Category: Football

Bloody Rangers

Rangers F.C.

Normally I don’t give a crap about the Scottish Premier League. I mean, it’s just the same as the English Premier League, but exactly half the size – even down to having a Big Two instead of a Big Four. But right now it’s pissing me off.

One of the two most important games in the footbal calendar is on tomorrow with a 12:45 kickoff – the forces of filth and darkness v Newcastle United. It’s on Sky Sports 1, as it always is when the mackem scum actually surface into the Premiership for a brief period. Therefore every pub up and down the land should be showing it.

Only up here, they’re not. Because ******* Glasgow Rangers are playing ******* Hamilton Academicals at 12(*******)30.

This is the equivalent of Liverpool v Everton being ignored in favour of Manchester United vs Spurs. A foregone conclusion, no real history, a nothing match. Of no real consequence except to those directly involved. And for half of them it’s how much their goal difference will improve while the rest are worried about damage limitation.

Thankfully I’ve managed to find out that my auntie’s husband’s brother’s son has Sky and I’ve been told I can pop over there to watch it. It’s screwed around something rotten with my timetable for the weekend, but it’s one game I can’t miss.

Bloody SPL. It’s not like anyone really gives a **** about Third World Football anyway.

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We wuz robbed

Once again Newcastle came from behind to clinch a point, this time despite playing 10 men against 12. I’m not blaming Manchester City, they didn’t bribe Rob Styles. The guy’s just a useless **** who falls for the AS Roma style of football every time it’s played. You know, fall over and you get a free kick. Or a penalty.

How come 50-odd thousand people in a stadium, plus the TV commentators and every other person watching can see a perfectly good defensive tackle, yet one fuckbag stood 10 yards away seems to miss it? Mind, it’s the third red card he’s dished out this season. One of them he’s already apologised for – the one against Bolton which gave Manchester United a one-goal penalty lead. OK, so they went on to win 2-0, but that first goal will have changed the game.

The same thing happened to us. Down to ten men with 75 minutes of football left, at least we didn’t give up. I will say this for Joe Kinnear. Since he took over I don’t think I’ve seen our lads’ heads go down once.  We’ve come back from deficits so many times recently it’s unreal. A shame we’ve not actually won convincingly…

I expect Styles to go “whoops” again and give us Beye back for the match against the filth at the weekend, but it doesn’t change the fact that the guy’s mad two ******* huge howlers in a short number of matches. Thing is, if he does decide to stick by his decision (and with TV evidence he’d be mad to) there’s nothing the FA can do as – if I’m correct – the referee himself is the only one who can rescind the red card. And if he does admit he’s cocked up, can the FA really allow him to continue refereeing in the top flight without some kind of sight test?

In the meantime it seems they’re looking at censuring Didier Drogba for saying in his autobiography that he wished he’d punched Vidic in the Champions League final. Not that he did and got away with it. But that he wished he had. How many people wouldn’t want to punch Vidic? Or Drogba, come to think of it? Yet again, their standards are all over the place. Roy Keane (now there is a **** and a half) gets away with deliberately (by his own autoboographical admission) breaking someone’s leg. Rob Styles gets away with being ******* ****. But someone says they wish they’d punched somebody and they wake up and start to feel self-important.

Still, to watch Robinho acting like a **** and then only manage a point was rather satisfying. The most expensive player in British football history manages one shot on target in the whole game against a 10-man side. And that was from the penalty spot.

As a humorous addendum, check out the picture at the top. That was Rob Styles’ Wikipedia entry at the end of the first half. I changed it back, though I completely agree with the person who altered it.

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Racism in (and around) football

I posted the following in response to Georgina Best’s article at For Girls Who Can’t Do Football. It came out a little longer than I intended, so thought I’d pop it on here. I also haven’t put anything up here for a few days… Please read that original post before continuing.

As Stuey [first commentor on the article] said, the Spanish fans are just as big a bunch of children as you could wish not to get stuck with.

Racial sensitivity in Spain might also not be as big an issue as it is in this country. I don’t know what the non-white population is in Spain. Without a notable presence and a government around to tell you how to behave around them, how will you know what’s racist?

Never mind drink driving, look at our TV programs 30 years ago. Bernard Manning, Stan Boardman, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, Till Death Us Do Part… They’re not even repeated these days, let alone have modern-day versions.

Racism = bad. Over-reaction also = bad. And it’s a damned fine line between the two.

Having said all that, I approve of the punishment if it’s the only way to teach clubs to teach fans (although I doubt it’ll work in honesty), but it’s a kick in the teeth for other fans – such as Liverpool who’ve already paid for and organised travel and hotels for their trip there.

Surely due to the logistics, this match could have been made exempt from the ban? Or the ban could have been brought in, say, 3 weeks hence rather than immediately so as not to inconvenience non-Madrid/Spanish fans who wouldn’t have been involved in the first place?

No, wait. We’re talking about a football authority. Fans are the lowest of the low in their estimation.

Down there with the racists.

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Words of sense from El Tel

I never thought I’d see the day, but some reasonable and honest words from the footballing world. Terry Venables on turning down the Newcastle managerial position:

“All they could guarantee was that I’d be in a job until Mike Ashley sells the club whenever that might be. As flattered and honoured as I was to be approached by Newcastle, in the end it wasn’t that difficult a decision for me to decline their offer.

The Newcastle supporters have suffered more than enough in recent years. I didn’t want them to think I’d gone up there just to pocket a few quid from Mike Ashley and then wave ‘cheerio’ a couple of weeks later.”

Tel, thank you for being honest and above board. However, this does seem like we’re likely to end up with David O’Leary so our team will be reduced to a bunch of “boys”.

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