Football talking points

First topic message reminder :

Rather than hijack the "which team do you support" thread where some of these are being talked about...

Some of the events of the weekend that are getting people talking

1) Mario Balotelli: plenty to say about him in general but specifically the alleged stamp on Scott Parker and his subsequent charge by the FA

2) Lescott's elbow on Kaboul(?) - FA say no charge to answer

3) Conspiracy theories in general about Man City!

4) Wenger's decision to take Chamberlain off and put Arshavin on - and Van Persie's reaction

5) Peter Crouch and the "eye-gouge"

6) Harry Redknapp and the tax-dodging allegations and court case

Discuss!

raycastleunited wrote:top of the list for crap stadium names is clearly the Wankdorf Stadium.

Does that come free with purchase of a season ticket?

Any thoughts on Edgar Davids' new role at Barnet? Apart from Dalgleish in the 80's, do player/coach roles ever really work?

My understanding is he has continued to live locally in Hadley Wood (wonder if he is plays golf there?) since he played for Spurs several years ago. Apparently he went and saw the training facilities and thought this is pretty decent set up so decided to offer his services to his local club.

Bit of a coup for a club which spends every season scrapping to stay alive at the bottom of the football league!

Glenn Hoddle did ok as player manager at Chelsea

Apparently Edgar Davids was managing a local Sunday league side prior to Barnet!

Good luck to him, probably realises he is going to need it after a 4-1 home defeat to Plymouth on Saturday and now 7 points from safety. Should at least spark a bit of interest for Barnet and bring a few more crowd in once he puts the boots on.

How ridiculous is this. Stadium roof to be used in the event of bad weather can't be used in bad weather. Then you have a dumbass of a referee checking to see whether the ball will roll better than it did before it was raining

What a complete joke that was!

And more importantly how am I going to sneak away from the office for a 4pm kick off tomorrow?

Can we remove this footie thread.

A game where 15 odd blokes jump in a bath together after 90 minutes getting muddy is not a sport it's a gay fantasy

I think that you are confusing football with rugby LJ...

Anyway nice fight after the under 21 game tonight, got to be some repercussions there surely...

nope. The subs get a go on the soap on a rope as well.

Just a quick word on that farce in Serbia last night with the U21s - I wonder if UEFA will finally do something about them now? Probably turn a blind eye again and fine them £10K or something equally pointless

And no one really mentioned the stoppage time goal that looked suspiciously offside - with the goalkeeper up in the opposing half, there needed to be TWO outfield players playing us onside. The cross ball for the goal definitely went forward and there wasn't two defenders in sight. Seeing it again this morning I suspect the goal scorer was fractionally behind the passer when the ball was delivered but it was close enough to make a debate over it. Though really what happened after that made it all irrelevant anyway

I thought Wickham was behind the ball when the pass was played and therefore comfortably onside Davie.

A bit ironic that Danny Rose was sent off at the end for kicking a ball into the crowd after being subjected to racial abuse, but the Serbian players and technical staff who were attacking anyone wearing an England badge escaped without punishment. Serbia have got to be banned from international football now surely...

Yes I think you are right about Wickham though at the time it looked very close. Pales into insignificance with what happened after though

It really does seem unbelievable that Rose got a Red card if it really was for kicking the ball like that. My suspicion is that he actually got it for something before that (provoked or not) - but that just may be my Pollyanna outlook in that I can't believe someone would be sent off for kicking a ball away in the midst of all that!

What sort of state is the playing surface going to be in for a 4pm kick-off for Poland v England later? Looking at the amount of surface water on the pitch last night hopefully that roof will now finally be closed and the 'magical' heating system is on at full speed!

I think it was a 2nd yellow card for Rose - hence the Red card. Hopefully it will be rescinded due to the circumstances. These countries will only try and get their act together if they are subjected to a ban, or heavy points deduction in the qualifiers.

As for the stadium in Poland - has there ever been such a farce! I did hear one of our top refs on the radio explaining that the ref was merely the fall guy in this, and was instructed to go out and do the "ball" tests each time.

I did feel a bit for the ref it did definitely seem to be a bit like he was being made the scapegoat for everybodys mistakes. To delay the decision regarding postponement for three quarters of an hour and then send him out again to do a ball test, when there had not been any work done to reduce the surface water on the pitch, the roof was still open and it was still raining heavily reminded me of Monty Python at its very best!

The bigger farce will be the lack of action from Platini/Blatter regarding the racism on show last night. I hark back to the bad old days over here, yet any wrong doing by us jumped on. The Spanish coach a few years ago was allowed to get away with it, and we've seen the Turks using knifes and batons and get away with it. The Serbs did it a couple of years ago and got a massive £16k fine. We witnessed depressing scenes in the Euro's because racism, and far right politics is the norm in eastern europe. What's the point of setting standards at home (Terry, Suarez) yet pass it off as nothing elsewhere.

Blatter is a full on megalomaniac numpty

Can't really see how Platini and UEFA can ignore it this time Doc. Even the PM and the Sports Minister, Hugh Robertson, are getting involved now. Agree about Blatter though.

It still won't be enough whatever the blazer brigade at FIFA/UEFA decide to do. Poland will probably be fined more for the delay of game as opposed to the Serbs who should be kicked out of tournaments for at least a couple of years.

There was a great did you know piece on the BBC website. Man City got a bigger fine for returning late to pitch, less than a minute, for the second half against Porto than Porto got for its fans racially abusing Balotelli. Great set of priorities there.

Unbelievable!

The Serbian FA deny any forms of racism against England Under 21s - also accuse Danny Rose of behaving in an "inappropriate, unsportsmanlike and vulgar manner" towards their fans!

Speechless!

Time for UEFA/FIFA to step up to the plate.

Wow, reminds me of Comical Ali from the last Iraq war.

Well I suppose that sort of response from the Serbian FA goes a long way to explaining why they still have and always will have problems with racism

Hope you didn't slip away too early for that Blue. Didn't sound like a great performance but if we manage back to back wins next March we'll be back on track.

Yes it wasn't that great Grumps. Defoe had a good chance to make it 2-0 and Rooney a half chance just before they equalised but Poland were worthy of at least a draw I thought. We gave the ball away far too often and easily and not a very inspiring performance but perhaps a little understandable given all that went on over the last couple of days.

I see that UEFA are charging England for the "improper conduct of their players at the end of the match".

Serbia being charged with "misconduct of supporters and improper conduct of the their players".

So Edgar Davids made the starting line up for Barnet this evening and was named as captain. In a further twist he was named next to Anthony Edgar so the team names would have been read as Edgar, Davids

First the good things that football can do:
Captain and Coach, Edgar Davids inspires Barnet to a first league win of the season with a 4-0 win over Northampton.

Now the bad things that can happen in football:
A tempestous encounter took place between Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds tonight. Wednesday were looking for a first win since late August and Leeds had the opportunity to move into third place in the table. Wednesday took the lead through Jay Bothroyd who hadn't scored for almost a year. An already fiesty encounter, a few yellows, some squaring up and the usual drama boiled over deep in the second half. With less than 15 minutes remaining Leeds equalised and the fans went wild. Too wild, one Leeds fan made his way onto the pitch and hit Chris Kirkland, the Wednesday 'keeper, knocking him to the ground. After a few minutes of treatment he was, thankfully, able to continue.

Leeds have apologised and condemned what happened this evening and manager Neil Warnock has called for the fan to be jailed but this is too little, too late. After the crap that took place in Serbia this week as the U-21s were abused and attacked how can we take the moral high ground to UEFA. It defies belief what happened tonight.

Yours, disgusted from Tumbridge Wells

Just seen the Leeds action on the news - what a disgrace!

At least it shouldn't be too hard to find him. Not only should he get a life ban he should be jailed

Another win for the mighty Col U, first goal made in N London. Hope you enjoyed the game Blue.

After the goal we were singing "1-0 to the Arsenal"

Yes Grumps just got back from another enjoyable afternoon at the WHCS. That's 4 wins out of 5 league matches for Joe Dunne and Mark Kinsella since John Ward was sacked and now sitting comfortably just short of mid-table.

SKY SPORTS BREAKING NEWS

John Terry has just been named as the new Serbia under 21 coach!

Jimmy Saville was favourite for the job apart from being dead!

That was the under 13's job Davie...

Went to watch Bristol Rovers v Torquay yesterday - first time I've been to a match in a while. We certainly picked the right day, as the regulars were saying that it was the best Rovers had played for several seasons! A bit nerve wracking as were 2-0 up, then a poor 15 mins at the start of the 2nd half saw it come back to 2-2. Rovers regained their composure to take the lead, and could have had several more, but the Torquay keeper made some fine saves.

I'm thinking that they may have finally found the right Manager in Mark McGhee.

Going back to the Serbia situation - nice rant from Ian Holloway on the subject of racism - link below to listen:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20009560

Nice draw for you in the F A Cup Mary - at home to Sheffield Utd.

We have got Chelmsford away, (if they beat East Thurrock in the replay) what were the chances of that!

Could have been worse Blue, you could have got your collars felt by Old Bill. Crawley will be on their best behaviour.

We are a fine, upstanding, perfectly law abiding club Grumps, with nothing to fear from the Old Bill. Unlike some Arsenal teams of days gone by...

Ah, the good ole days when we could win something. Still happening now, Blue, Santos got done for speeding at over 100mph a couple of months ago.

Late post for you Blue. Couldn't you get to sleep, were you really excited about your eagle?

We had no power yesterday Grumps from around 11.30am, some local problem with an overhead line.

The power supply was restored just before midnight, couldn't go to bed without checking just how far I had slipped down the fantasy league leaderboard on the last day!

Blue - happy with the FA Cup draw. Should be a good crowd and a chance to prove ourselves against higher opposition.

I see that that the guy who assaulted the Sheffield Wednesday keeper has been jailed for 4 months. Considering that he has breached previous banning orders, I think he got off lightly.

1GrumpyGolfer wrote:Santos got done for speeding at over 100mph a couple of months ago.

Difference is Grumps a few years ago he would have been pissed as well!

The Leeds fan told police that he had drunk a number of cans of lager and three-quarters of a litre of vodka before arriving in Sheffield and then had a further 7 to ten pints of cider.

Did well to still be standing up let alone run on the pitch...

BlueCoverman wrote:The Leeds fan told police that he had drunk a number of cans of lager and three-quarters of a litre of vodka before arriving in Sheffield and then had a further 7 to ten pints of cider.

Did well to still be standing up let alone run on the pitch...

Being a Leeds fan who had to sit and watch that made me feel sick. This tool has 3 previous banning orders because he has been done for assualt at matches in the past. Why was he allowed to carry on going to football matches. banning orders are not working then. He's well known in the Gloucester and Cheltenham area for trouble, and according to his facebook page he thrives on violence, his reading material is 'banged up abroad' etc, etc, etc. he got 16 weeks which is actually only 8 weeks so will be out before Xmas. How did he get to the match all the way from Cheltenham on a Friday evening, especially if pissed, and who were his mates who got him there if he didn't do it himself and who bought him the ticket. Leeds fans had outed him on-line within 5-minutes and published his telephone number, facebook link, address etc.

The other unsavoury character in this debacle has to be Dave Jones and his comments. Jones has managed the renowned Cardiff club who's fans are worse than Milwall's, yet he spouts rubbish about Leeds animals. It was his clubs stewards who failed to do their jobs that allowed this nutter onto the pitch. It was his own fans who started kicking off with Leeds fans taunting them about Turkey and the murdered fans. In a tinderbox atmosphere like that it doesn't take too much to kick off. Jones was upset that he was taunted about his past court cases which he didn't like, but Warnock is also a hated bloke in Sheffield because of his relationship with Sheff Utd. I have not seen anywhere that one Leeds fan had condoned what happened, and plenty who want this twat to get some love from a big prisoner, whilst inside.

Its hard been a Leeds fan because of past misdemeanors which come back to haunt us, yet recently there have been a few similar things happen at football matches and sanctions/punishment have been minimal. This case will demonstrate the opposite and Leeds will get the book thrown at them because they're a high profile club

Doc - you are quite right, lots of questions to be answered. I heard a Leeds fan on the radio saying that they have to jump through hoops to get tickets for away games, and wanted to know who had passed a ticket to this guy who was banned.

It is a shame that when something like this happens, the 99% of decent fans who follow the club concerned all get tarred with the same brush. Every club has an unsavoury element of followers, some of whom are guys in their 40's who relished in violence back in the day. Clubs like Leeds, who have had success, probably suffer with a larger number of undesirables tagging onto them.

I don't think there are any clubs in the league who could honestly "cast the first stone", I just wish that the punishments handed out were penile enough to rid us of the idiots.

I agree with Doc to a point - but Warnock really does himself no favours either. Didn't he say something about Kirkland "going down too easily"? - OK he may have withdrawn it later and apologized but that was bang out of order. It's easy to apologize after the fact but really words can't be retracted once spoken.

I've always had a soft spot for Leeds after following them in the late 60s/early 70s as a kid but really they do need to get their act in order. It may be one moron who made the headlines but there is certainly more than one in their followers. I feel for Doc and any other genuine supporters who have to put up with this crap

Enjoy your night out in East London Blue? Makes up for a certain 8-0 shellacking about 25 years ago.

Heartbreak for Celtic as Barca score in tiki-taka time to snatch the win.

Couldn't make the game tonight unfortunately, but what a great win for Col U again. Amazing turnaround in form, 5 league wins out of the last 6 games has seen us propel up to 12th in the table.

Oh and thanks for digging up that little stat from the past Grumps but Mr Pedantic would like to point out that yet again you have made an error. It was 1988 and therefore 24 years ago not 25...

Mr Pedantic wasn't very pedantic tonight. If you read the original post it said About 25 years ago. Not exactly 25 years ago.

And I didn't just dig it up, I was at that game!

Fortunately I wasn't!

So what was it that referee Mark Clattenburg is supposed to have said that has so upset the Chelsea boys?