Be Excellent To Each Other

Chelsea totally didn't deserve to win, they were shit. Bayern weren't great, but at least they had an attack or twenty.

Blue is the colour, football is the game...

Malc

And that's a double blow with West Ham winning earlier.

On the other hand, we can giggle at Spurs.

Chelsea and Bayern, co-champions.

Geoff shreeves "so, Ashley. You've won the champions league. Are you disappointed that you fucked it up with Cheryl?"

They must be the worst, most dullest team, to ever win this.

Sorry, the team that wins is the team that deserves to win. (unless they cheat) bayern could not score, they blew it.

Also, I called it ages ago.

Go me

Malc

Switched channels as cannot bear to see the hateful Terry lift the cup.

Pet sports hate #1 for me, that is.
#2 is using "we" to describe the team you support.

Unless you work for them, of course.

Perfectly valid tactic. It was boring as fuck, but it's not like they didn't 'deserve' to win because they sat back and defended. It's bloody hard work all the same.

But yeah, boring.

The last ten minutes, extra time, and penalties sure as fuck weren't boring!

Amazing scones.

Well done Chelsea. Double win as:

A) I always cheer the English teams in Europe, and
B) I like laughing at Spurs.

If they win it next year as well, they'll be as good as Nottingham Forest.

Still, Munich, eh?

https://p.twimg.com/AtSibk4CAAAMblY.jpg

Congratulations to Chelsea, the first Russian team to win the Champions League.

Totally worth getting up early to watch... It was quite tense with Chelsea grimly hanging on, but really exciting finish.

That Spurs miss out just makes it even sweeter.

As much as I despise Chelsea, I do have to agree those scones were right tasty. Did you make them yourself?

Watched this in a hotel full of Germans. Lolworthy.

I hated seeing John Terry lift the cup, but was so pleases for Di Matteo. I bet Abramovich still doesn't give him the job though.

I'd rather have had the opportunity to laugh at Chelsea.

One of my best mates from school is a Spurs fan, and he was the only one of our circle that supported a Premier League team that wasn't Man United (several supported minnows like Burnley). As such, he was my natural footballing rival, and not actually knowing any Birmingham City fans personally, I have a lot more 'banter' with him and have a rivalry that way.

Decent explanation. We would've also accepted 'Harry Redknapp' and no explanation at all.

Whyioughdda...

Im glad that Chelsea won, because they are english (or about as english you can get as a prem league team).

And for seeing Luiz's bullet penalty, it was worth it.

I am unable to be happy that Chelsea won as they have beaten Boro at Wembley too many times. The 1997 FA Cup final is a particularly bitter pill as they even won fairly in that one. I can't be pleased for DeMatteo for the same reason. He scored the stupidly early goal in said cup final.

Ben Roberts, you plum.

Was amusing to see Ross Turnbull elbowing into the celebrations though.

If it had been a film, I'd have probably walked out halfway through. I seem to have disagreed with my boss on this one who thought it was a 'cracking game'. The first 75 minutes were dire.

I only saw the final three penalties through the window of a chinese takeaway.

I was in the edge of my seat, but I imagine that for a neutral it might have been a frustrating game to watch, possibly even a little dull.

I don't get the 'support Chelsea, they're English' thing, but then I'd rather support World's Greatest Monsters First XI (it's Hitler, to Stalin, out to Jong-Il on the wing, a good run by the little man, knocked back to Hussein... a cross! Bin Laden scores! Pol Pot is celebrating on the sidelines!) than Chelsea.

Then again, I wouldn't support England, because they're a bunch of twunts.

I'll never understand that, but power to you for having that opinion.

The way I see it is this: I hate Chelsea. I can't support them over a team I don't hate simply because that other team is based in another country.

Got to agree, I'm with Pundabaya and throughsilver on this one, and in fact had this debate at work today, with a colleague who couldn't understand why I wouldn't cheer for Chelsea simply because they're from England.

There are plenty of English teams who I would wish well if they were in that final, but mostly because I like how they play (i.e. Arsenal), or I happen to admire some of their players, or whatever. But really the nationality is irrelevant, as ultimately you either admire a team or you don't.

I also haven't actively given a flying wotsit about the England team for the best part of 20 years, since in my lifetime they've mostly been dull and overhyped (not always their fault, as it's often down to the media). I enjoy World Cups, etc, loads more, because it removes the pointless urge to cheer for my own silly country.

The whole "anti-football" thing I don't get. Say if Stevenage played Arsenal in the FA cup final (Likely I know) and just defended and defended and defended and ended up winning. Wouldn't we all say they we're brilliant blah blah blah..... just because they are chelsea loads of people hate them, that I don't get, surely an english team winning the CL is good for english football?

Okay...


Not necessarily. Does anyone like Greece 2004?


Surely you get people hating Chelsea. Quite apart from FA Cup final 1970, they're a set of bastards and they're owned by someone who has made billions off other people's poverty.

And this:



Yes in terms of UEFA coefficient, but otherwise I'd say no.

Barca tonking Man U in two finals tells us there is work to be done, a la eventual winners Inter taking Chelsea to the woodshed inbetween. A win like this suggests everything's OK; a papering over the cracks, if you will. I don't see how that's good for English football.

Is it good for the Championship? Or Blue Square Premier? Or the NPL Division One North? Or for Wolves, Blackburn and Bolton?

I'd say Chelsea winning is actively bad for English football.

1) They basically gave up the Premier League. Yes, it was a longshot for them to win it, but they decided to tank and save everything for the CL.

2) They'll be remembered as a team far below the quality of their opponents that played negatively and got lucky.

3)John Terry lifting the trophy. Not exactly a brilliant role-model.

1) So what? I'd say that trying to win the biggest prize in club football is a far loftier goal than scrambling to finish 4th in your national league. That finishing 4th is now considered better than winning trophies is a horrendous state of affairs.

2) No they won't. Nobody blathers on about Nottingham Forest being dominated and sneaking a win to get their first European Cup. Manchester United's dramatic comeback is remembered from their Treble winning year; not the fact that Ferguson employed rubbish tactics and his team was outplayed from first whistle to 90th minute. Chelsea will be remembered as winners.

3) Fair enough. Terry is a nob.

NEW IDEA!

Top 2 teams go up, bottom tow teams go down.

Third placed team plays off against the antepenultimate team from the division above. If they win, they go up at the expense of that team, if they lose, then the team from the division above gets to stay there.

EDIT: So Blackburn and Wolves go down, and Bolton play off for survival against West Ham.

That is not a new idea.

Oh, well.

It'd be good, though.

[quote="Curiosity"2) No they won't. Nobody blathers on about Nottingham Forest being dominated and sneaking a win to get their first European Cup. [/quote]

Except Derby fans.

Then there's the "it was only Malmo" brigade. Mainly scousers, who we put out in early rounds.

A Peter Taylor rightly pointed out at the time, it's only the scoreline that matters in the end. When I'd report back on a 'nearly' game to my Dad, he used to chide me for going on... And remind me of that cup night.

They do it in Scotland now!

It always comes down to respect. I'll support any team whose philosophies, approach and demeanour I respect, over any other team, and be actively against those I deplore. Nationality doesn't come into it at all, and to be honest if we used that standard in weighing up any other choices we'd be considered racist. Football and it's own peculiar logic never fails to amaze me though...

It's not just football, though. It's all sport. It's all international competition. You have to have boundaries somewhere else we wouldn't have any fucking teams! It makes perfect sense to support your own country and its teams. Bringing the racist rubbish in is going too far.

(I'm not necessarily talking about supporting Chelsea here - I fucking hate them and my hatred certainly outweighs my delight at an English team winning a major international trophy. My point is, I think it's perfectly acceptable and normal to support your own country and its teams, and bringing potential racism (?!?!?!) into that argument is ridiculous and is only going to make perfectly lovely people feel bad and second guess themselves for doing something that is perfectly normal - backing your home teams.)

I'm talking about at a club level, not internationals. I don't really give a toss about international football at all but accept that it would be odd to root for country X over your home country if I did. I'm talking about club sides from different nations competing against each other, and how little relevance the city they train in makes to my feelings for them.

Whatever, dick.

Agreed. I don't actively want England to lose, I just don't give a shit anymore.

For someone who doesn't give a shit you certainly bang on about it all the fucking time!

I thought about heading over to WoS as well, but I no longer support it.

That's a pretty sick burn, right there.

Hey, I didn't bring it up.

Heaven forbid we get people questioning their motives! What next, self-awareness?!

I just happen to believe that nationalism and the willingness to turn a blind eye the sins of your own is one of the human traits that fucks the world up the most. This football thing, while in itself harmless, is another manifestation of that which I can't subscribe to. Some things I can applaud whatever flag they wear, some I couldn't even if they lived next door to me.

I put a question on WoS on May 3rd and no-one answered

In fact, no-one said anything until May 12th, which makes me think that maybe there's stuff I can't see

Wow. I make that 5 posts this month. Either there's an active subscriber section or it's really dropped off in activity.