Paul Lambert resigned from Wycombe yesterday. Rumour is that he’s heading north to take over at Motherwell because the further rumour is that McGhee is leaving Motherwell to take over at Hearts.
Coppell committed his future to Reading yesterday.
I think the McGhee rumour’s a bit strange. He’s guaranteed UEFA Cup football next season with the Mothers and this season Aberdeen showed that if you can overcome the first round and get into the group stages then you can take some good scalps despite the gulf in finances. Meanwhile, Romanov is an utter nutter and the list of managers he’s sacked surely should make McGhee think twice before going there.
Yeah I don’t understand the logic much either. Hearts are a bigger club with a bigger fanbase but at the moment they’re definitely not a side you’d want to manage. Motherwell have had a cracking season and they’re not losing any of their players that I can think of so they should be decent again next season.
Yer man Ross McCormack’s signed for Wigan on a Bosman but McGhee’s been phasing him out of the team lately and they haven’t suffered results wise.
What’s the story elsewhere?
Is Ancelotti staying or are all these Milan signings being made above his head?
Barca? Is Pep Guardiola assuming full control in place of Riijkard or are they looking to hire another more experienced coach?
Apparently Cryuff made a decision that Mourinho wasn’t wanted and that Guardiola will be taking over as manager.
According to the last papers I read Ancelotti is staying at Milan alright. And it does look like Guardiola will assume full control at Barca.
Milan Mandaric has sacked Ian Holloway at Leicester City after their relegation to League 1.
It’s something like the 5th or 6th manager they’ll have got rid of in the past 18 months.
Neil Lennon is being linked with the role given his years playing there.
Motherwell turned down an approach from Hearts yesterday evening to speak with Mark McGhee. They’ll probably come back with an improved compensation offer.
Mourinho to return to Chelsea?
Apparently he has ben spotted having chats with Abramovich
[quote=“farmerinthecity”]Mourinho to return to Chelsea?
Apparently he has ben spotted having chats with Abramovich[/quote]
Can’t see it myself Farmer, think Jose is way to proud/arrogant to go back there.
You never know…
Who would have thought Keane would have joined up with Quinn at Sunderland…
[quote=“farmerinthecity”]You never know…
Who would have thought Keane would have joined up with Quinn at Sunderland…[/quote]
Fair point, but maybe that’s the one time when pigs did sprout wings… He’s meant to be a shoo in for Inter
Think there is something in Jose’s mentality that will not do the conventional…
Not saying it will happen but it’s an interesting story nonetheless…
Avram Grant has been sacked.
Average Grant is gone. What a shame.
Avram Grant has been sacked by Chelsea, on the day Jos Mourinho broke his long silence on his successor at Stamford Bridge by criticising the Israeli’s failure to win a single trophy. The Portuguese went on to suggest that the football philosophy of his successor is that of ‘a loser’.
Mourinho’s exclusive interview with The Observer comes as it is revealed that Roman Abramovich made the Portuguese manager the extraordinary gift of a limited edition Ferrari worth more than 2million, in the immediate aftermath of Grant’s debilitating Carling Cup final loss to Tottenham.
February’s defeat was one of three final-day failures, culminating in Wednesday’s Champions League Final loss to Manchester United. The Israeli coach had his contract terminated last night.
Asked if Chelsea’s campaign had been the good one Grant depicted it as, Mourinho said: 'That depends on your philosophy of leadership. In my philosophy it was a very bad one because in football “almost” means defeat and Chelsea almost won the Carling Cup, almost won the Champions League, and almost won the Premier League. Almost is nothing.
‘After two titles per season for the last three years there were zero titles this season, which in my philosophy means a really bad season. Maybe in the philosophy of a loser this was a great season, which I respect.’
Mourinho was in regular contact with Abramovich and several of his former players ahead of the Champions League final and was quick to commiserate with them after their defeat on penalties in Moscow. He told the Russian billionaire that Chelsea would not continue to suffer the misfortune that also cost them two previous European Cup semi-finals to Liverpool.
‘The best team lost the Champions League final, like last season the best team lost the Champions League semi-final,’ Mourinho said. 'That is football. I have always said that details make the difference at this level - and luck is a really big detail.
'I am very sad about what happened. In the last two years this team lost a Champions League final and a Champions League semi-final on penalties. The supporters deserve more, Roman and the board deserve more, top people like [Frank] Lampard, [Michael] Essien, [Claude] Makelele, Ashley [Cole], Didier [Drogba], [Ricardo] Carvalho, [and coaches] Steve Clarke, Mick McGiven and some others deserve happiness. I still think of them as my boys.
‘Yes, I was sad. Yes, I felt deeply that it was not fair. But I believe that after an empty season new success will come to Chelsea. And I will always be a Chelsea supporter.’
The chances of Mourinho returning as Chelsea manager have increased significantly in recent weeks. Mourinho was astounded when Chelsea director Eugene Tenenbaum called in February to inform him that Abramovich had purchased a rare Ferrari for the man he had removed from Stamford Bridge five months previously.
Customised specially for Mourinho, the 612 Scaglietti was one of just 60 produced to commemorate Ferrari’s 60th anniversary. While still at Chelsea, Mourinho had told Abramovich that if he could have his choice of cars, the four-seat Scaglietti would be it. The list price is around 250,000, but such is its rarity the secondary-market value is as much as eight times that amount.
Abramovich’s gift was made at a time at which he had begun to consider replacing Grant as manager, with Mourinho’s name raised as a potential appointment. While such a move appears more feasible now that Grant has gone, sources close to the Portuguese coach say that he is too close to taking a position in Italy for it to happen this close season, although they do not rule it out in the future.
Mourinho is likely to take over from Roberto Mancini at Internazionale and may sign a contract with the Serie A club this week. He has already drawn up plans for next season and is likely to take striker Didier Drogba with him to Italy.
Grant has agreed a 5.2m pay-off from Chelsea. Although bookies were offering odds on as many as 10 different managers to be the Israeli’s successor, the favourites are former Barelona coach Frank Rijkaard, Guus Hiddink and Sven-Goran Eriksson.
Chelsea have been involved in secret conversations with Hiddink, whose position as Russia’s national coach is not as secure as has been presented. The Dutchman has a provisional contract to coach Russia until the 2010 World Cup, but that will not be ratified until after Euro 2008 and senior figures in the Russian Football Union are unimpressed by the team’s qualification campaign. Vitaly Mutko, newly appointed sports minister and head of the Russian Football Union, said: ‘We will evaluate his work after the European Championship.’ Although his salary is funded by the Chelsea owner, Hiddink has previously resisted invitations to manage the club for personal reasons.
Eriksson, who was approached about the Stamford Bridge post before Mourinho replaced Claudio Ranieri in 2004, is due to meet Chelsea officials next week after he is formally dismissed by Manchester City. The Swede had been linked with a return to his former club Benfica, but the Lisbon side have appointed Quique Snchez Flores. The Spaniard was sacked by Valencia last October.
Guus Hiddink’s agent has said that his man will be remaining on as Russian coach until the 2010 World Cup. I doubt the other names mentioned for the Chelsea job like Mancini, Eriksson and Riijkard would concern supporters of Manchester United and the other big teams in England.
McGhee is rejecting Hearts and signing a new deal with Motherwell.
i see mark hughes is being linked with chelsea…would be a big step up for him but i think he would do a smashing job…gets little or no credit for what he did with wales and is doing with blackburn despite having fuck all money…made some great signings samba mccarthy santa cruz gamst pederson to name a few…dont know if he would be high profile enough for abramovich…
Roberto Mancini’s agent has been claiming since last night that he’s been sacked by Inter but there’s been no statement by the club to verify this yet. That leaves the door open for Mourinho to take over there if reports are true, with Mancini himself being linked with Chelsea.
I don’t know why he’s drawing things out for so long but Shinawatra is reported to be finally ready to sack Eriksson and Sven’s said to be taking the Mexican national team job.
The Irish Times is carrying a story about Roy Keane being linked to Chelsea - not a chance of that having any substance…