LEN Teh Footy God's Footballodium

[johnhughthom]

Just as I decided that I wouldn't watch European football anymore, Fulham go and do it again.

[Ferret]

Roy Hodgson is a god

[Jolt]

Inter played a hell of a game. I'm sorry but Barcelona were completely outplayed for the two matches by Mourinho.

Great article of Mourinho's take on the Inter-Barça game

[Afonso I of Portugal]

Inter played a hell of a game. I'm sorry but Barcelona were completely outplayed for the two matches by Mourinho.

Great article of Mourinho's take on the Inter-Barça game

Great article! two tactical lessons for sure...it comes to my mind one of those medieval battles on witch the smaller army with the best general wins the day, mostly due to discipline and tactics, towards a more powerful force. Even messi was fully annihilated...

[johnhughthom]

Absolutely hilarious, when Mourinho does it it's "tactical genius" if anybody else does it it's "parking the bus".

[Louis VI the Fat]

Bah.


Barça out of Europe, that insufferable Mourinho is going to win it, Bordeaux has imploded, and the national football team is a disgrace, what with volleyballing, endless bickering about Domenech / his successor, and the entire team sleeping with an underage escort girl. Stay home and send the Irish their ticket.


When's the next Rugby World Cup?



/rant

[edyzmedieval]

What's wrong with underage escort girls?
I mean, it's their choice. They suffer now.

Although Zahia looks somewhat disgusting... I don't want to know how many STDs she has.

[Secura]

I mean, it's their choice.

Only it's not really their choice... :P

[InsaneApache]

Lest we forget.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The fire at Bradford City's Valley Parade stadium in which 56 people died and more than 270 were injured is remembered 25 years on.

Although I was only 12 at the time, 11 May 1985 is a day that will live with me forever.

Terry Yorath, my father, was assistant coach at Bradford City Football Club. They were playing Lincoln City on the last Saturday of the season.
From the safety of a pub, Gabby watched the fire destroy the stadium


There was a great sense of excitement and occasion, as the club had just been promoted to the second division.

I was in the players' lounge when, just before half time, a woman told us all, quite calmly, that a fire had started in the wooden stand. A cigarette butt had ignited rubbish underneath it.

We were very close to a door and quickly got out on to the street, then moved quietly to a nearby pub.

At first we had no idea what was going on, but even as a child I could sense how serious it was.

One of the most overwhelming things about this fire was that it spread so quickly - in just four minutes the entire stand was an inferno.

Trapped on stand

Hundreds of people in the stand were trapped between the burning roof and the burning floor.
A man lying against the wall was on fire... I picked him up and threw him over the wall and then managed to dive over
Dave Hustler, survivor


My father, who had been on the pitch, was quickly moved to safety along with the players.

He went to the players' lounge and found it empty, but in another bar found people still drinking without knowing what was happening.

He managed to get everyone there out, but by then couldn't get out through the door, so he jumped from a 20ft-high window.

Trying to find his parents and our other family members, he went round to the main stand and saw fans trying desperately, in vain, to get out on to the street.

They were trapped because the exit gates and turnstiles were locked.

It was a couple of hours before I saw my father.

City fan Paul Firth, who was standing a couple of rows from where the fire started, remembers: "Once the black smoke had come in you couldn't see anything but you could hear screams, you could hear people trying to kick at solid doors to get out, trying to escape from whatever route they could.
Survivor Paul Firth escaped by climbing down to the pitch


"I made the decision to go over the seats and climb down to the pitch.

"A police officer was shouting at us to get on the pitch, partly to clear the way for others but also because the heat was so intense."

There were still many, many people trapped inside the ground.

Dave Hustler was one of them, and was awarded a medal for bravery for his actions that day.

"I got to the corner of the stand and heard a voice - a man lying against the wall was on fire. I picked him up and threw him over the wall and then managed to dive over," he said.

"By this point I was throwing my clothes off as they were burning into my body. He was a 17-year-old boy who had lost his crutches. I was the last person to make it over the wall."

Melting roof

About 250 people entered Bradford Royal Infirmary within five minutes.

The wounded were ferried to hospital in whatever transport they could find - some people walked.

Brenda Verity, the sister in charge at the hospital that day, said many had serious burns to their heads and hands.

"People were walking with their hands on their heads which we couldn't understand.

"Then we found out that the tarmac from the top of the stand was melting and hitting them on the heads.

"So people had put their hands on their heads and come into the hospital still doing that."
It was a bit like something out of Dante's inferno - the wreck of a stand smoking and smouldering - it was utterly gruesome
Professor David Sharpe


Professor David Sharpe had been a consultant plastic surgeon for six months when he had to deal with what, at the time, was the worst burns disaster in British history.

As dozens of victims began arriving, he realised he had to go back to Valley Parade to try and work out how he might begin to treat them.

"It was absolutely dreadful, a bit like something out of Dante's inferno - the wreck of a stand smoking and smouldering, police officers looking for body parts. It was utterly gruesome."

He saw 258 people who needed treatment in the weeks afterwards and was eventually awarded an OBE in recognition of the pioneering work he carried out, which has improved treatment of burns around the world.

Danger warning

A full hearing into the fire began on the 5 June 1985 at the City Hall in Bradford.

Appointed High Court Judge, Sir Oliver Popplewell, heard from 77 witnesses and saw TV pictures from Yorkshire Television showing the fire spreading faster than a man could run.

It emerged that the football club had been warned about the potential dangers of its ground.

In the summer of the previous year, an engineer working for Bradford City Council had advised them that a discarded cigarette could cause a fire under the main stand.

It was due to be rebuilt with steel - and the asphalt roof replaced - the Monday after the fire occurred.
Gabby Logan said the victims of the fire should always be remembered


Sir Oliver's most important findings were that all wooden stands in football stadiums should be replaced, and stewards should be properly trained in health and safety.

Afterwards, the Bradford Disaster Appeal fund raised £3.5m and a special version of the Gerry and the Pacemakers 1960s hit You'll Never Walk Alone was released.

I can remember being at a Bradford City fundraiser not long afterwards, when this song was played.

Everyone held hands, and all the adults - the players, wives and club officials were in tears, singing that song.

A quarter of a century on and the fire still affects people. I know my father still carries the mental scars.

What should have been a peak time in his early managerial career was just a terrible time of tears, anger and great sadness for our family.

People have the right to go to a stadium and come home safely.

We must never forget the fans who set off that day - intending to watch a game of football, cheer on their team, celebrate their success - who never went home.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8648794.stm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIxN3ypB3rw

Warning:contains disturbing scenes.

[Sarmatian]

Absolutely hilarious, when Mourinho does it it's "tactical genius" if anybody else does it it's "parking the bus".

Exactly. What he did was tell everyone to be behind the ball and waste time when in possession. Playing football was explicitly forbidden. Even with 10 men on the pitch, it's a disgrace to play a match like that in the semis of CL.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Lest we forget.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8648794.stm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIxN3ypB3rw

Warning:contains disturbing scenes.

Whoa...I nevr knew this one happened. What a tragedy. What a tragic decade for British football...


That video was too disturbing. The footage for the first three minutes was alarming, but the bit with that one guy was just too much for me. Horrific.


Fire is so dangerous, one tends to forget about it. an entire football stand turned into a raging inferno within two minutes....so very scary.

[edyzmedieval]

Only it's not really their choice... :P

Well they were the ones who couldn't keep their hormones down, since they wanted her so badly. Cheat on his wife and kid for an underage prostitute.
Smart guy that Ribery. Even paid for her to come over to Munich, and around 2000 euros an hour. Jeez.

Some people are waay too desperate.

[InsaneApache]

Whoa...I nevr knew this one happened. What a tragedy. What a tragic decade for British football...


That video was too disturbing. The footage for the first three minutes was alarming, but the bit with that one guy was just too much for me. Horrific.


Fire is so dangerous, one tends to forget about it. an entire football stand turned into a raging inferno within two minutes....so very scary.

I didn't know anyone who died but I had friends who did. Whatever Shankley may or may not have said, this illustrates that he was completely wrong.

It's a big deal in this neck of the woods, understandably so. I'll leave it there. It is after all the frontroom.

(thnx 2 da mods 4 levin duh link oop)

[Afonso I of Portugal]

Exactly. What he did was tell everyone to be behind the ball and waste time when in possession. Playing football was explicitly forbidden. Even with 10 men on the pitch, it's a disgrace to play a match like that in the semis of CL.

Mourinho is a genius because he study the opponents down to the smallest detail and always has been. When it was necessary to strike and gain advantage won 3-1, and there are not many teams that can score 3 to Barça. When he had to defend cause he had to play with 10 men also knew how to do it. He's probably the best coach in the world. It seems that the "future best player of all time" was not even on the field, Mourinho knew how to deal with him as well...and with no violence...

[Louis VI the Fat]

Mourinho is a great coach. Now if only he would learn to be great in victory.

I didn't know anyone who died but I had friends who did. Whatever Shankley may or may not have said, this illustrates that he was completely wrong.

It's a big deal in this neck of the woods, understandably so. I'll leave it there. It is after all the frontroom.

Sorry about your friends' friends.

The video is of a fire disaster, with a clear warning. I knew what to expect when I clicked the link, as will others. I just can't help but be unnerved by this sort of thing. 56 deaths is a statistic. But that guy, simply walking around with a dazed look on his face, while being fully on fire, that gets to me. Shocking. Disturbing.
I am not YouTube voyeur, watching snuff movies to laugh at the misfortune of others. I am an emphatic person, I try to understand others, what is going through their mind. All the actions, all the emotions of the people in the video are understandable, even the panic and physical pain, always on very different level in person than as bystander, can be felt on a more abstract level.
But what must it take for a man, fully enflamed, to just walk together with the crowd, as if nothing is going on?
He's in my mind now, I can't let go of the sight.

[Afonso I of Portugal]

Mourinho is a great coach. Now if only he would learn to be great in victory.

I know what you mean and i don't like some of his statments/atitudes either, but i guess Barça should also learn to be great in defeat...can't remember of a goalkeeper grabbing the opponents coach or a club turning on the aspersors in order to avoid their celebrations.

[Sarmatian]

Mourinho is a genius because he study the opponents down to the smallest detail and always has been. When it was necessary to strike and gain advantage won 3-1, and there are not many teams that can score 3 to Barça. When he had to defend cause he had to play with 10 men also knew how to do it. He's probably the best coach in the world. It seems that the "future best player of all time" was not even on the field, Mourinho knew how to deal with him as well...and with no violence...

No one's denying that Mourinho is a good coach. After all, he has results to back it up, but just because he is a good coach, doesn't mean I have to like his style.

[Afonso I of Portugal]

World Cup is already warming up as Carlos Queiroz has just revealed the Portuguese squad for the tournament:

- Goalkeepers: Eduardo (Braga), Beto (FC Porto) and Daniel Fernandes (Iraklis).

- Defenders: Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea), Miguel (Valencia), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea), Bruno Alves (FC Porto), Pepe (Real Madrid), Rolando (FC Porto), Ricardo Costa (Lille), Duda (Málaga), Fábio Coentrão (Benfica) and Zé Castro (Deportivo Corunha).

- Middlefielders: Pedro Mendes (Sporting), Raul Meireles (FC Porto), Deco (Chelsea), Tiago (Atlético Madrid) and Miguel Veloso (Sporting).

- Forwards: Nani (Man Utd), Simão (Atlético Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Danny (Zenit), Liedson (Sporting) and Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen).

[naut]

Just dropped by to say: Cappello's team selection is

Calamity James?! Dawson! You're having a laugh, is he mental? Leadlegs King? The guy can't play more than once a week.... let alone a game, after game, after game! Huddlestone? What for? Team chef perhaps? Heskey? Couldn't score in a whore house. Joe Cole? Hahaha. In short, England = knocked out round of 16.

(I whole heartedly support the selection of Parker though! He deserves it, he's had a great season.)

As a Gooner said to me: "Potentially, the spine of the England squad could be: Dawson and Ledley; Huddlestone and Lennon; Crouch and Defoe. You know what? I'm supporting France: Sagna, Gallas, Clichy, Diaby, Nasri, Henry." Consider me a Frenchman! Jokes. But seriously I'm supporting the team I backed for (and predicted would win) Euro 2008: iEspaña!. (Brazil will win though. )

[drone]

England provisional squad:

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Man City), David James (Portsmouth), Robert Green (West Ham)

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Michael Dawson (Spurs), Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Ledley King (Spurs), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa)

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Man City), Michael Carrick (Man Utd), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Tom Huddlestone (Spurs), Adam Johnson (Man City), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Spurs), James Milner (Aston Villa), Scott Parker (West Ham), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Man City)

Forwards: Darren Bent (Sunderland), Peter Crouch (Spurs), Jermain Defoe (Spurs), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Man utd)

Does he have money on the US winning the group?

[naut]

Does he have money on the US winning the group?

He's McClaren in disguise! Or maybe he's 'Arry "We're gonna rock down to In-land Re-venue! And tell on Harry Redknapp" Crooknapp in disguise? I wonder if he'll bankrupt the FA like he did Bournemouth, West Ham (plus selling all their best players), Portsmouth and Southampton?

On a blunt and serious note. Brazil and Spain look fantastic. Well rounded squads. I don't know how the set up is for this world cup, but that'd be some final and my bet if it is possible. Italy and Germany have selections based on managerial favouritisms. Cappello has picked the most average and fragile team I've seen in a long while. Portugal/Nederlands have some real stars, but I question the depth. The African teams have "home" advantage and will want to impress, but I question their depth as well. Argentina won't win with Maradona in charge. Dominech is a looney. And everyone else is just there to make up the numbers.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Just dropped by to say: Cappello's team selection is

Calamity James?! Dawson! You're having a laugh, is he mental? Leadlegs King? The guy can't play more than once a week.... let alone a game, after game, after game! Huddlestone? What for? Team chef perhaps? Heskey? Couldn't score in a whore house. Joe Cole? Hahaha. In short, England = knocked out round of 16.

(I whole heartedly support the selection of Parker though! He deserves it, he's had a great season.)

As a Gooner said to me: "Potentially, the spine of the England squad could be: Dawson and Ledley; Huddlestone and Lennon; Crouch and Defoe. You know what? I'm supporting France: Sagna, Gallas, Clichy, Diaby, Nasri, Henry." Consider me a Frenchman! Jokes. But seriously I'm supporting the team I backed for (and predicted would win) Euro 2008: iEspaña!. (Brazil will win though. )

But then who should Capello have taken? Who's left out? England simply does not have a very broad base to draw from.

England does have a very good first XI, and a genius coach.


Which is on all three accounts the exact opposite of France then.



Also, Marouane Chamakh to leave Bordeaux for Arsenal. Well if he must go, let him go to Arsenal.

[naut]

Just checked, if Spain and Brazil finish top of their groups then the final could (will be) them. iTremendo!

But then who should Capello have taken? Who's left out? England simply does not have a very broad base to draw from.

England does have a very good first XI, and a genius coach.

The squad lacks the technique and flair of Brazil and Spain though. And all that "British grit" stuff is nonsence, it worked once in '66, and even then there were players of the calibre of Greaves, Moore, Charlton and Hurst. The current squad is so fragile mentally you could turn it into origami. I guess though, since the squad has 6 Sp*ds England can hope for 4th at best? Maybe then they can give Cappello a knighthood.

Any predictions for teams going home with 0 points?

Mine: South Africa, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North Korea and Honduras.

[Afonso I of Portugal]

I'm a bit suspicious about North Korea as they can be more hard to beat than we think. Recently they were beaten by Mexico and Venezuela, both 2-1. That's not bad at all considering they are nº 106 Fifa ranking. I'm looking forward to see their performance against Paraguai and Greece...

[naut]

I'm a bit suspicious about North Korea as they can be more hard to beat than we think. Recently they were beaten by Mexico and Venezuela, both 2-1. That's not bad at all considering they are nº 106 Fifa ranking. I'm looking forward to see their performance against Paraguai and Greece...

You've mixed up North and South Korea. North Korea face Brazil, Cote d'Ivoire and Portugal. South Korea, are in another group, but are overrated.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Any predictions for teams going home with 0 points?

Mine: South Africa, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North Korea and Honduras.

My money's on South Africa to reach the next round. The referees will make it so, remember what happened with Spain and Italy versus South Korea in 2002. (And, I fear, the refs will do it in the final group game against France. It'll be a tight group, and SA will need the points. Ah well, karma is a female dog, as they say. I predict a dissallowed goal by Henry.)

No points for Japan, New Zealand. Possibly both Koreas too.



Domenech not to bring Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri and Patrick Vieira. No Jean-Alain Boumsong en Aly Cissokho either. Not good enough even for the bench. Hey, who needs Real Madrid's striker and Arsenal's playmaker, eh? I gues they'll have to stay at home and watch the World Cup together with the many international stars England left at home.

[naut]

Domenech has made a surprisingly clear-headed selection. It'll be interesting which 7 he drops to get to 23.

[LittleGrizzly]

I can understand leaving out Benzema if he hasn't had a good season but Nasri has put in some sensational performances at times...

In fairness King has actually played more games than Ferdinand and actually did a few back to back recently, he may be a fitness concern but if we only need him for one or two games as the main choice back up defender I don't think there is a better choice...

Heskey well he ay not be a goal scorer but he works well for the team and assuming Rooney stays fit it is not Heskey we would be expecting our goals from

Its not as if we have got a huge amout of choice in goals anyway, sure James isn't great but who would you want instead ? Green ? Hart ? or Paul Robinson ?

I wouldn't want to put Hart in goals for this world cup even if he was the best choice, maybe next tournement or the one after. No one stands out as better or worse to me out of James, Green and Robinson

[Jolt]

I can understand leaving out Benzema if he hasn't had a good season but Nasri has put in some sensational performances at times...

This is clearly the reason.

[naut]

Domenech has made a surprisingly clear-headed selection. It'll be interesting which 7 he drops to get to 23.

Rumour has it that Titi picked the squad.