Leeds going down !!

[A face]

So what will all the barstooler Leeds fans do now that their club is going to the first .... will they put names into a hat and pick out a new team or how will they work it ??

[Gary]

Sounds to me that A face is a closet Leeds fan!

Seeing that game today, Leeds were just not good enough. Okay, Hislop pulled out an amazing save towards the end, but the peno was a joke. Pompey looked comfortable throughout.

My one Q about Leeds is this, and maybe a Leeds fan could answer this correctly - Batty has been told months ago he has no future in the first team, yet Gray plays 2 centre halves in centre mid. Batty is a tenacious player, who is Leeds through and through. He is certainly better than what has been playing in his position for most of the season. Why dump him?

[Gary]

So that gives Gray, a man who is "Mr Leeds" the right to kick him out? Does he not see that a player with Battys guile may well have seen them out of the mess they are in?

[Ruairi]

ha ha ha ha ha

[Jon'o]

harsh..... but fair

so much for the too good to go down BS, dont win your games down ya go :D

[A face]

ha ha ha ha ha


I'd have to agree with you there fella !! Leeds .... more like leads .... as in weights !! They are gone ..... i have never seen so many people suffer vertigo at the same time.

As i asked before though .... how are the Iorish Leeds fans going to decide what club to pick now ? Will there be some sort of a draw set up or what. I suppose they will all just pick the winning team of the day and go with that, as good a reason as any.

[adamcarr]

Im annoyed seeing them go down I always liked them for some reason :confused:

[A face]

I always liked them for some reason


Well yeah ... the whole Lee Boyer thing was just so appealing at the time, it would warm the heart of any fan. They lived the dream alright !!

[Maz]

Im annoyed seeing them go down I always liked them for some reason :confused:

me too....i like leeds!! :(

[lopez]

me too....i like leeds!! :(I like beer but I also like to see that go down! :D :D :D

[pete]

All that happened was Leeds got relegated. Its not as if they not used to the second tier of english football. I think they spent the 80's in the old english 2nd division. They've already cleared a lot of their debt so won't go out of business & will just take some time to get sorted.

:rolleyes:

[Dodge]

If they go into administration, they'll start the new season 10 points down

[eoinh]

As i asked before though .... how are the Iorish Leeds fans going to decide what club to pick now ? Will there be some sort of a draw set up or what. I suppose they will all just pick the winning team of the day and go with that, as good a reason as any.

Well i have the perfect solution. Last year an Irish charter group flew to Tokyo. On the way they had to stop in Kazakhstan for a refueling sop. This of course means that a lot of Irish people have strong links with this country. Im setting up the Yekibastuzets Yekibastuz suporters club. We meet in the lobbey bar every Thursday and wear our Yekibastuzets Yekibastuz jerseys. Jim, our treasurer brings in videos of all Yekibastuzets Yekibastuz's latest games. So to all of you who want to experience a real football experience come along to the lobby bar and experience the excitment of Yekibastuzets Yekibastuz (plus you wont get wet). And rememeber we are playing Oqjetpes Kokshetau this week so yould be joining up in the right week.

[4tothefloor]

I'd love to be like all the true eircom leaguers here, the way they hold the Premiership in total contempt and all that.....yawn. This is the general football forum isn't it? So if you don't have any interest in foreign football, don't come in here, stay in the EL General forum. As much as I like the EL, I do like to watch some real quality football as well, thus I have a keen interest in the Premiership, La Liga & Seria A. I'm sure many others have too. Not to mention the fact that our entire first choice international squad play in these leagues. Maybe if the muppets that run the EL and EL clubs put two decent ideas together and actually made it interesting to the wider audience, the league might have more supporters and there would be less "barstoolers" around :rolleyes:

As for Leeds, they're fans have been up and down before. I remember them when they were a division 2 club and weren't considered to be among the elite. Premiership will be worse off without them, but as long as Alan Smith signs for Liverpool, I don't really care!

[A face]

You will profess that you don't have any interest in the English club game, but as this is your second post in the past week about Leeds and welcoming their relegation you seem to have a very fixated 'disinterest' in it all...


Sheeze ..... Hold on there trigger, you're gettin' the run of yourself, counting posts and the like :D . You're right i dont really follow any team in particular. I will admit ... clubs like Leicester and Leeds, you'd expect them to be up there. I actually hoped that Wolves would have done better than they did, always show so much promise in the first.

But you're right i couldn't give a toss really.

But Bowyer .... he is a scum bag no matter what club he is at.

[A face]

Well i have the perfect solution. Last year an Irish charter group flew to Tokyo. On the way they had to stop in Kazakhstan for a refueling sop. This of course means that a lot of Irish people have strong links with this country. Im setting up the Yekibastuzets Yekibastuz suporters club. We meet in the lobbey bar every Thursday and wear our Yekibastuzets Yekibastuz jerseys. Jim, our treasurer brings in videos of all Yekibastuzets Yekibastuz's latest games. So to all of you who want to experience a real football experience come along to the lobby bar and experience the excitment of Yekibastuzets Yekibastuz (plus you wont get wet). And rememeber we are playing Oqjetpes Kokshetau this week so yould be joining up in the right week.


Live Music on Thursday nights in the Lobby from what i gather .... you'd never see the games properly with all that racket. I'll give it a miss !!

[Colm]

As much as I like the EL, I do like to watch some real quality football as well!
:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

"real quality football"?? we're talking about Leeds, Leicester, Wolves etc here!

If you want to see some "real quality football" you should try watching George O'Callaghan, John O'Flynn and Kevin Doyle soemtime.

[gustavo]

flipside of that argument would i suppose be that thye have to play arsenal and chelsea and cork city have to play dublin city and the drogs !

[4tothefloor]

:rolleyes:

"real quality football"?? we're talking about Leeds, Leicester, Wolves etc here!

If you want to see some "real quality football" you should try watching George O'Callaghan, John O'Flynn and Kevin Doyle soemtime.

You pick some of the best players in the EL as your example (players who are still of a very average standard in comparison to the Premiership), while you pick the worst possible examples in the premiership, i.e. the relegated clubs. Good man Colm. How about Arsenal, Chelsea, Man Ure, Liverpool, Villa, newcastle etc? Or are are you going to tell me that John O'Flynn is better than Juan Pablo Angel?! Or Smith, or Viduka, or Camara for that matter? As much as I follow and respect the EL, I don't view it through gigantic Denis Taylor style rose tinted glasses. :rolleyes:

[Éanna]

I'm delighted Leeds went down. Every fan of any small club should be. Leeds were the epitomy of the "spend spend spend" culture in English football that left our league and so many others on the verge of extinction. They've got what they deserve. Vultures

[Éanna]

no, but they were lured into the english game by clubs spending beyond their means. a great day for football

[eoinh]

Would I be right to assume consistency and that you absolutely hate Real Madrid of Spain too?



Conor, Real Madrid are ship shape financially. Leeds indulged in a practice which is termed "FINANCIAL DOPING".

Its not just English clubs which indulge in it but many others like Parma. Funnily enough i started a thread on that yesterday but posters like
4tothefloor or conor never accused me of being anti-italian. Why Not.

The problem seems to be that you can criticise any club teams in the world but not english club teams. If you do criticise english club teams youre anti english.

[eoinh]

Or are are you going to tell me that John O'Flynn is better than Juan Pablo Angel?! Or Smith, or Viduka, or Camara for that matter?

To be honest i dont know. My football watching consists of going to matchs, watching eircom league football on tv, the european champions league, uefa cup matchs on eurosport and eurogoals. Thats enough for me. The players that you mention Juan Pablo Angel Or Smith, or Viduka, or Camara very rarely turn up on my screen because of this. People like Ronaldo, Figo, Zidane, Nedved and Maldini do. John O Flynn isnt as good as any of thesebut i wonder are the players you mention either.

Want to an Aston Villa match last season when i went to Leicester for a few days. It was an awful match to be honest. It was so bad the ref was voted the man of the match. :rolleyes:

[tiktok]

Conor, Real Madrid are ship shape financially.

but wasn't that only because the spanish government bought their madrid training facilities for more than it was worth while providing them with land on which to build an alternative facility on the outskirts of Madrid.

i don't know the whole story, but wasn't that deal struck?

[4tothefloor]

Its not just English clubs which indulge in it but many others like Parma. Funnily enough i started a thread on that yesterday but posters like
4tothefloor or conor never accused me of being anti-italian. Why Not.

The problem seems to be that you can criticise any club teams in the world but not english club teams. If you do criticise english club teams youre anti english.

If you look at my first post I explicitly state "the Premiership, La Liga & Seria A" as the leagues that many Irish football fans have an interest in. Sigh...:rolleyes: But alot of EL fans have a special disdain for the Premiership as its tv coverage over here has affected the EL down through the years, as has RTE's (shameful) indulgance of it, while offering little or no coverage of the EL itself. Thats not the Premierships fault - blame the bars for promoting Sky Sports like a real match day & RTE for their ignorance. EL is going in the right direction now though. Better stadia, standards, nicer weather, higher profile with players in the int squads etc. In ten years time the league should be a in a healthy state. But I follow Liverpool as well as Limerick, and I couldn't really care less what anyone thinks of that either!

[eoinh]

but wasn't that only because the spanish government bought their madrid training facilities for more than it was worth while providing them with land on which to build an alternative facility on the outskirts of Madrid.

i don't know the whole story, but wasn't that deal struck?


They didnt pay more than it was worth. If I have a mortage for €10,000 but my house is worth €150,000 then technically i may be in dept but in reality my financial situation is fine. Most business and families have overdrafts and loans. Having a car loan for instance does not mean you are in bad financial shape.

As for English football. On Bert Kassies site here is what a spainish contributer says about english football. THIS MAN HAS NO CONNECTION TO THE EIRCOM LEAGUE :)

"Author: Racing
Date: 12-03-2004, 17:11 i think your wrong. the players individually are not as talented. Spanish segunda B and tercera division has much better talented players than English premiership. Maybe the Spanish are more lazy, the english run and run, which can make up the obvious difference in technical ability. Its brains and skill against brawn and energy.

English players score a goal and they and thier fans think they are a god. No, they have scored a goal. My grandma can score a goal. Thats the problem that english have. Much emotion and passion but very little intellegence and ability. "

He also says "the problem is that a spanish village team like alaves is much better than an overated, overpayed, overhyped english premiership side like southampton"

[4tothefloor]

but wasn't that only because the spanish government bought their madrid training facilities for more than it was worth while providing them with land on which to build an alternative facility on the outskirts of Madrid.

i don't know the whole story, but wasn't that deal struck?

Not only that, but I believe they also gave them 50% of a commercial shopping centre, all profits of which go straight into the Real coffers. Could be wrong on this, but there was definately something to do with a shopping centre as well. I think it was actually built on the site of the old training ground.

[4tothefloor]

They didnt pay more than it was worth. If I have a mortage for €10,000 but my house is worth €150,000 then technically i may be in dept but in reality my financial situation is fine. Most business and families have overdrafts and loans. Having a car loan for instance does not mean you are in bad financial shape.

As for English football. On Bert Kassies site here is what a spainish contributer says about english football. THIS MAN HAS NO CONNECTION TO THE EIRCOM LEAGUE :)

"Author: Racing
Date: 12-03-2004, 17:11 i think your wrong. the players individually are not as talented. Spanish segunda B and tercera division has much better talented players than English premiership. Maybe the Spanish are more lazy, the english run and run, which can make up the obvious difference in technical ability. Its brains and skill against brawn and energy.

English players score a goal and they and thier fans think they are a god. No, they have scored a goal. My grandma can score a goal. Thats the problem that english have. Much emotion and passion but very little intellegence and ability. "

He also says "the problem is that a spanish village team like alaves is much better than an overated, overpayed, overhyped english premiership side like southampton"

Thats just some Spanish Joe Average's opinion. So what? If the Spanish are so good, why is it then that the only team that wins european trophies from La Liga is Real Madrid? A team made up of, in the majority, non Spanish players?! Look at Deportivo last night, beaten by Porto. The Portuguese league is hardly the best in the world now, is it? And shock, shock, horror should Chelsea make it into the CL final tonight....ahead of the Spaniards! Spain are also crap at every single championship finals that they reach. Plus, if you're saying that the English game is so bad, what does that say about the EL and Irish football?! We play exactly the same style and same way. Fair dues to you for supporting a league that you obviously think is rubbish :rolleyes:

[pete]

We all slag off english football & the barstoolers but IMO no one hear can say they have zero interest in it. If you watch football its unlikelyu you;ll avoid a bit of english football here 'n there...

btw eventhough only 1 goal from a penalty IMO Deportivo v Porto was a great match last night.

[eoinh]

Look at Deportivo last night, beaten by Porto. The Portuguese league is hardly the best in the world now, is it ?

The point of the champions league is to find the continents best club not the best league. Probably the best way to measure leagues is by the co-efficiency tables and spain is way ahead here. Their results over all their clubs is far ahead of everybody.

Your point about Chelsea - well they wont get to the final believe me. They simply arent good enough.

As for the spainish national team. Spainairds in many regions simply arent interested in how the national team does. Spain is too fragmented a country for that. We were talking about club teams not national teams. England dont do too well at major championships either.

We recently had a Real Madrid v Valencia champions league final. Not even the most sky-sports influnenced junkie could imagine an all england final in the near future. For someone who says they are interested in Italian, english and Spianish football you seem to get evry tetch when i knock english football. No murmur of discontent when i accused Italian clubs of financial doping.

[NeilMcD]

I am just wondering does someone who only supports a league of Ireland team and has contempt for people who support foreign teams such as man utd and liverpool and celtic and barcelona bring this view point to other walks of life such as music.

I ama music fan and i like the Frames,U2, David Kitt, Bell X 1 but I also like non irish bands such as the Beatles, Radiohead etc. Now it is the very same as Liking football teams both at home and abroad. Both are part of our culture. So the next time an EL fan starts to give out or pontificate about people supporting foreign teams they should take a good look at their record collection and see do they have any Foreign artists in it.

[tiktok]

And shock, shock, horror should Chelsea make it into the CL final tonight....ahead of the Spaniards!

come on, are you saying so that if Monaco get through that the French league is superior to the English (and the Spanish and Italian) league. That's not how it works.

[tiktok]

I am a music fan and i like the Frames,U2, David Kitt, Bell X 1 but I also like non irish bands such as the Beatles, Radiohead etc.

but that's not the issue. I think the majority of people actually hate the coverage of English football rather than the football itself. Sky and Rupert Murdoch would rate as greater villains than the FA and Adam Crozier.

When you next look at your record collection, do you see Kylie, Britney and Usher in there? because these are the artists that are forced down our throats by the media and denying the domestic artists places in the charts.

It's not quality product from abroad that's the problem for either music or football, it's the irish media and general public's laziness in buying into american and english product and the associated bells and whistles rather than getting off their behinds and heading to an EL ground (or a gig for that matter).

[NeilMcD]

yes i love going to both El games and local gigs, but i have realised that is me and i have no right to tell others what is good for them or whatever. They have the civil right to choose whatever they want to do and i do not have the right to look down upon them as treat them as some lesser people. If i go to a frames gig or i go to a singer songwriter in town does that make me more of a music fan then someone who goes to see britney in the point. NO it doesnt as we have both gone to one gig that is all. I think people should be less bitter about football and music and accept that people prefer certain things. However encouragement to go to EL games or local gigs should be welcomed. I have convinced lots of people to go to gigs , to travel with Ireland etc etc and they all thank me for it, I think a positive attitude shoudl be adopted rather than a condascending and self righteous tone which some people on this forum do have about El football.

[eoinh]

bring this view point to other walks of life such as music.





Aw, come on. There is no way you can measure how good music is. Whos better The Beatles or the stones?

Football can be measured. The best team wins the league. Cork City are my citys representative in the footballing world. They can be as good or as crap as the best or worst in the world. If more people support them they can get better. No matter how many people come and watch me play a guitar i would still be crap. Give me a million pounds and i would still be crap.

[tiktok]

not really where i was going with that Neil, i'm all for 'to each his own'. For the record, I support Man united as well as CCFC and have a soft spot for Barca and Inter Milan.

I'm not saying that El fans (or Frames fans) are better than anybody else, just that the frustration shown by many is understandable. These people aren't competing with other fans to get their viewpoint across; instead they're competing with the media, for whom it's easier to buy in a story off the wire about Britney's 24 hour marraige than it is to send a reviewer out to a gig. They'd prefer to actually report the circus that follows celebrity rather than on the music itself, much the same with the Premiership.

[4tothefloor]

come on, are you saying so that if Monaco get through that the French league is superior to the English (and the Spanish and Italian) league. That's not how it works.

Thats not what I was saying! I was merely highlighting eoinh's ridiculous arguement. Read the bloody thing! And while we're at it, Marseille have beaten Liverpool in the UEFA, and will probably follow that up by beating Newcastle. If Monaco do win and get through, there's not much the Premiership can say against the French league, is there? Some of the best footballers in the world are from France at the moment, which is also worth remembering.

To get back to the point, there's nothing wrong with following\liking\loving foreign football. I support Liverpool, passionately, but I also support my EL club Limerick, and go to most of the Ireland international games. Nothing wrong with that. (especially for eoinh: this is why I defend English club football, because I support an English club. I love the premiership. This is the 3rd time i've said I support Liverpool, hopefully you'll make the connection this time ;) )

[4tothefloor]

not really where i was going with that Neil, i'm all for 'to each his own'. For the record, I support Man united as well as CCFC and have a soft spot for Barca and Inter Milan.

I'm not saying that El fans (or Frames fans) are better than anybody else, just that the frustration shown by many is understandable. These people aren't competing with other fans to get their viewpoint across; instead they're competing with the media, for whom it's easier to buy in a story off the wire about Britney's 24 hour marraige than it is to send a reviewer out to a gig. They'd prefer to actually report the circus that follows celebrity rather than on the music itself, much the same with the Premiership.

Lets get a spin doctor into every EL club then. A bit of controversey regarding sex\drugs\booze\fights\roasting at some of the rural EL clubs should do the trick. It'll shake things up a bit and get all the gossip-ers to the games. Hey presto, we have a vibrant, front-page, back-page league :D

[NeilMcD]

Aw, come on. There is no way you can measure how good music is. Whos better The Beatles or the stones?

Football can be measured. The best team wins the league. Cork City are my citys representative in the footballing world. They can be as good or as crap as the best or worst in the world. If more people support them they can get better. No matter how many people come and watch me play a guitar i would still be crap. Give me a million pounds and i would still be crap.

yes i knwo you can measure who is the best team but can you say that goig to an EL game makes your more of a supporter then someone who goes to Old Trafford every week. Thats the point i was makeing and why i used the analogy. If somone out there only supports cork city and supports local music and does nto buy foreign music or listen to well then they have a consistent argument. However if they only keep this indigenous outlook to football only, my point is that it is not consistent with the rest of their life and therefore is hypocritical and they should maybe consider that next time they slag someone off for going to a man utd game or liverpool or whoever it is.

[Beavis]

I support Man united as well as CCFC and have a soft spot for Barca and Inter Milan.


The problem with supporting teams which you don't have connection to or decent knowledge of the culture associated with the club,is that you don't know what you could be buying into.Take Inter Milan,Paul Ince got terrible rascist abuse from the Inter fans during his time in Italy.The Nerazzuri are fascists.Is that the type of thing you'd want to be associated with?

Hate to see people wearing Lazio gear.I presume they don't know what it represents and for the same reason I'd never buy a jersey from South America or Europe becuase you don't know who you could be offending just by sporting it....

[tiktok]

The problem with supporting teams which you don't have connection to or decent knowledge of the culture associated with the club,is that you don't know what you could be buying into.

Believe me Beavis, I'm under no illusions with Inter at all, nearly got my head kicked in outside the San Siro a few years back when they were playing Atalanta (from about fifty miles up the motorway), their home fans got banned for the remainder of the Serie A games after that same game aswell for chucking a moped onto the lower Tier of the stand.

At the same time, they play a good brand of football and I've had the pleasure of watching Christian Vieri in the flesh, and received great treatment from everyone at the club (apart from the thugs and the pigeons :eek: crapping everywhere).

Having said that, Milan is a hole in the ground. Only things going for it is 'the last supper' and La Scala.

[sylvo]

Lets get a spin doctor into every EL club then. A bit of controversey regarding sex\drugs\booze\fights\roasting at some of the rural EL clubs should do the trick. It'll shake things up a bit and get all the gossip-ers to the games. Hey presto, we have a vibrant, front-page, back-page league :D


To right man i'm having it, the roasting bit sound's great, i think we'd get a lot more people going to see Kildare County @ the stadio via stazione in Newbridge now that the evening's are longer and the weather should be getting better if they knew they would get a bar-b-q and some can's @ the end of the game, great idea man, i'm having it. :)

[eoinh]

Now that newcastle have tumbled out of the UEFA cup the irish media loses interest in the competition immediately.

The paper i got today had no report or news on the valencia versus villareal tie while aertel are reporting that Marseille will meet Villareal in the final :rolleyes:
To those who believe in skys complete ****e brainwashing techniques its time to open your eyes and observe. Open your eyes and observe, dont listen (thats a good technique to use when watching cork city too especially with Pat Dolan in charge although i kind of like the man)
The reason French clubs are doing so well in Europe this season is because of the collapse of the transfer market in europe. French clubs have been able to keeep hold of their best players. (We in Ireland have benefiited from this situation too as many British clubs have had to leave out of contract players go or prune their squads - John O'Fynn/ George O'Callaghan.

German football has lost its way and outside of the top few clubs in England their league seems to have markidly disimproved as well.

[eoinh]

You can hardly claim that only following the league in this country and this country alone is being 'opeminded and observant'.


No, I dont, as you well know.


However You can hardly claim that only following the league in England and England alone is being 'opeminded and observant'
99.99% of barstoolers and sky sports puppets are doing exactly this. Not knowing anything at all about a wider football world than what one TV channel decides to put across is frightening.

I dont have sky sports but when i happen to see it its actually a very funny experience.

[eoinh]

And coverage of the eL is how good?



Like 1917 Battle of Verdun newsreel. With the info wrong.

[Éanna]

I dont have sky sports but when i happen to see it its actually a very funny experience.
I'd agree with you there. the way they hype every little thing up is hilarious. If Hitler had had propaganda ministers like Sky do, he'd be running Europe now :rolleyes:

Fact is, your average Sky fan (they are NOT football fans) doesn't know anything about teams or players from other countries- they are fans of the Sky premiership product. they are also morons

[4tothefloor]

So the local livestock are now redundant.......?! :D

:D

Lads, Sky Sports is a British channel. Of course thay are going to promote the premiership the way they do, it's their national sport. If we had an Irish SS doing the same for the EL, we wouldn't be complaining. They do overhype everything, but not just football. They do it to boxing, cricket, rugby league, snakes & ladders etc. If Robbie Keane was still playing in Seria A as well, you can be guaranteed that there'd be a big Irish interest in it. The fact that all of our players play in England contributes alot to why people follow the premiership. I started supporting Liverpool because of Whelan, Lawernson, etc so it is a factor.

[tiktok]

They do overhype everything, but not just football


:D Darts anyone? :D