Re: The Football Thread 2014/15

[LeFromage]

[Neil D]

Ah, the factory of sadness.

[LeFromage]

The mausoleum of morose.

It's a soulless housing complex now. Looks like a prison.

[beamer]

College football in America is huge.  Just huge.  What's even more crazy is that, despite the likes of Alabama Crimson Tide pulling in crowds bigger than the FA cup final, the players don't even get paid.

Johnny Manziel, one of the most exciting college quarterbacks who hasn't even played an NFL game yet (was drafted this year), has paparazzi following him around 24/7.  Every time he's seen with a beer in his hand, it's practically front page news.

Different world.

I've never really got it, the only time university sport makes the mainstream media over here is the Boat Race... I suppose to an extent it provides a focus for cities/states without teams in the NFL etc. but even so, students playing in front of crowds that are in some cases bigger than the pro game is hard to understand.

[Neil D]

It's such a huge country that the pro teams are really spread out. Take Alabama for example - a huge and populous state, about half the size of England, but with no major professional sports teams based there (let alone an NFL team).

No wonder they go mental for their (extremely successful) university team, the Crimson Tide. They've got bugger all else to cheer for.

[skully]

A decent explanation, ND.   

[taipan]

It's such a huge country that the pro teams are really spread out.  Take Alabama for example - a huge and populous state, about half the size of England, but with no major professional sports teams based there (let alone an NFL team).

No wonder they go mental for their (extremely successful) university team, the Crimson Tide.  They've got bugger all else to cheer for.

Even high school football is pretty well attended, no?

How many home games would a college team get per season?

[LeFromage]

It's such a huge country that the pro teams are really spread out.  Take Alabama for example - a huge and populous state, about half the size of England, but with no major professional sports teams based there (let alone an NFL team).

No wonder they go mental for their (extremely successful) university team, the Crimson Tide.  They've got bugger all else to cheer for.

Even high school football is pretty well attended, no?

How many home games would a college team get per season?

Seems like they play around 12 games in the regular season, a maximum of 15 if they "go all the way".

I know nothing about this and I'm just repeating the first result on Yahoo Answers.

So, at a guess, 6 or 7 home games.

[taipan]

That was my understanding. It goes some way to explaining the crowds.

[JGK]

Man U get their first silverwear of the season....

[skully]

Lewie van Gull has started well.

[Bradman]

I attended the Aubrn/Alabama game last year. I only got the seats because the firm that was offering them said most of their people were preferencing seats for the Championship game (suckers).

That game was played just up the road in Auburn (in the same state) and even that stadium nudges 90 000. Plus the stadium in the states biggest city has/had a similar capacity.

As someone previously noted, not much to do in the deep south.

[Merlin]

Lewie van Gull has started well.

So has Louie van Cull ...

The "must dump" list allegedly includes : Marouane Fellani ; Shinji Kagawa and Javier Fernandez ....
with Nani and Anderson also uneasy about their future at the Scum.

[Brass Monkey]

Great thread, this. In depth analysis of Southampton, a load of cock-knockers discussing hickball, and some retards blithering on about Man U.

Golly, I'm glad the football season is back.......

[G.Wood]

It is a metaphor for life

[taipan]

It is a metaphor for life

Cock-knocker?

[LeFromage]

Celtic reinstated to the Champions League, despite losing 6-1 on aggregate to Legia Warsaw, after the Polish side field an ineligible player for the last 2 minutes of injury time and are thrown out by UEFA.

Bit embarrassing for Fraser Forster and Virgil van Dijk, who are believed to have said their goodbyes once Celtic were knocked out, packed up their suitcases and lined up moves to the Premier League.

[beamer]

Has to be an appeal there, it had absolutely no bearing on the outcome of the tie. With the winners getting a gimme against a Slovenian side it could be tens of millions of pounds riding on an administrative error that could change the course of history for not only the two clubs themselves but also their national games given the potential impact of future seedings etc.

[LeFromage]

Seems majorly harsh. He was suspended for three games, served his three games, none of the UEFA match officials and pen pushers suggested otherwise on the night of the game, yet it turns out because Legia didn't register him for the previous qualifying round (as it was pointless, due to his suspension) those two games he missed don't count. Even though he missed them.

It's just an honest mistake, by the sounds of things. He should've been available for Wednesday's tie, but someone forgot to cross a T or dot an I. That's all.

Harsh.

[skully]

That's funny.   

[Guest]

He won the game for them. Had he not been on the field of play for those 2 minutes then there's no way Legia could have avoided conceding 5 goals and losing.

[Guest]

We'll probably end up doing sweet FA again this year, but at least there is this moment.

[LeFromage]

Shane Long! Shane f*cking Long! For £12 million!!! Are you f*cking serious?

What kind of comedy outfit sells all their best players for top dollar, and then A) tries to replace them with a bucket of shit and B) spends massively, hilariously, unimaginably over the odds on that bucket of shit?

Stoke signed Bojan from Barcelona for £3m...

I don't know who's running the show at Saints, but they're all over the place. Is the owner on board or not? Are they reinvesting the transfer funds or not? Are they rebuilding the side with the intention of maintaining their status in the top eight or planning for the Championship?

What a mess. Shane f*cking Long. Can you believe it.

[lardbucket]

You've heard of the 6 million dollar man, he's the 12 million pound ShLong

[tricycle]

At least it wasn't 10 million on Ross McCormack....

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