Soccer thread

sfz_T-car · Post by **sfz_T-car** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 1:14 pm

Juve would need to get around 95+ points out of their 42 games to qualify for a playoff spot. That's not impossible but I suspect their opponents will be playing a lot of catennacio against them this year. Scoreless draws will kill their chances of going up.

I wouldn't put down a deposit on 2007-8 season tickets.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 1:15 pm

there are 126 possible points in Serie B. They just can't lose 5 matches.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 1:16 pm

sfz_T-car wrote:Juve would need to get around 95+ points out of their 42 games to qualify for a playoff spot. That's not impossible but I suspect their opponents will be playing a lot of catennacio against them this year. Scoreless draws will kill their chances of going up.

I wouldn't put down a deposit on 2007-8 season tickets.

you haven't seen their crowds, there is no need for season tickets any year

sfz_T-car · Post by **sfz_T-car** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 1:22 pm

I know their support is lukewarm at the best of times. It was just an expression. They're going to stay down for two years.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 1:54 pm

sfz_T-car wrote: That's not impossible but I suspect their opponents will be playing a lot of catennacio against them this year. .

MMMMM....catennacio....

jimd · Post by **jimd** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 2:17 pm

Hey Squid,

Your boys, Sheffield Wednesday, come to my little neck of the woods this Saturday to play the hometown Rochester Rhinos of the A-League (USL div 2). Any special players I should be watching?

Jim D.

sfz_T-car · Post by **sfz_T-car** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 2:19 pm

XXXIV wrote:
sfz_T-car wrote: That's not impossible but I suspect their opponents will be playing a lot of catennacio against them this year. .

MMMMM....catennacio....

When you hear the secret word, SCREAM REAL LOUD!!!!

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 2:26 pm

jimd wrote:Hey Squid,

Your boys, Sheffield Wednesday, come to my little neck of the woods this Saturday to play the hometown Rochester Rhinos of the A-League (USL div 2). Any special players I should be watching?

Jim D.

Frankie Simek, defender, he's from St. Louis and he got a few man of the month awards this past season from the supporters.

Other than him, I'm interested in what Bougherra looks like as he's come in with a little bit of hype. Burton isn't that bad of a striker for the Championship level either. You're not going to see any world class players!!

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 3:18 pm

sfz_T-car wrote:I know their support is lukewarm at the best of times. It was just an expression. They're going to stay down for two years.

The irony is that they will get full houses at every other stadium they play at this season, because they are like Man U - supported by glory hunters and out-of-towners and despised by everyone else.

Fair to say though that the Delle Alpi is a complete dump which is hated by fans of Juventus and Torino. Juventus once got 5,000 turning up to see a meaningless Chumps League group game (in a 66,000 stadium), which is why they started playing some games in other stadia round Italy.

I still have a sneaking feeling that the cheating gets will have their penalty reduced to 15 points, enough to allow them a chance of a one season return. It will beggar belief if they and AC are allowed to remain in the G14.

jimd · Post by **jimd** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 3:31 pm

fsquid wrote:
jimd wrote:Hey Squid,

Your boys, Sheffield Wednesday, come to my little neck of the woods this Saturday to play the hometown Rochester Rhinos of the A-League (USL div 2). Any special players I should be watching?

Jim D.
Frankie Simek, defender, he's from St. Louis and he got a few man of the month awards this past season from the supporters.

Other than him, I'm interested in what Bougherra looks like as he's come in with a little bit of hype. Burton isn't that bad of a striker for the Championship level either. You're not going to see any world class players!!

Yeah we don't see that many world-class players here in Rochester. But, this past Friday the Miami team came to town with Romario. Pretty neat to see him playing here. Rochester won a 5-4 thriller--good times.

Programmed2Kill · Post by **Programmed2Kill** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 4:35 am

Why am I reading from BBC's website that Milan's players will be going as well? Why...because of no Champions League this year?

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 6:38 am

Programmed2Kill wrote:Why am I reading from BBC's website that Milan's players will be going as well? Why...because of no Champions League this year?

Could be - all players want to test themselves in what is probably the world's most high profile club competition (as well as the most bloated), and Milan are out for 06/07 and with a 15pt penalty, may be out for 07/08 as well.

Also, Milan will probably budget to reach the quarter finals at least, so you are looking at a loss of income of approx £15m per annum. While they are by no means skint, this coupled with Berlusconi's ongoing legal difficulties might give them an excuse to get rid of some of the overpriced and ageing talent on their squad. Worth bearing in mind that they sold Shevchenko to Chelsea already, so cash shouldn't be the driving factor for them.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 9:41 am

jimd wrote:
fsquid wrote:
jimd wrote:Hey Squid,

Your boys, Sheffield Wednesday, come to my little neck of the woods this Saturday to play the hometown Rochester Rhinos of the A-League (USL div 2). Any special players I should be watching?

Jim D.
Frankie Simek, defender, he's from St. Louis and he got a few man of the month awards this past season from the supporters.

Other than him, I'm interested in what Bougherra looks like as he's come in with a little bit of hype. Burton isn't that bad of a striker for the Championship level either. You're not going to see any world class players!!
Yeah we don't see that many world-class players here in Rochester. But, this past Friday the Miami team came to town with Romario. Pretty neat to see him playing here. Rochester won a 5-4 thriller--good times.

1,000 brits showed up in Wilmington to see the Owls play and more are expected in Cary tomorrow. You might see a good many on Sat and you should make an effort to get out there.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 12:14 pm

Well, it looks like it's official. Bruce Arena will be taking over RBNY, with his first game on the sidelines to be the friendly on Aug 12 against mighty Barcelona. The team has no game the week before, so one would assume Arena will be taking charge for those two weeks before that crazy game, sure to be a sell out. Not only will he be coach, but also so-called 'Director of Soccer Operations,' an as yet unfilled post at RBNY who now have Marc DeGrandpre, a former marketing exec from RB's New England office in Boston, as Director of Marketing and Business Operations, and Richie Williams as interim head coach. One hopes that though he will not take over coaching duties right away, Arena will start working on new player aquisitions during the mean time.

I must say, I am psyched. There really couldn't have been a better solution to our nightmare. If Arena can't turn this ship around in 4 years, then nothing can! If only the team played in Brooklyn, then I could really say 'welcome home, Bruce!'

Programmed2Kill · Post by **Programmed2Kill** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 4:52 pm

davet010 wrote:
Programmed2Kill wrote:Why am I reading from BBC's website that Milan's players will be going as well? Why...because of no Champions League this year?
Could be - all players want to test themselves in what is probably the world's most high profile club competition (as well as the most bloated), and Milan are out for 06/07 and with a 15pt penalty, may be out for 07/08 as well.

Also, Milan will probably budget to reach the quarter finals at least, so you are looking at a loss of income of approx £15m per annum. While they are by no means skint, this coupled with Berlusconi's ongoing legal difficulties might give them an excuse to get rid of some of the overpriced and ageing talent on their squad. Worth bearing in mind that they sold Shevchenko to Chelsea already, so cash shouldn't be the driving factor for them.

Thanks for explaining. Nice to get the lowdown from a life-long footie fan.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 5:34 pm

Caution - my posts occasionally contain some bias, invective, and let's be honest - potentially actionable slanders

As a rough guide...

Likes : Man City (27yr season ticket holder), Torino, 1860 Munchen, Barcelona

Hates : Man U (aka Spawn of Satan), Juventus, Chelski, Everton, Bolton, Terry Venables, Sepp Blatter

sfz_T-car · Post by **sfz_T-car** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 6:07 pm

davet010 wrote:Caution - my posts occasionally contain some bias, invective, and let's be honest - potentially actionable slanders

As a rough guide...

Likes : Man City (27yr season ticket holder), Torino, 1860 Munchen, Barcelona

Espanyol feels slighted

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 6:10 pm

"Chelski" is Chelsea?

Is there some source on which teams have the biggest payrolls?

You know, it sounds like Chelsea or Real Madrid are the Yankees of club football.

But it would be nice to confirm.

sfz_T-car · Post by **sfz_T-car** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 6:20 pm

Deloitte's Football Money League rankings are based on revenues, not payroll. Here are their latest rankings issued Jan 06 based on 04-05 season.

Europe's rich list

2004-05

total revenues €m

Real Madrid 275.7

Man Utd 246.4

Milan 234.0

Juventus 229.4

Chelsea 220.8

Barcelona 207.9

Bayern Munich 189.5

Liverpool 181.2

Internazionale 177.2

Arsenal 171.3

Roma 131.8

Newcastle 128.9

Tottenham 104.5

Schalke 04 97.4

Lyon 92.9

Celtic 92.7

Man City 90.1

Everton 88.8

Valencia 84.6

Lazio 83.1

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 9:40 pm

Interesting. Doesn't appear like Juventus has any revenue problems even if the stadium is empty for some games.

One of the Milan teams is supported by Fiat right?

Where is Internazionle based?

Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham are all London clubs? Lot of money generated from just those clubs.

I was at the Nike Store at Oxford Circus. They had Barca jerseys for 45 pounds! But these were Nike versions, which I assume aren't even the authentic ones used by the team?

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:36 pm

wco81 wrote: I was at the Nike Store at Oxford Circus. They had Barca jerseys for 45 pounds! But these were Nike versions, which I assume aren't even the authentic ones used by the team?

That's one of the busiest Nike stores I've been in and obviously being in London, everything seems like a rip-off in terms of prices, but you're right those jerseys are not the originals worned by the Pro's.

If you want better prices for sporting goods go to "Lillywhites" (I think that's what's called) just about 10 minutes walk from the Nike store, going towards the Picadilly direction.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 3:33 am

sfz_T-car wrote:
davet010 wrote:Caution - my posts occasionally contain some bias, invective, and let's be honest - potentially actionable slanders

As a rough guide...

Likes : Man City (27yr season ticket holder), Torino, 1860 Munchen, Barcelona

Espanyol feels slighted

You know, I think that if I actually lived in Barcelona (and believe me, the thought has occurred to me), I might end up supporting Espanyol. The thing is with Barca that as a club they aren't as aggressively 'look how big and successful and powerful we are' in a Juve-MU-Chelsea-Real Madrid sort of way, but they just think that their style and history naturally wins people over...which come to think of it, is pretty much how people in Barcelona feel that visitors react to them.

I, of course, am a contrary so-and-so (as my fav club list would suggest), and thus might find myself following Los Periquitos if I lived there, except for two little things...

1. I find their right-wing 'ultras' slightly disturbing

2. Montjuic stadium is a poor venue for football (although they are moving soon).

Still, I'm off to Barcelona with a load of friends in Sept to celebrate my 40th, and the fixtures aren't out yet, so it may be that we ditch the wives and gf's for a Sat evening trip out to Montjuic...I just hope I didn't promise everyone the Camp Nou

Zlax45 · Post by **Zlax45** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 9:24 am

Celtic will lose tonight to my Revs!!!

sfz_T-car · Post by **sfz_T-car** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 4:31 pm

Page 2 Simmons piece about choosing which Premiership team to support:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/st ... ons/060719

It's a decent read but he focuses on the usual suspects. I won't post a spoiler on his final decision, but I thought it was pretty predictable given his selection criteria going in.

But then what do I know? I went through a similar selection process in the early 90s and I picked Wimbledon.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 4:57 pm

Crap written by someone whose knowledge of soccer is limited to trawling the internet for about 5 minutes. And that's giving him the benefit of the doubt. I'm surprised City finished as high as 4th.

And Manchester is quite a nice city, particularly as it gave the world the Industrial Revolution and free-trade liberalism (a while ago, granted).