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2009-10 Football Thread
- Thread starter Jaffa Cake
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Whew! Hull City scored three times - and needed all three to get the win as it turns out. I imagine Brown will be pleased with the result but still concerned with the defensive display. Still waiting for goals from Altidore but he looked to be involved to ay.
Well done Clint Dempsey for scoring a brace as well.
Well done Clint Dempsey for scoring a brace as well.
No goals from Jozy again, but he performed well otherwise. There's always the next match...
Needless to say, I'm pleased with the three points I'd have been very happy with a point tonight, so all three is splendid. As a bonus, I had a Bovril and we got to sing 'Mauled' for the first time in ages.
We seem to have found our mojo again. Heh.
Needless to say, I'm pleased with the three points I'd have been very happy with a point tonight, so all three is splendid. As a bonus, I had a Bovril and we got to sing 'Mauled' for the first time in ages.
We seem to have found our mojo again. Heh.
No goals from Jozy again, but he performed well otherwise. There's always the next match...
Needless to say, I'm pleased with the three points I'd have been very happy with a point tonight, so all three is splendid. As a bonus, I had a Bovril and we got to sing 'Mauled' for the first time in ages.
We seem to have found our mojo again. Heh.
did he play well other than not scoring?
As I say, he's not really doing anything wrong other than not finding the back of the net. It's clear that he's still raw and is learning he's only 19, after all but I think the goals will come for him.
He's featured more in the past few games, having being used only sparingly prior to that understandable given the time he's spent away from his new team mates on international duty, and of course there was the initial red-tapesque hold up to his signing. But he's getting match time now which will be good for his development, and of course the Premier League is a faster, more physical league than he's used to. All good experience for the lad.
He looks to have good control, is prepared to chase down lost causes, and holds the ball up well and although his name wasn't on the scoresheet last night he forced a very smart save out of Howard, the rebound for which fell to Hunt for the opener. He's doing okay, steady if not spectacular, but there's promise there.
My concern for his future is this he's on loan with us, and we have first option to buy him in the summer for £6million. Given the financial situation at the club, is it a fee we can afford? Hmm.
Anyway, one major complaint about the lad he really needs to stop wearing electric blue boots, such accoutrements are the preserve of foppish dandys. Sort it out, Jozy sensible black boots are the way forward for the right-thinking player.
Anyway, one major complaint about the lad he really needs to stop wearing electric blue boots, such accoutrements are the preserve of foppish dandys. Sort it out, Jozy sensible black boots are the way forward for the right-thinking player.
Indeed, I'm none to thrilled about some of the flashy footwear...unless you switch to Jermaine Defoe's pink 5-goal boots.
In MLS news, the "expansion draft" has just taken place, whereby every MLS team creates a list of 11 "protected" players; the incoming expansion team (Philadelphia) can then look over every team's roster and "draft" (i.e. steal!) any player not on the list. Columbus Crew has had Philly steal starting striker Alejandro Moreno. This is one aspect of the league expansion I dislike - every season a new team shows up we lose players in this "draft". Last season it was midfielder Brad Evans.
In even bigger news in Columbus, there is a very good chance will lose 2008 League MVP Gullermo Barros Schelotto....Columbus has offered him a pay cut and he is not happy with it. I hope he'll come back next season but it's looking bad. If he does go, we will have a "designated player" spot open, but if we can't pay Schelotto (who is cheaper than every other DP like Angel and Ljungberg), I don't know who we would replace him with.
Blimey. That'd be like us getting promoted to the Premier League and saying we'll have Torres and Van Persie this season, ta very much.
I take it that ultimately the final decision rests with the player – that they make the move if they agree to it, they're not forced?
To be honest with you I'm not sure...I do know that the league, not the team, owns all player contracts in the MLS. So I think the player has little say in the matter ultimately. Teams do most of the negotiating with players over a contract within the league, but the league has the final say - and when a player comes in from another league or leaves MLS the league does most if not all of the contract negotiation. It keeps costs down but there are plenty of voices clamoring for the financial restraints to be eased.
In related news, the collective bargaining agreement between the MLS and the MLS Players Union expired and is in the process of being renegotiated. I don't think we'll see a strike, but I've heard that the players union wants to see some significant changes, so it will be interesting to see what happens....
I have to admit I think the salary cap is a good idea to keep our smallish league viable - but it needs to be relaxed as the league grows. Too much cost control is bad, but maybe Bosman in Europe has goon too far though?
In related news, the collective bargaining agreement between the MLS and the MLS Players Union expired and is in the process of being renegotiated. I don't think we'll see a strike, but I've heard that the players union wants to see some significant changes, so it will be interesting to see what happens....
I have to admit I think the salary cap is a good idea to keep our smallish league viable - but it needs to be relaxed as the league grows. Too much cost control is bad, but maybe Bosman in Europe has goon too far though?
I'd like to think that the player has the chance to turn down the move after all, if for example you play for LA Galaxy and are nicely settled over there, then being forced to move across the country (and it is a big country) to play for, say, DC United is a hell of an ask. And that's even before we consider that one of the teams Toronto isn't even in the country...
No, the player has no say. In US sports, unless a player has a no-trade clause written into their contract they can be traded to another team without their permission.
Also in MLS news, Olsen retires after 12 season with D.C. United...
http://www.dcunited.com/article/olsen-retires-after-12-season-dc-united
Heart of a Lion - Benny was one of the original United squad... sidelined with injuries several times over his career... frankly I can't think of DCU without Olsen... I'm hoping that this is not the last we hear from Ben Olsen... since DCU's looking for a head coach (Tom Soehn withdrew from consideration to stay on as the team's coach after three seasons) there is a real possibility that Benny could steer DCU and I would support such an idea.
I had a look at the rules for the current expansion draft, and it is interesting to note that designated players that do have a no-trade clause in their contract must still be put on a team's protected list, thereby taking up a slot that could otherwise be used to protect an additional player. So, just because you went through all the trouble to sign, say, Ljungberg with a no-trade clause does not mean you get to protect 11 players plus him.
So, Jaffa, it appears that a player can indeed be traded against his will. I would not be surprised if this becomes a major issue at the collective bargaining negotiations.
Blimey. There are a few aspects of the US game that I really struggle to get my head around due to them just being so different to how we approach things, this is up there amongst them.
I remember him from the spell he had over here paying for Nottingham Forest. It's always a shame when a player has to retire early due to injury – at 32 you'd like to think he'd have had a few more seasons in him.
Much of the MLS's structure seems modeled after baseball and NFL football. Without having tradition established by a longstanding league system and FA, I guess the MLS has looked to keep things as familiarly American as possible - which in the beginning, led to some oddities like having the clock count down from 90 minutes rather than up.
Sad to see Olsen go, he was a big player for DC, but his injury problems just became too much at the end.
Sad to see Olsen go, he was a big player for DC, but his injury problems just became too much at the end.
If we score today - and we're not averse to doing so at the moment - I want the players to celebrate by sitting down in the Manchester City penalty area.
Sort it out, City. Make it happen.
Sort it out, City. Make it happen.
Splendid stuff. We're ace again.
Naturally, I'm most pleased by a point away at a team bristling with high-quality players, but I'm also well chuffed we've been able to give an 'up yours' to the lazy media types who have been harking on about Boxing Day for the best part of a year.
Heh. Superb.
Naturally, I'm most pleased by a point away at a team bristling with high-quality players, but I'm also well chuffed we've been able to give an 'up yours' to the lazy media types who have been harking on about Boxing Day for the best part of a year.
Heh. Superb.
Also, Giggs scored his 100th premier league goal today, making him the 17th player to do so. I wonder how easy it would be to name the other 16 (without looking it up).
Hmm. Shearer and Fowler must be on that list...but I'm no encyclopedia. Definitely not Heskey!
Still waiting for the goals from Altidore and his flash footwear, but at least he was a presence up front. Keep at it Jozy!
Still waiting for the goals from Altidore and his flash footwear, but at least he was a presence up front. Keep at it Jozy!
Ferdinand (Les) and Cole (Andy) will be on the list too, I reckon, along with the Arsenal pairing of Henry and Wright.
Teddy Sheringham too, Le Tissier, Owen and I think Lampard got his 100th recently. Dwight Yorke perhaps? Beyond that, I admit I'm starting to struggle a bit...
You know – I'm not certain but I think he might be on the list.
No, really.
He's also been committing the heinous crime of wearing gloves – unforgivable in any player other than a goalkeeper – but in mitigation he's been following the lead of a number of his team mates and shunning the posh Adidas/Nike efforts (no doubt which incorporate special heat retention layers and moisture dissipation weaving, and all that rubbish) in favour of the woolly gloves you can pick up in the club shop for a fiver.
I can't track down an image of Jozy wearing them as proof, but here's convicted woman batterer Marlon King sporting a pair last season to give you a flavour of what I'm referring to...
Classy.
Henry and Van Nistelrooy, maybe Owen as well?
I was excited for a Burnley comeback but it fizzled out
I was excited for a Burnley comeback but it fizzled out
Great...the last people he should be mimicking are the likes of King and Chimbonda.
I had to cheat a little and check Heskey - according to Wikipedia he has 111 club goals, but not all of those are in the Prem.
7 in the First Division (the current Championship) for Leicester, all other league goals in the Premier League. So 103 Premiership/Premier League goals for Emile – he's on the list then.
It's okay, Geovanni wears them as well and he's a church pastor and everything. Proper goodie two-shoes. Bernard Mendy is also a wearer and – although he's as mad as cheese – he's a remarkable dancer.Great...the last people he should be mimicking are the likes of King and Chimbonda.
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