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Football football. Football football.

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22:24 / 12.09.06

managed to play six games and play juggling, etc between fixtures, in a freezing wind and was well knackered by the end. what am i saying, i am still knackered!

and sydney managaed to travel across the continent to hold perth to a 1-1 draw, without any a-league subs!

now, eufa champions league kicked off last night (damn not getting up to watch barca hammer home five!) and is going to go on for a while - do we start a new thread, or just talk football [x4] here including champions league / uefa cup [which mourinho rekkuns chelsea are favourite for if they run thrid in their group

he's such a card...]

man u & celtic tomorrow morning me time - get up for that one (be drab now, but)

anyone see a game yesterday?

16:40 / 15.09.06

Couple of me mates went to Hearts v Sparta.
"22 foreigners not fancying it in the rain" was one pithy phrase, game should have been called off the pitch was so wet.
And apparently there is absolutely zero atmosphere at Murrayfield (unsurprising, as it is a r***y stadium).

Man U / Celtic was a bizarre match from what I saw: loads of mistakes, a few players looking well short of fitness, others still struggling to bed in to the side. Still, Saha looked tres impressive, and it was an eminently watchable encounter all told.

21:38 / 02.10.06

to those who referred me to benito carbone footage, and others, scores on debut!

let's hope he says 'si'.

22:31 / 05.10.06

rules governing players' behaviour off the park - whaddya rekkun?

australia's captain, newcastle defender craig moore, has flown home from brisbane where he was late for [well, missed altogether] the squad's first training session 'cause he'd been in sydney the day before, was jetlagged, didn't sleep well, took a sleeping pill eventually and slept in, missed his plane.

seems innocuous enough, but the australian football federation banned him for a match (the game against paraguay tomorrow night, before an asian cup qualifier on wed night in sydney against bahrain) and he asked to be let go from the squad from wed's game because of it.

i know you should have a team all together and what's good for one should be good for all.... yada yada, but really, the captain, with the support of his team - a few have said it is ludicrous behaviour by the ffa - with an entirely plausible (not saying it is what happened, but who ya gonna believe?) excuse, seems a silly way to run a show when soccer/football in this country still needs every positive side of the sport shining with no dramas and squabbles.

does anyone else rekkun this is a rash turn of events by the country's ruling body? what would ya rekkun if it was your country's captain..?

02:23 / 24.01.07

hey, it's me again...

just a thought - on transfers.

so, "lu-cash" neill, the hard [cash] man of the premeir league... eh?

but madly, rumours are the hammers will let tevez go! how bizarre, all those squillions and they didn't bother to build a team round him, rather let the team they did throw into battle dawdle and slump deep into relegation mire. how odd...

any other transfers in 'the window' catch your eye?

15:13 / 24.01.07

Tevez has started really 'playing' of late, and most Hammers that I know seem to really like him, so if he goes it'll be because of the pesky contract owners rather than the club I think.

Boa Morte was a good buy for them - most of the other deals haven't been that exciting - I think a lot of clubs got good players early - like Bennie Mac at Blackburn.

The panic scramble has still got another week and a bit to go though.

I like the long game that Man U play in transfers, the fact that they have a small stop gap with Larrson so that they can spend the money on a midfielder, and hold out until the summer for a big striker to sign - the fact that Fergie can think ahead more than just a couple of games when he buys players. I just hope that the unrealism of players/clubs/agents calling every english man and his dog a £25m player goes away.

What would help sort out the money issue? Would a club (Leeds seem a good bet, although Bournemouth shouldn't be counted out) going bust end it all? Or would Agents getting culled?

I'd like a wage bracket introduced that is related to age somehow, I think that would work wonders and also hopefully bring about a greater sense of players moving for footballing reasons rather than agents in their ears, dreams of ferrari reasons.

09:50 / 25.01.07

and with that in mind, this was widely reported this week as Stuart Pearce was pondering Lucas Neill's move to West Ham, allegedly spurning Liverpool:

Stuart Pearce was talking to a player recently when he posed what was intended as a rhetorical question. “I said: ‘What would you rather have, a Ferrari or an England cap.’ And they said: ‘Well definitely a Ferrari because they’re fantastic, aren’t they?” the Manchester City manager recalled with horror, shaking his head at the incredulity of it all.

And that's the problem right there. Not an original observation, I know - what fan wouldn't play for their country for free? - but still. Jesus.

That said, I'm a bit conflicted because I hate the idea of a salary cap. Or indeed any artificial leveller (like the draft system in American Football) because like it or not, big clubs (i.e. clubs with money) get the best players. That's harsh but legitimate and it gives greater significance to the acheivements of 'smaller' clubs. You have to have an underdog to properly invest in the contest (assuming you're a neutral fan.)

Also, an arbitrarily set salary cap just isn't fair. Yes, Ballack is disproportionally rewarded for his performances but that's what Chelsea value him at. Fine. Their mistake. Capping salary just means that Thierry Henry ends up getting paid the same as, I dunno, Yakubu.

And, it'd be impossible to police - the shortfall would be made up with gifts, perks, expenses and bonuses and the situation would remain.

If we're talking fantasy football utopia, I'd like to see not a salary cap but regional restrictions. Useful centreback born in Torquay? Tough luck son, it's the Gulls for you. Like the Yorkshire cricket team back in the day.

08:19 / 15.02.07

football in australia is on the up... the second season of the a-league reaches its zenith this weekend with the minor premiers [by a country mile] melbourne taking on last year's minor premiers (who missed out altogether on the decider but bounced back to be second in the home and away bit...) adelaide in front of a crowd of 55 000+ that sold out in a couple of hours. who'd have dreamed of that three years ago??

should be a cracker of a match i'll not get to see - not on free tv. and seems australia will bid against england to host the WC in 2018.

shall report back on the result, shall i? it'll beat watching crystal palace's result this weekend.

and i see the tinkerman has got the gig at parma - should get them out of trouble, i hope. another of the teams i support who languish, o how they languish!

Tabitha Tickletooth

13:03 / 15.02.07

That's excellent news on the Aussie league popularity - do you think it's had an additional boost from a good World Cup run?

However: should be a cracker of a match i'll not get to see - not on free tv - astro.

Is it on Fox then? Not on SBS? This is surely not going to help the league make that next step up the popularity ladder. Very disappointing.

Meanwhile, just for a change my club has been fucked over. Again. In acts of pure spite the pathetic bureaucratic wankers at the FA have kicked AFC Wimbledon out of the FA Trophy and the Ryman League have stripped us of many, many points effectively casting us into the relegation zone for fielding an ineligible player. Said player was one Jermaine Darlington and the reason for his ineligibility was because we failed to get international clearance for him. Which exotic location had he been playing in, you might rightly wonder? Well, Wales. Cardiff to be precise - that's in the ENGLISH league but nonetheless a foreign country. Oh, just typing about it makes me pissed off. Here's a bit of background (about halfway down, headed option b) or if you'd like to put finger to keyboard and help us out, here's some info on the club's letter writing campaign. We are appealing the decisions and we've got ourselves seriously lawyered up but I don't even want to get hopeful anymore.

Can't they just leave us alone now?

00:13 / 16.02.07

o tt, that's more appalling than a bad espresso! hopefully, reason will prevail - though as it is the FA, that is as an unlikely event as the coalition of the wilting withdrawing from iraq and releasing guantanamo bay inmates with a rose and piece of cake and a thanks for coming card... still and all, good luck! womble on... (does orinoco still turn out on the left wing??)

as for a-league stuff, yep, WC gave the domestic comp a big boost, is sure; but the work that went into making it a success would have stood for themselves to a great extent, i think. attendance is up from 11k to 14k per game this year, with melbourne cracking 40k+ a few times in home and away fixtures!!

the gf game is on fox and so is on at my local footie club, but i dunno if i'll get there as my folks are coming to visit and i shouldn't go off at dinner time when i'll be supposedly cooking for them! d'oh! what sort of time is 6pm sunday for a finale?? whatever happened to football on saturday, 3pm??

sbs are great still, but don't have the a-league and no longer have the epl highlights show. if they ever lose the champions league i'll be up at sbs hq with a placard and a rocket launcher (i've heard they're on the sydney open market...)!!

20:28 / 18.02.07

well, i've never seen the like! due to my folks being in town and having been to see a pre-season game with adelaide, i thought it proper we pop up the club, get a roast and a beer, watch the a-league grand final on the big screen.

six bloody nil! but there's more...

archie thompson got them away to a five nil start on his own - five!! - before the sixth late on ... by the chap who replaced him!! (manager gave him a deserved send off at 88mins)

the brazilian, fred, in melbourne's midfield made four of archie's five, and for mine was really the player of the match (but you can't take away a striker's five-trick and not award him the accolade, so of course he was feted in the presentation) but this guy is the business. for a one-sided result, the match was pretty entertaining.

and for the first ten or so minutes, adelaide looked most likely... bizarre really...

and adelaide's captain getting himself sent off before the break didn't help... but at 4 down, adelaide had a goal we all thought was good disallowed. game had everything. and all in front of a record club-game crowd in australia.

this thing's on the up!

23:40 / 06.03.07

does anyone wanna chat about the champions league and other football stuff more broadly here? a random post on 'we won' thread is almost all for all the excellent football around at the moment, heading into crunch time in many zones...

me, i love this time of year, with many weeks getting two a-bit-early morning games (half six in oz) in champs league most weeks and the finals soon.

and the epl heads into the home straight - can man u lose? well, they still play chelski, and they still have a game up on them, so one slip up could be fateful for the lads in red...

and spain's league is exciting, copa america - the list goes on!

anyone?

Closed for Business Time

08:53 / 07.03.07

I'm in. Just don't expect too much semiotic analysis - more like "they're shit and this is why"... I'm sorry, I get emotional about footie. To start off - isn't it amazing that there are five UK teams among the last 8 in CL? I mean, how the hell? Me being a L'pool fan, I'd have to rate Celtic as the other team I'd like to see go through. First time through to the group stages, and here they are playing AC Milan in the q.f. Fantastic.

21:49 / 08.03.07

Well, it was the last 16; there are three English teams in the last 8.

I think, astro &c., this thread has kind of run its' course; I don't mind, and would likely contribute, if someone wants to start a Champs Lg. thread about now or Premiership or whatever - I'd start an SPL one, but it's a guarantee that at best I'd be talking to one person, given the wall of antipathy the league generates in most people, even in Scotland (for the record: that seconds Champion's League space is not guaranteed, howevs - I pray.)

There's just a worry that these sort of spectator sport threads, unless in the case of a very big event (i.e. the upcoming rugby World Cup) could cause some dissension and be uneasy bedfellows with the gamer threads. Or that people might be somewhat nonplussed by them, in which case we could just forget about it. It's kinda my fault we have this model, as I'm responsible, in my juvenile, if gallus, enthusiasm some years ago for starting this utterly unfocussed thread (which was pretty decent, I'd thought, for a page or two) but it's kind of wandered and we're talking at crosspurposes mostly nowadays.

01:13 / 09.03.07

go hearts!

my old man was a butcher with his own shop and had an older chap work for him once, who'd been in oz about thirty five years, but ya dinna kenna wurrd he was tekkin aboot, laddie.

wonderful man, joe. gave me a book on the hearts of midlothian, only scottish side i'll ever follow and the first side outside palace (who was me grand dad's team) i thought about cheering for.

heavens knows what a young lad like me'd a done if hearts and palace made ith through to a group in europe!! [luckily, that was never likely to happen; and is still as unlikely!!]

i'd love to see three ties with english clubs, but there isn't anything to stop country fellows (ha, that's a joke!) meeting each other from here in, is there?

what chance two english teams meeting in athens?

and what chance newcastle conceding two goals in holland and losing the tie?? where's michael owen?? (that could be a thread on its own...

)

07:51 / 09.03.07

That wouldn't suprise me at all - Newcastle look good going forward because of Parker/Duff/Martins, but the defensive issues still hang around, and they looked shaky at best last night, depsite the score line.

We'll soon see the draw - but I bet Chelsea vs Liverpool is going to happen.

The ideal would be;
Liverpool v Roma
Chelsea v AC Milan
Man U v PSV
B Munich v Valencia

I think that would be good draws for most teams - Liverpool would pull Roma apart, and Carrighar would keep totti in his pocket - Shevchenko would upset Milan and Kaka would be out the game with Essien, Man U would come alive against the dutch, and B M and V would take a tough team out of the semi's. But yeah, Chelsea Liverpool will happen, won't it?

So, is Sheringham going to Sydney?

Closed for Business Time

13:35 / 09.03.07

The draw is in, and it's a great day for English football!
The fixtures will be:
Milan v Bayern Munich
PSV Eindhoven v Liverpool
Roma v Manchester United
Chelsea v Valencia

So, chances are good that we can have an all-English final. God, I'd chop off my left pinkie to have ManUre v Liverpool in the final and see Fergie cry like a baby after. As LFC will face the the winners of Chelski v Valencia, I predict Valencia will prevail against the SE London primadonnas, and there Benitez' tactical acumen will see us through to the final. Would also be sweet to get Milan in the final again. We won't be caught unawares again..

03:24 / 12.03.07

'pool would have appropriate form if they did meet chelski - though i wonder if it mightn't be gloating mourihno's year again, especially if they can get over spurs in the re-match and when man u slide away from glory...

palace won again! just thought i'd interject with that...

actually, i'd put 35c on psv getting to athens. i'm a high roller! but they look likely to get by against anyone they meet at the moment. a good outsider's chance against all the old-school talent with them in the eight.

watch this space...

(and frankly, how chuffed would an ozzie be when jason culina scores the winner!

)

04:15 / 13.03.07

anyone see anything of the el classico last week, with messi's hattrick the first in the tie for twelve years?

a guardian blog comment had this to say: How many players who make a name for themselves at 17 ever go on to have the massive career people expect of them?

and immediately i thought: pele?

messi is the business, for mine. i thought deco was the business and still do - what a team to have deco and messi!! how'd they lose to liverpool??

hopefully the match will pop up on the tele but i rarely get the luxury of sitting round sunday arvo watching football - dammit! a cracker of a game by all accounts.

anyone see any other good games??

and for any US 'lithers, the galaxy just signed the brazilian player fred from the a-league conquering melbourne victory. for many fans and commentators, he was the star of the season, socceroos kevin muscat and archie thompson notwithstanding. go see him; value for money and football brain to go with his football feet. a loss to the fledgling a-league...

ONLY NICE THINGS

01:38 / 14.03.07

messi is the business, for mine. i thought deco was the business and still do - what a team to have deco and messi!! how'd they lose to liverpool??

The other nine players. Specifically, to be fair, the defence, who were often stranded by Rijkaard's formation, which although notionally 3-4-3 was light on the tracking back from midfield that a three-man defence really needs - in particular, the absence of protection for Oleuguer saw Riise making his game look rather easy. Deco, Ronaldinho, Messi and Eto'o are tremendous players, but the most advanced forward among them is also the best tackler.

I didn't see the Madrid game, but did Rijkaard move back to a 4-3-3? That may have been a factor.

05:48 / 15.03.07

didn't see it, haus, but yup, i agree, the barca defence left a lot (of holes) to be desired (by liverpool, who obliged)...

tackling doesn't seem to be part of the game much any more, outside italy, australia and some english clubs...

09:59 / 15.03.07

berbatov was exemplary in leading the tottenham front line last night.

i just hope the prospect of another season with the lilywhites is enough for us to keep hold of him. with the amount of money flowing through the veins of premiership football these days, i'm worried he could be off to a top four club soon enough.

01:21 / 16.03.07

berbatov for chelsea is in the press whispers, innit?

and i wrote after leg one:

and what chance newcastle conceding two goals in holland and losing the tie??

am i the crystal ball, or wot? nothing like an epl side to snatch defeat, is there?

and did anyone see the 'keeper nod in an injury time equaliser to set up extra time and keep the little cup holders in the game? sounds like a right thriller! why is it defences leave the 'keeper unmarked in these situations so often?

04:25 / 29.03.07

england were awful! clueless and lacking anything like tactics, style, panache.

what on earth is going on??

why is a midfielder the only one on the park in white that looks likely to strike - and did. twice. (that said, rooney has long impressed me as a big tough hold-up-and-feed-off player who does more than score goals. pity no-one was hungry...)

06:01 / 29.03.07

I went to the cinema rather than watch the game. I'm bored of this team, and refuse to support it. The best thing that the fans can do, rather than turn up to games and boo, would be to simply not turn up - the FA might get the message then.

Rooney is being asked too much, and as there is no other striker to play off him at the moment, he is being blamed because he is being asked to hold up the ball, lay off the ball and score! It's almost worth putting someone like Heskey on with him, so he can be freed up to do some scoring. Johnson's too slight, Defoe isn't doing it, Crouch is rubbish, misses far too many and sits too high up.

Why on Earth does Downing get matches?

01:23 / 09.04.07

what a great easter!

palace won, man u lost! hearts and parma won. chelski won.

(and my aussie rules team won, but that's another topic...)

european comps are up for grabs - 'pool look likely, though i saw extended highlights of their game and psv missed alex and other regulars, but especially alex at the back. kuyt's yellow was clever, though makes a mockery of the system - a cannier ref would have not booked him as just punishment!

chelski are up against it - fancy their crashing out if i was forced at gunpoint to put money on it. and man u too, though more likely at home to persevere. milan and munchen don't look up to the task, but you can never tell. fancy roma and 'pool if roma finish the job at old trafford. mebbe sevilla, but i think the mersey siders will have the game to get round them, if they meet.

and we're getting the uefa cup games here live - well, one - though unfortunately got the drab az v bremen draw last week. get spurs this week. they look likely, too. what chance england teams for both titles? or none!

did i mention palace won?

03:30 / 10.04.07

question on the us football (soccer) comp.

seems there are two conferences in the league - an eastern and a western one? can anyone elucidate the fixturing - it seemed from looking on soccernet at results the other day a team from one conference played a team from another, but each conference has its own league table. how can the table reflect the conferences with for and against and all that if the matches are a mixture of each? what is the point then of conferences; why not have one national comp?

any help? was i misreading things??

has becks kicked anything in anger yet?

05:46 / 10.04.07

The east and west conferences play a league structure, then go into a play-off system of first place east playing (I think) fourth place west and so on, until two teams remain that play each other for the overall seasons champions.

The new season has only just started though, and looking at the scoreboards, it does indeed seem to be a bit of crossing over going on - I'm really not sure about this?

Beckham hasn't joined his new team just yet - plus I think he is still carrying a little injury.

02:29 / 11.04.07

thank you, mr the ball...

and while i'm here, jesus h goddam christ with a stick!! seven bloody one!!!

[still think man u have climaxed - all over old trafford - and the winner of the other semi will taste glory in athens. hope they don't fill the cup with retsina!]

05:58 / 11.04.07

7-1 in deed eee! Even Fletcher played like a footballer! Chelski through, Liverpool having to slip up terribly not to get through - 3/4 of the semi premiership teams!

So who will it be, AC or BM?

7-1 - it, dare we say it, it got boring!

07:38 / 11.04.07

with cristiano in that form, it was never boring. each time he was near the ball, things happened - though how the italian's revered defence allowed him THAT much space so often is an enigma.

de rossi's strike, though, was goal of the game? totti's delivery, smooth backflick volley from twenty yards - audacious! if only they'd been just one down at the time...

on hidings, i watched highlights of the matildas (aussie women's natioanl squad) demolish hong kong (all right, stop sniggering) fifteen nil last week. awesome!

21:25 / 20.04.07

lionel messi has scored for barca a replica of maradonna's wonder goal that tore england apart. there are also circulating (probably at the side of this video) direct comparisons of the two goals together - scary!)

what sort of team will be needed to beat argentina in SA in three years?

17:18 / 22.04.07

A physically strong team...

Interesting weekend was promised, but somehow failed completely to deliver, chelsea fans no doubt had a fun 24 hour period where they had it in the bag, and then some how got shut out by Newcastle...

Forest still mathmatically still might still maybe still automatic promotion still. I just know that we have such a bad record in play offs that we will no doubt get knocked out by Yovil! Unless Krispy Kream Kommens can keep himself scoring for the next month.

19:26 / 22.04.07

Sorry this is a week late, but did anyone catch the Watford / Manchester United game pre-Dr. Who? I'm nominally invested in the former team, but I was sensible enough to know they weren't really in with a chance, but...

... Was it me or did they proceed to, once the score was 3/1, play an incredibly dirty, cynical game? I'm sure I saw at least two flying, two-footed tackles, and there was quite a few other bits and bobs that pointed to the Watford manager having a sense of humour and wanting to show up the Man Utd team with delicate pitchside violence...

... Just me, then?

Closed for Business Time

20:53 / 22.04.07

Why in hell did Ole Gunnar Solskjær get booked and this goal disallowed for "unsportsmanlike conduct"? I heard Jamie Redknapp mutter something about a gentleman's agreement in the Premiership - to the effect that you don't steal the ball from the keeper when he's about to thunder it up the pitch - but AFAIK the UEFA rulebook clearly states that as long as there's no dangerous play involved and the keeper is not controlling the ball either with feet or hands, it's considered to be in play, and as such an opposing player is well within his or her right to pinch the ball from the keeper.
Are there special rules in PL for this kinda thing?
That said, the ref clearly had a bad day at the job - Boro should've had a penalty and won the match.

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