Yes indeed. Hubris writ large.Quote:
Originally Posted by rodinuk
By the way, St Johnstone drew 1-1 at Celtic on Sunday. Does that make them better than Barca? :dancing:
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Yes indeed. Hubris writ large.Quote:
Originally Posted by rodinuk
By the way, St Johnstone drew 1-1 at Celtic on Sunday. Does that make them better than Barca? :dancing:
Bumped into Gordon Strachan the other day, his sense of humour is, shall we say, obscure. His wife his hot! (Well, I am assuming that was his wife!)
When he managed Southampton, a reporter asked if he could have a quick word as Strachan ran down the tunnel at half-time and Strachan kept on walking but shouted "Rapidity!" over his shoulder.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stavros
I was lucky enough to have lunch with a number of Scottish football legends during the Euro 96 finals and ended up sitting between Strachan and Denis Law, facing the late Billy Bremner and also Joe Jordan. I don't think I've ever laughed so much in my life. Wee Gordie's wit is razor sharp.
Maybe it's the accent, Stavros. Ye ken? :dancing:
Pardon? Can you say that again, please?Quote:
Originally Posted by robertlouis
Pick a windae pal. Yir leavin'. :whistle:Quote:
Originally Posted by Stavros
probably not, they have had best start to a spanish league season ever. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by rodinuk
Used to make me life Strachans interviews. I like the quick wit kinda thing :)Quote:
Originally Posted by robertlouis
Another wee Gordie quote:Quote:
Originally Posted by SammiValentine
Reporter: Gordon, you must be delighted with that result?
Strachan: You're spot on! You can read me like a book. :dancing:
Thanks Sammi. If he takes the Scotland job then the interviews will be at least more interesting than the games......Quote:
Originally Posted by SammiValentine
Worlds gone made. Whatever next, maybe a 31 year old bluenose from skem will get in the england squad for 1st time ever.Quote:
Originally Posted by robertlouis
oh uhhmm.. ha. ha haaaaaaaa
Just in case wee Gordie gets the Scotland job, I've polished my boots. You never know.... :dancing:Quote:
Originally Posted by SammiValentine
Quote:
Originally Posted by SammiValentine
To be fair to him, Osman had a very tidy game. Sterling looked impressive in patches and played a big part in Welbeck's goal. Gerrard showed that in his current position - thanks Roy! - England can at long last get the best out of him and that he probably has at least one big tournament left in him.
But the talking point of the game was Ibrahimovic's fourth goal for Sweden. Simply sensational - an overhead shot, from an angle, from all of 40 yards. If I hadn't seen it I wouldn't have believed it. Stupendous. I think it will be up on youtube very soon and it's well worth catching.
Oh yes, and Scotland beat......ahem, Luxembourg. You take what you can get.....
no need to be fair to him -I didnt say he was bad :D I was in jest cos he is from same town as me and i must admit i find it a shame its taken so long to get a cap.
amazing goals by ibrahimovic yup (best overhead ive ever seen, easily).. hes always had a world class stigma abour him, amazing record etc but also fair to ask the question where was he in the summer england v sweden, when they needed something like that... shrug. hes always been a bit hot and cold - in great form at momemnt though he was good in champs league the other week for PSG.
Suarez for Man C, eh? Who got that one started? He'd cap a fine trio with Tevez and Balotelli.....Quote:
Originally Posted by SammiValentine
BTW Sammi, what's your take on Rodgers so far?
all this talk makes me want to nail a goal(ie) from 40 yards out.. ahhhhh :)
Impressive knowledge of the beautiful game from a beautiful lady!Quote:
Originally Posted by VictoriaVeil
I'll give you a demonstration of my tackle from behind..... :dancing:
suarez? haha yea right :DQuote:
Originally Posted by robertlouis
rodgers.. 2 dodgy decisions away from 5th. He needs a good two seasons to judge really. If we can be in the mix for 4th by end of this jan then great. I think it is a rather average premier league, aside from man city every team looks capable of dropping points against teams you least expect... so if we dont give up then who knows.
Suarez is best staying at Liverpool where he is the top dog, if he left for City he would have Tevez,Aguero & Dzeko to contend with - looks like Balotelli will be leaving in January & not before time.......his ratio of good games/bad games is pretty low & if your a top team you cannot be carrying people in most games.
On another matter I wonder if Saurez will get away with that stamp yesterday?????
I agree that Rodgers should be given time. Let's hope that the fickle end of the Liverpool fans and the owners agree. He'll last longer than AVB at Spurs, that's for sure.Quote:
Originally Posted by SammiValentine
And this is so far the most open Premiership season for a while, and West Brom under Steve Clarke are in the current mix on merit, regardless of whether they'll be there next May. Man C have acquired Man U's ability to play like shite and still win, but they'll have a wobble.
This season it seems that anyone can beat anyone else, up to a point. Could be interesting, although I won't be surprised to see the usual suspects in the top three places at season's end. Fourth spot could be anyone's though.
Blimey! Rafa's back. At Stamford Bridge!
Where are you Sammi???
Surely the irony of this appointment is that for all his success at Anfield, it was the relationship with the owners of the club that undermined his position? Liverpool were not a particularly good team then or now, but managed some spectacular results when it mattered -he never won the Premier League with this club. He now has less than a year in which to maintain Chelsea's position in Europe, with a squad that has talent but not much discipline, and an owner who can do what he wants, when he wants. The chatter, for what that's worth, is that Guardiola is not interested in Chelsea -if he is even interested in a UK club it must be Arsenal, and that would be an ingriguing appointment, given the view some perceptive United fans have, that Ferguson is most likley to be replaced by Solskjaer when the time comes.
But will Torres score on a regular basis? Will David Beckham finish his footballing career at Stamford Bridge? And weren't all these decisions supposed to be vetted by John Terry?
I will refrain from calling you an idiot but the liverpool team of 08/09 that came 2nd in prem, got the most points in our history, scored most goals in a season for us, beat real madrid, inter milan (home and away), beat man utd 4-1 away etc etc............ was an extremely good team. He turned a mid table side into european cup winners + top4 consistants. Your a mental if you think liverpool was not a good team under his reign.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stavros
gutted but cant blame the fella. He was patient and we didnt ask him back, he would of walked over broken glass to come back to anfield. Maybe this is partly to wind up Ian Ayre - I would like to think so :)Quote:
Originally Posted by robertlouis
In a fantasy world I hope he does well, then at the end of the season sacked chelsea off and came home :D
Like i have said in a previous post the premier league has been less of a force without mourhino and rafa. I also said I expected rafa to be back (I was hoping liverpool) and mourhinio at man city by next season.
But Liverpool have never won the Premier League title, and last won the old First Division title in 1990; ok so they were better than I suggested, but who remembers the runners up?Quote:
Originally Posted by SammiValentine
Have not won the league but you only need to look at what we have won since 2000 to see that "not a particuarly good team" is a really, really silly comment :) It only rings true for the last couple of seasons and even when so poor we still get into domestic finals and a uefa semi.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stavros
Chelsea fans certainly remember Mr Benetiz regardless of him winning the prem or not. He was the man who stopped Mourhinos best (2005 and 2007) from getting to a champions league final, with a team of underdogs -over two legs.
Ok Sammi I concede, it was a comment made without much reflection; the truth is I can't recall that many Liverpool games under Benitez other than the astonishing night in Istanbul, one of the most memorable. My recollection of his last phase in charge does not shine much either; this could be because I am forgetting a lot of things these days (I went to the shops without my wallet yesterday, for example) or the 'halo effect' -I recalll so many outstanding games from Liverpool in the 1970s and 1980s that their more recent performances seem below par by comparison, which may not be fair.Quote:
Originally Posted by SammiValentine
I therefore concede you are right, and that I was wrong.
More unsavoury moments in the Premiership over the weekend. Disgraceful antisemitic chants and worse from West Ham fans at Spurs and the constant booing - and worse again - of Benitez' first game in charge of Chelsea.
Taking the Spurs' game first, yes, it's possible that some of the people making the obscene remarks don't fully understand the seriousness of what they're saying, but the holocaust should never be trivialised like that. And of course, Spurs fans, whether Jewish or Gentile, wear the "Yid" label like a perverse badge of pride, but let's hope that the FA's recently found balls mean that they will deal as harshly as possible and through the courts with those responsible.
As for Chelsea, well, apart from those who are old enough to remember the thin and pre-Abramovich times, they've always seemed to reflect the nastiness of their club and, sadly, some of their stars - Messrs Terry and Cole stand out, but there have been others, like Jody Morris too. What was particularly sad yesterday was that their prolonged booing drowned out an attempt at decency, a minute's applause for the great Dave Sexton, the man who managed them brilliantly in the 70s.
Abramovich was there to witness it all. He fired De Matteo, he appointed Benitez, he's hired and fired nine other managers in his ten years as owner. Watching and listening to that disgrace yesterday, it would take a hard man - which he undoubtedly is - not to turn around, take his money out, see the club go to the wall and then tell those ungrateful and graceless bastards - *ahem*, I'll get to the fans in a minute - and tell them to fuck off with their nastiness and pettily short memories.
What goes on on the park can be beautiful and breathtaking, but sadly all too often what emanates from the terraces is brutish, vile, and hurtful. A reflection of Call Me Dave's "Big Society", perhaps.
Football stinks.
To which one would have to add the vicious attack on Spurs fans in Rome by AS Roma fans (not Lazio), part of an under-current of 'paramilitary' "football supporters" in Europe. It is an odd fact of history that Spurs initially gained their Jewish following because East End Jews found it easier to travel on the railway to White Hart Lane, yet Arsenal has had roughly an equal proportion of Jewish fans, and one of the most fervent admirers of Manchester City, author Colin Shindler is Jewish. I think the use of the word 'Yid' is offensive in most contexts,regarless of what some Jews call each other be it in jest or anger. Here is an interesting article on this topic.
http://www.sabotagetimes.com/footbal...football-fans/
Coming from a city (Glasgow) where religion and football affiliation and idnetity have for generations been poisonously intertwined, I find the relatively recent public highlighting of Tottenham fans' complex identification with Judaism very interesting.
That said, when I first moved south, my football ground of choice was the Boleyn Ground, simply because West Ham in the 80s seemed to play a very watchable style of football, under the likes of purist managers like Ron Greenwood and John Lyall. There was always an undercurrent of hostility when London rivals visited, but in those days the real vitriol seemed to be reserved for Chelsea, because of their more upmarket fans by comparison with West Ham's east end working class roots. But I never heard the kind of thing that's spewed out on the terraces these days.
Having also lived in a number of cities on the European mainland in Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, fan enmity was generally low-key, except when Ajax played Feyenoord, or Liege vs Anderlecht. But the Dutch fans loathe the Germans - hangover from the war.
Bullshit with an agenda. The boo's for Rafa were in protest at the club removing a legend and installin someone who belittled the club over and above what most managers said in battle.Quote:
Originally Posted by robertlouis
Also a vent at the very same thing which everyone and his dog loves to bang on about, romans mismanagement, yet when fans do the decent thing with the only power they have left, they are ostracised.
As soon as Sextons minute was anounced the whole stadium went quiet aand gave him the respect he deserves. The speed and deliberance of the change was one of my proudest moments in the stands.
And finally to say that is worse than anti semetic chanting exposes you completely. Yea i'm sure you'd say plently to us fans and to our faces, i'm one and happy to meet for you to share your views.
Prick. The worst kind, a santinmonious, holier than tho better than all Prick.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nelly07
Rafa implied drogba dived a lot, at the time he was perfectly correct. He also said we dont need to hand out plastic flags to create an atmosphere, this was prior to a champs league semi and also correct.
Mourinho also made some choice comments particualry before 2005 semi, not to mention walking down the wing at cardiff, towards the liverpool end, making sssh gestures.. . Its all tit for tat the difference being rafa is now your manager. The question is why is he? We all know the answer, and apparently the only thing you can do about it is boo. Fair enough.
I can totally appreciate why yous dont want Rafa, i would of been mortified if we ever had Mourinho or Drogba at anfield after chelsea etc. Regardless of how good they are at what they do.
Premier League titles, FA Cups, Champions league finals and a win, all down to 'Roman's mismanagement'? I am no fan of Chelsea, but credit where its due, the team comprised some of the best players we have seen -Czech must surely be one of the best goalkeepers in the world- if they are unable to beat West Ham it may be due more to a decline of the team that used to win everything through age -the days when Terry, Lampard and Cole could control a game are over and if Benitez stays long enough to hold to his job -which must be a doubt if Chelsea slip out of the top 4- he has to spend Roman's millions on new players and start all over again. But will Benitez still be there by the New Year? United can still win matches even when they go behind, scraping out results like that often wins titles. As usual, they are still the team to beat.
I totally agree. I've thought so little of Drogba over the years, that if he ever put on the red and played at Anfield, I'd boo the man every time he touched the ball until they drove him out of town.Quote:
Originally Posted by SammiValentine
As for Rafa, will be intersting to see the fan reaction at Anfield the next time he's there. He got us the European Cup, and I appreciate that. But Chelsea? I guess it's a job, but it's almost like going to ManU or Everton. Not sure how I'll react when I'm watching it.
If Pep does decide to take the job, Benitez is gone. But I don't think Pep Guardiola is that stupid. I give Rafa at least two years in the job before Roman cans him.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stavros
Two YEARS? If this run of form continues more like two months! According to today's Daily Telegraph Mourinho is on the way out in Madrid, could he conceivably be lured back to London? The other problem is that like Real Madrid, the managerial position at Chelsea is so delicate, so prone to instant gratification or dismissal that it is unlikely to attract to the right kind of manager, as RA needs results NOW, not in five years time. That's no way to build a football club. It will be interesting to see is Czech considers its time to move somewhere else to end his career, with the other old boys on the verge of retirement, this club is facing a difficult season, and Benitez is not good enough to do anything about it, but as I say, by the New Year he will probably be looking for a new job. Martin O'Neill is not producing results at Sunderland, could he be the man for the Blues?
Survival chances for managers at Stamford Bridge are no better than fighter pilots on the western front. Only a cynic with an empty wallet (Rafa?) would knowingly take the job on.
I should keep my powder dry till tonight, but barring miracles it's quite likely that only Man U and Arsenal will still be in the Champions League after tonight's matches. Of course I hope that Chelsea and especially Celtic get through, but it does seem to confirm a sliding standard in the Premiership this season - it hasn't been just the titans of Europe who've given the English clubs a beating, and in the Premiership itself, West Brom, Swansea and Norwich are proving yet again that on their day they can outmatch the big names. Makes for a more uncertain and probably more interesting time, but no-one's unbeatable any more.
That may be because United, Chelsea and Arsenal are teams in transition -United's defence can no longer rely on Vidic and Ferdinand, Chelsea's tightly woven team is unravelling as their key players get old, Arsenal has shed some of its key playmakers and can't seem to gel around the new boys, and both Arsenal and United have erratic goalkeepers. West Brom may now begin their slide down the table after early season successes, the question marks are over the uneven performances of Everton, Spurs and Newcastle. It will be a pity if Bale recovers from his hamstring and leaves for Spain in the New Year, unless Ferguson can swap him for Ashley Young, and entice Reina from Liverpool where his talents are wasted. I can't work out what is going on at any one time in Manchester City, the bizarre thing is that Mancini looks like an Italian woman I used to know, its really rather unsettling...maybe he should get a hair cut...?
Never mind a' thon pish! Congratulations to Celtic! While the rest of the UK teams in the Champions League were underachieving or huffing and puffing to the next stage, Celtic's qualification is remarkable by any standard. Well done to Neil Lennon and his team.
lol at reina in a manc shirt. last transfer either way was in the 60's. Will not happen. tell us another... :)