Exiled in Texas

Just got off an Etihad flight to Abu Dhabi and watched the "Inside Manchester City" documentary. Quite old footage seeing as it seemed to feature Steven Ireland more than anyone else - seemed to be all from the 09-10 season. Rather cringeworthy production value too. For all he money they spend on City, you'd think that they'd create a better production and/or produce a new one with the latest season.

hahahahahah funniest part of the post. Fantastic effort

Not sure if this is a US/TX thing.....but "you have to ask for 10 yards" is now part of the game. Defenders think they don't have to back up unless the team taking the kick asks the referee to make them get back, thereby turning the free kick into a ceremonial kick on the referees whistle. Is "Ask for 10" a problem in UK game too?

That's not exactly bad news, as to market their sports goods in the far east they'll need a successful team on the pitch. It actually gives me hope that they have some sort of vision rather than just run the club as cheap as possible. Not necessarily. NUFC has quite a large fanbase in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia etc. I watched the Villa match on an Indonesian stream - the more times the SD logo is captured on-screen, the more successful his exploitation of NUFC is. I'm not sure that SD will ever be able to compete in South-East Asia... [tongue-in-cheek] He's not competing for sales in South East Asia, he's competing for a work force. Now the local workers get to see where all their hard work is going. They can watch the game on TV with the kids and say.....See that company "Sports Direct" whose logo is all over the stadium.....I make the stuff that Sports Direct sell. Kids look up a Mum/Dad and say WOW...when I grow up I want to work making Sports Direct stuff too [/tongue-in-cheek]

No - have not eaten there. One more dinner left to go tonight, and then it's homeward bound on V Australia back to the US.

But the Steak in Chimay pie was the best food I've had in BNE (and almost everything has been excellent)

The Belgian Cafe has got to be one of the most overpriced bars anywhere. It's almost banks of the Seine prices for beer in there. Company expense account..... problem?

Just spent 4 days in Brisbane, and one more to go. Watched the QPR game over lunch in one the restaurants just up from Pig and Whistle. Had a few beers in Irsh Murpheys and in Gilhooleys....had a few cultured beers in the Belgian Cafe and also in the Bavarian Beer Cafe on the river. Not a bad town but a bit bland in the evenings....would hate to see what it's like a night when there was no rugby on. Even met up with a mate from Sunderland who I used to work with in Cale Cross House....hadn't seen him in 20 years, but had to rib him about Gyan leaving.

I thought this was a thread about closing time decisions

The other teams in the KHL are all supporting the idea for each team to send one player to Lokomotiv to rebuild their team to start the season. Cool idea....not sure on how the logistics would work etc. Maybe they'd like Alan Smith?

Just so you can say u Jelle ??

By the laws of the game if a player already has a yellow he can't then get a straight red, it has to be yellow followed by red. Regardless of the infringement. That's complete bollocks......Referees can give either depending on the circumstances. Yellow and Red cards have a completely different set of reasons for being issued. Plus, there is a big difference in the disciplinary outcome of a second yellow or a straight red. ( I think second yellow are a 1-game ban, and straight Red are a 3-game ban in the Premier League).

Love the phone number

Rumour has it that Bolton have enquired about Miquel and Crewe... Frimpong is very good, everybody I have spoken to since the game yesterday (rash tackle aside) have been raving about him! Yep, all he needs is to get rid of thte stupid haircut and he would be quite the player. He showed some real skill yesterday (and then Ballsed it all up with a stupid challenge when riding a yellow. And that efirst yellow was so pointless....not sure what he was trying to do there)

Arsenals kids looked pretty good yesterday. Frimpong despite a stupid haircut and a rash challenge looked real good, and the defender Miquel who was rushed on looked good too. Would love to have youth depth like that in our club

As mentioned somewhere else on here....the more Newcastle follow the Arsenal plan, the more Arsenal follow the Newcastle plan. Can't say that I disagree with the view not to overpay for players etc. At least not to the level of paying 150-200k per week. Insane stuff, that's clearly not sustainable.

Warren Barton on the Fox recap show is funny. He loves the derby games especially when Newcastle win. What an unabashed sh!t eating grin does he have on his face when Newcastle beat Sunderland. I love how he makes no bones about the fact that he loves Newcastle .... Not a glory hunter or big-4 fan but just loves the toon. :clap2:

Classic RTG comedy gold Hahahahahahaha

You should be shaking his hand, he was w***. Aye get giving him a cuddle. Wonder why he's not out in Sunderland... Probably safer in Newcastle today

Haha - RTG and Bardsley.....now only a foul not even worth a card, but he only got booked for dissent. Hahah As if a referee would produce a second yellow for a bit of banter about whether something was a foul or whether they won the ball first. Talk about deluded......I think they are over dosing on their cheesy chips and vimto

WOW!!! So much to make from that statement

That last Troll pic!!! :D

Actually his statement is correct, it's not handball....it's intentionally handing the ball. Which does lead people to think of it as hand-to-ball not ball-to-hand. BUT - he fails to know that the other consideration in this is about the position of the hand/arm prior to the ball striking the hand/arm. And the question must be asked is the arm in an un-natural position, and could the player have moved their arm to prevent the ball striking the arm. And it's in this second area where the decision must be made. Is it natural for a player to stand on the oal line with their arms straight out at a 90 degree angle, or would they be more likely down by their side. Were Larson's arms out for balance or to assist in his lateral movement, or was it to make him "bigger" on the goal line. Much more for a referee to chew on than just hand-to-ball or ball-to-hand. My guess is that Webb didn't have a clear view of exactly where the ball struck Larson (in real time was it shoulder or arm) and therefore didn't give the call.

Alarm set for early morning coffee and game

I wanna play too......hey, this punning thing is really AZ