Canuck

The context here is that Toronto were set to beat Columbus (their derby match) for the first time ever. "ever" like they've been playing each other for decades 11 matches is an eternity in this league!!

The context here is that Toronto were set to beat Columbus (their derby match) for the first time ever.

That sh*t is painful to watch. Cringe-tastic!!

The club has been sending all of the letters through to him.

What year was the Chelsea Barca match when Mourinho had the pitch set up like a sand box and then re-laid it right after the match? 2006? They definitely played a physical style and negative tactics that year?

Northerngimp with his WHA era Hartford (New England) Whalers logo reminded me that something simiar happened in the NHL a number of years ago. The game was being ruined by thugs and "enforcers" in the style of De Jong and Henry whereby they would target and harass the skill players on the opposing teams. Revenues fell, TV ratings fell and the game stagnated. The governors of the league cracked down on this by telling the referee's to punish the behaviour and by telling the teams that they would be penalized for the slightest infractions with a zero tolerance stance. Purists cried out that they are neutering the game. It's a man's game they cried. What is hockey without hitting!! and so forth. Sound familiar? Now the game is enjoying a renaissance. The skill players are dominating the game. It is faster and more exciting. TV ratings are up and the players are enjoying a higher profile. I see the same thing happening with football. There are attempts to intimidate and stop the flair players (World Cup final anyone) and the consumers are complaining. Purists are writing sh*te about "taking tackling out of football" and legs are getting broken. How long are consumers going to put up with it? When will ratings drop for games when the skill players are not allowed to play? This isn't just about De Jong's tackle on HBA, it is about the Dutch team in the WC, it is about Wolves use of Karl Henry and Arsenal getting kicked off the pitch at Bolton etc. etc.

Ya - I was a bit OTT. I should increase my smiley awareness factor!!

Care to share your views on the 10 games this week to test that theory? Sorry - didn't realize you were a Lawro fanboy. Tell you what - as soon as I spend my entire week devoted to studying the league and speaking to the managers, players, agents et al, I will call it a fair comparison and have a go. This ass-clown is paid to give professional insight in to the game. A prediction is an expected outcome based on knowledge. This should be called Lawro's wild assed guesses.

Last week he got ONE result correct out of ten matches. I think a blind monkey throwing sh*t at the wall would do better.

Who scored it? Raul I think, it was Jefferson Farfan who received a cross at the back post, squared it to Raul (maybe) and he tapped it in. When it was originally crossed to Farfan about 5 players infront of him were offside, but they all clearly left the ball and Farfan ran on to it from a good 3-4 yards onside. The ball went to the blue fellow after looping over everyone, every other player walked back onside, way under the ball + the assistant only flagged when Farfan touched the ball. http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/713/farfanu.jpg Epic use of the tele-strator. Nice one.

Lawro predicting a 2-2 draw. That seals it, a 3-0 win is a virtual guarantee.

Good point. While I believe that CH is making the calls - it seems he is open to other peoples opinions.

sure some other canadian paper had us on the front page when edgar scored against man utd. That was news because Edgar is a canadian international. This is appropos no particular player.

Canada! Do I win something? Canada is the second largest country on earth - not specific enough I'm afraid...

A picture of Ryan Taylor celebrating with the team made the front page of the Winnipeg Free Press, my local paper. F*cking hell, front page news in Winnipeg! NUFC world domination here we come. Most of you probably don't even know where Winnipeg is...

Is there any point to treating this like a reserve match and letting Ben Arfa and Tiote only play a half to help with match fitness and experience? or is that a sh*t idea?...

As an over 40 I was brought up with the "tuck yer shit in man" philosophy. It stuck with me, as well as the socks just below the knee cap. As a centre half the shirt comes untucked after the first opposition attack and stays that way for the duration.

Given is looking for a loan move from Citeh. So much for competing for his spot...

My confidence for this match has just gone way up - Lawro's got us down for a 3-1 loss.

Where does the twelfth guy line up? Have no idea why I did that.....

This is an interesting debate. We have seen Internationals come in and when they are sh*t they the usual excuses about them not being suited for the English game are trotted out. Ben Arfa is a French International - TWO starts and a handful of sub appearances in friendlies technically makes him a French International but is not a ringing endorsement. Tiote is not really known to me. To say he is a regular for his country does seem to be overstating it though. He started the three WC matches but had not played for the team prior to that. I will wait and see and hope for good things!!

Where does the twelfth guy line up?

I am not disagreeing with you. My point is, what is the best team for the situation? That is where a Manager earns his corn. The Everton midfield (not that I am an expert) is a blood and guts affair and maybe, just maybe, it is not the time to blood (literally) the new boys. I think Hughton has some tough decisions to make and I will be interested to see what he does. Which team, formation and tactics - against a team that fought back from 2 goals down against ManU but still only have 2 points from 4 matches.

On the one hand I get why everyone is excited about Tiote and HBA. New signings, exciting prospects, coupled with some disappointment with Nolan and Smith after the Blackpool mess; HOWEVER, we don't know how they are settling in, how well they are training, what tactics CH wants to employ away from home. I am just as keen to see Tiote and Ben Arfa as anyone but I will not be gutted if they don't walk in to the team. *of course, at half time I will be screaming for them if we are doing poorly!!*

Mick McCarthy is blaming Shearer and Hansen for labeling his team as dirty. Ummmm, no Mick, that would be your tactics and your captain that are doing that for you.