All things Football (soccer) related

[cohimbra]

gnam gnam style at Roma-Lazio

http://youtu.be/x263u00VfS8

[warspite1]

Devoid of any silverware for too damn long, I bought the 4-disc dvd of Spurs' League Cup Final Wins.

I do not remember the first one - vs Aston Villa (then a 3rd Division side) in 1971. We won 2-0, but Villa were the better side [X(]

Second win two years later I do just about remember. My Aunt and Uncle had colour T.V so we went round to their house on the Sunday to watch the highlights on ITV. I remember dad being unhappy because we wore white shorts for the final! Not a great game, but we won, so who cares [;)]

Third win (after our first domestic cup final defeat in 1982 vs Liverpool) was in 1999 vs Leicester City. We were the better team and deserved to win - but, after going down to 10-men, had to wait until the 92 minute to get the only goal of the game.

Another defeat followed - this time to Blackburn Rovers in 2002 - before our 4th win in the competition in 2008 vs Chelsea. I was there at Wembley that day [:)] and we played well, deservedly winning 2-1 after going a goal down.

A 3rd defeat came in 2009 vs Manchester United on penalties [:(]

A good way to spend a Saturday [:)]

[warspite1]

Mmmm dare we hope?? Gareth Bale is making noises about liking it at Spurs and working with AVB....

[Dixie]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Mmmm dare we hope?? Gareth Bale is making noises about liking it at Spurs and working with AVB....

I really can't see him moving abroad. It might just be a misconception on my part, but for some reason I think he is, for want of a better phrase, a Mummy's boy. I don't know why, but there you go.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Dixie

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Mmmm dare we hope?? Gareth Bale is making noises about liking it at Spurs and working with AVB....

I really can't see him moving abroad. It might just be a misconception on my part, but for some reason I think he is, for want of a better phrase, a Mummy's boy. I don't know why, but there you go.

warspite1

Frankly Sir Gareth of Bale can be what he likes if he stays [:)]

[warspite1]

How's that for a rumour? [X(] AVB is wanted by Paris St Germain!!!

Given that Spurs gave him the opportunity to salvage his reputation, it would seem somewhat ungrateful to bugger off after one season.....

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

How's that for a rumour? [X(] AVB is wanted by Paris St Germain!!!

Given that Spurs gave him the opportunity to salvage his reputation, it would seem somewhat ungrateful to bugger off after one season.....

warspite1

So AVB is staying put... What about you Mr Bale?

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: warspite1

How's that for a rumour? [X(] AVB is wanted by Paris St Germain!!!

Given that Spurs gave him the opportunity to salvage his reputation, it would seem somewhat ungrateful to bugger off after one season.....

warspite1

So AVB is staying put... What about you Mr Bale?

warspite1

...and is Paulinho coming to WHL?

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: warspite1

How's that for a rumour? [X(] AVB is wanted by Paris St Germain!!!

Given that Spurs gave him the opportunity to salvage his reputation, it would seem somewhat ungrateful to bugger off after one season.....

warspite1

So AVB is staying put... What about you Mr Bale?

warspite1

...and is Paulinho coming to WHL?

warspite1

YES! - He's signed officially today! Let's hope he's any good...

[warspite1]

So Benteke has decided to stay at Villa and its all gone very quiet re transfer activity (except continued rumours that Gareth Bale will be leaving for Man Utd)....

AVB - we still need (two) class striker(s), a cover for Aaron Lennon (although maybe Andros Townsend is worth a chance) and a left back.

[warspite1]

What on earth has happened to Scottish football [:(]

How very depressing....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23352984

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

So Benteke has decided to stay at Villa and its all gone very quiet re transfer activity (except continued rumours that Gareth Bale will be leaving for Man Utd)....

AVB - we still need (two) class striker(s), a cover for Aaron Lennon (although maybe Andros Townsend is worth a chance) and a left back.

warspite1

..and now those rumours are firming up - Bale seems to be heading for Real [:(] That's our season over already if true.... I hate football...stupid game....[&:]

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

What on earth has happened to Scottish football [:(]

How very depressing....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23352984

I didn't find that depressing at all. [;)]

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Orm

ORIGINAL: warspite1

What on earth has happened to Scottish football [:(]

How very depressing....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23352984

I didn't find that depressing at all. [;)]

warspite1

[:)]

[Orm]

Bale seems to be on his way to Real Madrid.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23526530

[Dixie]

ORIGINAL: Orm

Bale seems to be on his way to Real Madrid.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23526530

I really do detest the way that Real act with regards to transfers, with their opinion that everyone should just bend over and let them take whoever they want. I know that most teams do this, but Real (and Barcelona) appear to be on a whole other level.

I suppose at least if he goes Levy will have had Real's pants down over the fee. Especially for a player who's not going to improve Real that much IMO.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Dixie

ORIGINAL: Orm

Bale seems to be on his way to Real Madrid.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23526530

I really do detest the way that Real act with regards to transfers, with their opinion that everyone should just bend over and let them take whoever they want. I know that most teams do this, but Real (and Barcelona) appear to be on a whole other level.

I suppose at least if he goes Levy will have had Real's pants down over the fee. Especially for a player who's not going to improve Real that much IMO.

warspite1

If a Madrid mouth piece newspaper and the utterances of Zidane throughout the whole process do not constitute tapping up then I do not know what does...[:@]

But this is Real Madrid we are talking about...so everything is just fine [8|]

[Dixie]

It's a technicality if I understand things correctly. The rules forbid directly communicating with a player, either directly, through an agent or through the media. But Real (and their legion of minions) never actually say something that could be labelled as a direct communication, at least nothing that would stand up in a court.

"Gareth Bale should move to Madrid" is the usual sort of line which is either printed or said by the manager/president/player/ex-player, something they can deny is aimed at the player. The whole world knows that it is aimed at Gareth Bale (or the current target), but I'm sure some high paid lawyer would be able to get them off on a technicality.

"Gareth Bale, you should move to Madrid" would break the rules. Alas they aren't stupid enough to do that. Even if they did there would be no sanctions anyway, Madrid and Barcelona are pretty much the golden boys of European football and hence FIFA/UEFA won't do anything to stop them.


I also don't understand the fascination with Real and Barcelona. They are viewed as the bestest teams ever (tm) because they tell us they are (especially Madrid). In terms of success they aren't really all that successful in the wider scheme of things. The Spanish league is a joke, most teams are skint and it's not any real competition. In Europe they're admittedly two of the top teams, but not massively better than several other teams. Sure, they have warm weather and bucketloads of cash (probably the real* reason) but for professional development it's surely better to play in a more competitive league (England, Italy, Germany)? Obviously I'm not a professional footballer so my opinions don't really count.

Of course, if Barca or Real wanted to pay £105,000,000 for Lincoln's star player then I wouldn't moan to much. We'd be lucky to get £1.05 though [:(]

*No pun intended.


P.S. The English Premier League sponsored by some corporation is massively over hyped as well. The Blue Square Premier is the real premier league [;)]

[Dixie]

Is there any interest on the forums in a fantasy football league? There are probably others out there, but this one is free http://fantasy.premierleague.com/ Not sure if there's any appeal outside the UK for the Premier League though?

I'm open to other options, as long as they're free [:)]

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Dixie

Is there any interest on the forums in a fantasy football league? There are probably others out there, but this one is free http://fantasy.premierleague.com/ Not sure if there's any appeal outside the UK for the Premier League though?

I'm open to other options, as long as they're free [:)]

warspite1

I'm up for it [:)]