Football Focus

[S.A.C Martin]

Afternoon chaps,

 

Realised there's no football thread as yet - so I'm firmly hoisting my colours on the first post of the new forum..

 

...but it'll embarass me. Charlton just dumped out of the cup by a non-league side for the first time in our history. Northwich Victoria played excellent football today, and Charlton should have played with ten men after a disgusting elbow by Izale Mcleod hit a Northwich player in the face from the restart.

 

Overall a miserable match for me (one time we're on the telly, we lose) but hearty congrats to Northwich who deserved it thoroughly.

 

Now the question is, who is going to win the biggest match of the day - Man Utd VS Chelsea?

[dseagull]

Fantastic game, and great performance from Northwich - really enjoyed it.

 

Hailsham? - Lost 6-1 at Three Bridges yesterday. We were abject, and manager Dave Shearing has walked as a result.

[DonB]

No longer a football fan!

A couple of Historical notes, however... went with my father and his brother (who was the referee) to a War-time cup simi-final replay at Wolves ground "Behind closed doors"

to avoid workers absentee-ism! I was about 8 years old and have no recollection of who were playing, but do remember the strange cavernous feel to the place and the shouting of the players.

Have not paid to see a Professional football match (been on a few freebies!) since 1954/5 (I think) when Wolves won the 1st division championship, and WBA came 2nd and won the FA Cup. We used to see them on alternative weeks, they rarely played at home at the same time. Charity sheild match ended 4-4 ... superb match!

[BoD]

I'm still gutted that Sunderland didn't get at least a deserved point yesterday.

 

I wonder how long it is before someone with no interest in football comes along and posts Yawn or Zzzzz as usually happens with threads like this.

I suppose that, if they can be bothered to waste their time doing it, who is to deny them their little pleasures.

[Colin]

Pleasures? Precious few of those about when you follow the Hammers!

Another relegation struggle begins.........

[S.A.C Martin]

I'm still gutted that Sunderland didn't get at least a deserved point yesterday.

 

 

I'm just angry at the reactions of the Tottenham (the club, not fans) to Darren Bent, to be honest. 16 goals last season for them - kept them up and in a decent position, when both keane and defoe had been abysmal, and he's the one who gets the chop?!

 

I have always felt that Tottenham Hotspur were also-rans, not because they aren't good, but because those in charge idolise the wrong players. It was the same with a few of their recently departed players, all hard workers who did the business but never got the attention from the managers they deserved.

 

Bent was highly unlucky to not get a goal yesterday and it would have been a bit of justice insomuch of THFC's treatment of him over two years.

 

I only wish Bent had left to go Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United or City when Charlton put him up for sale - I've no doubt he'll do well at Sunderland now, but he would have reached his potential as an international goalscorer by now if he had the benefits of those clubs - superior coaching facilities, staff and players around him.

 

Just watching the highlights for Man Utd - Chelsea - don't know the result yet!

[Calnefoxile]

Now I'm not normal known for my support of Fergie or ManUre, but I have to agree that the Chelsea goal should not have stood;

 

A: It was never a free kick.

B: Drogba was definately offside, he had to be interfering with play, he was stood right in front of Van Der Sar.

 

Anyway, we were apparantly beaten by a better side on Saturday and I for one am not going to complain and moan about being beaten by the Baggies, they are a cracking side and should be there for automatic promotion come May.

 

As for Leicester, for me the perfect season will be, make the play-off final and lose, yes lose. We are not in a position to go straight up to the Premiership, otherwise we will do a Direby and come straight back down with the lowest points haul ever. We need another year in the Championship to give most of the young lads more experience and hopefully give Nigel Pearson the money to strengthen and really be contenders for promotion next season.

 

Anyway, Keep the Faith Foxes fans, we will be back......

 

Regards

 

Neal.

[Steve K]

Now I'm not normal known for my support of Fergie or ManU, but I have to agree that the Chelsea goal should not have stood;

 

A: It was never a free kick.

B: Drogba was definately offside, he had to be interfering with play, he was stood right in front of Van Der Sar.

I missed MOTD last night, even though I'm a follower of Chelsea, but I'm happy to take a bit of luck against the big boys from time to time. Not that I'm bitter about Man U winning the Champions League final or anything, but yesterday goes a small way to making up for it!

 

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the goal, I think Ferguson was very unwise to make such an obvious criticism of the ref when he's already got one disciplinary hearing hanging over him. If he now gets battered by the authorities, he'll have no-one to blame but himself, and if he doesn't, there'll be an outcry. Mind you, I felt it was very irresponsible of the Sky Sports reporter, who said: "Not wanting to put words in your mouth, Sir Alex, but did the ref cost you that one?" Not wanting to put words in his mouth? You just did, you idiot!

 

In summary, 0-0 would have been fair, given Chelsea's defensive work, but with Arsenal coming up, I'll take 1-0!

[47707 Holyrood]

I missed MOTD last night, even though I'm a follower of Chelsea, but I'm happy to take a bit of luck against the big boys from time to time. Not that I'm bitter about Man U winning the Champions League final or anything, but yesterday goes a small way to making up for it!

 

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the goal, I think Ferguson was very unwise to make such an obvious criticism of the ref when he's already got one disciplinary hearing hanging over him. If he now gets battered by the authorities, he'll have no-one to blame but himself, and if he doesn't, there'll be an outcry. Mind you, I felt it was very irresponsible of the Sky Sports reporter, who said: "Not wanting to put words in your mouth, Sir Alex, but did the ref cost you that one?" Not wanting to put words in his mouth? You just did, you idiot!

 

In summary, 0-0 would have been fair, given Chelsea's defensive work, but with Arsenal coming up, I'll take 1-0!

 

A bit of luck??

 

Rooney was wrongly flagged offside when Ashley Cole was clearly playing him onside. Terry clearly dragged Valencia to the floor in the box= penalty without a doubt. 2 mistakes by the same linesman (obviously a Chelsea fan) who clearly saw both. And the freekick was never a freekick and even still, Drogba was offside/interfering with play. A bit of luck??

:icon_grumpy::icon_frustrated:

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Very few thrills and plenty of frustrations being a Pompey fan at present...

 

At least we are not completely adrift; two straight wins and were could be out of the bottom three....which essentially means we need to double our current number of league victories!

 

 

[Del]

Pleasures? Precious few of those about when you follow the Hammers!

Another relegation struggle begins.........

 

I'm not panicking just yet. Can't believe we didn't get at least a point yesterday, and it's not as if we're being tonked every week.

But if we're in the same position at the turn of the year, then I'll start to worry.

And Diamanti looks to be a fantastic acquisition!

[Ron Ron Ron]

...Whatever the rights and wrongs of the goal, I think Ferguson was very unwise to make such an obvious criticism of the ref when he's already got one disciplinary hearing hanging over him. If he now gets battered by the authorities, he'll have no-one to blame but himself, and if he doesn't, there'll be an outcry....

If you ignore the twisted quotes being reported in the tabloids; this is what he said:

 

"It was a bad decision, but there's nothing we can do about it. You lose faith in refereeing sometimes, that's the way the players are talking in there - it was a bad one."

"The referee's position to make the decision was absolutely ridiculous - he can't see anything. He's got a Chelsea player (Joe Cole) standing right in front of him - and he doesn't even move."

 

Hardly controversial stuff and not worthy of any censure. I doubt any charge will be brought against him for that.

 

 

A bit of luck??

 

Rooney was wrongly flagged offside when Ashley Cole was clearly playing him onside.

Terry clearly dragged Valencia to the floor in the box= penalty without a doubt.

2 mistakes by the same linesman (obviously a Chelsea fan) who clearly saw both. And the freekick was never a freekick and even still, Drogba was offside/interfering with play. A bit of luck??

I think that's the same view as in most of the reports I've heard and read (Sky's Andy Gray and BBC's Alan Green amongst them) and I'd agree with them.

Whatever the injustice, that's how it goes and Utd have had a fair slice of luck themselves on occasion (not as much as some idiots claim though).

 

Summary...

 

for Utd; Second best performance of this season so far, but lacking any cutting edge up front.

They out hussled Chelsea for large parts of the game and nullified most of their usual midfield strength, limiting them to few serious chances.

Going forward, Utd attacked well, but ran out of ideas and had no cutting edge in the Chelsea penalty area.

Giggs was their weakest player, throwing away lots of possession with terrible passing and useless as a chocolate teapot in the midfield defensive role. He should have been subb'ed at half time, or early in the second half.

Rooney was electric and only denied MOTM because he was on the loosing side.

All that was missing were goals.

 

for Chelsea; Not their best effort this season. Out hussled for most of the game.

Deco was appalling and rightly subb'ed. Lampard was very quiet, poor even.

Somehow Anelka got man of the match???? How was that possible? Apart from a couple of first half long range efforts, he was shackled for most of the game and was pretty anonimous for a large part of it.

Drogba was at his cheating drama queen best; don't you just hate him. I know some Chelsea fans who do (and don't at the same time, if you know what I mean).

A lucky day at the office. They have to be favourites now.

 

.

[owentherail]

Sadly i suport oxford utd, we beat league one yeovil at weekend in FA cup, i live a long way from oxford now, but when i was a regular at the manor(mid 80s), oxford were not the under dogs against yeovil, while glovers gone up, we have plummeted, fingers crossed this season tho we have been more ahead before and blown it!! ......... just noticed Gary cahill in England squad, did capello not see him against villa!!!!

[Calnefoxile]

Sadly i suport oxford utd,

 

Owen,

 

Why 'sadly' there is nothing wrong with supporting any team. Be proud of who you support at least you're not a fair weather supporters like most people these days.

 

I support Leicester City and have done for nearly 30 years, I'll admit to following Liverpool in my early days, until one occasion and I remember it to this day, it was the 23 August 1980, my dad took me to Filbert Street to see Leicester play Liverpool, we sat in the Double Decker above the Kop, right behind the goal, when a free kick was played to one of our central defenders, Andy Peake, just inside the Liverpool half, he strides forward with the ball and unleashes a right foot shot that curls away from Ray Clemence (best keeper in the country at the time) and into the top left hand corner of the net and Filbert Street erupts around me.

 

And from that day to this I've been a Leicester City fan, and boy have they put me through it over the last 30 years, from the elation of promotions/relegations to the old 1st division/Premiership via automatic and play off victories, beating the top sides, sometimes quite comfortably. Then came the ignomy of relegation to the 3rd division or League 1 as its called now, and now our meteoric rise again under Nigel Pearson.

 

Can we be as good as we where in the late 90's early 2000's, I doubt it, there is too much money in football now and we will never be one of the 'fashionable' clubs, probably always be nearly rans, but for us supporters they will always be the best club to support as a Leicester City fan.

 

Sorry for going on a bit, but as I said in my opening paragraph, never be sorry or sad to support any football team unless you can take the bad times along with the good times.

 

Regards

 

Neal.

[owentherail]

Hi Neal, your right really, just sad that they were once a good team, maybe not good enough for top flight and did punch above their weight for a bit, but we are better than non league, 3rd flight would do, looking back at teams we use to hammer at home brings a smile to my face, esp Alex fergusons first game in charge of Man utd was a defeat to oxford, where i work is full of Man utd fans! not many ever bin to manchester let alone old trafford, yet when i was young they all supported liverpool!! strange, your team mite one day get back to the days of martin o'neil, your closer to regaining your old status than my lot. LOL cheers owen

[S.A.C Martin]

Watched Chelsea - Man Utd on Sky Plus last night - I was better off watching Charlton, we may have lost but it was definitely more entertaining!

 

I used to do lots of refereeing, was close to being called up for league duty last year (now its mostly one off U21 games). Last night I did have to wonder what the linesman was playing at - the rule states that the player must be in an offside position when the ball is played forward by a member of the same team - there were two other offside decisions given against Man Utd that were passes back by Chelsea defenders towards their goalkeepers, strangely this has not come up at all in the press or in general conversation between football fans.

 

Further, with regards the main offside by Rooney - the linesman is not looking at the position of the players at any point in the TV footage, simply the flight of the ball. This is bad linesmanship at its best! If you have a rule which depends upon the position of players on the pitch, I was told you have to condition yourself to look at the players and not the ball directly when dealing with offside rule. Partly due to the fact that the ball can be kicked from anywhere on the pitch in respect to where an offside can occur!

 

It is a difficult rule to enforce by referees and linesman, its rules are not clear cut enough in the FA's own words (for example when a direct free kick is given, offside does not actually apply unless the goal is scored by another player of the same team through a rebound off the post, crossbar, etc - try explaining that and why that is to any normal football fan, and rightly the reaction is "why?"), and the way in which it changes games so much through bad decisions is a major factor in why I feel refereeing as a whole is getting more and difficult to do, and to work with if you're a player or manager.

 

Overall, while I agree the decisions yesterday were wrong, the standard of refereeing was okay when it is considered that the rules of the game which the refs have to work with contain so many grey areas as opposed black and white, and especially with regards offside and free kick awards.

[96701]

Burnley managed their first away game without losing. Can they stay up there for the remainder of the season? I'm not sure.

[Buhar]

Liverpool - Voronin - frustration doesn't come near.

 

Plus an apology for N'gog's antics for the the penalty. Even partisanship has its limits.

[S.A.C Martin]

P'boro part company with Ferguson

 

That's a daft decision the P'boro board has made, surely? He took them up two divisions in two years. I think a fans backlash is on its way...

[Ohmisterporter]

I am a Blackpool supporter and can't believe the position we are in at the moment. Nor can our manager Ian Holloway if you listen to his post-match comments. Sometimes I don't know if he is having a laugh or he's the greatest tactical genius in the Championship. How many other managers see their team win and then make seven changes for the following match?

 

As far as Posh sacking Ferguson goes, when Grayson left 'pool I was sorry to see him go because he took us to promotion and cemented us in the Championship. Now Holloway has moulded mostly the same average players, with a few additions, into a top six outfit. Probably the Peterborough board are hoping new blood will turn things around.

 

Geoff.

[br2975]

You have to "be there" to really experience it - "armchair modelling" and "armchair supporters" miss out on so much !

.

Brian R

.

[wollastonblue]

Liverpool - Voronin - frustration doesn't come near.

 

Plus an apology for N'gog's antics for the the penalty. Even partisanship has its limits.

 

 

Thank you for the apology. As a Birmingham City fan, I thought 3 points were there for the taking. But the Liverpool scored first, that's when you believe the floodgates were going to open. But Blues showed resilience and also some fantastic footbal at times to go two one up. I could go into an Arsene Wenger style rant over the penalty, but I won't, as if you had said at the beginning of the season, a point at Anfield, I would have said thank you very much. The only thing that will get my back up over the incident is if we need two points at the end of the season to survive.

 

Congratulations to all the non-league sides that are in the second round of the FA Cup. Could have been even more magical if Stourbridge had beaten Walsall, and they should've had least got a draw out the game, but nevermind that's football.

 

Keep Right On (as we say in Birmingham).

[Steve K]

A bit of luck??

 

Rooney was wrongly flagged offside when Ashley Cole was clearly playing him onside. Terry clearly dragged Valencia to the floor in the box= penalty without a doubt. 2 mistakes by the same linesman (obviously a Chelsea fan) who clearly saw both. And the freekick was never a freekick and even still, Drogba was offside/interfering with play. A bit of luck??

I'm always wary of joining a football debate on this forum because things get a bit heated very quickly. Needless to say, we're all of us terribly biased where our team is involved, and as Chelsea are still one of those teams which neutrals love to hate, a Chelsea v Man U match was always going to raise the temperature a bit! Anyway, all of the following should be read while keeping in mind that I support Chelsea. If you still think that my opinions might be worth reading, then fine - if not, look away now!

 

Your comment that the linesman was "obviously a Chelsea fan" is nonsense, of course - just because an important decision goes against your team doesn't mean that there was a conspiracy involved, or even, for that matter, that the decision was wrong. Heck, I don't even think that the ref in last year's Champions League semi was biased or corrupt - he just missed 3 pretty clear penalties. Upsetting at the time, but life goes on. However, while I really don't want to stoke the flames, may I at least play Devil's Advocate concerning the events leading up to the goal?

 

You say "the free kick was never a free kick" - well, just because Ashley Cole managed to pretty much get out of the way of Fletcher didn't mean it wasn't a foul. Time after time, we're told that players can't go in two-footed, or with studs raised, so I can't agree with the idea that the foul should definitely not have been given. The ref made a judgement call, however, and decided to give it.

 

Yes, of course, Drogba tussled with Brown, with the result that Brown ended up on the floor. The referee or linesman, if they'd seen this properly, might well have given a free kick, or they might have decided that this was the kind of thing that happens every time a free kick or corner is taken. Once the decision not to penalise Drogba was taken, unfortunately, he was played onside by Brown, who was by now on the floor.

 

So yes, "a bit of luck". A bit like the bit of luck Johnny Evans got when he kicked Drogba in the chest. Instead of being awarded the foul, Drogba found himself penalised. On another day, Evans could have been booked or even sent off for his tackle. I won't lose sleep over it, though. Luck goes both ways.

 

 

In any case, there are far bigger injustices for the football fan to worry about - Luton being criminally docked 30 points, therefore ensuring their departure from the Football League. Constant pressure on Phil Brown, who is bearing up well under the circumstances. The sacking of Darren Ferguson (sorry, make that "mutual consent" - yeah, right) after gaining promotion 2 years running. David Ngog scoring a brilliant goal, but then conning the referee into awarding a penalty which saved Liverpool's blushes last night. The constant bleating by players and managers about referees, but the shamful lack of ex-players willing to become referees. I could go on.

[SpiritOfChester]

I am a Blackpool supporter and can't believe the position we are in at the moment. Nor can our manager Ian Holloway if you listen to his post-match comments. Sometimes I don't know if he is having a laugh or he's the greatest tactical genius in the Championship. How many other managers see their team win and then make seven changes for the following match?

 

Wow... Didn't know there was another Blackpool fan on here! I'm in exile but still go to every home game and an awful lot of the away games as well! I for one, was sceptical with the appointment of Olly in the summer but I really can't complain when you see the position we are in. I would honestly say he could be a tactical genius, as our system is brilliant. Its only about now that its being unpicked by teams who have done their homework... But you get round that by tweeking it each week, exactly like Holloway is doing now!

 

Up the Pool!

[Colin]

Just when I thought things couldn't get worse for the Hammers.....

 

Reading between the (Teletext) lines, it looks as if Dean Ashton is going to have to pack in in at 25, sadly predictable.

Best centre-forward West Ham have had for years (anyone remember David "Psycho*" Cross back in the early 80s?) and this happens. I hate to hear of any player from any club retiring early through injury but given that Ashton was breaking into the England squad this is doubly tragic.

 

* He got that nickname long before Stuart Pearce!