themanupstairs

Not many sights and sounds more moving than our away support in the mood

What a man! Asked on Monday whether he missed the bright lights of the Champions League or Premier League, he looked back almost confused. “I am concentrating on games and that’s it. I decided to stay for the fans and the club, to stay in England and manage a team in the way you want to manage,” he said. “I’m not thinking about what isn’t here. It’s a sunny day outside, I’m coaching a team the way I want to coach it. That’s it. In the end, it’s XI versus XI and we’ve got 52,000 fans coming to our games - it’s not bad.” That is a genuinely brilliant quote which deserves more love in the media and the football public. In this era of rampant commercialism in football, where every player every manager wants to jump to the next step - higher wages at the first available opportunity - that quote is a throwback to the simpler times, reminding us all why we love this game and our respective clubs. By the way Rafa's teams really click into fifth gear and go on full on crushing machine mode in the second half of the season. Quoted for truth

Well we happen to know that that's utter bollocks.

Yup. Hire a proper man to sort out this mess ASAP please!

Howay man. He's highly underrated, haven't you heard? Bottles tackles and hides behind teammates but he's underrated bro.

Back where you've started? He's the CM James Milner. Maximised potential through graft. Good enough at a lot of things and mentally smart enough and willing to adapt as necessary. Technically better than you expect but fundamentally not a "top" player. Great in the dressing room. Liverpool & England captain says more about the options than it does about him as a player and a leader though. This. Frankly it's an embarrassment.

England Rooney What a sorry state of affairs it is. So full of empty platitudes and lauding of sub-standard performances. It's hilariously bad.

At some point he had possession of the ball smack in the center of the pitch. He did his usual dallying taking an eternity to make a decision as to what to do with it. Two Rotherham midfielders pounced on him like hyenas, took the ball off him and left him on the floor licking grass. f***ing soft s****.

galloway man

10:45 onwards

6-0 or 1-0, you still get 3 points.

It looks like a lack of options more than anything else tbh. He's clearly being a bit careful not to burn Hayden out who still hasn't really had a full season of top-level-ish football.

Would have loved to have seen his reaction to the winning goal. Even for a man who is always so composed, he must have slightly gan radge-light at that moment? Tbf he hardly moved a muscle winning the CL after being 3-0 down.

Doesn't seem like it so far... Regardless let's hope we leave him behind. The man upstairs wasn't being serious (i think) Indeed I wasn't. He's fucking rancid. Bobbling around like a rubber ball for Norwich's 3rd. Fucking embarrassing for "a professional athlete".

He'll be fine this league...

Oh dear lad. PS: We're 3rd now. When you get early signs of a massive pimple brewing, and it disappears without a trace by morning

Can't wait to get through this thread tomorrow morning over coffee. Love this place on days like these.

You're already logged in mate

So gay for Rafa

Insane stuff

I reckon they'll try to pry Eddie Howe away from club football. There really aren't many obvious candidates out there. Wenger maybe? Give him and Arsenal an out? Gary Neville would be much of a muchness, even though he's more knowledgable than all PFM's put together.

England

It still hurts to this day. The vision of Cantona peeling away at the far post, as well as that save that Schmeichel made from Ferdinand are two moments frozen in history as far as NUFC are concerned. Gutting.

"Keeping our powder dry" + Lee Bowyer on a free.

Seen this player a few times - electric pace and a good goal scorer. Top player for Buriram in Thailand and was imperious. However, I have some very nasty memories of this player - first scored away from home (a good 10 m off side) against title rivals Chonburi FC, then promptly ran in front of home supporters - waving his shirt - on the running track. A riot broke out culminating in the team being locked in their changing rooms. The next game he played against Chonburi he went down clutching his head after heading the ball (a young bemused Chonburi defender was about 2 m away). The Chonburi player was sent off. The poleaxed player promptly jumped up. Later that half he elbowed a Chonburi player in the face (blood and bandages) - the Chonburi player was booked for diving! But his antics and the refereeing just reminds me how much Thai football makes my blood boil. Hope that he has improved his play acting and as he is young has also developed his game further. Superb post