General Football and Random Topics Chat

[LFC]

Well your one in here the rest need to wake up is all I say instead of thinking to enjoy their moment watching their closed league amongst faceless other supporters at derbies thinking how good is this ?!
Seriously this is BS

 

[Muz]

Wrexham eh? What a story.

 

[LFC]

Yes sure is nice to see a small club with some backing earning their way up the ladder.

 

[grazorblade]

Watching very slowly over the last few months club games from harry kewells career. A couple of things stand out

1) Leeds completely change style between 98/99 games and 01/02 games, their opponents do too. In 98/99 it is probably fair to call it hoofball. By 01/02 the ball is on the deck and resembles a modern style with less sophisticated pressing
2) I have heard that one factor in us struggling to get players into the big 5 is that there are more foreigners today then back then which makes it more competitive today. I disputed that citing stats that showed the surge of foreigners happened before the golden generation came in. That is technically true, but a large number of foreigners are from the brittish isles (ireland/scotland) so aren't as diverse as today. Here is the team sheet for Leeds vs Ipswitch in the 01/02 season


So I was wrong, mea culpa, the increased globalization in football is clearly a factor in our relative decline. Lack of academies/nyl and ais at various stages in the a league era as well as alienating some of our most passionate people in marginalising ethnic clubs probably hurt too......but the globalization of football should probably be taken into account when comparing eras....

 

[grazorblade]

Having said that, viduka and kewell are probably still mid table premier league today and are remarkable outliers
viduka seems to play as a playmaker striker like he does for the roos but also enough creative players around him to give him deck balls into the box for him to be a serious scoring threat

curiously, kewell despite being one of the best technicians we have ever produced almost never produces deck balls into the box at club level from what I've seen

Even though they work together at club level, it doesn't work at country level so we should have selected other players to compliment them - either bresciano in place of kewell or aloisi in place of viduka

 

[Kitwally]

Having said that, viduka and kewell are probably still mid table premier league today and are remarkable outliers
viduka seems to play as a playmaker striker like he does for the roos but also enough creative players around him to give him deck balls into the box for him to be a serious scoring threat

curiously, kewell despite being one of the best technicians we have ever produced almost never produces deck balls into the box at club level from what I've seen

Even though they work together at club level, it doesn't work at country level so we should have selected other players to compliment them - either bresciano in place of kewell or aloisi in place of viduka

Which is kind of what Hiddink did right?

 

[grazorblade]

Which is kind of what Hiddink did right?

yeah I should have another watch of those games after understanding their profiles a bit better. I'm curious who assisted vidukas first couple of goals for the nt. Even if you have an nsl mid/a league who is lower quality but can feed viduka it might've been worth playing them for balance

 

[ashtongate]

yeah I should have another watch of those games after understanding their profiles a bit better. I'm curious who assisted vidukas first couple of goals for the nt. Even if you have an nsl mid/a league who is lower quality but can feed viduka it might've been worth playing them for balance

Don't think too much about it mate - just enjoy the goals!

 

[grazorblade]

Don't think too much about it mate - just enjoy the goals!

Im a physicist so thinking is my way of enjoying life

But i get im pretty weird and its not everyones cup of tea to be this analytical

 

[LFC]

I get where you come from Graz and I’m no where at your level of looking that deeply at things.
They say mental health becomes
I’m a huge advocate of the saying analysis paralysis.
Some things just happens doesn’t need a thesis - like he said enjoy the natural ability and finish - at times this cannot be broken down explained but natural against the note book and this is what is brilliant about great sports people.

 

[JS96]

Sunderland have shortened the space between the pitch and the advertisement boards tactic to try and stop the Coventry long throw tonight.

 

[JS96]

Reminds me of Kiwi rugby league and their shallow in goal areas in the 90s. Made grubber kick tries impossible.

 

[melbcityguy]

Sunderland have shortened the space between the pitch and the advertisement boards tactic to try and stop the Coventry long throw tonight.

Has any other team done that before?

 

[JS96]

Has any other team done that before?

Got vague memory of a team making the pitch as narrow as absolutely legal during a game. Something about a rang of acceptable dimensions but they changed it to prevent opponent's wing play.

 

[Monoethnic Social Club]

Has any other team done that before?

Happens on a weekly basis in the NPL mate... or it least it did last year,

 

[Quicky]

Yes sure is nice to see a small club with some backing earning their way up the ladder.

Is that what happened though? More a rich benefactor pumps in money and they rise. It's not that romantic to me. I repect teams like Brentford or St Pauli more, where its good governance that brought them up.

BTW I do agree in the underlying tone that we should have pro/rel here.

 

[Kitwally]

Yes sure is nice to see a small club with some backing earning their way up the ladder.

How Wrexham paid their way to promotion, and why the Premier League requires more than that

Wrexham's promotion might look miraculous, but it's actually a combination of factors that other Premier League hopefuls shouldn't try to replicate.

www.espn.com

It’s a great romantic story, they seem like nice guys, the town has been helped economically, and the series is well done. But this article on ESPN explains how Wrexham “bought” their promotions by spending 3 times as much as other teams in the league, which they won’t be able to do in the Championship. Having said that, their manager has done well to choose those players. Will be interesting to see how Neville and Beckham go with Salford City. I saw they’ve just released 18 players…………

 

[LFC]

Jeeez fellas - how else do you expect any club to climb without funding/backing.
By how ? promoting their JNR’s against seasoned Snr players and pray
Least they climb the pyramid compared to a direct ticket license to the top with a unknown generic gimmick brand
So does anyone know in the modern period pyramid a club promoted without much funding ?
Correct their manager has steered the climb very well with the good funding But yes, now the BS stops in the Championship and the deadpool fella now needs his avenger mates to get anywhere next haha

 

[LFC]

christ yes an article from 442 !
This greatest of all time 11 don't think you could argue with

The Greatest Football XI of All Time - according to FourFourTwo

Unplayable. Unstoppable. Unrealistic? Maybe. But this is football’s Greatest XI of All Time

www.fourfourtwo.com

 

[NicCarBel]

Jeeez fellas - how else do you expect any club to climb without funding/backing.
By how ? promoting their JNR’s against seasoned Snr players and pray
Least they climb the pyramid compared to a direct ticket license to the top with a unknown generic gimmick brand
So does anyone know in the modern period pyramid a club promoted without much funding ?
Correct their manager has steered the climb very well with the good funding But yes, now the BS stops in the Championship and the deadpool fella now needs his avenger mates to get anywhere next haha

According to Copilot:

Yes, there are several examples in the modern football era of clubs achieving promotion to top leagues despite having relatively modest financial backing. Here are a few notable cases:

1. FC St. Pauli (Germany)​

• Promotion: Bundesliga 2024/25
• Funding: Minimal compared to rivals
• Details:FC St. Pauli returned to the Bundesliga for the first time since 2010/11, outperforming wealthier clubs like Hamburger SV and Schalke 04. Their total transfer spending was just €1.1 million, showing a frugal approach

2. Holstein Kiel (Germany)​

• Promotion: Bundesliga 2024/25
• Funding: Very low
• Details:This is their first-ever promotion to the Bundesliga. They had the lowest social media following and one of the smallest squad market values among promoted clubs. Despite this, they achieved top-tier status

3. Angers SCO (France)​

• Promotion: Ligue 1 2024/25
• Funding: Extremely limited
• Details:After finishing last in Ligue 1 in 2022/23, Angers spent less than 5% of their transfer income on reinforcements and still managed to secure promotion

4. AFC Wimbledon (England)​

• Promotion: League Two to League One (2011)
• Funding: Fan-owned, minimal budget
• Details:Their rise from non-league football to League One was a remarkable grassroots success story, driven by community support and smart management

5. Luton Town (England)​

• Promotion: Premier League 2023/24
• Funding: Modest compared to Premier League standards
• Details:Luton climbed from non-league to the Premier League over a decade, with a focus on sustainable growth and minimal spending

These clubs demonstrate that while financial muscle helps, smart recruitment, strong team culture, and effective management can still lead to success in modern football.