The Beautiful Game Thread, 11/12

[10spro]

Anderson and Welbeck converted what Pilkington could not. I thought Norwich were patient enough today to take at least a draw but those missed chances cost them in the end.

[GB_Simo]

Squid, my dear fellow, I knew we were buggered when I realised the BBC were on the pitch before kick-off filming a piece on us for the Football League Show tonight.

Before I get going, let me tell you that Sheffield Wednesday are the tallest team of footballers I've ever seen. Your goalscorer, Johnson, must be about 8 foot 6.

For 20 minutes Wednesday were on top and I was a little concerned. From there, Pools came into it and would have taken the lead if Antony Sweeney could head a ball straight. Alas, he can't. Your goal was at the other end of the pitch to my seat but it looked like a flick-on from Johnson that just missed everybody. By the time our goalie realised it needed dealing with, it was already past him.

Madine was quiet first half, then lost his temper in a spectacular, very amusing fashion after a Peter Hartley challenge early in the second and completely disappeared from the game. The second 45 was all about Pools holding possession while your lot sat back and let us have a go. Sweens had another headed chance, unmarked about 10 yards out from Nobby Solano's cross, and somehow contrived to miss the bloody ball completely this time, Monkhouse hit the post with a rasping drive from the edge of the area and at no point did I think we were actually going to score. We kept on lobbing high balls up to two strikers who didn't stand a chance of winning them, then, infuriatingly, never got within a mile of winning the second ball.

A draw would have been a fair result, not really sure either side did enough to feel they were clear victors, but 1-0 says otherwise. I was much more impressed by Wednesday when they came here last season, in truth (though we were absolutely dismal that day), but we've both got a chance of being somewhere thereabouts at the end of the season.

[RobVarak]

Saw this on another forum and loved it;

Unconfirmed reports suggest Bill Kenwright was on his hands and knees picking up all of the coins thrown at Craig Bellamy.

To be fair, LFC didn't play particularly well. The red card was abominable and we can safely cross Kuyt and Suarez off the top of the PK list.

[Jimmydeicide]

You forgot Jimmy from your PK list Wrong thread i know couldnt resist.

[pk500]

Tim Krul's great saves carry Newcastle to another victory. Third in the table. Rollin', rollin', rollin', keep those Magpies rollin'!

[miget33]

Saw this on another forum and loved it;

Unconfirmed reports suggest Bill Kenwright was on his hands and knees picking up all of the coins thrown at Craig Bellamy.

I'm sure Suarez was quick to go to ground as well

[Jimmydeicide]

Saw this on another forum and loved it;

Unconfirmed reports suggest Bill Kenwright was on his hands and knees picking up all of the coins thrown at Craig Bellamy.

I'm sure Suarez was quick to go to ground as well

He was, then while everyone was wondering what he was moaning about he took the corner and liverpool almost scored.
I think hes a bit of a cheat but he wears the right kit

[RobVarak]

Excellent guide to the Euro qualifiers this weekend. I've neglected the qualifiers almost completely to this point, so it's a great way to get caught up in a minute and see which of the games over the next week are important.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/st ... 12?cc=5901

[10spro]

Way to go for Shrek to get kicked out of the game against Montenegro. England just manage a 2-2 draw.

[Lancer]

With FIFA 12 i'm interested in following the EPL.

I don't know the teams really but for some reason like Chelsea. Maybe it's the name.

But I got a question for you guys who are big fans of the EPL - which EPL team would compare to which American Sports team?

Like Manchester United would be like the New York Yankees correct?

Who would Chelsea be comparable to? The Dodgers??

How about the other popular ELP teams?

[toonarmy]

With FIFA 12 i'm interested in following the EPL.

I don't know the teams really but for some reason like Chelsea. Maybe it's the name.

But I got a question for you guys who are big fans of the EPL - which EPL team would compare to which American Sports team?

Like Manchester United would be like the New York Yankees correct?

Who would Chelsea be comparable to? The Dodgers??

How about the other popular ELP teams?

It's tough to compare EPL teams to American teams because the EPL as it currently stands is not that old of a league. Also, American sports, other than baseball, have much more parity in spending than EPL clubs. ManU is kind of like the Habs back when they dominated hockey or the Yankees when they were dominant. Chelsea would be like the Red Sox of the past decade -- sudden spending of large amounts of money to try to compete with ManU, but have had some success off and on throughout the years. Newcastle is like the Cubs -- passionate fans with little success at the elite level. Man City has also spent a large amount of money as of late but has nothing much to show for it when it comes to tourneys and championships (Mets?). Arsenal and Liverpool are historically both strong teams in the EPL and are part of the "Big Four" (Chelsea and ManU are the other two).

[fsquid]

Steel City Derby this weekend. 10k tickets sold to Wednesday fans just to watch a live feed on a big screen of the match in Hillsborough.

[GB_Simo]

Steel City Derby this weekend. 10k tickets sold to Wednesday fans just to watch a live feed on a big screen of the match in Hillsborough.

Hope you get the result you're after, mate. Having had both Sheffield sides at the Vic this season, I found United a much more attractive side to watch going forward, but with gaps that even a Hartlepool United forward line could exploit. Wednesday were less entertaining but definitely better organised and better equipped for a physical match, which I imagine this one will be. All the best, Squid.

[fsquid]

having the "pretty" team got us into the debt that started the death spiral. More than happy for an unattractive team that gets results.

[GB_Simo]

having the "pretty" team got us into the debt that started the death spiral. More than happy for an unattractive team that gets results.

Absolutely. As I said last week, the Wednesday team that came here last season was better to watch, and look where that side ended up. It's not pleasing to the eye but, if we ignore that afternoon at Stevenage, I can't see many teams bullying your lot this season, which is exactly what you need to get back out of this division.

[toonarmy]

Highly entertaining match between the Toon and Tottenham. Ameobi's strike to make it 2-2 was simply awesome. Colo should have had the winner near the end but messed it up badly. It was fun to see Ben Arfa back. Newcastle still sitting pretty and that should continue as they have Wigan up next.

[fsquid]

American owners in the EPL want to scrap relegation system.

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_ ... ion-system

[Naples39]

For a good laugh; Jack Warner makes a solid case against the injustice of his lifetime ban from FIFA--zionism.
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/17102011/ ... nfall.html

[toonarmy]

American owners in the EPL want to scrap relegation system.

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_ ... ion-system

I hope this will never happen. If foreign owners don't like the relegation system and think it's bad for their investment then get the hell out. The relegation system is awesome and is something to keep fans of the non-big-four teams interested in the league. I shudder to think how the American owners would want to decide which teams are in the top division and which ones are excluded. The very idea shows a blatant disregard for English football and its tradition. Obviously such a stupid idea will not gain traction as the situation currently stands, but as the article points out an increase in teams with foreign ownership could possibly result in this farcical idea coming to fruition. Perhaps there will be a backlash against foreign ownership now.

[toonarmy]

For a good laugh; Jack Warner makes a solid case against the injustice of his lifetime ban from FIFA--zionism.
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/17102011/ ... nfall.html

LMAO! Since corruption obviously has nothing to do with it let's fall back to the 1930s and blame the Jews. Geesh. What a tool.

[fsquid]

American owners in the EPL want to scrap relegation system.

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_ ... ion-system

I hope this will never happen. If foreign owners don't like the relegation system and think it's bad for their investment then get the hell out. The relegation system is awesome and is something to keep fans of the non-big-four teams interested in the league. I shudder to think how the American owners would want to decide which teams are in the top division and which ones are excluded. The very idea shows a blatant disregard for English football and its tradition. Obviously such a stupid idea will not gain traction as the situation currently stands, but as the article points out an increase in teams with foreign ownership could possibly result in this farcical idea coming to fruition. Perhaps there will be a backlash against foreign ownership now.

I did read that even if the owners voted for it, the FA would still have to approve it.

[RobVarak]

Fox wins the rights to the 2018 and 2022 WC in the US.

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/worl ... rts-102111

Disappointing. I think ESPN has done a great job with their WC and Euro coverage thus far. Hopefully Fox improves the quality of their broadcasts significantly in the intervening years.

[pk500]

Fox wins the rights to the 2018 and 2022 WC in the US.

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/worl ... rts-102111

Disappointing. I think ESPN has done a great job with their WC and Euro coverage thus far. Hopefully Fox improves the quality of their broadcasts significantly in the intervening years.

VERY disappointing, on so many levels.

ESPN finally gave up on "Americanizing" soccer at World Cup 2010 and treated it as a serious world game. English announcers, Martinez and Macca in the studio, the steady hand of Bob Ley as anchor. Now we'll probably have Warren Barton, Eric Wynalda and Christian Miles anchoring FOX's network coverage. Ugh. Or even worse, Joe Buck or Kenny Albert because FOX will want that "big event" feel.

FOX also will belch its usual mindless stream of cartoon characters, bad music and needless technical gizmos on screen during its telecasts, trying to increase the appeal of soccer to Americans. Don't be surprised if we see an orange line superimposed on the pitch at all times to indicate offsides or a FOXTrack graphic to show the location of all shots on goal in relation to the woodwork throughout the game. Ugh.

ESPN also promoted the hell out of the World Cup on all of its channels, radio and digital platforms. FOX Sports has nowhere near that imprint on the television or digital real estate of Americans, not to mention our mental space. Sorry, but I don't think FOX first when "televised, online and radio sports" jumps into my head.

Plus everyone knows that ESPN's editorial judgment -- especially for so-called American "fringe" sports properties like soccer -- is based on whether it owns the television rights to that event or sport. So expect to see ESPN's appetite for World Cup coverage on shows like "SportsCenter" and all of its platforms shrink in 2018 and 2022, especially if the U.S. fails to qualify or is eliminated in the groups.

The ONLY good I can see from FOX getting the World Cup rights is that it might help to push FOX Soccer and FOX Soccer HD onto more basic tiers of cable systems across America.

[RobVarak]

Grant Wahl on the deal:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/w ... ef=writers

[toonarmy]

ESPN has done a fine job of WC coverage. It's too early to poopoo FOX getting the deal. A lot can happen between now and then in terms of upping the quality of their football coverage. It would be awesome if they could somehow tap into Sky Sports' talent in presenting the WC and doing analysis. My main worry is whether or not FOX will show every match live. FOX has butchered its F1 race coverage in the US by showing tape delayed races that do not have as much pre- and post-race coverage. They also are now showing EPL matches on a tape-delayed basis on Sunday afternoons on the main FOX channel. I absolutely do not want tape-delayed crap when it comes to the WC just so FOX can show matches in more prime-time hours. Keeping my fingers crossed.