Whatever happened to Justin Edinburgh?
I could never seem to get his sticker for my sticker album.
Where are they now - justin ediburgh.
He’s player manager for Billericay Town. That’s about his level IMHO. It’s easy to forget that our backline was once Edinburgh; Dean Austin, Stuart Nethercott and that bloke that mysteriously vanished never to be heard form again.
I saw Carlton Palmer on telly last night saying he fancied another go at management. Bless.
Gone are the glory days of Gary Mabbut et al…
I don’t remeber this Al bloke at all, but you want glory days… how about:
Ifill (u-21 England player - only 17); King; Naynbet; Ziegler.
Looks pretty gloroius to me.
Talking of Gary Mabbut - have you noticed that in William Hill betting shop windows they have big pictures of various sports being played and the football one is Gary Mabbut challenging Alan Shearer (Is this the Al you were on about?)
and Shearer is playing for Blackburn? That must be at least 10 years out of date.
I’ve seen that.
There’s also a poster in my nearest Joe Jennings that has Ruel Fox in a Newcastle Shirt. God knows how old that is.
He’s a hate figure everywhere. When the tabloids were linking him with us (as they occasionally do with everyone who ever played under MON at Leicester) there were all sorts of suicide threats on the Celtic forums in the event this ever came to pass. Which, thankfully, it didn’t.
My abiding memory of that League Cup Final incident is the camera cutting to him just after he’s wiped his nose… and lingering on the two-inch long piece of snot dangling from it.
I can’t believe how close we came. For one glorious minute I believed we’d managed to turn over the Red Devils. Damn that last minute defensive madness! I can’t even complain about the extra time as there was only 2 minutes (must be some kind of record when Man U are losing)
p.s.
Why is Alex Ferguson so pathologically unable to admit when his team has a bad game? Why must he always whine to the match observer and interviewers about the million and one excuses he always trots out. When Bolton play poorly Big Sam comes right out and says so.
Man Utd - not the team they used to be by a long chalk.
pps he was only on the last 30 minutes but Diouf looked promising. Im reserving judgment until i’ve seen some more though
It’s already looking like a two horse race isn’t it? Man Utd are a long way off the pace and by the time that Rooney and Ferdinand are playing for them regularly their challenge will probably be over. Liverpool are pants and Newcastle are in meltdown so those other two CL places are up for grabs.
I can’t see anyone overtaking the goons - especially now that referees have decided to let them make the decisions for them (for fuck’s sake!).
Sunday’s game against the carrot-crunchers was about the most entertaininng 0-0 I’ve seen. Their keeper - Green - looked very good indeed. So with robinson, Green and Kirkland engand are well provided for in goal. Still undefeated! (we have Chelsea on saturday so I’m not confident of extending this run)
I was glad to see the draw. I have a bet on with a guy at work that Bolton will finish above Spurs. it’s early days yet but I think it’s a bet I could win. That said I fully expect us to get absolutely mullered at Highbury next Saturday. It should be at least 10 - 1 though so i’ll be having a flutter - after all we won one at those odds at Stamford Bridge last season.
Currently shoring up the defence of my local club, Dublin City. Rooted bottom of the table, with Roddy Collins managing. trust Roddy Collins to bring in the former world Hopscotch record holder as a fix for the defence.
You need your bumps felt old bean.
Next saturday the top six all take each other on. Could be interesting…
Liverreal dos, A Eth Monaco nullo. Scorchio!
Well, old Geddy Lee Googlie-eye (in keeping with the Rush references) is now but a memory at Liverpool (although I did enjoy MoTD2 when the bloke who used to do the markets on BBC Breakfast News asked him whether commentating on Liverpool for French TV was like watching another bloke sleep with his wife) and Ra Ra Rafael Benitethetheth is in the process of turning Anfield into some bizarre Gibraltar FC sans the ultra-conservative tax-criminals.
And it is actually looking like proper football.
The ball fizzes around in midfield for a while, it’s played up towards the front two, and bloody hell! They stop and lift their heads up! Not only that, but bloody hellfire! There’s midfielders positively swarming into the box! What the gubbins is Steve Finnan doing in there??
That was against West Brom at home, granted, but the signs were promising. And then last night, against last year’s finalists, it should have been 4-0 at least. The defence still looks a little dubious, but Liverpool’s attacks now look one whole heckuva lot more like those inexorable Red Tides of old. Xabi Alonso (ginger Spaniards, whatever next) looked like he’s working out English game quicksmart after being rather bemused at Bolton. And Luis Garcia looks like the genuine right-midfielder we’ve needed for, say, a decade.
I feel patiently optimistic. Fergie’s on his way out, I think - the Scum’s midfield is looking distinctly average these days. The Stamford Bridge Gangster’s Paradise is surely Fool’s Gold: plutocrats haven’t the time nor the patience to build long-term success. And that leaves L’Arse. They look utterly unstoppable right now, winning games in the first 20 minutes - they almost look like a boxer prodding and jabbing at an amateur before unleashing a devastatingly simple knockout (where the hell do all those players come from, time and again?) But Liverpool were never expected to challenge them just yet, and I’ll give old Rafa at least 3 years beofre passing judgement.
As for Owen, well, I’m really not sure what kind of shady deals are going on at Real these days but £8M is much much better than the big fat nothing that Houllier allowed him to contractually threaten us with by not walking the walk of his “sell anyone who stalls” talk: £20M+ would have been far more realistic this time last year. However, we’re now saving £3.7M pa on his wages and Steven Gerrard now marshalls the team instead of just pinging it at Owen every time. And he was never the adored cult figure that Gerrard is or, say, Fowler was. No biggie.
So all in all you’re happy Mr Meat?
I thought you were ropey against us - but that was 1st game of the season, so maybe you’ve improved (certainly sounds like it).
Outside of Cisse, where are the goals going to come from though?
I agree about Man Utd. THis looks like Fergie’s last season (and I wouldnt be in the least bit suprised to see old trouser-folder Sven in the hotseat.) Will he walk or wait to be pushed (pushed upstairs)?
To me the title race looks over. No one is going to stop the Plumstead Pikies.
However withh Newcastle in alsorts of grief and Liverpool far from the finished article (you may disagree) this season looks like the best opprtunity for one of the next tier to make a move on a CL place, I fancy us with an outside chance and more realistically Villa and maybe Middlesbrough to have a shout.
And then there’s the cups - We have Oldham away in the League cup. That’s our best chance of silverware (and a Euro place).
Millwall are in Europe tonight. Good for them, quite a few of my pals have gone. They are so happy. Bless their little Burberry hearts.
Well the 1-0 victory on tuesday may not be the greatest result in the world but its a helluvah lot better than our start in the Champions League last year. Bergkamp seemed slightly distracted but Vieira was looking good.
Reyes looks like a kid set loose in a sweet shop.
Happy enough. Valencia played beautiful, quick footer under Benitez, and Liverpool might play the same eventually. Liverpool fans are now extremely wary of false dawns, but displays like that last night give one hope that he was the right choice. And I agree that he’ll be looking for a £10M+ striker in the window, but for now I’m just happy to see midfielders scoring goals. Gerrard, Garcia and Kewell are all making good chances, and Baros has the pace and skill - if he just develops a little more poise he’ll be the genuine article. I still think we’ll struggle to do better than fourth this season, but let us see.
A little something for any passing celtic fans…
http://www.gla.ac.uk/~cmc1z/fantasy_celts_b/fantasy_celts_18.html
I’m just a bit worried that it’s a university address. Is this what students get up to now? Isn’t getting pissed and pulling rotters good enough for them these days?
The youth of today eh?
School of Science graduate checking in.
Inspired by a current NFL team-breakdown thread going on, here’s what’s happening with the shambolic mess that is Everton Football Club:
Who is Quality?
Three names for you. First up, David Moyes. This man impresses on so many levels, and currently has the turd-polishing skills on overdrive. After a minor meltdown at the end of last season, where it was rumoured he had lost “the room”, he has come back to his messianic best and is fielding a well-organised, motivated team. Next, we have Joseph Yobo. Not the most talked about centre-half in the country, but definitely one of the most talented (he is captain of Nigeria I think). Certainly, if we’re talking althletic ability, control and pace then there are few in his league currently playing in the premiership. He is not a Tony Adams type leader and reader of the game, and needs to learn the fine english art of sticking man and ball into row z, but he would still walk into most premiership teams today. Third, I give you Nigel Martin. Very long in the tooth, but still one of the best English keepers playing. If only he had heeded Sven’s call, and some fine patriot had murdered David James with a big knife, England would have won Euro 2004.
Who is Good?
Thomas Gravesen, on balance, is a good player. Maddeningly inconsistent and with a football brain as large as your average diplodocus, he has dominated games and can make a difference. He could probably start for 50% of premiership teams. I’ll throw in James McFadden as a good player as well, although he has yet to string two good performances together in the premiership. He has had some heroic games for Scotland though, the Moyesiah needs to bring some of that passion out of him in the royal blue jersey.
Who is Mediocre?
Everyone else. Alan Stubbs, Steve Watson, Zinedine Kilbane and all the other journeymen are not premiership quality footballers.
Prognosis for the season:
If everyone keeps listening to Moyes and doing as they’re told, then things will be OK. Optimistically, if we can keep it together till January without anyone being a dickhead, get some quality on board in the window, a top half finish should be comfortable. Remember, before Arsenal took things to another level all you needed to win the championship was four or five class players, everyone else doing their job and a good manager pulling the strings. Quality players make a hell of a difference to those around them, two such thoroughbreds arriving at Goodison in the new year could be the beginning of a decent side.
In my dreams. 
If you’ve read through that, good on yer! Anyone feel like posting for their own team?
So the start of this season has been a bit on the shite side for us. Then again, last season begun similarly badly, yet we were still up there challenging by the time winter rolled around.
All looked to be improving on Saturday when we beat Blackburn convincingly, but the game I watched on TV tonight was a scrappy affair against a team we should have hammered 4 or 5 to nil. BNEI Sakhnin were just one of these skill-free minnows that try to make up for it by kicking your players around the pitch and (unfortunately) provoking one into hitting out and getting sent off :smack: .
Not that several of our players appeared little more talented than theirs: Bernard, Dyer (until he got injured again), Bowyer and Ameobi all seemed to give the ball away or pass it into no-mans-land more often than anything else. You can just about get away with this against crap teams like Sakhnin, but if they don’t pull it up a few notches away against Southampton on Sunday and get a much-needed away win we’re going to be back in the shit again.
Time will tell if Souness can produce the required improvement. There were some crumbs of comfort from the Sakhnin game: a cracking headed goal from Kluivert, who was a cut above the rest of our side all game; and some decent crossing by Milner once he was brought on as sub for Dyer. I reckon Kluivert has staked his claim to be picked for the first 11 against Southampton. If Newcastle can put a few results together starting on Sunday they’ll be up challenging for the top 4 place, particularly if Man U and to a lesser extent Liverpool keep slipping up.
Other than the aforementioned, I reckon Tottenham (good defence which is unusual in the Premiership, quality keeper, Defoe) and Middlesbrough (some amazing signings e.g. Mendieta, Hasselbaink, Viduka) will be the ones to watch in the next layer of teams. Villa have started pretty averagely after their great end to last season but maybe they can pull themselves back up there too. With regard to Villa I’ve been expecting for a while a bigger team to put a bid in for Hitzlsperger, who always seems to be at the centre of the action for them.
Ian
Ok I’ll have a go:
Who is Quality:
Jermain Defoe; We’ve known this for a while. Hammers fans for longer. The best striker at the lane since Lineker (and maybe, just maybe, a bit better than that). Should be an England regular - Imagine a front line of Defoe and Rooney running at defences. My only real worry is if we can hang on to him.
Ledley King: Deadly Ledley gets better and better. The big difference this year is that he is alongside Naybet who he obviously trusts rather than Gardener or Richards. It helps that he is playing in the right position too.
Paul Robinson: Best keeper at THFC since Thorsvedt. England are well served for young keepers with him, Green and Kirkland. Surely it’s all over for James?
who is good:
Sean Davis. Good foot-in midfielder giving us the defensive bite we’ve been lacking for years. Potential England squad player in the Butt mode.
Simon Davies: Owes us big time and needs to get back to his previous levels.
Naybet: Tower of strength in central defence. Has he got a whole season in him though?
Who should be melted down for glue:
THe new bosses have got rid of a lot of deadwood: Anderton; Zeige; Doherty etc. Really the only crap we’ve got left is Dean Richrads (the tenth most expensive defender EVER) and Tarrico who is surplus to requirements.
Yesterday’s draw against Chelsea has made me VERY optimistic for the rest of the season. THis is a strange feeling for a yid.
Quality:
Chris Sutton. Thank fuck he had the one bad season at Chelsea and nobody in England remembers how good he actually is when not played out of position in a rotation system under a novice manager. An absolute class player. Never misses penalties, either.
Juninho. Still can’t believe we’ve signed him. A joy to watch.
Neil Lennon. Takes a lot of stick from some quarters for being too negative, but his role is to break up the opponents’ attack and he does that expertly.
Good:
Jackie McNamara - I say this with some hesitation because he had a few poor seasons for us, and I understand he hasn’t done well for Scotland (has anyone lately?), but last year he was rock solid and until he picked up that injury against Barcelona last week he was showing every indication of continuing that form.
Henri Camara. He’s no Larsson, but I think he’ll do OK.
John Hartson. Going through a bad spell at the moment, and by no means indispensable, but he scores lots of goals for us and that’s all he’s supposed to do.
Stan Varga. By and large he’s been pretty solid for us.
John Kennedy. Please God let him recover from his injury.
OK:
Didier Agathe. Usually shines in Europe but far less effective in Scotland. His pace is phenomenal, he’s getting better defensively but his final ball is just lousy.
Bobo Balde. Can be incredible, but God when he fucks up he does so colossally.
Alan Thompson. Great free kicks, doesn’t fuck up too often, nothing special though.
Shaun Maloney. Enthusiastic and loads of energy, but doesn’t have that killer instinct the great strikers have.
Stilian Petrov. Sometimes just doesn’t seem to care and tends to disappear in big games.
David Marshall. A good shot-stopper, but his positioning is poor and his distribution is woeful.
Rab Douglas. See David Marshall, but less good.
Rubbish:
Momo Sylla
David Fernandez
Magnus Hedman
Ulrick Laursen
Joos Valgaeren (hate to say it because he was brilliant for us at one time but he’s past it now)
BTW just heard that Brian Clough has died. RIP.