wacko

Lol. That takes me back. Owen had a tremendous record against Newcastle back before he was knacked. The striker he was, especially through 2001, till he did his hamstring. Stole the FA Cup from Arsenal (along with Henchoz), humiliated Germany at home like they'd never known (truly, you can't imagine how bad that was. For them ), and bagged us the Super Cup. He was still a mercenary shitbag, but fuck me, could he play.

Play-offs are always a stupid idea in a league. They make a mockery of the league, if the 4th to 7th places amount to the same thing. I don't think it would make much difference anyway: until this season, the usual CL qualifiers had rarely lost a home-away tie, or even a one-off final, which is why they were usually in the CL anyway. On top of that, bringing it up this season when 4th place is up for grabs, and the league seems more competitive as a whole, was perversely bad timing. It was probably the three clubs we need to gain on that also voted against... Messing around with the league isn't the way to increase competition. If the FA wants to do that, they should distribute the money more evenly, and/or introduce reasonable financial constraints.

Point is, you can't have players actively grabbing the ball before the ref blows his whistle, no matter how obvious the offence.

One hindrance is that the clock isn't stopped in Football, which could make it difficult to make sure the correct time is spent there and so on. I'm all for it if they find a way to execute it in a good way without making too many changes to the existing game. (i.e. starting to stop the clock to use this rule etc.) Well there is nothing stopping a 'sin-bin clock' being started/stopped when the ball went out of play. Referees have a wrist watch to manage time - usually with stop watch that has an additional "stopwatch Add time feature". So that way they are tracking the game time, plus stoppage/injury time. Without a 4th official managing the Sin Bin times, the referees would need to start carrying something beyond a wrist watch to manage game time and sin bin time. Workable for pro-Leagues but tough to bring down to lower level leagues. All they'd need is a simple stopwatch like they handed out in PE, and a bit of practice using it (if you actually wanted to properly watch the clock, in which case games would last 120+ minute). The long and short of it is that the relationship of clock to ball-in-play time is so out of whack as it is, accurate timekeeping is not a priority, and noting player number and time is no more than refs do during bookings, anyway. You can be sure as hell the players won't let the ref forget to let their teammates back on. I think it's a great idea. It would add a new tactical dimension to the game (powerplays, isn't it?). The challenge is how do you manage multiple sin bin infractions at the same time. One guy is sent to sin bin for 2 mins, but 30 secs later guy from other team is sent in, then 45 secs later another player is sent in. Realistically, there aren't going to be that many players in the sin bin. If refs generally enforce a rule of 2-3 minutes before they'll let the next player back on (unless they were sent off practically simultaneously), then players will be further discouraged from offending, and referees encouraged to punish tactical fouls. The ref only ever has to remember when the next player is allowed back on, and then look at his list. The player will, of course, be hopping up and down on the sideline. It's just a bit more book-keeping (one more card, one number). Sure, but in hockey they take the time really seriously. My point is that they don't at all in football, so suddenly insisting on it regarding the sin-bin would probably have a detrimental effect. Top sides can easily keep the ball for most of 2-3 minutes, while lesser (especially punt-happy UK) sides can't, while any time can play cynically. In this case, it'd actually be better to go with the status quo and let the ref play it by ear. Me, too. But it certainly proves it's doable.

Why him and not the men who bought him for (and offered him) silly money?

I used to play (field) hockey for the school, but I'm fucked if I can remember the rules. Buggered up my knee, that did.

It'd take 40+ years to get that lot through.

One hindrance is that the clock isn't stopped in Football, which could make it difficult to make sure the correct time is spent there and so on. I'm all for it if they find a way to execute it in a good way without making too many changes to the existing game. (i.e. starting to stop the clock to use this rule etc.) Well there is nothing stopping a 'sin-bin clock' being started/stopped when the ball went out of play. Referees have a wrist watch to manage time - usually with stop watch that has an additional "stopwatch Add time feature". So that way they are tracking the game time, plus stoppage/injury time. Without a 4th official managing the Sin Bin times, the referees would need to start carrying something beyond a wrist watch to manage game time and sin bin time. Workable for pro-Leagues but tough to bring down to lower level leagues. All they'd need is a simple stopwatch like they handed out in PE, and a bit of practice using it (if you actually wanted to properly watch the clock, in which case games would last 120+ minute). The long and short of it is that the relationship of clock to ball-in-play time is so out of whack as it is, accurate timekeeping is not a priority, and noting player number and time is no more than refs do during bookings, anyway. You can be sure as hell the players won't let the ref forget to let their teammates back on. I think it's a great idea. It would add a new tactical dimension to the game (powerplays, isn't it?).

One hindrance is that the clock isn't stopped in Football, which could make it difficult to make sure the correct time is spent there and so on. I'm all for it if they find a way to execute it in a good way without making too many changes to the existing game. (i.e. starting to stop the clock to use this rule etc.) Well there is nothing stopping a 'sin-bin clock' being started/stopped when the ball went out of play. Doesn't seem much point when the ref so rarely stops his. Just make it 5 minutes. That's probably pretty close to 2 minutes in hockey.

My eyes!!! I'll never be able to wear that shirt again.

One hindrance is that the clock isn't stopped in Football, which could make it difficult to make sure the correct time is spent there and so on. I'm all for it if they find a way to execute it in a good way without making too many changes to the existing game. (i.e. starting to stop the clock to use this rule etc.) Doesn't matter. Seeing as the clock is supposed to stop when the ball isn't in play, yet the balls only in play for 50 or so minutes of the average 90-minute match, whether a player spends exactly 3 minutes in the sin-bin or not isn't a big deal. Make sure the clock doesn't start ticking (an official would have to supervise the sin-bin anyway) until the player's in the bin, and there's a good chance they'll be off the pitch a good deal faster than any subbed or red-carded player.

This I am all in favour off. And cameras.

I don't see how hockey applies in anyway to football though. Hockey is a much faster game played in a much smaller area. The direction I was heading is that even if hockey doesn't have an offside rule, you still can't just belt the puck from one end of the field to the other.

Doesn't hockey have a rule whereby you can only pass a certain length of the field?

Yup. He brought in Phil Thompson, and Rafa Sammy Lee, and with that being what was left of the Boot Room, there's your reason why it closed, too. Souness is the one who f***ed it all up, of course. Practically destroyed a dynasty. Like the f***ing Scorpion King from the Mummy, him. How long do you think Benny will last? I think he'll be off in the summer, unfortunately. Juve might not wait that long, but I'm sure he'll have several offers, and I think he's just about had enough of Hicks and Gillett. "unfortunately" Benitez hasn't half done a job on you lot, turning his own shortcomings into a stick to beat the Americans with.

Yup. He brought in Phil Thompson, and Rafa Sammy Lee, and with that being what was left of the Boot Room, there's your reason why it closed, too. Souness is the one who fucked it all up, of course. Practically destroyed a dynasty. Like the fucking Scorpion King from the Mummy, him. How long do you think Benny will last? I think he'll be off in the summer, unfortunately. Juve might not wait that long, but I'm sure he'll have several offers, and I think he's just about had enough of Hicks and Gillett.

Yup. He brought in Phil Thompson, and Rafa Sammy Lee, and with that being what was left of the Boot Room, there's your reason why it closed, too. Souness is the one who fucked it all up, of course. Practically destroyed a dynasty. Like the fucking Scorpion King from the Mummy, him.

Gerrard's corners have always been utterly shit. I'll never understand why he takes them. He's a good header of the ball, and has a fantastic shot on him, but his corners rarely clear the first man. I'd be surprised if most of the under-17s can't take a better corner than him.

A fit and in-form Owen is a decent option on any bench.

You think teams that win the league in N.Ireland and Wales should be in the Champions League ahead of the likes of Arsenal/Chelsea/whoever doesn't win the league that season? Pthmadog vs Barcelona and some N.Irish team vs Inter Milan...sounds amazing whilst Chelsea play Real Madrid and Arsenal vs Juventus in the UEFA Cup. Think this is a bad idea but each to their own. Why is it called CHAMPIONS LEAGUE? The Ironioc thing is, it was exactly as proposed above before the big clubs united to enforce the change from the Eurpoean Cup to the Champions League. The problem they saw were: 1. Unless you finished top you did not get into it. 2. Early rounds were not top SKY attractions. 3. Possibility of a shock early exit. All of the above had finincial implications, so it changed to the Champions League, thanks to the mega rich grouping together and (once again) threatening to create their own Super League. So it changed to the current format. 1. The Leagues that contained the mega rich have up to 4 entries (so much for Champions), thus giving them an each way bet, no need to actually win a league, just get close enough (those extra pennies come in handy, can buy the best opposition players to warm the bench and play in the reserves, so they can't hurt you). 2. Make the unwashed play off so the mega's have no need to go to their grounds. 3. Make mini leagues (again a deterent to the freak one off result knocking a mega out), this by the way again generated more money. 4. If a mega does get knocked out, the bets are they will be 3rd, so let them go into the EUFA (or whatever its called), at least not all is lost. EVERY MAJOR DECISION THAT HAS BEEN MADE IN THE LAST 20 YEARS HAS BEEN HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY THE FEW TO THE BENEFIT OF THE FEW AND DETRIMENT TO THE MASSES. The Football authorities are always too frightened of being pushed aside by the mega's. As I said before the only way I see it controlled is by only allowing a team to play under licence, they don't play ball they don;t play. The threat of a break away would be nulified as they cannot play under any circumstances without said license. Until the mega's influence is taken away the game will contiunue to be manipulated and plundered by the mega's. Which is a perfectly valid way to see it. It isn't just the big clubs, though, it's the sponsors as well. They really, really don't want to see the big teams going out early because the big teams bring big audiences (including neutrals), and wouldn't be prepared to pay as much as they do without the system being set up to keep the big teams in the competition as long as possible. The four, three, two or one teams per league system vs champions only comes down to whether you'd rather see the best sides in Europe or a few top-notch sides plus a bunch of little-league sides who'd struggle to make the top half of the Prem. It shouldn't be called the Champions League though, not even the Champions' League. Obviously, my preference is for the current system, as we're a much better European than domestic side under Benitez. If we were regularly winning the league, I'd rather have the old European Cup format with a few good sides, but mostly minnows.

Yes, very. In Madrid's case it's largely in spite of the structure and management, not because of it. They both do so well because Spanish clubs have individual TV-rights deals, meaning those two take over half of the TV money in the entire league. Madrid and Barca are the 1st and 3rd richest clubs in the world in terms of turnover, while there isn't a single other Spanish club in the top 25 (by value). Valencia made it into last year's table with little more than a third of Barca's income. Atlético is and always has been a basket case. Businessmen only run clubs well if they treat them like businesses, not playthings.

It's normal practice when you think someone is "wrong on so many fronts" to offer up an argument that contradicts what they said, rather than backs it up. All of that is about scale. Some clubs have always bought success, it's [again] just on a bigger scale now, hence why it's harder for a well run small team to win something. You can't take the influence of money out of football, it's simply not possible, people who think it is are deluding themselves. There are ways that it could be made more competitive - perhaps a restriction on senior squad size or something like that - but a wage cap isn't one. true in that you can't take the influence of money out but never in the history of the game has it been set up in such a way, via the competitions and the media so the rich get richer and the possibility of a lesser club to reach the heights deliberatly lessened. from the champs league money to the way attendance money isn't shared to the medias over the top coverage of the top league and therein the big 4 creating a s elf fulfilling prophecy to continue the hegemony of these clubs. While I do agree that the money is unevenly spread in the PL, the situation is much worse in other leagues. I think a large part of the "Big 4" CL oligopoly in England is that in addition to being that bit richer, the Big 4 are also very well run clubs. You could easily imagine another club breaking into the top 4 if the current incumbents had comedy management like Perez or Ashley. You don't see the same correspondence between income and success in the Bundesliga, for example. I think a lot of this is due to the fan-controlled nature of clubs, which means their executive management is much more political and their board members can't afford to look beyond the next elections. What's more, many elected chairmen are afraid to keep a low profile, or to employ a manager/coach with a higher profile than themselves. Self-made billionaires generally know a thing or two about running a successful organisation, and can take a much longer-term view. We might have a right couple of dicks in charge, but they know better than to fire Benitez even if they hate him, because right now it would probably have a massive negative impact on the value of their investment. An elected chairman would rarely think twice about firing the manager in a similar situation, because there's no downside for him personally. Also, what about giving one player on each side one of these: http://www.supersumo.co.uk/Gladiator%20Sticks%20-1.jpg

Rush goalie.

Freedom Fries!

They had a memorial service/wake for him in the stadium yesterday, with the coffin in the middle of the pitch as far as I could tell. The stadium looked packed, and it was live on about 6 TV channels. His suicide is such a massive deal over here.