Soccer thread

fanatic · Post by **fanatic** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 2:37 pm

fsquid wrote:
fanatic wrote:
10spro wrote:Two months after the WC, Materazzi comes clean and admits to insulting Zizou's sister which caused the head butt.

http://tsn.ca/soccer/news_story/?ID=176 ... ame=soccer
That's nuts........You play a long career in a variety of harsh environments and a comment about your sister, who the guy doesn't even know, causes you to lose your cool in the World Cup Finals. I've heard worse playing Winning Eleven over Xbox Live.
yea, I meant to apologize to you about that mate.

I do regret head butting my LCD because of it, but at least it's under warranty.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 4:13 pm

Anyone going to watch the Germany-San Marino bloodbath tomorrow. 8-0 is possible!

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 3:51 am

It's about time they had some sort of pre-qualifying for these mickey mouse countries. Steve McLaren should have been appalled that England only put 5 past Andorra, who played more like the Dog and Duck on a Sunday morning than any sort of professional outfit.

Germany need to be careful with the mighty San Marino though - last time they played against England, they scored after 7 seconds.

Still, at least they can console each other over the loss of their Grand Prix for next year (albeit Germany's loss is only that of the European GP).

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:32 am

Germany need to be careful with the mighty San Marino though - last time they played against England, they scored after 7 seconds.

That's fine if we get the 7 goals that England scored thereafter!

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 9:02 am

It's about time they had some sort of pre-qualifying for these mickey mouse countries.

I agree, just have a knockout round or two involving the lower 20 something teams. Then you can have smaller group stages.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 9:30 am

The counter argument that UEFA have used is that allowing these smaller nations to play in the main tournament directly, rather than just wallowing in a pool of similarly rubbish national teams, encourages improvement.

There is no evidence at all that this has happened. The only 'smaller' nation I can think of that seems to generate surprise results is Lithuania.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 9:47 am

While you are viewing this thread Dave, what is the status of FC United. Where are they in the footballing pyramid and do you see them getting to the conference anytime in the next decade?

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 12:16 pm

13-0!

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 1:20 pm

fsquid wrote:While you are viewing this thread Dave, what is the status of FC United. Where are they in the footballing pyramid and do you see them getting to the conference anytime in the next decade?

Here's a handy link to the full pyramid of English soccer

http://www.thepyramid.info/sections/N.htm#maps

FC United are currently in the 9th tier (where the Prem is number 1) - they are in the NW Counties League Div 1 (top of that with 21 pts after 7 games at the moment, so promotion to Div 1 of the Northern Premier League looks a strong possibility).

It is therefore not possible for them to get into the Football League proper (tier 4-2) before 2010, but I can see them doing it within the next 10 years.

One of my mates takes his kids to see them when he can, because he's also a Middlesbrough season ticket holder.

Season ticket for one adult plus 2 kids at FC United - £170

Tickets for 2+1 at Middlesbrough,including petrol etc - £120 PER GAME

Not too difficult to choose, is it ?

Most games they get about 2000 supporters. They currently share Gigg Lane with Bury FC (League Div 2), and embarassingly for the latter, have a higher average attendance.

Anyway, gotta dash....off to Barcelona vs Osasuna this weekend

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 1:25 pm

davet010 wrote:[Anyway, gotta dash....off to Barcelona vs Osasuna this weekend

S. Aguero and L. Messi should make some noise for Barca, enjoy the game.

sfz_T-car · Post by **sfz_T-car** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 6:27 pm

davet010 wrote:
fsquid wrote:While you are viewing this thread Dave, what is the status of FC United. Where are they in the footballing pyramid and do you see them getting to the conference anytime in the next decade?
Here's a handy link to the full pyramid of English soccer

http://www.thepyramid.info/sections/N.htm#maps

FC United are currently in the 9th tier (where the Prem is number 1) - they are in the NW Counties League Div 1 (top of that with 21 pts after 7 games at the moment, so promotion to Div 1 of the Northern Premier League looks a strong possibility).

I'm still holding out hope for a AFC Wimbledon vs. Franchise FC matchup before the end of the decade, although it looks like MK Dons have finally found their level in the League Two/Third Division.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 1:12 pm

This ref makes Graham Poll look like a genius...

http://www.deadspin.com/sports/soccer/t ... 200305.php

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 4:57 pm

damn women trying to ref a man's game!

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 6:57 am

10spro wrote:
davet010 wrote:[Anyway, gotta dash....off to Barcelona vs Osasuna this weekend
S. Aguero and L. Messi should make some noise for Barca, enjoy the game.

They certainly made more noise than the crowd. Aside from the goals, Barcelona have a minute number of 'ultras', the rest of the crowd seemingly made up of tourists like me and people who's emotional involvement in the game consists of sitting back with the attitude of 'I've bothered to trawl out here instead of sitting in a comfy bar drinking beer and watching you on telly, now entertain me..'

It is an experience not to be missed, but I've now been twice and doubt that I would seek to go again to the Camp Nou (although I'll certainly go back to Barcelona again). I prefer a team and supporters to whom it matters more when they lose, and whose support for the team when they lose, as they did when I went in 2003, does not manifest itself solely by walking out with 15 minutes to go and flicking a desultory v-sign at the home bench.

Unfortunately, the other team in town, Espanyol, are remarkable only for their awful stadium and fans whose affection for the swastika is distinctly unpleasant. I'm tempted to organise a day trip to Tarragona next time I go, particularly if 'Nastic are still in the Primera Lega.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 12:24 am

Here's a shocker. J. Riquelme made his resignation from the National Team citing family priorities. He was supposed to be the new captain for Argentina led by new coach A. Basile.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 2:21 pm

I hope not.....

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story ... 11&cc=5901

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 2:26 pm

fsquid wrote:I hope not.....

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story ... 11&cc=5901

That story makes me sick to my stomach. Hopefully Klinsmann or Pekerman will save us from that hack. It blows my mind how in demand that guy is after the indisputably terrible job he did this summer.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 2:34 pm

I still think J. Klinsmann would be the ideal man for the job. He knows the US players he has a residence in CA. J. Pekerman is a fine coach too but I think language would be an issue and he's got a lot of interest from Brazil and Spain.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 1:41 pm

Bolton manager S. Allardyce has been accused of taking bribes to agree transfers. He's one of the candidates to coach England's national team, we'll see how this soap opera evolves.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 3:39 pm

Direct download link of BBC's "Panorama" program that implicated Sam Allardyce in accepting bribes:

http://www.rogepost.com/dn/8hqa/BBC+Und ... ecrets.avi

Enjoy,
PK

BigAl · Post by **BigAl** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:38 pm

pk500 wrote:Direct download link of BBC's "Panorama" program that implicated Sam Allardyce in accepting bribes:

http://www.rogepost.com/dn/8hqa/BBC+Und ... ecrets.avi

Enjoy,
PK

http://www.digitalsportspage.com/module ... ic&t=11278

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:56 pm

BigAl wrote:
pk500 wrote:Direct download link of BBC's "Panorama" program that implicated Sam Allardyce in accepting bribes:

http://www.rogepost.com/dn/8hqa/BBC+Und ... ecrets.avi

Enjoy,
PK
http://www.digitalsportspage.com/module ... ic&t=11278

No sh*t, Keystone Thread Kop. I made both posts, and I don't give a f*ck.

Take care,
PK

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:58 pm

Not remotely convincing, even if I do think that Allardyce is a prize tw*t.

Oh, and his chance of becoming England manager before hell freezes over is only marginally greater than mine.

Still, Venables made it back into the England setup, and he's just about to finish a 10 yr ban from being a company director, after being described as 'fundamentally dishonest'. Which is fairly damning, given that it came from a High Court judge.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 2:32 am

It would be great if it's official in 2010 but at least there's talk about it.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 89,00.html

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 6:21 am

I just love this bit...

Blatter also took a further swipe at one of his favourite recent targets, players’ high salaries. “It is not moral, it is definitely not good for our sport,” he said. “They the clubs pay too much money to the players. There is an imbalance in their finances and they try to get money by all means.”

Coming from someone who leads an organisation where 3 of its most senior members are under investigation for ticket fraud, and from a man who is certainly one of the most corrupt in world sport, that's rich indeed.

As the article suggests, however, almost every other type of method of settling tied games in knock out rounds has been tried. If we're not careful, he'll be getting rid of quarters and semis and going back to the group stages with the top 2 going through to the final (as done in 1974) or top 4 going into the semis (as done in 1978).

Ripe for collusion and dodgy results, as was proved in both cases.