17 month wait over. What a great day. 2-0 home win, a great performance from the entire team, new signings look so much better than what we've had the past 3-4 seasons. Early days but really positive for now about the season ahead. I knew I'd missed football but I don't think I realised quite how much. Buzzing.
The Evo-Web Football Thoughts Blog
- Thread starter Milanista
- Start date
Flipper the Priest
International
- 15 July 2003
I think it's funny when you hear accents really coming through in a chant. Arry Kine.
Flipper the Priest
International
- 15 July 2003
Not saying there's no room for shitty pitches in football. But there's a line.
Aberdeen chairman before last night's game. Inverdee being notoriously bad, constantly waterlogged public playing fields in the city.
The game was woeful because of this thing. Neither side could pass the ball. It didn't determine the outcome though. Still possible to overcome the 1-0 next week.
Aberdeen chairman before last night's game. Inverdee being notoriously bad, constantly waterlogged public playing fields in the city.
The game was woeful because of this thing. Neither side could pass the ball. It didn't determine the outcome though. Still possible to overcome the 1-0 next week.
- Staff
- #484
Just dropping this here for the like-minded, miserable, older, "football's gone to shit and we need to do something about it" crowd.
Fantastic football podcast, hosted by Nick Hancock (of They Think It's All Over fame, anyone else old enough to remember that?), with Chris England. Mentioned on Twitter by David Baddiel (see below) which is what put me onto it.
It's called: The Famous Sloping Pitch.
Fantastic football podcast, hosted by Nick Hancock (of They Think It's All Over fame, anyone else old enough to remember that?), with Chris England. Mentioned on Twitter by David Baddiel (see below) which is what put me onto it.
It's called: The Famous Sloping Pitch.
rockstrongo
Retired Footballer
Still amazed on how much Sean Dyche gets out off his team year in and year out.
Very few transfers and hardly any money spent ,must have had this team for 4-5 years now ,still they give Liverpool a run for their (multi million) money at Anfield.
Always had a soft spot for this (former?) town club.
2nd half and Liverpool has stepped up their game
Very few transfers and hardly any money spent ,must have had this team for 4-5 years now ,still they give Liverpool a run for their (multi million) money at Anfield.
Always had a soft spot for this (former?) town club.
2nd half and Liverpool has stepped up their game
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Andy
Evoweb Jester/Stadboardmaker.
I agree, and he seems a likeable bloke. I wouldn't mind seeing him in charge at Anfield one day, as he his a red himself. However todays game i think has got away from him and Burnley at 2-0 but a good effort.
rockstrongo
Retired Footballer
Think Burnley started the 2nd half pretty good ,but from min 55 and onwards it's been Liverpool.
Very good effort from the reds.
And Burnley being Liverpool's main party poopers of late it's quite a strong effort to turn the start of the game around to this.
Very likable bloke ,and great coach too.
The Burnley's in the PL Vs City/Liverpool/Chelsea is always going to be the Ford Escort turning up at the grid at Silverstone Vs Ferrari/Red Bull racing.
Flipper the Priest
International
- 15 July 2003
A fan of any team that stays rooted in its community and lives within its means. Also a soft spot after we played them a few years ago. An amazing away 'day'.
Their takeover is confusing though. Now loaded with debt
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...-left-club-90m-worse-off-and-loaded-with-debt
rockstrongo
Retired Footballer
Yeah I read that a few months back ,and it breaks my heart to see local town clubs being bought up by US/Chinese venture capitalists.
A very Liverpool like take over ,with the US wankers Gillett/Hicks
Doesn't matter how much they pump in to a club like Burnley , it's still not going to take off ,having both City/United down the road.
Always believe that they should take their town/local owned club as a strength and pride instead ,and that is actually what made them successful to begin with.
Gotta love Burnley's old ground as well right?
Sean Dyche does some quite amusing press conferences as well. I must admit whilst totally agreeing and admiring what a fantastic job he's done at Burnley I wouldn't want to watch it every week.
Used to love that show. Thanks Chris, will definitely have a listen to that.
For those who don't know it
Used to love that show. Thanks Chris, will definitely have a listen to that.
For those who don't know it
rockstrongo
Retired Footballer
Always had a thorn in my side Vs Spurs.
Seeing this kit hasn't made them more likeable.
Seeing this kit hasn't made them more likeable.
Flipper the Priest
International
- 15 July 2003
My opinion on the most annoying thing in football changes like the wind, but here's today's:
How easy it is for a defender to win a free kick in the corner of the pitch. Doubly frustrating as attackers never seem to learn and always raise their hands. But today was next level, when Haring of Hearts went down under no contact and the ref gave it without even flinching. I was incredulous. How can it keep happening?!
How easy it is for a defender to win a free kick in the corner of the pitch. Doubly frustrating as attackers never seem to learn and always raise their hands. But today was next level, when Haring of Hearts went down under no contact and the ref gave it without even flinching. I was incredulous. How can it keep happening?!
rockstrongo
Retired Footballer
Adding to my Spurs dislike ,seeing the traveling spurs fans giving Harry Kane a standing ovation and singing his name when he was subbed in?
Have I missed something?
I know how the reception would be at my club if some player pulled a Harry ,I know how it would sound in Italy /Greece/South America.
Can't understand this tbh.
Have I missed something?
I know how the reception would be at my club if some player pulled a Harry ,I know how it would sound in Italy /Greece/South America.
Can't understand this tbh.
I'm with you on that, defenders dive more than strikers. Any possibly dangerous position, soon as a striker even touches them (or not in the case of today it seems!) then they are down on the ground.
I was surprised at that after all that seems to have gone on.
rockstrongo
Retired Footballer
Carles P.
Champions League
OGC v OM 
It was going to far!
It was going to far!
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Flipper the Priest
International
- 15 July 2003
OGC v OM
It was going to far!
Still bizarre. Can't believe it hasn't been abandoned!
Just as I type that it's called off. Only cos Marseille didn't show up to resume. Can't blame them.
cleanslate
Championship
- 27 October 2020
- FC Barcelona
Flipper the Priest
International
- 15 July 2003
Always sceptical about these things as people go to extraordinary lengths to go viral. The Calibri makes me suspicious but other than that it looks legit.
I feel strongly about standing at football. I stand all the time. For me it's more comfortable and helps create a better atmosphere. I understand why all-seater stadiums were insisted upon in England but now, with the seating systems and crowd control measures available, that rule is redundant. However, we are where we are - with those rules on standing - so no sympathy for the guy for being ejected. The ban, though, is way over the top.
The Taylor Report recommendations didn't cover Scotland but the Premier Division made all-seater stadiums a requirement anyway. Last year at Aberdeen stewarding was relaxed in one of the stands, where everyone now stands up. It's improved the atmosphere immeasurably with like-minded people all grouped together. Ironically we had the first all-seater stadium in Britain, predating the Taylor Report by over 10 years.
Stan
Allez les Lionceaux !!!
- 12 September 2002
About the match in Nice. IMO Nice should loose this match.
A home club has the duty to protect the players of the visiting club. This is basic decency, if you can't guarantee the safety of visiting players, there is no point in playing football.
Payet threw a bottle back at the Nice fans? So what. Football players are human beings too.
I'm a Spurs fan.
@ Rockstrongo, can you say why you don't like Spurs? I'm interested, not that i want to convert you at all...
I don't like Juventus - Real Madrid - PSG.
Juventus: they are perennial cheaters (the EPO when Zidane played, Moggi and the referees and even now the referees).
Real Madrid: cheaters too (money).
PSG: the most plastic club i n the world, backed by a an autocratic regime and a team full of ego's. I was seriously disappointed in Messi when he went to PSG.
I hear from English Spurs fans that they (think they) are the most hated club in England. I wonder why (if it's true).
English football fans are weird imo, i don't get the rivalries. As a Spurs fan i should hate Arsenal, Chelsea and even Leicester (i love Leicester). I don't see why loving a club should also including hating other clubs. Don't like that tribalism.
When i discuss on twitter with some Spurs fans, they take themselves so very serious when discussing Spurs. An example: it is not done thinking that Skipp is not good enough, because he is 'one of our own'. And about Kane: i never liked him. In Pocchetino's team (i loved that team) he was the only player i never liked.
A home club has the duty to protect the players of the visiting club. This is basic decency, if you can't guarantee the safety of visiting players, there is no point in playing football.
Payet threw a bottle back at the Nice fans? So what. Football players are human beings too.
I'm a Spurs fan.
@ Rockstrongo, can you say why you don't like Spurs? I'm interested, not that i want to convert you at all...
I don't like Juventus - Real Madrid - PSG.
Juventus: they are perennial cheaters (the EPO when Zidane played, Moggi and the referees and even now the referees).
Real Madrid: cheaters too (money).
PSG: the most plastic club i n the world, backed by a an autocratic regime and a team full of ego's. I was seriously disappointed in Messi when he went to PSG.
I hear from English Spurs fans that they (think they) are the most hated club in England. I wonder why (if it's true).
English football fans are weird imo, i don't get the rivalries. As a Spurs fan i should hate Arsenal, Chelsea and even Leicester (i love Leicester). I don't see why loving a club should also including hating other clubs. Don't like that tribalism.
When i discuss on twitter with some Spurs fans, they take themselves so very serious when discussing Spurs. An example: it is not done thinking that Skipp is not good enough, because he is 'one of our own'. And about Kane: i never liked him. In Pocchetino's team (i loved that team) he was the only player i never liked.
- Staff
- #501
I see both sides of this - when he throws the bottle back, he's not going to hit the guy who threw it. He's going to be hitting another fan, who could be perfectly well-behaved, or a steward who's just doing their job. So we shouldn't condone it.
However, I know for a fact that I would react the same way, and I wouldn't regret it either. Football fans seem to get away with behaving like animals. Every week, countless fans throw bottles and objects at players, and it's just "part of the game". There are no consequences.
If a footballer makes a bad tackle, they are vilified, but when a fan throws a bottle, nobody even mentions it. The world's gone mad.
Honestly, without exaggeration, every Premier League club's fanbase thinks this (with the exception of Leicester maybe, who became everyone's "second team" during their title-winning season).
If you look for data on the subject, the last genuine and unbiased survey seems to be this one, and even then Tottenham's "top six finish" (tempted to make a joke there but I won't
) is driven almost entirely by fans of other London clubs and their derby biases, according to other articles about the same survey.Non-derby "hatred" is generally driven by success, multiplied by the amount of money it cost to achieve that success. Hence Chelsea and Man United being in the top two. If you remove the derby bias, Chelsea wouldn't be top - but I know, personally, the racist incidents their fans have been involved with in modern times have pushed me to strongly dislike them.
People seem to hate Liverpool because (amongst other things, like the financial injection) "they get all the VAR decisions", which is laughable to me, but I know a lot of people who staunchly believe it. Because if you repeat something often enough, it becomes fact...
West Ham being in the top four absolutely boggles my mind - it must be a London thing. I can't think of a reason to dislike them. In-fact, all I can think of is that their own fans voted for them, because of what their owners have put them through over the years...
Now that Tottenham have a manager who is so clearly a man of integrity (who has handled the Kane situation admirably), I am much more inclined to wish them well. I just hate that players I loved, like Son, have (in my opinion) had a change of character after years of being told to be more "nasty" on the pitch.
Though, the fans have made me laugh - I follow someone on Twitter who's a Tottenham fan, and within the space of two weeks, he went from "liking" a post that said "Kane, you're our only good player, our only hope, save us" - to "Kane is an overpriced arsehole, get rid while he's worth anything, take the next offer" - to "you'll always be one of us".
BUT... That's football fans in general. It's pathetic, but it's just how it is.
Flipper the Priest
International
- 15 July 2003
I agree. It's Nice's issue. But I'm not sure they play it in France as liability differs from country to country. It's a massive issue here as it's placed on the individual, but... certain clubs in Scotland have such a widespread issue that it's nigh-on impossible to identify and punish individuals. There have been repeated calls for 'strict liability' - whereby the clubs would be liable to punishments like stadium closures, fines and points deductions - which are batted away as the... certain clubs claim that they do all that they can do with CCTV, numbered ticketing, policies, campaigns etc. It's a mess. You're basically banking on the government enforcing strict liability and angering... certain clubs and all their fans, which could be political suicide given their popularity. Maybe France has a little more balls than us!
From this more northerly position, I'd say Spurs are one of the more popular teams in England. Man Utd the most. Chelsea by far the most disliked, probably followed by Liverpool.
Flipper the Priest
International
- 15 July 2003
Yeah I get that too. Without seeing where exactly he threw it, it's hard to tell. But one would suspect - given the way like-minded fans tend to congregate - that whoever it hit is of the ilk. I'm sure it would've been thrown into the young male bellend end, and not hitting a wee lassie and her mum. But then it could be a clown like me who'd probably stand with the young male bellends for the atmosphere but who is an absolute pansy who couldn't reach the pitch with a water bottle even if he wanted to.
That's it in a nutshell. Taking the median, football fans are dreadful. Petty, petulant arseholes. I despair at the conduct of 90% of the people at Pittodrie. From those who sit there in silence moaning at everything, to the guy standing on and breaking his seat singing about the Simpson/Durrant incident that happened 15 years before he was born. And in being so curmudgeonly, I'm problematic too!
Stan
Allez les Lionceaux !!!
- 12 September 2002
Thanks for your answers, Flipper and Chris.
Flipper, i think you are referring to the Old Firm in your post.
Chris, to be honest i kind of figured that out that virtually every English football thinks his own club is the most hated one. They also all think that the media and the pundits are biased against them and of course every single referee in the world and if they aren't biased against them then they are because they want to show that they are not fans of their club (Mike Dean and Spurs, and as a matter of fact i know Mike Dean is a Tranmere fan, just like you Chris).
Here in Belgian we have also fans like that, but less. It seems 90% of the English fans who talk football on social media are very fanatic.
I know a guy who is a very fanatical fan of KV Mechelen (their stadium is 4 km away form our house, i'm a season ticket holder although i'm a Genk fan - yes i'm weird). He has this constant hate for other clubs. Apart from that he is a very likeable person, but when it comes to football, he totally changes.
Mechelen is Belgian's last Europa Cup winner (in 1988). The were a big club for 7 years but afterwards it went all pear shaped. Somewhere near 2005 they were bankrupt and saved by their own fans. Since then the fans have 55% of the shares in the club and they have put that in the statutes of the club. A couple of years ago the owner of 3 big retail chains wanted to invest in KV Mechelen and somehow he acquired 75% of the shares (which would be impossible according to their own statutes). Then Covid came and the guy went bankrupt and ended up in jail because he was fraudulent. It turned out that he had loaned money and that he had put out the (new) stadium of the club as some sort of collateral (is this good English?). Now the club is in danger of loosing it's stadium. I know this also happens in England.
When i talk with the fanatical fan i tell him that his real enemies are the people who gave that guy 75% of the shares. He cannot see my point...
Flipper, i think you are referring to the Old Firm in your post.
Chris, to be honest i kind of figured that out that virtually every English football thinks his own club is the most hated one. They also all think that the media and the pundits are biased against them and of course every single referee in the world and if they aren't biased against them then they are because they want to show that they are not fans of their club (Mike Dean and Spurs, and as a matter of fact i know Mike Dean is a Tranmere fan, just like you Chris).
Here in Belgian we have also fans like that, but less. It seems 90% of the English fans who talk football on social media are very fanatic.
I know a guy who is a very fanatical fan of KV Mechelen (their stadium is 4 km away form our house, i'm a season ticket holder although i'm a Genk fan - yes i'm weird). He has this constant hate for other clubs. Apart from that he is a very likeable person, but when it comes to football, he totally changes.
Mechelen is Belgian's last Europa Cup winner (in 1988). The were a big club for 7 years but afterwards it went all pear shaped. Somewhere near 2005 they were bankrupt and saved by their own fans. Since then the fans have 55% of the shares in the club and they have put that in the statutes of the club. A couple of years ago the owner of 3 big retail chains wanted to invest in KV Mechelen and somehow he acquired 75% of the shares (which would be impossible according to their own statutes). Then Covid came and the guy went bankrupt and ended up in jail because he was fraudulent. It turned out that he had loaned money and that he had put out the (new) stadium of the club as some sort of collateral (is this good English?). Now the club is in danger of loosing it's stadium. I know this also happens in England.
When i talk with the fanatical fan i tell him that his real enemies are the people who gave that guy 75% of the shares. He cannot see my point...
Flipper the Priest
International
- 15 July 2003
I may or may not be referring to the Old Firm.
I, of course, very much am. More high-profile incidents this weekend past, albeit for actions outside the stadium.
Your English was excellent, but you must've jinxed it for 'loosing it's'. 😉 A point made purely in good nature as my command of any other language is near non-existent!
There does seem to be a general lack of understanding of the inner workings and governance of football clubs. Fans are very quick to point fingers at known individuals when it's usually committees and shady types who make critical decisions without responsibility, as they're only accountable to themselves.
rockstrongo
Retired Footballer
Nothing in particular tbh ,maybe it goes back to all my school mates being spurs and idiot's?
Can't even play spurs on Fifa ,always skip that game
Or maybe the spurs social m dia crowd being mainly turds thinking they're a bigger club than they are ,always shitting on clubs like Villa , calling them small team ,even though they've won a lot more than spurs.
Think that covers my dislike for them.
And on the topic of hating other clubs ,that goes in to my questions about foreign PL fans ,in this case my spurs/United/Liverpool friends.
Me ,I support one team ,my local Swedish team Hammarby and the hatred for our rivals aik/djurgarden is very real ,since you deal with them every day ,at school/workplace/bars/game day etc etc.
But being Swedish/Norwegian/asians/American spurs/United/arsenal fan and claiming "I really hate xx and XX" is kinda weird to me ,why?
You didn't grow up there ,your only interaction with your team and your rival team is through the TV.
Never got that.
So my dislike for spurs are based on people supporting them and their rise (and fall) to the top four and thinking they're above other teams I guess.
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rockstrongo
Retired Footballer
Think Peterborough is the only team with a standing terrace in the two top flights in England ,they have some exception from the rule due to its old (and lovely) ground.
I'm a firm advocate for standing and we have it here in every ground ,and there's no discussion on removing it ,think we can thank 51% rule for that.
Thank god we don't have crazy ass foreign owners and no club democracy like in the PL ,if someone ,a chairman board doesn't get the job done or are out of touch ,he'd get voted out the next annual meeting ,sorted!
Wasn't there discussion on implementing safe standing in England just a few years back ,pre Corona?
Hope they return to those plans again.
Standing on/behind seats like it's done now is pretty dangerous as well
I rarely listen to talksport these days but when I used to it was always Spurs fans who were unbelievably fickle. A few good results and they'd be on the phone-ins talking up how brilliant they were, how the manager at the time was fantastic. A few weeks later and a run of losses, it would be sack this clown, he has no idea, players are shit etc.
Wasn't it Jamie Carragher that threw the coin back at Everton fans that time? Then again he spat at a kid from his car so that's not exactly a surprise.
It's one of the latest moves to avoid financial fair play. Derby owner did it, seemingly massively over over valuing his stadium, buying it with is own company from the club, thus giving the club that income and avoiding financial fair play.
Selling of the stadium needs to be strictly prohibited. Coventry ended up without their own ground.
I'm pretty sure a couple of teams either went ahead with that or had plans to do so. There's a few teams with terraces still in League 1 and 2.
rockstrongo
Retired Footballer
@mattmid that's always a good thing (lower league terraces kept)
Bet the FA tries to convince/twist their arms if making it to the Championship to change though?
Remember some of the big guns (United) wanting to try safe standing ,hope it continues
Bet the FA tries to convince/twist their arms if making it to the Championship to change though?
Remember some of the big guns (United) wanting to try safe standing ,hope it continues
Yeah I think they still plan that although I haven't heard anything about it since covid.
I'm not sure what the rule is regarding that actually (promotion to Championship). I wouldn't be surprised if they were encouraged to put seats in.