The Football.....

[Monsieur Remings]

Big Saturday of football coming up. Don't have strong feelings for the play-off. Olly is a QPR legend, but WH are the bigger club. Looking forward to the Champions league game too.

Still reeling a bit after yesterday's shenanigans. Am really pleased for the old school City fans, proper fans, proper club. Their real fans have suffered over the years so I don't begrudge their success. I don't get the criticism of buying the title, it's always been bought. I feel sorry for Bolton fans but before Owen Coyle starts bleating on about refereeing decisions he wants to think about Clint Hill's header that was 2 yards over the line and not given when we were at theirs.

Graham Poll, a QPR fan, was on Talksport today and in amidst all the Barton baiting he stated that generally the quality of refereeing over the season had been dreadful - something that I wholeheartedly agree with. The problem for Bolton however - and it would have been the same argument for us - is that over the space of the season they just weren't good enough. They threw away two games in hand over us - okay before it became defined as a two-horse race between us and them, but still. Secondly, they let slip a 2-0 lead at home to the Baggies last weekend. They can have no more complaints than us with the exception of crap refereeing and despite feeling pretty bitter about some of ours, poor decisions were a fairly universal occurence throughout the Premiership this season.

Whatever happens with Barton I'm okay with. Fernandes was proper on TS this morning, kept a level head and said the club would wait for all the furore to die down and then make a decision. IMO, if he has to go then so be it, but I can't see stripping him of his captaincy or trying to bring him into order with some half-measure is going to work - it has to be all or nothing.

As for Alan Brazil, nice one for mentioning the Paddy Kenny saves, the Cisse and Mackie goals because no-one else did.

 

[Monsieur Remings]

And one other thing, despite all the petty rivalries, well done to the three clubs that came up and stayed up - ourselves, Swansea and the Norwich.

The last time this happened was 2001-02 where along with Fulham, Blackburn and Bolton stayed up.

 

[ceepeebee]

espn classic showed Ajax vs Panathinaikos european cup final from 1971 tonight, it was marvellous. The greatest footballer ever was in his pomp, and the English commentator was deriding Ajax's "constant, pointless, possession passing game" - the damn fool.

 

[dellzeqq]

finally, mcleish got sacked what an idiot he has been

Well........yes. And not many will shed tears on his behalf.

But. Think this through. Martinez, Rogers and Lambert are on the short list. Well, why, why, why would any one of those three take the job? Martinez turned it down last time. Rogers made it known he wasn't interested in the Chelsea job. Lambert could find himself a job with a top German or French club pretty much any time - if he was minded to leave Norwich, and he surely feels under no pressure to leave. Maybe the Villa board have something up their sleeve, but I wonder if there isn't going to be an embarrassing casting around before settling on somebody who's out of work for a very good reason in the manner of QPR. Perhaps they should talk to Sunderland....

 

[ceepeebee]

Well........yes. And not many will shed tears on his behalf.

But. Think this through. Martinez, Rogers and Lambert are on the short list. Well, why, why, why would any one of those three take the job? Martinez turned it down last time. Rogers made it known he wasn't interested in the Chelsea job. Lambert could find himself a job with a top German or French club pretty much any time - if he was minded to leave Norwich, and he surely feels under no pressure to leave. Maybe the Villa board have something up their sleeve, but I wonder if there isn't going to be an embarrassing casting around before settling on somebody who's out of work for a very good reason in the manner of QPR. Perhaps they should talk to Sunderland....

I thought they might go for Slaven Bilic, who would probably be a good premiership manager, but he's going to Moscow after the Euros apparently. When Lerner came in and MoN became manager it all looked so promising for Villa, it just seemed to crash and burn badly.

 

[PaulB]

But do you stock

I thought they might go for Slaven Bilic, who would probably be a good premiership manager, but he's going to Moscow after the Euros apparently. When Lerner came in and MoN became manager it all looked so promising for Villa, it just seemed to crash and burn badly.

But do you stock quaint notepads for weekend ravers? And will Tranny be changing managers this season or are they happy with what they've got?

 

[ceepeebee]

But do you stock

But do you stock quaint notepads for weekend ravers? And will Tranny be changing managers this season or are they happy with what they've got?

ha ha, don't know about Tranny, but our man's flight to Boston has set twitter alight somewhat...

 

[PaulB]

ha ha, don't know about Tranny, but our man's flight to Boston has set twitter alight somewhat...

He's back. And back very early! Some credible tweets state he's in the BA lounge at Heathrow awaiting a flight to Manchester and was only in Boston for a short time. He wasn't at the Red Sox game last night (they are abysmal this season) and this is being seen as a snub to him. Other credible sources claim Clarke is still there and KK has suggested they keep Clarke on in the new set-up. Big speculation an announcement will be made 'pon this very day.

 

[ceepeebee]

He's back. And back very early! Some credible tweets state he's in the BA lounge at Heathrow awaiting a flight to Manchester and was only in Boston for a short time. He wasn't at the Red Sox game last night (they are abysmal this season) and this is being seen as a snub to him. Other credible sources claim Clarke is still there and KK has suggested they keep Clarke on in the new set-up. Big speculation an announcement will be made 'pon this very day.

Martinez............ Would Clarke work for him? I'm not so sure.


Oh, meant to say - ESPN served up a proper treat last night - after the Ajax masterclass, they showed Celtic vs Inter from Lisbon in 67 - Inter were magnificently brutal and full of catennaccio - Celtic were fantastic though - Gemmil and Johnstone so good.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Martinez............ Would Clarke work for him? I'm not so sure.


Oh, meant to say - ESPN served up a proper treat last night - after the Ajax masterclass, they showed Celtic vs Inter from Lisbon in 67 - Inter were magnificently brutal and full of catennaccio - Celtic were fantastic though - Gemmil and Johnstone so good.

And every single Celtic player born within 30 miles of the ground, something that will never be seen again. I might be wrong on this bit, but I think the West Ham team that won the FA cup in '64 were the last to do so with 11 English players.

 

[Maz]

Wem-ber-ly! Wem-ber-ly!
We're the famous Sheff United
And we're off to Wem-ber-ly!

 

[PaulB]

Wem-ber-ly! Wem-ber-ly!
We're the famous Sheff United
And we're off to Wem-ber-ly!

I wouldn't get too excited at that mate. Not having been to the 'new' Wembley for years, we went three times this season and were very disappointed at what's there. It's a rip-off from the moment you get off the train. All the pubs close one hour before kick-off to corral you into the grasping hands of the exploiters as you walk along that interminable alleyway into the maw of the soul-less dome of doom. The Millennium in Cardiff is 100 times better. You want to hang banners proclaiming your teams glories? Forget that, the flags and banners are not allowed to impinge on the holy sponsor's message. You want to sing YOUR song? You can forget that; the custodians of Wembley will tell you what to sing, when and for how long. They truly know nothing at all about the desire to see your team and think that Wembley is special! It is FAR from special and a crushing disappointment so, if I were you, I'd not go with any great expectation at all and if you want a drink inside the stadium, take a LOT of money. You'll need it!

 

[ceepeebee]

Can't agree more - not that I've managed to get an LFC ticket yet - I've blagged a couple of England ones and... it wasn't a great place before, but now it's just soulless and horrible, it's a bit like the Emirates writ large in fact - right down to the internal decor.

Cardiff was a joy though (a good result and a free ticket helped mind).

Pre-Wembley drinking = difficult, I tend to squirrel away in one of the little places round Marylebone and get the chiltern up to the stadium. Pubs round Wembley are uniformly awful.

 

[Maz]

I wouldn't get too excited at that mate. Not having been to the 'new' Wembley for years, we went three times this season and were very disappointed at what's there. It's a rip-off from the moment you get off the train. All the pubs close one hour before kick-off to corral you into the grasping hands of the exploiters as you walk along that interminable alleyway into the maw of the soul-less dome of doom. The Millennium in Cardiff is 100 times better. You want to hang banners proclaiming your teams glories? Forget that, the flags and banners are not allowed to impinge on the holy sponsor's message. You want to sing YOUR song? You can forget that; the custodians of Wembley will tell you what to sing, when and for how long. They truly know nothing at all about the desire to see your team and think that Wembley is special! It is FAR from special and a crushing disappointment so, if I were you, I'd not go with any great expectation at all and if you want a drink inside the stadium, take a LOT of money. You'll need it!

'crushing disappointment'? I'm a Blade at a play-off final - I'm bracing myself for disappointment already...
went to the old wembley for a play-off - lost
went to Cardiff for a play-off - lost
went to the new wembley for a play-off - lost

Gotta break the duck sooner or later!
Can't sing your own songs? I can't believe that. We won't kowtow to any Wembley officials.

I'm gonna enjoy the occasion as best i can. Where was I now?, oh, I remember...

Wem-ber-ly! Wem-ber-ly!​

We're the famous Sheff United​

And we're off to Wem-ber-ly!​

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Wem-ber-ly! Wem-ber-ly!
We're the famous Sheff United
And we're off to Wem-ber-ly!

It's half past three, pardon.