Still Not Worthy Of A Thread

[TBG]

#selfie

[WarrenBartonCentrePartin]

If money was no object...

 

http://www.classic11.com/

[brummie]

Villa suspend coaching staff. Weird business.

 

Culverhouse is a twat. That has been known for ages. Lots of stuff about him gobbing off (effing and blinding) at fans who sit near the dugout on match day.

 

There were rumours that he had a ruck with Gordon Cowans at training, after Cowans complained about the way he speaks to the younger players (he and Karsa apparently also talk to all the staff at the training ground like shit).

 

Apparently during said ruck, Delph and Agbonlahor stuck up for Sid, but then were dropped for the next game at home to Fulham. It's nuts to even consider dropping Delph, he's been our best player this season by a mile.

 

Then there was some stuff about after the Palace match last week, Albrighton had an argument with Karsa, and was - and this I find hard to believe - told to make his own way home from Selhurst Park.

 

What is really odd is that Lambert is still there and seems to agree with the move. He said something the other day about "things going on behind the scenes", which was obviously a reference to this, and there are stories today that training was "bouyant" as the players were so happy those two had gone.

 

Something clearly had gone wrong especially recently. We'd been bobbing along more or less mid table until a couple of months ago, but then all of a sudden it went to shit. I've a feeling this problem was something they thought they'd sort out in the summer, but then the form turned awful.

 

Oh and Saturday - I actually went to that game, first away match in a while - the fans turned on Lambert for the first time really (beyond the odd booing after home matches).  The usual "you don't know what you're doing" stuff, "fuck off Lambert", that sort of thing, but when the away fans turn, it is really a sign something has got to change.

 

Yesterday the CEO puts out a statement "we all need to stick together, players, fans, coaching team", then today they sack the coaching team.

 

To be honest, I am glad, because something has got to change. We've lost 10 home league games - the worst in our 140 year history - and that is with 2 home games still left to play (and also we've lost at home to Sheffield United in the FA Cup).

 

We're not going to go down, but it's good to see something at least change rather than just the usual shit week after week.

 

On the bright side, the unhappiness here is almost total at the moment, so at least they are trying to do something about it rather than just plodding on.

 

15 points from the last 19 matches. Jesus. That's awful.

[Dave]

15 points from the last 19 matches. Jesus. That's awful.

 

We've got 13 points from our last 16 matches. Marginally better.

[Ameritoon]

There's a 30 for 30 documentary on Hillsborough airing over here on Tuesday, I'm sure it will make it's way to the UK soon at least on Netflix. It's probably a pretty tired topic for most of you, but it's the same production that made The Two Escobars, should be pretty good.

 

Guess I was wrong, won't be aired in the UK until the ongoing inquest is over, which is a shame because it could have a powerful impact. Obviously, there are ways to find it.

[brummie]

15 points from the last 19 matches. Jesus. That's awful.

 

We've got 13 points from our last 16 matches. Marginally better.

 

We're like the Barcelona and Real Madrid of shitness.

 

Farcelona and Real Madshit

 

Or something.

[wacko]

Should have left it at Farcelona, tbh. That one was pretty good.

[Paully]

More from Pirlo's book! Ha ha ha!

 

 

Andrea Pirlo talks candidly about his career: On that 'panenka' penalty; on Roy Hodgson; on Zlatan Ibrahimovic; on Mario Balotelli; on winning the World Cup and on his PlayStation obsession

 

 

 

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Andrea Pirlo has enjoyed a trophy-laden career for both club and country

GETTY IMAGES

In his amazing new book, Italy legend Andrea Pirlo talks about a remarkable career, Sam Wallace picks out the highlights

Sam Wallace 

Tuesday 15 April 2014

•

www.zalando-lounge.de

More than that, Andrea Pirlo is one cool dude. The luxuriously bearded Italian has been one of the most cultured midfielders of his generation. He was also the man with the nerve to chip Joe Hart in the Euro 2012 penalty shoot-out.

Now 34, he will face England again in their first World Cup game in Italy in Manaus on 14 June. His autobiography, I Think Therefore I Play, published in English by Back Page Press, is one of the best footballers’ memoirs of recent times. This is Pirlo, in his own words.

On himself

I don't feel pressure ... I don't give a toss about it. I spent the afternoon of Sunday, July 9, 2006 in Berlin sleeping and playing the PlayStation. In the evening, I went out and won the World Cup.

On Milanello

We met in the room used for team meals, halfway between the kitchen and the hall with the hearth where Berlusconi would pound away on the piano and tell various kinds of jokes. Equidistant between the most modest part of the complex and the richest. Between a symbol of humility and one of unabashed power. Between a place where people sweat buckets earning relatively little, and a spot where they earn a fortune sweating just the right amount.

 

On denying transfer rumours

You're then forced to tell the media a lot of crap; provided, of course, that they manage to ask you the right question. If they enquire whether it's right you'd practically signed for Madrid, you are duty-bound to respond hiding behind well worn clichés and half truths. You read a dull, lifeless script written by press officers with no talent or creative spark. “No, that's not the case. I'm perfectly happy in Milan.” F*** off!

On his PlayStation obsession

After the wheel, the PlayStation is the best invention of all time. And ever since it's existed, I've been Barcelona, apart from a brief spell way back at the start when I'd go Milan.

The head to heads [with room-mate Alessandro Nesta, 'Sandro'] were pure adrenaline. I'd go Barcelona and so would Sandro. Barca v Barca. The first player I'd pick was the quickest one, Samuel Eto'o, but I'd still end up losing a lot of the time. I'd get pissed off and hurl away my controller before asking Sandro for a rematch. And then I'd lose again.

It's not like I could use the excuse that his coach was better than mine: it was Pep Guardiola for him and Pep Guardiola for me. At least in terms of our manager we set out on a level footing. One day we thought about kidnapping him. The flesh and bones, real life version that is. It was August 25, 2010, and we were with Milan at the Nou Camp for the Gamper pre-season tournament. We thought better of our hostage-taking in the end. To avoid constantly falling out, we'd have needed to saw him in two when we got back to Italy, and that wouldn't have been a good idea. How the poor thing would have suffered.

On meeting Guardiola about a move to Barca

I wasn't really bothered about much else in the room besides the person who had summoned me. Guardiola was sitting in an armchair. He began to tell me about Barcelona, saying that it's a world apart, a perfect machine that pretty much invented itself. He wore a white shirt and a pair of dark trousers whose colour matched that of his tie. He was elegant in the extreme, much like his conversation.

I immediately thought of Sandro – he'd die of jealousy when I told him [that Guardiola wanted to sign Pirlo]. I was taking away the 50% of Guardiola that belonged to him.

On being given the first penalty in the 2006 World Cup final shootout

Being first on the spot, kicking off that torture in the biggest, most incredible game that a player can play or imagine ... That's not necessarily good news. It means they think you're the best, but it also means that if you miss, you're first on the list of d********.

On taking that penalty against France

Caressing the ball was something I had to do. I lifted my eyes to the heavens and asked for help because if God exists, there's no way he's French. I took a long, intense breath. That breath was mine, but it could have been the manual worker who struggles to make it to the end of the month, the rich businessmen who is a bit of a shit, the teacher, the student, the Italian expats who never left our side during the tournament, the well-to-do Milanese signora, the hooker on the street corner. In that moment, I was all of them.

You won't believe me, but it was right in that very moment I understood what a great thing it is to be Italian. It's a truly priceless privilege.

On his ‘panenka’ penalty against Hart

I made my decision right at the last second, when I saw Joe Hart, the England goalie, doing all sorts on his line. As I began my run up, I still hadn't decided what I was going to do. And then he moved and my mind was made up. It was all impromptu, not premeditated. The only way I could see pushing my chances of scoring close to 100%. There was absolutely no showboating about it - that's not my style.

On the honour of playing for Italy

Take someone like Antonio Cassano. He says he's slept with 700 women in his time, but he doesn't get picked for Italy any more. Deep down, can he really be happy? I certainly wouldn't be.

On Rino Gattuso

Rino's word was law at Milan, and anyone new to the club was aware that the first thing they had to do if they made a mistake was explain themselves to him. Just having that knowledge drastically reduced the chances of people f***ing up.

On Marcello Lippi's approach during the 2006 World Cup

It was a real team effort that made us world champions in Germany but, at one point, Lippi had this to say about the group: “You're all s***; you disgust me ... You talk to the journalists too much. You're spies who can't keep a single secret – those guys always know the team in real time. What's that all about? I can't even trust you.”

On playing for Roy Hodgson at Inter Milan

Hodgson mispronounced my name. He called me 'Pirla' (d*******), perhaps understanding my true nature more than the other managers.

On agreeing to join Chelsea (Milan refused to sell)

It was August 2009 and I had reached agreement with Chelsea, the club where Ancelotti had just come in as manager. Carlo was like a father and a teacher for me, a kind, friendly man who knew how to make things fun.

On the legendary fight at Milanello between Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Oguchi Onyewu

I saw them laying into one another like two bullyboys from the roughest estate. They looked like they were trying to kill each other: there were definitely some broken ribs, despite silence and denials from the king's buglers who said it was just a 'lively confrontation'. Those of us who'd witnessed it were put in mind of a mafia-style settling of the scores.

On losing the Champions League final to Liverpool in 2005 in Istanbul having led 3-0

When that torture of the game was finished, we sat like a bunch of half-wits in the dressing room ... we were bloodthirsty zombies faced with an unforeseen problem – the blood was ours and they'd drunk every last drop. We couldn't speak. We couldn't move. They'd mentally destroyed us. The damage was already evident even in those early moments, and it only got more stark and serious as the hours went on. Insomnia, rage, depression, a sense of nothingness. We'd invented a new disease with multiple symptoms: Istanbul syndrome.

I no longer felt like a player, and that was devastating enough. Even worse, I no longer felt like a man.

That's right: for f***'s sake. Double f***. The first words that come to my lips when I think of Istanbul.

On Sir Alex Ferguson's decision to use Park Ji Sung to man-mark him, something Pirlo hates

Even Ferguson, the purple-nosed manager who turned Manchester United into a fearsome battleship, couldn't resist the temptation. He's essentially a man without blemish, but he ruined that purity just for a moment when it came to me. A fleeting shabbiness came over the legend that night. On one of the many occasions when our paths crossed during my time at Milan, he unleashed Park Ji Sung to shadow me. The midfielder must have been the first nuclear powered South Korean in history, in the sense that he rushed about the pitch at the speed of an electron.

On the racists who abuse Mario Balotelli

They’re a truly horrendous bunch, a herd of frustrated individuals who’ve taken the worst of history and made it their own ... whenever I see Mario at an Italy training camp, I’ll give him a big smile. It’s my way of letting him know that I’m right behind and that he mustn’t give up. A gesture that means ‘thank you’.

 

[Newcastle Fan]

Trying hard not to read all of that as it seems like a fucking brilliant Autobiography

 

 

:lol:

[TaylorJ_01]

Aye, looks mint, might buy.

[mattypnufc]

Already bought.  Looking forward to it.

[thomas]

I lifted my eyes to the heavens and asked for help because if God exists, there's no way he's French. :lol:

 

[Village Idiot]

Should have left it at Farcelona, tbh. That one was pretty good.

 

That's actually the name Real Madrid and Espanyol fans use against us. I'll admit it is good.

[Village Idiot]

That Pirlo book looks mint!

[joeyt]

Might have been mentioned in another thread:

 

Next weekend Hull host Arsenal. Now if Arsenal don't win, it'll be not only a severe blow to Arsenal not making the Champions League but also Hull getting to play in Europe.

[BrettNUFC]

Might have been mentioned in another thread:

 

Next weekend Hull host Arsenal. Now if Arsenal don't win, it'll be not only a severe blow to Arsenal not making the Champions League but also Hull getting to play in Europe.

 

So basically everyone just puts their house on an Arsenal win 

[Ryan_Taylor]

 

Might have been mentioned in another thread:

 

Next weekend Hull host Arsenal. Now if Arsenal don't win, it'll be not only a severe blow to Arsenal not making the Champions League but also Hull getting to play in Europe.

 

Will Hull not still her the Europa spot if Arsenal finish 5th. Being as how that's the Europa Spot anyway.

[joeyt]

 

Might have been mentioned in another thread:

 

Next weekend Hull host Arsenal. Now if Arsenal don't win, it'll be not only a severe blow to Arsenal not making the Champions League but also Hull getting to play in Europe.

 

Will Hull not still her the Europa spot if Arsenal finish 5th. Being as how that's the Europa Spot anyway.

 

If Arsenal finish 5th and win the FA Cup it goes to 7th place iirc

[Guest antz1uk]

 

Might have been mentioned in another thread:

 

Next weekend Hull host Arsenal. Now if Arsenal don't win, it'll be not only a severe blow to Arsenal not making the Champions League but also Hull getting to play in Europe.

 

Will Hull not still her the Europa spot if Arsenal finish 5th. Being as how that's the Europa Spot anyway.

 

If Arsenal finish 5th and win the FA Cup it goes to 7th place iirc

 

so if arsenal finish 4th and win the cup, does that extra place go to hull? or to 7th? also what does it take for man u to finish 7th and not make europa?

[joeyt]

If Hull win the cup, they're in Europe and 7th don't get Europe

 

If Arsenal come 4th and win the Cup, Hull get into Europe

 

If Arsenal come 5th and win the Cup it goes to the 7th

 

Thats my understanding anyway

[Interpolic]

That doesn't make any fucking sense to me like, that obviously doesn't mean I'm disputing it's correct mind.  Stupid football.

[Guest bimpy474]

If Hull win the cup, they're in Europe and 7th don't get Europe

 

If Arsenal come 4th and win the Cup, Hull get into Europe

 

If Arsenal come 5th and win the Cup it goes to the 7th

 

Thats my understanding anyway

 

Correct.

[Village Idiot]

Pretty sure I read somewhere that UEFA is forcing to change domestic cups in order to avoid this kind of issue; the losing finalist would never play in the EL from now on.

[Interpolic]

I'm all for the cup finalist getting into Europe personally, even if it wouldn't benefit NUFC.  I'd have Hull getting into Europe in all of the scenarios above, reward them for getting to a final rather than whoever finishes in a nothing position like 7th.

[WarrenBartonCentrePartin]

I'm all for the cup finalist getting into Europe personally, even if it wouldn't benefit NUFC.  I'd have Hull getting into Europe in all of the scenarios above, reward them for getting to a final rather than whoever finishes in a nothing position like 7th.

 

 

http://www.thereddevil.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/David-Moyes_2.jpg