Football

[anthony263]

Seems as if the Garry Speed has died:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-15909277

Certainly wasnt expecting that this morning

 

[Minilad]

The Welsh F.A have just confirmed their manager Gary Speed has died. No further details to hand as yet.
Wow talk about a bolt from the blue. Proof that when your time is up, your time is up.
R.I.P

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Whoa, wasn't expecting that

RIP

 

[Minilad]

Jesus. It looks like he has committed suicide
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8918628/Wales-boss-Gary-Speed-found-dead.html

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Kilmarnock 1..Rangers 0

Have I read this correctly on Yahoo! Sport ?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Kilmarnock 1..Rangers 0

Have I read this correctly on Yahoo! Sport ?

Yes, but following certain events today I do not care.

 

[175001]

As a Welshman, who has seen all of Speed's games in charge home and away, i'm devastated at the loss. The footballing world won't be the same without him.

 

[Chew Chew]

Who do I hate?
Celtic
Hibernian
Glentoran
Cliftonville
Burnley
Manchester United
Liverpool
MK Dons
Aberdeen

Yet in the build up to games against Aberdeen you'll always hear from Rangers fans how the rivalry between them and Aberdeen is one way and they don't care about Aberdeen.

Bad week for Rangers, their gap at the top of the SPL has went from 12 points to 4 points and Rangers fans are reporting that Eggy Broadfoot tried to attack a couple of fans outside Rugby Park after the match.

 

[CarterUSM]

Yet in the build up to games against Aberdeen you'll always hear from Rangers fans how the rivalry between them and Aberdeen is one way and they don't care about Aberdeen.

Bad week for Rangers, their gap at the top of the SPL has went from 12 points to 4 points and Rangers fans are reporting that Eggy Broadfoot tried to attack a couple of fans outside Rugby Park after the match.

I've always considered it a "healthy" rivalry myself! Rotten few results though right enough, I suppose we'll just have to beat Celtic, though I can't see where the goals will come from.:cry:

 

[Chew Chew]

I've always considered it a "healthy" rivalry myself!

Healthy.

I don't really think there was much of a perceived rivalry until Willie Johnston almost killed John McMaster on the pitch and then Aberdeen started winning leagues and cups.

All went downhill from there.

Rotten few results though right enough, I suppose we'll just have to beat Celtic, though I can't see where the goals will come from.:cry:

It has certainly made things interesting. A few weeks back I wouldn't have been surprised if someone like Paddy Power had started paying out on Rangers.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I was not surprised by the 1-1 scoreline between Liverpool and Manchester City, as this was an away match against quite a strong opposition for Manchester City. Perhaps they might have learnt something from this match that will help them in the final group match of the Champions League, against a side that has already defeated them. This is where mental toughness comes into play, which is essential when playing in this particular competition.

Has anyone any views on the matter of the red card (two yellow cards) situation affecting Mario Balotelli, after he came on as a substitute?

 

[richw]

Paul, the red card was apparently deserved, he kicked out at the Liverpool player, according to several sources.
I can't help thinking if Liverpool could get the consistency to their game they could be up in the top 3. Against chelsea they played amazingly well. Drawing to city also a very good result for them!

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk

 

[STKKK46]

Such sad news regarding Gary Speed. You could tell the atmosphere was a little subdued at the Liberty yesterday. When asked for a minutes silence, one Villa fan started clapping. Followed by another, then another, then the whole ground seemed to join in. Singing of 'There's only on Gary Speed' took place. Think it showed really what sort of man he was and how well respected he was in the game. Everyone was absolutely devastated, and as somebody said, the Football was of little importance.

 

[balne-wonderer]

I grew up watching Gary Speed. He meant alot to Leeds fans, he was part of the title winning midfield we had in 92 with Gary Mac, Batty and Strachan.

It sounds sad but when we played football at school and we all picked a player to be, loads of us wanted to be Gary Speed. I usually lost out because I was rubbish and ended up having to be Gary Kelly. I remember some great Speed moments at Leeds, he was such a great player and after he moved on from Leeds he continued to be respected by all.

We went down to Elland Road yesterday, we had planned to go anyway to visit the club shop to buy a few Christmas presents but obviously we made the trip for other reasons in the end. There was loads of people gathered round Billy's statue, loads of scarfs, shirts, flags had been layed there. Loads of fans paying their respect, a Man Utd fan rocked up with a shirt to lay, he actually asked permission to lay it at the statue, he didn't need too, rivalry means nothing here. There is actually a picture of the Man Utd shirt on the Leeds forum WACCOE.com. It shows Speed meant much more to the game then just the clubs he played for. I am completley devastated by it, as I say I grew up watching him play and I remember him on the open top bus parading the 1992 Title winners trophy, an amazing moment, a great memory of the man. Much missed.

 

[Phil6219]

Such sad news regarding Gary Speed.

Indeed it is such sad news, he will be missed by many.

Paul, the red card was apparently deserved, he kicked out at the Liverpool player, according to several sources.

Then those sources are a bit wrong, my Liverpool fan colleague (and two man united fans) agree that he didn't kick out or anything like that and that it was a dogy card.

He had been booked not long after coming on, with perhaps his first tackle of the game. I thought that was unfair, however the second yellow was a farce. He tried to head the ball jumping with a Liverpool defender, his elbow sort of catches him and he goes down. The ref correctly calls the foul but then no fewer than 4 Liverpool players plus goalkeeper rush over and start a ruckus, Ballotelli is just standing there getting yelled at by that lot and gets carded.

I noticed that Suarez, a world class diver did his best a few times and even the ref pulled him up for it a few times yet did not brandish a single card. Typical, even more so was the 3 City players down at the same time through harsh tackles and yet the ref would not stop play, when he finally did it was to give a foul against us!

On the whole I don't really care as something much more important happened yesterday than a game of football.

Phil

 

[Donny Dave]

Seems to be the same sort of situation with Norwood's dismissal against Notts County at the weekend then ....

A couple of Scunthorpe players barged down/knocked over/fouled off the ball, then Norwood dives into a tackle and wins the ball, but get's a straight red ....

Oh, can anyone explain how Lee Hughes only got a booking after grabbing Norwood around the neck? :roll:

 

[balne-wonderer]

I was watching the Liverpool v Man City game live, Balotelli’s sending off was a joke but it made me think.

I think it was Skrtel that made a massive meal of it and contributed to Balotelli getting sent off. In the Man Utd v Newcastle game, Wayne Rooney took one hell of a swipe with the toe of his boot at Coloccini, amazingly, Coloccini made nothing of it, shook Rooney’s hand and got on with the game. It showed the huge difference between gamesmanship and sportsmanship this weekend, sadly it was the blue half of Manchester on the wrong end of it.

I still think (and hope) that Man City win the Premier League, obviously being a Leeds fan I don’t have much time for Manchester in general but City winning title would annoy Man Utd fans the most and that can only be a good thing.

Anyway, I’m travelling down to Nottingham tonight duck for the mightly whites away at Forest. Come on Leeds!!!

 

[Chew Chew]

I still think (and hope) that Man City win the Premier League, obviously being a Leeds fan I don’t have much time for Manchester in general but City winning title would annoy Man Utd fans the most and that can only be a good thing.

I can't think of anything worse for English football than Man City winning the EPL at a time when they are, in reality, trading insolvently.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The matter of the police investigation of John Terry seems to be dragging on. There was another mention of it on TV this morning.

 

[balne-wonderer]

I can't think of anything worse for English football than Man City winning the EPL at a time when they are, in reality, trading insolvently.

Who isn't? It's just incredible double standards at the moment. It seems people were happy for teams to be spending millions of pounds they didn't have as long as it was Man Utd. Don't forget that the Glazer's had to effectively mortgage their share of the club to raise the funds to buy the rest.

Why would it be bad if Man City won it apart from lots of fans are jealous of their spending? How times have Man Utd and Chelsea splashed cash and no one has said anything?

I'm 26 so I have grown up knowing nothing but Man Utd domination, i've known nothing but whiskey nose sneering at refs and reporters when some tiny little thing didn't go his way. I think Man City will go on to have a sustained period of domestic success, people might say well what's the difference between them having success and Man Utd's success but i'm sure many of you can think of valid replies to that.

Do I wish that Leeds United had billions to spend, a new stadium and a world class manager? Of course I do! I'd love my club to win cups and be the best, even just to be back in the Premier League would be great.

When Man City played Man Utd Sky compared the transfer fees paid by both teams for their starting 11's and I think Man Utd's team was actually a bit more expensive! Amazing eh?

 

[YorkshireBear]

Why would it be bad if Man City won it apart from lots of fans are jealous of their spending? How times have Man Utd and Chelsea splashed cash and no one has said anything?

I said something. Which is why im glad to see chelsea not doing well. I always enjoy watching man city and man utd not do well too.

I tend to accept man utd as the team isnt a bunch of t***s ive met them as i work in a hotel and they are the only club (I have met) to have any respect for others. That includes most prem league teams.

I dont agree with the amount of money in football at all, and im not greatly happy at the money milan mandaric is splashing at my team (sheffield wednesday) at the moment, as he clearly wont get it back.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Bristol City chairman, Colin Sexstone, has stated that the money spent on player's wages in the Championship are unsustainably high and are affecting the financial viability of clubs in that league, especially Bristol City.

Bristol City have made losses in the last three seasons as below:-
To May 2011...£11.45 million
To May 2010...£11.81 million
To May 2009... £ 6.51 million

Incidentally, there is a full Championship fixture of matches tonight.

 

[SS4]

Incidentally, there is a full Championship fixture of matches tonight.

Apart from one team and small heath who aren't playing

 

[EM2]

Finally seen the Newcastle penalty from Saturday.
Ferdinand doesn't 'win' the ball. He challenges as Ben Arfa tries to push the ball past him, and the ball hits his outstretched leg. That's why the assistant sees it, because from the ref's viewpoint, Ferdinand's outstretched leg appears to get the ball first.
The challenge was definitely rash.

 

[SS4]

Not a good result for Stockport...

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Life must be grim when you lose 7-0 away at Grimsby

 

[Robinson]

Rangers just lost 2-1 in a mid-season friendly to Hamburg...

Not that a friendly is the most important of results, but Ally needs to get us back on track soon...

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Blackburn's poor season had yet another downturn last night with the 2-0 Carling Cup quarter final defeat away to Cardiff City.

At least Lancashire had some consolation when Fleetwood Town went to the top of the Conference with a 3-0 home win against Kettering Town.

 

[balne-wonderer]

Really good night last night at Forest. An amazing tribute to Gary Speed, the Leeds fans were loud and proud all night.

Sadly, the Forest section nearest to us started singing "Where's your Speedo gone?" but they were quickly drowned out.

A great performance by Leeds on and off the pitch, 0-4 was an amazing result. Snoddy, Howson, Becchio and Clayton all getting goals, key goals from key players.

Totally delighted with last night, just brilliant.

 

[Ivo]

You won't hear a non-Leeds fan say this very often, but no true football fan could begrudge them that result