Coastie

I would pay a lot to be at this match... because I live in Australia.

Played 67 mins last week in Volendam's 3-0 loss to AZ Alkmaar. Only saw highlights but in a losing side he was the main threat - had a 1 on 1 saved and set up a great chance that wasn't taken. Body language was poor - like he couldn't give a fuck half the time - but maybe that's his schtick?

Reminds me of a funny story. Years ago, playing at a fairly decent level - it was the start of the season and I had brand new boots with quite sharp and unusually long studs. Also as the season was new the pitches were thickly grassed (before they turned into mud patches during midwinter). I was in goals and about five minutes into the game one of their lot shoots from the corner of the box. One of our defenders deflected it into the middle - another defender tried to clear it - hit another of our blokes in the arse - ball bouncing about with everyone trying to get to it - another guy trips over his own feet - someone has an airswing - another failed clearance as the ball flies off the captain's jaw. Finally the ball is close enough to me - I step towards it but my long studs get caught in the thick grass and i go down like a sack of shit as my left back tries another clearance. The ball ricochets off the sweeper's knee, hits me on the top of the head and flies into the roof of the net. An own goal where we got the last 14 touches. I would give anything to have the video.

I remember reading a story about him in an English cinema translating a film to Dutch for his companion, in a loud voice, and completely oblivious of the many shooshers around him. What an arse.

This absolutely. My oldest mates put together a team after high school and that team stuck together in one form or another for over 20 years. We're still very close and 18 of us spent 10 days in England this year on a (mainly football) cultural tour. (We all live in or near Sydney.) Lifelong mates. Would never have happened without football.

Fun topic... one thing I've noticed about you poms, no matter how shite you reckon you are, you can all trap and pass so it must get sucked in with the mother's milk somehow. I was fairly decent but was never quite on the football escalator (such as we had in Oz back in the 70s and 80s). My great claim to goalkeeping fame was that, at 16, I kept a kid (Squiz) out of the school team. Then, after I decided I wanted a go at striker, Squiz got into the regional team and kept another kid out of that team called Tony Pezzano - who a few years later was the Australia keeper. So I was arguably better than the Australia keeper. Over the years, I alternated between keeper and striker/winger and played NPL3 as a keeper which is about the level of Conference in the UK. Also played intervarsity which was the highest standard I ever played as it was full of National league youth players. As a striker I got to NPL5 which is still decent-ish. But I did once come out of goals in an intervarsity game when our last reserve was injured - went up front and got a hat trick. Having played both keeper and striker, I always took the penalties (even as a keeper) and rarely missed. Still play O45s... can't bear the thought of giving it away - though I know that day is creeping closer. My grandfather was a Geordie and played at a good level back in the 1920s and 30s. Tried out for Newcastle several times and emigrated to Australia after one of the coaches said to him: "You'll never be a footballer, lad." He was always at me to go back to Newcastle and take up where he left off but it was never realistic. But if you can't be a professional footballer, you can always write a book about it. I wrote a book that was fairly popular in Australia a few years back.

Enjoyed that. MU are my most hated team, although it's a near run thing between them and City.

Hey Madras - I loved Topless Skateboarding Nun. Still have about 30 Viz in my bottom drawer.

Isuzu UTE Goal of the Week Nominations | Round 2 | 2023-24 | A-League Men Videos (aleagues.com.au) Irankunda is only 17 FFS.

I understand he was twice voted MOTM in five matches plus scored goal of the month for the Eredivisie, so not too bad. Still very young so will be a bit inconsistent. Irankunda looks very special indeed and even younger than Kuol. I'll see if I can find footage of his goal on the weekend.

I've heard people who've just been at the recent youth national championships claim that there's some spectacular talent about to hit the AL in the next two years. You only have to go to any beach on a Sunday morning to see the natural athletic quality of Oz kids and we've traditionally done well at youth level. (Some recent, post golden generation blips.) It's at full adult stage that we fall to pieces but the AL and national curriculum seem finally to be paying dividends despite all of Australian football's attempts to tear itself to shreds.

Agreed. Kuol's yanked out a few saplings but that's it. He needs to forget all the hype and just play consistently well ... and the rest will take care of itself. Mind you, Oz has a number of young wunderkinder about to hit the stage so Kuol needs to stake his claim over the next 12 months or he might get forgotten in the rush. I don't think I've ever been so optimistic about the immediate future of the NT and that's hugely down to Arnie and his team. Having said that, watch us get beaten by New Zealand (104) tonight...

Yeah, they came hot on the heels of the World Cup where he'd done OK. Arnie is big on selecting players actually playingso I reckon that's all it is. The team was picked a few weeks ago and Kuol hadn't played much at that point. I daresay Silvera from Boro is in Kuol's spot ATM - he didn't get on against England. Silvera's a good player but he doesn't have Kuol's wow factor. If Kuol keeps playing well he'll be ahead of Silvera by the Asian Cup in January.

Actually been going really well. But he's only just started playing again after sitting on Hearts bench for ever. Getting goals and assists in a team close to bottom. His assist last match was a thing of beauty - especially the first touch. If he maintains that form he'll definitely go to the Asian Cup in January.

Before the season started I predicted Ange would do well at Spurs. So it's proved but I do think he's had a bit of luck so far. MUtd missed several sitters; Arsenal gifted them two goals; and the whole Liverpool debacle. I still think they'll be top 4 or 5 but that luck can't continue. Might get in some Jan reinforcements. He's definitely changed the club in a very short time.