Football

[Robinson]

Celtic - obvious
Aberdeen - again, pretty well-known.
Liverpool - why on earth do they think they have a divine right to win everything?
Manchester United - I have plenty of time for Sir Alex (a good Gers man), but I'm afraid 6 years surrounded by arrogant Man U fans too far up their own backsides has put me off them.
Blackburn Rovers - I used to have a lot more respect for them, before their new owners came along and basically sacked Sam Allardyce for no logical reason at all. If they go down this year I will have a quiet smile of satisfaction as I predicted it would go pear-shaped when they did that.
Other clubs I can like or dislike depending on fans I know, personnel at the club etc. For instance, last season I admit had a snigger
West Ham - Again, shabby treatment of managers, and getting their come-uppance for it. Add that to the Tevez/Mascherano affair, along with some rather remarkable comments from the owners, and the fact that my dad supports them (and he hates the Old Firm)...
Crawley Town - listening to some of the things Steve Evans says makes my blood boil at times.

Also, this is a completely irrational one, but when I was 12 years old I remember being in my house common room at boarding school when the BBC were doing the results show, and someone shouted across to me "Rangers beat Liverpool!" only for me to find they'd actually misread Livingston! I've always liked them a bit less since then...

Other clubs I can like or dislike more depending on if a friend is a fan or the personnel at the club. For instance, I admit it was a satisfying result seeing Dougie Freedman get Crystal Palace out of the relegation zone George Burley having left them bottom of the table (because I strongly dislike Burley for the useless job he did at Scotland).

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Blackburn Rovers - I used to have a lot more respect for them, before their new owners came along and basically sacked Sam Allardyce for no logical reason at all. If they go down this year I will have a quiet smile of satisfaction as I predicted it would go pear-shaped when they did that.
Other clubs I can like or dislike depending on fans I know, personnel at the club etc. For instance, last season I admit had a snigger

Oi, leave my second club alone. I can assure you that Rovers fans hate Kean and Venky's more than you hate them!

 

[Robinson]

Oi, leave my second club alone. I can assure you that Rovers fans hate kean and Venky's more than you hate them!

Point taken. I assure you that wasn't meant as a dig at the fans.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Does anyone reckon that Colchester United fans would flood a train heading back to London tomorrow night from Carlisle?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Doesn't matter really, just realised my train tomorrow is one of the ones not extended to London via the West Midlands.

 

[alexjames]

Herewith a line by line rebuttal of David's comments along with a little more. He says

"You appear to be one of the gifted few in this country who A. Have a job. B. Gets paid a hefty wage/salary, and C. Can have all the time off you want".

Yes, I do have a job. Salary is about £6,500 per year which may well be outside most people's definition of "hefty". I'm yet to become aware of anybody in any job who has the capacity to take all the time off that they want so no I do not.

"I am a supporter of Scunthorpe United"

Much respect - I'm an Aldershot Town occasional - clashing fixtures prevent me from attending more than a few matches per season tho'. Not that the Shots have ever reached the peaks that Scunny have achieved.

"so according to you, I'm not a supporter at all!"

Possibly not. If you fail to make a financial or vocal contribution then you are not a supporter. The underlying reasons are irrelevant. But if you manage a game per month when financed by JSA alone then you may well qualify as a supporter. You have my sympathy: I was skint for quite a long while many years ago and I hated every minute of it.

"due to my shift pattern (3 on, 3 off), most of the time it worked out I was working on match days, so I was unable to attend (the odd midweek match excepted)."

Yet another excuse. You were not conscripted into that job- nobody forced you. You chose to do something that made you unavailable for football. There may be perfectly valid reasons for that choice but you took the job with a reasonable expectation of rendering yourself unavailable for supporting duties.

"Have you thought that people live where they do is because that's where a lot of their family live, or god forbid, they have a job, and that's where they work!"

Choosing to live close to family or job is perfectly valid. But it is not a justification for pretending to be a team supporter. It is merely a lifestyle choice.

"Just because a person isn't a season ticket holder, doesn't mean they are not a true supporter"

I did not state or imply that. I raised the point merely as an argument against those who pretend that ticket unavailability prevents them from attending.

"Midweek matches at away grounds, and Champion League matches away. I'm guessing that your a Man Utd supporter, and that my brief sumnation of your job is correct ....."

Wholly wrong. I've not read the rulebook of this forum but I assume that the use of foul and abusive language is prohibited. A false accusation of being a supporter of the salford whores is well within the definition of foul and abusive. But my credentials have been clarifed downthread. And you got the job bit largely wrong as well.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Oh dear, I don't know where to start with the above post...

 

[Robinson]

Oh dear, I don't know where to start with the above post...

Me neither... although I've probably already said it all earlier in this thread...

 

[AlterEgo]

Herewith a line by line rebuttal of David's comments along with a little more. He says

"You appear to be one of the gifted few in this country who A. Have a job. B. Gets paid a hefty wage/salary, and C. Can have all the time off you want".

Yes, I do have a job. Salary is about £6,500 per year which may well be outside most people's definition of "hefty". I'm yet to become aware of anybody in any job who has the capacity to take all the time off that they want so no I do not.

"I am a supporter of Scunthorpe United"

Much respect - I'm an Aldershot Town occasional - clashing fixtures prevent me from attending more than a few matches per season tho'. Not that the Shots have ever reached the peaks that Scunny have achieved.

"so according to you, I'm not a supporter at all!"

Possibly not. If you fail to make a financial or vocal contribution then you are not a supporter. The underlying reasons are irrelevant. But if you manage a game per month when financed by JSA alone then you may well qualify as a supporter. You have my sympathy: I was skint for quite a long while many years ago and I hated every minute of it.

"due to my shift pattern (3 on, 3 off), most of the time it worked out I was working on match days, so I was unable to attend (the odd midweek match excepted)."

Yet another excuse. You were not conscripted into that job- nobody forced you. You chose to do something that made you unavailable for football. There may be perfectly valid reasons for that choice but you took the job with a reasonable expectation of rendering yourself unavailable for supporting duties.

"Have you thought that people live where they do is because that's where a lot of their family live, or god forbid, they have a job, and that's where they work!"

Choosing to live close to family or job is perfectly valid. But it is not a justification for pretending to be a team supporter. It is merely a lifestyle choice.

"Just because a person isn't a season ticket holder, doesn't mean they are not a true supporter"

I did not state or imply that. I raised the point merely as an argument against those who pretend that ticket unavailability prevents them from attending.

"Midweek matches at away grounds, and Champion League matches away. I'm guessing that your a Man Utd supporter, and that my brief sumnation of your job is correct ....."

Wholly wrong. I've not read the rulebook of this forum but I assume that the use of foul and abusive language is prohibited. A false accusation of being a supporter of the salford whores is well within the definition of foul and abusive. But my credentials have been clarifed downthread. And you got the job bit largely wrong as well.

Who are you to say if someone supports their team or not? Sadly I do not have the time to go to as many matches as I'd like, but then that's because I have a busy life.

People like you spoil the beautiful game for others - support your own team in your own time, but don't belittle those whose circumstances preclude them from attending games.

 

[EM2]

• At high school, I had a close friend who supported West Ham. I learned this at a time when I really couldn't care about football and tagged on to Manchester United because my brother supported them. He called me a glory hunter for this! At least he had a valid reason for supporting them though; he did grow up in Brentwood. When they went down in 2003, I told the same friend that they would lose the Play-Off Final to Wolves the next year. He didn't take this too well - and it got worse when Wolves were promoted the year before my prediction, i.e. going up as the Hammers went down!

Well, that's more your friend than the club!

• Many people in Southend support West Ham because they are the local "big" club. In the grand scheme of things though, Southend are a pretty big club; the gulf between Southend United and West Ham United is tiny compared to that between, for example, Southend United and Southend Manor. Similarly, Southend have played in what is surely the most competitive division anywhere on Earth that is not its country's top flight for a total of seven seasons in their history, which included beating Newcastle 4-0 in 1991-92 and thus topping the last edition of the old Second Division on New Year's Day - it just went pear-shaped after that. D'oh! And as a last resort, how many other clubs in England have a positive competitive record against Man U? The answer - zero.

Again, that's hardly the fault of the club. Many families who were the core support of West Ham moved out to Essex after the war, so it's surely natural that their descendents would still be West Ham supporters, even if there is another club on their doorstep. However, I was also under the impression that many West Ham supporters go to Roots Hall when the Hammers are away. Is that not so?

• My aunt is a big Tottenham fan who pretty much despises every other club in existence. When I was younger, virtually the first instance of a club I learned of that she did not like was West Ham. Before too long, they went and lost something like 6-1 to Man U, which made me feel that she did not like them because they were rubbish and worthless. I stuck by that.

There's always been a big rivalry between West Ham and Spurs, simply because they're near each other. However, at that time, they really were rubbish and worthless

• Although West Ham have produced the likes of Hurst, Peters and others, and also several modern "greats" [sure...], they were also the traditional stomping ground of Trevor Brooking. Brooking was pretty good, which I accept, and he is very supportive of the grassroots game. However, he was also the analyst on Pro Evolution Soccer 4, on which his lines were about as good as my sister is at running - i.e. not very. This made me feel that he wasn't particularly competent, and this worked against West Ham as well.

Sir Trevor Brooking is one of the greatest midfielders that England has produced, and to criticise him for reading some lines from a script on a football computer game is unbelievably shallow.
I thoroughly dislike Stan Collymore, for his attitude to women, and his performances on radio, but don't dislike Southend because of it.

• As far as managers go, West Ham were known in the 20th Century for being very patient with their managers. I believe 'Arry was only their 11th manager in their history or so? Since then however, it has gone horribly wrong, and they are happy to chop and change at the first sign of danger, and one of my all-time favourite players, Gianfranco Zola, suffered this fate - when in practice his team just wasn't good enough. Similarly, they also hired Avram Grant, and although he is far better than the media - and Chelsea - suggested, I just don't think he is really suitable or charismatic.

Redknapp was the ninth manager in the club's history, and since he resigned in 2001 there have been another nine (including three caretakers). Grant was a poor choice and simply did not perform well, and I agree that Zola was very shabbily treated. But the board that were in place when Redknapp left, still only appointed two managers in five years, one of whom had been seriously ill. It's the change of ownership that has brought about this management merry-go-round, something many fans are not happy with either.

• Back in Southend, a lot of the people who support West Ham fill the modern social stereotype of hoody-wearing happy-slapping low-lifes who physically could not care less about anything besides themselves. However, this goes back to well before these terms (except low-life obviously) even existed, to when I was little - and they were often bullies as well. Compare that to a "brainiac" like me, since diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome - not good.

I fiond the same with the supporters of pretty much every club, I'm afraid. Such as Bristol City, whose fans thought it big and clever to attack an elderly West Ham supporter after the recent match at Upton Park. Sadly, it seems to be endemic in football these days.

• And then there's the big two reasons - the Tevez (and Mascherano) saga, and Millwall. I already had a strong disdain of the Hammers by the time the former came along and I realised how dangerous the latter was - but these two made it far worse.

The Tevez/Mascherano saga was very unfortunate, and I think all West Ham fans are embarrassed by how it was played out. Yes, we were lucky not to get deducted points, but we have been UNlucky in having to pay compensation to Sheffield United, through a process where three tribunals found against them, they were given leave to appeal every one, yet when one finds in their favour, West Ham get no right of appeal. Is that fair?
I would add that no-one involved in that is still at the club.
Millwall has its roots in the rivalry between shipyards and workers and a strike in the early years of the 20thC. All teams have rivalries, this one is just a LOT more intense than many others.

There are other reasons as well, but I'll leave it there (partly in case my Internet fails again). So you have an idea, other clubs I do not like include Barnsley, Lille, Luton, Millwall, Real Madrid and Roma.

We can agree there at least

 

[Ivo]

I know some of the above is quite lame, but it's only a selection of what I could think of at Silly o'Clock in the morning. And as for Brooking, I just don't think he's that competent in some ways. I realise the lines thing is techncially nothing to do with him; that's more others' influence!

Change of subject now (this criticism of who supports what is getting ridiculous; it is interesting to see who others don't like though). Am I missing something, or is Nick Barmby manager of Hull? Assuming I've got this right, best of luck to him - one of the game's nice guys

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

This coming Tuesday and Wednesday sees some interesting pairings in the Carling Cup quarter-final matches....

Arsenal v. Manchester City
Cardiff City v. Blackburn Rovers
Chelsea v. Liverpool
Manchester United v. Crystal Palace

Subject to the teams that are fielded, there could be some "interesting" results. However, the last couple of years have seen a better approach by the bigger clubs to this particular competition.

 

[SS4]

Very interesting. A penalty against Man Utd, that ref will be lucky to avoid the firing squad

 

[EM2]

Very interesting. A penalty against Man Utd, that ref will be lucky to avoid the firing squad

That ref is Mike Jones, involved in the Liverpool v Sunderland BeachBallGate and who gave the worst refereeing performance I have ever seen, in the Stoke v West Ham FA Cup tie last season.

 

[SS4]

That ref is Mike Jones, involved in the Liverpool v Sunderland BeachBallGate and who gave the worst refereeing performance I have ever seen, in the Stoke v West Ham FA Cup tie last season.

He still gains my respect for having the balls to give a penalty against Man Ure

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

F A Trophy....3rd Qualifying Round

Matlock Town 0...Hyde FC 1

Through to the next round in a hard-fought match...

 

[EM2]

He still gains my respect for having the balls to give a penalty against Man Ure

I haven't seen it yet but Matt Le Tissier on Sky Sports News insisted that Ferdinand got the ball. So, if Jones has got it wrong, it doesn't come down to balls, just incompetence...
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

... as for Brooking, I just don't think he's that competent in some ways.

Please don't tell me that you mean as a footballer?

 

[blackettstreet]

I haven't seen it yet but Matt Le Tissier on Sky Sports News insisted that Ferdinand got the ball.

looked to me like he took out the player, but i could be accused of a bias

 

[SS4]

I haven't seen it yet but Matt Le Tissier on Sky Sports News insisted that Ferdinand got the ball. So, if Jones has got it wrong, it doesn't come down to balls, just incompetence...

I've not seen it yet but Ferdinand could have elbowed the guy in the face and Sky Sports News would have seen nothing wrong such is their favourable view of Manchester United.

If Ferdinand got the ball then it's still a good decision, if he didn't it's an excellent decision. Imagine the pressure on the ref to not give a penalty and then imagine how many dodgy penalty decisions Man Utd have profited from and you'll see this is a drop in the ocean of lovely, sweet comeuppance.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

looked to me like he took out the player, but i could be accused of a bias

You're less biased than Sky my friend

 

[YorkshireBear]

Another cracking day in league 1 where the owls went second with a win over leyton orient. Another home win another game unbeaten and another clean sheet.

My friend who supports blackburn in a slightly worse mood, any other balckburn fans or football fans out there got a view on steve kean. Personally i think they should sack him now. TAXI!

 

[richw]

I think blackburn should keep kean, keeps the "turkey" theme going for venky group!

A side note, when did spurs sneak up to 3rd, with a game in hand only 2 points of 2nd. All whilst 'arry was off sick

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk

 

[valenta]

looked to me like he took out the player, but i could be accused of a bias

Would love to be able to agree with you ... but unfortunately he did clearly get the ball before Ben Afra!
Still a good defensive performance from us today and a well deserved draw. See Fergie has already branded the incident as a "travesty," of course he would never get any results his way ... :roll:

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I've not seen it yet but Ferdinand could have elbowed the guy in the face ....If Ferdinand got the ball then it's still a good decision, if he didn't it's an excellent decision.

I am not a follower of any Premiership team (mine is two divisions down from there) but how can you make the statement above where you say that you had not seen the incident, but then make the comment following to that.

I am at a total loss as to understand the reasoning of the final part of your statement. If the referee had seen a deliberate use of the elbow by a player to cause injury to an opposing player, it is an immediate red card situation for dangerous play. There have been many cases over the years where such actions have led to cases of fractured cheekbones, or even worse, of eye sockets, which could finish the playing career of a fellow footballer.

 

[Ivo]

(With regards to Sir Trevor Brooking being "incompetent")

Please don't tell me that you mean as a footballer?

Most certainly not! I may not be his biggest fan, but no-one could deny that he was one of the best players of his time. Am I right to think that he was the last player to date to have scored an FA Cup winning goal for a team outside of the top flight?

 

[EM2]

(With regards to Sir Trevor Brooking being "incompetent")
Most certainly not! I may not be his biggest fan, but no-one could deny that he was one of the best players of his time. Am I right to think that he was the last player to date to have scored an FA Cup winning goal for a team outside of the top flight?

Thank God for that, otherwise I might have had to seriously revise my opinion of you
You are correct, West Ham won the FA Cup in 1980 and are the last club from outside the top flight to do so. Some people will tell you that that is the only header that he ever scored, which is not true.
He also won 48 caps for England, and was never sent off. Many seem to think he was also never booked, although I can't find evidence to back that up.

 

[Donny Dave]

"due to my shift pattern (3 on, 3 off), most of the time it worked out I was working on match days, so I was unable to attend (the odd midweek match excepted)."

Yet another excuse. You were not conscripted into that job- nobody forced you. You chose to do something that made you unavailable for football. There may be perfectly valid reasons for that choice but you took the job with a reasonable expectation of rendering yourself unavailable for supporting duties.

First off, apologies for calling you a Man Utd supporter. It was completely unacceptable for me to stoop so low. It won't happen again.

Secondly, with regards to my shift pattern. Your correct, I wasn't conscripted onto that, but it was a job I accepted because there was very few jobs then available, just like now. However, I could not absent myself from work as and when I liked, as A. My work collegues would resent it, and B. I would very quickly find myself in a disaplinary meeting to explain my frequent absence. My job was taken with the aim of working so I could live. IE. Eat, pay bills, and with what money I had left, go enjoy myself (socialising with friends and family first, everything else after). Supporting a football team falls under the latter heading. Other things I have been doing this year is going to various motorbike rounds in different championships. World Superbikes at Donington Park at the end of March, MotoGP at Silverstone and British Superbikes at Cadwell Park, in each case, going for the full weekend.

I did not go to watch Scunthorpe United today, as I was helping my sister decorate a bit more of her house. I did however, have Radio Humberside on, so I could listen to the match. The sending off sounded harsh going by the radio commentary, but until I see what exactly happened by watching a re-run of the football league show, I can't say if it was a fair or harsh decision, more from me later about that.

Anyway, I'm going to say no more about what makes a true football supporter, I'm just going to fade into the background again supporting Scunthorpe United (and to a lesser extent, Gainsborough Trinity), and doing what I want with my time. If you want to judge me by what I've said, feel free ....

PS. If only real life mirrored Football Manager 2012. It's taken my 6 seasons to get Gainsborough from the Blue Square North to League 1, and a new stadium to go along with the new division. All I've got to look foward to now is a couple of derby games against Scunthorpe United

 

[richw]

...

PS. If only real life mirrored Football Manager 2012. It's taken my 6 seasons to get Gainsborough from the Blue Square North to League 1, and a new stadium to go along with the new division. All I've got to look foward to now is a couple of derby games against Scunthorpe United

I've taken argyle to premiership and champions league victory in 6 seasons, signed all the best players in the world, which somewhat is unrealistic for argyle!

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Back on the European football stage, certain results prove that the glitterati of the game can sometimes be brought down to earth with a bump, as Barcelona found out this weekend when they lost 1-0 in La Liga at Getafe and now find themselves six points behind Real Madrid in the league.

Something worth considering at Manchester City, who have a match to test them at Liverpool today.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Also forgot to add that I hate Barca!

 

[SS4]

I am not a follower of any Premiership team (mine is two divisions down from there) but how can you make the statement above where you say that you had not seen the incident, but then make the comment following to that.

I am at a total loss as to understand the reasoning of the final part of your statement. If the referee had seen a deliberate use of the elbow by a player to cause injury to an opposing player, it is an immediate red card situation for dangerous play. There have been many cases over the years where such actions have led to cases of fractured cheekbones, or even worse, of eye sockets, which could finish the playing career of a fellow footballer.

Allow me to quote myself in full

I've not seen it yet but Ferdinand could have elbowed the guy in the face and Sky Sports News would have seen nothing wrong such is their favourable view of Manchester United.

If Ferdinand got the ball then it's still a good decision, if he didn't it's an excellent decision. Imagine the pressure on the ref to not give a penalty and then imagine how many dodgy penalty decisions Man Utd have profited from and you'll see this is a drop in the ocean of lovely, sweet comeuppance.

The elbow was an exaggeration, to strengthen my point about Sky Sports being biased in favour of Manchester United (look at their ads and see how often they feature). Of course a competent ref would rightly send anyone off who they saw elbowing and a lengthy ban would follow although I do see how it could have been misinterpreted with hindsight

The comment following that is a smug satisfaction that Manchester United got a small token of comeuppance for all the dodgy penalty decisions that have done their way.
On a slightly different topic don't you think there is something wrong when "Fergie Time" is a casually used phrase, even by pundits

 

[MidnightFlyer]

It wasn't a penalty judging by what I saw last night on MOTD, but as it's against United I don't care!