Football Focus

[oggy1953]

Mind you, I'd probably be quite perverse in my England team selection. Going by the last few weeks' games, I'd not only have Zamora, but Bent, Parker, Campbell, Steve Harper in goal...

 

 

Oh no , not the Judas Campbell i hope.....Dawson has had a far far better season...and he doesnt walk away when the going gets tough.

[Steve K]

Oh no , not the Judas Campbell i hope.....Dawson has had a far far better season...and he doesnt walk away when the going gets tough.

Ah, but my reasoning is that the World Cup is over so quickly that Sol wouldn't have time to get the hump!

[dseagull]

As has been noted by others, there is far more to Zamora's game than goalscoring. His hold up play is excellent - back to goal, recieving the ball and laying it off to his strike partner etc - and he certainly can finish.

[DavidBelcher]

Ah, but my reasoning is that the World Cup is over so quickly that Sol wouldn't have time to get the hump!

 

Probably belongs in the "jokes" thread on Wheeltappers but here goes anyway:

 

I went to a beer festival with Sol Campbell the other week; he only managed one half and then went home.

 

I'll get me coat.

 

David

[oggy1953]

Probably belongs in the "jokes" thread on Wheeltappers but here goes anyway:

 

I went to a beer festival with Sol Campbell the other week; he only managed one half and then went home.

 

I'll get me coat.

 

David

 

 

Ha Ha I like it

[Colin]

All this chat about which strikers should partner Rooney just makes me regret even more what happened to Dean Ashton. He could have been one of the best IMHO - I doubt he'd have stayed long at West Ham but probably would have moved to one of the top clubs and been an England regular.

[BoD]

It didn't help Bent's cause that he was given a chance in Quatar against Brazil when the whole team was woefully lethargic in the heat and he was asked to play as a lone striker with no service provided to him.

[dseagull]

 

Arundel 2 - Hailsham 1

Sussex County One

 

Stringers Goalscorer; T Jarvis 63

 

Disapointing result, but a brave performance. We began brightly, getting the ball into the box on a number of occasions, but as the first half the hosts began winning more and more ground, and five minutes after having a goal disallowed for offside, did make one count when a cross into the box was nodded home from close range. On the stroke of half time, Cooper had a penalty shout turned down, whilst Alexander cleared the bar with a free kick from the edge of the box. The second half however was much better for Hailsham - Lewis unlucky from distance, before on 63, Tristan Jarvis equalised with a lobbed finish from 30 yards out on the left hand side. This rattled Arundel, but within 10 minutes, they had retaken the lead, after a succession of corners, a shot fired in took a huge deflection off Ashley Jarvis and went into the net. It was now time for Hailsham to gamble, and they came mightily close - Skan caught the 'keeper off his line, only for the ball to be headed behind, whilst Putland saw a terrific shot matched with an equally impressive save from Griffiths. There was still time for more - Lock dismissed for Hailsham after a firm challenge as the last man, whilst a late flurry saw Cooper free in the box, but quickly closed down.

 

This result, combined with others, means we can now not escape finishing in the bottom 3, and unless East Grinstead lose their remaining two, we will finish 19th. Relegated? Possibly. God (or the Sussex FA) only knows.

[Horsetan]

It didn't help Bent's cause that he was given a chance in Quatar ....

 

Maybe this was the "Quatarmass" Experiment

[Steve K]

Maybe this was the "Quatarmass" Experiment

With a small modification, you can see the Sun headline:

 

QATAR MESS AND THE PITS!

 

In other news, I see Jose Mourinho has been uncharacteristically modest about his team's chances, saying that he regrets the image he has projected, and he sincerely wishes Barcelona all the best in tonight's match.

 

 

 

Sorry - my mistake: he's accused Barcelona of being obsessed with the Champions' League. I do miss him terribly, you know. The constant whining of the PL managers every week hasn't been the same without his unique brand of insight!

[Red Devil]

Champions league semi final, if this was the advert for a sport, I think I'd give it a miss

 

Dive, pass, dive, pass, dive, pass, the beautiful barca football, and Inter aren't too far behind,

 

But this takes the biscuit

 

 

how to fall out of love with the game

[oggy1953]

Champions league semi final, if this was the advert for a sport, I think I'd give it a miss

 

Dive, pass, dive, pass, dive, pass, the beautiful barca football, and Inter aren't too far behind,

 

But this takes the biscuit

 

 

how to fall out of love with the game

 

 

Absolutely shocking ! Barca dont change, remember them kicking us to pieces at the' Lane' in the 80s.. Cheats.. but Goodbye..

[S.A.C Martin]

Justice is sweet I think.

 

He will never, NEVER be able to live that down for as long as he lives.

 

Absolute disgrace to the game. This is why English football is nowhere near as bad as that on the continent for poor refereeing decisions and pure and utter "simulation" (read cheating).

[Steve K]

Justice is sweet I think.

 

He will never, NEVER be able to live that down for as long as he lives.

 

Absolute disgrace to the game. This is why English football is nowhere near as bad as that on the continent for poor refereeing decisions and pure and utter "simulation" (read cheating).

I missed the game on TV, and only caught 10 minutes on the radio as I was heading pub-wards. Even in that short period, Chris Waddle could be heard tearing his hair out over the diving and general cheating going on.

 

I think you're right about English football - I watch MOTD regularly, and cringe at the amount of pathetic behaviour, including diving. But then, I see a single game involving (usually) a Spanish or Italian team, and it's twice as bad as anything the PL can offer.

 

That's not to excuse the English game, however, and you're right to point out that so-called "simulation" is cheating, pure and simple. Unfortunately, I think that, until UEFA and FIFA admit that cheating is a problem which risks ruining the game for many fans, nothing will be done about it.

 

You may ask what can be done, especially if the referee is unsure? Me, I'd start having review panels after every televised game. Any contentious incident (including red cards, diving or whatever) would be analysed, and action taken accordingly. Diving? Two-game ban (or more), straight away. You might argue that this wouldn't affect the result, but if enough managers found themselves missing important players for crucial matches, they'd find ways of stopping their players from making asses of themselves.

 

And do you know what? In incidents such as the recent France v Ireland, or Italy v Australia in the last World Cup, where a high-profile piece of cheating has clearly affected the result, I'd kick the offending team out of the competition or, if it were a league match, give the result the other way. The first team to be so penalised would be outraged, but you can be sure that the problem would soon go away.

 

To my mind, the worst thing to happen recently in the fight against cheating was the rescinding of Eduardo's ban for the dive against Celtic. We all saw it was a dive - and the guy has form in this area - yet UEFA shied away when they could have stood firm.

 

Finally, on the subject of diving, I heard someone who'd looked into the subject point out a near-foolproof way of telling if a player is diving. Next time you see a player go down under what seems like a light tackle, watch his arms: if he's reaching for the ground to steady himself, it may well have been a foul, but if he's throwing his arms upwards (and probably flinging his legs out, too!), you can be sure it's a dive.

[62613]

I missed the game on TV, and only caught 10 minutes on the radio as I was heading pub-wards. Even in that short period, Chris Waddle could be heard tearing his hair out over the diving and general cheating going on.

 

I think you're right about English football - I watch MOTD regularly, and cringe at the amount of pathetic behaviour, including diving. But then, I see a single game involving (usually) a Spanish or Italian team, and it's twice as bad as anything the PL can offer.

 

That's not to excuse the English game, however, and you're right to point out that so-called "simulation" is cheating, pure and simple. Unfortunately, I think that, until UEFA and FIFA admit that cheating is a problem which risks ruining the game for many fans, nothing will be done about it.

 

You may ask what can be done, especially if the referee is unsure? Me, I'd start having review panels after every televised game. Any contentious incident (including red cards, diving or whatever) would be analysed, and action taken accordingly. Diving? Two-game ban (or more), straight away. You might argue that this wouldn't affect the result, but if enough managers found themselves missing important players for crucial matches, they'd find ways of stopping their players from making asses of themselves.

 

 

Simulation, or 'diving', has been a cautionable offence for some time now; at least three seasons, if my memory is correct of when we received the instruction to caution for simulation. The problem at the top level, given the speed of the game, is detecting what is simulation and what is a genuine foul.

[Steve K]

Simulation, or 'diving', has been a cautionable offence for some time now; at least three seasons, if my memory is correct of when we received the instruction to caution for simulation. The problem at the top level, given the speed of the game, is detecting what is simulation and what is a genuine foul.

I have nothing but respect and sympathy for referees who have to try to pick the bones out of every tackle - it's an impossible, thankless task.

 

That is why I believe that the only way to go about stamping out "simulation" (such a nice word for such a grubby passtime) is to have review panels after the game, to name, shame and ban players, and ultimately, to make the referees job easier, and make the game more pleasing on the eye to the fans who just want to see a game of football, without all the silliness that currently accompanies it.

[reevesthecat]

Slightly off tangent but I see rafa been saying liverpools season not as bad as some critics have been saying, as a liverpool fan my fear is that if we somehow sneaked fourth and won the europa league then everything else would be brushed over but quite simply we have been awful!!

Taxi for rafa (then plane to italy please)!

Who to take over though no-one springs to mind?

mark

[Horsetan]

....Who to take over though no-one springs to mind?....

 

And that is the problem. There are no obvious candidates and I can't see "The Special One" wanting to come to Liverpool, good though that would be.

[reevesthecat]

Now please sack benitez -fed up now

Now he is saying no-one at the club is asking him to stay- you signed a 5 year deal last year 4 years left to run so why do they need to ask?

No strikers due to injury- well who sold them all?

No quality in the final 3rd or anywhere- why play mascherano at right back with deggen on the bench!

Well done fulham hope Roy wins it he deserves it. In a way glad we never did it as it would gloss over a poor season.

 

Come on blackpool (and fleetwood)

 

mark

now sick of saying maybe next year!

[S.A.C Martin]

Simulation, or 'diving', has been a cautionable offence for some time now; at least three seasons, if my memory is correct of when we received the instruction to caution for simulation. The problem at the top level, given the speed of the game, is detecting what is simulation and what is a genuine foul.

 

Three seasons is correct - but down my way in Kent, I know of four referees who've lost booked matches (can't say which leagues, don't ask me) under suspensions, because they've been called out on "booked for diving"

 

There's very little support for referees decisions in the areas where we need it most, I feel.

 

The problem is, with all the video evidence we have now, and the amount of criticism even one poor decision - perhaps giving a goal kick instead of a corner - gets, referees refrain I feel from booking for diving simply on this basis - what if they're wrong? They can't take the chance and risk being suspended for their next match, or shoved further down the league tables.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Now please sack benitez -fed up now

Now he is saying no-one at the club is asking him to stay- you signed a 5 year deal last year 4 years left to run so why do they need to ask?

No strikers due to injury- well who sold them all?

No quality in the final 3rd or anywhere- why play mascherano at right back with deggen on the bench!

Well done fulham hope Roy wins it he deserves it. In a way glad we never did it as it would gloss over a poor season.

 

Come on blackpool (and fleetwood)

 

mark

now sick of saying maybe next year!

 

It is rather ironic that the three other teams competing with Liverpool for 4th spot all have an ex-Anfield striker in their ranks!

[S.A.C Martin]

YEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Charlton 1 - 0 Leeds United

 

ALL to play for on the final day!

 

COME ON YOU REDS

 

:D :D

[oggy1953]

AS a neutral i just watched one of the most thrilling games of all time. Sheffield Wednesday V Crystal Palace. What a great advert for Championship football. Well done Palace, unlucky Wednesday. I turned over at half time and watched 15 mins of Liverpool V Chelsea. It lacked passion and atmosphere in contrast.

[highpeak]

An interesting day: reffed an O-30 D3 men's match with just one AR which made life a bit tough for positioning in one half of the field. One sent from the field for DOGSO, two yellows for failure to keep their potty mouth under control. A very scrappy 1-1 draw to the extent there was any football played.

 

I spent Saturday morning working with my striker on the O-30 women's team I coach. She doesn't always make the most of one-on-ones with the keeper, and lacks confidence in her ability to play the ball with her left foot.

 

Goal 1: left footed tap-in in a goalmouth scramble following a CK. Goals 2 and 3: just the keeper to beat after a beautiful pass put her through. The third goal was driven home pretty hard for her hat trick.

 

She had those skills anyway, all I did was give her a bit of a confidence boost.

[pH]

One sent from the field for DOGSO

DOGSO??? - the mind boggles!