Official Football Thread

Well, I can understand Natalie's feelings. His period when he had the "red-cry-baby-face-on-the-oversized-neck" is still a fresh image in our eyes.

Seems he really changed over the last two seasons (esp. the last one), but for us who follow the British league less well as some others, he's still the same nitwit with that same appearance.

This might change (soon?) of course, when (or if) he will shine outside the British borders. He hasn't been that fantastic yet in the Champions League, I think.
 
Ronaldo is consistently brilliant in the Premiership. But he can't properly be called great until he consistently performs very well on "the big stage", i.e. World Cup, Euro Championship and Champions League latter stages. Otherwise there's no way he can be compared to players like Cruyff, Maradona or George Best.

I haven't been able to move today without having some "What a Hero Frank Lampard is" crap shoved down my throat, in the papers and radio. "What Courage", "Our Brave Frank", huh? All he did was take a penalty. It's his job, and he gets paid £120,000 a week to do it. Get on with it. No courage needed.
 
Who's Best.....?

Just kidding guys!  ;)


So the Scots made it to the UEFA-cup final? I had the idea that the Italians were attacking most of the time (or even ALL the time) but like Albie said: in the end, the one with the most goals wins.
 
I watched the 'Gers game and I am pleased for them. Fiorentina were dominant, but Rangers were resolute in the defence and Cuellar was as good as any full back I've seen for a while. What I find unbelievable is this legend that is Vieri - every time I see this guy play (even for Italy), he is pretty much useless in front of goal. And a man of that experience should have buried that penalty.

What also peed me of was the play acting from the Italians in an attempt to get Cousins sent off. Yes, he [Cousins] should not have approached Liverani in the manner he did, but to watch him [liverani] roll about the floor and clutch his face as he has been shot at close range with an air rifle was nothing short of comical. He should have been booked for that - but Cousins was rightly red-carded. Justice was done when Liverani missed from the spot, though. :D

How ironic that two English clubs contest the Champions League in Moscow, and a Russian team contest the UEFA cup in England.

Good luck to the 'Gers in Manchester and here's hoping they win the SPL as well.
 
Agree, Albie. Liverani should have been booked as well. But the man who really let down Fiorentina was Vieri. He missed several good chances in the game and finally did a Baggio in the shootout. I think Manchester is up for a challenge now, with 100 000 crazy Scots in the streets. Good it's not the same day as the CL final, it would be mayhem.
Funny that Zenit St Petersburg are playing in England and two English teams play in Moscow, yes.

But do any of you think that the fact that the final is played in Russia will reduce the risk of trouble between fans? Since it is not straightforward to get visa to Russia, there will probably be a lot fewer fans without tickets than we saw in Athens last year. On the other hand, because Moscow is two hours ahead of CET, the game will be played at 22:45 local time. giving fans plenty of time to get drunk first ...

And Albie; I don't think the West Ham game will be decisive. Man United will of course need to win, but if Chelsea beat Newcastle on Monday, nothing is decided. And beating Wigan at the JJB isn't easier than beating the Hammers at Old Trafford - ask the other top clubs. I'll be saving me nails for that game. And, here's a message to Kevin Keegan for their game against Chelsea:

I'd love it if you beat them. Just LOVE it  :D
 
Eddies Wingman said:
And Albie; I don't think the West Ham game will be decisive.
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It will be decisive in as much that Man U will be confident enough to finish the job at Wigan. The win against Barca was what was needed to get that confidence back.

But saying that, do not be too surprised if Chelsea drop points against Newcastle. And with Bolton fighting for survival, three points here is not a gimme either.
 
That is correct. I think the home match against Barcelona was a confidence boost for the players - and Chelsea's games are probably harder than United's. But I'm still saving my fingernails to have some biting material for the final matchday. Unless, of course, United should beat the Hammers and the other United, those in barcodes, should beat Chelsea.

Btw, now that it is clear that Southend will be in the playoffs, how do you consider your chances of promotion? The four teams are quite evenly matched, aren't they? (Regardless of whether Doncaster, Carlisle or Forest grab the second direct promotion spot). My instinct says Leeds, but your form hasn't been bad either. How about Southend beating Leeds 3-2 after extra time on Wembley?
 
Eddies Wingman said:
Btw, now that it is clear that Southend will be in the playoffs, how do you consider your chances of promotion? The four teams are quite evenly matched, aren't they? (Regardless of whether Doncaster, Carlisle or Forest grab the second direct promotion spot). My instinct says Leeds, but your form hasn't been bad either. How about Southend beating Leeds 3-2 after extra time on Wembley?
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Beating Leeds in the play off final would be nice - but to ensure they meet Leeds in the final, Southend have to secure three points this weekend to remain 5th. I fancy Forest to go up automatically as they have a home game this weekend - Doncaster are away and Carlisle have got a tough game against a very in form Bournemouth. I reckon on the play offs to be Leeds v Doncaster and Southend v Carlisle. So a Leeds Southend final is on the cards. :D

Regardless, all four teams that will be in the play offs will be tough opponents - whoever anyone plays - and all the teams are looking good at the moment. Apart from Carlisle who are in the middle of a bit of a wobble.

Not sure if you are aware, but Leeds (rightly so) failed in their bid to get their points back.
Albie said:
I reckon on the play offs to be Leeds v Doncaster and Southend v Carlisle. So a Leeds Southend final is on the cards. :D
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And so it turned out to be Southend v Donny and Leeds v Carlisle. Judging by the results this season where each team played their respective play off opponent, the results were as follows:

Doncaster 3-1 Southend and Southend 3-2 Doncaster (agg 4-5 to Donny)
Leeds 3-2 Carlisle and Carlisle 3-1 Leeds (agg 4-5 to Carlisle)

I'm hoping for a reversal of all four of the above results and for Southend to beat Leeds 2-1 at Wembley. :D
 
Albie said:
Not sure if you are aware, but Leeds (rightly so) failed in their bid to get their points back.
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That's good. Would've been unfair to withdraw the penalty at this time.

I must admit I like to see Forest go up. I don't really think a club with their history belongs in League One. Would be nice to get them back into the top flight, but I guess that'll take some more time. A Leeds vs Southend  playoff final doesn't seem unlikely, good luck on that project.

Lively scenes at Stoke yesterday, guess the starvation for top-flight football was great now after more than 20 years outside the top division.

But the question of the day goes to National Acrobat;

I see you have updated your avatar with the new QPR logo. But how was the reaction at Loftus Road when it was announced? I understand you had been told to show up early, because you were to be introduced to a new era in the club's history. Rumors about a new manager or a big signing or something like that. And then to find that all the fuzz was about a new club logo? Must've been some muffled laughs in the stands  :)


And last, but not least: Tonight we're all bar codes! C'mon Newcastle!
 
Eddies Wingman said:
Lively scenes at Stoke yesterday, guess the starvation for top-flight football was great now after more than 20 years outside the top division.
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Pretty cool news indeed. Stoke City F.C., the second-oldest Football League club in the world, back in the Premier League!
 
Talking of old football clubs, Juve play in a strip that is borrowed from a really old English football club who are still playing in the football league. Anyone know who that club may be?

And it's not necessarily who you may think. ;)

@EW: Yeap, Forest have gone up and are relishing the thought of playing Derby again. :D
 
Eddies Wingman said:
But the question of the day goes to National Acrobat;

I see you have updated your avatar with the new QPR logo. But how was the reaction at Loftus Road when it was announced? I understand you had been told to show up early, because you were to be introduced to a new era in the club's history. Rumors about a new manager or a big signing or something like that. And then to find that all the fuzz was about a new club logo? Must've been some muffled laughs in the stands  :)
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Lots of us have known about the new badge for a while. A picture was leaked of the new badge on a scarf, which could have been made by anyone, but a few weeks ago the new badge was published in the British government Intellectual Property Office register, registering it as a trade mark, and someone found it on there and gave the link to it on a website; it was removed the next day. :D

I was outside having a few beers before the match, but I'm told the whole New Era announcements were a bit of an anti-climax - the microphone failed a few sceonds into Flavio Briatore's speech, and most people knew about the badge anyway. Overall, I'd say the reaction to the new badge is more favourable than not; we've had quite a few badges in our history anyway. One thing that would not go down right is getting rid of the blue and white hoops, which has been rumoured (next season's kit hasn't been released yet). We've had all sort of wild rumours flying about though - De Canio was supposed to have stood down after the match yesterday, with Zinedine Zidane announced as the new manager, with Luis Figo joining as player.
One player who has confirmed he'll be joining is Radek Cerny, the goalie from Spurs: very positive signing IMO, he's looked very decent for Spurs in the Premiership.

Eddies Wingman said:
And last, but not least: Tonight we're all bar codes! C'mon Newcastle!
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Amen to that!

@ Albie, Notts County. Too easy :D
 
I wonder who Albie thought we would think it was. Newcastle? Meh, plenty of clubs older than the Magpies.

Speaking of them, I found out that I'll not be able to watch the game tonight - not finished at work until 7 PM - which equals 6 PM in England. And by then, the match is over. But of course, if the result is favourable, I'll buy a serious amount of beer and enjoy the nice, sunny spring. The last days we've been close to 20 degrees here in Trondheim, which is warm for early May.

I checked the home pages of Notts County FC and NUFC right now and found that Notts County were established 19 years before Newcastle (1862 and 1881 respectively).

... and not to forget: That new QPR logo is nice, that has to be said.
 
Eddies Wingman said:
I wonder who Albie thought we would think it was. Newcastle? Meh, plenty of clubs older than the Magpies.

Speaking of them, I found out that I'll not be able to watch the game tonight - not finished at work until 7 PM - which equals 6 PM in England. And by then, the match is over. But of course, if the result is favourable, I'll buy a serious amount of beer and enjoy the nice, sunny spring. The last days we've been close to 20 degrees here in Trondheim, which is warm for early May.

I checked the home pages of Notts County FC and NUFC right now and found that Notts County were established 19 years before Newcastle (1862 and 1881 respectively).
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Notts County are actually the oldest professional football club, and one of the founding League clubs (all from the Midlands and Lancashire). Having said that, they've only just avoided relegation several times in recent years.
 
national acrobat said:
@ Albie, Notts County. Too easy :D
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I was hoping a non-English footy fan to have a go at it, but yeah - it was easy. :D

@EW: Some folk do actually have this idea it was Newcastle that was the inspiration - but as we know, their shorts are black.
 
The next one is probably very easy, and I'm curious for the answer:

When was the last time that the championship in the Premier League had to be decided on the last day, and which were the clubs involved?


Tomorrow is the day for 2007/2008:

Chelsea - Bolton Wanderers
Wigan Athletic - Manchester United


Goodluck !   :ok:
 
It has happened only three times previous over the last 20 years (and only twice before in the history of the Premiership) - Source Final day drama.

On each occasion in the Premiership it involved Man U as it does again this weekend. The last time was when Man U won the Treble (League, FA Cup and the Champions League) in 1999.
 
Albie said:
It has happened only three times previous over the last 20 years (and only twice before in the history of the Premiership) - Source Final day drama.
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Shame on me, that's four times in the last 20 years and three times in the Premiership ('89, '95, 96 and '99). :oops:

But even so, it is the first time (and possibly the only time) that the same two clubs are scrapping for the two biggest trophies an English club side could win.
 
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