Howe?
Hammers are at home to Forest the next day. The Garabaldi havenât been beaten at The City Ground since September but their away form is shite. If Moyes doesnât get a result there heâs gone Iâd say
Whats Arry Redknapp doing these days? A Harry-Frankie combo. The dream team
Harry threw his name in the hat for the Leeds job apparently.
Thereâs no point appointing some foreign lad with tactics and plans in a relegation battle. Season be over be before he gets them playing for him. You need someone who can rally the troops from the first day, with the hair dryer and some chest beating and 4 4 fucking 2.
Harry of 2012 would be an excellent appointment for any struggling Premier League club. Unfortunately he wasnât overly great with QPR and Birmingham so his heyday has been and gone.
Leeds have a crew of talented American players that they need to eke more out of. Aaronson, McKennie and Adams.
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What would the standard of that be like versus the Desmond League?
Desmond would be a few levels above that.
LmFaO
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Bootiecootie the Gobshiteâs gobshite
Real Madrid arenât a Mickey Mouse outfit like Spotify Barcelona.
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Chelsea boss Graham Potter need look no further than Nottingham Forest to lift the Blues
Gavin BrownAssistant sports editor at Metro.Monday 20 Feb 2023 6:41 pm
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Felipe and Wood are just two of the new players Cooper has successfully integrated (Picture: Getty)
As Graham Potter sifts through the name badges, gives Mykhaylo Mudryk the wifi password and tells Noni Madueke how to find the canteen, he might want to take time to pick the brains of Steve Cooper.
Chelsea news, exclusives and analysis
The pressure is building on the Chelsea manager as he tries to mould the fruits of Todd Boehlyâs latest shopping spree into a cohesive team capable of taking the Blues back towards the sharp end of the Premier League table and, while the demands on Cooper may be less lofty, the Nottingham Forest boss has been presented with a similar task and itâs one he is passing with flying colours.
On Saturday, Cooperâs ragtag bunch of cast-offs, bargain buys, big-money signings and speculative punts combined to pinch a point from Manchester City and extend their unbeaten run at the City Ground to eight games. For a manager who was on the brink of the sack before the long nights set in, suddenly survival looks a real probability.
At the heart of their success has been Cooperâs ability to weld together a team out of wildly disparate parts; Harry Toffolo, once of Scunthorpe and Huddersfield Town, meet Keylor Navas, five-time Champions League winner and most recently of Paris Saint-Germain. Felipe, last seen kicking Phil Foden down the touchline in Madrid, this is Joe Worrall from just down the road in Hucknall, the two of you will be marking Erling Haaland.
That Cooper has made a success of it is a miracle but recent history shows us we shouldnât be surprised.
Steve Cooper has come out fighting (Picture: PA)
When the former Swansea boss â who succeeded Potter in the south Wales hotseat â arrived at the City Ground in the autumn of 2021 Forest were in danger of losing their place in the Championship. Eight months later they did, swapping the second tier for a place in the Premier League via the play-offs. Having somehow created something magical out of a squad filled out with loanees and players on expiring contracts, their elongated season left Cooper and Forest playing catch-up to rebuild in time to face the rigours of the top flight.
Famously, they went for quantity as much as quality, 20 new signings making the Midlands club the butt of many jokes and doing nothing to dissuade onlookers they were doomed for a fast return to the Championship.
But Forest went into the World Cup break with just one defeat from five league games while their recent loss at Fulham was a first in six weeks. Having constructed one successful team upon his arrival at the club Cooper was proving it wasnât a fluke.
Chelsea boss Graham Potter has a lot to contend with (Picture: Reuters)
Presumably convinced he could now cope with anything, last month Forest added Navas, Brazilian trio Felipe, Gustavo Scarpa and Danilo, Jonjo Shelvey, Chris Wood and Andre Ayew to the mix. Cooper didnât blink, Forest continued to grow.
The vibrant wall of unconditional support the new signings have found at the City Ground is no doubt the secret sauce in convincing players this is about more than a pay cheque and a passport stamp but Cooper is the key.
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This is an era when management has increasingly come to mean coaching; defined by formations and tactical innovations â gegen-pressing, tiki-taka, false nines, inverted wing-backs, and resting on the ball.
But Forest have shown man-management, patient team-building and pragmatism still have a role to play. As Potter struggles to make sense of his bloated new Chelsea squad, he might want to make that call.
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Jiminez for Wolves is such a good player.
I canât believe the referee overturned that Arsenal goal after looking at the monitor. Totally inconsequential âcontactâ as the keeper fisted the corner clear. It wasnât in the parish of a foul. Trossard scored from the edge of the box but ruled out.
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Arsenal in front through Martinelli after a Trossard assist. Unfortunately I must leave the game now to complete some chores.
West Ham stuffing Forest. Big win for them
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Normal service resumed at Goodison. Dreadful display. Coady is a shocking defender. How he played international games is beyond comprehension.
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All 4 goals in the final 17 minutes is unusual.
Two in 45 seconds started the rot. Forest on top before that.