Yeah - sorry about Norwich, we had them where we wanted them and would have taken a point, but someone let slip that Colin was already on the pitch celebrating at Loftus Road and we just couldn't allow that.... Seriously though, his face was a treat when he realised that Norwich had scored. Unlucky you twat!
I'm sensing last day misery approaching thanks to that Norwich goal. Why in hell didn't Derby clear it!? Now our only chance is to win both games - Boro (H) and Burnley (A) - and hope either Pompey or god help us Coventry can get points off Norwich. I think Pompey can, but dear god, I really didn't want to have to be winning at Turf Moor at the last! However... it'll almost be worth it, just for the memory of relegating Preston, our bogey team for some time now. That did feel good.
Are you guys in favour of the playoff or not? I mean, I'm sure it's very exciting, but there's kind of a lot of money at stake to leave it more or less to chance (which a playoff always is to some degree), and you have an awful lot of games already during the season.
Well, Roger, I travelled to Wembley least season to see us lose the play-off, so no - I want it abolished! I also want injury-time abolished so Norwich can't keep scoring in it. They did it to us as well - a 92nd equaliser that cost us 2 points, the very points that would have us above them by 1 point right now. It's madness. You're right too about the money risked on the play-offs. It's a total lottery. It's also ridiculous to put the teams who finish 3rd and 6th on an equal footing, as there's nearly always a big points gap between them (not so much this year). It does sort of balance out I guess, as the teams in 5th and 6th usually get there on the back of a good late season charge, as opposed to the teams in 3rd and 4th who've been there for half of the season. Swansea, for instance, are likely to get rolled over this year as their form is dire, whereas Reading, Cardiff, Norwich and even the teams in 6th-9th are on decent runs (except Forest!). Last year's semi between Forest and Blackpool showed that perfectly. Having read that back, it just confirms what a total lottery it is. I'm reasonably confident Cardiff could do it this year, based on form, the experiences of the players year plus the likes of Bellamy and Olofinjana who are big game players and will be well up for it. Really, though, I'd much rather the final whistle at Burnley on the 7th be the final whistle on our season!
I like the playoffs and this is despite Forest never winning a playoff tie in 3 attempts (bare in mind in two of them we had 2 goal leads) and I went to the League 2 Playoff Final with Mansfield Town in 2004 and we loss on penalties after having a goal wrongly disallowed as the linesman thought the ball had gone out of play (replays ruled him wrong). Its great drama at the end of the day and if you want to go up automatic finish in the top 2 . I hate how Rugby uses it to decide the actual championship, thats just wrong.
Hehe, Guardiola sounds a little upset before today's game. I can't help liking Mourinho and I hope he wins the CL again with Real. Would be fun to see if he can unnerve Ferguson before the final too.
I think Utd would win a Real/Utd final but I don't want Braca top win it because there quite boring and over-rated oooo I can pass it two yards and back again how impressive a decent defence can always stop them. Can anyone please tell me why the hell the facial nerves of the Barca players are located in their chests? EVERY BLOODY time they get touched in the chest area they go down holding their faces...Ban the fucking cunts and they'll soon stop it. Real will win at this rate due to actually using tactics, Jose is showing up Pep's naive one track tactics.
Yeah, those Spaniards seem to have a very low pain tolerance the way they're screaming for their mommies every time somebody touches them.
Well done Barca and Alves for conning the ref and getting Pepe sent off despite the fact it was a clear 50/50 tackle and he got the ball first...win 2-0 due to the extra man Worthy Euro champs ey when you have to get cheat and cry your way there, UEFA gotten the team they want in the final I hope Darren Fletcher is sick for the final because everytime he breathes a Barca player will probably faint and fake a heart attack.
^^ I also think it wasn't a red card, but Real is a fucking dirty team, one of them deserved it. And I don't think it made the slightest difference in this game. Barcelona easily was the better team. And the 2:0 was nothing short of brilliance.
I thought it was a red card:- http://s4.as.com/prom/201104/pro_photo1303936422.jpg (a good job Alves saw it coming and managed to move out of the way) Adebayor should have gone too for his push to the face/neck of his opponent, and it's a shame that the officials didn't see Busquets' cheating (simulation of injury) either - or clamp down on being surrounded by players at every decision. A shame that Mourinho's post-match rant at conspiracies from refs, UEFA and Barca will deflect away from his selection, tactics, and 'approach' to the game. You see it's not his fault really - it must be hard, sending his teams out to play in Corinthian spirit, abiding by the laws of the game, never seeking to gain an unfair advantage - and yet everyone else is out to cheat you. Poor Jose...
It looks a bit worse than that still photo than it looked to me on tv, and the attack was on the "free" leg, not the one he was standing on so I think the chance of injury from that was minimal. But it wasn't a horrible call in any case, and I also would've given Adebayor a red card.
Violent Conduct for Adeyabor for me:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYwpncIOMf4 (18 secs in) If UEFA had balls they'd go for a retrospective ban on Busquets for simulation - similar to the one that gave (and later rescinded! lol) to that Arsenal forward for diving a couple of seasons ago? It'll be interesting to see how Madrid's attitude in the 2nd leg - and how many off-the-ball incidents there'll be as well as some late tackles/stamps/blocks/shoves flying around - or will they surprise a few people and try to play some football?
If UEFA had any balls, Barca and Madrid should both be getting punished - heavily - for that brawl. Disgraceful. I see no reason not to kick both of them out of the competition. Well, aside from the pro-Barca element obviously. They can do no wrong, despite being possibly the worst culprits of simulation and crowding the referee I've ever seen.
That picture neglects the fact it was a 50/50 the ball was in the air of course hes going for it with his foot and he got the ball first, if anything Alves pulled out of the challenge but left his leg there and I was always taught pulling yourself out of a challenge mid way can be more dangerous. Adebayor was a clear red no doubt.
Great advert for Spanish football..... I just wish that Fifa/Uefa would take a harsh stance towards simulation. As bad as some of the Madrid team are at times, they were made to look like complete amateurs by the likes of Busquets and Pedro. Barcelona are the best team in the world, and they play some of the best football that I can remember, so why the fcuk do they need cheating twats like that anywhere near their team?!
UEFA/FIFA really need to start using retrospective evidence to target cheats and ban them, they would soon stop it if they kept missing games because I doubt their own clubs would be happy. The UEFA CL last night was turned into the 2006 World Cup where diving and simulation + bad refs wrecked that tournament and threatens to derail the standard of football in the CL.
Great game between Real Madrid and Barcelona last night. Looking forward to Liverpool's game against Newcastle on Sunday because it's been a little while since I've been to a Liverpool Newcastle game.
Great? no am sorry that tarnished football in such a bad way that both clubs should be thrown out of the CL next year it was horrible. Great games are Arsenal 3-3 Spurs or Man Utd 4-3 Man City, Liverpool 4-3 Newcastle. Great end to end football with goals, passion and mistakes...not diving every 20 seconds.