Comments on: Goodbye, Kevin Keegan

By: Lonnie

Lonnie — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:07:35 +0000

“What Wenger has done for Arsenal? Nothing in the past decade.”

I think once you stop and think about what you typed, you’ll see what a ridiculous statement that is. I’m not going to quote the record book back to you.

Benitez seems to prefer non-English players it seems, which is fine if that’s the way the club wants to go…that’s their right. I don’t see it as a condemnation of Guthrie.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:12:24 +0000

I don’t think Liverpool/Barry is a good example, to be perfectly honest. Liverpool is on top of the table, hasn’t lost in any competition this year, and has conceded just one goal in the league, all while Gerrard hasn’t even been close to 100%, Keane has been ineffective as of yet and is still trying to fit in, and Torres hasn’t showed the same form he did for much of last year. I don’t see Liverpool has been “unproductive”.

What Wenger has done for Arsenal? Nothing in the past decade. What Southgate has done for Boro? Two mid-bottom half finishes.

Guthrie wasn’t given much of a chance at Liverpool because he couldn’t hack it there. If he could have, he would’ve played. Benitez has shown no problem playing young players if they’re good enough to earn time on the field (N’Gog, Plessis, Lucas, Insua, etc.)

By: Lonnie

Lonnie — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:17:14 +0000

It’s not unacceptable to me. The manager can have a say as to what he needs but it becomes unproductive to fixate on specific players….see Liverpool and Gareth Barry for an example of this fixation gone wrong. The more I see of the spend-a-holic managers the more I come to appreciate what Wenger has done for Arsenal and what Southgate is doing for Boro.

I think it’s short-sighted of you to say that Guthrie couldn’t hack it at Liverpool. I don’t think he was given much chance there and by all accounts he played very well for Bolton last season. Even Keegan was bigging him up before the season:

http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10278~1346535,00.html

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:20:10 +0000

Lonnie, it’s unacceptable to both me and Keegan, obviously, and should be to everyone. He’s the manager. He knows what’s going on inside the locker room better than anyone else. He knows what he needs for his team better than anyone else. He should be the one who has most of the say on what players he wants and wants to get rid of.

N’Zogbia hasn’t lived up to the potential he showed a couple years ago. Danny Guthrie couldn’t hack it at Liverpool, and he’s not even in the same breath as Milner. Taylor is a good young center back, but he too hasn’t quite taken that next step in his development yet.

By: Lonnie

Lonnie — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:47:18 +0000

Two points about your article:

“I also don’t think Keegan was given permission to go out and buy players that he himself, not sporting director Dennis Wise or club owner Mike Ashley, wanted, and that’s unacceptable.”

Unacceptable to whom? Keegan or yourself? The role of the manager has been changing in the EPL. More clubs are adopting the continental model of having the manager be the ‘trainer’ of the club while another person does all the buying and selling. It works just fine for clubs like Barcelona, Internzaionale, Bayern Munich and many many others. It’s only the EPL that is behind the times in that regard.

“The sale of James Milner, the team’s only real talented young player…”

What about Charles N’Zogbia, Steven Taylor or Danny Guthrie?