[quote name="Chappers" post="804286" date="September 1 2011, 11:19 PM BST"]I thought you said you were in Wigan.[quote]
Yeah, sadly. I got into footy about 9 or 10 during Italia '90 and when Spurs won the fa cup in '91 I sort of Glory snatched.
The joke has since been on me though.
Because there's no proper football this weekend my local team are allowing season-ticket holders at league clubs in free. I think this may be a general thing in non-league football. I can't go though cos I'm bloody working.
Quote: Chappers @ September 1 2011, 11:26 PM BSTBecause there's no proper football this weekend my local team are allowing season-ticket holders at league clubs in free. I think this may be a general thing in non-league football. I can't go though cos I'm bloody working.
Yea my national team is charging £5 a head for their match against Serbia, all I need to do is get my childsnatcher net and find 10 victims volenteering under 16 year olds.
Big ask tbh.
Quote: Jamey @ September 1 2011, 11:35 PM BSTYea my national team is charging £5 a head for their match against Serbia, all I need to do is get my childsnatcher net and find 10 victims volenteering under 16 year olds.
Big ask tbh.
I suppose they couldn't do much worse than your first team.
Lol, clever B'tard 
I happen to have a lot of faith in our wee team, we're not Brazil, we're Northern Ireland.
I don't ever think we will be winning the world cup, but I do love the team.
Not being patronising but I do like it when Scotland, Northern Ireland, Eire or Wales do well. I'm not really a great England supporter. I think for the resources at their disposal we should really have a greater heritage - and I don't like to associate myself with "traditional" football fans.
Quote: Jack Daniels @ September 1 2011, 11:22 PM BSTYeah, sadly. I got into footy about 9 or 10 during Italia '90 and when Spurs won the fa cup in '91 I sort of Glory snatched.
The joke has since been on me though.
I did the same thing when I decided to support Everton, after they won the League and the Cup Winner's Cup, and got to the F.A. Cup Final all in one season, back when I was a little'un in '85.
Football has only ever reduced me to tears on a few occasions and most of those have been with England - you can probably work out which these were so I won't cover old ground there.
In club football it has only happened three times; once with my favourite team Lincoln and twice with Peterborough. The Lincoln one was when they were in the play-off final against Bournemouth at the Millennium stadium and the tears were before the game in a match we eventually lost 5-2. I was so proud that day but it still narks me that the Imps remain one of the few teams to have never played at Wembley.
Peterborough are my local team and when they beat Liverpool in the League Cup in 1991 I was literally overcome with emotion. It happened again 6 months later when they beat Stockport 2-1 in the play-off final at Wembley.
I don't know what it is but I think a small team in grand settings make you realise you are seeing something special. I've never claimed to be a football supporter because I don't go to enough games, certainly not as many as I used to. These days I say that I 'follow' football rather than support it because to support means you actually put your hand in your pocket to pay at the turnstile and in the club shop.
Part of the problem for me is that my local team is not my favourite team. Lincoln is 50-60 miles away and not a practical journey if you don't drive and have a rapidly growing family. I'm not close enough to it on any level to feel passionate enough to feel the raw emotion of success and failure. Liverpool have traditionally been my big club and have usually been successful so whatever happens to them has always been a bit, "Meh" in that sense.
Some of you might wonder why I didn't get upset by Lincoln's two relegations out of the league. In 1987 I was simply stunned by it when I heard because I got my calculations wrong and thought they were already safe. I lived even further away then and in any case, their final match was away to Swansea and I was living in Norwich. It was the only time during the whole season they were bottom and it occured in the first year of automatic relegation.
When they went down this year the writing was on the wall for ages - they needed 4 points from their final 11 games to be safe and they only managed two draws. In late January/early February 2011 they'd won six out of seven which put them up in mid-table but from February 15 to the end of the season they won only twice more.
Here are the most damning statistics: In their last four home games they conceded 15 and scored none losing 6-0 to Rotherham in the process. AT HOME! The point is is that the relegation itself didn't upset me, it made me angry. How could confidence have dropped so low, so quickly for them to be in that position at all? What's more, the manager Steve Tilson is still there and we're now just above the Blue Square Premier drop zone again.
[*shakes head in dismay]
Quote: Gerry McDonnell @ August 31 2011, 11:34 AM BSTAston Villa are in talks with Joe Cole (I love transfer deadline day). Here's a great Cole-related link
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/aug/10/joe-cole-messi-gerrard-liverpool
A bit far fetched maybe but Cole was a huge talent, who couldn't for some reason find a team to settle into. Hardly had a non brilliant England game so it's a shame that's over. No coach has ever decided what his best position is and so he became a utility player and that rarely helps a player's career! They couldn't even decide if he was a midfielder or a forward at Liverpool. A big talent mostly wasted by dithering coaches. Just play him and watch his class.
I watched most games Cole played for Liverpool, and he was terrible in nearly all of them. I rate(d) him as a player, and was made up when we signed him. He was constantly awful though, no matter where we played him he looked off the pace, and completely lost. There were strong rumours that he had a heavy smoking habit, and if you look at him last season he was also carrying a bit of gut, so I think fitness may have been an issue with him.
There was a marked change in the club last season when Dalglish took over. We went from looking completely shite and clueless under Hodgson to looking like a side that wanted to conquer the world (and thought they could do it) under Kenny. Under Hodgson a lot of players were looking poor and in terrible personal form. Dalglish took over and gave everybody in that squad a fair crack of the whip to prove themselves and show what they could do for the club (even players who quite frankly didn't deserve it). Most players instantly responded to this and stepped up their game, but a handful continued to look terrible, and sadly Cole was one of these.
As you say Kipper "for some reason he couldn't find a team to settle into". To me it was perplexing watching him. I couldn't figure out quite why this wasn't working. He had the talent, he looked like he was working hard to get in the game, but yet he might as well have not been on the pitch. I agree that maybe never having a set position hasn't helped him. But on the flip side, we also have players in our squad who this hasn't hindered and are happy to fulfil a number of positions.
I would like to see him do well Lille and find his form again. He has a lot of talent and seems like a genuinely decent guy. Maybe the French league will suit him, and he will find it an opportunity to shine, ala Chris Waddle.
Yes, Waddle resurrected his England career in France, didn't he. Maybe Cole's got this in mind. With easier teams to beat he could start to impress the England coach again. He's a pretty unique type of player, a bit of a Cascoigne type at his very best imo, a string puller sitting just behind the striker, but capable of scoring himself. That's where he should have been developed, not just stuck out on the wing!
Confidence is a wonderful thing - it would be worth Capello keeping half an eye on what goes on in France
Quote: Tuumble @ September 2 2011, 11:42 AM BSTConfidence is a wonderful thing - it would be worth Capello keeping half an eye on what goes on in France
That could be painfully difficult.
Poor old Hodgson I can't think of any of his signings that havent been sold this transfer window.
Poulsen
Konchesky
Cole
Javanovic
And tragically Meireles who is top notch minus a little bit... What a goal v Wolves. I have'nt checked on net butthat's all the players I can remember him signing.
Aye, it's all of Hodgson's signings gone. Poulsen and Konchesky were particularly woeful. The fact he was trying to flog Lucas for around £7mill and spent £4.5mill on Poulson speaks volumes.
Meireles is a good player, would have been happy for him to stay, but don't think he would have featured much.
