPL just to give some competition to MA for being the best young manager.

Killroy—by the sounds of it, Tuchel was already in advanced talks with the Spurs, which appears to be the reason why Munich terminated Nags in such an amateur hour manner…of course, in 2018 it appeared as if Tuchel would land in Munich, only to be back burnereed by then club president, Hoeness, while he tried to convince treble winner Heynckes to stay on for another season…by the time it was determined that Heynckes had no interest in running things back, Tuchel had already reached a deal with PSG

how weird would it be for a manager to win two Champions League titles after being hired in January or later, first with Chelsea and now with a team that many feel are the presumptive favourites…to my recollection this has never occured before

the whole thing is rather peculiar, as Nags was Tuchel’s protege, but now he’s replacing him in Munich, under some exceedingly unusual circumstances, meanwhile I wouldn’t be surprised if Nags ended up managing the Spurs, the very team that looked to be on the precipice of hiring Tuchel…go figure

back burnered—not sure why I’m correcting this as I’m not even convinced it’s a legit word LOL

It’s always educating reading LIR. Thanks for breaking the PL boredom during Internationals.

Looks like we’ve come through unscathed although there was a very vicious tackle on Ode by City’s Rodri. Adds to the City game spice. Saka will likely play in the next game, so fingers crossed for the lad’s stamina and be injury free. Tired legs get injured easily.

Not much else to report on.

maybe it’s just because I generally despise later season international breaks, but I feel like this could make our run-up far more problematic…the only tangible benefit to our early Europa exit was that it should have afforded us a considerably less condensed schedule, thus making it more and more likely that we could field our “best” 11 for each and every remaining League fixture…if there were no break, I can’t imagine that we would be playing 4 matches in 13 days between April 16 & 29th…I guess the one saving grace, so long as no further setbacks occur during the break,(knock on wood) is that this might allow those with nagging injuries or worse, like Saliba, extra time to mend, as we can’t be relying on Holding to get the job done, regardless of the fact he performed rather admirably in Slaiba’s absence

of course, I wouldn’t be quite so rattled if it weren’t for the fact that I’m totally convinced that if we look this gift horse in the mouth, we might not be in a similar position again…this certainly doesn’t mean that we won’t be playing meaningful late season matches in the foreseeable future, but to think we could have another sizeable lead so late in the season seems at best wishful thinking or at worst rather delusional…the planets have aligned for us in a way few have ever previously encountered, minus LC, and as such if we don’t stake our claim now I believe we will forever regret it

ManCity—will always be in the hunt, if not the presumptive favourites, so long as the ownership and Pep remain fully commited, unless they’re severely punished for their laundry list of transgressions, which I very much doubt

Pool—with Klopp at the helm and attractive football on offer, they will remain a constant threat for trophies…they’ve made some long-game acquisitions over the last 18 months, who should come good next year and beyond, so if they can shore up their midfield and find a consistent CB partner for DVD, the future looks bright

Chelsea—regardless of the coach in charge, as I’m not convinced Potter will survive the off-season, they will invaribaly return to prominence, as they have the financial wherewithal to compete with any and all comers…although the results have not been forthcoming this season, they have done exactly what I had hoped we had done when Arteta was hired, invest heavily in young blue chippers, then allow them to grow with the bevy of talented in-house up-and-comers…they might be two years away from competing for the title, but with the right tactician they should eventually present serious problems for everyone in the PL for years to come

United—I’m a big proponent of what ten Hag’s brings to the managerial table and I find it difficult to not see his squad make strides every season, so long as they continue to find creative ways to score goals, which means they can’t afford to lose Rashford unless they find a like-for-like replacement…if they’re able to raise some funds through the selling off of some players in the summer, like Harry, Elanga, McTominay, among others, and a new ownership group emerges, who spends anything like Chelsea, I think Hag will be able to acquire his most preferred targets…if these things transpires, they will undoubtedly complete their transition from pretender to contender

Newcastle—they’re a rather interesting experiment, in that they have the resources, but not the requisite cachet to lure top, top talent, at least not quite yet…I don’t mind Howe, but they might have to make a big splash in the managerial market in order to change this narrative…in the meantime though, they will continue to play good enough defence to challenge for the top 4-6, but they will struggle to find the required amount of goals to turn the proverbial corner, unless Isak continues to stay healthy and score with the kind of frequency he’s displayed since his return from injury

Spurs—they could be on the outside looking in, especially if they decide to hold a fire sale and offload the likes of Kane and Son…that said, if they do hire the aforementioned Nagelsmann, their downturn could be relatively short-lived, as he’s proven his ability to turn things around in short order, regardless of whatever transpired prior to his arrival

furthermore, every season a team or two emerges who vastly overachieves and negatively impacts the aspirations of those who were considered early season favourites…for a perfect example one needs to look no further than the likes of BHA, who not only survived a managerial change, they actually have thrived in it’s wake…if there isn’t a mass exodus of sorts at Brighton, they could be a real thorn in the sides of those mentioned above

so we better make hay before this incredibly fortuitous window closes…not to mention, if we find a way to hold off the likes of City, it just might allow us to shake our almost two decade long medicocrity-laced narrative thereby allowing us to attract the kind of players needed for us to remain relevant over the long haul…Cheers

Cool post TRVL – it should have been todays LIR post, Ambarish? Can’t disagree with anything you said.

More than happy to make it an independent post under TRVL name if he allows me .

TRVL – Cryto-nomicoin arrived today and looks very interesting.

A well written and crafted disaster movie Book is Rogue Wave US version or The Tsunami Count Down by Boyd Morrison .https://boydmorrison.com/books/standalones/#1 By the look of it a pale imitation of the genre compared to Neal Stephenson.

Tony–Neal doesn’t mess around, he goes to lengths others simply wouldn’t dare…hope you enjoy

Ambarish–sorry about the delayed response but as I’m situated overseas I rarely get on LIR until at least 10am EST…as for my post, it’s really up to you bud…Cheers