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The 2011-2012 Football Thread
- Thread starter Jaffa Cake
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I think it's mostly down the managerial change. A new guy comes in and shakes up the squad, and some players find themselves out in the cold. He did choose Leeds though, that's his own fault.
The news on Muamba continues to be unexpectedly good - it's too early to say much yet but even the doctors are beginning to use terms like "miraculous recovery". It's the best possible scenario so far.
Columbus Crew fans have gone pretty lukewarm about him over the last couple seasons. I first saw him on the pitch back in '08 when we won the league, and he was outstanding if a tad raw - running at defenders and scoring some wonderful goals. He and Stuart Holden were considered part of the future of the USA midfield. After 2008, Holden developed further into a true prospect with European potential while Rogers remained promising but inconsistent, especially on the international level.
The 2010 and 2011 seasons at the Crew saw him go in and out of form, and by the time he left for Leeds most of us felt it was not a huge loss, though he had his moments and could be very influential at times. His biggest problem is decision-making, and he has a bad tendency to end up running down blind alleys. At his best I think he's good enough for the Championship, but his inconsistency lets him down.
I still want to see him do well, but then he had to go to dirty Leeds, which made it that much harder to support him.
I'm guessing he'll end up back in MLS, unless another Championship club picks him up. I think he'd rather play here in the states than drop down to League One.
And he deserves what he gets! Dirty Robbie Rodgers!
Columbus Crew fans have gone pretty lukewarm about him over the last couple seasons. I first saw him on the pitch back in '08 when we won the league, and he was outstanding if a tad raw - running at defenders and scoring some wonderful goals. He and Stuart Holden were considered part of the future of the USA midfield. After 2008, Holden developed further into a true prospect with European potential while Rogers remained promising but inconsistent, especially on the international level.
The 2010 and 2011 seasons at the Crew saw him go in and out of form, and by the time he left for Leeds most of us felt it was not a huge loss, though he had his moments and could be very influential at times. His biggest problem is decision-making, and he has a bad tendency to end up running down blind alleys. At his best I think he's good enough for the Championship, but his inconsistency lets him down.
I still want to see him do well, but then he had to go to dirty Leeds, which made it that much harder to support him.
I'm guessing he'll end up back in MLS, unless another Championship club picks him up. I think he'd rather play here in the states than drop down to League One.
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Considering he was dead for 80 minutes, it's incredible.
It's also good that his family have told Bolton they want their games to continue this weekend.
Torres started over Drogba for Chelsea. It would be funny if he scored the winner and overshadowed Tevez's return to the squad. But since I do not want Man U to win the title, here's hoping it finishes 8-3 in City's favor, with Torres scoring a consolation hat trick in the second half after City go 8 up.
As an aside your Lordship, there's been something about takao's splendid Bundesliga clip that's been bothering me... one of the redesigned shirts looked really familiar but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
Anyway, it came to me a little earlier...
Wunderbar I'm sure the Nordecke would approve.
Anyway, it came to me a little earlier...
Wunderbar I'm sure the Nordecke would approve.
Wunderbar I'm sure the Nordecke would approve.
Great Scott, you're right. It's the 1970s, German fashion model version of current Crew midfielder Eddie Gaven wearing a 1970s German fashion version of our previous away kit! Kudos on the video capture skills.
We never had cool shorts like that though.
Meanwhile, Liverpool are pants.
Beaten 3-2 by the worst team in the league after being 2-0 up. Crap offense, crap defense. Enrique's duff defending led to the winner but really, letting QPR score three? Really? Argh.
It sounds as if a civil war of sorts may be happening in Scottish Football...I wonder if the rest of the league is really going to try and strongarm the Old Firm, and to what end. Also, is this move happening now because Rangers' ability to respond is severely weakened?
Hmm...
They want a 9-3 decision to push through major change in Scotland's top flight rather than the current 11-1.
Surely to push this through they'd have to get it approved by at least 11 of the 12 clubs?
I can't see Celtic and Rangers happily signing away a chunk of their hold over the SPL.
They want a 9-3 decision to push through major change in Scotland's top flight rather than the current 11-1.
Surely to push this through they'd have to get it approved by at least 11 of the 12 clubs?
I can't see Celtic and Rangers happily signing away a chunk of their hold over the SPL.
Speaking as a near-total outsider to Scottish football, I think it sounds massively unfair that the Old Firm essentially holds veto power in the SPL. I don't know how it can change but it should. Then again, I'm an outsider so perhaps there is a good reason for the 11-1 rule - I just don't personally see it. Celtic's argument seems to be that the Old Firm are Scottish football, and without them the whole edifice will come tumbling down. I'm skeptical of that argument, to say the least.
Hmmm, I'm morally obliged to post something here.
I'm not quite sure how when setting up the SPL they got away with setting the voting structure up 11-1, effectively giving the Old Firm a veto, but that's exactly why it is set up that way. It's our fitba and we'll take it away with us if you don't play our game.
The timing is to take advantage of Ranger's current situation. They have threatened to walk away before and form their own league (in a similar fashion to the F1 FIA/FOCA wars) but turkeys don't vote for Christmas. Some folk are of the opinion that getting rid of the OF into England would be the best thing that could happen for the Scottish game, making it more competitive.
My view, and this is an unpopular one for an Old Firm fan, is that more wealth has to be distributed among the teams. The league has to be expanded and number of games cut (thus reducing the number of money-making visits the OF make to the other teams, off-set by the fairer TV distribution). The Old Firm are the Scottish Premier League, and the house of cards is about to tumble. For one, I don't know why Sky are paying so much for such an awful, uncompetitive product.
I'm not quite sure how when setting up the SPL they got away with setting the voting structure up 11-1, effectively giving the Old Firm a veto, but that's exactly why it is set up that way. It's our fitba and we'll take it away with us if you don't play our game.
The timing is to take advantage of Ranger's current situation. They have threatened to walk away before and form their own league (in a similar fashion to the F1 FIA/FOCA wars) but turkeys don't vote for Christmas. Some folk are of the opinion that getting rid of the OF into England would be the best thing that could happen for the Scottish game, making it more competitive.
My view, and this is an unpopular one for an Old Firm fan, is that more wealth has to be distributed among the teams. The league has to be expanded and number of games cut (thus reducing the number of money-making visits the OF make to the other teams, off-set by the fairer TV distribution). The Old Firm are the Scottish Premier League, and the house of cards is about to tumble. For one, I don't know why Sky are paying so much for such an awful, uncompetitive product.
That all makes sense to me. It seems that the Old Firm are telling the rest of the league that they are just there to make up the numbers. But what does that say about Scottish football in general then? Maybe if wealth was distributed more evenly, other Scottish teams would become competitive. That would probably make the Old Firm more competitive, which would mean they'd do better in Europe, the quality of league play would be better, and thus the market would be more valuable, leading to greater sponsorship...I don't really see the downside.
To be fair, the record books back up this stance. The last non-Old Firm team to win the top flight were Aberdeen in 1985 with Alex Ferguson at the helm. In the 13 years since the SPL was founded, only Hearts have once managed to stop an Old Firm 1-2.
I agree (except for the Europe part), but short-term views currently prevail. The only people who could actually force through this type of change are the TV companies. If Sky or ESPN walked in tomorrow and said change it or we won't pay then they would.
As for Europe, they could possibly do better but I don't see any Scottish team being competitive again, certainly not in the Champions League. And this is just the tip of the iceberg, the Portuguese* and Dutch leagues are having similar problems competing in Europe and with the EPL and Bundesliga. Even the mighty La Liga is virtually a duopoly.
* Yes I know Benfica are in the 1/4 finals maybe not the best example...
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Very true, but demographically there are other places in Scotland that should be able to support perennial challengers, in terms of population and economy. The reason the Old Firm dominates seems to be primarily politics and tradition - and that is a potentially very shaky base under the right conditions. But traditions do die hard. Again, I'm looking at it from the outside though, and maybe the tradition of the Old Firm as dominant players is just going to be a feature of the Scottish football scene forever, because the Scottish want it that way.
Good point. But as long as they are making money, I suppose the networks don't care how the league is run.
Scottish football has probably already had its day in the sun with regards to European competition, and the heady days of the past aren't likely to return soon. But with that being said, surely they should be looking at teams like APOEL and realizing that they could be making a much better showing in Europe than they are. And while La Liga is pretty unbalanced, they are still making a much better showing in Europe than the UK, including the Premier League - and I'm not talking about Real and Barca here, but Athletic Blibao, Athletico Madrid and Valencia.
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what is really funny is Celtic seems to be out on a limb here.
The EPL doesn't want them... well... maybe not the headache of putting them in but the revenue would probably be welcome ...eventually.
If it did come to pass they'd have a Welsh team and Scottish team in the Prem.
And another Welsh team in the League Championship. I think it might be kinda interesting.
The only issue might be if the other QPR somehow managed to get in the prem... that would be confusing...
The EPL doesn't want them... well... maybe not the headache of putting them in but the revenue would probably be welcome ...eventually.
If it did come to pass they'd have a Welsh team and Scottish team in the Prem.
And another Welsh team in the League Championship. I think it might be kinda interesting.
The only issue might be if the other QPR somehow managed to get in the prem... that would be confusing...
The only issue might be if the other QPR somehow managed to get in the prem... that would be confusing...
Our Queens Park is the original, and played in the FA Cup finals in 1884 & 1885, so the precident of playing in England has already been set by the mighty Spiders. Indeed in the first Scotland v England international match was played by 11 Queens Park players in their Queens Park strips!
And yet people cite tradition as one of the things that mnakes the Old Firm so special. It seems to me that Queens Park has more than enough history and tradition to match both giants of Scottish Football. It is interesting that they have remained an amateur club, and that they play at Scotland's national stadium.
The solution is simple forget Rangers or Celtic and instead invite Queens Park to play in England. Queens Park Rangers can then be disbanded so that there's no confusion.
The Spiders were twice FA Cup finalists of course, so they've played in English competition before. It's a win-win situation for all concerned I reckon.
The Spiders were twice FA Cup finalists of course, so they've played in English competition before. It's a win-win situation for all concerned I reckon.
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