The 2011-2012 Football Thread

[pachyderm]

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.

nah. just let 'em both play. and then add sheffield football club, i believe one of, if not the oldest, football club in the world.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

nah. just let 'em both play. and then add sheffield football club, i believe one of, if not the oldest, football club in the world.

Yep, Sheffield FC are the world's oldest at a not unimpressive 154 years.

Notts County are the oldest professional club in the world, but they were formed a few years after their Sheffield counterparts.

 

[Fizzoid]

Well, after scoring 11 goals in 4 games, I can only presume Jones has decided that's far too many, and has signed Nile Ranger on loan
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17479975

 

[Fuzzy14]

wow! the more you know. well done.

I didn't quite grow up in the shadow of Hampden, but I attended Queens Park Secondary School!

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.

People cite The Masters as being a tradition but that was only founded in 1934. Queens Park had the biggest stadium because in their day they were the biggest club, when the Old Firm took over as the big boys cup finals and internationals Hampden remained as a neutral venue so not to upset half of Glasgow. QP haven't played in Hampden proper for about 20 years, they play in Lesser Hampden, the training pitch adjacent.

I was going to correct you and say that Queens Park don't own it any more, but I've just done some digging and apparantly they do. I thought it had been transfered to the SFA during the 1990s redevelopment.

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.

Agreed!

I read an article about the first international in the Herald (can't find the link). Apparantly the English team averaged about 2 stones heavier per man, I would imagine based on non-association football heritage (or perhaps weighed down by their shorts), the nimblier Queens Park team ran rings around them and were the inventors of the modern passing game!

 

[Lord Blackadder]

I read an article about the first international in the Herald (can't find the link). Apparantly the English team averaged about 2 stones heavier per man, I would imagine based on non-association football heritage (or perhaps weighed down by their shorts), the nimblier Queens Park team ran rings around them and were the inventors of the modern passing game!

Tikki-Takka Fitba!

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Meanwhile, Great Britain's Olympic clobber has been unveiled – it's all designed by the daughter of a Beatle and includes the kit for the revived football team...



Er, no.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

It looks like a onesie.

 

[swiftaw]

Meanwhile, Great Britain's Olympic clobber has been unveiled – it's all designed by the daughter of a Beatle and includes the kit for the revived football team...

View attachment 332072

Er, no.

Since when has light blue been part of the british color scheme?

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Since when has light blue been part of the british color scheme?

Stella McCartney says...

"I wanted to start with the union flag, but I'm really aware the reds, whites and blues are in other nations' flags and sometimes you can feel quite confused when you are watching the Games... is that American, is that French?

"I wanted to make it slightly more delicate and have more texture.

"It's very recognisable still, I've represented all the parts of Great Britain. There's a lot of red in there, but in a non-traditional way."

So there we have it, the kits use a lot of non-traditional red. Non-traditional insofar as it's light blue, I think.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

So there we have it, the kits use a lot of non-traditional red. Non-traditional insofar as it's light blue, I think.

Light blue is the new red?

 

[daneoni]

Liverpool; oh dear oh dear...

Cisse hasn't changed either...still needs to wear a wet towel every match to continually cool that hot head of his.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Wigan and QPR are still going down, but they're both taking Liverpool's scalp with them. Sickening. Our defense has been good all season, but now it is beginning to crack. Agger's absence is being felt, but our continued inability to score is still the bigger factor. The Liverpool of 4-5 years ago would have put 3 past Wigan in that match.

 

[daneoni]

Kenny needs to ship out Carroll, Adams and Henderson in summer. Only 4 decent players in their squad; Gerrard, Suarez, Skirtle and Reina.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Kenny needs to ship out Carroll, Adams and Henderson in summer. Only 4 decent players in their squad; Gerrard, Suarez, Skirtle and Reina.

I'd add Lucas, Agger and Kuyt to that number. Most of the rest of the players have been good enough overall, though Bellamy is, as I feared, not consistent enough due to injury. I think that Downing has just about done enough for me to be willing to hang on to him for now, though I still need more consistency from him.

I think most Liverpool fans are probably conceding, at least privately, that the Carroll experiment is looking to be a failure. He really hasn't shown enough improvement over the season, and he's not scoring goals. Henderson has also not shown enough so far. This Wigan match is the kind of game we would easily have won with Lucas/Mascherano, Xabi Alonso and Torres (version 2008) in the squad. Adam and Carroll are a huge step down from Alonso and Torres2008.

The need for a creative midfielder and striker is now so blindingly obvious I can only hope potential transfer targets are already being lined up and the necessary numbers crunched. Dalglish has gotten huge leeway from the supporters, but I feel like patience is beginning to wear pretty thin with the current squad.

 

[pachyderm]

Stella McCartney says...

"I wanted to start with the union flag, but I'm really aware the reds, whites and blues are in other nations' flags and sometimes you can feel quite confused when you are watching the Games... is that American, is that French?

"I wanted to make it slightly more delicate and have more texture.

"It's very recognisable still, I've represented all the parts of Great Britain. There's a lot of red in there, but in a non-traditional way."

So there we have it, the kits use a lot of non-traditional red. Non-traditional insofar as it's light blue, I think.

Since when has light blue been part of the british color scheme?

Meanwhile, Great Britain's Olympic clobber has been unveiled – it's all designed by the daughter of a Beatle and includes the kit for the revived football team...

View attachment 332072

Er, no.

gave out some -1's cos i don't like the kit. or stella's ideas. lol. i agree with you guys tho.



looking forward to the old firm tilt tomorrow morning.

 

[Fuzzy14]

I expect Alex Salmon to be on the phone any minute now complaining about the use of blue when there aren't any Scots in the team (the Saltire is the blue bit of the Union Flag.)

Anyway in Scotland, Killie beat 2nd place Motherwell today which means the league can be won tomorrow by Celtic. Who are they playing? Rangers. At Ibrox. I doubt the SPL will bring the trophy with them.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

At least one good bit of news today as Columbus beat Montreal 2-0 at Crew Stadium. our slick new LED advertising hoardings look great, and new signings Olman Vargas and Milovan Mirosevic both got on the score sheet. Montreal played a pretty dirty match, something like 5 yellows and a red to 2 yellows for the Crew. The sun was shining in Columbus, and over 18,000 butts in seats to see it.

Anyway in Scotland, Killie beat 2nd place Motherwell today which means the league can be won tomorrow by Celtic. Who are they playing? Rangers. At Ibrox. I doubt the SPL will bring the trophy with them.

Wow, the league being won in March.

 

[pachyderm]

At least one good bit of news today as Columbus beat Montreal 2-0 at Crew Stadium. our slick new LED advertising hoardings look great, and new signings Olman Vargas Milovan Mirosevic both got on the score sheet. Montreal played a pretty dirty match, something like 5 yellows and a red to 2 yellows for the Crew. The sun was shining in Columbus, and over 18,000 butts in seats to see it.



Wow, the league being won in March.

wow!

 

[daneoni]

...Dalglish has gotten huge leeway from the supporters, but I feel like patience is beginning to wear pretty thin with the current squad.

Is Alan Pardew a better Manager than Kenny Dalglish?

 

[pivo6]

Is Alan Pardew a better Manager than Kenny Dalglish?

Whether he's a better manager is up for debate, but what you can't argue with is his eye for talent. The purchases he's made for Newcastle have been so much more successful than Dalglish's signings, and at a fraction of the cost.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Is Alan Pardew a better Manager than Kenny Dalglish?

Depends on your metric: size of trophy cabinet, transfer history, man-management, tactics?

His transfer history in his current spell at Liverpool has been poor. On the other hand, he seems to be a good leader of men. His stature at the club protects him from much of the criticism another manager would get.

 

[daneoni]

Whether he's a better manager is up for debate, but what you can't argue with is his eye for talent. The purchases he's made for Newcastle have been so much more successful than Dalglish's signings, and at a fraction of the cost.

Depends on your metric: size of trophy cabinet, transfer history, man-management, tactics?

His transfer history in his current spell at Liverpool has been poor. On the other hand, he seems to be a good leader of men. His stature at the club protects him from much of the criticism another manager would get.

Would Liverpool trade the Carling/FA Cup trophy (Dalglish) for a Champions/Europa League spot at a fraction of the money they've spent (Pardew) though?

I know Dalglish has tenure, legendary status and is wanted by fans but is he actually the man for the job. Has he surpassed Hodgson...not really. If you put Pardew in his seat would LFC be better off...i wonder.

Sure Dalglish has a trophy in the cabinet but it wasn't particularly convincing (Cardiff could've easily nicked it) and pretty much stumbled on it.

I guess what happens in the summer and next season will make things clearer. I think i'm just really surprised because i was really wary of LFC at the beginning of the season and had them down as one to look out for along with City given the fresh faces but surprised at the current state.

 

[pachyderm]

Sheffield Wednesday 1 - O Leyton Orient
Reda Johnson (49')

...
GOALS
15 Madine
7 Lowe
7 Reda
5 Marshall
5 O'Grady
4 Jones
4 J.Johnson
3 Lines
3 Antonio
2 Bennett
2 Prutton
2 Batth
1 Sedgwick
1 Morrison
1 Palmer
1 McGoldrick
1 O'Connor
1 Buxton
1 Semedo



ASSISTS
8 Lines
6 Marshall
4 Semedo
4 Buxton
3 Antonio
2 Bennett
2 Morrison
2 Otsemobor
2 O'Grady
2 Palmer
2 R.Jones
1 Prutton
1 Madine
1 O'Connor
1 Bywater
1 Llera
1 Lowe
1 M.Jones


....
2nd: 22-8-9

......
O3/31/2O12
v
UP THE OWLS!
=====

Athletic Club 1 - 1 Sporting Gijon
Oscar (77')
Ramos (90')




...


GOALS
13 Llorente
5 Susaeta
4 Oscar
4 Martínez
3 Amorebieta
3 Toquero
2 Gabilondo
2 Muniaín
2 San Jose
1 Iturraspe
1 David Lopez
1 Herrera
1 Iraola
1 Aurtenetxe


ASSISTS
6 Toquero
5 Herrera
4 Susaeta
4 Oscar
3 Iraola
3 Muniaín
2 Pérez
1 Amorebieta
1 Llorente
1 Martinez
1 San Jose



1Oth: 9-11-9
O3/31/12
v

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Three red cards in the Old Firm derby, business as usual then. USA captain Carlos Bocanegra was one of them. He's obviously imbibed the local attitude.

Would Liverpool trade the Carling/FA Cup trophy (Dalglish) for a Champions/Europa League spot at a fraction of the money they've spent (Pardew) though?

These days any team would trade anything for a Champions League spot. the Champions League is everything. Only a couple clubs can realistically expect a title (Fergie has won about half of them since Sky invented the game), so the CL spots are what they really care about.

I know Dalglish has tenure, legendary status and is wanted by fans but is he actually the man for the job. Has he surpassed Hodgson...not really. If you put Pardew in his seat would LFC be better off...i wonder.

Sure Dalglish has a trophy in the cabinet but it wasn't particularly convincing (Cardiff could've easily nicked it) and pretty much stumbled on it.

I guess what happens in the summer and next season will make things clearer. I think i'm just really surprised because i was really wary of LFC at the beginning of the season and had them down as one to look out for along with City given the fresh faces but surprised at the current state.

Dalglish has not done better than Hodgson in terms of league position. I would argue that the team is playing a little better than they did under Hodgson. He has won a cup, but that alone counts for little.

It's been a long time since Kenny won a title with Liverpool. The game has changed. He still has all the qualities that he had then, but he also has a much weaker squad to work with. He and Comolli have made a couple bad buys. He can't afford to blow money like that again. He needs to rectify the mistake with Carroll and Henderson by making his next couple signings pay off for us.

It's a mixed bag in the end. We took a risk on a new/old manager and a couple young prospects. The latter didn't work out, the former is still a matter of debate. If we finish 6th/7th and take the FA Cup in addition to the Carling Cup, I'd have to call it a successful campaign, with some reservations. If we fail to win the FA Cup and finish 7th in the league, we're hardly better off than we were last season. The key will be improving on that next season. I'd gladly trade both cups for a 4th place finish. Having Carroll and Henderson (and Adam) not pan out is a significant setback - those players now need to either be replaced or somehow made to perform.

A year or so ago I got roasted by some Liverpool fans for sticking up for Hodgson a little and being skeptical of the automatic faith some placed in Dalglish. Some of those same fans are now lamenting the squad weaknesses and poor performances, and the fact that Roy Hodgson's West Brom have score more goals than Kenny Dalglish's Liverpool this season.

 

[Fizzoid]

Taking risks on young prospects is one thing, but paying David Villa money for them is another!