Maximus Decimus
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Posts posted by Maximus Decimus
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Tom Daley and his partner got Olympic silver.
I enjoy watching the diving, but I always find anything with judges a bit frustrating (see boxing).
For instance, did anyone see the first medal we got in the diving? It was a bronze that we got after Australia bombed their last dive. However, if you looked at the scoring, one judge gave them an 8.0 for execution and another 4.0. How could there be such a wide variance?
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57 minutes ago, graveyard johnny said:
just do the track and field, gymnastics and the swimming - sack the rest of the hobbies for the privileged- managed to get to 40 without knowing what a velodrome was - never seen one round here
There's one in Manchester.
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6 hours ago, gingerjon said:
Football has been in since 1896.
Oh yes, I'm aware of that, I think I was getting that rather than take away events that shouldn't be there (to which I think football is one) they seem to add more and more events.
I've always preferred sports where the Olympics is the pinnacle of that event. I'm not sure what Golf, Tennis, Football etc actually adds to it. For so many sports, the Olympic medal is what they've always dreamt of, for these sports it's like a nice little add on.
Similarly, modified versions of sports like Rugby 7s and 3x3 basketball don't seem quite right.
I don't lose any sleep over it, but the sheer amount of sports can make it hard to keep up at times.
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3 hours ago, HawkMan said:
Never sure really why football is in the Olympics, sportsmanship is never an important aspect of the game. Argentina v Morocco starts tournament off to a new low.
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Morocco beat Argentina 2-1 after dramatic men's football match which takes four hours to reach conclusion
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Fans appear to throw missiles at players after Argentina's leveller in 16th minute of injury time makes it 2-2
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Players then taken from field before equaliser ruled out by VAR almost two hours later as play resumes for final three minutes in empty stadium
I love the Olympics, but it seems to have gone down the route of the more sports the better. It seems to be an absolute behemoth now with the sheer number of sports included.
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38 minutes ago, 17 stone giant said:
But you can't have it both ways. It's fine if you want to say that it's same old same old, but you can't then put Southgate on a pedestal and claim he is so much better than what we've had before. He's been in the job for eight years, and yet you're arguing (by agreeing with Gary Neville) that it's the same old England that we've seen since in every big England game since 1996. It shouldn't BE the same old England if Southgate is so damned good.
I don't see a contradiction here. I could be arguing that Southgate is the best manager of all time (I'm not) but that he could only get England so far. Pep Guardiola could manage Everton but they wouldn't win the PL without investment levels that they don't have.
I think you're misunderstanding what I'm saying here. I think Southgate only did a good job overall (moreso in 2021 and 22), but that his record is historically incredible for an England manager. A not insignificant part of that was luck. Take this tournament:
If Denmark nick a goal against Serbia, we get Germany in the 2nd round - likely exit
If Slovakia drag out injury time like Spain did we go home in disgrace
We only beat Switzerland on pens, and even if we were good still is still part lottery
If we don't get a terrible penalty against the Dutch who knows what happens
You'd be insane to claim that Southgate's England was in the final based purely on merit. But there you have it, he did and that's what other managers will be compared to.
They might not get the luck.
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29 minutes ago, 17 stone giant said:
Ooh, a chance for me to do the internet pedant thing.
Who is Linekar? I don't know who that is and I can't work it out even though only one letter of his name is incorrect.
Did you mean Shearer?
I genuinely didn't know I'd spelt that wrong! It looks right...
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37 minutes ago, 17 stone giant said:
That's a bold statement considering the talent that England now have available. That's 3 World Cups and 2 Euros that you're forecasting will be so bad that people will be begging for Southgate to return.
I absolutely wouldn't put that bet on.
I think it's very naive to think that this level of success will continue.
We could have a much better manager and not do this well. We've been very fortunate at times (especially this time) and can't rely on that again. The reality is that there are always a not insignificant group of countries that could win a tournament with a bit of luck. We are but one.
Trust me, as soon as we have an earlier than anticipated exit (which will certainly happen), people will be unfavourably comparing it to the Southgate era.
It's very much a poisoned chalice, because all the new manager can do is win a tournament to be judged a success.
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4 hours ago, JohnM said:
Thank you , Gareth, for all you have done for the England team. The amount of abuse and ill-founded criticism you have been subject to has gone beyond what is acceptable. In any other field it would have been subject to legal action.You have every right to tell the naysayers like Lineker to f¥¥¥ off.
I'm reminded of a few lines from Mike Harding's poem "Bring on the Rosy Cheeked Girls"
The sly-eyed, twisty-mouthed grabbers and fumblers,
The shifty-faced, two-tongued, leadswinging lizards,
The snotty-nosed, mardy-arsed bullies
And false friends . . .
And stick them up to their necks
In the foulest stink-pot of an old bog
You can find . . . head down . ..
And leave them there.
The whole Linekar situation was a classic example of media stirring.
The panel were reflecting on the game (I think Denmark) and saying it wasn't good which was everyone else was saying. Linekar then said something like 'yeh, it was just a bit s**t really wasn't it.'
The media then confronted Kane saying 'Linekar said you're s**t, what do you think about that?'
Anyone listening to the podcast, knew they weren't overly critical. They were always looking for the positives, and Southgate was playing the team in a way that literally nobody agreed with.
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I'll always defend what Southgate achieved, and I feel sad that he's gone even though it was the best choice. When the dust settles, and the hurt is forgotten we'll look back on this time as a golden age of English football. If such a bet exists, I'd put one on the fact that people will be begging for his return come 10 years time.
His replacement is tough. There were rumours around that things had been more difficult behind the scenes this time. We need someone who is going to be brave enough to be able to drop big names in favour of the team and not get slaughtered in the press for doing so. This points to a bigger more established name, but whether we'll get one is another matter. It might be a case of beggars can't be choosers.
Gary Neville made the point that the final was like pretty much every big game England have played in since about 1996. Sometimes, you have to accept that there might be bigger issues than tactics. Take the Man Utd job, they've gone through so many big established names that you can't blame the manager too much for their ills.
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3 hours ago, Gerrumonside ref said:
In 2018 my expectations were wildly exceeded given the squad available and Southgate himself.
The Italy Euros final was an opportunity missed but not a failure.
I agree with you about the criticism and think that Southgate’s legacy is that he’s raised the bar significantly for what is expected from England at tournaments even if he didn’t do it in great style.
I've been saying for a long time that he's done some things behind the scenes that cannot be underestimated. Take the penalties thing for instance, we've gone a long way to removing that demon.
I think when the dust fully settles, the Italy one in 2021 will be seen as the truly missed opportunity. We went a goal up and it just threw us, and even then just lost on pens.
Last night was a case of coming up against a team better than us. We had a chance, but it would have been fortunate.
There have been other changes from the last 10 years or so that are starting to bear fruition. It is why for instance we have so many good players to choose from all of a sudden.
We're likely going to be in the discussion for some time, it just feels like you need a mixture of things including the stars to align to even make a final. Like I said, I think we were best in 2022 but came across France in a game that could've gone either way.
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12 hours ago, Gerrumonside ref said:
Graham Potter after his failure at Chelsea?!
Shows what a lack of options we have to take things forward.
Not sure reaching two finals, a semi final and a quarter final can be written off as luck either whatever his failings.
I don't know much about Potter tbh, but he's the favourite and did have some success as a PL manager before Chelsea.
I'm a fan of Southgate, and defended him on here before the tournament. His record is unprecedented in our lifetimes and IMO people were all too quick to forget what it was like in 2016. The idea that all we needed was a good manager and we'd be world beaters just didn't stand up to any scrutiny.
I was also quite annoyed to read today that he'll likely step down because he's 'failed at 4 tournaments.' It is a very narrow yard stick to class two second places as failure in the England context. In some ways, I think 1966 did us no favours because it created the illusion that we're a team that should be in the conversation when usually we're not.
However, you cannot deny that he's been very lucky in this tournament and in 2018. In 2021 we grew into the tournament and in 2022 we were probably the best we were under Southgate. This tournament was largely poor with flashes of something good.
One of the things that feels so bad today, is the reality that we might be much better and not get the luck we had this time. The chances of making a final are so slim and it just feels like we might have missed an opportunity we won't necessarily get again.
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49 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:
I think Southgate’s coaching team have probably reached the end of the road this time, but there is no natural English successor waiting in the wings to take over.
Statistically if not stylistically, he will go down as the second greatest England manager so far and his achievement is even amplified by the absolute mess he inherited.
I believe the squad was right this time, but the first XI were fitful and disappointing on the whole despite reaching the final.
Graham Potter seems the obvious choice.
Southgate's legacy will likely be one of success from a historical England perspective , but the question will always be was he just very lucky? After this tournament, it's hard to argue against that proposition.
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2 minutes ago, Damien said:
I don't think there is a scapegoat as such. Sure I think we could have done stuff better but as a team Spain were technically far superior.
I don't think it's scapegoating to be question why Kane was so bad.
It wasn't just his lack of pace, but his touch was really bad too. There have been questions that he hasn't been fit and maybe they're true cos the reality is he has been totally ineffective this tournament.
We were always likely to be second best against Spain in most areas, but it didn't help having a striker who was for whatever reason a passenger.
Until we have someone willing to pick the best team and but the best players, we'll always have this issue.
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I'll say it again, STOP THE CLOCK
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1 minute ago, corvusxiii said:
Don't watch much football and yes the Ref can influence the result of course but it doesn't seem anything like RL. Have I missed something?
The last 4 minutes was a disgrace. Two ordinary/arguable fouls that were dragged out and the ref blew the whistle dead on 4 mins.
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6 minutes ago, 17 stone giant said:
Congrats to Spain. Worthy winners on the night and the best performing team throughout the entire tournament. A tremendous run to beat Italy, hosts Germany, France and England all in 90 minutes.
From an England perspective, I've enjoyed this tournament. We've had plenty of dire moments, some narrow escapes, and a fair bit of luck, but it's just great to be contesting another final. The Watkins winner against Netherlands will stay with me for years.
I think it's time now for Southgate to go. I think he's been good for England, but he's had four tournaments and I think it's time to see if someone else can do even better. Maybe they won't and we'll look back on the Southgate years as a golden period, but it's only right that someone else gets a chance.
He's a great guy and I'm saddened that we've just fallen short again, but that's life.
I think undoubtedly we'll look back at it as a golden period.
There is so much luck involved in football, that we might be a lot better and not make a final.
His record of semi-final, final, quarter-final, final will be very very hard to match regardless of how lucky he's been.
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It's hard to feel too down, we were the second best team and it would've been a lucky win.
It was like losing to Brazil in 2002, I didn't feel so bad because we'd been outclassed. It feels way worse losing on pens or when you do well and don't deserve to lose.
Southgate should go here yes. I don't think he was the problem here, but let's face it we were lucky to get here. He's a great guy and done a great job in ways people don't understand, but these players need a better system.
I'm gutted and again wondering if it'll ever happen in my lifetime. Glass half-full people will say we're getting closer, people like me think we likely won't get this close again for a long time.
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Have to say we'd take that.
Not been a classic, and we've been second best but defo not out of it.
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Already been a more positive experience. Hearing the reports of scumbag, drunken fans really did take away from it in 2021.
I think we had a better chance of beating Italy last time but you just never know.
My head says 2-0 Spain, my heart says England on pens.
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This is just magic.
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Just looking on some Dutch news websites and found something that would truly make the English proud:
"Just as the footballers were defeated by the English on the pitch, the Dutch supporters in the stadium also had to acknowledge their superiority to the British. "Apparently, the English can handle a day of drinking in the city better than the Dutch," concludes the Volkskrant ."
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In other news, rumours are that they want Southgate to stay on until the next WC.
I think regardless, that this shouldn't happen. If we win, he'll never recreate it and even if we lose he has to acknowledge that this would almost certainly be a high point. Just imagine if Bellingham doesn't score the overhead kick, his reputation is near ruined. Why risk that again?
It's also clear that we need something new tactically, to deal with the players we now have. Hopefully, we get a huge monkey off our back on Sunday which would help a new person stepping in.
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10 hours ago, HawkMan said:
Is this a bit too much ?
I think you've got to acknowledge that people are going to be so interested in the final that their event is going to be heavily affected.
I love the darts, but even if I had tickets wouldn't be missing the final.
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It's been such a weird tournament from an England perspective for me, mainly because of the Slovakia game.
For all the plaudits we'll now receive, I can't get it out of my head that we were seconds away from Iceland 2.0. Yes, we've been better since and Southgate has an incredible record now, but we were that close to abject and deserved humiliation.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it'll take away it if we win, it's just led to a weird feeling. We could win the Euros AND the Southgate haters were largely right.
It also makes me wonder. I remember in 2016, Rashford had a great chance in the dying seconds against Iceland. Is there an alternate universe where that goes in and we end up winning it?
Football is such a funny old game.
Olympic Games: Paris 2024
in Any Other Business / Any Other Sports
Posted
Finally a good for Team GB!
I'm a huge horsey jumping over fences fan.