LEN Teh Footy God's Footballodium

[scotchedpommes]

As an aside, Chelsea's away strip this season is the worst I've seen since the mid-nineties. Fluorescent yellow? It looks as if they're about to go and patrol a town centre at kicking-out time, not play football.

I'd thought it must be their third kit, though right you are. They're intent on
blinding us into submission, then. For those who haven't seen:

Captions welcome.

[edyzmedieval]

I know about the Falkirk loss. We lost Babel and Tom De Mul, and now it really hurts. Instead we brought **** players like Dennis Rommedahl and Ismael Urzaiz (Urzaiz what the heck?!!! He's 36 years old!!! ), and signed Jurgen Collins and Laurent Delorge. The only good guy is Kennedy Bakircioglu.

Sad, this will be a sad season for Ajax.


Newcastle report - http://eurosport.yahoo.com/29072007/...le-united.html

[scotchedpommes]

Iraq: Champions of Asia

Wasn't able to watch any of the tournament, but I'm delighted for them all the
same. When Greece won Euro 2004 I said here I'd have some ouzo to celebrate,
but I don't have anything appropriate now.

Group stage: Iraq 3-1 Australia
[Australian Video]
[Alternative video]

Quarter-final: Iraq 2-0 Vietnam
[Video]

Semi-final: Iraq beat South Korea on penalties
[Iraqi video]

[InsaneApache]

You could always try some hashish.....[thought better about the next sentence]

[scotchedpommes]

Hm. I did consider posting a thread in the backroom about it, but I'm too
addicted to peace and love, y'know, nowt else.

[naut]

Edit:

[edyzmedieval]

Congrats to Irak. At least something to cheer on for those poor souls.

[scotchedpommes]

Well, well, the expulsions from the Uefa Cup have started already. And surprise,
surprise, it's Partizan Belgrade who go first. While winning the away leg of their
tie against Zrinjski Mostar 6-1 in Bosnia their fans acted like prats, forcing the
game to be abandoned.

I was looking forward to seeing them go down to another one of our clubs in the
group stage. Where's the Duke when you need him?

[Dutch_guy]

After winning the home leg of their
tie against Zrinjski Mostar 6-1, they went to Bosnia and their fans acted like
prats, forcing the game to be abandoned.

Ugh, what a horrible way to go !

[Scurvy]

shame about fans costing the club place, the players won't be happy...

congrats too Iraq also

[InsaneApache]

IF EVER you needed proof that Americans know nothing about “soccer”, get a load of this.


A hapless talent scout for DAVID BECKHAM’s new club LA Galaxy tapped up VINNIE JONES after a charity footie tournament in LA — not realising he was a former top-class player.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,4-2007350217,00.html

I know it's the Sun...but aw man.

[edyzmedieval]

That is so friggin hilarious!!!

[scotchedpommes]

Given that he already plays for the Hollywood United team in what,
some extremely minor tier of US football, it's even more baffling. I'm guessing
those are the "Tinseltown pals" it refers to, but as far as I mind the team's made
up of a few former footballers, like Franck Leboeuf, for one.


Something I just saw, thought you lot might be interested. We're shortly going
to be experiencing the benefits to our game of appointing BBC Scotland's poor
equivalent of Alan Hansen [irritating pundit, and master of the defensive whine,
for those who don't know] as the chief of our football association. It was an
appointment that came out of the blue, as usually our association tends to be
run by druids who have played for no team higher than Airdrie United, no doubt
sacrificing small neds in boardrooms around the country in vain attempts to
earn Raith Rovers promotion for their mysterious overlord, Darth Brown. Anyway,
referees are going to be able to use video evidence to punish divers.

[naut]

Edit:

[scotchedpommes]

Champions League Draw

FH Hafnarfjördur (ISL) / FC BATE Borisov (BLR) v Zagłębie Lubin (POL) / FC Steaua Bucuresti (ROU)
Tampere United (FIN) / PFC Levski Sofia (BUL) v FC Astana (KAZ) / Rosenborg BK (NOR)
FC Spartak Moskva (RUS) v Celtic FC (SCO)
Werder Bremen (GER) v NK Domžale (SVN) / NK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
FK Ventspils (LVA) / FC Salzburg (AUT) v FC Pyunik (ARM) / FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
AFC Ajax (NED) v MŠK Žilina (SVK) / SK Slavia Praha (CZE)
Valencia CF (ESP) v Debreceni VSC (HUN) / IF Elfsborg (SWE)
KRC Genk (BEL) / FK Sarajevo (BIH) v FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)
Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) v RSC Anderlecht (BEL)
Rangers FC (SCO) / FK Zeta (MNE) v FK Crvena Zvezda (SRB) / FC Levadia Tallinn (EST)
Toulouse FC (FRA) v Liverpool FC (ENG)
SL Benfica (POR) v FC København (DEN) / Beitar Jerusalem FC (ISR)
S.S. Lazio (ITA) v FC Dinamo 1948 Bucuresti (ROU)
AC Sparta Praha (CZE) v Arsenal FC (ENG)
FC Zürich (SUI) v FC Sheriff (MDA) / Beşiktaş JK (TUR)
Sevilla FC (ESP) v AEK Athens FC (GRE)

First legs on the 14th and 15th.

[Banquo's Ghost]

Toulouse FC (FRA) v Liverpool FC (ENG)

That's going to be a real tough one for us. Good job we're away for the first leg.

[naut]

Edit:

[edyzmedieval]

I laughed at the draw. If Steaua beats Zaglebie Lubin, they're with 1 foot in the CL. Come on, has anyone heard of BATE Borisov?

And about Ajax, well, it's going to pose some problems. If we are concentrated enough, then we will get into CL without a problem.

[scotchedpommes]

Don't worry edyz, your teams look like they're safe, barring a Copenhagen-style
upset. Arsenal have played Sparta enough times, though as ever I think away
goals are going to be critical. I really haven't seen enough of Toulouse to know
what they're capable of, though the Liverpool club secretary seemed to have
latched onto the fact that they're more of a rugby town, of all things. I think
they will be watching some DVDs sharpish.


As for the other teams I have an interest in, I think it's fair to say Celtic are
finished. Spartak's stadium is going to be used for the final, and I think they're
going to have enough motivation to take them through. Of course, they'll need
to finish it before going to Parkhead. And I will be watching the Rangers games.
They played Partizan in the Uefa Cup last season, so I'm quite pleased they're
getting the other side this time. I'm sure Red Star will have enough to see them
off, especially if they put in as shockingly poor a performance as they did
against Zeta on Tuesday.

[scotchedpommes]

So the season starts, with the predictable disappointment. I wonder, should I
just stop following football up here? The New Firm derby today, and Dundee
United managed to score a last-minute winner, despite being down to 10 men
for over 45 minutes. They deserved it too, which makes it all the more
disheartening. Rangers smashed their bogey team Inverness 3-0, and the only
reason Aberdeen aren't rooted to the bottom of the table is because Gretna
decided to start their journey straight back down a division, taking a 4-0 tanking
from Falkirk.

[InsaneApache]

What's going on at Gretna? Their manager seems to be persona non gratia.

Well the real footy starts next Saturday, after the traditional curtain raiser The Charity Shield. I refuse to call it the Community Shield, it's like calling the FA Cup a tankard.

Salford Red Sox v Chelski.

I think ol' big red shiny nose might be getting another (token) trophy, that's my prediction anyroad.

[scotchedpommes]

What's going on at Gretna? Their manager seems to be persona non gratia.

The former manager. I don't know though, it's all been a bit shady. When they
were promoted to the SPL he was in a documentary here saying that he fully
expected and wanted to be their manager this season. He won them two
straight promotions, but buckled under the stress of trying to get them up to
the SPL about two thirds of the way through last season. So he took what was
said to be an agreed temporary break, during which time he was replaced
permanently by his assistant. Now it seems he's not permitted to watch them.
Maybe just as well though, because they're going to go down like the
Hindenburg. They play like a pub team, and St. Johnstone were extremely
unlucky not to get promoted, as Gretna got a flukey goal with the last kick of
the last game.

[Maybe if he gets anywhere near Davie Irons, he'll chib him, as they say.]

[InsaneApache]

Is it like another Hibs with the megalomaniac chairman?

Two promotions (3 if you count his term last season) and they treat him like this?

Another sign that money has buggered up the game. Pillocks.

[scotchedpommes]

Is it like another Hibs with the megalomaniac chairman?

Two promotions (3 if you count his term last season) and they treat him like this?

Another sign that money has buggered up the game. Pillocks.

Not Hibs, no. The Lithuanian invasion hit the other half of Edinburgh, at Hearts.
[FBK Kaunas B] However the Gretna chairman isn't a Russian Lithuanian who
makes all dissenters disappear or go to Southampton, he's actually a fairly
harmless looking Mackem. Everything seemed to be rosy there, and he's not
exactly llving off the club's debt, or pumping in the cash and second-rate
players like Mad Vlad.


As an aside, the Edinburgh derby is on Monday. I wouldn't assume you would
watch this football, but it's usually a proper game, if you know what I mean.
[Along with the bust-ups, you can now genuinely say that the derby is never
complete until the Hibs goalkeeper makes a game-losing mistake. And all while
our national goalkeeper warms the Kaunas bench.]

[naut]

Edit:

[InsaneApache]

A harmless looking Mackem! Is there such a beast?

Sorry you're right it is Hearts, those guys who play in deep purple.

[scotchedpommes]

Lithuania? Aren't their players rubbish?

Mostly, aye, which is why I'd call them second-rate. It's a country far more
focused on basketball, if memory serves. The Lithuanian national side now tends
to have 5 or 6 Hearts players in the starting line-up, and they did manage to
draw away to Italy in qualifying, so perhaps it will benefit them in the long run.
Hopefully not against us next month.

As for the Lithuanian effect at Hearts, some of them have flashes of quality;
Žaliūkas in defence, Mikoliūnas and Česnauskis in the middle, and Velička who
seems to score most of their goals these days. Other than that group, I don't
see them adding anything to the league, and surely none of them show enough
quality to be sold off to bigger teams, which is all I can think the purpose of
loaning so many Kaunas players is. Or he just wants a Lithuanian team playing in
a foreign league.

Hearts did have some of the best players in the league, Scots or otherwise.
They were exiled in favour of the Kaunas players and some from Russia, who
usually come in on loan by the dozen whenever the window opens. Craig Gordon
only narrowly avoided being sold to Spartak Moscow. Or maybe CSKA, I forget
now. He needs to be sold to a Premiership side soon.

Hearts rejected £8 million from Sunderland, would you believe? They
want 10, which I'm not sure anyone else in England is going to offer.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Toulouse FC (FRA) v Liverpool FC (ENG)

That's going to be a real tough one for us. Good job we're away for the first leg.

There's no us for me between these two teams, but I hope it will be a closely contested clash.

I do fully expect Liverpool to prevail though. Toulouse is strong, but this is also just their first time ever in the Champions League, and they're up against one of the strongest and most experienced teams in Europe...
On a sidenote, I am not yet over how they edged themselves into a Champions League spot in the last day of the Ligue 1, amidst much controversy.

[Andres]

Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) v RSC Anderlecht (BEL)

Won't be an easy one. Especially not after seeing Anderlechts' last performance against KV Mechelen, a team that just promoted to our Premier League (actually, it's called the Jupiler league, yup that's beer. What can I say, it's Belgium), Anderlecht barely managed to win against. They'll have to do a lot better against Fenerbahçe.

[scotchedpommes]

Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) v RSC Anderlecht (BEL)

Won't be an easy one. Especially not after seeing Anderlechts' last performance against KV Mechelen, a team that just promoted to our Premier League (actually, it's called the Jupiler league, yup that's beer. What can I say, it's Belgium), Anderlecht barely managed to win against. They'll have to do a lot better against Fenerbahçe.

Our resident Turkster is a Fenerbahçe man, you know. He doesn't seem to be
around here much now, but I think the general feeling was that you wouldn't
be too much of a problem.