. . . . . . . .
Printable View
. . . . . . . .
Last season was the big opportunity and we blew it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert Augustus Chapman
This season is going to be harder. But I still don't think City are quite there just yet. That scoreline flattered them today.
Long way to go etc etc...
I'll judge us when we've got everyone back. If we can lose no more to injury and get those crocked back quick, and to their bests, then we can see what we're like.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
Odin looked back to his best just before injury, as has Gabby. {Leo's been playing the best he's ever played and is happy with squad role - cf now asking for a contract extension to go with the pay rise. I'll stay as long as you want me, even if I'm on the bench half the time.} Vik's getting better and better and we know what Kai can do. We've never had proper options up top, barring a short while with Jeez and Kai. And Noni looked great at the start and means we don't have to kill B. And we may even have Jeez by the end of the year.
If you'd said we'd be without all those, and B for large parts, and be playing MnM up top again, but we'd still be top, I wouldn't have believed you.
Let's pray we get to see what happens when everyone's fit. And that it's more than enough.
Half of them back would be great. Imagine only having three forwards injured- heaven :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult
We have no idea yet what this squad is capable of, and if we can get some better luck with injuries we might just find out.
But one thing is for sure. Even with them all missing, we are a better side than we were at the start of the season. That's really encouraging. And we can still play a lot better....
We are. Nothing to do with quality of squad. This is undoubtedly the best depth we've had almost ever, but just because we haven't got the minerals to get it over the line.
We desperately need to win a league to get the mental block off our back and then we could really do something special.
We can only pray that City have a massive blip somewhere.
City won't lose another game now. :-(Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert Augustus Chapman
Well, if nobody else is going to beat them, we will just have to do it ourselves.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir C
I wonder if Michael Oliver will referee that game...... :-(
Tbh, I'll worry about that nearer the time. Just want 6 points from the next 2 games.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
Quote:
Originally Posted by PSRB
Surely they will be facing a hefty points deduction this season anyway?
Can?t believe we?re having these discussions with only 11 games played tbfQuote:
Originally Posted by PSRB
I know, it's ridicules. Back in the day, you rarely even saw a league table until 7 or 8 games in. See where we are after 25 games.Quote:
Originally Posted by 7sisters
Indeed. Far too many twists and turns yet. We?ve not even played a game with a full squad yet. City we t into yesterdays game only missing Rodri. :shrug:Quote:
Originally Posted by PSRB
Oh absolutely. Definitely. Just like last season, and the season before.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich
More chance of me flying to the moon wearing a Spurs shirt.
Face it! We are going to have to win at City. With Michael Oliver refereeing.Quote:
Originally Posted by PSRB
Win that and you deserve a title. :-)
That?ll only become a possibility if the cyborg goes the rest of the season without picking up a knock. They?re a shambles upfront without their target man. I quite like Cherki but Marmoush doesn?t look too great and Foden?s form is up and down like tower bridge. It?s on.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
The rumour up here from a City fans I know is that Foden suffers from Crohns Disease, hence why he's so up and down in form and fitness
Right, but he probably will go through the season without getting injured. He usually does. Whereas we cant keep one striker out of three fit......Quote:
Originally Posted by 7sisters
Watching Dermot Gallagher's pathetic attempt to justify the decision on the Liverpool goal, and being a complete **** about it, shows another huge problem we have. We are refereed differently.
I have a solution but nobody is going to like it. Make Declan Rice captain. Refs like him. It will do us good. And apart from anything else, he should be captain anyway.
He?s the captain in most people?s eyes anyway. Giving to Saka as a deputy seems mental. He?s not a communicator in the sense you?d expect from the role. If you?re not opting for Rice then at least give it to Gabriel. He bleeds Arsenal.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
TBF, I think thee only time since we started challenging when we saw what the squad was capable of was the half season before the WC after we'd signed Jeez and Zinny. And we were top of the table then, too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
I would love to see what this squad could do with all fit. The Vik/Kai options up top, Noni coming on for a RB so we have him, B and Odin trying to unlock a parked bus, rotating people to keep them all fit etc.
He's articulate and intelligent, bit like Odin but speaking in his first language. Well bought up lad so he's polite. Also perhaps the biggest England star playing in the country with a WC coming up so do you want to be the ref that pushes him over the limit?Quote:
Originally Posted by 7sisters
I'll be honest - I wanted Gabby cos we only win doubles with a CH 6 as skipper. But he's be more likely to lamp the ref so it makes much more sense to have a polite, well bought up young chap like Odin or B.
I want a captain who will help charm the refs. Rice is the best option. Refs like him.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult
Sorry to say it but refs are going to have an issue with the other candidates. They are either not English or, and I hate to say this, not white.
Look at these referees. Look how they act. Look how they speak to people around them.
Give them a white, English working class lad who knows his place and they will treat him ok. Anything else and they are just itching to go after you.
The other issue with Saka is he is viewed as a cheat. We all know that is total and utter *******s. But crowds give it every week. Of course it influences referees It cant not.
I'm not labelling all refs as xenophobic and racist. But they are a bit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
Trouble is, they're both from London. Premier League-winning captains tend to be northern and or foreign (you may have noticed that white, working-class Englishmen are not exactly a popular or protected species just now, especially "Cockneys").
In fact, despite producing so many players, London has returned only three Premier League winning captains (Tim Sherwood, TA6 and JT?). Probably not a real surprise as practically all of our officials hail from the North, specifically the North-West. THAT'S the real, age-old, shatterproof divide in English football.
Aside from that, Rice is only a better choice than Saka insofar as Saka's position makes him presumptively dishonest, from an official's point of view. There's never really been an honest winger; they're always on the floor pleading for fouls and free-kicks and being captain just makes them worse as then they're not just doing it for themselves, they are also responsible for what's best for their team.
If it's an issue, your leading centre back is your best choice for skipper, regardless of "any other factors" :-)
Are you suggesting we sign a northerner?Quote:
Originally Posted by redgunamo
Gabriel is a born trouble maker and refs do not like him one bit. You cant have him as captain.
Middle class snobbery - a man after my own heart.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
Btw, surprised given our shared history BAs that we didn't bring up the work of the nation's finest historians when discussing which side of the civil war we'd be on.
As Sellar and Yeatman said in their seminal work*, the Cavaliers were Wrong but Wromantic while the Roundheads were Right but Repulsive. The finest historians these isles have produced. {And they don't pretend the Hossbach Memorandum didn't exist simply because it would completely undermine their book's thesis, unlike certain celebrated historians. :) }
*1066 And All That
He hasn't got banged up for drink driving like TA or armed robbery like Peter Storey.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
I'm with Redg - if in doubt give it to the big no.6. Frank, Big Tone etc. Big DM {like PV4 or Dec} should be 2nd choice.
I had hoped that B's education and eloquence, combined with his cheeky smile and England star boy status might have counted for something. But you both reckon he's the wrong colour or from the wrong part of the country.
I was wondering if the Odin as skipper thing was that he could get AHA tickets for the refs' mums. Wasn't a girl in the '80s that didn't fancy him when he went all comic book in the video.
As I say, it's no issue for us as we already have a very suitable captain.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
Then why do refs still hate us?Quote:
Originally Posted by redgunamo
Game is different now. Often refs will only talk to the captain. You need to put forward someone they respect. We only have one player they respect.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult
Don't start with that **** :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult
Name me a finer C20th work of history that 1066 and all that, P. Go on. I should go back to it as I reckon there are loads of jokes I missed aged c.10 and 20. Reading after A-levels when I'd read it ten was eye-opening, so there must be loads more joke I get now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
It should be compulsory reading at school before you have any actual lessons. Though I guess you'll be gutted when you find out William wasn't actually an orange.
The only reason they appear to like and respect Declan Rice is precisely because he is NOT captain so they actually have very little to do with him. However, were he contractually required to be constantly in their ear waving imaginary cards about, all that would change.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
Perhaps, despite having received the most egregious red card in history, he may be seen as honest, stolid, a stalwart; one of the decent (for a Londoner) guys. He doesn't cause them any problems.
In any case, referees are never going to win us the league (does a single one of them actually come from London or even the South?), we are going to have to be good enough to do it on our own. The modest, unassuming ?degaard will be fine.
We are not asking refs to win us the league. Just to treat us with the same level of contempt they do every other team.Quote:
Originally Posted by redgunamo
And it may have been the most egregious red card in history but only until the MLS one.
Which is kind of the point..... :-(
I'm not really a fan of history as comedy. For the same reason I always thought The Darkness were a bunch of ****ers.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult
Is this supposed to be funny? Or is it supposed to be good? Because it appears to be neither...
History, like rock n roll, is too serious to be taken lightly.
Apart from Spinal Tap, obviously. And Bad News.
That cannot happen because we are from London and the Arsenal are the most prominent southern upstarts, in their view. The vast majority of English players come from the capital and the South, yet, incredibly, that is almost entirely reversed when it comes to elite referees and linesmen; VAR and so on. Northerners feel they have a right to always win, that they always deserve to win.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
Wonder why so many titles are won by Liverpool and Manchester United? And how many of those triumphs were actually memorable? It's as though they can almost sleepwalk their way to the top. However when WE win the league, we have had to make history; Invincibles, only one defeat in '91, Double winners etc. Even Chelsea with Roman's financial doping and their record low Goals Conceded.
It's the same everywhere so there's probably nothing to be done about it, except being good enough to occasionally overcome that built-in bias. In Germany, Bayern have won over half the Bundesliga titles, ever! Successful clubs from the Italian south are Napoli and other giants like Lecce, possibly Cagliari. Spain; everybody knows about.
Apparently Spinal Tap was based on The Sweet. Unpleasant business, mentioning it at home though as The Sweet is one of the wife's favourites lol :-\Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
I can't even remember who The Darkness are. Name vaguely rings a bell.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
But name me one serious historian who has encapsulated the Civil War's "Wrong but Wromantic vs Right but Repulsive" in a solitary sentence better than those two did?
Genuine question. When I did the W3K {as we must call the Civil War now*} I didn't see it summed up as neatly as that. Good satire only works if it nails the point. And Yeatman and Sellar turn it up to 11 on that front.
*When Johnny comes marching home again, he's gonna be really ****ed off that it's been renamed the War of the Three Kingdoms. Hope he doesn't get off at the wrong bus or underground stop as a result.
PS - HANG ON:Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
"I'm not really a fan of history as comedy."
Which means you either haven't read or don't appreciate the Flashman books.
In which case burn, heretic.
{You must have read this Burma memoir, Quartered Safe Out Here? That's when you realise how he went native, as all civilised Brits do in India. But it explains why Flashman's always getting bailed out by Indian troops. cf Kipling's Grave of the Hundred Head.}
Or winning 2-0 at anfield in the last minute (and they tried to disallow the first goal).Quote:
Originally Posted by redgunamo
So you are saying we are ****ed no matter what we do?
That isnt a terribly nice thought :-(
Not really, no.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
It's as though they only invented football as the North's revenge for centuries of real and perceived social and economic privation and injustice visited upon it by the South.
At least Saka got a full 90 minutes under his belt for England in a totally pointless game. Again!Quote:
Originally Posted by redgunamo
That will do him good :-(