NFL (since 2016)

[crystal falace]

"Free agency started last night and was pretty crazy some huge money being spent. Osweiler getting £18m a year for the Texans, leaving the Broncos without a QB, Giants have spent a fortune on good but not great players, Oliver Vernon has more guaranteed money than JJ Watt. lots more deals but cant be bothered to list them all."

[Takashi Miike]

they let a coach appoint the GM? hahaha

[southbankbornnbred]

"I like the Dawg Pound. I've got a bit of a soft spot for the Browns which dates back to the 80s and Bernie Kosar. I didn't really support a particular team until I went to NYC, but I always liked Cleveland. They struck me as real fans supporting a real team in a real city. Often in three feet of snow."

[Far Cough]

"I do like the Dawg Pound though, I wish we had something like that"

[southbankbornnbred]

"Nah, those Eagles just make a lot of noise in a small market. They're as quiet as mice when they come to New Jersey. ;-)"

[southbankbornnbred]

"Cough - yep, either Broadway or Klecko. They are the Jets' version of Moore. Hermit. Exactly! That's exactly what I always think when I'm with Jets fans. They have a reputation in the US, yet they are relatively tame when compared with our lot in the 70s and 80s. They are still much more passionate than most sets of NFL fans, though. A bit like West Ham, I think the adversity contributes to that. I have no idea what I'd do if West Ham or the Jets ever became proper strong sides. I'd probably spontaneously combust. Possibly with rage. Until then, it's all about the fans and the craic."

[Far Cough]

Don't the Philadelphia Eagles have the rowdiest fans? Like you say nothing compares to the West Ham fans in the late 60s and 70s

[Hermit Road]

"I take the train into Penn station quite a lot and have been on it when the Jets fans got on. I liked it. Definitely had a bit of a proper football feel to it. Makes me smile a bit how the yanks find it intimidating because as much as they're a bit boisterous let's face it, it is hardly in the same universe as West Ham in the 80s."

[Far Cough]

So Joe Namath for the Jets was the equivalent of Bobby Moore to West Ham then?

[southbankbornnbred]

"Parcells was a good coach for us, too. He knew the city, he could manage all the nonsense and he didn't give a shit. We were just unlucky that we got him after the blue noses. I kind of fell into the Jets on an early trip to NYC. I'd always followed the NFL since I was kid (typical Channel Four convert) and my old man used to bring back NFL-related sweatshirts etc from his trips. But I never really had a team until I made my own way over to Gotham in my early 20s and fell into the intensity of the Jets' fanbase. They are proper nuts - ridiculously loyal considering how poor the team often is. I saw a lot of West Ham in that."

[Far Cough]

"Parcells was a great coach for the other mob in NY, you should have chosen them instead of the Jets"

[southbankbornnbred]

"Gotham, man. It's a tough old culture - like east London. That's why I love West Ham and the Jets."

[southbankbornnbred]

"New York's media is a BIG factor in the HC positions for the Jets and Giants. No other city has such a 24/7 intensity and intrusiveness with its NFL coverage. It's a goldfish bowl and the papers are ludicrously aggressive by US standards (all things are relative, obviously). Gase is already (rightly) being hounded out by the New York Post and others. You need to be a tough old bastard to ignore it all. That's why Belichick was the perfect appointment when he got the job - except that he didn't like the look of the New York market one bit! The rest is Boston history..."

[Far Cough]

Buddy did well at the Bears as a DC even though him and Ditka hated each other

[southbankbornnbred]

"Cough - only as a defensive co-ordinator in the 1970s. Buddy was never our head coach. We'd have won a lot more if he had been. His son, Rex, was head coach and was a brilliant defensive mind, like his dad. Rex's problem was that he didn't have the first clue about running an offense - and was too egotistical to hand over the offensive play-calling to a well-paid OC."

[southbankbornnbred]

Crystal - he'll have 31 better offers than us next season! ;-)

[Far Cough]

Didn't you have Buddy Ryan at one point?

[southbankbornnbred]

"The Jets have generally thrived when they've had a gnarly old bastard in charge or, at least, an experienced DC/OC who has moved up into the HC position. Weeb Ewbank (legendary Super Bowl winner: had already done it twice with the Colts) Joe Walton Big Tuna Herm Edwards Rex Ryan New York is no market for freshman. The media will tear inexperience to shreds. You need to be a gnarly and aggressive old fucker who has seen it all, working with younger co-ordinators. When we've tended to opt for younger coaches, we've generally chosen badly (Gase) or given them the job too soon (Pete Carroll). And don't get me started on what happened with Belichick - still gives me nightmares!"

[crystal falace]

"Im sure he will have much better offers than you (no offence :) ) just something ive noticed recently is how much he's being shown on the tele every game, almost like they're trying to get him more publicity to push him into the head coaching race,"

[southbankbornnbred]

"Crystal - I'm not sure we need a hot-shot young head coach. I think that has been the mistake this time around. McCarthy was a very good choice to have because he'd been there and done it - and had worked closely with Rodgers. I know the two of them fell apart towards the end, but that's the game going to Rodgers' head. He now thinks he's running the Packers. McCarthy did it well for years, and Darnold would have respected that record. I'd take Williams, the current DC, as an interim head coach providing that we can identify the right OC for Darnold. I think the players will rally around Williams - especially Adams, who might well leave unless things improve (he is a top-class safety). TM - you're right, but the new GM is Gase's man. He might also need to go. Incredibly they gave Gase the keys to the franchise and allowed him to appoint his own yes man, Joe Douglas, at GM. Douglas seems like a decent fella, but if they cut Gase then they should cut him, too, and move on. Gase has been an unmitigated disaster - of Roeder proportions. He is way out of his depth, having somehow convinced out stupid owners that he's the messiah. He should be sued under the Trades Description Act - he's not a football coach of any significance!"

[Far Cough]

Takashi Miike 1:26 Tue Oct 29 Re: NFL (since 2016) the only quarterback whisperer was Joe Gibbs who won super bowls with three different quarterbacks Theissman? Williams? Schroeder

[Takashi Miike]

"SB, but you have to realise that Gase never hired himself and it's the cunts that did who need to be targetted. I don't know the history of the GM but you've had one bad coach after another, so Gase isn't anything new. you only had to see what he did in miami to know he'd be a disaster"

[crystal falace]

"Next hotshot head coaching candidate will be Robert Saleh the 49ers defensive coordinator, heard him mentioned by people in the know in the offseason as a guy all of the players love and would run through a wall for. He's young and fit looking so will be a good face of the franchise and the tv companies seem to have been told to keep a camera on him at all times as he's constantly being very animated and emotional on the sideline. Not sure a defensive minded head coach is what you'd want with Darnold though unless he hires himself a whizz of an OC"

[southbankbornnbred]

"TM - spot on. I'm convinced that Darnold is a very good quarterback in the making: providing that he gets the right coaches and the right team around him. He entered the league a year younger than most QBs do, so remember that his learning curve is a year behind the likes of Mayfield. He's currently the age of most rookies - he's still just 22 years-old. The biggest problem that Darnold faces is that he's already on head coach (and playbook) number two and, because we have made such an appalling decision to take on Gase, in all likelihood Darnold will soon be on to head coach (and playbook) number three. There is a danger that the kid will get lost in the chaos of constantly having to learn new playbooks through coaching churn - and that has been the grave of many promising QBs. I'm usually a big believer in consistency and stability. But the Jets have made a horrendous choice in Gase and need to get him out of the franchise quickly. They need to admit the error, pay him off and move on - otherwise we run the risk of doing what we did with Kotite in the mid-1990s and ruining the franchise for years. Then, once they've sacked Gase, they need to take their time - not be blinded by the mythologies which often follow young coaches around the NFL - and make a rational choice over the kind of head coach and offensive co-ordinator who will be the best tutor for Darnold and use a playbook which builds on his strengths. At the moment, Bart Scott is right, the Jets are making errors that schoolboys make - on almost every down. And it will ruin Darnold and the team."

[southbankbornnbred]

"Watch Bart Scott's rant from 7.30 on this video. Much as he likes to shoot his mouth off, Bart is absolutely spot on about Gase's failures and the fact that he is missing the most basic things. It's week eight, and they are still making the same ""little league"" mistakes. I can spot Gase's play calls from at home on a sofa - imagine how easy somebody like Belichick finds it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhROh1Gm7SE"

[Takashi Miike]

"you want to see how a good coach can get the best out of a player, you just look at payton and how he's taken latavius murray and getting unbelievable results. OF coutse, they have a good o-line, but he just knows how to use players and gase doesn't"