87 replies to this topic

[vassilis]

If you ask anyone in England right now they would surely say Ronaldo. Not easy for an Englishman to say after the 2006 World Cup. Ronaldo is mentally and physically strong, intelligent, lightning fast, skilful has an eye for goal and he is very, very handsome. We see a lot of him but see nothing of Kaka, so I suppose that is a big factor in our choice and same for Italians.

I think that it all comes down to who is going to win CL...If Man U then its gonna be Ronaldo,if Milan then Kaka...But as a Liverpool FC fan i think that in the end Gerrard will be smiling again!

[Charles.C]

Dear Simon,

"he is very, very handsome"

He certainly appears to have very expressive eyes

Rgds / Charles.C

[Simon]

I think that it all comes down to who is going to win CL...If Man U then its gonna be Ronaldo,if Milan then Kaka...But as a Liverpool FC fan i think that in the end Gerrard will be smiling again!

It is both my greatest desire and my worst fear to meet Liverpool in the UCL Final. Win and it will be ecstasy for eternity, lose and it will be living hell. You will see Manchester United supporters throwing themselves off cliffs like lemmings. I don’t know if I’m ready for such a gamble. Wait. Yes I am; BRING IT ON!!!

Dear Simon,

"he is very, very handsome"

He certainly appears to have very expressive eyes

Rgds / Charles.C

Yes very good Charles. And the good news is he's just signed a new five year contract yesterday.

Have a nice weekend; I'm off to watch the Grand National followed by the FA Cup semi final against Watford. BTW if anyone is interested I have had a tip for Point Barrow in the National. No guarantees of course. I'm backing it even though there's a horse called Simon running, if it's anything like me it will go the wrong way.

Simon

[Charles.C]

Dear Simon,

Better luck next time m8, (only 2 favorites have won in the last 10 years) but well done (Si)lver Birch and Robbie Power.
“Another Power, Paddy - the bookie - promised £5,000 of free drinks all round at Aldo's bar in Liverpool, if an Irish horse won the National.”
Wonder what the horse got - An extra roll in the hay maybe ?

Rgds / Charles.C

Edited by Charles.C, 15 April 2007 - 05:31 PM.

[Simon]

Better luck next time m8, (only 2 favorites have won in the last 10 years) but well done (Si)lver Birch and Robbie Power.
“Another Power, Paddy - the bookie - promised £5,000 of free drinks all round at Aldo's bar in Liverpool, if an Irish horse won the National.”
Wonder what the horse got - An extra roll in the hay maybe ?

We had six horses between us and not one finished in the first five (Paddy Power bookmakers pays out on the top five for an each way bet). In fact we only got one finisher. My tip ‘Point Barrow’ fell at the first fence; I wouldn’t mind if I’d got a bit of a run for my money. The other horse I backed ‘Simon’ was going well cruising towards the front until a crashing fall at the 25th fence (Valentine's Brook) ended our hopes. Ah well that’s it for another year. At least Manchester United made it through to the FA Cup final and we now know they will meet Chelsea, perhaps in one of three ‘end of season’ head to heads. I notice the (Si) in Silver Birch you pointed out to me Charles. See the answer was there all along.

[Simon]

Anyone watch the match last night? Should make for a good return game in Milan next week; in the balance I think. Very sad to hear of the death of 1966 world cup winner Alan Ball this morning; only 62.
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[MartLgn]

Yeah the boys did briliantly in the seccond half after Gatusso went off, He's a great player but I really hope he's out for the seccond leg in the San Siro to open the midfield up a bit and let Scholes and Carrick get things going as they did last night. Two away goals is going to make for an awfully tense game but I get the feeling it's Uniteds year patched up defence and all.

[Simon]

Yeah the boys did briliantly in the seccond half after Gatusso went off, He's a great player but I really hope he's out for the seccond leg in the San Siro to open the midfield up a bit and let Scholes and Carrick get things going as they did last night. Two away goals is going to make for an awfully tense game but I get the feeling it's Uniteds year patched up defence and all.

Gatusso is pure class and you're right his departure seemed to coincide with United’s resurgence. The 1st goal by Kaka was unbelievable, his change of pace was mind blowing. It was the best goal of the match…until Rooney fired in that pile-driver. Pace, power, guts, determination, it just about sums up United’s performance. Never dull are they? I thought Fletcher played a blinder.

[vassilis]

How about last night game Chelsea-Liverpool? Liverpool didnt play well at all, especially in the first half...And Cech made an unbelievable safe!!!

Maybe in Anfield we have better luck!!!

[Simon]

How about last night game Chelsea-Liverpool? Liverpool didnt play well at all, especially in the first half...And Cech made an unbelievable safe!!!

Maybe in Anfield we have better luck!!!

I did not see it (as Arsene Wenger often says following a blatant hand ball or foul by one of his players). The advantage is with Chelsea, if they score at Anfield it is all over for Liverpool. However, with the power of the Kop Liverpool could quite easily kick Chelsea's butt. Me? I'm not sure which team I want to lose the most.

Simon

[Charles.C]

Liverpool Chelsea

Bad luck Chelsea, seemed that Jose's game plan stopped at 3.5 hours.

There are many, many theories about achieving successful penaty kicks -

A small aside.
Ronnie Simpson used to stand slightly to the left or right of centre. This left the kicker with the choice of more space to aim at on one side of the goal.
Thus giving him a problem he (usually) had never encountered.

Jim Baxter was also a great penalty taker. I remember him once pointing to the corner of the net he was going to put the ball & sure enough he did. He also asked the goalie why he dived the other way.

The fact remains that every single member of the England squad in 2006, 2004, 1998, 1996 and 1990 was technically equipped to score a penalty. Technique just isn’t our weakness when it comes to penalties. Michael Owen was right when he said that you can practice your technique all day, but it’s not going to help you in a shoot-out situation in which you can no longer feel your legs (through fear, not through fatigue).
One of the ongoing themes in Vialli’s “The Italian Job” is that Italian players regard what they do as a job, the English regard it as a game, and therein I suspect are to be found psychological differences and distinctions by the bucketload.


Rgds / Charles.C

[Simon]

Liverpool Chelsea

Bad luck Chelsea, seemed that Jose's game plan stopped at 3.5 hours.

I'm afraid Jose's 'mind games' didn't work on Rafa. He has a lot to learn from the master of mind games Sir Alex Ferguson. Well a Liverpool, Man United UCL Final takes a step closer ; just the small matter of AC Milan this evening. I'm not confident, although that's part of being an England football supporter and the history of letting us down, missed penalties etc.

[vassilis]

I think that it all comes down to who is going to win CL...If Man U then its gonna be Ronaldo,if Milan then Kaka...But as a Liverpool FC fan i think that in the end Gerrard will be smiling again!

Damn i was right when i was posting at that time...But i think Kaka is defenitely the best football player at this time!
Anyway Liverpool is going to lift the cup once again!!!

[Simon]

Damn i was right when i was posting at that time...But i think Kaka is defenitely the best football player at this time!
Anyway Liverpool is going to lift the cup once again!!!

Yes you were. Milan were too strong, too fast and far too clever for Manchester United. A bridge too far for the reds and the best team won easily. I don't think I'd have been able to handle the stress of playing Liverpool. I think Milan will take revenge for 2005.

[Charles.C]

Dear All,

Seemed appropriate to congratulate ManU on Premier Silverware.

However I am still curious as to the regualtions over penalty-taking -- Ronaldo is the only player I have seen who stops in the middle of his run-in, just like a horse about to jump a fence, is this legal ? I remember there used to be a big discussion over the goalie jumping too quick, this is seemingly now routinely ignored so perhaps one deserves the other.

Rgds / Charles.C

[Simon]

Seemed appropriate to congratulate ManU on Premier Silverware.

Why thank you Charles; I'll pass on your salutations to Fergie and the boys.

However I am still curious as to the regualtions over penalty-taking -- Ronaldo is the only player I have seen who stops in the middle of his run-in, just like a horse about to jump a fence, is this legal ? I remember there used to be a big discussion over the goalie jumping too quick, this is seemingly now routinely ignored so perhaps one deserves the other.

Goalkeeper can move as much as he want's from side to side, but must stay on the goal line. He can do a Bruce Grobbelar style wobbly legs if he wants to. Remember that anyone?

All the other players must stand outside the penalty box and cannot enter the area until the ball has been kicked

The kicker cannot touch the ball a second time until it has been touched by another player

If the referee spots a team-mate of the kicker entering the area before the kick is taken, he can a) order the penalty to be retaken if the penalty is scored, or b) if the penalty is missed, the defending team get an indirect free-kick

If a defender moves into the area and the penalty is missed then the penalty is again retaken.

So the penalty taker is allowed to do star jumps followed by the Charleston on the run up. A bit unsporting to stop half way through the run up, but that's Ronaldo for you.

Simon

[Charles.C]

Dear Simon,

"A bit unsporting to stop half way through the run up, but that's Ronaldo for you. "
Are the opposing side allowed to 'grunt' as he stops ?

Fancy West Ham beating ManU!
Are footballers ever tested for doping?

Rgds / Charles.C

[Simon]

Fancy West Ham beating ManU!
Are footballers ever tested for doping?

Yes I was disappointed as we owed West Ham a relegation after they spoilt our party on the last day twice in the recent past. Also the scandal over Tevez meant they should have been deducted points. Apparently Man United played very well and missed a hat full of chances, so they were trying...sort of.

Simon

[Franco]

They will soon be calling you the Italian Bulldog.

http://www.goal.com/...tenutoId=299625

[Charles.C]

Dear Franco,

Dear Franco,

Thks for this.
It is certainly interesting to compare yr link with http://en.wikipedia....Serie_A_scandal (last updated 5May 2007)

Storm Andrea, the first named storm of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season.

Rgds / Charles.C

[Franco]

It is certainly interesting to compare yr link with http://en.wikipedia....Serie_A_scandal (last updated 5May 2007)

Thanks Charles,

they have been investigating for two years without finding any evidence

The sentence was long disputed because of the largely different severity of punishment between Juventus and other involved teams. According to the court the conduct of team managers, considered in all the cases not a real match-fixing but a mere violation of sport loyalty principles, seemed to have, in case of Juventus, the effect to influence match results; whilst in the case of other teams the same effect was not considered so much evident. Juventus representatives considered this assumption totally arbitrary and never proved. Nevertheless the judges WROTE that it is reasonable that one team may fix an entire championship without having fixed ANY MATCH of that championship. The only referee involved was De Santis because of the match Lecce - Fiorentina, where Juve was not involved at all and Fiorentina is in serie A !!!

There is also the suspect that phone calls had been "fixed" and other had been deleted: there is the technical possibility to do it http://www.voipbuste...m/en/index.htmland Telecom is directly involved both in telephone records and in Internazionale FC board of directors.

The whole matter is still foggy, it seems that there was a group of people trying to fix matches because of financial interests and/or bets and Juventus simply won too many matches and championships without their "permission" !!!

In the end Juventus had to be destroyed because they had too many enemies in Italy.

Anyway, no money no girl, as they use to say and no money had been transferred from Juventus to any referee.

[Simon]

When Juvenus are back on top, which won't be long, this unsavoury episode will be consigned to the history books. Until then the cries for justice will continue.

[Franco]

Until then the cries for justice will continue.

http://www.pressrele...il.asp?ID=38238

[Simon]

http://www.pressrele...il.asp?ID=38238

Bonjour Franco, Les informations est dans le francais, unfortunatmond Je nest pas parlez vous francais.

Regarde vous,
Simone

[Charles.C]

Dear Simon,

It's quite easy really -

Et car j'ai regardé cette pensée merveilleuse de l'emplacement I, j'améliorerais ai mis un toit sur ces toilettes!"

Rgds / Charles.C

( Apologies Franco, I attempted yours also but it lacked comprehension )