Wolfsburg already conceded 27 goals in 15 games in the Bundesliga this season (only two teams have done worse). They defense is really shaky. I suppose that helped. I have to say, Wolfsburg was really stupid not to advance. 7 points after four games and then they play like that against Moscow (leading 1-0 at half time, but losing 1-2) and ManU's B/C team. And two of Moscow's players having been caught doping isn't going to help them either. UEFA always just bans the players but leaves the match results stand. Edit: The regulations concerning this seem to be somewhat weird. A team can only be punished because of doping if 3+ players have been caught doping, however only 2 active players per team are routinely tested (plus 2 reserve players). Seems to me that UEFA is trying to prevent such a situation from even occurring ... I don't think Wolfsburg deserves to advance based on this (far from it), but I do wonder about UEFA's procedures here.
Stuttgart scored 12 goals so far in the Bundesliga, 16th place. Now they score 3 in the first ten minutes in the CL? What's going on there? They fired their coach on Sunday. I think the former coach must feel like the team wanted him gone the way this is going.
Has anybody here seen "The Damned United" (or read the book)? I watched the movie last night, and imo it's fucking phantastic. Easily my most favourite football movie of all time. Even though that's not saying a whole lot since most football movies suck, I really loved this one. I don't remember who (sorry), but one of the regulars in this thread is a Derby fan, right? What did you think about it?
Went to the cinema to watch it and loved every second of it, the acting writing just everything was so good. Being a Forest fan the likes of Clough & Taylor are idols and while am sure it wasn't 100% accurate it was still a very good and Michael Sheen seems to be one of the best actors on the planet from Blair to Frost to Clough. Personally though I felt there choice of actor to play Peter Taylor was just superb I don't think anyone else could of done such a brilliant job. There are talks of a sequel which will be made about his glory times at Forest. Brought the DVD and book for x mas presents for my dad and a friend's dad but might have to buy my own copies soon.
I agree completely, the acting was great and the writing too - although that was probably easier since the story itself was just so remarkable already. I imagine Leeds fans possibly weren't too happy with how their club was presented though.
That'll be me (although I'm not the only one) I failed to go see it at the cinema (actually had the screen break down on the night we were going to go and had no other time before it ended) but got both the book and the film for my birthday! I loved both, although the book is a bit deperessing because Clough seems such a pathetic figure by the end. For someone who was a small child during Derby's glory days and who had no real appreciation at the time, it was wonderful to see/read about. One thing the book does in particular is big up Peter Taylor's involvment (although the film does too) they really were a double act and neither was as succesful without the other. This is why, though Nottingham has a statue of Cloughie, Derby will hopefully soon have a statue of Clough and Taylor. The Clough family weren't very happy about the book or the film I think, although conversly Taylor's family loved that his contribution was showcased. That's still the ultimate tragedy about both men, they never reconciled before the died, and it seemed to be a huge regret for Clough. I thought Sheen was excellent as Clough for the most part, although because he is such a great mimic, and because he's played so many famous people there are odd occasions where I saw Tony Blair or Kenneth Williams rather than Clough. Thats a minor quibble and I doubt anyone could have done a better job. Spall did a good job but I didn't think it was especially well cast as Taylor. I thought Broadbent was superb as Longson and Meany was a good choice for Revie. I thought the recreation of 70's football was extremely well done, much of it filmed at Saltergate, Chesterfield's ground. As with the best sports films, it's less about football than the characters.
Ashley is an idiot if he doesn't speculate to accumulate in January. He'll get more for Newcastle as a prem club rather than a championship one so he should allow the manager to buy a player or two to bolster the team. WBA? I dunno, as I said I just wasn't that impressed with them on Saturday...man they handball a lot!
Go away annoying child this is a thread for you know grown ups I wonder how Rafa feels he's played his last ever CL game with Liverpool
A special Jens Lehmann bonus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SShRyPjqq38 (And yeah, that was during a game.)
Dean Ashton retires at 26. Must be terrible for him, especially since he's so young. I have a friend who is a Norwich supporter, and he swears Ashton could have been as good as Shearer if it weren't for the injuries.
That is a shame, everything I'd heard suggested the same as your friend said, that he could have been an England mainstay for years to come.
There is no doubt injury free Dean Ashton would of been perfect for what Capello is looking for in a Heskey type player but one more similar to Alan Shearer. Deano could hold up the ball, he had solid techinal ability but more important to ability to score with his head, either foot and inside or outside the box --- Alan Shearer Lite indeed. SWP was the one who injured him in August 2006 at the ENG training camp so thats another reason for me to dislike SWP
Genius. Shame about Ashton though. As if England's collective strikeforce wasn't barren enough already.
If he were to sue and win, for what sounds like an injury that happened during training, what kind of precedent would that set?
M'gladbach vs Hannover, 5:3. Hannover scored six goals. Poor Karim Haggui, two own goals in one game.
I can barely believe Cardiff have played Preston, West Brom (away) and Boro (away) in a row and won them all! Three big promotion rivals, three wins and three clean sheets. Incredible. If West Brom lose or draw to QPR tomorrow (fingers crossed!) second place in the table looks wide open, with Cardiff and Forest both only 2 points behind at the moment. Excellent set-up for the Christmas fixture deluge! Arshavin is some kind of Anfield legend - he loves that place. Liverpool... what more is there to say? That was surely a first choice XI out there today and it looked distinctly average, especially in the second half. A great result to wrap an all round brilliant weekend in both Premiership and Championship.