Football.

[Baz]

Walcott to be.

[phonics]

He's achieved a hell of a lot more than Walcott has already and he's 23.

[-james-]

Sterling is the first/second name on the teamsheet for the best side in the world. I reckon he's decent.

[Reg]

His general lack of quality must be why Guardiola is so keen on him
:D

He's an excellent player. It's just unusual for an excellent player to screw up so regularly.

His off the ball work is up there with the very best. Lots of the goals he scores are thanks to Silva, De Bruyne etc and yes he'd score less for Spurs (so would Aguero, or anyone else), but lots of his goals come from runs and movements barely anyone else would make.

[Andy]

Sterling has scored 23 goals and got 18 assists in the league since the start of last season. He's grown to become one of the best players in the league yet people still want to focus on missed chances and mistakes. Ridiculous.

Someone like Hazard does half as much and gets twice the praise.

[-james-]

He takes an incredible amount of shots in the six yard box. I can't think of a player that comes close to him in that regard.

[Lewis]

In one of those lol 'LvG' donnings of Liverpool he would have had about five between his (then) wank finishing and Dave Gayer being on it, because he was popping up all over the place. His movement is his best attribute.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Sterling has scored 23 goals and got 18 assists in the league since the start of last season. He's grown to become one of the best players in the league yet people still want to focus on missed chances and mistakes. Ridiculous.

Someone like Hazard does half as much and gets twice the praise.

He walks them in. Stats are very misleading in football. International football in particular is all about composure and clear-headedness in big moments.

He is amazing at many facets of the game and excellent in that City side (he's my fantasy captain, lol) but the number of opportunities he misses for England (and probably for City) is wretched.

[Giggles]

Christie in midfield again. I'd say he's just looking for the payoff at this stage.


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[Waffdon]

Who the fuck is Aiden O’brien Assuming it’s not the horse trainer?

[Giggles]

Who the fuck is Aiden O’brien Assuming it’s not the horse trainer?

I think he plays for Millwall.

Presumably he's playing ahead of Robinson because it's a dead rubber but the likes of Keith Long, Caoimhim Kelleher, Jimmy Dinner, and Michael Obafemi should be getting a run if that's the case.



_

[Jimmy Floyd]

Caoimhim? Gis a clue.

[Giggles]

Caoimhim? Gis a clue.

Kweeveen (I miss spelt it, meant to be Caoimhin).

Wouldn't be a very common name here but the girls version Caoimhe (Kweeva) is popular enough.

[Giggles]

By the sounds of it I'm glad this isn't on TV.

1064613435713949696

[niko_cee]

Caoimhim? Gis a clue.

:D

Do we have any dutchies that migrated here? If so, apologies for jinxing your boys with my earlier positive comments.

[Giggles]

1 shot and 24% possession. Epic.

[Baz]

Kweeveen (I miss spelt it, meant to be Caoimhin).

Wouldn't be a very common name here but the girls version Caoimhe (Kweeva) is popular enough.Kevin.

Only pronounced like when Kryten swears.

Smeeeeg-heeed.

[Spikey M]

And I thought Siobhan was an abomination.

[SincereTheRebel]

Did Strong Nose play?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Concacaf, quick to the draw, have got their own nations league going: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019%E2%80%9320_CONCACAF_Nations_League_qualifying

That format and league table is something seriously beautiful. God bless the innovators.

[Giggles]

Did Strong Nose play?

Last ten minutes.

[Pepe]

Concacaf, quick to the draw, have got their own nations league going: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019%E2%80%9320_CONCACAF_Nations_League_qualifying

That format and league table is something seriously beautiful. God bless the innovators.

There is at least one place on that list that I have never heard of.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I looked at my kingdom, I was finally there, to sit on my throne as the prince of Bonaire.

Chelsea's Michael Hector managed to get sent off during a 6-0 win over the above team.

[SincereTheRebel]

Bonaire and Aruba are new

[Disco]

Which regional competition are they looking to ensure maximum tv audience for?

[mugbull]

You've got Saint Martin and Sint Maarten bringing up the bottom of the table

[igor_balis]

You've got Saint Martin and Sint Maarten bringing up the bottom of the table

Well I can't see anyone else smiling in here, are you sure?

[Waffdon]

James Forrest is the best player in the world currently.

[Giggles]

He probably isn't.

[Waffdon]

He probably isn't.

Most goals since October, mate. From right wing. Put some respect on his no neck.

[Kikó]

His goals were class tonight as well. Really good composure.

[Shindig]

Ryan Giggs really isn't cut out for this.

[Spikey M]

He has the constant look of confused disappointed on his face that Mark 'Sparky' Hughes invented.

[Shindig]

I mean, I could just post the gif again.

[Giggles]

:drool:

1065175415520661504

[Giggles]

Gone.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2018/1121/1012347-martin-oneill-and-roy-keane-part-company-with-fai/

[phonics]

Keep Roy Keane but get McCarthy in for lols.

[Giggles]

Keep Roy Keane but get McCarthy in for lols.

Keane and Walford gone too.

I'd say the next manager will be McCarthy though. Even Allardyce would be an improvement at this stage.

[phonics]

You couldn't afford to pay off O'Neill and get Sam in.

[Giggles]

It's mutual consent so I presume he hasn't got the full whack. That said, I'd rather not see that mercenary in either.

[Jimmy Floyd]

McCarthy would be a great coup. More likely they'll try and find a low cost prettyball wanker though.

[Giggles]

McCarthy would be a great coup. More likely they'll try and find a low cost prettyball wanker though.

McCarthy is unemployed currently isn't he? They definitely need to come down in money anyway. O'Neill was the 4th highest paid international manager in soccer at €1.9m a season.

[SincereTheRebel]

Negotiated into the Coutinho deal, Barcelona have to pay a £90m premium if they want to sign any Liverpool player until 2020

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11833/11559488/liverpool-clause-ensures-barcelona-cannot-sign-their-stars-until-2020-without-90m-premium

[Bam]

Negotiated into the Coutinho deal, Barcelona have to pay a £90m premium if they want to sign any Liverpool player until 2020

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11833/11559488/liverpool-clause-ensures-barcelona-cannot-sign-their-stars-until-2020-without-90m-premium

Can't really see who Barcelona would want from Liverpool in the next couple of years anyway, hardly a masterstroke from the scousers.

[Baz]

How do you pronounce Pittodrie? Pit-ah-dree?
John Magic Waffdon

[Giggles]

How do you pronounce Pittodrie? Pit-ah-dree?
John Magic Waffdon

Pitt-odd-ree is what I always remember them saying on telly.

[Giggles]

Sven gone from 60's to 6's.

Come back Martin :(

[Jimmy Floyd]

There is no greater honour than to have the great Svennis take charge of your national team. We few, we happy few, England, the Ivory Coast, the Philippines, Mexico (apparently), we know the joy he brings.

[Lewis]

Were Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane that bad? I recognised two names in that Irish team posted further up, so you could have Tik O'Taka running the show and they would surely still be bollocks.

[niko_cee]

Yeah, their players are absolute shite, which is the main problem, but O'Neill going out on the back of two 0-0s seems to have been quite fitting. The whole island is beset with a predisposition towards grittiness, but maybe that's just international football.

[Giggles]

Were Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane that bad? I recognised two names in that Irish team posted further up, so you could have Tik O'Taka running the show and they would surely still be bollocks.

Watch their last couple of matches and come back to me.
If you've poor players then it's even more of a reason to have a structure and a plan for a style of play rather than 90 minutes of hoofed clearances. Even bad long ball club teams have an actual plan for the long balls. It's common knowledge that no training ground work was done for the opposition or on the shape of the team, Matt Doherty only said last night that players would be guessing the formation until he named the team an hour before kickoff (which is when Cyrus Christie first found out he was playing in midfield for the first time in his career). His answer to anyone questioning his methods was always basically "I won two European cups and this is how Mr. Clough did it".

There's also a wide range of play between tiki "O" taka and hoofing clearances, it's not either-or. You do need to earn your money and organise players no matter what the style though.

On Keane, well Harry Arter might not be Luka Modric but he's useful enough to us that you don't want him pulling out of squads because the assistant manager calls him a lazy cunt for needing treatment. His input off the pitch was also minimal by all accounts including this last night (https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2018/1121/1012511-doherty-oneills-approach-could-be-bizarre-at-times/).




.

[Giggles]

It's looking very much like Mick McCarthy and Robbie Keane now anyway. They're desperate to have someone in place before the Euro 2020 draw and it shouldn't be too hard get things organised. They also approached Stephen Kenny about taking over the under 21's but he is only interested in the senior team. I could see him maybe getting it after these if he has another couple of good European runs, it's too soon now.

[mugbull]

You’re so apathetic about everything but when it comes to anything Irish, you just gain a whole new lease on life. It’s fascinating

[Giggles]

Why wouldn't I?

[Shindig]

I just find it weird the talent went the way it did. Like there was a weird brain drain where the Irish footballing populous forgot how to carry a ball 20 yards up the pitch.

[Giggles]

I just find it weird the talent went the way it did. Like there was a weird brain drain where the Irish footballing populous forgot how to carry a ball 20 yards up the pitch.

That's what happens when you forget your domestic league and rely on overseas ones to develop your players. Back in the 80's and 90's Irish players were near as exotic as things got in the British leagues so players made it through a lot easier. These days there's lads going over at 16 and being put in youth squads with a hundred other kids from all over the world and you just don't get the same chances or leeway then. There's a bit of a change in the mindset coming now and the FAI haven't relieved the heat on them by changing manager, people are starting to see there's deeper problems in the game here.

That said, O'Neill has always kept the British media sweet and his people have done a very good job on the 'hands are tied because of zero talent' message being pushed in the papers there. They're not great but actually watch a game and then watch some of these players at their clubs where there's actually a plan formulated. You're still talking about a team made up of lower Premier League and Championship players that ends up with bottom 5 possession stats in Europe and only having more shots on goal than San Marino and Andorra.

[phonics]

Sols got the Macclesfield job apparently.

[SvN]

I give it three months.

[Lewis]

Only a British and Irish league can save Mick football from its death spiral. Preferably a franchised one as well, so Linfield, the Old Firm, and whichever Irish club some wealthy Americans can be conned into backing can enter the inaugural top flight season (in place of Burnley, Fulham, Huddersfield, and whichever South Coast team finishes lowest over the three seasons leading up to it).

[Jimmy Floyd]

That was where Ince started wasn't it? Before he took over at Zanu-PF, I mean.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Only a British and Irish league can save Mick football from its death spiral. Preferably a franchised one as well, so Linfield, the Old Firm, and whichever Irish club some wealthy Americans can be conned into backing can enter the inaugural top flight season (in place of Burnley, Fulham, Huddersfield, and whichever South Coast team finishes lowest over the three seasons leading up to it).

Shamrock Rovers the obvious choice, except their colours would have to be changed to green shirts with green trim, and their motto to 'So, what's de big oi-dea?'

They could play eight home games a year in Boston as well.

[Lewis]

No we're talking.

[Disco]

The lads at the Anti Oirish group won't go for this at all.

[Shindig]

James McLean will turn out for a different club every week.

[Giggles]

McCarthy has been offered it anyway. Predictable enough but very quick.

[niko_cee]

Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante, 27, will pay more tax in Britain than international companies Starbucks and Amazon combined, after signing a new £15m contract. (Sun)

https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/VP-SOCIAL-KANTE-21.jpg?strip=all&w=750

:D

If only he could start some sort of phenomenon among the highly paid.

[Shindig]

Next comes a list of players you could've signed for that money.

[Giggles]

Next comes a list of players you could've signed for that money.

Someone from League One at this stage.

[Giggles]

McCarthy is going to get €1.2m a year, which is down 700k from O'Neill but still astronomical compared to most national coaches around Europe. Madness.

[Disco]

I'll do it for a 1/4 of that and you wouldn't get to any fewer tournaments.

[Giggles]

That was unexpected.

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