I really don't think MacLaren is good enough. Surely only a high profile manager would do? But he does have experience in the England team next to SGE so maybe he knows what has to be done.

Great - now it looks like our best player could miss the World Cup.

Yeah it didn't look good. Taken off with his foot in support and strapping in clear serious pain.

Mourinho just chucked his Premiership winners' medal into the crowd! Some guy's got a fantastic souvineer of the day.

And he threw his second one, so 2 lucky people.

Missing Persons Appeal:

louis saha , cristiano ronaldo , john o'shea , nemanja vidic were last seen at 12:30 today at stamford bridge.Their whereabouts after this point is unknown.
Any help in finding them would be greatly unappreciated.
They can stay missing.

WBA down then. Serves them right for selling Earnshaw.

well it is a sad day for me and Charlton with Curbishley going but in my heart i knew it was going to be so. He is the only Charlton manager i have known since my first game when i was 6 and it is a shame he has gone. Looking at the last load of games it is obvious his heart was no longer in it, quite negative football and with so much speculation around he must have just been wondering.
I think i am more upset about i don't know who could suceed possibly Charlton's greatest ever manager. We are a unique club, a real community club which is very close with everyone knowing everyone. We don't spend millions and have to get the best out of everything and everyone we bring in. I dont know what manager could do this job but i really am looking at Martin Allen because Brentford have been wonders and are also a community club. Rumours of Glen Hoddle and Mick McCarthy have made me sick, please no.

I feel for you, Andy. I wouldn't wish those two on any team. Apart from Millwall (the Hammer in me talking) and McCarthy has already been there .

Gentlemanly round of applause in the direction of Chelsea for their victory over us today, and in turn, becoming the second team in Premiership history to retain the trophy.

After the game, Mourinho said Man United made it difficult for his team today: fook only knows what game he was watching, we were terrible.

Rooney's not as crocked as it first seemed, which is good news, as England would be in a whole heap of trouble if he was out of Deutschland 2006.

Only this afternoon did I fully realise how woefully poor England's striking options outside Owen and Rooney are compared to the other tournament favourites (Based on that last sentence, you won’t be surprised to learn that I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about England's strikers before today).

To me, England quite clearly rely on Rooney far, far more than Brazil rely on Ronaldínho, Germany rely on Ballack, France rely on Henry and Holland rely on van Nistelrooy. That's a big worry...

Anyway, time for a hypothetical query: If Rooney was ruled out of the World Cup, and assuming that Owen is a definite memeber of Sven's final squad (hardly a leap of faith, I know), who should England's other 3 strikers be?...

I'm tempted to put a tenner on Charlton to go down next season. They've long been over-achieving with Curbhishley. They have a fairly average squad, and I'm not sure who can take over from Curbishley. Sheffield United and Reading may "do a Wigan" and be fairly comfortable mid-table, and I think Charlton could struggle. Which would be a shame.

Sorry, PFA!

quote:

Originally posted by blackandblue:
I feel for you, Andy. I wouldn't wish those two on any team. Apart from Millwall (the Hammer in me talking) and McCarthy has already been there .

Exactley blackandblue! Who wants a rival teams manager? especially milwalls!

I see where you are coming from but when we do get a new manager he will be given funds to work with. Can't expect him to take on what we have at the moment and deal with it and pick up where Curb's left off. We need a couple of midfielders (heard Zoltan Gera) a left back and maybe another centre back. Like a few clubs at the mo we are needing a transitional period to clean out the pants players and sort out some new hungry players. I like what we do with lower league players who are wanting to make a premiership impact, they have passion and drive to stay where they are. These are the sort of players we need. Not washed up lazy players who don't care about the Addicks e.g. Jeffers.
Squad needs a sorting and thats a big task for whoever comes in.

Perhaps, but I still think you could struggle.

Darren Bent has had a great season, but I don't expect him to repeat that. Kevin Phillips scored 30 in his debut season, and was never the same after that. Michael Ricketts also looked great in his first Prem season, and was awful in his second. Marcus Stewart could also be put in this category. I wouldn't be surprised if Bent did the same, though I hope he doesn't. And you do rely on him - your second top-scorer this season has 3 goals!

I think you need four or five good, solid players. Maybe you could get a couple of decent players from Birmingham? Emile Heskey may not be the most glamourous player, but he does a good job, and won't want to be in the first division. Matty Upson would be another good signing.

Andy - how about Mervyn Day? He's been involved in coaching for years now, so should have a decent enough idea of what's required. Would he fit the bill? I can't help wondering if Curbishley may have heard something from the FA - perhaps number 2 to the new man. Either that or his interviews with the FA made him realise that he wanted/needed a change of direction.

If not England, I daresay he'll be getting a phone call from Deadly Doug's Football Emporium asking if he'd like to tidy up the mess the current incumbent has made...

As for Mezz's query about the England strikers - given Sven's lack of imagination these days, I'd imagine that Darren Bent will get the job. In the circumstances, though, I'd consider taking five forwards if Owen is included. Owen could easily come a cropper, in which case relying on Crouch, Defoe and Bent to drive England to victory would be on a par with hoping Neville Chamberlain would drive England (and the rest of Britain) to victory in May 1940...

Sadly, that leaves very few options. Of the experienced players, Heskey's confidence is shot to pieces; Kevin Phillips has had a poor season and never really did it at international level; Darius Vassell has been mediocre. That leaves Robbie Fowler, who ticks various boxes apart from the 'will he last the full 90 minutes?' one. The other option is James Beattie.

Not very promising...

Younger players who could be pitched in would be Luke Moore, I suppose, or... er...

Sky News report Rooney out for 6 weeks with fractured (guess which bone it is?).

Which means that unless there's some miracle recovery he'll be unable to play in the first game of the World Cup. I doubt that there's any chance of him being at 100% for the group games (think of Beckham), and given his style of play, the risk is he'll hurt himself on his comeback.

In which case, if he goes to Germany, it would seem that he'll only really get the chance to play in the second stage - if England can manage to get there without him in the side...

I wouldn't mind Curbs at the Villa for next season - Andy, please take DOL off our hands in return.

quote:

Originally posted by .Dave.:
I can't help wondering if Curbishley may have heard something from the FA.

Or Newcastle?

Are you suggesting that something underhand may have happened?

In football, surely not.

Having said that about Bent, I wouldn't even be sure he'll stay at Charlton.
Arsenal will want to replace Bergkamp, though I doubt they'd go for Bent.
United possilby need another back-up striker, and Horseface may leave in the summer, I feel.
Chelsea 'only' have four strikers: Carlton Cole isn't used. Crespo will probably leave. Gudjohnson seems to play in midfield. Drogba's unhappy. If they want a back-up striker, they could go for Bent and he'll "do a Wright-Phillips".
Liverpool always need a striker.
Newcastle need frontmen - Shearer's gone, Owen's injury-prone and doesn't want to be there, Luque has been awful and may leave, Ameobi isn't that good.
Tottenham look like not signing Mido, and Defoe has been linked with Liverpool.

So the 6 clubs who are high-flying and who have money to spend may all be looking for a striker...as the Premiership's 3rd top-scorer, Bent could be in demand.