The 2010/11 Football Thread

[Jack]

Quick point, Jack. The Alba Challenge cup is NOT the League Cup up here---it's a bizarre, contrived trophy for teams outside the SPL.

Ah, thanks for that. So it's like the Football League Trophy we have down here then, for teams in Leagues 1 and 2. Having never heard of it before, I'd just assumed that it was a new sponsor for the league cup.

[Bilthehut]

East Stirlingshire (The Shire) for me.
Peter Lorimer used to deliver milk or newspapers to one of my chum's mum or grannie, I think.

Hope he delivered the right milk and newspapers to the right people.

[The Peepmaster]

1972. Last game of the season, and it was Wolves at home to Leeds. Leeds would take the title if they won, or only drew. The papers made a big story about Leeds attempting to bribe the Wolves to throw the game.

Wolves won convincingly, 2-1.

"Derby had to win and did, 1-0, but would still lose the title if Liverpool won at Arsenal or Leeds drew at Wolves. Amazingly, they didn't: on the Monday night Liverpool drew 0-0 and Wolves beat Leeds 2-1, despite allegations that Revie had bribed the Wolves players. Some managers would have waited anxiously, like family members at a hospital, but Clough was having none of that and took his family to the Isle of Scilly, where he would hear the news via the hotel phone. Meanwhile, his right-hand man Peter Taylor had taken the Derby players to Majorca where, if the water didn't always taste like it oughta, the champagne certainly did."

I've been to the Isles of Scilly twice. It's a fabulous place, by the way.

[Jack]

Well, the highlight of the football this weekend, for me, has to be the couple of hours that Blackpool were top of the Premiership. Shortly before Chelsea annihilated someone to surpass them.

If anybody has before/after pictures of Hearts fans from a) when they went in front in added time at the end of the first half, and b) when they conceded just a few seconds later, that'd be good. Always amusing to see people go from euphoria to despair in a matter of seconds.

We played Bristol City this week, in the battle of the Elderly Goalkeepers. They had David James (40) and we had Neil Sullivan (also 40) who was playing in his 500th League game.
We were all over them in the first half, but didn't score. Except for when we did, and David James pulled it back from yards over the line, and it wasn't given. The second half we weren't very good, we conceded straight away, but got a deserved penalty just before the end to finish the game 1-1. In typical fashion, we were totally ignored by the tv coverage, who instead decided to talk about Steve Coppell, who doesn't even work in football anymore. The BBC's match preview also said that we hadn't won our opening two games at this level in all of our 109 year history. Except we're 131 years old. Oh well.

I see Dundee Utd also got a very late equaliser. Until I looked today, I'd thought they'd lost 1-0.

Anyhow, with yet another case of a goal not being given, I was wondering where you folks all stood with regards to "goal-line technology". Personally I'm against it, because it's a slippery slope, and frankly if video evidence was brought in for that, then it wouldn't be long before people wanted to use it for offsides, fouls, and so on and so forth.

I would be happy to have a couple of extra officials though - one behind each goal. They simply spot whether the ball crosses the line, and provide an extra pair of eyes for penalty decisions if the ref wants a second opinion. Doesn't stop or slow down the game, and provides extra jobs. No need for cameras on the goal line.

Today's Results for forum members' teams:[/u]
Doncaster Rovers 1 - 1 Bristol City
East Stirlingshire 2 - 1 Monstrose
Hearts 1 - 1 St. Johnstone
Inverness CT 0 - 1 Celtic
Liverpool 1 - 1 Arsenal
Nottingham Forest 1 - 1 Scum Utd
Rangers 2 - 1 Kilmarnock
St. Mirren 1 - 1 Dundee Utd
Wolves 2 - 1 Stoke

This Week's Score:Team Beau Peep 11 -  9 The Opposition
Running Total: Team Beau Peep 1 - 0 The Opposition

[Roger Kettle]

I'm confident that Dundee United were saving themselves for the European tie on Thursday against EEK! ATHENS.
I'm also confident it will be our only round in the competition.

[The Peepmaster]

Wolves are in the top four. 

[Jack]

I see that Dundee Utd's plan to save themselves for midweek failed, as they lost in Europe in midweek, 1-0 away at Eek! Athens.

Anyhow, after you all so enthusiastically picked up on last week's discussion of the potential use of goal-line technology, I thought I'd keep it brief this week.
After last weekend saw our teams involved in a surprisingly large number of 1-1 draws, this week saw a surprising number of 4-0 scorelines.

This Weekend's Results for forum members' teams:
Celtic 4 - 0 St. Mirren
Craig Bellamy 4 - 0 Doncaster Rovers
Dundee Utd 0 - 4 Inverness CT
Elgin 0 - 2 East Stirlingshire
Everton 1 - 1 Wolves
Fulham 2 - 2 Man Utd
Man City 3 - 0 Liverpool
Newcastle Utd 6 - 0 Aston Villa
Kilmarnock 0 - 1 Motherwell
Scum Utd 3 - 1 Thugwall
St. Johnstone 0 - 1 Aberdeen


This Week's Score:Team Beau Peep 18 -  17 The Opposition
Running Total: Team Beau Peep 2-0 The Opposition

[Roger Kettle]

I was hoping the football results might be glossed over this week.

[Jack]

I thought about it, but I wouldn't want anybody accusing me of only posting the scores when my own team doesn't get annihilated by a temperamental little welshman.

[Calvin]

Hey!
You missed Newcastle's demolition of Villa there.
It may be early but that just might be the high point of the season.
Btw, Scum Utd vs Thugwall....funny.

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

St. Johnstone 1 - 0 Aberdeen

I wish! 

[Jack]

Hey!
You missed Newcastle's demolition of Villa there.
It may be early but that just might be the high point of the season.
Btw, Scum Utd vs Thugwall....funny.

Whoops! Sorry Calvin, I missed the bit in your previous post about Newcastle, amongst all the reminiscing of old times. I've added them to the list

St. Johnstone 1 - 0 Aberdeen

I wish! 

My mistake. I misread the score. Not a good week for most of our teams, I have to say. Fortunately Newcastle's massacre of the Villa helped our overall tally.

[Jack]

Apologies if any of these are incorrect. I was using the BBC site when I noticed it seems to be riddled with errors this week. It has the Man U game down as a 1-0 result, and is still previewing East Stirling's game from yesterday afternoon. Unless you go into the results section, where it says 1-0. Yet a double check on google tells me it was actually 2-0. So... yes.

It was the first Beau Peep Forum derby match this week, with Peepmaster's Wolves facing Calvin's Newcastle United. It ended a draw, but although they didn't win the game, Wolves certainly won me over with their continued determination to kick Joey Barton into the stands.

This Weekend's Results for forum members' teams:
Aberdeen 0 - 1 Kilmarnock
Arbroath 2 - 0 East Stirlingshire
Doncaster Rovers 3 - 1 Hull City
Hearts 1 - 1 Dundee Utd
Liverpool 1 - 0 West Brom
Man Utd 3 - 0 West Ham
Motherwell 0 - 1 Celtic
Rangers 2 - 1St. Johnstone
Watford 0 - 1 Scum Utd
Wolves 1 - 1 Newcastle Utd

This Week's Score:Team Beau Peep 12 -  6 The Opposition
Running Total: Team Beau Peep 3-0 The Opposition

[Calvin]

Well I didn't see it but I heard that Wolves certainly did play a gentlemanly, fair and skillful style of football.
Your point about Joey Barton brings up one of my pet peeves in the football world. While I'll never condone the stupid and vicious things Pal Joey has done in the past, it's the past. Opponents shouldn't be given free reign to kick lumps out of him, and others with similar reputations, as was inferred in Mick Mcarthy's comments afterwards. At the same time these players with reps only have to look sideways at someone to go in the book.
A yellow or red card foul shouldn't depend on who is on the receiving end, or who is commiting the foul.
Good on the referee for sending Joe Cole off a couple of weeks ago for a bad tackle. Commentators here were disputing it based on his personality.."Joe Cole's just not that type of player, no intent etc" Rubbish, it was a red caed challenge, period. Evaluate each game and each tackle on it's own merits and keep the personalities out of it
Good away point for us though.

[Roger Kettle]

Calvin, Joey Barton is a thug and, arguably, should have been banned from the game some time ago. While I have no doubt that his reputation goes before him, he just never seems to learn---on or off the pitch. I don't condone the tackles that some Wolves players launched at him but he has made an awful lot of enemies in the game and it didn't surprise me. What DOES surprise me is that he comes over in interviews as one of the more articulate footballers around. There is an intelligence in there somewhere but he hides it well in his actions.