Football

[The Hallucinating Goose]

14 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

How's your German?

Groundhopping in Greenland

 

Mein Deutsch is perfekt, ich speche seit meiner schulzeit Deutsch, seit ich zwölf jahre alt. Wie ist dein?

[The Hallucinating Goose]

16 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

How's your German?

Groundhopping in Greenland

 

Double post

Edited October 29 by The Hallucinating Goose

[gingerjon]

2 minutes ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

Mein Deutsch is perfekt, ich speche seit meiner schulzeit Deutsch, seit ich zwölf jahre alt. Wie ist dein?

Not good enough to reply without wanting to check everything. But I can follow all of that video.

I did, however, get a cheap taxi in Berlin this summer because I was able to have a conversation in German with the football-mad driver about whether Harry Kane or David Beckham is the greatest ever English footballer.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

2 hours ago, gingerjon said:

Not good enough to reply without wanting to check everything. But I can follow all of that video.

I did, however, get a cheap taxi in Berlin this summer because I was able to have a conversation in German with the football-mad driver about whether Harry Kane or David Beckham is the greatest ever English footballer.

Das ist offensichtlich Harry Kane.

[17 stone giant]

Do the BBC always update the latest scores without waiting for things to be confirmed (VAR checks)?

Their website showed Southampton 1 - 1 Everton (Tarkowski 89) for a good couple of minutes, which considering we had only just scored on 85 minutes to make it 1-0, I was understandably raging at our incompetence at closing the game out.

Now I'm absolutely raging at the muppets at the BBC for updating a score before it's been confirmed. Why would you do that? You know that VAR exists and checks things. Wait until you know for certain that the goal has been given, before you update your website! Idiots.

And breathe.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

1 hour ago, 17 stone giant said:

Do the BBC always update the latest scores without waiting for things to be confirmed (VAR checks)?

Their website showed Southampton 1 - 1 Everton (Tarkowski 89) for a good couple of minutes, which considering we had only just scored on 85 minutes to make it 1-0, I was understandably raging at our incompetence at closing the game out.

Now I'm absolutely raging at the muppets at the BBC for updating a score before it's been confirmed. Why would you do that? You know that VAR exists and checks things. Wait until you know for certain that the goal has been given, before you update your website! Idiots.

And breathe.

I use the app 'flashscore' for keeping up with games. It's updated virtually to the absolute second and offers really detailed stats and other info, again updated right on the spot so to speak.

[RayCee]

Man City's season is starting to look shaky. The injury toll is hurting but confidence seems to be down as well. 

[MattSantos]

Celtic were absolutely outstanding. Rodgers is a very underrated coach/ manager. 

[HawkMan]

Hilarious goal for Club Brugge against Villa. Goalie Martinez on 6 yard line takes goalkick and passes to Tyrone Mings about three feet away,  Mings picks ball up and places it on 6 yard line thinking it's not in play...penalty!

MOTD tonight for C.L. highlights

[The Hallucinating Goose]

3 hours ago, HawkMan said:

Hilarious goal for Club Brugge against Villa. Goalie Martinez on 6 yard line takes goalkick and passes to Tyrone Mings about three feet away,  Mings picks ball up and places it on 6 yard line thinking it's not in play...penalty!

MOTD tonight for C.L. highlights

I've just seen the video of this. Utterly bizarre. Surely in that situation your keeper has just said he's passing to you right before he does? Even if he hasn't and just passes the ball, why are you picking it up anyway? Wouldn't you just tap it back to your keeper? That would be easier. Very strange.

Edited November 6 by The Hallucinating Goose

[ivans82]

Found that absolutely baffling too ....As was the latest Arsenal stitch up.........Arteta by now must be ready to implode .

[gingerjon]

Not often shocked but Coventry sacking Mark Robins ...

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Brighton come from behind to beat Man City 2-1 and hand them their 4th straight defeat in a row! 

It is the first time in Guardiola's managerial career that he has lost 4 successive games and the first time in 18 years that Man City have lost 4 in a row, Stuart Pearce being the manager then.

Edited November 9 by The Hallucinating Goose

[Hopping Mad]

Couple of extracts, about refereeing, in an online Guardian article (12/11) about leading referee David Coote (everybody will know the background). Caught my eye.

Let us also not overplay the offence here. Who among us has not said very bad words about someone at work. Here’s a secret: everyone hates everyone else in football. Everyone, even nice saintly people with honorifics after their name, calls everyone else this kind of thing all the time. And the life of a referee is at the sharp end of this, a business of unalloyed and near-constant abuse, essentially an uncontrolled social experiment on the breaking points of assorted slightly officious human beings.

Refereeing is basically a nightmare now, a job that requires you to be simultaneously a regulation hyper-nerd, super-cool air traffic controller, long distance runner, font of matey common sense and also immune to mass abuse and threats of violence. David Coote, washed up on a sofa, bleeding self-pity, high on the validation of a crowing circle of hostile acolytes. Is this a surprising outcome?

Edited November 13 by Hopping Mad

[gingerjon]

Bonnyrigg Rose deducted six points for having too much of a slope on their pitch

https://www.midlothianview.com/news/bonnyrigg-rose-deducted-six-points-due-to-pitch-slope

[Father Gascoigne]

On 06/11/2024 at 08:48, RayCee said:

Man City's season is starting to look shaky. The injury toll is hurting but confidence seems to be down as well. 

Confidence always goes down when your best players are sidelined. With key players, you feel impenetrable. Once they go out of the team, they're no longer there to make up for your shortcomings. 

Football isn't the kind of team game that some have been gaslit into believing it is. Manchester City didn't win four titles in a row on the back of an amazing squad or because Guardiola is a magician. They won it because they had two outstanding players in the top 5 in the world in two key positions (DM and AM). 

KDB is getting on, sure, but you remove him and Rodri from that team and they become a completely different proposition. They've had a bang average defense during Pep's entire reign. Stones, Ake, Akanji and even Player of the Year Dias are vastly overrated due to the carry job of their key players. 

The one player who has a creative spark--Palmer--they contrived to palm off to a rival. Foden isn't that guy. Savinho, Bobb, Doku are all competent but are more functional than inspiring. 

City are going to have to dip into the market once KDB is no longer reliable as a productive powerhouse to win titles. Liverpool are fortunate they still have Salah, so they should be considered a genuine threat for the title. Arsenal's injury and suspension problems have definitely derailed their title charge, but there's enough time to get back in the mix. City may still win, but you'd imagine KDB is going to have to play a majority of games from now until the end, and his injury remains an ongoing concern. 

Same goes for most teams. Remove Salah/Van Dijk from Liverpool or Saliba/Saka/Odegaard from Arsenal, and the losses would begin to pile up too. 

[Gerrumonside ref]

3 hours ago, Hopping Mad said:

Couple of extracts, about refereeing, in an online Guardian article (12/11) about leading referee David Coote (everybody will know the background). Caught my eye.

Let us also not overplay the offence here. Who among us has not said very bad words about someone at work. Here’s a secret: everyone hates everyone else in football. Everyone, even nice saintly people with honorifics after their name, calls everyone else this kind of thing all the time. And the life of a referee is at the sharp end of this, a business of unalloyed and near-constant abuse, essentially an uncontrolled social experiment on the breaking points of assorted slightly officious human beings.

Refereeing is basically a nightmare now, a job that requires you to be simultaneously a regulation hyper-nerd, super-cool air traffic controller, long distance runner, font of matey common sense and also immune to mass abuse and threats of violence. David Coote, washed up on a sofa, bleeding self-pity, high on the validation of a crowing circle of hostile acolytes. Is this a surprising outcome?

He can’t go on officiating matches that have an impact on Liverpool FC.

His feelings have been made quite clear.

I have no sympathy for him and he has brought the entire matter upon himself.

Edited November 13 by Gerrumonside ref

[gingerjon]

1 hour ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

He can’t go on officiating matches that have an impact on Liverpool FC.

His feelings have been made quite clear.

I have no sympathy for him and he has brought the entire matter upon himself.

To be fair, though, Klopp did behave like a rude word to him.

Most managers and players do. They need to stop.

[Gerrumonside ref]

2 hours ago, gingerjon said:

To be fair, though, Klopp did behave like a rude word to him.

Most managers and players do. They need to stop.

If he can’t do the job as it stands then he can always find another one.

He’s finished anyway as a top league referee.

Edited November 13 by Gerrumonside ref

[gingerjon]

23 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

If he can’t do the job as it stands then he can always find another one.

He’s finished anyway as a top league referee.

I'm not sure there's any evidence - outside the paranoid fixations of the more barking end of football fandom - to suggest he was any worse than anyone else doing the job.

But he is finished, and rightly so.

[Gerrumonside ref]

3 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

I'm not sure there's any evidence - outside the paranoid fixations of the more barking end of football fandom - to suggest he was any worse than anyone else doing the job.

But he is finished, and rightly so.

I’ve seen a valiant defence mounted of him in some areas, but you simply cannot do what he has done and go forward.

[RayCee]

20 hours ago, Father Gascoigne said:

Confidence always goes down when your best players are sidelined. With key players, you feel impenetrable. Once they go out of the team, they're no longer there to make up for your shortcomings. 

Football isn't the kind of team game that some have been gaslit into believing it is. Manchester City didn't win four titles in a row on the back of an amazing squad or because Guardiola is a magician. They won it because they had two outstanding players in the top 5 in the world in two key positions (DM and AM). 

KDB is getting on, sure, but you remove him and Rodri from that team and they become a completely different proposition. They've had a bang average defense during Pep's entire reign. Stones, Ake, Akanji and even Player of the Year Dias are vastly overrated due to the carry job of their key players. 

The one player who has a creative spark--Palmer--they contrived to palm off to a rival. Foden isn't that guy. Savinho, Bobb, Doku are all competent but are more functional than inspiring. 

City are going to have to dip into the market once KDB is no longer reliable as a productive powerhouse to win titles. Liverpool are fortunate they still have Salah, so they should be considered a genuine threat for the title. Arsenal's injury and suspension problems have definitely derailed their title charge, but there's enough time to get back in the mix. City may still win, but you'd imagine KDB is going to have to play a majority of games from now until the end, and his injury remains an ongoing concern. 

Same goes for most teams. Remove Salah/Van Dijk from Liverpool or Saliba/Saka/Odegaard from Arsenal, and the losses would begin to pile up too. 

I would agree with your summary except for the part about Pep they palmed off. Pep didn't want him to go but wasn't using him much either. Cole wanted more game time and decided to move on. 

Although there is a long way to go, Liverpool are looking strong.  

[Father Gascoigne]

23 hours ago, RayCee said:

I would agree with your summary except for the part about Pep they palmed off. Pep didn't want him to go but wasn't using him much either. Cole wanted more game time and decided to move on. 

Although there is a long way to go, Liverpool are looking strong.  

Palmer's own words: 

Quote

"Initially, I didn’t want to leave Man City. I said I would go on loan & play for a year so I was ready for 1st team football more because I didn’t play a lot of minutes [last season]. But then, Guardiola said 'you’re either staying or you’re getting sold'. And, so yeah, I got sold."

Maybe there's an element of 'he said, she said', but Pep/the club have to take responsibility if what Palmer says is true. So while you are correct in what you say, I see grounds for putting the blame at Pep's feet.  

City wanted dribblers to combat low blocks, so they got Doku and now Savinho, and figured with KDB and Foden they'd be fine. Bobb was also meant to play a big role before his injury.

When you look at those players you have to wonder why Pep or anyone else at the club failed to see what Palmer could bring to the table. As insiders, they should know by now that Foden is a second striker or inside forward at best. He's no KDB replacement. The lack of foresight in preparing for KDB's decline/departure is glaring. 

Hindsight it may be, but to think they had what could be a world class playmaker at such a young age on their books only to flog him to a rival is one of the biggest slipups in Abu Dhabi's 15-year ownership. A few defenders aside, they've been borderline flawless in the market. 

I like Palmer so much that I consider it an even worse decision than Chelsea flogging KDB. It's a decision that could cost them titles, and I don't think I'm being hyperbolic. I look around the league and beyond and don't see a player under 25 with a higher ceiling. 

 

Edited November 15 by Father Gascoigne

[RayCee]

9 hours ago, Father Gascoigne said:

Palmer's own words: 

Maybe there's an element of 'he said, she said', but Pep/the club have to take responsibility if what Palmer says is true. So while you are correct in what you say, I see grounds for putting the blame at Pep's feet.  

City wanted dribblers to combat low blocks, so they got Doku and now Savinho, and figured with KDB and Foden they'd be fine. Bobb was also meant to play a big role before his injury.

When you look at those players you have to wonder why Pep or anyone else at the club failed to see what Palmer could bring to the table. As insiders, they should know by now that Foden is a second striker or inside forward at best. He's no KDB replacement. The lack of foresight in preparing for KDB's decline/departure is glaring. 

Hindsight it may be, but to think they had what could be a world class playmaker at such a young age on their books only to flog him to a rival is one of the biggest slipups in Abu Dhabi's 15-year ownership. A few defenders aside, they've been borderline flawless in the market. 

I like Palmer so much that I consider it an even worse decision than Chelsea flogging KDB. It's a decision that could cost them titles, and I don't think I'm being hyperbolic. I look around the league and beyond and don't see a player under 25 with a higher ceiling. 

 

The problem with clubs that can afford quality in depth is that some quality players will only be used when they are needed to cover injuries etc. but that could mean little game time. Someone like Cole could become frustrated and it seems that's what happened. Pep's reaction it seems could have been more flexible if it meant keeping a quality young player.

[MattSantos]

12 hours ago, Father Gascoigne said:

 

I like Palmer so much that I consider it an even worse decision than Chelsea flogging KDB. It's a decision that could cost them titles, and I don't think I'm being hyperbolic. I look around the league and beyond and don't see a player under 25 with a higher ceiling. 

 

Really? We're quite arrogant in the UK aren't we.

Not limited to...

Players under 20: Yamal, Endrick, Guler, Simons, Gavi, Yoro, Cubarsi, Mainoo. 

Players under 25: Pedri, Musiala, Wirtz, Elliot, Sesko,