SDMB Footie Focus: October

Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
#1

Welcome. Mark and Mick join me again on the couch, while Garth fidgets because no one allows him a word in edgeways, and eventually goes off to stare down the Sphinx.

Subjects this month:[ul][li]It’s “make or break” for the Reds already, says Gerard & the Pacemaker. We must beat L’Arse or the title is gone for another year.[/li]I am quite impressed with the ultra-attacking line-ups (Diouf, Kewell, Smicer and Gerrard in midfield??) he’s tried out with some success, even if defeats like Saturday’s against Charlton are that bit more likely.
[li]Alleged Rape: What? Them three? Well I never. Stone the crows. Gerraway. And so on.[/li][li]Euro crunch time: The England captain gets yet another part of his anatomy “sweated over” by the nation. What odds can I get on the match in Istanbul being abandoned? Wales merely confirm their playoff place, Scotland need a win for one and fair Eire seem doomed.[/li][li]Tottenham fan. It seems I can scarcely remember a time when this phrase has not been preceded by the words “long-suffering”. Your thoughts on the new appointment and where Glenda might reappear.[/li][li]Nationwide: Should the team propping up division 1 rename themselves Wimbledon Schadenfreude?[/li][li]The Drop: If I may quote a song of yore from a northeastern friend (to the tune of Yellow Submarine), “Peeta Reid has a fook n monk ees heed, a fook n monk ees heed, a fook n monk ees heed”. It now appears his entire team is becoming similarly simian. Will Peeta Reid end tha fook n month at Leeds? Also, the argument strengthens for reducing the number of teams in the Premiership by at least Wolves.[/ul] I should say that these monthly threads are intended to have something of an “on the terraces” feel about them, with plenty of that peculiarly Eastern Atlantic tradition called “taking the piss”. With this in mind then when a member herein alludes to, for example, a manager having a packet of sweets and a crafty smile, or a player liking half rice and half chips, or child-size prawn sandwiches laced with Ebola, please let us not become some horrific offshoot of Trisha. A thick skin needs no garment of Kilroy-Silk.[/li]
Also, I don’t know where you prefer to post regarding your performance in the Straight Dope Fantasy League but they are perfectly welcome here. With mascaroni and pierre72 a nose ahead of Gazelle, and London_Calling going from 1 point to 37 points in a weekend, Month 1’s crown is all to play for before it ends on the 15th.

#2

I’d be more than happy to keep the Spurs saga out of this thread and, maybe, continue it in the September thread; my fault as much as anyone’s that it came to overshadow everything else and to the detriment of the general banter.

Fwiw, I fucking hate tabloid gossip – not prudish but I really, really dislike the way tittle-tattle can ruin careers and even lives, not to mention the possibility of a fair trial if it comes to that. Yep, you can’t do anything about the Internet but that doesn’t mean I have to accept that selling a few more copies of your rag is reason enough to do what they do. In the words of John Leslie fuck ‘em.
On topic, solid result last night for the Celtic tiger at home and not enough from the Ashburton Grovellers out East.

I see Leeds have Liverpool, ManUre and the Launderers in the next three games - possibly 11 games and only 5 points come November; another pay off for Reidy looms.

John Inman cracks me up, this is rather amusing:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/3152836.stm
On the Fantasy League, I was 10 points adrift at the bottom last week. One more week like that and I’ve won the bloody thing. That’s mad :eek:

#3

if you think Tottenham are doing badly, try being a Leeds fan. 3 crushing defeats in a row.
4-0 against Everton?

we are now truly a lost cause…

#4

Well, I think we should head off any sob story competition right here, because I beat you all… I’m a Sheffield Wednesday fan. At the moment, our division 2 promotion train is heading off the rails. 0-1 and 0-2 defeats against Bournemouth and Brighton, 0-0 against Grimsby… Hope Turner sorts things out soon.

That said, I can easily see Leeds doing a Wednesday if you’re relegated this season. Your best players will leave, the leeches on big contracts will stay on, dragging you further into money trouble (and your debts are much bigger than ours) and you’ll be stuck in division 1 hell, or worse. Can’t wait! (sorry, don’t like you lot much).

#5

Pah. Oldham fan. Administration, receivership, John Sheridan forced out of retirement thanks to a lack of players, etc, etc.

#6

At least you had a cause to lose…

#7

Poor darlings… only earn 10k+ per week and are still subjected to the tittle tattle of those who pay their wages…
In the word of Roy Walker, ‘It’s good, but it’s not right’

#8

And still you managed a draw at Hillsborough :). Ok, fine, you win, but at least you have Shezza. He’s pure class… Ah, the memories.

#9

Shez Snr is our top scorer this season - 4 goals in 10 games. His little brother, Mini-Shez, is still the angriest man in football, with more red cards than I’ve had hot dinners.

Latest news for us, courtesy of the slightly more reputable Accountancy Age, is that nobody has bid for us and that the administrators will close us down on Monday. There’s a rumour that some local investors will cough up enough to keep us going for a month, but that just seems like prologing the agony to me.

#10

Well I’m not much of a Chelsea fan (or Man.U, Arsenal, Tottenham etc.) but I do like John Ranieri’s style. He’s going to have to produce something special to keep his job and if he doesn’t, I for one will be sorry to see him go.
I’ve only just found out who the players are in the alleged rape, and even if it turns out to be true, I think the Sun, starting with the Hillsborough tragedy and continuing to the present time has set the standard for the term “gutter press”. If it comes to court, I don’t see how there can be a fair trial, and if it doesn’t, it will never be forgotten, even if it turns out to be a load of lies.

Anyway, it’s looking a lot brighter for my team this season- it took us til 3/4 of the season was over before we had this many points last season. Good ol’ Lee Trundle, and good old Brian Flynn.

V

#11

Aberdeen FC: Paterson says his job is “safe until Christmas.” Management is giving him the dreaded “vote of confidence.”

Record: P 7, W 1 D 1 L 5. :frowning:

#12

I’ve always liked Aberdeen, especially since you took the overrated Paul Bernard off our hands all those years ago. Last seen touting himself round Plymouth, if I remember rightly.

#13

and Leeds are at least keeping Peter Reid. for once they give somebody a chance to get the players going again. what the hells wrong with Paul Robinson these days, he was shaping up to be a future England keeper.

coming in November, the ‘great Leeds Car Boot sale’. all players, 50p or nearest offer

#14

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by SentientMeat *
[li]Euro crunch time: The England captain gets yet another part of his anatomy “sweated over” by the nation. What odds can I get on the match in Istanbul being abandoned? Wales merely confirm their playoff place, Scotland need a win for one and fair Eire seem doomed.[/li][li]Tottenham fan. It seems I can scarcely remember a time when this phrase has not been preceded by the words “long-suffering”. Your thoughts on the new appointment and where Glenda might reappear.[/li][li]Nationwide: Should the team propping up division 1 rename themselves Wimbledon Schadenfreude?[/li][li]The Drop: If I may quote a song of yore from a northeastern friend (to the tune of Yellow Submarine), “Peeta Reid has a fook n monk ees heed, a fook n monk ees heed, a fook n monk ees heed”. It now appears his entire team is becoming similarly simian. Will Peeta Reid end tha fook n month at Leeds? Also, the argument strengthens for reducing the number of teams in the Premiership by at least Wolves[/li][/QUOTE]

Well well well. Lot’s to talk about at half time here…

The Turkey Game: We’ll piss it. The turks are possibly the only team on the face of the globe more over rated than ingerland. It looks like the player known as either “that c*nt beckham” (when playing for man utd) or captain fantastic (when playing for ingerland) is going to be fit to play.

Spurs: The hurt goes on, as does the hunt. It’s looking like Curbs (which would be nice for me - £900 worth of nice) However I am having second thoughts about this and can see another gerry Francis in the making - but as a Spurs fan I’m fickle - it’s the law. I am not looking forward to our static defence taking on the boy rooney tomorrow.

Wimblestein: I live in SW London and go to the occasional AFC Wimbledon game - and that is the only club that should bear the name.

Leeds and the drop: It’s either them or us this year, although the “turmoil” at newcastle may yet have an impact.

The “rape”: Totally unrelated to the above comment. I see that the names of the allegedly guilty are now common knowledge (and the Standard has another one on the front page today, in all but name). THe police have said to the broadcasting companies that they could be in trouble if they broadcast recognisable chants from the terraces about this (and there most certianly will be chants).

#15

HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR

If THAT is the best the huns have to offer this is going to be a very enjoyable season indeed.

How in God’s name are that mob topping their Champions League group? Has the standard of football declined that greatly across the continent?

I posted at the start of the season that they are overreliant on their keeper and today just proved it. The narrow scoreline was entirely thanks to him (oh and the ref but that’s par for the course in the SPL) and meanwhile Hedman in our goal hardly had a save to make (thank fuck).

My only regret is that I couldn’t afford to be there. First OF game I’ve missed in a couple years :frowning:

#16

With only one game left, things remain tight in Fantasy Football land. Despite jointly topping the table with something svelte from the veldt, I am resigned to an inglorious conclusion. While I might be giving away useful (albeit obvious) advice to my competitors, the message is as follows:

If you have any transfers left, buy Birmingham and Chelsea players

I’m clean out of transfers so may the best couch potato win.

#17

The king is dead. Long live the king?

It’s going to be hard for the THFC board to get rid of the boy Pleat at this rate. He is a nice Jewish boy as well. It was a revelation on Saturday. If you scroll back through the September thread to see the optimism of the Spurs fans at the beginning of the season – this is why.

This team is full of goals. It will also make life exciting by leaking plenty too. Everton were pretty poor though.

Even God (the one who’s son was born in Bethlehem – not the one born in Hayes) got in on the act, with two huge rainbows over White Hart Lane on Saturday. I only sing when we’re winning. It’s nice to sing again.

This “rape case” rumbles on. I am sure that everyone in the country now knows who the players involved are. The girl involved has engaged Max Clifford, which can’t help. God alone knows what is going to happen next.

Now we have a week of worry over Owen’s foot ahead. He’s pretty doubtful for Turkey, so who do we play in his place? I imagine that Sven will play Heskey (why oh why?) with Rooney, with perhaps Scholes as an old fashioned inside forward. I really don’t want us to get into the playoffs – we’ll get the Dutch and we’ll get mullered.

I’m crap at this fantasy foot ball mullarkey - do we have to pick a new team for the next game?

#18

The BBC one is monthly - you have unlimited transfers in the short period between the end of one month’s game and the start of the next. Alternatively, you can just leave your team as is and it’ll still be there for the next round.

If you think that one’s complicated, I’m also doing the Telegraph version, where you pick a squad and have to pick individual teams before every set of games (which meant picking five different teams for the weekend just gone).

#19

Johnnie Vaughn puts on an interesting turn on Radio Five Live between 11.00 and 12.00 on a Saturday morning. One of the highlights this week was ‘Alternative occupations of Prem managers’:

[ul]
[li]Sam Allardyce (by ‘eck) = Coach driver, specialising in day trips to Blackpool for the pensioners (excellent)[/li][li]Gordon Strachan = cheekie chappie butcher[/li][li]Sir Mad Jock = (incomprehensible) Bailiff[/li][li]King Kev = Boy Band Manager (I’d luv it, luv it)[/li][li]David Pleat = Old peoples’ home manager (my fav)[/li][li]John Inman/Ranieri – old-fashioned maitre de at ‘Claudio’s’ and forever tinkering with the cutlery placement (very good)[/ul] [/li]
. . can’t remember the others just now . . .

<Spurs aside>

Absolutely. The team and squad has great shape, fantastic balance and can easily provide regular and quality service to our top six strikers – going forward, it’s all there. Best squad for a decade, at least.

I was surprised Pleat took the risk of not (at least) starting with Bunji as the ‘stopper’ but I’ll just add that to the developing list of good (or fortuitous decisions) he’s made inc. reverting to a standard 4-4-2, giving Blondel a game when he could, Jackson in the Coventry squad, trying Ricketts left-side . . . all that aside, Pleat has been very lucky.

How about this for an insane Venables-style Christmas tree:

Keller

Carr – Richards – King – Konchesky (Tano or Ziegle)

Davies - Redknapp – Ricketts

Postiga – Kanoute

Keane

  • should engender a few 8-8 draws

btw, we’re now level on points with most of our usual suspects, Everton, Villa, Blackburn . . . funny old game.

</Spurs aside>

Not sure what to make of the Own injury yet but I see Hakan Sukur might be in the same boat . . . or not. Everyone will be playing games this week.

#20

Anyone up for a club v country heated debate?

You have the choice, and you can only have one. Your club can win the highest realistic thing for it, or your country can win the world cup/ euro pot/ area championship etc. Only one, and only once ever. So whats it to be?

So for me its a choice between Spurs winning the euro pot and England winning the World cup.

It’s an intersting comparison, as there is very little chance of spurs winning the euro-pot, and there is a not completely impossible chance of England winning the world cup. So my choice would be…

Spurs as they are a team I have chosen , rather than being born into, also I have a greater attachment to the the club than to my national team.

So any other ideas?