Be Excellent To Each Other

Just got two tickets to the Olympic football at Old Trafford.

i SHARE MYP AND THROUGHSILVER'S attitude to England football, but it is more down to the ludicrous media coverage that goes along with the team... I can't deal with the jingoism, hyperbole and almost wilful lack of rationality that runs through everything ever said or written about English international football, and that is why I shun it. I don't actively wish them ill, because the players themselves are borderline irrelevant to me, but I can't deny gaining some satisfaction when they are eliminated because it means all the pundits and writers have to pipe the fuck down for a bit.

And while Curio's point about an unsuccessful Capello campaign playing right into the idiot's hands is well made, I doubt the idiots will ever give a foreigner credit for being a successful England manager because their views are driven by the aforementioned wilful lack of rationality. Sven managed England for what, 5 years(?) and suffered 1 defeat in a competitive match in that time, and yet is widely regarded by media clods as a failure

(edit before anyone corrects me - Sven lost 3 competitive matches in those 5 years, 1 in qualifying and 2 in major tournaments. even so, find me an international team with fewer competitive defeats in that period)

Love football, hate the circus around it.

It is the 20th anniversary this year of Burnley finally getting out of the Fourth Division. The game has changed so much, on the field for the better. In terms of stadiums, the lack of atmosphere is a terrible loss, but the safety aspect is massively improved.

But the coverage, oh God, the coverage. When the absolute standout is the various forms of sarcasm on The Guardian, then we really are in trouble. I mean, I love Football Weekly, AC Jimbo, Barry Glendenning, Sid Lowe, the Minute by Minutes and so on and so forth, but there isn't a great deal of intelligent comment in the popular press.

Two Hundred Percent is a good read, though. And The Swiss Ramble. And, of course, WSC. The fact that the 25th anniversary of WSC was only covered in the Guardian kind of showed the rest of them up.

It is just a shouting contest, these days.

Well, you admit to supporting English people in other sports, such as fighting and athletics. Any reason for that, or is down to the specific individual? Would you pay any scant amount of greater attention to those athletes if they weren't English? Do you know as much about, say, Serbian athletes?

I would find it weird to go to Spain, find a group of people passionate about football, and for them to hate their national side.

Football is our most popular sport, and contrary to a lot of the bollocks talked, we're actually pretty good at it. It would seem weird to me to actively cheer against a team representing your nation.



True, but people still seem keener to proffer their opinion on how much they hate John Terry the England team, and do it with such glee. It's undeniable that it's a very 'football hipster' thing to do.

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But that's just the media's manipulation of it. If the Spanish players were in the Premier League at a top club, they'd get their words twisted a lot more and come across as arses. Craig Bellamy is often cited as one of the worst Premier League players, and yet he does a ridiculous amount of work in developing countries for charity (that he even set up). The English players are trashed because it sells players. Would they put a back page of: "James Milner! Never in any trouble! Decided when young to be teetotal for the duration of his football career!"? The only time the Spanish players get quoted over here is if it pertains to a Premier League club. The interviews and quotes coming out of Barcelona during the past few summers re: Fabregas made a lot of them out to be massive arses, and was the very definition of 'tapping up' a player.

I guess I'm English, and identify myself as such. If someone asks me my nationality I'm not going to say that I would prefer to be Italian. Just as you identify with Leeds, I identify with England (moreso than any one town). I'll cheer on England, the GB team in the Euros and the European team in the Ryder Cup. I'm not going to stop supporting a team just because of a few nobs within it, who will come and go.

But I'm right, yeah?

Sorry, I think I've been a bit misconstrued here. While I don't like a few England players I have to admit I don't hate the whole team. I guess what I'm saying is that I have no interest in them, win or lose. I won't cheer if they fall at the first hurdle, but neither will I rejoice if they win Euro 2012.

so you genuinely wouldn't watch the final if England were in it? and wouldn't cheer a 90th minute winner after we came back from 2_1 down?

Admit! What am I, a separatist? I struggle to understand what knowing about Serbian athletes has to do with not liking the England football team as an entity.


Again, not weird. Statistically unlikely, but if deviation from the norm = weirdness, then kill me now.


So is it ok to cheer against England if the team isn't 'actually pretty good at it'? It seems you're looking for things to argue about.


John Terry is a scumbag, and he seems impervious to consequences for his numerous acts of scumminess. There's nothing 'hipster' about that.


It's not just the media's manipulation. If I watch a ten minute sit-down interview with a footballer, I'm confident that their views are coming through loud and clear. If I read an interview translated by Sid Lowe with a Spanish player, I don't assume he has an agenda to make Spanish players seem angelic. And if Xavi saying 'sooner or later Cesc is coming to Barcelona because it's his home' is being an arse, then we have differing viewpoints of what it is to be an arse.


I guess I'm English too. So? Are we not allowed to like different things? I fail to see why I have to defend myself here. And it's this kind of mithering that makes me want to boo the England football team even more. I don't like the English government or its royal family, either. Am I to expect an inquest on those things too?

Like myp, I don't hate the whole team. For me it's just an entity that I want to lose sporting fixtures. Like the Australian rugby league team. Or Tito Ortiz.

How Carlos Tevez saved Christmas!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHBkDZ2Qh5k

The arsehole player conundrum is an odd one. There's many a loyal Derby fan stood on the terraces cheering on Robbie Savage for example, and you can't pretend he's not a total fucking cunt. I've celebrated a Forest goal by Marlon King as raucously as any I've celebrated in my life and I was as incensed as anyone when Lampard's goal was disallowed in the world cup.

Nonetheless I'd rather not watch John Terry or Rio Ferdinand or anyone play football. I don't see their clubs play because my clubs aren't in the top division and for the most part these people are the living embodiment of an inarticulate droning of the type of metaphors Orwell would shudder at. You can hear it from the mouth of any bloke who can't make conversation with you about not-football, from the gobs of most people on TalkSport/Five Live and so on. It's a wilfully stupid and common discourse and they are at the very point of it and I don't want to know about them at all.

If the signal is their performance in an England shirt, the ratio to noise will always be unacceptably poor.

Plus I barely know who the manager is. A good Italian manager, by all accounts, except I'm yet to be impressed by the top talent in a top footballing nation since they've been playing for him, and he's on millions a year. At least I'd heard of him before he signed, unlike Eriksson. Why should I give a fuck from that angle either?

I still watch all the games I can, even the friendlies, and while I might just wander off after 20 minutes and do something else entirely, I doubt I'll ever fully disengage, it's just that there's nothing much for me to engage with.

After a terrible start to the season, AFC Bournemouth moved up to 14th in L1 on Saturday, just six points shy of the play-off positions. After losing to Huddersfield in the play-off semi-finals last season, we went there with just one of the starting lineup from May's crushing penalty shootout defeat and beat them 1-0!

We've now got some Russian money behind us, and have basically sold and bought a whole team's worth of players - more than I can ever remember in such a short space of time. Fingers crossed we can keep rising up the table this season. Still not convinced Bradbury is the right man, but after 10 games I would've been happy just to avoid relegation. He did have the whole team sold from under him during the summer, though.

Bit of an odd weekend for both Manc teams! I only watched the second half of the City game just now, but to me it just looked like one of those days when you could play for hours and still never score.

Sunderland's goal did look a touch offside though.

Aye.

I wonder when the last time United, Chelsea and City all lost on the same weekend to teams in the bottom half of the table...

well that's what mancini said too... know those games as ajax-fan..
funny how the manc performances seem to be mirroring eachother..

McClaren is back at Twente - hence my new blog...

http://pissingred.blogspot.com/2012/01/ ... sland.html

Mixed response here too... Adriaanse being fired didn't feel like twente at all.. Think MacClaren will get a tought job..

I hope Zardoz and markg have got their tickets for the big game on Saturday!

Capello resigns!

http://www.thefa.com/England/News/2012/080212.aspx

To be honest, I say good on him, if he is the manager he should be allowed to pick the team (and who captains it)

I have no idea if John Terry is guilty of being racist to Anton Ferdinand or not, but I think Cappello was right to say that someone is innocent until they are proven guilty.

Malc

It's not uncommon for an Italian to abandon a sinking ship.

Now we have a chance to take a chance. Get rid of the old guard. New manager, new broom!

Do we? Then we must take the chance! How do I appoint a new manager?

File > New Game

He is a proven shit, though.

Capello only defended Terry because he's a racist too.

If you look at the video, it's pretty clear that he uses the words "fucking black cunt"
Is that racist? The words themselves could be argued that they aren't, but the intent behind them probably was.

However he hasn't been to trial yet and is innocent till proven guilty, taking away his captaincy by going over Capello's head wasn't really on, and Capello is right to be pissed.

However, however, was this just a convenient way for all involved to get Capello out?

I think it's a fair move. Why not decaptainise someone who is in the middle of a legal investigation? The captain is supposed to be a source of inspiration. How does one inspire his team-mates - include the brother of the alleged victim - from such a position?

Especially as half of them hate him anyway.

I don't disagree, but it should have been done by the manager.

If Redknapp gets the England job, then I'm out. I'm going to start supporting... erm... Lichtenstein.

To say you can play for the national team, but not wear a little armband that, in reality, means nothing, is the most ridiculous thing that the FA could have done. So racism is fine as long as it's not the captain? Ummmm, sure thing!

Still, let us use it as a way to get rid of the unpopular but successful manager and bring in a crony who is friends with the media.

He spoke at a work do I went to many years ago. All I can remember was that he was quite funny

Why?

Malc

When it first happened, I had a quick look for the video, but couldn't find it (it was a very quick look)

Then I couldn't be bothered.

From what I remember of the time, I think I read that he said his defence was that he said something like: "I said 'I didn't call him a fucking black cunt'"

Malc

I think that harry might do it just for the euros but ultimately will stay at spurs, why would he leave there he's doing a fantastic job there, will probably be able to spur england on for one tournament, but might not in the long run. Probably go for a younger manager maybe, someone the players respect.

If they offer it to Harry then I can't imagine he'd turn it down. The backlash would (hopefully) be particularly vicious if the stupid masses are calling for an English coach and he turns it down. Only Roy Hodgson would be standing between us and Sam Allardyce, England manager.

I find it somewhat amusing that the job that Redknapp has been angling for for years comes up at precisely the moment he could do without it.

Wah-waaaah.

Also - he'll be out when he realises he can't pick Bale any more.

@Trooper - I know what you mean, but then the manager should never have reinstated Terry after initially removing the captaincy from him. So the FA doing it was just some Final Destination shit.

if he does then I may be persuaded back in.

we actually beat man U. now that was unexpected..

http://fourfourtwo.com/news/restofeurop ... fault.aspx

I see Wolves have gone for the big name manager.

If only Ajax had scored another goal. The win at OT was impressive, but eliminating them would have been hilarious.

Decent win for Wednesday on Sunday. I don't think automatic promotion will happen, though. I expect to lose in the play offs.

Play-offs looking unlikely for Bournemouth now - slipped to 10th after three defeats on the trot.

Harry Redknapp is such a good manager that he can force his team to get spanked 5-2 from being two up! This making him look less good, so he doesn't have to associate himself with the shambolic England set-up.

To go back a few days so I an gloat

Well that was kinda a nice victory.. english played better than i thought they would do btw... Robbbbben!

I love how that cup never counts until your team wins it.


Spectacular. Bet he'd do pretty well in the premier league...

Megson gone. Jones in?

Yep true, hoping we can win the FA cup to go with it

Just switched on Arsenal/Milan and the Arse appear to be staging a massive recovery. That'll be some comeback if they manage it.