Football

[Oswyntail]

Colin Murray is without doubt the worst broadcaster I've ever had the misfortune to listen too.....

Although this sound like the start of a sub-thread, I would counter-propose Gary Lineker, chiefly on the basis of his trails for MOTD on a Saturday. Totally wooden, If I hear him once again promise a cracker full of goals (including a contender for goal of the season) and the sort of controversy that gets them fighting in the studio - all with the panache and elan of a dead fish - i shall hurl half a brick at him.

 

[Johnuk123]

Although this sound like the start of a sub-thread, I would counter-propose Gary Lineker, chiefly on the basis of his trails for MOTD on a Saturday. Totally wooden, If I hear him once again promise a cracker full of goals (including a contender for goal of the season) and the sort of controversy that gets them fighting in the studio - all with the panache and elan of a dead fish - i shall hurl half a brick at him.

He'd be my second worst, I agree that he's very wooden, he isn't even funny in his crisp adverts.

 

[jon0844]

Is Suarez now going to go to Chelsea?

I heard that he figured if he couldn't bite them, he might as well join them.

Personally, with the offer of £30m from Arsenal, I'd have expected him to bite their arm off.

 

[Butts]

He'd be my second worst, I agree that he's very wooden, he isn't even funny in his crisp adverts.

You've obviously never seen John Barnes in action when he used to be on Channel Five was it.....

Made Murray and Lineker look like Kenneth Branagh

 

[Johnuk123]

You've obviously never seen John Barnes in action when he used to be on Channel Five was it.....

Made Murray and Lineker look like Kenneth Branagh

John Barnes, yes I'd forgotten him another person who should never have been let loose in a broadcasting studio.

 

[Ivo]

John Barnes, yes I'd forgotten him another person who should never have been let loose in a broadcasting studio.

Half the time he speaks too fast for the average person to understand him...

 

[SS4]

Another mercenary in Benteke has asked for a move from Villa 1 year into a 4 year deal, this is the bloke who went on strike at his last club as they wouldn't accept Villas offer.

No doubt he will end up at Spurs who watched him many times last season, if he does leave Villa I think they may well find this season even harder than the last one.

It goes to show that contracts mean nothing in football these days although I can't say too much because of how we obtained him.

I'm not sure about your prediction about us having a tough season. Losing a 19 goal a season striker is never a good thing but hopefully with our signing of defenders (and resigning Guzan) we shan't need to score so many goals in order to get results, Gabby and Weimann are hit and miss so I'd like a proven scorer or for Bent to come back into form (assuming he stays).

Spurs may go for him but they'll be taking a financial gamble if they pay the £20-£25m I've read somewhere and don't get in the CL/as much for Bale next summer.

 

[Darandio]

I'm not sure about your prediction about us having a tough season.

I still maintain what I said at the end of last season, that with the good run in that the team had and the experienced gained by the young players, they would have a much better season, certainly not a fight against relegation again.

Regardless of Benteke, I really like the look of the new kid up front, Nicklas Helenius.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Half the time he speaks too fast for the average person to understand him...

I would totally agree with your sentiments on this matter. He would be an ideal person to say the usual "speedtalk" in company television advertisments when their terms and conditions are stated.

 

[valenta]

I think clubs will (should) be careful before submitting a "big money" offer for Benteke. No doubt he was superb last season, but he is still very young and hasn't delivered years of twenty goals per season. Andy Carroll is a prime example of mistakes that clubs can make, 35 mil to Liverpool and the goals dried up, clubs will be wary of this happening with Benteke.
I don't think he will leave in this transfer window as clubs will not meet Villa's pricing.

 

[Johnuk123]

Nigerian clubs suspended after 'scandalous' scorelines

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23240104

How unusual to read a story about Nigeria which involves fraud.

Perhaps when they have dealt with this incident they could get round to jailing a few of the many thousands of Nigerian internet scammers.

 

[12CSVT]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23240104

How unusual to read a story about Nigeria which involves fraud.

Perhaps when they have dealt with this incident they could get round to jailing a few of the many thousands of Nigerian internet scammers.

Any reason why the teams who won these matches have been suspended ?
If so, is there a rule against scoring 'too many' goals ?

 

[EM2]

Re: Darren Bent. Did I read somewhere that Lambert has made it quite clear that DB won't be in his plans, to the extent that he won't be given a squad number and he'll be training with the youth team?

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Any reason why the teams who won these matches have been suspended ? If so, is there a rule against scoring 'too many' goals ?

To be fair, the two scores of 79-0 and 67-0 do seem to more associated with either of the two rugby codes.

In the 1887/1888 season, Preston North End who were at their peak in English football met my own club Hyde (who had to play an inexperienced team due to six regular players being injured and unable to play) in an early round of the FA Cup and such was their dominance that Preston North End won by 26-0, which is still a record in the English FA Cup. But even that score pales into insignificance when compared to these two scores, which I note were in play-off matches.

 

[Johnuk123]

Any reason why the teams who won these matches have been suspended ?
If so, is there a rule against scoring 'too many' goals ?

Good grief ! any reason ?

Don't you think a goal every 37.5 seconds in the one match is a cause for concern.

They wouldn't hardly have had time to kick off before the ball was in the net again.

Although a suspension would have been the minimum anywhere in the world, this is Nigeria one of the most corrupt nations on earth.

 

[Oswyntail]

.....
Although a suspension would have been the minimum anywhere in the world, this is Nigeria one of the most corrupt nations on earth.

I think you are being unfair. According to a map on the BBC yesterday (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23231318) only 44% of people in Nigeria had paid bribes. IIRC, the original story did not mention the opposition or officials being suspended, which is a little odd.
However, there is little difference between this story and, say, a team gaining an unexpected victory at Old Trafford to avoid relegation, using an illegal player. Only that the rewards are infinitely less and the corruption more blatant.

 

[Johnuk123]

I think you are being unfair. According to a map on the BBC yesterday (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23231318) only 44% of people in Nigeria had paid bribes. IIRC, the original story did not mention the opposition or officials being suspended, which is a little odd.
However, there is little difference between this story and, say, a team gaining an unexpected victory at Old Trafford to avoid relegation, using an illegal player. Only that the rewards are infinitely less and the corruption more blatant.

Only 44% of Nigerians are corrupt, nearly half then.

Notice from that list that Africa is the place to go if you want a bit of corruption, Sierra Leone at 84% looks a good bet.

 

[SS4]

Re: Darren Bent. Did I read somewhere that Lambert has made it quite clear that DB won't be in his plans, to the extent that he won't be given a squad number and he'll be training with the youth team?

That's news to me. Do you happen to remember where you saw it?

 

[Ivo]

Any reason why the teams who won these matches have been suspended ?
If so, is there a rule against scoring 'too many' goals ?

It was also stated that almost all - roughly 90% of goals - came in the Second Half in both matches. This is "intoxication" (etc) territory.

 

[Morden Via CHX]

From a football point of view, Nigeria is not that corrupt. There are much bigger problems with corruption in other countries. In my own experience as a trader my top 5 would be as follows:

1) Albania
2) Canada
3) Georgia
4) Italy (towards the end of the season is rife - start of the season normally fine)
5) Indonesia

 

[Butts]

From a football point of view, Nigeria is not that corrupt. There are much bigger problems with corruption in other countries. In my own experience as a trader my top 5 would be as follows:

1) Albania
2) Canada
3) Georgia
4) Italy (towards the end of the season is rife - start of the season normally fine)
5) Indonesia

Canada is a suprise to me

 

[MidnightFlyer]

A shining example of the corruption in Nigeria is the 2012 Premier League table. 19 teams play each other home and away once (so 36 games per team, 18 home 18 away).

There were in total 14 away wins for the whole season, a maximum of 2 for any one team, and nine teams including two relegated were unbeaten at home. The league champions on the road won 1, drew 8 and lost 9, with a GD of -10. Of course unlike a lot of European / Western corruption it's not 'do this or we'll destroy your career', it's 'do this or you and most of your family will be killed'.

 

[Morden Via CHX]

A shining example of the corruption in Nigeria is the 2012 Premier League table. 19 teams play each other home and away once (so 36 games per team, 18 home 18 away).

There were in total 14 away wins for the whole season, a maximum of 2 for any one team, and nine teams including two relegated were unbeaten at home. The league champions on the road won 1, drew 8 and lost 9, with a GD of -10. Of course unlike a lot of European / Western corruption it's not 'do this or we'll destroy your career', it's 'do this or you and most of your family will be killed'.

You may be right about the Nigerian Premier League, it's not a league bookmakers trade so I wouldn't know that much about it. Games in which they play teams from other countries have always looked fairly honest to me - more than I can say for Skenderbeu in Albania...

 

[MidnightFlyer]

... And then there's the example from 2010 of Kano Pillars v Dolphins. With the score at 0-1 heading towards 90 minutes, it was so obvious that the 0-1 loss would cause uproar among home fans that the fourth official was restrained from activating the board to show additional minutes, and so the match continued for about an extra hour until the referee awarded a penalty to the home team for a non-offence. The away keeper was instructed not to save the penalty. When the game ended at 1-1 home fans set upon the Dolphins players, who had to be escorted out by riot police after several were knocked unconscious, and the match officials had to dress as medics to escape in an ambulance.

 

[flymo]

There are revised fixtures for the Premier League out now. Liverpool vs Stoke gets the season underway at 12:45 on Saturday 17 August, Man Utd have a late afternoon KO, Spurs and Chelsea both play their respective games on the 18th and Newcastle must wait until 8pm on Monday 19th August to get their campaign underway at the blue half of Manchester.

One huge surprise for me is Sunderland vs Newcastle on a Sunday at 4pm. Can't imagine the local Old Bill being too chuffed about that....

 

[SS4]

Here are the Villa's courtesy of the Evening Mail

Villa's first home game of the season against Liverpool will now kick off at 5.30pm on Saturday, August 24.

Their match against Tottenham at Villa Park has been switched to Sunday October 20 at 4pm.

And they will take on West Brom at the Hawthorns at 8pm on Monday, November 25.

Those three will be shown live on Sky.

Villa's match at Norwich on Saturday Spetember 21 has been brought forward to a 12.45pm kick off for coverage on BT.

Not at all surprised about West Brom. Liverpool and Spurs did not shock me although I'm quite surprised with Norwich. I feel for those fans who've bought Advance tickets for those early season games (not too bad for us since our first two changes are home games) and cannot change without paying more
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

One huge surprise for me is Sunderland vs Newcastle on a Sunday at 4pm. Can't imagine the local Old Bill being too chuffed about that....

Nor me! Hopefully it'll be changed on police advice

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Wayne Rooney will return home from the overseas Manchester United tour with what is said to be " a hamstring problem".

First time that I have ever heard a fraught player/club situation being described as this...

 

[33011]

Saints sign Victor Wanyama from Celtic

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/wanyama-makes-saints-switch-909448.aspx

 

[Butts]

Wayne Rooney will return home from the overseas Manchester United tour with what is said to be " a hamstring problem".

First time that I have ever heard a fraught player/club situation being described as this...

Will it be treated by the Chelsea Doctor

 

[VTPreston_Tez]

Preston v Liverpool and both teams have their best player not playing tomorrow. Should be good