2014/15 Transfer Speculation

Not implying anything.

But from personal experience I've seen as much and to some extent more bullying in white collar jobs. In the blue collar jobs you get called a c*nt and that's usually the end of it and I've seen punch ups which were not nice. If you keep getting called a c*nt then maybe, as I was, you're not up for to the job and it was time to look elsewhere.

White collar jobs the bullying tends to be hierarchical, gossipy, back-stabbing, passive-aggressive and sort of insidious. It also depends on the gender mix. Male dominated workplaces men tend to swear at you and can get physical. Women tend to exclude and manipulate and gossip.

Neither is very nice and are both extremely damaging. I fully expect the different types of bullying to merge as workplaces/jobs get more gender neutral.

If you think doing a good job protects you from bullying then you've been extremely fortunate in the jobs you've had.

In white collar jobs bullying from bosses is the most common from what I've read. Many managers are not as skilled or trained as they could be and take out their frustration or insecurity on the more gifted individuals below them.

I don't want to depress everyone, but perhaps Reira will come back from his injury and suck. Maybe his first season of pro football was a not-to-be-repeated fluke.

Where does Gorrin fit with Carlos gone? In front of Lia and Riera? Or alongside Riera with <insert CAM signing here> in front of them?

Without seeing him play, not sure we know. Ernie did said he was like a younger version of Riera.

I think fro what I have read he's more a deep lying playmaker so I'd expect him to play alongside Riera.

Who plays as the AM will be interesting.

Will Hicks / Rufer or Ridenton get a shot as this is all their preferred positions. Lia I think did well this year, but he lacks that creative flair.

If we get McGlinchey he is the obvious candidate, although I think he tended to work best out wide a little at CCM.

Wee Mac would be perfect for Kenny's role in that unbalanced 4-4-2, allowing Kenny to push up into the Boyd role to provide more of a goal scoring threat. I'm hoping Gorrin will be a Lia replacement.

I hope we ditch that formation and go back to a standard 4-2-3-1. That way we have more width in attack and don't get overlapped down the wings on defense. I think the only reason Ernie didn't play that formation last year is that we had no one who could play the 2nd DM role in it and no one who was suited to being a lone striker. I'm hoping Gorrin slots into the DM role besides Riera and we sign a striker to play at the pointy end. Between Kenny, Boyd, Krishna, Brockie, and Fenton we've got enough cover for the wings.

Correct, but on the flip side, awful team culture CAN cause poor results. It's not so much about having a good culture to get good results, its about making sure we don't have a shit culture which Carlos threatened to induce.

A good culture isn't the only factor in creating a winning team, but it's definitively a factor.

No coach goes into a dressing room with a good culture thinking "I need to fuck this up".

Let's sign Frank Lampard, this world cup will be his last. He'd have to take a 99% drop in wages but I dont mind. Still fairly fit.

;)

Gone through alot of fullbacks that's true. But We still conceded 49 last season and 51 this season. I'd much rather see us get in a centre back. I think boxall is quality however, and if he prefers to play as a centre back he should do. Doesn't Help that Lia doesn't know what he's doing, which got ruthlessly exposed as soon as Riera was injured.

Not sold on Fenton being a fullback - Always belived his best attribute was his dribbling, feel he'd be more effective as winger. But seeing as we have a few attacking players now if he's happy playing as a fullback then thats ok.

I don't feel Brockie should be starting. Yes two seasons ago he scored 16, but his lack of movement was an issue that was exposed this season. 42 games for the All whites and counting says it all. Boyd impressed me this season. Yes he made a few mistakes but remember he's not even 20 yet. He's fast, works hard and is good on the ball - felt he could make things happen. 

I think we can over think this no cock policy. Suggest everyone looks within their work place, do we like everyone there we work with? Is everyone happy as larry with their work mates? Yes, Carlos may have had a moan once in a while about being substituted but I don't actually mind that show of passion, as it demonstrates he cares. Yes, he may have had a moan that his club did not sort out the visas for his family and no doubt he expressed his frustrations to his team mates but you will likely find that the majority agreed with him. A team can handle one cock collectively. Where they will struggle is if they have two of them at loggerheads. That friction can ruin a team and any business. Saying all that I don't actually believe Carlos warrants the cock title. Passionate - yes, different - yes, frustrating at times but not a cock.

If team spirit was that important they wouldn't have wanted to keep Carlos (which Merrick has said they did)! 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-2292434/Team-spirit-compared-actual-talent--Martin-Samuel.html

I tell you what though, makes the off season a lot more exciting!

Never admit failure find a way to look good. 

Ernie didn't play with width at the Victory, so can't see him doing the same here. I thought the formation was very fluid and was really effective with Riera, it was some of the best football we have played.

We definitely played some really nice football with Riera in that formation, I just think that 4-2-3-1 allows a lot more flexibility. You can easily make it more of a 4-3-3 if you need to chase the game or a 4-5-1 if you're defending a lead. If the full backs push forward the 2 DMs can cover the space. The wide attacking players can tuck in to give more options in the middleof the park or drift wide to stretch the opposition, and on defense if the oppositionfullbacks overlap you'vegot an extra wide player to mark them. I just think it just gives you more options to adapt to the game and play a mobile fluid style than the 4-3-1-2/4-1-2-1-2 we were playing.

http://www.football365.com/premier-league/9310722/Transfer-news-Joe-Cole-has-left-West-Ham-and-plans-to-find-new-club

"At this stage of my career, finances are not important for me. I want to enjoy my football, I want to compete and I just want to play more."

Work those new West Ham contacts Ernie.

Not a bad shout actually - bit similar to the position Ifill was in when he came here. (both promising players who never really reached their peak because a string of bad injuries, on the outers, has tried his luck at a bunch of English clubs and may want a change)

He's a bit 'special' isn't he?

Think he'd get snapped up by MLS first, a faintly obscure league with oil wealth second, if he did get over here it would be one of the "better funded" clubs of the Ah league.

China - money coming out their ....

Probably true, seems a bit of a high maintenance player at times. Still, nice to dream.

But by the end of the season that same approach saw us receive a string of heavy defeats. Yes, injuries and suspensions were the main reason for that but I also think that other teams worked out how to counter it - by defending narrow, drawing our fullbacks further up the pitch and counterattacking at speed. That Victory game might have even been the catalyst for teams to study us more and think about how to deal with our approach.

 

No doubt that formation was the best way to play with the players available at the time, but will it still be next year? And if you're planning an approach for next year now, do you want to build a team with those tactics in mind or do you want to try to implement a new tactical plan and recruit players for it? And in terms of fluidity and adaptability, I think 4-2-3-1 is the way to go, which is largely the reason why it has become the dominant formation in global football in recent years - because it is an inherently flexible approach built around a solid core of 4 players - the CBs and DMs. If those players can provide a defensive cover and retain possession effectively the rest of the team can be very flexible in their shape and roles. For me the 4-3-1-2 is more limiting on the team.

 

A striker and a no 10, one visa spot available, have to do better than Carlos and Stein

Looking forward to this

Some fair points in there but explain the difference between ManU this season and last? And Liverpool this season and last?

Much the same teams as last season but a very different culture in both dressing rooms, and winning wasn't the trigger - ManU were awful from day one off the back of a winning season, Liverpool were excellent from day one off the back of a not-so-good season.

You are the expert. Don't keep us in suspense. What is the difference between Man U and Liverpool this season and last?

Read the post you quoted Einstein.

If 10 sides have equal talent and equal coaching, someone has to win. Surely team culture would make the difference in that instance?

You may have a point on coaching with Moyes vs Fergie, but I just can't accept that team culture cannot breed winning. 

I amazed anyone noticed :-)

McKain gone from Adelaide. Anyone else think that a second stint at the Nix alongside Riera in the midfield would work? Or are the two of them too similar?

Some newly-released players:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostolos_Vellios

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Hoskins

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Orlandi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_N'Gog

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leroy_Lita

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgios_Samaras

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81lvaro_V%C3%A1zquez

Samaras wouldn't fit ernies style of play I suspect. 

Lita would be good.