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nothing to add to what Sheridan said - the mot juste as usual - except he's right about the racist abuse; I don't give a fiddlers about the union jacks or the billy boys - that just theatre at this stage; but the monkey noises were neanderthal and embarrassing for Linfield as a club and by extension the Irish League and the FAI/ IFA should make provision for punitive sanctions against any repeat next year.
I didn't hear any racist abuse at the match, how bad was it and how clear was it on the TV?
every time 'Ndo came near the Riverside there were sustained monkey noises - and since the commentary position was there, they were clearly audible ( whereas you lot might as well not have been there for all we heard_)
Didn't hear that myself at the game, but thats a really big shame. That's embarassing for Linfield.
On a sidenote: Ndo's fooking amazing! :D
Yet not good enough to start ahead of Jim Crawford :rolleyes:
It did come across on the telly(mindless morons)but apart from that,there seems to be no other incidents.Lets hope it stays that way.
Yes, but we had to fit Cahill/Baker/Hoolihan in the starting 11. No more space for attacking midfielders! :rolleyes: And then Ryan/Moore! :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by Slash/ED
In all my days, no matter what I do or where I go, I don't think I'll ever understand the logic behind the Alan Moore sub. If Crowe and O'Neil weren't fit enough to come on and play a half of football than why were they on the bench? If they were fit enough, than that sub is one of the most genuinley baffling I've ever seen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EnDai
I even felt embarrassed watching it home. I really feel sorry that Ndo had to put up with **** from a bunch of mindless scumbags.
Back from the goth club to try to forget the defeat for a while... And what hangs in the basement ?? A hangout for the Setanta Cup final... That's putting a knife in a wound and turning it round very painfully :D
No, seriously, fair play and congrats to Linfield. They were the better team, they deserve it. We never came close to threatening them, I can only salute them with their win and their cheque.
The crowd ? Well, most of them -the vast majority- were good, on both sides. "Champions League, we're having a laugh", us chanting the name of Glentoran, "We like your bank account"... That's just teasing, nothing wrong with that. Most fans made it a nice evening.
However... There was this minority, on both sides, making it look like a joke. For these few it was about nothing but politics, and they give the good Linfield and Shels fans a bad name this way.
Look, there were more Union Jacks then I ever saw at once in my life, but no problem with that, it's their national flag so no problem. Some of us brought Irish tricolores, no problem with that. But then, why the heck were there so called "Linfield fans" pointing Rangers flags in our direction, even the Dublin Loyal (Dublin based Rangers fanclub) managed to get into the Linfield section and tried to make us riotting by pointing their flag at us. Luckily nothing happened. One guy even pointed an Israeli flag towards us, two weeks before Ireland's important WC qualifier vs Israel. That's very very low and asking for problems.
But were there only troublemakers in Linfield's end ? No. Unfortunately, some people found it necessary to wear Celtic jerseys. You see this now and then at the games, but why (don't tell me it's coincidence) there were more today than usual ? Why did Shamrock Rovers fans come up to Tolka while they normally don't even come near it ?? No coincidence, Rovers play in the same jerseys as Celtic, so unless we suddenly became best friends with Rovers ( :rolleyes: ) they were there only to get on the nerves of Linfield fans.
Now I don't doubt some Belfast based people are true and honest Rangers fans, and some Dubliners are honestly supporting Celtic with all their heart. It would surprise me though that suddenly they turn up at Setanta Cup games.
It sometimes seems Celtic and Rangers are political institutions instead of football clubs... Rangers jerseys are used as if they're a proof of being unionist, whereas Celtic jerseys are used as protest against that. I would really like to know how many of these people in their Rangers/Celtic jerseys tonight also come to Linfield/Shels games when it's not versus a team from across the border... Probably they don't even know the names of the lads in the Linfield and Shelbourne teams, the only reason they come to cross-border games is to show how nationalist/unionist they are.
Very fair play to the true Shelbourne and Linfield fans for not reacting to it. Very sad that this very slight minority will make the whole support look bad. This was Linfield vs Shelbourne, not Celtic vs Rangers ! Seeing so many Rangers and Celtic gear on such game makes it look ridiculous IMO. I will not go deeper into it however, that would be not fair towards the majority of good fans of both sides.
No insulting chants by the way. No Billy Boys, no SASH. Not even God Save The Queen or Soldier's Song (even those are not sectarian songs, it could have been seen as a sectarian act). Linfield fans shouted 'Northern Ireland' and Shels fans reacted by shouting 'Ireland'. I'd classify this as teasing and not intended as sectarian.
So, to conclude. The Setanta Cup was a nice experience and certainly showed good intentions from both sides of the border to further build bridges towards each other. The huge majority of fans behaved very well, also in the cross-border meetings. We saw 6 teams giving the best they can, and with Linfield we got a deserved winner.
I hope there will be a second edition of this cup, the fans and clubs proved to have big interest and as long as Setanta keeps on writing nice cheques this will not change ;)
As for "which league is better" ? I don't think this cup in which every team played 4 to 5 games, is representing the average league level. But in this competition, we must admit it's the North taking the best scores: Linfield and Glentoran were the most scoring teams, Portadown and Shels shared nr 3 in this ranking, Longford 5th and Cork last. So the Nordie teams certainly scored more, and isn't that the way to win a game ? :)
I think though that, if we look at the scores, the teams from both 'countries' were rather close to each other, and if we'll ever have an all-Ireland league we'd have at least 4 or maybe 5 teams making it a very exciting run for the league title.
Thanks as well to the lady from Linfield who gave me a scarf for my still growing collection... A scarf from the Londonderry-based fanclub of Linfield, so quite a unique collector's item ! Thx !
(for the nationalists here: I use the name 'Londonderry' because this is how it's printed on the scarf... So don't shoot me ! I tend to write Doire as this is not insulting to neither !)
I assume Linfield won? Jaysus, c'est pas bien , je crois!!!! Nil points :D Sorry, bit drunk and i have been watching eurovision :o tonight and partying afterwards :D , if there was racist chanting that's fcuking discraceful and deserves shooting on the spot! :mad:
I feel a bit stupid commentating as i am from down and fermanagh so don't have a local team in any of the leagues to support, all GAA up in there!
So i think i'll bugger off and leave it to you experts... :o
Drunk in Scotland ? How can that happen ? :eek: :)
Yes, Linfield won, and though I'd rather have seen otherwise: they deserved to win this game and to win this tournament.
You wouldn't have liked the game I think. The song on Brian Kerr was coming up again, even though the guy has nothing to do with this particular game... We just won't give him piece of mind it seems :D
I agree with the bottler commenst about Jason Byrne. He was shocking in the euro campaign last season - cannot pass & can't score when really counts. He also bottled it last night & when he misses a couple of chances his head drops too easiely.
Maybe Moore will wake up for euor campaign but doesn't have the desire for league games.
Seems its only the solid defence (when Heary playing) that is keeping shels together as they've ridden their luck this season.
I know we shouldn't be surprised but only getting 3500-4000 home support (including any neutrals) for HOME CUP FINAL shows shels will never attract support domestically.
:eek:
"One guy even pointed an Israeli flag towards us, two weeks before Ireland's important WC qualifier vs Israel. That's very very low and asking for problems."
eeehhhmm, i think that would be a political statement there gerrit....
"Why did Shamrock Rovers fans come up to Tolka while they normally don't even come near it ?? No coincidence, Rovers play in the same jerseys as Celtic, so unless we suddenly became best friends with Rovers ( ) they were there only to get on the nerves of Linfield fans."
why pick on us? rovers fans always go to the euro games of other dublin clubs, and are thanked for it. and we played there for a few years, what do you mean 'dont go near it'?
why shouldnt we go? not our fault celtic copied our jersey design :D as it happens we do get on quite well with celtic, but im a bit lost to why we were unwelcome in tolka as opposed to other clubs. with respect, you are new to following $hels, but i think you had better get your facts a bit straighter before you mouth off....
If you're there to support us, always welcome of course. I just find it a bit strange to see it but maybe I was overattentive because of the Celtic jerseys in the audience... There were more fans of other EL clubs than when we played Ports, also a loyalist Northern team, so I find it a bit hard to believe everyone of the neutral fans just came out of interest or support. Maybe I'm being overattentive to it though. Those with no bad intentions are welcome of course.
and yeah, it's not your fault Celtic copied your design :D
Erm, the stadium was split, with Linfield having the larger section. The Shels parts were packed. Probably had about 4500 seats allocated and 4000 arses on said seats.Quote:
Originally Posted by pete
Old stand has 3000 max capacity, new stand has 1000 - How do you get 4500? Are you also suggesting shels wouldn't be allowed sell more tickets than their half of the stadium allowed?Quote:
Originally Posted by EnDai
Gerrit - you can't say you weren't warned (by me ! :) ) about the type of minority hanger-on's that Linfield attracts. Now you know why.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerrit
Gerrit - you've completely lost it now fella. This was a major event - a cup final - the first of its kind in 20 years. There was expected to be quite a significant neutral support - as has been mentioned all week on this site - and yet you're questioning the motive of Rovers fans for turning up wearing their own club's tops ? It's provocative that they do so becuause it looks like Celtic's top ?? What the feck ? If I'd been there I would've worn my Derry top. Would that have been inflammatory because it's not 'Londonderry'...? Regardless - firstly, that act of wearing a Celtic top does not make you a "troublemaker", and I'm frankly shocked that in Ireland someone wearing such a top at ANY football game causes such immense surprise for you. Secondly - believe it or not, Celtic tops in the crowd may also have been a sign that the Final attracted curious observers who aren't regaulars at EL football. There's loads of Celtic tops on display at Ireland games. It was the same at Shels big Euro games. Celtic tops are the only vaguely Irishy football top the non-EL fans have. So don't be reading into it that it makes them all arch-bigots. And you've really gotta re-think this idea that Rovers fans paid money on the door to stand in their own tops just becuase it's similar to Celtic's. Madness....Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerrit
[QUOTE=Gerrit) No insulting chants by the way. No Billy Boys, no SASH. Not even God Save The Queen or Soldier's Song (even those are not sectarian songs, it could have been seen as a sectarian act). Linfield fans shouted 'Northern Ireland' and Shels fans reacted by shouting 'Ireland'. I'd classify this as teasing and not intended as sectarian. [/QUOTE]
You probably couldn't hear it where you were in the ground, but there were "insulting chants". The Billy Boys, The Sash, God Save the Queen, Rule Britannia, and other songs that I don't recognise/know the name of - they all got an airing, some on multiple occassions. And let's not forget the monkey chants....
I hope you asked her why she doesn't support her local Irish League team (Institute)....? :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerrit
Ah come on now ;) . I would say that it's THE most important competition on this Island (excluding European games).Quote:
Originally Posted by thejollyrodger
If Jason Byrne was a 'bottler' he wouldn't have scored our most important league goal last season and wouldn't consistently score for us at important times, or have two goals in an FAI cup final, not to mention the goals that removed Cork from the cup a couple of seasons back in their own backyard. He's a frustratingly inconsistent player (Who is himself easily frustrated, which is usually the problem), that's all there is to it.Quote:
Originally Posted by pete
Spot on about Moore though, we shouldn't really be suprised, it's the story of his career. He's always had the talent.
I'd be more worried about your own attendences btw, average attendence this season of 3,000 according to your own chairman, that's only a few hundred more than us and everyone knows you're the best supported team ever and we have no fans! :eek:
In fairness now, obviously we took it seriously and wanted to win so that excuse was just rubbish, but the league is and always will be far more important than any cup competition.Quote:
. I would say that it's THE most important competition on this Island (excluding European games).