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Post by apb1 on Apr 13, 2023 11:02:44 GMT
www.stokesentinel.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/stoke-city-promotion-alex-neil-8346211“It’s a fantastic league and we get crowds of 20-odd thousand when you go to the second division in Germany and you’re lucky to get one man and his dog. It’s a difficult league but brilliant one to compete in and we’ve got a manager who knows what’s required. “We shouldn’t criticise (Neil’s predecessor) Michael O’Neill, who had his hands full to say the least. A big part of his job was to get rid of what we’d brought in and get us on an even keel. Now it’s Alex’s job to take us back to the Premier League.” The crowds in Bundesliga 2 are actually pretty respectable, averaging 21,000 compared to the 18,000 in Championship. Hamburg get over 50,000 average! Would be nice if anyone checked any of their lazy prejudiced assumptions, like, ever  www.worldfootball.net/attendance/2-bundesliga-2022-2023/1/ I do think we have remarkable depth of interest in footie in UK, and this is reflected in the crowds at the lower end of our 'pyramid' but he couldn't have been much wronger on this one...
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Post by lordb on Apr 13, 2023 11:14:08 GMT
Indeed
He could have picked pretty much every other second tier other than Germany
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Post by scfc75 on Apr 13, 2023 11:14:49 GMT
I’d like to see how our third tier compares to Europe, there are some big crowds in League 1 this season With Derby, Sheff Weds, Bolton, Ipswich and Portsmouth all getting high attendances.
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Post by lordb on Apr 13, 2023 11:25:16 GMT
I’d like to see how our third tier compares to Europe, there are some big crowds in League 1 this season With Derby, Sheff Weds, Bolton, Ipswich and Portsmouth all getting high attendances. Very few have national third tiers they tend to go regional at that point Regional leagues have their plus points but the quality is always going to be lower When non league went national (in about 1979?) it was the best thing they ever did English footballs strength isn't the top 6 of the Premier League it's the sheer depth of professional football clubs over a 100 full time pro clubs and a large number of very good semi pro clubs too |
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Post by Rednwhitenblue on Apr 13, 2023 11:46:46 GMT
I’d like to see how our third tier compares to Europe, there are some big crowds in League 1 this season With Derby, Sheff Weds, Bolton, Ipswich and Portsmouth all getting high attendances. Very few have national third tiers they tend to go regional at that point Regional leagues have their plus points but the quality is always going to be lower When non league went national (in about 1979?) it was the best thing they ever did English footballs strength isn't the top 6 of the Premier League it's the sheer depth of professional football clubs over a 100 full time pro clubs and a large number of very good semi pro clubs too From a club perspective I completely agree. But that does beg the question how come places like Croatia, Netherlands, Belgium, even France etc where there isn't the depth of interest in football lower down the divisions still manage to produce such excellent footballers? Has to be down to the way footballers are coached and raised in general, right? |
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Post by mrcoke on Apr 13, 2023 11:49:34 GMT
Here's hoping Denis is right but there is an awful lot to be done before that is achieved.
There are loan players to be lost, players who are just not good enough to be shed, old players a year older who could lose form, etc.
In fact Neil needs to bring in almost a whole side of players. Jones brought in a dozen during his summer recruitment and achieved nothing, got worse if anything. Rowett spent £50m on dross. MON had no money and had to scratch around for other clubs rejects.
We can only hope Neil's recruitment is far better than his predecessors, he has proved he can "get a tune" out of what he inherited. He has had little opportunity to recruit so far.
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Post by apb1 on Apr 13, 2023 11:55:26 GMT
Indeed He could have picked pretty much every other second tier other than Germany Yes the average in Spain and France is much lower. |
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Post by lordb on Apr 13, 2023 12:02:01 GMT
Very few have national third tiers they tend to go regional at that point Regional leagues have their plus points but the quality is always going to be lower When non league went national (in about 1979?) it was the best thing they ever did English footballs strength isn't the top 6 of the Premier League it's the sheer depth of professional football clubs over a 100 full time pro clubs and a large number of very good semi pro clubs too From a club perspective I completely agree. But that does beg the question how come places like Croatia, Netherlands, Belgium, even France etc where there isn't the depth of interest in football lower down the divisions still manage to produce such excellent footballers? Has to be down to the way footballers are coached and raised in general, right? Yes |
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Post by lordb on Apr 13, 2023 12:03:14 GMT
Here's hoping Denis is right but there is an awful lot to be done before that is achieved. There are loan players to be lost, players who are just not good enough to be shed, old players a year older who could lose form, etc. In fact Neil needs to bring in almost a whole side of players. Jones brought in a dozen during his summer recruitment and achieved nothing, got worse if anything. Rowett spent £50m on dross. MON had no money and had to scratch around for other clubs rejects. We can only hope Neil's recruitment is far better than his predecessors, he has proved he can "get a tune" out of what he inherited. He has had little opportunity to recruit so far. Would counter that by pointing towards the quality of his recruitment so far |
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Post by cvillestokie on Apr 13, 2023 12:04:29 GMT
www.stokesentinel.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/stoke-city-promotion-alex-neil-8346211“It’s a fantastic league and we get crowds of 20-odd thousand when you go to the second division in Germany and you’re lucky to get one man and his dog. It’s a difficult league but brilliant one to compete in and we’ve got a manager who knows what’s required. “We shouldn’t criticise (Neil’s predecessor) Michael O’Neill, who had his hands full to say the least. A big part of his job was to get rid of what we’d brought in and get us on an even keel. Now it’s Alex’s job to take us back to the Premier League.” The crowds in Bundesliga 2 are actually pretty respectable, averaging 21,000 compared to the 18,000 in Championship. Hamburg get over 50,000 average! Would be nice if anyone checked any of their lazy prejudiced assumptions, like, ever www.worldfootball.net/attendance/2-bundesliga-2022-2023/1/ I do think we have remarkable depth of interest in footie in UK, and this is reflected in the crowds at the lower end of our 'pyramid' but he couldn't have been much wronger on this one... I think it’s really laughable when people talk down so hard on other leagues. I suppose it makes us all feel a little better about the idea that “it could be worse” if no one actually bothers to check 😂 |
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Post by PotterLog on Apr 13, 2023 12:27:44 GMT
I mean it’s pretty much a sackable offence if we don’t, surely
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Post by loosestools on Apr 13, 2023 12:29:32 GMT
Denis Smith's glass is always so full it has a meniscus on it.
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Post by Gary Hackett on Apr 13, 2023 14:56:56 GMT
He was a great footballer but he does chat some shit.
If he can't get his reference to German football correct why should anyone take him seriously when he says we'll be top 6 next season.
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Post by anchorman on Apr 13, 2023 19:58:29 GMT
He was a great footballer but he does chat some shit. If he can't get his reference to German football correct why should anyone take him seriously when he says we'll be top 6 next season. Not as much shit as you’re chatting and I usually agree with a lot of stuff that you say but when it comes to the Legend that is Denis Smith no one disagrees with Denis! He’s bang on the money! 👍🤞 |
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Post by thehartshillbadger on Apr 13, 2023 20:01:22 GMT
As great a player as I’m led to believe he was, his views are massively outdated. He shouldn’t be listened to when it comes to the modern game he’s clueless
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Apr 13, 2023 20:41:50 GMT
He was a great footballer but he does chat some shit. If he can't get his reference to German football correct why should anyone take him seriously when he says we'll be top 6 next season. Not as much shit as you’re chatting and I usually agree with a lot of stuff that you say but when it comes to the Legend that is Denis Smith no one disagrees with Denis! He’s bang on the money! 👍🤞 He isn’t though is he? The German football stuff is flat out wrong? |
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Post by anchorman on Apr 13, 2023 20:45:16 GMT
I’m not too concerned about the German stuff tbh, my interest & focus is more on his top 6 prediction.
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Apr 13, 2023 20:59:12 GMT
I’m not too concerned about the German stuff tbh, my interest & focus is more on his top 6 prediction. Getting something that wrong rather undermines his credibility though. All bets are off next season, there’s so much to do still that it’s hard to know one way or the other. |
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Post by anchorman on Apr 13, 2023 21:24:06 GMT
He’ll always have credibility as far as I’m concerned. Anything could happen next season but at least there’s cause for hope & optimism after 6/7 years of despair! Fingers crossed 🤞
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Apr 13, 2023 21:26:09 GMT
He’ll always have credibility as far as I’m concerned. Anything could happen next season but at least there’s cause for hope & optimism after 6/7 years of despair! Fingers crossed 🤞 That seems based on who he is rather that what he actually says though. There’s cause for hope but an awful lot of work to do still. Neill at least seems to know what he’s looking for, the first manager we’ve had for about eight years who does. |
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Post by PotterLog on Apr 14, 2023 4:15:14 GMT
www.stokesentinel.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/stoke-city-promotion-alex-neil-8346211“It’s a fantastic league and we get crowds of 20-odd thousand when you go to the second division in Germany and you’re lucky to get one man and his dog. It’s a difficult league but brilliant one to compete in and we’ve got a manager who knows what’s required. “We shouldn’t criticise (Neil’s predecessor) Michael O’Neill, who had his hands full to say the least. A big part of his job was to get rid of what we’d brought in and get us on an even keel. Now it’s Alex’s job to take us back to the Premier League.” The crowds in Bundesliga 2 are actually pretty respectable, averaging 21,000 compared to the 18,000 in Championship. Hamburg get over 50,000 average! Would be nice if anyone checked any of their lazy prejudiced assumptions, like, ever www.worldfootball.net/attendance/2-bundesliga-2022-2023/1/ I do think we have remarkable depth of interest in footie in UK, and this is reflected in the crowds at the lower end of our 'pyramid' but he couldn't have been much wronger on this one... I think it’s really laughable when people talk down so hard on other leagues. I suppose it makes us all feel a little better about the idea that “it could be worse” if no one actually bothers to check 😂 I’m not sure if it’s necessarily about better or worse, but the depth of interest and corresponding attendances in the English football leagues are completely unparalleled. Denis is making a valid point but managed to choose the one exception - the Bundesliga 2, which competes with English second tier attendances - that proves the rule. Go a division or two lower in Germany, or look at equivalent tiers anywhere in the world, and English attendances dwarf everything. There’s nowhere like it. |
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Post by Do it for dobing on Apr 14, 2023 6:39:12 GMT
As great a player as I’m led to believe he was, his views are massively outdated. He shouldn’t be listened to when it comes to the modern game he’s clueless What a sad person you are ,Denis us a football man who has been there and done it .I can only imagine you post such rubbish for attention |
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Post by Gods on Apr 14, 2023 6:43:52 GMT
I’m not too concerned about the German stuff tbh, my interest & focus is more on his top 6 prediction. Yeah, I was expecting to read a discussion about whether we might finish top 6 or not but instead it's about some aside which was hardly the substance of what Dennis said. As for top 6 I won't have a view until September when we have some idea of what the squad looks like. Right now we have so many loans and off contract players and at least 2 players whose legs may be gone. |
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Post by Ron on Apr 14, 2023 6:44:36 GMT
www.stokesentinel.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/stoke-city-promotion-alex-neil-8346211“It’s a fantastic league and we get crowds of 20-odd thousand when you go to the second division in Germany and you’re lucky to get one man and his dog. It’s a difficult league but brilliant one to compete in and we’ve got a manager who knows what’s required. “We shouldn’t criticise (Neil’s predecessor) Michael O’Neill, who had his hands full to say the least. A big part of his job was to get rid of what we’d brought in and get us on an even keel. Now it’s Alex’s job to take us back to the Premier League.” The crowds in Bundesliga 2 are actually pretty respectable, averaging 21,000 compared to the 18,000 in Championship. Hamburg get over 50,000 average! Would be nice if anyone checked any of their lazy prejudiced assumptions, like, ever www.worldfootball.net/attendance/2-bundesliga-2022-2023/1/ I do think we have remarkable depth of interest in footie in UK, and this is reflected in the crowds at the lower end of our 'pyramid' but he couldn't have been much wronger on this one... the fact he doesn’t realise Bundesliga 2 gets large crowds shows how out of touch he is. |
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Apr 14, 2023 6:55:34 GMT
I’m not too concerned about the German stuff tbh, my interest & focus is more on his top 6 prediction. Yeah, I was expecting to read a discussion about whether we might finish top 6 or not but instead it's about some aside which was hardly the substance of what Dennis said. As for top 6 I won't have a view until September when we have some idea of what the squad looks like. Right now we have so many loans and off contract players and at least 2 players whose legs may be gone. When that aside is hideously wrong though, it's hard to take the rest seriously. As far as finishing in the top six goes, we could have a team of rotting zombies and Smith would still be backing us to finish top half and then insisting it was nobody at the club's fault if we didn't. |
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Post by professorplump on Apr 14, 2023 7:07:01 GMT
it's impossible to predict how we will do next season until we know the makeup of our squad, however I'm not against a bit of optimism, even if it is misplaced, as opposed to the barrage of pessimism that we usually have on here.
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Post by apb1 on Apr 14, 2023 7:10:48 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2023 13:34:48 GMT
Would be wrong to assume because he is old and a club legend, Dennis must be misguided.
People said when Bobby Charlton took a position in the man utd boardroom, ' publicity stunt ' ' old duffer what's he know?'
Turns out when man utd needed a new manager and the board were pretty much unanimously agreed on Terry Venables , that Charlton decided to speak up passionately on behalf of his own personal choice...Alex Ferguson.
Not a bad call from the old man / club legend.
He turned the board around and surprisingly Ferguson, not Venables, got the majority of the vote .
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Post by bayernoatcake on Apr 14, 2023 13:38:56 GMT
No one can have any clue what could happen.
Normally you can and like with MON at the start of this season, it was pretty obvious it was going to be shit.
But the reality here is we don't know who half of the squad will be. We don't know how AN will use them. There's just nothing to go on to make any form of solid prediction.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 14, 2023 17:52:18 GMT
No one can have any clue what could happen. Normally you can and like with MON at the start of this season, it was pretty obvious it was going to be shit. But the reality here is we don't know who half of the squad will be. We don't know how AN will use them. There's just nothing to go on to make any form of solid prediction. Like you say predictions are difficult. I do however EXPECT us to be in the top six. |
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