The round ball game

Sounds like you headed the ball one time too many whiskers!

My introduction to UK football was early 90s Upton Park. West Ham vs Man U and another vs Arsenal. Terraces were an eye opener to a wet behind the ears country boy. Police dragging hooligans out, was glad to be with some core supporters. Catching the tube home was interesting. Riot police and horses working hard to keep everyone apart.
Still play 6 a side (perrenial wooden spooners) and coach the kids team. Great sport, so simple and super accessible. Been awesome to see my eldest daughter flourish travelling and playing with her team.

Hey mcbain, that sounds very similar to my first premier league game.
Notts Forest vs Leeds United in the 80s. I was just a boy on the edge of the main stand looking down on the Leeds fans in their cages. It was filled with people who looked exactly like Adrian from the Young Ones, pointing at me threatening to slit my throat.
There was a pitch invasion. Multiple arrests and we had to remain in our seats for 20 minutes after the final whistle. The cops marched the Leeds fans to the train station and we were only allowed to leave the City Ground when the Leeds bound train had left the station. It was mad.

etarip, did you ever get to any Marine FC games? My dad took us a couple of times.

Favourite Aussie?

Viduka for mine.

Coulda been more driven but what a talent! Such good feet for a big man and great with his back to the goal. Who could forget when he beat Liverpool 4-3 when playing for Leeds and turned Patrick Berger inside out to the extent that Berger broke his leg without even laying a boot on Viduka!

I watched South Melb Hellas on and off from the mid 90s up to the advent of the A League and was fortunate/unfortunate enough to see him knock three past South when playing for Melb Croatia in a preliminary final at a packed Olympic Park in 97 or 98.

Roker wrote:

Favourite Aussie?

Viduka for mine.

Coulda been more driven but what a talent! Such good feet for a big man and great with his back to the goal. Who could forget when he beat Liverpool 4-3 when playing for Leeds and turned Patrick Berger inside out to the extent that Berger broke his leg without even laying a boot on Viduka!

I watched South Melb Hellas on and off from the mid 90s up to the advent of the A League and was fortunate/unfortunate enough to see him knock three past South when playing for Melb Croatia in a preliminary final at a packed Olympic Park in 97 or 98.

Viduka had great feet, could've been so much better though. By the time he got to Newcastle he was fat and even lazier, frustrating to watch. There for the £. Tim Cahill was better imo, box to box, aggressive, could score and defend well.

Sorry san G but no Aussie pub worth it's salt would be showing soccer so unlikely to ever be an issue.

D-Rex wrote:

Sorry san G but no Aussie pub worth it's salt would be showing soccer so unlikely to ever be an issue.

yeah oaf! aussie ozzie orzee brahh!!

Technically I think Kewell was the best. He never really settled at Liverpool after his injury but what a talent!

Glad you're on my side Joh. Can anyone seriously say they'd watch soccer on a pub TV? Maybe in a pub on Oxford Street now you mention it...

Newcastle sale to.the Saudis has been finalised.

D-Rex wrote:

Sorry san G but no Aussie pub worth it's salt would be showing soccer so unlikely to ever be an issue.

No point, everyone is on the pokies.

blindboy wrote:

Newcastle sale to.the Saudis has been finalised.

Yeah you wake up and your club is the wealthiest in the world. Crazy. It will be nice not to have to sell our best players to buy someone and to be in the market for quality rather than bargain basement. But money aside for a club like Newcastle this is massive. We're a one club city, people live and breath NUFC, St James' sits on top of a hill and can be seen anywhere in the city. Unlike many modern stadiums built on the outskirts, St James' is right in the centre of town, 30 minutes before kick off the ground is empty, 15 minutes later the pubs start to empty, the traffic stops and 50,000 geordies walk to ground, songs echoing through the narrow streets. Its been like that since 1880. Even when we got relegated we were filling the stadium to watch shite matches mid week. Thousands travel to away games, 14 hour round trip to Southampton for a match that Sky kindly put on for 8pm KO on a weekday night then back in time for work the next morning. And fans have still done that in the knowledge that for the last 14 years we were going to win sweet fa under Mike Ashley. He used the club as a marketing tool for his mass produced sports direct garbage, even wanted to change the name of the ground to the sports direct stadium. Sold the clubs assets and didn't invest a thing in infrastructure, training facilities etc. Brought cronies in to sit on the board people with no interest in football just looking to milk the club. But now it seems things have changed and finally fans can feel the club is theirs again.

What a dark day to be a Geordie. An aristocratic parasitic whore for any middle eastern robber baron who will pay her, has managed to sportswash a sadistic crown prince who has his thugs hack dissidents into pieces with chainsaws, into ownership of Newcastle. This is sick.

Roker wrote:

What a dark day to be a Geordie. An aristocratic parasitic whore for any middle eastern robber baron who will pay her, has managed to sportswash a sadistic crown prince who has his thugs hack dissidents into pieces with chainsaws, into ownership of Newcastle. This is sick.

Talking of darkness and whores, does Roker refer to Roker Park? As in the former home of sunderland and the great unwashed SMB's? It's been many years since they moved to the stadium of plight and i do miss the derbys now that SAFC are languishing in league 1 but whenever i see that name it brings back happy memories of skirmishes and inflicting heavy defeats on the road.

In a perfect world we'd not be owned by Sports Direct or PIF and not be called upon as football fans to make moral judgements, but this seems to be the reality of the Premier League in 2021. Many Geordies share misgivings despite the fact that PIF also invest in everything from Facebook to Starbucks, Boeing and Disney without much complaint from those who enjoy the fruits of these companies. I guess when everyone chucks in the scrolling, coffee, flights and Moana, Geordies might act as well.

upnorth, looking forward to a rise in your on field fortunes. I can't wait to see Newcastle clobber MU and city.

upnorth, looking forward to a rise in your on field fortunes. I can't wait to see Newcastle clobber MU and city.

I used to go down to the New Brighton in Manly for Liverpool games to get a bit of atmosphere.

Only time ive really watched soccer is in Indo during the world cup when the Mentawai Bupati put on a big screen outside every night in the grounds of their offices, so we would go up and watch it with about 100 hundred others.

I get how people like it like any game, but i 100% understand why crowds can also get violent, being such a defensive low scoring game is frustrating.

Much prefer the high scoring aspect of AFL, even AFL starts to suck when teams get too defensive like Ross Lyon style coaching.

blindboy wrote:

upnorth, looking forward to a rise in your on field fortunes. I can't wait to see Newcastle clobber MU and city.

Its going to be an interesting few months/years. Looking forward to having a crack at everyone in the 'top 6' ... spurs look ripe for a demotion.

Chamions League for sure, the Saudis want to keep up with the neighbours who own PSG and MU.

indo-dreaming wrote:

Only time ive really watched soccer is in Indo during the world cup when the Mentawai Bupati put on a big screen outside every night in the grounds of their offices, so we would go up and watch it with about 100 hundred others.

I get how people like it like any game, but i 100% understand why crowds can also get violent, being such a defensive low scoring game is frustrating.

Much prefer the high scoring aspect of AFL, even AFL starts to suck when teams get too defensive like Ross Lyon style coaching.

Like any sport, its appreciating the nuances that make it enjoyable and easier to understand. You wouldn't really crack that watching one tournament. Knowing the back story of individual players and managers, club allegiances, styles of play and tactical changes over the years not to mention rule changes and the introduction of technology in refereeing all help with the enjoyment of the game. Football can be defensive or attacking depending on the situation and would usually change for both teams during the match depending on the situation.

Tournament football can be more defensive particularly during the knock out stages as there is so much on the line, with qualifying it has taken teams 2+ years to get to that stage of the competition, one mistake and it could all be over.

I can pretty much watch any sport but I struggle to get into American football, baseball and AFL because I don't understand the nuances. I can see AFL is a good watch with a long history of great teams and players but I'm not invested in any of them so I've had enough after 10 minutes.

As for crowd violence, its mainly posturing these days. The sea change happened in the mid-late 80's when lads swapped bother boots, back alleys and broken bottles for trainers, dancefloors and mdma. The older generation can't be bothered now and the young ones are too soft. Still gets a bit tasty at times and a bit of back and forth either side of a line of police escort is common but pretty harmless. A couple of years ago, Newcastle v 'boro, localish derby the boro fans were being escorted back to the train station post match with a few hundren Toon fans for company. There was snow on the ground and as soon as we left the stadium concourse a massive snow ball fight started. Two lines of fans with police on horseback in the middle, went on for about half an hour. I accidentally sconned a policeman's helmet clean of his head. That's about as violent as it gets these days.

blindboy wrote:

Chamions League for sure, the Saudis want to keep up with the neighbours who own PSG and MU.

That would be good. Its been a while.

It seems the Premier League Fit and Proper Persons test has been brilliantly successful in keeping out that cockney blagger who sells used cars on the High Street and is rumoured to move the odd bit of other merch, from owning a club that’s looking to get of the National League and into the Fourth Division.

However, when it comes to billionaire dictators who murder and chop up journalists, sanction atrocities in neighbouring countries, disregard human rights in their own country, particularly those of women and homosexuals, it seems the test not only fails to keep such wholesome folk out, it actively encourages them to strive for the mantle of freshly sportswashed owner and director of an EPL club.

And Boris is happy. Wanted to cosy up to the Saudis for a while now. Maybe this was what Brexit was all about. The start of one of those oft cited bi-lateral deals they'd be able to do when out from under the yoke of those technocrats in Brussels.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2021/oct/15/newcastle-fans-think-...

Roker, the Saudis represent a new low. All high level sport is debased one way or another and the wozzle are foaming at the mouth to join in. Football, in that way, is a lost cause. Surfing may yet avoid the same toxic fate.......or not.

That horse has bolted Roker. UK been trading with Saudi for a long time £6 billion + a year in goods and services, arms, machinery, aircraft, cars ... Brexit has many benefits but trade with Saudi isn't one of them.

Brendan Rogers on his way to NUFC?

Mo spent the summer break studying Messi videos. Best player in the world right now.

Rogers for Newcastle? You can probably do better. I never liked his personal style. Neither did Sterling who he humiliated in front of the team when he was just a mouthy 18 year old. It cost us a great player.

Salah has been in very good form - the assist and his goal last night were both superb.
Also, I think his defensive work has improved this year. He seems to have been tracking back more effectively.
Should Liverpool give in to his wage demands and sign him to a new contract?

I think he would like to get out of England There were murmurings about that over the summer. Liverpool will obviously try to resign him but they have a good record of knowing when the price us too high to ignore.

Yeh they were both crackers but from my perspective it was great to see the MU defence struggle against Leicester. They have a much tougher game next week! Is it just wishful thinking on my part or was Maguire as bad as I remember?

Salah is the best player in the world at the moment, think he'll stay at Liverpool if they can surround him with players that make him feel he's in the best team. Moving is a big risk when he's already near the top of the tree club wise. Look at Hazard moving to Real, he hasn't been the same player he was at Chelsea without the support he had there.

True Rogers is a bit of a carnt but thats probably who Newcastle need imo. Its a survival job this season and his teams play with the intensity and adventure that Newcastle will need to avoid the drop. Look at Leicester v United at the weekend, Leicester chased every ball and were aggressive the whole game. Once we survive it'll be rebuild then we can think about an elite manager. Newcastle are probably 3 managers and a couple of squads away from where we need to be in 5 years.

Maguire was very poor but he's far from fit after 3 weeks out, OGS said it was a mistake to play him so not sure why he kept him on for 90. United all over the place but id expect a reaction next time out. Should be a good match!

blindboy wrote:

Yeh they were both crackers but from my perspective it was great to see the MU defence struggle against Leicester. They have a much tougher game next week! Is it just wishful thinking on my part or was Maguire as bad as I remember?

They're never dull though sometimes the football suffers from the intensity.

Was Man U's effort the most disgraceful Premier League performance of all time? Disorganised, lazy, no confidence, no leadership, 5 yellows, 1 red, down 5-0 with half an hour to go and what do you do? Put the remaining 10 men behind the ball and refuse to engage. Well maybe if you are in the bottom 3 and goal difference is vital to your survival. but for the rest, better to go down 10-0 fighting than give up. Surely it's the end of OGS! Ronaldo must be regretting his decision not to go to City.

I thought Norwich's was as bad as it could get, took only a day to be proved wrong... To have a squad with that much talent play that badly!
I hope Ole stays; seems like such a nice bloke, and I'd hate to see what utd could do with someone like Conte in charge.

True, Liverpool are in great form but Man U had their chances early then just lost composure pretty much completely after the second goal. Harry Maguire looked like he was going to cry.....Ferguson looked like he might die on the spot.

That must be about as bad as it can get for Man U but credit to Liverpool they took them apart. That ball from Henderson for the fifth goal was sublime. United looked lost, some responsibility has to be with the players but it looked like they didn't have a game plan which must rest with OGS. Players like Maguire and Shaw were excellent in the Euros a few months ago, they played a big part in helping England to the final. They don't forget how to defend over night.
OGS has been given more time than most, he brought the feel good back to Old Trafford after Mourinho, many would be critics are ex teamates/players and he comes across as a nice bloke but this weekend opinion has shifted. The other teams at the top all have 'elite' coaches, Man have an ex player. Question is who could replace him?

True that san guine, playing well and confounding expectations

upnorth wrote:

Question is who could replace him?

Conte would be available at the right price. Utd would be a very strong chance of a title short term with him.