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I expect there are many reasons, but in England, decent managerial prospects are often overlooked in favour of glamour appointments.
Firstly, the idea that if you were a great player, you will be a good manager, hence clubs repeatedly putting their faith in people like Rooney, Lampard, Gerrard, all of whom show no signs of being any good at the job. There’s a long history of this, Ince, Shearer, Neville, Campbell, Bobby Charlton, …… They go straight into a top job without learning their new trade. Then there’s the idea of appointing an ex-player, preferably a fans favourite. Whilst both of these may put bums on seats for a while, there is no reason why a good player or a fans favourite would necessarily make a good manager.
Howe didn’t go straight into managing the first team. He started with the reserves and youth teams, where presumably he proved his worth. Potter started managing at a non-league club, then went abroad.
Fans of big clubs expect big or famous appointments, hence managers like Parky don’t get the chance they deserve. I know he’s not full English, but McKenna’s career is being ruined at Ipshite. He’s now a failure and won’t get a top job like Howe, but he’s probably just as good.
Quite a week for Burn, first major medal and first England call up, at the age of 32.
I believe the last English manager to win a major domestic trophy was Harry Redknapp 17 years ago when Portsmouth beat Cardiff in the FA Cup final. The Cardiff manager was also English (Dave Jones).
I think I'm also correct in saying that the only PL teams with English managers are Newcastle and West Ham. McKenna, currently doing sterling work at the Binners, was born in England but was raised in, and played for, Northern Ireland (youth team).
Regarding the rivalry between the Toon and the Mackems, I’m sure the hatred is mutual, but to a bystander, it’s strange how Sunderland appears to live rent free in every Newcastle fans head. The amount of songs and chants aimed at the Mackems is astonishing, but it doesn’t appear to be reciprocated in anywhere near the same quantity. I think it’s probably an insecurity on the magpies part for being a ‘bigger’ club, but historically less successful than Sunderland.
There are many strange insults thrown between fans at football grounds, but I’ve not seen one stranger than is the rattling of keys at Sunderland fans.
WTF? Well apparently, Geordies, renowned as masters of elocution!!! take the michael out of people from Wearside about the way they say speak and in particular the way they say “whose keys are these”, or “whees keys are these” to be precise.
A bit like a Yorkshireman saying "It isn't in the tin" or "t'int in tin"
PS: I don't know if it's true or not, but many years ago, it was alleged that a group of Asian Luton supporters all waved their British Passports towards Al Fayed at Fulham, who had repeatedly failed to obtain one himself. Reminds me of a group of Barsiders waving stuffed brown envelopes at Mick, bigger bastard than....... when he returned to Layer Road with (I think) Huddersfield.
Once more for the classic joke....
Me: "Can I have a latte with oat milk please".
Geordie barista: "Ya cannie have a latte weeroout milk?"
The 12th man could make a difference on the run-in, especially as four out of the five remaining away games are 3pm KO’s. I’ve not managed to see the U’s so far in 2025, but this is getting too good to miss.
Fingers crossed a big following at Bradford and Gillingham (make sure your vaccinations are up-to-date for the latter). Do they still have the open, ‘temporary’ stand at Priestfield? If so it’s disgraceful and shouldn’t be allowed.
Doncaster on Easter Monday, what could go wrong with travel arrangements there! Another nice day out and for anyone that’s not been, it’s easy and you can park on the roads in the commercial development (Sidings Court) nearby if you are very early. Then you can stretch your legs by taking a pleasant stroll around the lake before the game (about 1.5 miles?). I hope they do release enough tickets, because the north stand holds about 3000, but they only open it for big away followings. There will be plenty of room in the home stands (oops did I say that out loud? I only meant to think it).
Newport and Salford are a big ask, but the atmosphere in the away end will be electric if we are still in with a good chance of promotion.
“Every Saturday we follow…..the boys in blue and white. We sing it every weekend…..so don't go out tonight. We used to be the Barside….but now we're s### S1. We are Col United…….and we’re going to league one! Allez, allez, allez……….allez, allez, allez We are Col United…….and we’re going to league one!!!!!”
Got my ticket, but that's the easy bit, not sure I can get there
Anyone in two minds who's not been before. It's normally a nice day, especially now the nights are pulling out.
Great view. Lots of fans that only sing when they're winning, so they will be easily drowned out by the faithful. Three quarters of a Premier League standard stadium. The rest of the ground, including the changing rooms wouldn't look out of place at Wivenhoe Town.
At a fiver a pop, and the U's in the play-offs, on a five match winning streak, if you're not going this year, when are you going?
Oh well, I guess you can’t have it all. The U’s in a play -off spot, the Binners as good as relegated, Saarfend choking their promotion push and Wyscum falling out of the automatic spots. I guess the poor old Mackems will have to suffer now their intolerable neigbours have won the mini- cup. Can’t say they didn’t deserve it thought.
“I’m no anaesthesiologist, but I find the first 17 pints tend to deal with most niggling pains”
“He has joined the select group of people who know what it’s like to feel wet snout and downy warm hair crunch beneath your knuckles”
I hope it’s at least another 56 years before the Toon win a trophy, for no other reason than, I really like the Mackems and the abuse they take from Newcastle is over the top (even if the Stadium of Shite matchday park and ride is a total farce and I had to walk 3 miles back to my car).
Of course, Duguid also went on to sign for Championship side for Argyle. I clearly remember the depleted team struggling that day and our nerves taking a right battering.
In the week running up to our glorious day out in Somerset, in an inebriated state, together with a couple of fellow barsiders, we hatched a cunning plan involving large quantities or blue and white powder paint. The sort we had at primary school, that you fed to the class guinea pig to see if it changed colour (don’t try that at home kids).
Wessex, if you are about, it’s best you stop reading now.
The plan was to rock up at Stonehenge at about 4am, in my mates Transit Custom. With the aid of decorating rollers on long poles, we intended to paint alternate stones of the monument in blue and white. Obviously various logistical problems started to appear as we sobered up, for example, unlike today, in those days you could still be sent to prison. Hence the plan was shelved.
The sight greeting the faithful as they came over the brow of the hill would have been something else and let’s face it, as a national monument it’s pretty drab and could do with a bit of a facelift.
I’m surprised we’ve never knocked it down, because in all honesty it’s a bit of an embarrassment to British construction. Where was the value engineering? It’s so over designed, the money wasted on the oversized structure could have gone towards a retractable roof. Why did they build it so close to the A303? Other pagans around the world made do with far more modest constructions and it never did them any harm (apart from the ones that were sacrificed). Yet again Britain lagging behind the rest of the world, still poncing around in the Neolithic age while our cousins over in Lascaux had already lived through the Dulux age.
I appear to have digressed again….
Whatever happens this season, the transformation in a matter of weeks, of a club on life support to one that is fighting fit is legendry.
You’ve missed someone from the 2006 team. Possibly Halford?
That season we had Iwelumo 19 goals, Danns 16 goals, Halford 8 goals, Garcia 8 goals. We also had Davidson, Watson, Brown, Chilvers, Yeats. All good enough to play in the championship. In my opinion the team was far superior to the players we have been able to attract recently and of course it needed to be to reach the Championship.
Parky did an amazing job, but I feel that if DC/NC can get us promoted it would way exceed Parkys achievement. With two or three exceptions, we have a squad of L2 players, who DC has playing better as a team than the sum of their individual abilities. Then consider the state of the club when DC/NC arrived, compared to the relatively stable club that Parky joined. Probably the most relevant point is that the arrival of DC/NC has coincided with our main man abandoning his crackpot philosophy of bringing players and coaches through the academy all playing the 'Colchester way'.
It’s not surprising when they live in a world of toxic masculinity that goes completely unchecked and unpunished. It’s getting worse and worse for young women, which is quite unbelievable and truely sad. Ever since moving pictures were invented, there has been some censorship because a small percentage of humans have no morals. So why is it so important to allow online violence and abuse to be free from control, it makes no sense if you actually care about its effects. There is something seriously wrong with a man that cannot get enough pleasure from viewing normal porn. Violent and abusive porn is just as damaging as child porn, it destroys lives.
The internet is the best and worst thing to ever happen to the human race and unless we control it better in the future, it will be our downfall.
As I said previously, these scroats are not going to listen to women. It is only decent men that can stop this happening. We are all to blame for staying silent and turning a blind eye.
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