Mails: Giggs, Gerrard, journeymen, dogs…

Matt Stead

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365 and have an okay weekend.

 

Defending Giggsy
When I first read the news of Stevie G and MK Don’t, Giggs immediately came to mind, he was a man willing to work to earn his credentials instead of expecting to walk into any major club because he was a great player. So I was not surprised with the mails from DC, BAK and Miguel Sanchez.

However, when I look at the position Giggs was at, player coach, then assistant coach with the promise of the big job in 3 years, I can understand fully what Giggs is doing. Giggs was almost in, if LVG gets a point more, united finish 4th and Giggs only has to sit out the final year. Giggs is still on the thoughts of many of us United fans, with some suggesting he couldn’t do a worse job than Mourinho( he could). What Giggs is doing is biding his time, waiting to see how Mourinho’s tenure works out. If it goes tits up, as its looking to be going at the moment, Giggs will be first in line.

What if Giggs takes on the sh*te Swansea job, and fails to deliver, he will be tarnished forever and he can forget ever landing the big job. Just look at his brother on Sky sports, lauded as the next big manager, now everything he says, is shrugged away, like he has no idea what he is saying. All that said, I believe by not acting, Giggs is taking the next best possible route. A cowardly route, but a route with little risk and great promise.
Dave(Giggs will be worse than Moyes, but he is Welsh, so its all well) Somewhere

 

Surely it’s obvious why Steven Gerrard has written himself off for the Liverpool job at this early stage?

He has absolutely no chance of getting it! I love the man, but the last thing he’d want is an amazing manager like Klopp to leave Liverpool, he has no reason to believe he’d do better. I’m sure he would want Liverpool to do better under Klopp than worse under himself, and would hate to see Klopp out for himself then drop down the table. He knows he’s not ready.

In Giggsy’s self-righteous defence, he did have a bit of an argument for taking the United job (though not better than Mourinho’s). He’d managed a few games, for one, and done well. He’d sat through two cr*p managers, the club didn’t have a manager at the time, and he had reason to believe that they’d improve when he came in.

Gerrard is great, and probably would jump at the chance to be Klopp’s assistant over MK boss, but don’t think he’d be acting differently if he had been Brendan’s assistant when he got the sack.
KC (Klopp and Stevie on touch line together…)

 

Ah another lazy chairman hiring an ex-pro to boost his club’s profile. I don’t understand why ex-pro are automatically hired for top jobs and yes the championship is a top job in the coaching word. I was a professional coach for 7 years. I couldn’t find a decent job in Britain so I had to move to America and then Asia in order to fulfil my ambitions. Along the way, I met many more qualified and successful British coaches making their way. They were getting paid vast sums of money but they their dream was to move back home and start coaching in the leagues and work their way up. However none of them could even get an interview with league two club or higher.

Now we have ex-pro getting fast tracked through the Licence programs at the expense of regular coaches so they can go straight into management. These pros have spent 15 years at elite level kicking a ball. Regular coaches have spent the same 15 years studying coaching and practising their skills everyday in real life. In the lower league, the same managers get fired and hired all year in the management merry-go-round yet there is very few injections of new blood. If anything, the leagues show us that the top managers are the ones who had little or no top flight football experience (jose,arsense,alex).

If clubs really want to change their fortunes, then they should start doing proper homework on their managerial candidates and how they coach day-to-day.
Peter Murphy (being Jose’s assistant for 1 year guarantees you 3 chances at managerial jobs) 

 

It’s all very well saying Giggs should go and manage in the lower leagues but there are a series of former United players that have done that with reasonable success and have no chance of getting the job.

Strachan, Bruce, Hughes – heck even Keane have all managed lesser clubs to United and never seem to be in the conversation when United are discussing their next manager.

I’m not saying Giggs should not go out and learn his trade – I’m just saying even if he does surely there are some former players that should be ahead of him in the queue to be the next manager but maybe not Keane – however hilarious that would be for the rest of us.
Graham Simons, Gooner, Norf London

 

How do you get the United job?
How does an ex-Manchester Utd get to be Manchester United manager? Ryan Giggs was Assistant Manager for three years but was nowhere near when the job came up again in the summer. He was told that you had to get experience as a manager.

Steve Bruce has proved himself to be a superb manager having achieved multiple promotions to the top flight and kept teams there. Mark Hughes has done great jobs at Blackburn and Stoke and a decent job at Manchester City and Wales. Mike Phelen is another ex-Utd player in the Premier League. Any of these going to get the gig? I doubt it. At least 25 ex-Fergie players (Aberdeen and Utd) are out there as managers but once you have dipped your toe in Wigan, Cardiff or Huddersfield are you likely to ever get Utd?

Steven Gerrard is being congratulated for going for the MK Dons job, but let’s say he turns them around and keeps them in League One or even gets them into the Championship does anyone realistically believe that this means he could be given the reins at Liverpool? It is almost inevitable that managers at these clubs get bogged down and that can be a reputation gone in a flash.

I think I know the only answer and it is the least palatable for those in the English game- go abroad. Red Nev got the job at Valencia, I am sure someone would give Giggs an equal chance.
Micki Attridge

 

Southgate? Really?
This has probably already been said, but I really don’t get why Southgate is getting so much positive press. An unimpressive win against Malta, a lucky draw against Slovenia, one of the luckiest 3-0 wins I’ve seen against Scotland & a 2-2 draw against Spain in a meaningless friendly. His team selection & substitutes during this time have also been questionable to put it politely.

There also seems to be some sort of myth that he did well with the U21s. Qualifying well, finished bottom of the Euro group.. oh wait now I see, that does sound like England’s sort of thing.

I didn’t even mention his club management.

Is this seriously the best we can do or are the powers that be just too lazy to look properly?
Rich (Leeds)

 

That’s the ticket
Rory in this mornings mailbox raised the point that Premier League clubs could, to take his point even further, pretty much let people in for free and still print money thanks to the TV deal. This is undoubtedly true and would appeal to the many millions who are priced out of live Premier League football.

But I don’t follow a Premier League team. I follow my local non-League team (AFC Telford, thanks for asking) and we rely massively on gate receipts. As do teams up and down the country who aren’t currently suckling at Sky’s bottomless teat. We have a hard enough time convincing people to pay £14 for tier 6 football (it is too much clearly, but that’s a mail for another day) without suddenly having the top 20 teams in the country offering similar, or lower, gate prices. We are lucky to pick up floating fans of bigger clubs who either can’t afford to go every week or don’t go to away games due to cost. If ticket prices dropped overnight, we’d lose all of that much needed additional income as there would be no need to pick and choose games.

There may be benefits to clubs outside the elite that I’m not seeing but on the face of it, I think it would hurt a lot of clubs in the long run.
Dave, AFC Telf…oh, I’ve already said that.

 

Quick response to Rory (Glasgow) who has wandered down the well-trodden path of complaining about ticket prices.

There was an excellent mail a while ago which explained why tickets remained at such a high price. It essentially came round to the old adage of supply and demand. If tickets to United v Arsenal this weekend were capped at twenty quid then every man,woman and child in Manchester would be clamoring to get them. This would ironically mean many die hard supporters would not be able to get their hands on them due to every casual football fan in Manchester deciding to go.

Yes, tickets are expensive. But with season tickets, payment plans, direct debits and concessions available many tickets are also very affordable. Personally, the cost of travel to away games is of far bigger concern to me and without wanting to go full Jeremy Corbyn on everybody, train companies are often the real villain in this piece.

Please could someone dig up the email i’m referring to as it expressed this point far, far better.
JC ( F**k you Branson) NUFC

 

Journeymen
Please allow me to ask the esteemed mailbox to finally settle the definition of a journeyman footballer so I can once again take pleasure in the exploits of much traveled, do a job-ers such as Steve Claridge, Chris Kamara, Marcus Bent and Ade Akinbiyi once again.

Recent pub conversations have seen suggestions that nomadic strikers Sheringham, Anelka and Rivaldo are journeymen due to an overwhelming wanderlust despite hitting amazing club and international heights.  Conversely others have used the American interpretation of a steady pro (dependable without excelling) of Tony Hibbert or Mark Noble who can surely only be considered one-club men?

Whilst gone are the days of big clubs making these kind of signings (Les Sealey and David Speedie anyone?), does the Mailbox have any particular favourite journeymen to share on a cold Friday?
Dan (10+ Sunday league teams, never hit any heights but always put in a shift), LTFC

 

Canine dilemma
So Degsy‘s mate Darren would take Sunderland to win one (probable 6pt relegation) match if it meant his dog had to die.

Would Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham fans ‘prefer’ their own canine demise as oppose a long-awaited title crowning? I’ve not included Chelsea, Man City/United as they have all won relatively recently. But of course they can consider this dilemma as well, maybe substituting CL success instead? In fact what about any trophy-starved fan, say FA cup glory for Chris (ITFC), Ed QtR, any e.g. Colchester fan?!

Personally I’d find it a horrible horrible choice and would reluctantly have to forego the title!! Sorry Jurgen, have always considered dogs as an essential part of the family! ?
Mike Woolrich, LFC

 

Absolutely Dyer
Whilst reading the fine post-truth Jermaine Jenas goldfish bowl article the name of former midfield dynamo Kieron Dyer unexpectedly popped up. What followed was a brilliant feeling and thought which I am sure some others must have had i.e. “He’s not still picking up a wage somewhere is he?!” If memory served he retired ages ago but I just couldn’t be sure anymore so I had to google it and make sure.

I by no means want to mock a fine player in his time who was sadly robbed of the end of his career by injuries, only being able to play 51 games in the last 7 years of his career is criminal. However, the light-hearted running jokes at the time when he would sign a new contract were quite funny and things like that are somehow part of the strange eclectic mix of oddities that makes football enjoyable. Roll on the weekend.
Parmjeet, Gravesend

 

Pint of wine
I am disappointed that you neglected to remind us Allardyce’s pint of wine in the first article of today’s mediawatch. Thankfully I am here to do just that.

Writing this has also reminded me of when you, or someone else, referred to him as a “pig in a waistcoat”. Always brings a smile to my face.
James Warren

 

Celebrity ref
Bit of an odd one, but that picture of Mike Dean in Big Weekend has made me realise how much he looks like celebrity Tranmere Rovers fan Nigel Blackwell of Half Man Half Biscuit.
David (we need 3 points off Pribram) Szmidt, Brno, Czech Rep.

 

Outfield keepers
Its Friday, and I thought I would offer a contribution to the ‘outfield players in goal’ thread. I travelled to Elland Road with my regular pals in October 1979 to see Spurs. At the time neither side were in earth shattering form, and the locals were becoming increasingly disenchanted with Jimmy Armfield as manager.

The ‘never more than a heartbeat from a card’ Paul Miller was sent off after half an hour, and rather predictably Leeds went ahead. Early in the second half (I think), things got worse for Spurs as goalkeeper Barry Daines was carried off. John Pratt came on as sub, but Glenn Hoddle put on the gloves and went between the sticks. Gerry Armstrong and Chris Jones scored for Spurs, as Spurs recorded a very unexpected victory. We were sitting in the main stand, and somehow managed to contain our glee, until we were safely back on the M1.  The final 5 – 10 minutes were played out to loud chants of “Armfield Out”.

One of my best memories of the days when you could decide to go to a match with no more planning than an early morning exchange of phone calls to arrange who was driving. I hadn’t really fancied it at first, but was very glad I went. A win at Leeds was a rarity, seeing Glenn in goal even more so. From what little I recall he made a few saves, probably enough to say he was a better keeper than he is a pundit.
Jim French (Spurs since ’59) Herts

 

Bit late to the best performance by an outfield player in goal question but at the end of the 91/92 season, Reading were playing at home to Bury (if I remember correctly) and went 1-0 down fairly early on, our keeper getting injured in the process.

We had no sub keeper, so step forward Reading legend and record goal scorer Trevor Senior to take over in goal.  He was a decent keeper and had taken over in goal a couple of times.  This day was a bit special though.  It had already been announced that this would be Trevor’s last game in a Reading shirt as he was retiring from professional football, and he went out in style.

For most of the game, his goal was bombarded but he saved everything, whilst at the other end we scored a couple to win the game.  Trevor saved his best for last in the dying minutes flying full length to tip a shot bound for the corner around the post.

At the final whistle, the traditional Elm Park pitch invasion took place and the retiring goal scoring hero was carried from the pitch by jubilant fans tossing his gloves (well the injured keepers gloves) in to melee.  Great way to end his career.
Paul (can still smell the Southbank), Germany

 

I haven’t seen this one in the mailbox yet.

I give you The Mighty Quinn, Niall. Coton gets a red. Quinn steps in net having scored one, proceeds to saves a peno! City win 2-1.

Dan, Dublin, LFC (Ozil to break the Wenger Hoodoo)

 

See?
Literally anything.

Love and hugs,
Jeremy Aves