Jenko#4

This probably should go in the book thread, but I definitely recommend reading 'Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen' by Christopher McDougall. It is based around a tribe of Mexicans with the ability to run ultra distances, but it also goes into detail about how the human body has actually evolved to be primed for running long distances, and that a majority of the population are not utilizing it to its full capacity. It also has a good section on how current running shoes are actually bad for running, and that injuries such as plantar fascitis and achilles tendonitis have actually increased in occurrence since the launch of cushioned shoes, as they over-correct everything that you do and stop you from running in the natural way that your body has evolved to. Even execs at top sports manufacturers have acknowledged that their cushioned shoes do this, but do not shout about it due to the money they make from these shoes. There is also no recognized research available to prove that their shoes prevent injuries either. (I read this part about 5 days after spending stupid money on a new pair of trainers!  )

I guarantee that if you read it, then the first thing you will want to do is go for a long run!

He can drink all of the vodka in Russia for all I care, as long as he helps us get up to mid-table next season.

Exactly this, however I can guarantee that if we do finish mid-table there will still be certain fans and media saying that we should have finished in the Europa League if Jack wasn't pished all the time!! 

Do we know when the photo was taken? Is this a separate incident after the passing out one, or is this the reason he passed out in the previous photos? For all we know, he has had one mad day on the vodka and passed out in the road, but the way the press will portray it is that these are separate incidents and that he is the new Gazza and out getting smashed every night.

 

Best:

                         1)Bosnich

 

2)Delaney 4)Mellberg 5)McGrath 3)Wright

 

                   6)Barry     7)Taylor

10)Merson                                  11)Milner

 

                  8)Angel   9)Saunders

 

 

 

Worst:

                    1) Enckleman

 

2) Watson  5)Dunne  6)Tiler  3)Bennett

 

               4)Sidwell   7)Ireland

10)N'Zogbia                     11)Thompson

 

           8)Fashanu   9)Helenius

 

Dunne in the worst 11? Get out of town! He's not our best number 5 ever, but he's nowhere near our worst. Certainly better than our current number 5. 

 

When I think of Bosnich, he's number 13 for me. Don't associate him as number 1. 

 

That was the only difficult decision for me. Our number 5's in the Premier League era were McGrath, Ehiogu, Alpay, Laursen, Dunne, and Okore. I was never a fan of Dunne, and didn't think he was worth the money we were paying him (the drinking story where he apparently abused Sid didn't do him any favours either), whereas I've always liked the others and they always seemed to be Villa through-and-through (until Ugo went all big-time on us and Alpay lost the plot).

Bozzie wore number 1 for 4 years before he went to United as well, but yeah, the moments you associate him with (Tranmere etc) he was wearing 13.

Best:

                         1)Bosnich

2)Delaney 4)Mellberg 5)McGrath 3)Wright

                   6)Barry     7)Taylor

10)Merson                                  11)Milner

                  8)Angel   9)Saunders

Worst:

                    1) Enckleman

2) Watson  5)Dunne  6)Tiler  3)Bennett

               4)Sidwell   7)Ireland

10)N'Zogbia                     11)Thompson

           8)Fashanu   9)Helenius

72 appearances 25 goals- some of which were very, very important. Although the end of his time at Villa was painful, for him to score better than 1 in 3 overall is still a good achievement in my eyes considering some of the ultra defensive football we played whilst he was here. He never disrespected Aston Villa, and despite the huge outlay on him, he is probably one of the main reasons we are currently sat in the Premier League.

Good Luck in the future...

Two p**sed off drivers, an engine made of chocolate with limited tokens to improve it, no title sponsor, and a car that at times has been really dangerous to drive.They have been through reasonably bad spells before (the Ford/Peugeot cars in the mid-90's), but have always had the talent to maximise the car and pick up results. They now have two world champions that are struggling to keep ahead of two rookies in a year old Marussia.

 I have no doubt they will mount a comeback, but once Button and Alonso's contracts are up, are they going to be able to attract the right drivers to make the most of it? If you look at the young talent on the grid now (Bottas, Sainz, Kvyat etc) would any of them see a move to McLaren as being a positive career move at the moment? 

The race was dull today, the Ericsson Massa overtake was a phenomenal bit of driving from both parties though. 

Just how, with one of the biggest budgets in racing, and Honda, with all their decades of expertise in manufacturing managed to make a car that is as reliable as the Grenada I had when i passed driving test.

Yep, and it sounds like Alonso is now fed up of towing the line. The in-car rant he had over the radio was basically two fingers up to McLaren/Honda/Dennis, and has basically meant that any 'positive' PR that comes out of McLaren now will be taken with an even bigger pinch of salt than it has before. They are in a mess.....

Some posh twonk sat next to me on the train today was talking to his mate about the new office building he is working in. He described it as 'fairly epic'. Surely something is either epic or not, or are there grades of epicness that I'm not aware of?

1. Guzan                                     - Keep (Starter unless anyone better is available)

2. Baker                                      - Keep (Squad)

4. Vlaar                                       - Keep (Squad-Unless he wants more money)

5. Okore                                      - Keep (Starter)
6. Clark                                       - Keep (Starter)
7. Bacuna                                    - Keep (squad)
8. Cleverley (LOAN)                    - Keep (by any means possible)

9. Sinclair                                    - Keep (squad/starter)
10. Weimann                              - Sell (not good enough)

11. Agbonlahor                           - Keep (because no one else would have him!)
12. Cole                                      - Sell
13. Steer                                     - Keep(3^rd choice)
14. Senderos                              - Sell
15. Westwood                             - Keep (squad)
16. Delph                                    - Keep (starter)
18. Richardson                            - Keep (backup/utility man only)
20. Benteke                                - Keep (by any means possible)
21. Hutton                                   - Sell (as long as we get someone better in)

22. Gardner                                - Keep (give him til Xmas to try and prove himself

23. Cissokho                               - Keep (squad)
24. Sanchez                                - Keep (squad)
25. Gil                                         - Keep (but think he will go)
27. Kozak                                    - Keep (deserves another chance)
28. N'Zogbia                               - Sell (To much wages for no end product)
29. Hepburn-Murphy                  - Keep and Loan
31. Given                                    - Sell (2^nd choice keeper shouldn’t earn 50k a week)
34. Lowton                                  - Keep and Loan
39. Calder                                   - Keep and Loan
40. Grealish                                 - Keep (starter)

??. Bennett                                -Keep (give him til Xmas)

??. Tonev                                - Sell

??, Luna                                  -Sell

??. Helenius                              -Sell

I have Guzan, Clark, Okore, Delph, Cleverley, Benteke , Grealish as starters, meaning by my reckoning we need a first choice Left Back, Right Back, Defensive Midfielder and another number  10/wide man (unless Cleverley doesn’t sign, and Benteke goes)  I would like to see Bennett given another chance at LB though, as I think Lamberts ultra-defensive mentality didn’t suit him at all first time round.

Last time i tried to start running i just found it incredibly boring. How do you guys get the motivation to do it?

I was the same until I got myself a GPS watch and started analyzing my running a bit more. I now run twice a week, once during the week over 5k where I try to beat my previous weeks time, and once at the weekend where I try to increase my previous weekends distance without stopping. I'm not the quickest or the fittest, but actually seeing your improvement on the computer screen in front of you will push you to go on. Just make it a little competition with yourself.

I've also tried to fit an event in when I get to a distance landmark. The first time that I ever ran 10km was during the Birmingham 10k last month, and as my stamina improves I'm looking for a 10 mile event to break my distance record in. Then who knows, half marathon and full marathon.......

I don't think i have ever seen a bad River Plate shirt. They are always awesome.

 

I wonder if Tim is planning something for Wembley similar to what Big Ron did with Graham Fenton in the 1994 Cup Final? 

Fenton played in the semi-final 2nd leg against Tranmere too scored a penalty in the shoot-out

 

I completely forgot about that, did he start the semi? I always though his first start for us was in the final? Back to Green though, I don't know too much about the kid, but based on the above reviews he is quick, direct and full of energy. Perfect to harass a certain ball playing, lightweight midfield and turn defence into attack very quickly. Sherwood wouldn't, would he??

I wonder if Tim is planning something for Wembley similar to what Big Ron did with Graham Fenton in the 1994 Cup Final? 

What about pearl jam?

Yellow & Corduroy?? That would be horrific!!   

I've created my own pair of Converse and the missus has ordered them for my birthday........hopefully i'll get them before the FA Cup Final!

Something a bit different....

 

The thing is, has he ever actually played well as a wide midfielder for us?

I know he hasn't had many games there, but the only good performances I can remember from him (and there are enough of them) have all come as a full back.

I agree, he should be played as a right back, even if he really isn't one.

 

Yep, i'd keep him at right back. This may sound strange but I think moving him further forward diminishes his attacking threat.

Opposition left midfielders don't seem to have the ability to track his runs from deep and he always ends up in acres of space, as the fullback is usually occupied. If you push him forward you are pretty much handing him over to the fullback and making his job of delivering quickly into the box twice as difficult.

Re Livermore, If we manage to convince Cleverly to sign up then I can't see us signing more than one central midfielder (and think Luongo is more of a realistic target) as we already have

 

Delph (1st choice)

Cleverly (1st choice)

Westwood (rotation)

Sanchez (rotation)

Gardner (rotation/back up)

Sylla (rotation/back up) - although could be sold

Herd (rotation/back up) - although could be sold/released

 

I'm not including the likes of Grealish, N'Zogbia, Gil, Sinclair (and Tonev) who would operate further forward.

 

Left back is still a priority as I can't see Cissokho adapting to Sherwood's style of play, although I think he is our most capable defender in that position. Who knows, maybe Luna or Bennet (remember them!?!) will adapt better and suit our current style?

 

I think we should also look for another striker and move Weimann on - out of all our current squad, Weimann hasn't picked up in performance under TS whilst everyone else arguably has.

 

However, we could also use Robinson as our No.4 striker with Benteke (think we will keep him for another year), Gabby and Kozak ahead of him (not to mention Hepburn-Murphy)

 

I would like Sinclair to sign on permanently too, so we'd be pretty well stocked for AM's (Sinclair, N'Zogbia, Grealish, Cole, Gil etc) who can all offer something.

 

As for centre backs, we may need one more if Vlaar does indeed go. I think Baker, Clark and Okore have aquitted themselves brilliantly this season when called upon and all are maturing into decent centre halves but I still think we need a leader at the back (Clark is definately one of those though!) with experience.

 

So for me, it's a possible left back, centre back (unless Vlaar signs), sign up Cleverly and Sinclair and maybe a forward!

This is pretty much what I would go with as well, unless we get into Europe. If that happens and we are relying on Clark/Baker/Gabby and potentially Vlaar playing every Thursday-Sunday-Thursday then we will have problems. In terms of numbers we are probably okay, but in terms of quality definitely not....

The winner gets a pint of beer, who's this

Facundo Sava?

Most get by with 4 with a sort of Herd utility style player or youth one filling the void as a 5th.

 

Arsenal- Kos, Mertasacker, Gabriel, Monreal = 4.

 

Liverpool- Skrtel, Sakho, Kolo Toure, Emre Can = 4.

 

Chelsea- Terry, Cahill, Zouma, Ivanovic = 4.

 

Man. United- Rojo, Smalling, Jones, Evans, Blackett, McNair 4 + 2 youth products.

 

Southampton = Alderwielder, Yoshida, Gardos, Fonte = 4.

 

Spurs = Kaboul (exiled), Dier, Vertonghten, Fazio.

 

Man. City- Kompany, Demichels, Mangala, Sagna.

 

So just the top 7 but most get by with three out and out CBs with a full back covering the void or in Man. United's case promoting two youth products.

 

The problem for us has always been Vlaar and Baker get at least 2 injuries per season that keep them out for a month so we always need four as a minimum plus Okore had been out for a full year also going into this season.

 

Would help if Vlaar's replacement isn't made of glass.

Liverpool have also got Lovren, Spurs have Chiriches, Man City have Boyata, and Arsenal have Chambers. I would say most teams do have 5, but they definitely don't need to use them as frequently as we seem to.

Clark= 22 Premier League starts this season

Okore=18

Vlaar=14

Baker=7

Senderos=7

 

Google for the man in seat 63 - loads of train info

This. Apart from it's 'Seat 61'

Amazing web-site contains extensive information on practically any train route possible all from first hand experience of 'the man in seat61'. He's a British guy as well.

 

Yep, this is the place to go for info. I went to Berlin on the train a couple of months back (via Brussels and Cologne) and everything on the website is spot on. The German DB trains are really smart as well, they make the Eurostar look like the number 11 bus. 

3 trains, loads of beer, and 10 hours of pretty much uninterrupted Football Manager, my idea of bliss! Travelling back the same way with a stinking hangover wasn't so nice though.....

My concern with him is after a bit of success he will leave without batting an eye lid as it's team Sherwood.He just doesn't seem the type to hang around. Could be wrong but let's see.

If things do go to plan and he does bring success to Villa (which I personally think he will) where would he leave us to go though? He seems a bit too maverick for one of Chelsea, Arsenal or the two Manchester clubs, and I can't see Levy having the balls to change his mind at Spurs. I think he thrives on being the underdog to a certain degree and that 'plucky old' Villa is the perfect fit for him. There are not many bigger clubs that us that he can manage in the way he wants to.

I thought he was top class today, maybe the offers aren't forthcoming for the summer and he is looking for a new contract?