The Football Thread

[Greenman]

It's no secret I consider myself an outsider, growing up and attending Athletics meetings rather than football matches, but that was the fault of my father whose job entailed being at these places although as a boy he and my great grandfather(his Dad) were Spurs fans. Because of this I look at football from a different perspective-for me it isn't anything to do with tribal chants or Neanderthal fighting on the terraces(as was once the norm) Football for me is not the be all and end all like for you and others here so I cannot fathom why there is this hatred between Mancs & Scousers, Spurs against Hammers etc To me it is completely stupid, so to slag off a brilliant football like Gerrard, Rooney, Suarez, Fabregas or Van Persie is pointless. They chose their profession and I doubt any of us could produce goals or performances week in week out, even if we were earning a fortune. So calling him a pathetic, ferret-faced scouse twat just makes you sound like an -luckily for me I don't associate with people like that and would take an Olympics or Commonwealth Games or even the old Coca Cola athletics meetings over a pointless Mancs v Scousers argument OR Celtic v Rangers punch up ANY DAY.

[Roger Allott]

Originally Posted by Greenman

It's no secret I consider myself an outsider, growing up and attending Athletics meetings rather than football matches, but that was the fault of my father whose job entailed being at these places although as a boy he and my great grandfather(his Dad) were Spurs fans.

Your father's Dad was your great-grandfather????

Did they live in Norfolk?

[Meini Hirion]

OK... Liverpool is my "grown-up" team, when I wasn't 'grown-up'
About 10 years old

I'd support them on any match I view, but haven't been to Anfield since we got relegated. Same with West Ham.

I've always supported their players - except Suarez - and their managers.

However~~~

“Rodgers is the one manager I had problems with. To come out in the papers and basically slag off your player by saying you don’t try-that was poor.
“I don’t understand why some managers do it.

You can lose the player completely.

If fans read that you don’t try, it gives the wrong impression.

That kind of thing can tarnish a player’s reputation.”

NOT Ballobonkers actually, but Stewart Downing of West Ham.

In a previous post, I said that my opinion was that you do not leak, or even go public on criticism of any of your players.
It should be kept "In-House" at all times.
SAF never did it. Clough, Wenger, Shankly/Paisley never did it.
Only Jose has done it to my knowledge - slagged a player in public or via an 'off-the-record' leak.

Brendan is doing this public criticism, a bit too much imo.

This....Might equate with the Captain's lack of humour ~~to cross-fertilise posts ~~ who is next for the Rodger's Finger of Fate ?

[ginny76]

Originally Posted by Greenman

It's no secret I consider myself an outsider, growing up and attending Athletics meetings rather than football matches, but that was the fault of my father whose job entailed being at these places although as a boy he and my great grandfather(his Dad) were Spurs fans. Because of this I look at football from a different perspective-for me it isn't anything to do with tribal chants or Neanderthal fighting on the terraces(as was once the norm) Football for me is not the be all and end all like for you and others here so I cannot fathom why there is this hatred between Mancs & Scousers, Spurs against Hammers etc To me it is completely stupid, so to slag off a brilliant football like Gerrard, Rooney, Suarez, Fabregas or Van Persie is pointless. They chose their profession and I doubt any of us could produce goals or performances week in week out, even if we were earning a fortune. So calling him a pathetic, ferret-faced scouse twat just makes you sound like an -luckily for me I don't associate with people like that and would take an Olympics or Commonwealth Games or even the old Coca Cola athletics meetings over a pointless Mancs v Scousers argument OR Celtic v Rangers punch up ANY DAY.

As I've been to Anfield more times than you I am better qualified to comment on Stevie Me, the Phil Collins loving, prison dodger and worst England captain ever. Please feel free to respond after you've made your pilgrimage.

[victor meldrew]

Did not realise my original comment was going to be the pre-empt to verbal hostilities.

I personally believe if Liverpool are out of the Champions League and the title is out of reach after the visit of Arsenal in December Stevie G will call it a day.

I have been to Anfield once and I doubt I will ever go back there, for me was one of life's more unpleasant experiences.

[IngramJohn]

Originally Posted by Greenman

Steven Gerrard bashing again?-yawn, play another CD please this is getting predictably boring to criticise him, his way , his voice etc. Do you really think he cares what other think of him-his record speaks for itself. He will know one day when it is time to hang up his boots and I reckon he has at least another 3 years in him, possibly longer, it depends on HIM.

He also probably does not care about beating a DJ up in a Liverpool bar because they would not play the song he wanted (ahhh bless!)

He also probably does not care that you could count his good England games on 2 hands (that's 10 by the way)

He also probably does not care how many match-winning (or losing) mistakes he has made in the last few months for club/country

Defending Gerrard again (YAWN!). The bloke was finished last year and its about time you realised that fact ... period.

P.S. It is also called an "opinion"

[Greenman]

Originally Posted by Roger Allott

Your father's Dad was your great-grandfather????

Did they live in Norfolk?

I of course meant 'grandfather' blasted machine crashed right in the middle of typing and one line including great was supposed to have been deleted but came back for some reason. Apologies for blunder.

ginny76-fair enough you have been to Anfield more times than I(it is not exactly cheap or a hop, step and jump from where I am) but I just feel you are being a little too harsh on Stevie G - perhaps it is the way he is portrayed in the media-there is talk of him being made an FA ambassador which would probably suit him. I agree about Balotelli, he has always seemed to me to be a liability BUT the season is young yet and he can still prove he was worth the risk...we shall wait and see.

[Greenman]

Originally Posted by IngramJohn

He also probably does not care about beating a DJ up in a Liverpool bar because they would not play the song he wanted (ahhh bless!)

He also probably does not care that you could count his good England games on 2 hands (that's 10 by the way)

He also probably does not care how many match-winning (or losing) mistakes he has made in the last few months for club/country

Defending Gerrard again (YAWN!). The bloke was finished last year and its about time you realised that fact ... period.

P.S. It is also called an "opinion"

Which indeed you are entitled to but it's still complete bollocks. And please do use my name not HE or are you in hiding for fear of reprisals. Just my opinion of course

[Greenman]

Verbal hostilities? Nah, it's more like Wenger shoving Mourinho to me, much of a muchness.

[pierrelm]

Originally Posted by victor meldrew

I have been to Anfield once and I doubt I will ever go back there, for me was one of life's more unpleasant experiences.

I've been to Anfield a few times and even sat on the Kop when Leeds last won there (Alan Smith's debut, which shows you how long ago that was); after that one I watched with some disbelief the home supporters spilling out of the Kop and indulging in fisticuffs amongst themselves - 'men' of all ages seemed to be involved. Bizarre...

I couldn't believe the spectacle of little scouse kids running onto the HOME supporters coaches to see how much they could pilfer before being chased off by the harrased looking coach drivers and the 'look after your car mister? ' industry the under-ten thugees have created around there. I've been to worse, but not that many.

Now another non-contraversial topic - Racism in domestic football, and more precisely, the 'debate' regarding the low number of black managers in top flight football

Am I being a tad cynical, but does it appear to be black players coming to the end of their careers that seem to shouting the loudest - Jason Roberts, Rio Ferdinand spring immediately to mind. Couple that with the bug eyed pronouncements of the intensely sanctimonious and irritating Garth Crooks and I struggle to find much evidence being presented that football is racist when it comes to coaching appointments - I suspect whatever your race gender, orientation etc, if you can produce a winning team, then "get in here and quickly" would be the reaction?

We are being told that there iis a 'glass ceiling' for non white managerial/coaching applicants. Is there any real evidence for this or is it that this suits people who appear to want to push their own profile forward as being representative spokespersons and maintain a high media profile and being invited to talk, appear as pundits and be consulted by media etc. In other words, is it really a lever for personal interest?

I've found myself wondering if black players make up approximately a quarter of our league pros, then exactly how many of the 25% or so black players that are involved week in week out as pro footballers want to pursue this as a career and take the coaching courses, to try to get into management? That would surely be a much more telling statistic or am I being too simplistic here?

How many jobs has the know-all Garth Crooks for instance applied for? Ian Wright has recently stated he wouldn't dream of becoming a manager as it's too much stress and too little security of tenure. There's certainly been a couple of generations of really good black players but seemingly very few of them have had a go at management - I'd like to hear more from them - some of them are in coaching, some of them never made it - along with many more ex-pros.

One of the biggest loads of twaddle was for an ex pro (this was either Roberts or the usually sensible Leroy Rosenior) to suggest that the top black players like Rio Ferdinand should be fast tracked into management. Such muddled thinking about hi-profile ex-pros does nobody any favours. Pardon me, but since when did being a top player and being a successful manager ever coincide? Rarely, if ever - Cloughie is the exception rather than the rule? Look at some of the successful players of recent years that have flirted with management - Shearer, Gullit, Zola, Ince - with limited success to say the least - there's no direct correlation - Preston players famously tried to get Bobby Charlton to realise they simply weren't gifted enough to do the things he was asking of them and there might give a clue to why former players from the highest level fail - too often they want genuine talent not journeymen. Oh, and I won't mention Carlton Palmer as manager or player out of a sense of public decency.

Management is about character and requires completely different skills, and as SAF proved, man-management and motivation are the most valuable, along with being in the right place at the right time. My concern is that a potentially serious issue is being ring fenced by some self-serving has beens and I'm not at all comfortable it is being done for genuinely altruistic reasons.

But if for instance, Lucas Radebe threw his hat in the ring for the Leeds job at any point, the problem would be not appointing him