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Honest to fuck, is he a clever parody?

You reckon they're trying to reduce server load?

And the answer is 'yes' - still not in our hands... ahem...

And the answer is 'yes' - still not in our hands...

Should see him work his way around a shaft, though.

To be fair to Villa any time I've looked at their forum recently the vast majority has been nothing but complimentary towards us. We made it easy for them to act like arseholes that day. We got relegated, they took the piss. The way I see it we got them back when we embarrassed them 6-0 and that was the end of it. If you were there, or know someone who was on that day, you wouldn't forgive and forget. You sound like a scouser

Aw I've loved this, anyway. I'm glad it happened. Special mention for bimpy just cos he kept plugging away, reminded me of Butters.

Truth is I sort of hope we don't win it for that reason - it'll be about as incredible as when Scott Parker got our little Intertoto pot. Would feel like a false start, I'd rather win something proper so I could let go and not feel embarrassed about being so happy. Interesting to me that on first sight it seems like it's the older ones who are more anti-it and the younger ones who give the League Cup more credit. Re: Wolves, I mention that partly with a view to this idea that the cups just get in the way and aren't worth bothering with if you've got something more important like a top half finish to think about. But also partly as it rings with this feeling that there's just a lack of fight among competitors now. That there's this widespread feeling among people that outcomes are usually pre-determined, and a game of football is a mechanistic affair which won't be changed by trying hard in it or anything stupid like that. Which brings me onto the point about Stoke and the league being a good measure. What I will say about them - for them - is that newly promoted Stoke were an absolute nightmare to play away from home, and that's something that deserves credit. On a given day, they could beat anyone, and it wasn't just about long throws, it was about energy - not physical stamina but that pulse 25,000 of them could summon and make technically great players wobble, because they lacked that bottle. It's something intangible, that we haven't scientifically quantified and categorised as yet, but people who've been to more than a few games will know what I mean, because we as a club have been better at doing it than most over the years. I remember one of the more inspirational things Keegan said was about how our players shouldn't go out thinking tomorrow's headlines have already been written - they haven't, they can go out now and write them. And that vibe is what I think knock out competitions can and should reward. The blend of skill and competitive desire that makes football more addictive than amateur ballet. So if Stoke did ever go all the way through a tournament, I'd say good luck to them, because it would mean just as much as Villa beating some Estonians in a mini-tournament to win the European Cup back in '81 to me. And like I say, by giving a greater reward for winning the cup, the truth is it would make higher quality clubs take it more seriously anyway, so there'd be less chance of Delap and co. bullying some A-level students to victory anyway. As for the league being a better measure of quality... yeah, maybe, but it's still not ideal - if you wanted an assessment of quality, you'd be better off getting rid of seasons and just having an endless procession of test matches, like Cricket and it's world rankings. The fact is it's an embarrassment that 70% of the participants in the Champions' League are actually champions of nothing. And finally, regarding English football needing 2 cups to feed the fickleness of today's game, that's all the more reason to get rid of them - then the dickheads will have to pull themselves together or they'll be a long time moping. In a way, I think the three domestic trophies did feed the idea that there were gold, silver and bronze medals, and a wooden spoon, to be handed out among the 'big 4' - 'last one in the CL goes without, better luck next year chaps' type stuff.

But even teams like Fulham and Villa have found being in the 'Europa League' more of a hassle than a pleasure unless they fluke their way into the semis, and normally the League Cup spot just goes to some runner up like Birmingham City who managed to play a couple of reserve teams in earlier stages. Pointless teams playing pointless games for a pointless reward, makes a mockery of the whole thing.

But why? I mean put it like this, if we only had the league and FA Cup now, would you invent another JPT? Is anything improved by it? We could just create a more prestigious reserves tournament if that's what it's about.

What wacko says is pretty common, but it's also pretty mad 'officially'. I mean once upon a time, some people would even have said Liverpool have had more success than the League Champions this year because they will have won 2 trophies instead of 1, so he should be delighted - it's a double. But now, they're often seen as consolation prizes at best, if not nuisances for tired professional athletes. I bet wacko would have been happier finishing 4th and just making the quarter-finals of any other tournament. So can anything be done to improve this? I think a lot of people have horribly dry attitudes about stuff nowadays, people supporting the idea a team like Wolverhampton should just field their reserves at Old Trafford because 'we all know they'll just lose so they should accept it and keep the best players for more important games', people who'd rather average an extra .23 points per game in the league than have a proper crack at the cup. But maybe they're right, maybe it is the best demonstration of a teams quality in which case all these other distractions should be ditched. Personally, I support chucking the League Cup because it devalues things and was only invented to create more gate money for clubs. Meanwhile, the proper, original cup should be restored with the most valuable thing around in modern football - automatic qualification for the Champions' League. If a Second Division team ever did win it... maybe they could be offered promotion to the Premiership instead? I think this would help recreate some real dogfights among teams who can't rely on being a member of (what would now be) the top three who'd qualify through the league - which is most teams nowadays, let's face it. Much better than the bad old days of the mid-Noughties with the 'big 4' of Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool sitting there like giant lumps of conceited, money-eating dung. Fwiw, I've kept European stuff out of this because it's harder for us to control - sure I think the CL should be made smaller, but that's another can of worms for another day.

Isn't Comolli the one who signed about 20 midfielders for Spurs when they needed full backs and defenders? Yep, total charlatan. Was delighted when Liverpool appointed him, you can trace Spurs' rise to him leaving more than Redknapp joining them. Can well imagine he's been giving the spiel in that article.

Nope, definitely would prefer you to keep quiet on this one, mimi.

Reminds me of a young Darren Ambrose.

lol

Hindsight, eh? The talk was of us having a first refusal clause as I recall.

Nah, they're shaming the game man.

They can sue when they pay for their advertisements instead of depriving the club of commercial income 'in these harsh economic times'.

If he'd kicked it out for a corner people would have called him a hasty dick for not letting Krul take it. Thought he did a good job of shielding it.

Leave him alone, tooj.

This is nothing like every other England manager we've had, they've all been shonky as fuck against all kinds of no-marks, bumbling through with spawny 2-1 victories against the likes of Denmark. The whole organisation needs a gigantic kick up the arse.

I actually agree with 90% of that. If 1st is 1st and 2nd is nowhere, might as well concentrate on preparing for victory instead of trying to nick 5th. Edit: Teaches me for trying to post on my phone...

And then he went straight to Nottingham to face Forest? That doesn't seem like sensible prep. Aye. Said he was playing tonight when I questioned whether he had played over the weekend. Don't know if this is old news, but said he only left because Shearer wasn't appointed when he was promised he would be. very old news. Beye was happy to say with us in the championship but when things dragged on with appointing a manager, he simply got fed-up and decided to leave. I don't know why he gets so much stick on here. The guy was a quality player and a good proffesional. Pretty sad to see his career drain away like it has. Ahm... because he said he'd stay, got fed-up and decided to leave. Probably the kicker though was when I saw him pre-season, he clearly had already had the change of heart and looked like he couldn't give a shit about the team anymore. As you say, was a massive shame how it ended as he was a good player for us and enormously likable. Well, I don't blame him. We were a shambles back then, no denying that. He said he was happy to stay to help us get back up, but the shambolic running of the club early that season was enough for him to reconsider his decision, clearly for the sake of his career. Didn't think he could help us if we weren't going to help ourselves. Can't blame him for that.

To clarify, most of my comments were about amortisation in principle, as opposed to NUFC and our Board. Only comment I'm making on them is that it's funny they've claimed we've made both a profit and a loss on different occasions.

...and I hereby christen her the good ship Greedy Cunt. May God bless her and all the bigger clubs she insists on leaving us for.