Cjay

Here i am

I agree they should, if people are going to get so upset about something then make sure it cant happen again. My point really the whole time has been just the hypocrisy of the whole situation, thats whats annoyed me more then anything. Today Tony Pulis openly admitted that in the past he would call up mates at opposition clubs or local press to gather information on his opponents, just casually in a press conference when asked about Bielsa. Thats not newsworthy, not even mentioned, Pulis openly admits it in a press conference and nobody cares, thats cheating, thats worse then what Bielsa did. If Bielsa said that it would be all over Sky Sports. I think the whole affair has reeked of xenophobia from the start. Was bielsa wrong, yeah i suppose morally, would it have been so newsworthy if it was Pulis, Lampard, Warnock etc, nope not imo.

Well abusing grieving 9/11 relatives the day after 9/11 is a start? Thats Lampard and Jody Morris. No need to go into examples of the questionable character of quite a few of the critics, its all online, Gary Neville of all people was very quick to round on one journalist who jumped on the bandwagon. If your going to question a mans integrity and whatever then you better be squeaky clean imo or your a hypocrite.

Good god man compared to some of the things the critics have got up to a failed drugs test is nothing. Morals go well beyond the realms of football, you cant preach morals and get upto some of the things his critics have in there private lives.

Admittedly a strange point but Bielsa has been a lot more honest then those in football who have condemned him. Personally i think its not a big deal, far worse goes on and its a mountain out of a mole hill. There are people claiming it doesnt go on in this country then admitting they take precautions, why take precautions if it doesnt go on? He also said the only reason he does it because he "is stupid". Hypocrisy is rife in football and Bielsa has exposed it, fair play to him.

Compared to some of the critics he is an absolute Saint.

Well no because that is actually illegal, which this isnt, its open to interpretation. Anyway we have an indication of clear bias in the EFL panel that makes the decision thanks to Steve Lansdown, so thats great for us, EFL got a nightmare on there hands now. I did agree it was bad manners, no more then that, after the fuss thats been made then stuff the rest.

True. But i doubt Bielsa would care if he was spied on, so just tell everyone to have at it, that way if we still beat them then they cant complain.

Pep has spoken up for Bielsa again today, very pleased he did that it does seem that Bielsa has played a bit of a blinder, he has turned the story around, turned the attention on to the hypocrisy in English football and got a lot of support from it, good man Bielsa.

First up, Guardiola was asked about the big story of the week after one of his managerial idols, Marcelo Bielsa, who coaches Leeds, admitted to spying on opponents. Does it affect Pep’s admiration for ‘El Loco’? “My respect remains the same, absolutely the same,” Pep said of Bielsa. “I admired what he has done in the past, why should I change my opinion? I know him, I would not say perfectly, but a little bit. I understand Frank Lampard too, both sides are understandable. “Barcelona was a bunker, it was impossible to see. The story is true. I saw the highlights, I didn’t see the whole press conference and no manager around the world works with the amount of information he produces for every single game and players. It is unique. What I learned from what he said is that football belongs to the players. The players make the difference.” No its not Pep, they all do it apparently, how silly of you. Glad Pep spoke up for Bielsa, means a lot more coming from him then criticism from ex players and lower league managers.

There were no pliers, ladders or binoculars, this was reported by i think one newspaper and everyone else just ran with it. No property damage, no trespassing, no police on the training ground (according to the police). Training was interrupted for a few minutes then went on again according to Carson. Fat Frank made a fuss, made untrue allegations, got schooled in public. Yes analysis is normal now but Bielsa is legendary for his attention to detail, no manager will admit it publicly but id be amazed if they go to such lengths as Bielsa does, people travel thousands of miles to watch what we saw yesterday, not your average manager either, multiple title winning managers like Conte have been spotted at one of Bielsas talks. Personally id like Bielsa to invite every Championship manager to watch us before the game, just to shut them all up.

He is sending people because he is an obsessive who gets anxiety over any possibility that he or his team has missed something. Bielsa personally analysis everything, if you read about him yes he has a team but he personally goes through everything, he is obsessive. He doesnt send scouts to learn something new, its to put HIS mind at rest, its for his own piece of mind. Far be it from me to speculate on the mans personal life and I'm not sure how to word this as respectfully as possible. Bielsa clearly has a way of doing things, an obsessive mind, compulsive behaviour. I think the scouting thing isnt about finding out things for the club its more about his own i dont know how to say it tbh. He does it because it clarifies what he already knows. I dont know how to word it tbh.

On the one hand I'm not sure how wise being so honest was. On the other hand fair play MB. This didnt have to be a big deal, we apologised, Sky kept whipping it up, unsubstantiated claims about pliers and ladders, moral compasses like Stan Collymore questioning Bielsas integrity and accusing him of cheating. So MB spends 70minutes analysing Derby in public showing every scrap of detail he has. Then ends with "i dont have to watch an opponent train to know about them, and he drops the mic on the way out. . . . Like a Boss!!!!!

We've got Jermaine Jenas giving Bielsa stick and questioning his coaching ability. Thats like the bloke who operates the deep fat fryer down your local chippy giving Gordon Ramsey a hard time. Ridiculous

Will Frank Lampard be handing back his 04/05 and 05/06 title medals? Or his 05/06 FA Cup Medal? Or his 2 League cup medals from the same period? Or the many many individual awards he got during Joses first spell at Chelsea. I only ask because its common knowledge that AVB used to sneak around spying on opposition training sessions and report back to Jose. Frank cant claim not to know this, even if you believe a senior player like Lampard wasnt told, it was in the national papers at the time. Ferguson had a helicopter fly over the City training ground before the Manchester derby. Its interesting that players at the top of the tree with titles and things are totally unbothered, Carragher, Neville, Linekar, Gazza etc, largely its the nearly men who are outraged. Football is a shady business and clubs find out information in so many different ways. Its hypocritical of Lampard who benifited from the same thing and the press who as Neville pointed out go to extreme lengths to get information, no room for them to criticise Bielsa. Should he have done it, probably not, is it totally unheard of in this country, no, 2 of the most successful managers in world football history both did it in this country. Faux outrage by hypocritical media. Fair play to those who called it out for what it was, including fans and players from both Manchester Clubs which was a shock.

Given Brentford got you to pay £12mil for Hogan few years back and Maupay has more goals and assists surely they'd want £15mil plus for him? Maybe Hogan would take Abrahms role if he goes?

Personally i found it odd that Dean Smith changed his style. You sat deeper, went long, tried to play on the break for most of the game. But your best periods were when you passed the ball to feet and pressed high like a normal Dean Smith side does. Just odd that Smith would invite pressure onto his flimsy defence. Kind of makes sense going long, beat our press but as the home side thought it was a strange choice and maybe showed us to much respect. Especially given how he referenced the Brentford Vs Leeds match just before he left, they didnt set up how you did that day at Elland Road.

Left this for a day before giving my opinion. I thought you played well first 20mins especially , looked a real threat and your goals were well worked and taken, i was fearful that this could be a WBA. We had decent control of the game first half, passing the ball well and created half decent chances but lacked a bit of clinicality which is what you had shown to take a 2 goal lead in the first place. We should have had a pen 1st half when Hutton wrestled Jansson to the ground, but were a bit fortunate to not concede a dangerous free kick very early on when Davis fouled Kodjia so hey ho. 2nd half thought you again started well and looked threatening for a bit, we took a while to get started. A great challenge from Jansson denying Kodjia and another effort from Jodjia went just over. Hasn't been mentioned much in the reports but Hernandez did brilliantly to keep the ball and find Clarke. Jack is our new golden boy, he has impressed a lot already and this moment was a matter of when. Great confidence for a lad who only turned 18 last month to run at an experienced international like Elmohamady, he fully deserved the finish at the end. And then you folded, i dont mean that disrespectfully but aside from 5 minutes late on i felt only 1 side would score again, was just whether we would score just the once. Whoever decided Hutton should mark Jansson should give there head a wobble, a warning had already happened 1st half, it was ignored and Jansson powered home an excellent Hernandez cross. Bolasie had a great chance but for reasons only known to himself he went with it with the outside of his right foot., the skill incidentally to beat 2 defenders on his own got a clap from me tbh. The winner, clearly Elmo should have done anything but what he did, couldn't let it go because Clarke was behind him but he could have headed it for a corner at least. However it started from a throw deep in our half so others are as responsible imo. Overall i think we deserved the win, you had decent spells and showed quality in your goals but our overall play was better all game really. Passing, movement, transitional play, energy etc. Defensively your a sorry state (not Smiths fault entirely) but i think his style is very gung ho and it leaves teams exposed, with your defence thats risky. Thought McGinn was excellent, Kodjia and Abraham to with Bolasie shining in moments. A lot of talk about your need for defenders but i really think you need a proper holding midfielder as much. If your going to have high pressing full backs you have to be able to switch to a back 3, to do that you need a defensive minded midfielder. Smith has a habit of prioritising ball players in midfield over steel, Ryan Woods at Brentford in the deep role, Hourihane for you, its admirable and in possession it's great but imo its a bit to expansive for this league. He tried Whelan but he is a bit old now. You need someone like Busquets, Fernandinho, Eric Dier, Wanyama etc. Obviously not that class but that type, they are there respective sides insurance policy, Busquets happens to be awesome on the ball to but first and foremost he was a defensive rock for Peps Barcelona. We have had Phillips doing that job for us, dropping into a back 3 when the full backs press high. I think that is someone you lack and that sort of player is something you desperately need imo. Grealish a huge loss clearly, you had very little control or retention in midfield Tuanzebe to undoubtedly a loss. But thats where Smith earns his coin, good coaches have to make the best of it, felt he made a few questionable tactical calls tbh. Bielsa impacted the game positively for us, bringing on Clarke, playing Hernandez central, Alioski on the right, he has done an amazing job and pur match day squad yesterday cost about the same as Kodjia for perspective. You have the best front line in the league imo with Kodjia, Abraham, Bolasie, El Ghazi, Adomah and Hogan. But your defence is a liability, needsbig investment and more power and defensive knowhow in midfield imo. Really enjoyable game i felt, result aside it was a great advert for this league, when you see some of the dross Sky have to big up as a Super Sunday game, that game infront of 40k people pisses all over a lot of Prem games in terms of atmosphere, quality and passion (there ya go Hecky and Brucey). We have a LUFC fan from Chile on our forum, this game was shown live on ESPN apparently, only 2nd division game to be broadcast there. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.

There's no need to be offensive

Yeah i have now, surprised no El Ghazi. Elmo-Bree-Chester-Hutton thats the way it will be is it? Still, Roofe was poor last game, needed Bamford to change it and now we havent got him. The other bloke who changed the game is on the bench again.

Least all your back 4 are actual defenders And you havent the only Manchester Citt Winger who is useless on your wing.

Not feeling as confident now. Cm at cb, no Bamford, no striker on the bench, our only really decent option off the bench offensively is an 18 year old. I'll take a draw now please

I am concerned, Bielsa comparing you to WBA didnt help given what happened. If you can find form then we may be in trouble just because despite our very impressive defensive record we are vulnerable like you and any team who plays the style we do. Our performances recently have been more gritty then sparkling, but gritty is ok for a spell. Its hard to predict, we have had to block the least crosses and shots for a reason, we are very good at winning the ball back high up the pitch. That being said your scoring lots of goals, you got 3 vs Boro. Just a sneaky feeling having read and looked at the highlights from Stoke, i think the loss of Grealish may be the difference. Could be totally wrong but if we can cut the supply line off to Abraham and press you high then we have a chance imo. But a draw will do lol

True, just to be 5mins or so from being practically guaranteed 1st at xmas (you would have had to beat us by 5), to needing to win at a ground that we tend to struggle at is a right kick in the baubles. They have done extremely well tbf, cant fathom how, we battered them at Carrow Road, dreadful that day.

10 of Norwichs 14 wins in the league have been by 1 goal. A lot of those goals have been very late, 80th minute and later. Sign of a good side maybe but still dont think its sustainable.