Cheers for the link Scruz, no one enjoys reading about Stoke’s misery more then moi, it also backed up my claim that Stoke are the worst team in the PL (this year), however I’m afraid I had to stop reading when Charlie Fester Adams was refered to as a skillful player.
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F.A = Fail Always.
Totaly ridiculous.
I knew of the stupid rule that if the ref saw it and deemed it unworthy of action that it couldn’t be dealt with (absurd in itself) but since when did the linesman get that power? That Newcastle player was assalted, plain and simple, intention has nothing to do with it, nor does “he’s not that kind of player” rubbish. If I get in a car and injure someone I’m responsible and liabel, it matters not a jot that I didn’t mean it or if I haven’t got a malicous bone in my body.
If this is supposed to be a joke, then I don’t get it.
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Peter Odd and Whingey by name……..
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Tabs, disko biskits? Arsenic/cyanide more like. 😉
Think it’s about failing to organise something in a brewery. 😉
Lars from previous drinks,
I know this has been said before but the FA can change decisions after the event, even when the referee has seen the incident and acted on it at the time.
Don’t ask me the rule and paragraph number, but it has been reproduced in the drinks.
In ‘ exceptional cicumstances ‘ they can change whatever they like.
Finding the link wasn’t hard. After all, I did most of the research (the French bits) for that piece by blogs so I have now bookmarded it ;).
I even searched out for links to video/min-by-min reports and official league decision for all of my cases. :p
An ‘interesting’ thing too, Trev, well I don’t know if it’s that interesting but may well be in the context, is that I believe the League does that sort of thing in France, not the Federation.
Arsene Wenger is the sixth highest paid manager in world football for this year and the fifth highest active manager. Kenny Dalglish was paid more than Wenger for the year by way of payoff when fired.
For those still interested in the weather I can tell you that it rained in Wellington (NZ) over the past couple of days – the first time since Christmas I think. Such is the power test cricket has over the weather gods who must believe running up and down the wicket is some kind of rain dance.
Any other Holics who fancy MotD of Arsenal vs Everton in 1967, it’s @234 in last set of drinks.
It took a while to go up as I was stupid enough to post 3 links in the one drink.
Plenty of memories there …
– the kids chanting Arsenal/Everton back and forth in the West Lower.
– a mud heap of a pitch
– Injury carnage
– And a goal from George Johnston – a collectors item!
Tabs- I remember that game. Gordon West ( sadly deceased) played out of his skin for them. George Johnston was not a conspicuous success but he did score then. Lovely memories
Ollie @ 3, Saved me some time, dwelling on those pics. Searching for a greater meaning and all 🙂 Now it makes sense Holic 😉 unlike the FA’s decision making.
Long balls, high feet, kicking the ball away, players walking away having been flattened by yellow card challenges, an uncovered, single tier Clock End, plus all the “memories” you’ve already listed. Amazing.
“I’d walk a million miles
For one of your goals
Jon Saaaaaaammels”
TaBS, thanks for the Kanu link in the previous drink, it put a smile on my face. If only our current strikers had half as cool a head as he had in front of goal, and generally all around the pitch, they’d score a shitload of goals.
Ttg, Trev, Bath – Glad you enjoyed the link. There was much to smile at. Even though it was before my time by 3 years (first time I’d seen the famous George Johnston), there was still a lot to take me back to my formative years at Highbury.
Given that it was the early days of televised football, it was clear that Wolstenholme had been told to be lavish in his praise of the whole event to keep the Footballing authorities onside. Loved the way he listed all the celebrities who were present at the start of the game as if it was a night at the theatre. Thought he was pushing it when he described Furnell as “normally so safe” though!
I had no idea of the score when I watched it, so I had to laugh at myself at how much I wanted Arsenal to win. Even found myself muttering “Oh for fucks sake” at one point when we gave the ball away.
And as Trev says, not too many intricate passing movements there. Perhaps “Hoof” in those days would have been an encouragement from the crowd to get it forward, rather than the denigration of style that it has become. Mind you, we were still more pleasing on the eye than any modern day creation of Pulis!
One question for you chaps that were going during that period. I couldn’t help noticing that Mcnab appeared to play on the right and Storey on the left? Did this last long before they swapped to their more natural sides?
Cent @54 – Cheers, glad you enjoyed it. It was a shame that Kanu never consistently hit the heights after an initially brilliant six months. He was however, as you say, capable of the most extraordinary skill, completely unique to him, and never failed to put a smile on people’s faces.
TaBS, well noted mate. I must say I didn’t notice Kanu’s inconsistency in Arsenal colours as I wasn’t opportuned to watch The Arsenal week-in, week-out when Kanu was with us, I was in a boarding secondary school then and only watched live games during the holidays, and by the time I started following weekly via Newspapers (2004/2005) he was already in Westbrom colours.
Can’t help too much Tabs, regards the full back query, although I did have the same thought myself. Must have been sixties Arsenal’s version of total football.
I can’t help with specifics as memories are vague – that was one of my very first games at Highbury, which I do remember in part for that West Lower “Arsenal – Everton” chanting match.
Like you, I can’t believe the passion that clip stirred up, seeing so many of the famous old names from the first Arsenal team I ever supported.
Peter Storey running through walls, the rocket shots of Jon Sammels, the perpetual motion of Geordie Armstrong, Frank McLintock and the ever calm Peter Simpson.
Wolfie, of course, will have noted the nut strangling shorts of Jim “Fingers” Furnell.
That was the team, of course, that lost to Swindon at Wembly – as noted in the Don Rogers comment above – and then went on to the 1971 Double.
That team, like The Invincibles, broke up, or was broken up, far too quickly and we struggled for 18 years – NOT 8 !!! – to repeat the success, until the glorious May night in 1989.
So it’s always been a struggle, apart from Arsene’s first eight years – there’s that number again. Ultimately, though, the struggle makes the successes so much more memorable.
It wasn’t all good back then, as we’ve said before, with the violence that took hold in the Seventies.
But strangely, looking at that muddy pitch, the old stands, the winter gloom in the streets outside the ground, and the pure heart displayed by those players, I found myself almost welling up at what has gone.
And, I think, we share quite a lot as a club with Everton. Two traditional football clubs who have had to earn what they’ve got. Two clubs who have had periods of great success – ours a bit longer than theirs – but who have struggled in between times to recreate their glory days.
And, in the old days, you always had to look at the black and white photos of the main stands twice to be certain whether you were looking at Highbury or Goodison., as both clubs had their stands designed by the same architect.
Camberwell, take Ollie’s advice @3 for the secrets of the Blog to be revealed, and heh @62.
Agree with Ollie. Diaby did a lot of tidy work on Saturday.
Trev – Good stuff, cheers. I think that West Lower kids chanting went on whilst those seats remained “unreserved”. Sat there a lot in my childhood when the Old Man was feeling flush. Used to have to get there about 12-30- 1 00. He used to keep himself busy with the crossword in the Programme. God knows how I used to pass the time, probably content to just sit there, shivering with nervous tension! As soon as the West Lower became reserved (early eighties?), it just became like the rest of the ground and lost its unique appeal.
Agree with you on Everton – a proper football Club. Have to say though, that having been to Goodison a number of times, and decent old ground that it is, it isn’t a patch on Highbury. Perhaps Mr Leitch used it as a dry run before embarking on his masterpiece? 🙂
Bland Of Hope And Glory
Mediawatch has long known it is at odds with the thinking of those inside the BBC about punditry but even we were astonished to read this quote in the Daily Mail from an unnamed presenter: “When Michael (Owen) first did some work for us, we wondered just what he would be like. The last thing we needed was another dreary, bland footballer telling us nothing at all. But he came in and was brilliant and surprised a lot of people. He seemed to instinctively know what to say and how to say it.”
Read that again and genuinely weep.
Recent posts suggests this Daily Mail bit has nothing to do with tabs 😉
Having the boss of the leading space agency and front runners in science telling us to “pray” for a favourable outcome does not exactly fill me with hope, in fact, quite the opposite.
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Ollie, I still think he’s a frustrating player to watch.
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I remember tyhat one Cam’, I’ll not try to pronounce it like that as I like my keyboard flem-free. 😉
Hmm, looks like Wojs dad apparently had an outburst against Arsene in polish media.
However I would very much like to know how much had been lost in translation and if he really used phrasing which appeared in czech media. Since usage of lines as “Wenger is ruining my sons health” and “He is just looking for sacrificial lamb while he himself screwed lot of things up in April and May last year” seems kind of harsh from someone whos son is no.1 in such a big club like Arsenal is.
Even more that Arsene never publicly criticized Woj in media, just said he needs a rest..thats all. Interlull at its best I guess…
So,
Dad is mad that he was benched but was also mad that he was played.
He admits that he is having a run of poor form, but thinks he should play despite being out of form?
I’m confused. Was it “lost in translation”?
Cake and eat it too? I think Woj will be just fine but I hear his grandmother is giving an interview tomorrow, so I’ll wait. 😉
Nice One “Holic. Every Picture Tells A Story,eh.
RE Jeffers — he was playing here in Australasia last season, in the Hyudai A league — he was absolute shit as well. Emile Heskey,the non scoring striker currently plying his trade for Newcastle Jets in Australia. He’s still got it -proving he can still miss a sitter in any league in the world. Sydney FC have Del Piero — even in his dotage he is head and shoulders above the opposition – class. Meanwhile NZ’s only A League team boasts ex Millwall “star’ Paul Iffil — heady stuff. Football not really a strong suit down under.
Drinking, on the other hand……………….
NorCal, Wind is temporarily only to be found on Twitter. He is focusing on his studies and stays away from the time-consuming duties of back-drinking until he has done his exams. He posted about this the other week.
I wondered if I could be on time for an assist (suddenly remembered), saw I was late but in with a chance of a goal, but Lars came out of nowhere and I tabsed it!
‘Fever Pitch’ is mine too, NorCal (#93). The movie was even better. I especially empathised with Colin Firth during the final game against Pool where he was certain we’d never score, or Pool would equalise, oir we’d never hang on, or just about anything else that could happen to deny us victory. Then after we’d won he never doubted we would…
That’s exactly how I feel while watching practically every game!
Tabs@56. A very late reply for which apologies. I am in USA and supposed to be working but everyone wants to speak about the ‘ EPL’ . Re your query about the full backs Peter Storey was a right back until the double season and Bob McNab played on the left. That was the normal situation anyway. I’m guessing the Everton game would have been in 1967 and there was little change until the 1970-71 season. Then Charlie George got injured and our midfield was Kelly,Storey and Graham. Well hard and pretty skilful. Pat Rice came in to pay right back and was never moved and Storey stayed in midfield.Sammels was not a regular in tha team and left at the end of the season,a victim of boo boys. So being a prat and abusing Arsenal players is not a modern phenomenon.
I can never remember Bob McNab paying on the right but he was a terrific player and was an England international at a time when we had top players in that position. I never thought Storey would be good enough to pay in midfield but be proved more than adequate for the task and also got capped for England. He was a very deceptive player as he had an incredible will to win but could also play a bit.
You mentioned Furnell. He was a constant source of anxiety to everyone and certainly only reliable in as much as he would always let you down.
A top player from that era was Peter Simpson. Great left foot and marvellous tackler. I met him in a bar at Highbury after a game and he was a lovely ,modest bloke. Sadly I think he is suffering from dementia now. Would have played 50 times for England in a different era. When you see Lescott, Cahill ,Downing and Jagielka playing for England and think ‘ Stan’ and Geordie Armstrong were never capped it seems so unfair.
Regulars know I rate him very highly but after his dad’s remarks (which could have only come from Woj) about his transfer dealings or tactics (not about the playing through injury crap), there can be only one of them at the club.
Disagreements as big as not believing in the manager’s ability to tactically prepare the team are too big to resolve and I’d much rather have AW at the club than Woj.
Snir, this isn’t the first time Szczesny Sr has spouted a bunch of crap. And besides, what part of
“Wenger already started to look for the scapegoat,” he continued. “It is not the way the boss should behave. His transfer policy is failing, there are a lot of injuries which is also significant. The guy is wrong permanently.”
could only have come from Woj? That sounds no different from your average unhappy fan.
Snir @ #115 – What Lars said @ #116. I would treat it all with a massive pinch of salt. It sounds mostly like egotistical nonsense and is a storm in a tea cup at worst.
What’s really important is that Fabinaski develops into a keeper who can keep pushing Woj all the way. That will be a big improvement to our squad. neither keeper needs to leave or be pushed in that scenario and we can spend our mythical money on ethereal strikers, fantasy holding midfielders, etc.
Ttg – Many thanks for your reply mate. I started going in 1970 early in the Double year so I was pretty familiar with all that you say. My knowledge of the under-achieving Sixties is a lot more sketchy however. I had always thought, as you point out, that Storey played on the right, and Mcnab on the left. That was why I was intrigued to see that, judging from those MotD clips against Everton, they had seemingly swapped sides. Maybe it was just a one-off for that game?
I remember Peter Storey reverting to RB in his last season at Arsenal (Terry Neill’s first as manager), when Pat Rice got injured. Childhood memories are never reliable, but I seem to remember he acquitted himself pretty well, before he toddled off to pursue his counterfeiting and brothel malarkey.
My father did the accounts of a few Arsenal players of that era (long before agents were on the scene obviously), notably Simpson, Armstrong, David Court and I think, (but can’t be certain) Jon Sammels. He spoke highly of them all. Simpson, he said, was a very modest man, and very unfootballer-like, and he was always my father’s favourite player of that era.
I was lucky enough to have a chat with Frank McLintock in the local about 18 months ago. Most of the Double side cropped up. I think you’re right re Peter Simpson’s health. Frank didn’t go into details but said that he wasn’t well. He was gushing in his praise of him as a player, but added that he was a huge worrier and always lacked confidence. He said that he would have to gee him up in the Dressing Room before every game to raise his confidence levels, whilst Peter went on and on and on about how good the opposing Centre Forward was. Peter would then go out and play a blinder. As you say, he was unfortunate, from an International perspective, to have played at the same time as Bobby Moore.
Cheers for the Info mate.
@116 – Completely agree with Lars on the Schez thing. Something and nothing. Best ignored.
Tabs / ttg…..my hazy recollections of the late 60s is Peter Storey first getting into the team as a left back, and following the arrival of Bob McNab switching to right back ( and eventually midfield). That Everton game was a one off maybe.
Peter Simpson was one of my favorite players of that era….the greatest centre back never to play for England (Bobby Moore & Norman “bites your legs” Hunter always got picked as the second centre back in those days alongside Jack Charlton or Brian Labone. He appeared a very modest man as well. If you went to the White Hart pub at Southgate after a home game, he would invariably be there quietly having a beer on his own looking like the worries of the world were on his shoulders.
Subbutteo was great but who remembers magnetic football?
Maciej added: “Transfers were not Wenger’s strong side recently. Good players went out, poor players came in. This guy makes permanent mistakes. His players are often injured — that makes you think about his training process as well.
“His team play in a disgraceful manner. They lose 2-1 to Tottenham, conceding two goals in the same way in two minutes.
“So there is a huge possibility a rival saw Arsenal as a team who constantly make the same mistakes.
“I think that he is burnt out as a manager and as a person, too.
“He lost control with journalists. At a press conference he complains that they dare to ask him questions.”
Even worse, Szczesny Snr then all but suggested Wenger’s time is up and he must consider stepping down.
He said: “I think that it is a good time to make a break for him.
“It would be good for him to take the pressure off his shoulders and nerves and reset himself. I believe that he is a good coach and teacher but recently he is boiling up.
“And the plan for running this business got burned out, too. It would be good to make some modifications.”
Like I said, this sounds too similar to a Stewart Robson attack (the tactics part) blended in with Sagna’s attack from the beginning of the season.
When there is a disagreement about the manager’s tactical ability it goes beyond the average unhappy fan and cannot be resolved unless one of them leaves.
Snir, a bit knee jerky that me ol’ mate, there is no proof whatsoever that that came from Woj and as Lars pointed out, it’s not the first time Daddy has had his say.
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Top stuff Cam’
Which one of us from that era didn’t have Subbetteo? Even if you couldn’t afford a whole set, you could just get a team and take that around to one of your mates who had the pitch. There was a gang of about 12 of us who lived on the estate (that’s council estate or projects for those of you on the other side of the pond, not to be confused with the grounds and tenancies (such as farms, housing, woodland, parkland) associated with a very large property. 😉 ) who played the game. We had a mini league and we’d all bring different things to enhance the game, one would have a stand, or a dug out, refs, linesmans, trees, flood lights and all kinds of crap, everytime there was a birthday among the group an atribute would be added. It woul.d probably be worth a few bob if it was all still together and in mint condition (yeah right, we were fucking vandals. 😉 ).
As much as I liked Subbettio, I alwasys thought it was a bit fiddly and the players broke way too easy (maybe we were just vandals). It’s predecessor was made of sterner stuff and although maybe not as sufisticated as Subbetteo, I thought it was a decent game. We’d play penalty shoot outs with it…….
Who remembers, the knock ’em on the ‘ead game Striker? :
There is no proof right, but I have a feeling it has.
When has Sczsesny Snr talked about Arsenal saying anything that wasn’t extremely positive? The only times I’ve seen him talk about Arsenal it was positive so this is a dramatic change. Too dramatic for me.
Snir, I still don’t see why that had to come from Wojciech. Nothing his dad said could not have been found on any fan-driven blog, in the Daily Fail or wherever.
Up – Cheers for that mate. Last time I was in the White Hart the Landlord had turned it into a Chelski Pub. Bloody sacrilege! Been closed recently having a refurb, so hopefully it’s changed hands. You local to Southgate?
Magnetic football? Tell me more … sounds fantastic! 🙂
H2H – Great stuff on Subbuteo. Our tournaments used to get a bit feisty. “You dragged it” “No I didn’t” “Yes you fucking did” etc etc …
Started with the most basic of sets. My set didn’t even have the 3D players, had paper players with the base, but gradually built it up through my childhood. Never got floodlights though, a huge regret! Might have to get up in my mother’s loft and see if any of it survives. My younger brother got hold of it after me, so he probably trashed it all.
I also had Subbuteo Cricket. That, however, was a pile of wank.
Striker was a fine game, although as you say, it was a bit “Route one”. I also remember being gutted that Striker didn’t do a team in Arsenal kit. Have to correct you on one thing though. Striker came way after Subbuteo surely?
There was another game in the early seventies that I had, largely I think because Ray Kennedy featured in the marketing. Can’t remember the name. It was pants though.
Snir – LeaveItYeah 😉 Just another over-protective father spouting off in defence of his Son. Schezzer probably hugely embarrassed. It’s nothing.
Tabs….I was born and raised a N19 man…southern end of crouch hill (if my memory serves me well, just behind City of London maternity hospital where you entered the world) but slowly moved west and am now happily retired by the coast Devon/Dorset border.
Magnetic football….it came as a sheet of metal with a wooden surround about 4 ft x 2ft with short legs. It was painted green with the markings of a football pitch, goals and players about same size as a subbutteo set, and wooden sticks about a foot long upturned at the end with a magnetic strip. The players also had a magnetic strip on the base. You positioned a stick under the pitch and located a player by magnetic force. By moving the stick, the player moved in the same direction. Naturally sticks crossed or banged into each other i.e tackles and the more competitive you were, the harder the sticks banged into each other. However, it was very rare they got used as weapons! It was very fast moving and good fun. It was around at the beginning of the 60s and seemed to disappear from the shops somewhat before the end of the decade.
Blimey Up, that was well remembered! I was indeed born in the City of London Maternity Hospital!! Make sure you let us all know if you’re ever up for a game.
Magnetic Football sounds fantastic. I want a set! 🙂
on 21 Mar 2013 at 3:36 pm150Soccerette magnetic football game?
I had Soccerette and Subutteo, my mate had Super Striker.
150 fantastiic….mine was the Soccerette version. It came in various sizes. I saved up and got the largest one…it came with 4 sticks = 2 per side.
Tabs….My youngish aunt was a nurse at the CoL….may have helped deliver you.
Shame about the White Hart….a Chelsea pub in Southgate..WTF!!! In my youth, arsenal used to train at Southgate before they moved to London Colney. In the school holdays would get the tube from Finsbury Park to Southgate, walk to the training pitches and get autographs etc from the heroes.
Occasionally make the trip up for a game…will certainly meet up in the Tollie for a beverage or 2.
Fantastic link at 152. Thank you. Many a childhood memory there.
And how could I forget? The other tabletop football game I had was “Grand Slam”, so rubbish they used a tennis term to describe it!! According to that marvellous site, it has been reissued a number of times, so perhaps it wasn’t that shite! I probably just didn’t understand the rules. 🙁
Up – Wow , your aunt eh? Small world! 🙂 🙂
I didn’t know Arsenal used to train in Southgate. Probably should have guessed, given that the White Hart was obviously their main drinking haunt. Do you know whereabouts? Up at the grounds where Saracens Rugby Club used to play, which is out of the tube station, turn left and up Chase Side?
I did actually stay up for the Superbowl this year for the first time ever. Kinda enjoyed it, even though I didn’t have the foggiest what was going on. Made me wish that I had a team (or franchise!). Is there a team that plays in red shirts and white sleeves? 🙂
H2H – Cheers for the link. Knew that Subbuteo went back a long way, but like you, didn’t realise it was that old. ‘Holic might even played it in his teen years 😉
Tabs…training at Southgate in the 1950s. It wasn’t at the Sarries ground. It was about a 5 min walk from the tube station. Think it was a sports gound owned by a college and we had full use of it. They moved to Shenley permantly in 1961. Will let you know if I can recall more details..probably the guv will know…he is the official historian as opposed to Wolfe who is the official histrionics 😉
Uplympian,
Thankyou for your update. You are quite correct about Storey he was originally a left- back with Don Howe at right- back I think.nice recollections Re the training regime of those days. How ordinary those guys were compared with the pampered superstars of today.
They earnt a decent wage but not much more than the people who watched from the terraces and those in the stand probably earnt more.
I bet they secretly resent some of these lightweights earning £50 k a week and producing very little .
Poor old Ches. On top of dodgy form he has a pushy Dad. While I admire parental loyalty he did go a tad far. I still believe Ches,with the right handling,will be a great keeper but I would like to see a better goalkeeping coach at the club. It’s all gone pear- shaped since Bob left. Mad Jens or Seaman would be better.
Would love Mad Jens back at the Club in some capacity Ttg.
Amazing that Up and his mates could just stroll into the training ground in those days. Had to take a friend’s young Son for a Football Training Day at the new training ground a couple of years ago. It was like Fort Knox.
Tabs,
Grew up in Dallas so I was a big Cowboys fan most of my youth.
Now I don’t really care about the pro game. I Like the college game much better, there is more “unpredictability”about it. The atmosphere at the college games is better than the pro game too.
Hehs Trev 🙂 Yankee Doodle Tabsy! Has a ring to it 🙂
If it was Minchenden School Trev, it’s no longer there. School was relocated to Wood Green and the Southgate site converted to flats and new builds years ago.
NorCal – your comments re the professional/college games reflect what one of your fellow merkans was telling me at a party in the Summer. More partisan crowds right?
Snir – I’m liking the sound of them. They’re definitely in the mix.
NorCal – Unlike others I like the purple, but I’ve got to rule out the Ravens on account of the fact I can’t be messing with Chickens or birds of any sort on my Club shirt. I can’t support the Chiefs because their head coach, Andy Reid, has a ridiculous moustache! 🙂
Trev,
You know no one plays sports better than Americans, so why should we include the other “riff-raff”, called the world? How un- egocentric would that be?
8)
Ttg….Storey was a proper full back….with a fast approaching winger you knew that either the ball or the winger would be whacked into touch…it didn’t matter to him which. Normally if the winger, for the rest of the game only the ball went into touch…the player kept his distance!
I’ll always cut Ches a lot of slack. He has never dissed Arsenal, only praised the club to the hilt. It’s hard enough to get to be a top keeper
at a young age without having to contend with a goalkeeper father who seem even madder than Mad Jens.
Purple shirts still did not grown on me although I do not find them as atrocious as I did at the start of the season. As I said ..as long as we win, I dont care what our lads are wearing 🙂
Great link Trev. , the physio section looked like the opening sequence of a b movie horror film, gym training in thosewooly jumpers must have been sweaty and those boots… I remember playing in ones like those, waiting for the nail to push through to your bare foot. Not Wolfie’s style I fear. 🙂
Talking to a patient of mine today who attended a “Sports/Football talk evening” in Hertford, featuring Jimmy Greaves and his guest, Ron “Chopper” Harris.
Apparantly, it was more or less a Jimmy Greaves comedy act but, during the question and answer section, someone asked Ron Harris how he would have played Ronaldo / What would he have done if Ronaldo had gone past him ?
Harris answered, “If he’d gone past me once, the second time I’d have put the c*nt in the crowd”.
“You’d never have caught him”, shouted someone from the back of the room.
Jumping out of his chair, arms readied in gunslinger mode, Harris growled,
” ‘Oo said that …. d’you want some o’ this ?!!”
This was to a paying member of the audience at a talk night !
Blimey Trev, hope Chopper was joking. I’ve heard him on the Radio a few times when he’s been wheeled on to talk Chavski, and he’s certainly not the brightest, so can’t be sure he was.
Apparantly he wasn’t joking at all Tabs and had to be told to sit back down.
Btw, just tried the ‘mouse down the photo blog’ trick – caught the first photo by accident – to reveal the hidden caption, which I had seemingly guessed anyway.
Previous attempts with the mouse had revealed nothing, as I had merely used it at the right hand edge of the post to scroll slowly down.
This all leaves me wondering am I a) very clever, b) very stupid, or c) were Ollie’s instructions just rubbish anyway ?
No answers, please. 😉
Ollie will be here in a minute anyway, as there’s a goal up for grabs 😉
Trev….you know someone who paid to listen to Chopper Harris…a serious case of short changing. After 2 sentences it could only be pressing the repeat button.
With you on the 49ers…..the name plus red & white..has to be.
These Chavs eh, no class. I once watched Harris kick lumps out of Stanley Matthew who was almost 50 years old. What a tough guy eh!
I am just returning from America where I discovered they did not make the semi- finals of the World Baseball Championship. I think the final is/ was between the Dominican Republic and Holland but its not getting great coverage. Fancy that! Not getting to the semis in a sport played by about eight countries. Good job the Isle of Wight didn’t enter.
My NFL team is the Washington Redskins simply because they won the first Super Bowl I saw . They play in the colour that we did in our last season at Highbury and white and they have a brilliant young quarterback ,RobertGriffin iii who has a dodgy knee. I’ve had years of frustration following them but they have also won three Super Bowls.
Well in Ttg. The lengthy goal is always a masterclass of timing.
Now I’m confused. When I thought it was the real Ollie at 201, I laughed out loud. Now it appears it wasn’t the real Ollie and even the real Ollie @205 is questioning the real Ollie @203.
That way anarchy lies. Poor old Wolfie had to deal with an imposter (possibly canadian) for ages.
Been at the Test Match all day here in Auckland. Barmy Army Brilliant. If Monty Panesar keeps serving up slow,unspinning balls with the legend “Hit Me For Six” emblazonned upon them, I fear the worst……..
Sun, beer and Cricket…….. its a winning combo…..
So Israel is playing Portugal and the Portuguese delegation was pleasantly surprised when fans who waited for Ronaldo at the airport sang his name and didn’t taunt him with chants of Messi.
the – ‘ i can’t believe it’s not ollie’ 201 goal 🙂
in other drinks – a friend of mine used to live in southgate – i lived in hounslow at the time – meetin up for a jar involved much talk of the arsenal and a competition as to which of us lived in the most boring shitehole in london
went for a jar in a bar called the coach and horses or somesuch in southgate and darts stopped in the air and stared at me the whole way through my stout
evidently they percieved my good looks as a threat to what was left of or indeed had ever existed of their womenfolk
i was lucky not to be chased to the tube by angry torch-bearing villagers
Be interesting to see what kinds of offers he gets when his contract runs down. Will Arsenal let it run down? I know you’ve expressed a wish to call time on him, but a tricky one for the Board/Arsene nevertheless.
It’s a tough one tabs, he’s basically saying now that he’s content being able to play “so many games” even though “so many” doesn’t even equate to 50% of our matches.
I don’t think that’s good enough, and before someone reminds me that CvC had similar stats, I don’t think the two can be compared.
====
Wolfie, decent player young Ricky, did very well at Uttrecht and by all accounts started well in Portugal, I must admit I’ve lost track of him lately though, Norwich would seem a bit of a step down to me. Plus would a Wolf really be welcomed by Canaries?
Another nice little tit-bit, (oo-er) he’s in a relationship with the daughter of ex Oranje hero Johan Neeskens.
Speaking of “dutch” exports H2H, I have recently read that Bony is pretty much bossing your league in Arnhem in the moment. I know we discussed him some time ago, still think he is not exactly Arsenal material?
I lost track of him once he has been sold from Sparta, but in that time he was nowhere near, but being top scorer in Dutch league I would guess you have to posses some skill.
H2H: just read about that and while I can certainly see why it’s a great deal for West Ham to be given a stadium for pretty much nothing, I can not understand how Boris Johnson et al can claim it to be a great deal for the London taxpayers. £600+ million of taxpayers’ money and then just give the bloody thing away???
It’s utterly ridiculous the price they’re getting it for H2H. Forget the figures but they’re only having to pay £20m towards a £200m conversion, and then nothing back from gate receipts. Fucking crazy!
Still at least we’re not in a recession or anything, and can afford to throw public money around!
Elsewhere, as the meltdown continues apace, one Frenchman in North London rubs his hands together and says “I’ll have him, him, and him please”.
Cheers tabs. And the story about the EU striking down on (effectively) publically funded clubs is very interesting. Once the EU starts getting involved you are in trouble and can be pretty damn sure that the days of free money for those clubs are well and truly over.
So instead of Olliegarchs and crooks funding small clubs back to glory, the government (West Ham) and councils (Harringay – Tottenham) are are to start throwing cash at them instead.
And how will West Ham fill 54,000 seats each week ?
It is indeed ridiculous that stadia are literaly given away, when we had to basicaly mortgage our future to move to the Grove. The same happened in Manchester. Utd built up their stadium by years of wise investment, Citeh got theirs for bugger all and were then taken over by a Sheikh with more money then God, doesn’t really seem fair does it?
Eandy. Bony’s only in it for the money, he’s been flashing his undies at all the Russian clubs giving them come hither looks. No doubt that he’s doing the biz this term, but the Ere Divisie’s top scorer can be a dubious comparison to other leagues top scorers, remember Alfonze Alves?
Heh Trev, he has indeed. (Dutch Caps;) )
So the bubble is about to burst and La Liga is in danger of literaly becoming a two team league……
Oliver Holt: An Admission
He writes in the Daily Mirror: ‘Hodgson’s press conferences at a hotel half way up the hill in a little republic were dominated by Ferdinand’s absence. And perhaps the problem is partly ours. Perhaps the focus on Ferdinand is a symptom of our inability to to move on from the characters who have dominated the national team for so long.’
Perhaps, Oliver? Perhaps the journalists asking the questions are partly to blame for the questions being asked? You think?
Lars – Wow, that is a truly fantastic link. Cheers mate. Very sobering. The name of Vukovar is enough to give anyone the shivers. Man’s inhumanity to man writ large.
For anyone that is interested in the Yugoslavian Civil War, I would recommend an absolutely fantastic BBC Documentary series called “The Death of Yugoslavia” which is now available on Youtube. Freely admit that I never really understood all the differing factions involved in the War until watching it. It’s detailed without being incomprehensible, accessible without being patronising. Basically the sort of thing that the Beeb still remains very good at.
You could do a lot worse than take a look at the work of the late and great Christopher Hitchens on YouTube (hundreds of vids available so you should be able to find one that fits your timeframe).
I say that with a huge amount of bias as I freely admit he is a “hero” of mine. If you’re unfamiliar with his work, he was perhaps best known for his fearless defences of freedom of speech (including what has come to be known as “hate speech”), his castigation of all religion, his hatred of dictatorships especially those based on fundamental religion, and his dismantling of public figures as diverse as Henry Kissinger, Bill Clinton and Mother Theresa.
Whether you agree with him or not (and I mostly did) he was recognised by most of his religious and political opponents as a worthy and quite brilliant opponent whose command of language was second to none.
Worth a look mate.
*scurries off to find out who Merlin Ollsen played for* 😉
I can find a persuasive speech, but I’m looking for a sports related one, ’cause I’ve swore to myself that I would write about sports on every paper/project I need to hand in.
It’s been working well so far 😀
This is of course in my first two years which are core classes here in America.
Next year I’m starting the real degree and will write about sports since it will be my major. 😀
Snir, one tip – just don’t do what that dude in the video you linked to and look at your notes every three seconds 🙂
tabs@261: I’ve seen the first part of that BBC documentary now, very interesting stuff I have to say. Will watch the other parts as well, that’s for sure.
Evening all, been gallivanting around Swansea today so couldn’t keep up with everything. Will be doing a NextGen preview after several pints and dinner.
I think Amis provided an insight when he compared Nabokov to Hitchens. Nabokov, famously claimed that he thought like a genius, wrote like a distinguished author and spoke like a child. Hitchens, according to Amis, thought like a child (in a visceral sense by seeing things clearly), wrote like a distinguished author and spoke like a genius.
I’d probably disagree with Amis on the writing front Tabs because there can be no doubting that Nabokov was much more than just “a distinguished author”. But Hitchens would be the one you’d always want to listen to, the one you’d want to watch and certainly the one you’d want to have a pint with (or in his case, a bottle of Scotch!).
There are fewer people who make the world a little brighter for others in this short life. Hitchens was one of those rare people. His presence is deeply missed.
Completely agree Joe. Hitchens was a life-enhancer, a pleasure to read, and a pleasure to listen to.
Nothing became him like his terribly premature going. Despite his best attempts to appear cantankerous, arrogant etc, he was clearly a very brave man, and at heart a very very good one.
Wouldn’t have fancied going drink for drink with him though! Amazing that so much of his copy was filed after very heavy sessions.
H2H, that is good news even if the opposition is crap.
From the Sweden-Ireland came I can report that… eeerr, no I can’t because fuck-all has happened so far with just under 50 minutes played. That is one awful game.
H2H, just watched your link @234, the look on the guys face and his gesticulation as Pesci queries him is priceless, he would have peed in his shorts if Pesci had pulled a gun out.
Too many hehs @ various above. Will I be wrong if I said that the Interlull makes us all 50% funnier than usual?
tabs … By far the greatest speech with a sporting theme was given in the form of a toast to the 40 Club in London in the early ’80s by barrister Sir Humphrey Tilling. In it he recounts the Four Ages of Cricket based on Shakespeare’s The Seven Ages of Man. It is utterly hilarious and had the audience in fits.
A recording was released years ago by the ABC in Australia entitled The Six Ages of Cricket (regardless he speaks of only four), but copies now appear to be as scarce as Spuds Top 4 finishes. Nothing on Youtube and most of the leads you’ll find by Googling lead nowhere.
I have the speech on tape and have transferred it to MP3. I could send you a copy by email, although the file is 11megs, so tricky.
Also, it’s hardly what you’d call ‘persuasive’ … just the best sporting speech you will ever hear.
First surely.
Well that deserves a “cheers”, and a ” drink mother f@cker, drink” if I ever saw one.
Yes they put the “FA” in fail.
Haha. For those who may have missed the trick…use your mouse and ‘read’ the blog, slowly.
I could redirect you to previous posts, but I’ll just stress this again for a complement :
http://arseblog.com/2012/04/wolves-preview-the-fa-are-negligent-liars/
Thirst shurely
Good man Ollie
Ha Ha.
Excellent ‘holic.
===
Missed the cut off….
Cheers for the link Scruz, no one enjoys reading about Stoke’s misery more then moi, it also backed up my claim that Stoke are the worst team in the PL (this year), however I’m afraid I had to stop reading when Charlie Fester Adams was refered to as a skillful player.
===
F.A = Fail Always.
Totaly ridiculous.
I knew of the stupid rule that if the ref saw it and deemed it unworthy of action that it couldn’t be dealt with (absurd in itself) but since when did the linesman get that power? That Newcastle player was assalted, plain and simple, intention has nothing to do with it, nor does “he’s not that kind of player” rubbish. If I get in a car and injure someone I’m responsible and liabel, it matters not a jot that I didn’t mean it or if I haven’t got a malicous bone in my body.
If this is supposed to be a joke, then I don’t get it.
===
Peter Odd and Whingey by name……..
===
Tabs, disko biskits? Arsenic/cyanide more like. 😉
Can not argue with the contents of that blog.
Think it’s about failing to organise something in a brewery. 😉
Lars from previous drinks,
I know this has been said before but the FA can change decisions after the event, even when the referee has seen the incident and acted on it at the time.
Don’t ask me the rule and paragraph number, but it has been reproduced in the drinks.
In ‘ exceptional cicumstances ‘ they can change whatever they like.
So the question is, do they want to ?
Apparantly not.
heh, ‘holic.
and h2h, from the last drinks, i think “skillful” was “shit” misspelled. or irony.
or, h2h from *these* drinks 🙂
Ok,
The first picture is clearly the last time spuds finished above Arsenal. I knew they made a DVD, didn’t know they had a plaque made too.
Picture 2 is outside the Tollie as the visiting team supporters parade by hoping for any kind of bone thrown their way.
Picture 3 is either Holics basement, or part of the English football training facility that will be taken to Qatar in 2022.
Eh, Mr Richards. Keep up the good work. 😉
Great find Ollie. Most apt.
Nicely dun, ‘Hols…good shout Ollie (I was perplexed until I read your explanation).
If it weren’t for the FA, what would we discuss for the next 10 days?
Oh my.
BMBD
Yes, good link Ollie.
The FA may have agreed their policy with FIFA but I believe it is a UEFA rule which allows the retrospective action. Hence Bloggs’ European examples.
Yeovil v Swindon on Sky. We know what Holic’s doing. 😉
The West Country derby Trev, although they are 80 miles apart.
The farm animals will sleep with one eye open tonight 😉
Finding the link wasn’t hard. After all, I did most of the research (the French bits) for that piece by blogs so I have now bookmarded it ;).
I even searched out for links to video/min-by-min reports and official league decision for all of my cases. :p
An ‘interesting’ thing too, Trev, well I don’t know if it’s that interesting but may well be in the context, is that I believe the League does that sort of thing in France, not the Federation.
Is the Ayling playing for Yeovil our very own from the Youth Cup winning team, do you know ?
wikipedia knows, Trev 😉
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Ayling
Doubtful actually, as he seems to be playing right back.
You can play anywhere when you are trained at Arsenal, Trev! 🙂
Ah, I see, Ollie.
When you read that “Admiration” paragraph, he sounds like exactly what we need !
Blimey, 13 Yellows and 2 Red cards. Sounds exactly like what we need – a doyble hard bastard at the back.
He was Kyle Bartley’s partner in Jack and Frimpong’s team, and Bartley used to like a firm tackle too. Fair ones though. 😉
Doyble ? Double.
He wasn’t even the best right back on the pitch Trev.
The Swindon lad was man of the match.
You can play anywhere when you are trained at Arsenal, Trev!
Except for at Arsenal (99.9% of the time) 😉
Holic, I’ve heard that last sentence of yours once before.
Oh, the pain! 😉
Haha, you know Don Rogers still lives here and is good company over a pint.
Arsene Wenger is the sixth highest paid manager in world football for this year and the fifth highest active manager. Kenny Dalglish was paid more than Wenger for the year by way of payoff when fired.
Wenger “earns” 2m euros more than Ferguson.
Ever feel like you’ve been cheated?
@ 31.
No.
Well, I sometimes have felt that way.
Especially when that fool Howard Web referees a football match.
And there was that one girl back in college … nevermind that though.
Sorry, back on topic: what was your question again?
Homer,
Well played….or is that well paid?
Anyway, AW’s salary is not whose salary we should worry about.
Did you know CvC has made 2 million pounds since he last scored a goal? Talk about cheated, he and his little boy inside are having a giggle.
NorCal knows.
And while I’m here, bloody brilliant post ‘holic. Thank you.
Good man snowy. It is good to know I am not casting wheat before chaff 😉
For those still interested in the weather I can tell you that it rained in Wellington (NZ) over the past couple of days – the first time since Christmas I think. Such is the power test cricket has over the weather gods who must believe running up and down the wicket is some kind of rain dance.
But back to warm and cloudless today… 🙂
Oskar
Tabs, you are the mutts. Thank you.
In bits here, but good bits…
Glad you enjoyed it mate.
Any other Holics who fancy MotD of Arsenal vs Everton in 1967, it’s @234 in last set of drinks.
It took a while to go up as I was stupid enough to post 3 links in the one drink.
Plenty of memories there …
– the kids chanting Arsenal/Everton back and forth in the West Lower.
– a mud heap of a pitch
– Injury carnage
– And a goal from George Johnston – a collectors item!
Great post btw ‘H. Says it all.
Tabs- I remember that game. Gordon West ( sadly deceased) played out of his skin for them. George Johnston was not a conspicuous success but he did score then. Lovely memories
Very clever post ‘holic. I missed the tackle but am told it was horrific.
Very existential, ‘Holic. Mao got it right: “Power grows out of the barrel.”
Guv’nor@36: You let chaffs in here?
TTG@41: Gordon West would be better remembered for the great keeper he was had he not had been a contemporary of Gordon Banks.
I want beer too.
More from the “hard news” department:
http://news.yahoo.com/large-asteroid-heading-earth-pray-says-nasa-005545942.html
Ollie @ 3, Saved me some time, dwelling on those pics. Searching for a greater meaning and all 🙂 Now it makes sense Holic 😉 unlike the FA’s decision making.
@36 ‘holic. Or even pearls before swine?
Good morning all.
50Cent.
Great post Holic. I’ll have some of picture 3 please.
And thanks for the vintage MOTD in yesterday’s drinks, tabs. Top stuff that. I wonder how many more of those are in the BBC archives.
Morning all,
Tabs, wonderful stuff – the old Everton link.
Long balls, high feet, kicking the ball away, players walking away having been flattened by yellow card challenges, an uncovered, single tier Clock End, plus all the “memories” you’ve already listed. Amazing.
“I’d walk a million miles
For one of your goals
Jon Saaaaaaammels”
Love it!
Morning all.
Great not to have the alarm on for a few days 🙂
TaBS, thanks for the Kanu link in the previous drink, it put a smile on my face. If only our current strikers had half as cool a head as he had in front of goal, and generally all around the pitch, they’d score a shitload of goals.
Enjoy Holic,
Day off here too 🙂
Morning All,
Ttg, Trev, Bath – Glad you enjoyed the link. There was much to smile at. Even though it was before my time by 3 years (first time I’d seen the famous George Johnston), there was still a lot to take me back to my formative years at Highbury.
Given that it was the early days of televised football, it was clear that Wolstenholme had been told to be lavish in his praise of the whole event to keep the Footballing authorities onside. Loved the way he listed all the celebrities who were present at the start of the game as if it was a night at the theatre. Thought he was pushing it when he described Furnell as “normally so safe” though!
I had no idea of the score when I watched it, so I had to laugh at myself at how much I wanted Arsenal to win. Even found myself muttering “Oh for fucks sake” at one point when we gave the ball away.
And as Trev says, not too many intricate passing movements there. Perhaps “Hoof” in those days would have been an encouragement from the crowd to get it forward, rather than the denigration of style that it has become. Mind you, we were still more pleasing on the eye than any modern day creation of Pulis!
One question for you chaps that were going during that period. I couldn’t help noticing that Mcnab appeared to play on the right and Storey on the left? Did this last long before they swapped to their more natural sides?
Cent @54 – Cheers, glad you enjoyed it. It was a shame that Kanu never consistently hit the heights after an initially brilliant six months. He was however, as you say, capable of the most extraordinary skill, completely unique to him, and never failed to put a smile on people’s faces.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/passing-with-purpose
Interesting. Especially to correct the view that Diaby was shit, held by a few 😉
So Holic, what your photoblog is saying today is…
The FA are really thirsty and weighing up the idea of going to a kind of postmodern playground in a converted warehouse?
I don’t get it.
TaBS, well noted mate. I must say I didn’t notice Kanu’s inconsistency in Arsenal colours as I wasn’t opportuned to watch The Arsenal week-in, week-out when Kanu was with us, I was in a boarding secondary school then and only watched live games during the holidays, and by the time I started following weekly via Newspapers (2004/2005) he was already in Westbrom colours.
Factoid of the day: Francis “not really much of a fox in the box” Jeffers now plays for Accrington Stanley.
Remember that milk ad back in the 80s with those two Scouse kids?
Kid 1: “Accrington Stanley? ‘Oo are they?”
Kid 2: “EgZACHHHHly!”
Can’t help too much Tabs, regards the full back query, although I did have the same thought myself. Must have been sixties Arsenal’s version of total football.
I can’t help with specifics as memories are vague – that was one of my very first games at Highbury, which I do remember in part for that West Lower “Arsenal – Everton” chanting match.
Like you, I can’t believe the passion that clip stirred up, seeing so many of the famous old names from the first Arsenal team I ever supported.
Peter Storey running through walls, the rocket shots of Jon Sammels, the perpetual motion of Geordie Armstrong, Frank McLintock and the ever calm Peter Simpson.
Wolfie, of course, will have noted the nut strangling shorts of Jim “Fingers” Furnell.
That was the team, of course, that lost to Swindon at Wembly – as noted in the Don Rogers comment above – and then went on to the 1971 Double.
That team, like The Invincibles, broke up, or was broken up, far too quickly and we struggled for 18 years – NOT 8 !!! – to repeat the success, until the glorious May night in 1989.
So it’s always been a struggle, apart from Arsene’s first eight years – there’s that number again. Ultimately, though, the struggle makes the successes so much more memorable.
It wasn’t all good back then, as we’ve said before, with the violence that took hold in the Seventies.
But strangely, looking at that muddy pitch, the old stands, the winter gloom in the streets outside the ground, and the pure heart displayed by those players, I found myself almost welling up at what has gone.
And, I think, we share quite a lot as a club with Everton. Two traditional football clubs who have had to earn what they’ve got. Two clubs who have had periods of great success – ours a bit longer than theirs – but who have struggled in between times to recreate their glory days.
And, in the old days, you always had to look at the black and white photos of the main stands twice to be certain whether you were looking at Highbury or Goodison., as both clubs had their stands designed by the same architect.
His name, as usual, escapes me. Holic ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgYP1d5nN2o
Actually I think it’s pronounced more like “Ig-ZAXXXCCCHH-leh”
…impossible to pronounce without spitting on your keyboard.
Archibald Leitch 😉
Thank you, I knew you’d know. 😉
Camberwell, take Ollie’s advice @3 for the secrets of the Blog to be revealed, and heh @62.
Agree with Ollie. Diaby did a lot of tidy work on Saturday.
Trev – Good stuff, cheers. I think that West Lower kids chanting went on whilst those seats remained “unreserved”. Sat there a lot in my childhood when the Old Man was feeling flush. Used to have to get there about 12-30- 1 00. He used to keep himself busy with the crossword in the Programme. God knows how I used to pass the time, probably content to just sit there, shivering with nervous tension! As soon as the West Lower became reserved (early eighties?), it just became like the rest of the ground and lost its unique appeal.
Agree with you on Everton – a proper football Club. Have to say though, that having been to Goodison a number of times, and decent old ground that it is, it isn’t a patch on Highbury. Perhaps Mr Leitch used it as a dry run before embarking on his masterpiece? 🙂
Bland Of Hope And Glory
Mediawatch has long known it is at odds with the thinking of those inside the BBC about punditry but even we were astonished to read this quote in the Daily Mail from an unnamed presenter: “When Michael (Owen) first did some work for us, we wondered just what he would be like. The last thing we needed was another dreary, bland footballer telling us nothing at all. But he came in and was brilliant and surprised a lot of people. He seemed to instinctively know what to say and how to say it.”
Read that again and genuinely weep.
Recent posts suggests this Daily Mail bit has nothing to do with tabs 😉
🙁
Afternoon all.
Good stuff, Tabs and Trev.
====
8Ball. @47
Having the boss of the leading space agency and front runners in science telling us to “pray” for a favourable outcome does not exactly fill me with hope, in fact, quite the opposite.
=====
Ollie, I still think he’s a frustrating player to watch.
====
I remember tyhat one Cam’, I’ll not try to pronounce it like that as I like my keyboard flem-free. 😉
‘holic. Archie Leach??
Wasn’t he Cary Grant. 😉
====
No Qatar after all. Paris and then Lyon instead.
Should not affect Arsenal attendance then! 😉
Ollie,
No, it’s Francis Jeffers has got Qatar, or is that catarrh ? 😉
Michael Owen said all the right things – “obviously”. 😉
More on Diaby, excellent post by 7amkickoff over at arseblog news.
Trev is on form.
Daddy Defends Woj;
http://www.football365.com/news/21554/8578839/Daddy-Defends-Szcz…
Hmm, looks like Wojs dad apparently had an outburst against Arsene in polish media.
However I would very much like to know how much had been lost in translation and if he really used phrasing which appeared in czech media. Since usage of lines as “Wenger is ruining my sons health” and “He is just looking for sacrificial lamb while he himself screwed lot of things up in April and May last year” seems kind of harsh from someone whos son is no.1 in such a big club like Arsenal is.
Even more that Arsene never publicly criticized Woj in media, just said he needs a rest..thats all. Interlull at its best I guess…
lol beat me to it H2H..:D
Ollie @67.
So, basically the guy who gave the interview is admitting that the pundits they now have are bland and dreary.
ooops.
I thought it was a bit of a wierd outburst too, Eandy.
Can’t imagine Mark Chamberlain (also former pro) coming out moaning about AOC being on the bench.
He probably had a bit too much vodka, H2H.
/PolishCliché
So,
Dad is mad that he was benched but was also mad that he was played.
He admits that he is having a run of poor form, but thinks he should play despite being out of form?
I’m confused. Was it “lost in translation”?
Cake and eat it too? I think Woj will be just fine but I hear his grandmother is giving an interview tomorrow, so I’ll wait. 😉
Wagner AAHHHTTTSZCZKZSKY !!!
And there’s my answer, a day early. 😉
Si, si, eeza ruinda my boyza eltha too. Wagner AAHHTTTI !!!
Man alive have you SEEN Jeffers these days? He looks like an extra from Steptoe and Son!
http://www.football365.com/news/21554/8578300/Jeffers-hits-brace-Argyle-joy
That’s cos Wenger ruined his health CG 😉
ha ha
Aye, Trev@85. He’s now completely Foxed – in the box and other places.
Nice One “Holic. Every Picture Tells A Story,eh.
RE Jeffers — he was playing here in Australasia last season, in the Hyudai A league — he was absolute shit as well. Emile Heskey,the non scoring striker currently plying his trade for Newcastle Jets in Australia. He’s still got it -proving he can still miss a sitter in any league in the world. Sydney FC have Del Piero — even in his dotage he is head and shoulders above the opposition – class. Meanwhile NZ’s only A League team boasts ex Millwall “star’ Paul Iffil — heady stuff. Football not really a strong suit down under.
Drinking, on the other hand……………….
I remember this Vladi fella. Cracking read.
http://www.7amkickoff.com/
Who could forget Petrovic?
Poor lad never stood a chance.
I was at every home game in ’83, we were pants, but hey ho, you take the good with the bad……..
I seem to remember more bad then good from back then, but as others have stated, that serves the good times better.
that serves *to make* the good times better.
I’m bored. Interlulls should be declared illegal.
Ok. I’ve got a question
Favorite book about Football or Arsenal? I’ve read a few.
Fever pitch is still tops for me. Others?
And the interBull sucks wind. No not Wind….. By the way, are you out there, mate?
NorCal, Wind is temporarily only to be found on Twitter. He is focusing on his studies and stays away from the time-consuming duties of back-drinking until he has done his exams. He posted about this the other week.
Vladi fella or Pigeon as they call him or Pizon here.
He gave a great interview for us (Arsenal-Serbia) couple of years back about his days in Highbury.
Could’ve been much greater. Too bad.
I know Lars,
Was just trying to see if he really left or is blowing low in the shadows. 😉
Thanks for updating me anyway.
Cheers.
Eisfeld looks up field and passes to…….
Looks like “get in Bellerin” just scored to make 2-1. Down goes yanited.
NorCal, I see!
Heads the ball on…
Where’s Ollie?
😉
Henderson crosses…….
Oh, go on then…
Goal?
I wondered if I could be on time for an assist (suddenly remembered), saw I was late but in with a chance of a goal, but Lars came out of nowhere and I tabsed it!
Well in Lars!
NorCal,
A Strange Kind of Glory – Eamon Dunphy
The Damned United. – David Peace
Provided You Don’t Kiss me – Duncan Hamilton.
Lars 94.
There could be some particularly epic back-drinking then!
Well in Lars.
Excellent play @101 Ollie 😉
heh, cheers tabs!
Thanks Tabs. Always looking for a new read. Appreciate it.
No probs NorCal. All three great reads.
If I had to pick one I’d go for the Dunphy book.
In case you missed it, Arsenal comfortably won their Champions League Quarter Final first leg … http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21857615
Well done!
Oskar
…furthermore they knocked out the Germans to reach the quarters in case you missed that too!
Oskar
‘Fever Pitch’ is mine too, NorCal (#93). The movie was even better. I especially empathised with Colin Firth during the final game against Pool where he was certain we’d never score, or Pool would equalise, oir we’d never hang on, or just about anything else that could happen to deny us victory. Then after we’d won he never doubted we would…
That’s exactly how I feel while watching practically every game!
Oskar
Gotta love the caption to the pic of AW on this page …
http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/385650/Fernando-Amorebieta-awaiting-Arsenal-bid?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+daily-express-football-news+%28Daily+Express+%3A%3A+Football+Feed%29
Oskar
Dundee’s ‘Bomber’ Brown has our Top 4 problem solved…
http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/385760/Gareth-Bale-s-legs-the-focus-of-Dundee-s-Hampden-strategy
Oskar
Tabs@56. A very late reply for which apologies. I am in USA and supposed to be working but everyone wants to speak about the ‘ EPL’ . Re your query about the full backs Peter Storey was a right back until the double season and Bob McNab played on the left. That was the normal situation anyway. I’m guessing the Everton game would have been in 1967 and there was little change until the 1970-71 season. Then Charlie George got injured and our midfield was Kelly,Storey and Graham. Well hard and pretty skilful. Pat Rice came in to pay right back and was never moved and Storey stayed in midfield.Sammels was not a regular in tha team and left at the end of the season,a victim of boo boys. So being a prat and abusing Arsenal players is not a modern phenomenon.
I can never remember Bob McNab paying on the right but he was a terrific player and was an England international at a time when we had top players in that position. I never thought Storey would be good enough to pay in midfield but be proved more than adequate for the task and also got capped for England. He was a very deceptive player as he had an incredible will to win but could also play a bit.
You mentioned Furnell. He was a constant source of anxiety to everyone and certainly only reliable in as much as he would always let you down.
A top player from that era was Peter Simpson. Great left foot and marvellous tackler. I met him in a bar at Highbury after a game and he was a lovely ,modest bloke. Sadly I think he is suffering from dementia now. Would have played 50 times for England in a different era. When you see Lescott, Cahill ,Downing and Jagielka playing for England and think ‘ Stan’ and Geordie Armstrong were never capped it seems so unfair.
I want Woj out.
Regulars know I rate him very highly but after his dad’s remarks (which could have only come from Woj) about his transfer dealings or tactics (not about the playing through injury crap), there can be only one of them at the club.
Disagreements as big as not believing in the manager’s ability to tactically prepare the team are too big to resolve and I’d much rather have AW at the club than Woj.
Snir, this isn’t the first time Szczesny Sr has spouted a bunch of crap. And besides, what part of
“Wenger already started to look for the scapegoat,” he continued. “It is not the way the boss should behave. His transfer policy is failing, there are a lot of injuries which is also significant. The guy is wrong permanently.”
could only have come from Woj? That sounds no different from your average unhappy fan.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolreport/21861036
Heh. This is aptly put under the category ‘schoolreport’. I mean, they never learn.
Morning All
Snir @ #115 – What Lars said @ #116. I would treat it all with a massive pinch of salt. It sounds mostly like egotistical nonsense and is a storm in a tea cup at worst.
What’s really important is that Fabinaski develops into a keeper who can keep pushing Woj all the way. That will be a big improvement to our squad. neither keeper needs to leave or be pushed in that scenario and we can spend our mythical money on ethereal strikers, fantasy holding midfielders, etc.
Drinks on the bar for you both.
@ The TV Star
Heh! Splendid link. Talking of fantasy and mythical nonsense….
I see that 52 years is now hoving into view…. FACT!
Morning all,
Little bit of packing to finish, then take management to the consultant, then taking the amphibeous ‘hMobile to a foreign land across the bridge 😉
Feast your mince pies on this one Holics. Pure Interlull gold.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-21856825
Morning All,
Ttg – Many thanks for your reply mate. I started going in 1970 early in the Double year so I was pretty familiar with all that you say. My knowledge of the under-achieving Sixties is a lot more sketchy however. I had always thought, as you point out, that Storey played on the right, and Mcnab on the left. That was why I was intrigued to see that, judging from those MotD clips against Everton, they had seemingly swapped sides. Maybe it was just a one-off for that game?
I remember Peter Storey reverting to RB in his last season at Arsenal (Terry Neill’s first as manager), when Pat Rice got injured. Childhood memories are never reliable, but I seem to remember he acquitted himself pretty well, before he toddled off to pursue his counterfeiting and brothel malarkey.
My father did the accounts of a few Arsenal players of that era (long before agents were on the scene obviously), notably Simpson, Armstrong, David Court and I think, (but can’t be certain) Jon Sammels. He spoke highly of them all. Simpson, he said, was a very modest man, and very unfootballer-like, and he was always my father’s favourite player of that era.
I was lucky enough to have a chat with Frank McLintock in the local about 18 months ago. Most of the Double side cropped up. I think you’re right re Peter Simpson’s health. Frank didn’t go into details but said that he wasn’t well. He was gushing in his praise of him as a player, but added that he was a huge worrier and always lacked confidence. He said that he would have to gee him up in the Dressing Room before every game to raise his confidence levels, whilst Peter went on and on and on about how good the opposing Centre Forward was. Peter would then go out and play a blinder. As you say, he was unfortunate, from an International perspective, to have played at the same time as Bobby Moore.
Cheers for the Info mate.
@116 – Completely agree with Lars on the Schez thing. Something and nothing. Best ignored.
Camberwell – Brilliant link mate – Cheers.
Bloody loved Subbuteo as a kid. What a game.
Hope all goes well at the consultant ‘Holic, and that you both have a lovely break.
http://www.francefootball.fr/#!/news/2013/03/21/105929_haidara-je-ne-comprends-pas.html
He may be a lucky boy.
Enjoy Welsh Wales, ‘holic
http://www.football365.com/news/21554/8580700/Haidara-We-Can-t-Tolerate-Tackles-Like-This-…
English version though that doesn’t mention the absence of ligament damage.
Also you can see some cunt with his comment highlighted underneath the article.
Holic,
Hope your appointment is all good news – have a good break.
Tabs / ttg…..my hazy recollections of the late 60s is Peter Storey first getting into the team as a left back, and following the arrival of Bob McNab switching to right back ( and eventually midfield). That Everton game was a one off maybe.
Peter Simpson was one of my favorite players of that era….the greatest centre back never to play for England (Bobby Moore & Norman “bites your legs” Hunter always got picked as the second centre back in those days alongside Jack Charlton or Brian Labone. He appeared a very modest man as well. If you went to the White Hart pub at Southgate after a home game, he would invariably be there quietly having a beer on his own looking like the worries of the world were on his shoulders.
Subbutteo was great but who remembers magnetic football?
Lars, TS – I was more talking about this.
Maciej added: “Transfers were not Wenger’s strong side recently. Good players went out, poor players came in. This guy makes permanent mistakes. His players are often injured — that makes you think about his training process as well.
“His team play in a disgraceful manner. They lose 2-1 to Tottenham, conceding two goals in the same way in two minutes.
“So there is a huge possibility a rival saw Arsenal as a team who constantly make the same mistakes.
“I think that he is burnt out as a manager and as a person, too.
“He lost control with journalists. At a press conference he complains that they dare to ask him questions.”
Even worse, Szczesny Snr then all but suggested Wenger’s time is up and he must consider stepping down.
He said: “I think that it is a good time to make a break for him.
“It would be good for him to take the pressure off his shoulders and nerves and reset himself. I believe that he is a good coach and teacher but recently he is boiling up.
“And the plan for running this business got burned out, too. It would be good to make some modifications.”
Like I said, this sounds too similar to a Stewart Robson attack (the tactics part) blended in with Sagna’s attack from the beginning of the season.
When there is a disagreement about the manager’s tactical ability it goes beyond the average unhappy fan and cannot be resolved unless one of them leaves.
All the best, ‘holic.
====
Afternoon all.
Snir, a bit knee jerky that me ol’ mate, there is no proof whatsoever that that came from Woj and as Lars pointed out, it’s not the first time Daddy has had his say.
===
Top stuff Cam’
Which one of us from that era didn’t have Subbetteo? Even if you couldn’t afford a whole set, you could just get a team and take that around to one of your mates who had the pitch. There was a gang of about 12 of us who lived on the estate (that’s council estate or projects for those of you on the other side of the pond, not to be confused with the grounds and tenancies (such as farms, housing, woodland, parkland) associated with a very large property. 😉 ) who played the game. We had a mini league and we’d all bring different things to enhance the game, one would have a stand, or a dug out, refs, linesmans, trees, flood lights and all kinds of crap, everytime there was a birthday among the group an atribute would be added. It woul.d probably be worth a few bob if it was all still together and in mint condition (yeah right, we were fucking vandals. 😉 ).
As much as I liked Subbettio, I alwasys thought it was a bit fiddly and the players broke way too easy (maybe we were just vandals). It’s predecessor was made of sterner stuff and although maybe not as sufisticated as Subbetteo, I thought it was a decent game. We’d play penalty shoot outs with it…….
Who remembers, the knock ’em on the ‘ead game Striker? :
http://www.skooldays.com/blog/striker-by-parker/
Ahh, does were the days.
But all good things come to an end, ten year olds soon become teens and board games and mini leagues were substitued for girls and beers………
Oh if I could turn back time. 🙂
does = those.
All that messing around with Subbetto, Striker, girls and beer obviously cut into my school time.
There is no proof right, but I have a feeling it has.
When has Sczsesny Snr talked about Arsenal saying anything that wasn’t extremely positive? The only times I’ve seen him talk about Arsenal it was positive so this is a dramatic change. Too dramatic for me.
*It has = come from Woj.
Blimey, hadn’t seen the full quotes, Snir.
Is he in the pay of Tim Payton or something?
World ending: A grown-up at the FA with Greg Dyke taking over as chairman.
Snir, I still don’t see why that had to come from Wojciech. Nothing his dad said could not have been found on any fan-driven blog, in the Daily Fail or wherever.
Holic, have a nice holiday!
Snir:
http://news.arseblog.com/2013/03/szczesny-dads-not-the-way-to-do-it/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
Up – Cheers for that mate. Last time I was in the White Hart the Landlord had turned it into a Chelski Pub. Bloody sacrilege! Been closed recently having a refurb, so hopefully it’s changed hands. You local to Southgate?
Magnetic football? Tell me more … sounds fantastic! 🙂
H2H – Great stuff on Subbuteo. Our tournaments used to get a bit feisty. “You dragged it” “No I didn’t” “Yes you fucking did” etc etc …
Started with the most basic of sets. My set didn’t even have the 3D players, had paper players with the base, but gradually built it up through my childhood. Never got floodlights though, a huge regret! Might have to get up in my mother’s loft and see if any of it survives. My younger brother got hold of it after me, so he probably trashed it all.
I also had Subbuteo Cricket. That, however, was a pile of wank.
Striker was a fine game, although as you say, it was a bit “Route one”. I also remember being gutted that Striker didn’t do a team in Arsenal kit. Have to correct you on one thing though. Striker came way after Subbuteo surely?
There was another game in the early seventies that I had, largely I think because Ray Kennedy featured in the marketing. Can’t remember the name. It was pants though.
Snir – LeaveItYeah 😉 Just another over-protective father spouting off in defence of his Son. Schezzer probably hugely embarrassed. It’s nothing.
Blow Football anyone? 😉
Good afternoon all.
Woj just issued an apology via the dot com.
I was wondering why people were talking about Dyke. I even saw a tweet mentioning he/she that got me confused.
GD is the ex-BBC bloke right? That’s the BBC that employed (still do) a lot of Spu*s/Scouse, etc?
Dooooooooomed.
Wolfie, I’m all in!
Ah I see Schezzer IS hugely embarrassed. Cheers for the link Lars.
How’s your technique Cent? 🙂
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wojciech-szczesny-statement
Embarrassed indeed. ‘Shut up, Dad!’
Tabs….I was born and raised a N19 man…southern end of crouch hill (if my memory serves me well, just behind City of London maternity hospital where you entered the world) but slowly moved west and am now happily retired by the coast Devon/Dorset border.
Magnetic football….it came as a sheet of metal with a wooden surround about 4 ft x 2ft with short legs. It was painted green with the markings of a football pitch, goals and players about same size as a subbutteo set, and wooden sticks about a foot long upturned at the end with a magnetic strip. The players also had a magnetic strip on the base. You positioned a stick under the pitch and located a player by magnetic force. By moving the stick, the player moved in the same direction. Naturally sticks crossed or banged into each other i.e tackles and the more competitive you were, the harder the sticks banged into each other. However, it was very rare they got used as weapons! It was very fast moving and good fun. It was around at the beginning of the 60s and seemed to disappear from the shops somewhat before the end of the decade.
Wolfie 139…..blow football….that sucks 😉
Up – Haha 🙂
Blimey Up, that was well remembered! I was indeed born in the City of London Maternity Hospital!! Make sure you let us all know if you’re ever up for a game.
Magnetic Football sounds fantastic. I want a set! 🙂
I had Soccerette and Subutteo, my mate had Super Striker.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-SOCCERETTE-TABLE-FOOTBALL-GAME-/330891102214?pt=UK_Toys_Creative_Educational_RL&hash=item4d0aa58806
Subbuteo rules.
@150 Wow. Just wow! 🙂
http://www.oldfootballgames.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=338190
Wolfie @144, I go hard.
Heh @147.
150 fantastiic….mine was the Soccerette version. It came in various sizes. I saved up and got the largest one…it came with 4 sticks = 2 per side.
Tabs….My youngish aunt was a nurse at the CoL….may have helped deliver you.
Shame about the White Hart….a Chelsea pub in Southgate..WTF!!! In my youth, arsenal used to train at Southgate before they moved to London Colney. In the school holdays would get the tube from Finsbury Park to Southgate, walk to the training pitches and get autographs etc from the heroes.
Occasionally make the trip up for a game…will certainly meet up in the Tollie for a beverage or 2.
Wolfie on a second thought, I have 70 techniques, 1 involves man’s bestfriend the rest are 69 ;).
Tabs – did you really just write leaveityeah?!? 🙂
Fantastic link at 152. Thank you. Many a childhood memory there.
And how could I forget? The other tabletop football game I had was “Grand Slam”, so rubbish they used a tennis term to describe it!! According to that marvellous site, it has been reissued a number of times, so perhaps it wasn’t that shite! I probably just didn’t understand the rules. 🙁
Up – Wow , your aunt eh? Small world! 🙂 🙂
I didn’t know Arsenal used to train in Southgate. Probably should have guessed, given that the White Hart was obviously their main drinking haunt. Do you know whereabouts? Up at the grounds where Saracens Rugby Club used to play, which is out of the tube station, turn left and up Chase Side?
Cent – Haha.
Snir – I did. I am deeply ashamed and humbly beg your forgiveness mate! 🙂
“Grand Slam” in all its unfettered glory …
http://www.oldfootballgames.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=70651
Wolfie,
Next time you “pop the pond” I’ll treat you to the gridiron game of electric football. We vibrate here in the states. 😉
http://youtu.be/TjFXnJc0Q0U
Haha, certainly looks more action-packed than the real thing NorCal
😉
Actually I’ve decided I need an NFL team to support for the new season.
Suggestions Holics?
Yes, tabs : you don’t.
Tabs.
You are indeed correct. It’s a beer and bicky thing. 😉
Was surprised to find out that Subbettio was around in the 40’s though;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subbuteo
Good call on the Grand slam.
Uply, that magneto game looks well wicked (as we would of called it way back when.
Glad to see that Woj has come out and done the right thing, I never doubted him for a second. Don’t forget, he considers himself a gooner too.
Tabs,
Kronke owns the Rams…….. Oh but they suck. 😉
Ollie – Heh 🙂
I did actually stay up for the Superbowl this year for the first time ever. Kinda enjoyed it, even though I didn’t have the foggiest what was going on. Made me wish that I had a team (or franchise!). Is there a team that plays in red shirts and white sleeves? 🙂
H2H – Cheers for the link. Knew that Subbuteo went back a long way, but like you, didn’t realise it was that old. ‘Holic might even played it in his teen years 😉
White lines and straws, used to mean something different…..
http://www.toyday.co.uk/shop/images/uploads/blow_soccer.jpg
Hmm, I’m not sure I can lend my support to another Kroenke team NorCal !!!
49ers have got this jacket on sale …
http://europe.nflshop.com/stores/nfl/products/product_details.aspx?pid=123570
Looks like job done.
They’re pretty good as well aren’t they?
Tabs,
The chiefs are red and white, sort of.
The Ravens where purple and black…… What? Those aren’t our colors?
Has anyone told Nike?
Where=wear. Damn iphone
Tabs…training at Southgate in the 1950s. It wasn’t at the Sarries ground. It was about a 5 min walk from the tube station. Think it was a sports gound owned by a college and we had full use of it. They moved to Shenley permantly in 1961. Will let you know if I can recall more details..probably the guv will know…he is the official historian as opposed to Wolfe who is the official histrionics 😉
Uplympian,
Thankyou for your update. You are quite correct about Storey he was originally a left- back with Don Howe at right- back I think.nice recollections Re the training regime of those days. How ordinary those guys were compared with the pampered superstars of today.
They earnt a decent wage but not much more than the people who watched from the terraces and those in the stand probably earnt more.
I bet they secretly resent some of these lightweights earning £50 k a week and producing very little .
Poor old Ches. On top of dodgy form he has a pushy Dad. While I admire parental loyalty he did go a tad far. I still believe Ches,with the right handling,will be a great keeper but I would like to see a better goalkeeping coach at the club. It’s all gone pear- shaped since Bob left. Mad Jens or Seaman would be better.
Haha, Cheers Up. Will see if I can track anything down on .com. As you say, ‘H will probably know.
NorCal – Needs more research, but they’re gonna have to go some to beat that 49ers jacket. Who’s your team?
Would love Mad Jens back at the Club in some capacity Ttg.
Amazing that Up and his mates could just stroll into the training ground in those days. Had to take a friend’s young Son for a Football Training Day at the new training ground a couple of years ago. It was like Fort Knox.
Tabs,
Grew up in Dallas so I was a big Cowboys fan most of my youth.
Now I don’t really care about the pro game. I Like the college game much better, there is more “unpredictability”about it. The atmosphere at the college games is better than the pro game too.
49ers in Red with White sleeves – no other choice.
Why don’t you support a team in the World Series ?
You know, that’s the one that has one country in it. 😉
Fort Knox …. 49ers…… NFL…..
What’s happening to Yankee Doodle Tabsy – going all Merkan sport ?
Uply, Tabs,
My guess in the Southgate training ground, if it was 5 mins walk from the tube station, would be Minchenden school.
Used to play against them for East Barnet.
One of “them” was Danny Blanchflower’s son – good enough reason to beat them on it’s own.
Hehs Trev 🙂 Yankee Doodle Tabsy! Has a ring to it 🙂
If it was Minchenden School Trev, it’s no longer there. School was relocated to Wood Green and the Southgate site converted to flats and new builds years ago.
NorCal – your comments re the professional/college games reflect what one of your fellow merkans was telling me at a party in the Summer. More partisan crowds right?
Tabs – New England Patriots.
Fuck all the rest.
Our hero’s name is Brady.
It’s meant to be.
Try this one for Arsenal training history.
1950 apparantly – before they even went to Southgate – interesting though – training at Highbury.
http://www.history.co.uk/explore-history/history-of-football/videos.html?bctid=89544658001
Great link Trev.
Snir – I’m liking the sound of them. They’re definitely in the mix.
NorCal – Unlike others I like the purple, but I’ve got to rule out the Ravens on account of the fact I can’t be messing with Chickens or birds of any sort on my Club shirt. I can’t support the Chiefs because their head coach, Andy Reid, has a ridiculous moustache! 🙂
Trev,
You know no one plays sports better than Americans, so why should we include the other “riff-raff”, called the world? How un- egocentric would that be?
8)
Wolfie said she liked the ‘stache. ;).
NorCal,
the Merkans must have had some shock when they first took part in the “soccer” World Cup and found all those other countries in it 😉
Ttg….Storey was a proper full back….with a fast approaching winger you knew that either the ball or the winger would be whacked into touch…it didn’t matter to him which. Normally if the winger, for the rest of the game only the ball went into touch…the player kept his distance!
I’ll always cut Ches a lot of slack. He has never dissed Arsenal, only praised the club to the hilt. It’s hard enough to get to be a top keeper
at a young age without having to contend with a goalkeeper father who seem even madder than Mad Jens.
Oh and both my boys own “purple reign” jerseys and the 5 year old gets excited when they lads are wearing it.
“Dad! They are wearing purple reign! Oh to be a Gooner”
Purple shirts still did not grown on me although I do not find them as atrocious as I did at the start of the season. As I said ..as long as we win, I dont care what our lads are wearing 🙂
Trev,
Has America ever been in the World Cup? 😉
Great link Trev. , the physio section looked like the opening sequence of a b movie horror film, gym training in thosewooly jumpers must have been sweaty and those boots… I remember playing in ones like those, waiting for the nail to push through to your bare foot. Not Wolfie’s style I fear. 🙂
Uply et al @186,
Re Peter Storey ish.
Talking to a patient of mine today who attended a “Sports/Football talk evening” in Hertford, featuring Jimmy Greaves and his guest, Ron “Chopper” Harris.
Apparantly, it was more or less a Jimmy Greaves comedy act but, during the question and answer section, someone asked Ron Harris how he would have played Ronaldo / What would he have done if Ronaldo had gone past him ?
Harris answered, “If he’d gone past me once, the second time I’d have put the c*nt in the crowd”.
“You’d never have caught him”, shouted someone from the back of the room.
Jumping out of his chair, arms readied in gunslinger mode, Harris growled,
” ‘Oo said that …. d’you want some o’ this ?!!”
This was to a paying member of the audience at a talk night !
Once a Chav…………..
Hey Snir,
how are you doin’ ?
49ers (Invincibles unbeaten run) in Red with White sleeves …….
Has to come very close to Brady, even if he was – with Dennis – my favourite player ever. 😉
Up – It was those boots that nearly did for my pirouette turns! I then discovered Jimmy Choo.
Changed my life. Career never looked back.
Blimey Trev, hope Chopper was joking. I’ve heard him on the Radio a few times when he’s been wheeled on to talk Chavski, and he’s certainly not the brightest, so can’t be sure he was.
Apparantly he wasn’t joking at all Tabs and had to be told to sit back down.
Btw, just tried the ‘mouse down the photo blog’ trick – caught the first photo by accident – to reveal the hidden caption, which I had seemingly guessed anyway.
Previous attempts with the mouse had revealed nothing, as I had merely used it at the right hand edge of the post to scroll slowly down.
This all leaves me wondering am I a) very clever, b) very stupid, or c) were Ollie’s instructions just rubbish anyway ?
No answers, please. 😉
Ollie will be here in a minute anyway, as there’s a goal up for grabs 😉
Wolfie 193 heh
Trev….you know someone who paid to listen to Chopper Harris…a serious case of short changing. After 2 sentences it could only be pressing the repeat button.
With you on the 49ers…..the name plus red & white..has to be.
Trev @195 – Wow! Harris is a thick twat.
Brazil Italy on ITV4 is great btw if anyone hasn’t realised it’s on. 2-2, twenty mins to go. Terrific game.
so quiet in here ………
will anyone notice if i self assist ? ………
These Chavs eh, no class. I once watched Harris kick lumps out of Stanley Matthew who was almost 50 years old. What a tough guy eh!
I am just returning from America where I discovered they did not make the semi- finals of the World Baseball Championship. I think the final is/ was between the Dominican Republic and Holland but its not getting great coverage. Fancy that! Not getting to the semis in a sport played by about eight countries. Good job the Isle of Wight didn’t enter.
My NFL team is the Washington Redskins simply because they won the first Super Bowl I saw . They play in the colour that we did in our last season at Highbury and white and they have a brilliant young quarterback ,RobertGriffin iii who has a dodgy knee. I’ve had years of frustration following them but they have also won three Super Bowls.
BANG !!!
Unlucky Ollie, the lurking skills need a little bit the sharpening !
Trev, methinks someone borrowed my login.
I hope ‘holic punishes the imposter.
On the other hand, I saw yout 195.
‘BANG!!!’ is not my style of goal. Especially not the 3 exclamation marks.
Must try harder, fake Ollie.
your (at 203), you’d believe it wasn’t me if I let that one go.
Well in Ttg. The lengthy goal is always a masterclass of timing.
Now I’m confused. When I thought it was the real Ollie at 201, I laughed out loud. Now it appears it wasn’t the real Ollie and even the real Ollie @205 is questioning the real Ollie @203.
That way anarchy lies. Poor old Wolfie had to deal with an imposter (possibly canadian) for ages.
I’m confused though, because someone just wanted to score on my behalf, which is kind of nice.
(real but reverting to normal name before I develop a touch of the Andy Gorams).
Cheers tabs.
And goodnight all.
Yes it was a nice gesture. 🙂
Night Ollie.
DAMN
‘holic’s absent and I go away for a few hours to play darts and this turns into a NFL blog with a fake Ollie………….WTF!!!
Bizkit please. 😎
H2H,
I blame the interBull…. Or Ollie. 😉
Hehs @210 and 211 🙂
Re: Norcal @175: For “atmosphere” I choose to read busty and lusty college coeds. That’s about all I have to do with them of course. 😉
Been at the Test Match all day here in Auckland. Barmy Army Brilliant. If Monty Panesar keeps serving up slow,unspinning balls with the legend “Hit Me For Six” emblazonned upon them, I fear the worst……..
Sun, beer and Cricket…….. its a winning combo…..
So Israel is playing Portugal and the Portuguese delegation was pleasantly surprised when fans who waited for Ronaldo at the airport sang his name and didn’t taunt him with chants of Messi.
That made me giggle 🙂
I see Greedybayor has gone AWOL again.
Personally, I’m ready to call Ronaldo a cunt anytime, without having to resort to Messi mentions.
Good morning all.
Heh @ 217, I like him for his dedication and hardwork though.
hard work and dedication to being a cunt. Can’t beat that.
http://www.francefootball.fr/#!/news/2013/03/22/092907_monaco-menace-par-la-lfp.html
Interesting. Monaco have to move their HQ to be able to continue playing in the French LEague.
nice bit of jiggerypokery ‘holic
mind you – i wouldn’t expect anything less
anyhoo – howdy you and ‘holics various
just back drunk a bit and chuckled as usual
the – ‘ i can’t believe it’s not ollie’ 201 goal 🙂
in other drinks – a friend of mine used to live in southgate – i lived in hounslow at the time – meetin up for a jar involved much talk of the arsenal and a competition as to which of us lived in the most boring shitehole in london
we both lost
BANG !!!
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/diaby-i-have-learnt-to-manage-my-body
Think I have to ‘heh’ that.
I think that essentially, Diaby says he is doing OK because he can play half a season….
You know I like him as a player, but I think half-fit player should mean half-salary 😉
and hehs at cba too! 🙂
Harsh, cba, harsh 🙂
Southgate has long had a welcoming sign … ” A bit dull, but way better than Hounslow”.
Hehs at the Ronaldo love from Ollie.
Don’t know when Diaby’s contract is up Ollie, but I reckon the next one (if he stays) will be pay as you play.
howdy ollie and mr bowson
went for a jar in a bar called the coach and horses or somesuch in southgate and darts stopped in the air and stared at me the whole way through my stout
evidently they percieved my good looks as a threat to what was left of or indeed had ever existed of their womenfolk
i was lucky not to be chased to the tube by angry torch-bearing villagers
😉
Howdy cba.
Don’t know a Coach and Horses, but if you mean The Waggon and horses, I’m surprised the darts weren’t aimed at you!
Bunch of meathead fuckers in there. Violent, heavily tattoed, smelly – and that’s just the women! 😉
Afteernoon all.
Pay as you play for Diaby?
The poor guy will starve. 😉
Various hehs @ Ollie (the one and Ollie!?) Tabs and cba.
Hey H2H,
Be interesting to see what kinds of offers he gets when his contract runs down. Will Arsenal let it run down? I know you’ve expressed a wish to call time on him, but a tricky one for the Board/Arsene nevertheless.
In other news …
Norwich City are close to agreeing an £8.5m deal to sign 24-year-old striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel from Sporting Lisbon. (The Times)
Nooooooooo!
This boy must come to Arsenal. 3rd cousin on my mutter’s side. Looks great in Speedoes too.
A must.
Massive hehs @ almost every post from 219 all the way down to this post. You, ‘holics, are a funny bunch.
It’s a tough one tabs, he’s basically saying now that he’s content being able to play “so many games” even though “so many” doesn’t even equate to 50% of our matches.
I don’t think that’s good enough, and before someone reminds me that CvC had similar stats, I don’t think the two can be compared.
====
Wolfie, decent player young Ricky, did very well at Uttrecht and by all accounts started well in Portugal, I must admit I’ve lost track of him lately though, Norwich would seem a bit of a step down to me. Plus would a Wolf really be welcomed by Canaries?
Another nice little tit-bit, (oo-er) he’s in a relationship with the daughter of ex Oranje hero Johan Neeskens.
twas the waggon and horses indeed tabs
and as i said – the darts stopped in the air and stared at me – not the punters
took the punters a while to pick up my scent
and indeed my accent
both of which seemed to fill them with delight
but for their lack of co-ordination and my fleet of foot
i’d have got a bit of a talkin’ to
“you , YEAH YOU , comin’ in here with your opposable thumbs”
.
mind you
i had my stout bought and it was gettin drunk one way or another
so sit down i did and jar i had
was glad to leave though
🙂
Cent.
Funny? Funny how???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWINtUCshxY
😉
H2H – As you know, I’d argue he’s worth keeping, but I wouldn’t like to be negotiating his new contract. Wouldn’t have a clue where to pitch it.
Cba – Haha, a lucky escape Sir 🙂 Fair play to you for finishing your drink though. Rules is rules.
Van Wolfswinkel walking out with Neeskens’ daughter?
Back to the drawing board.
The bad news just keeps on coming today. 🙁
Wet Spam, get the Olympic Stadium;
http://www.football365.com/news/21554/8583072/WHU-Move-Helps-Working-Class-Man-
They will have a bigger ground then the LWC’s and Chavs. 😯
Speaking of “dutch” exports H2H, I have recently read that Bony is pretty much bossing your league in Arnhem in the moment. I know we discussed him some time ago, still think he is not exactly Arsenal material?
I lost track of him once he has been sold from Sparta, but in that time he was nowhere near, but being top scorer in Dutch league I would guess you have to posses some skill.
“Overly cocky” Szczesny who “belives his own hype” and “thinks he is much better than he is” says that Fabianski is shi… uuh, sorry what?
http://news.arseblog.com/2013/03/szczesny-fabianski-is-better-than-me-right-now/
H2H: just read about that and while I can certainly see why it’s a great deal for West Ham to be given a stadium for pretty much nothing, I can not understand how Boris Johnson et al can claim it to be a great deal for the London taxpayers. £600+ million of taxpayers’ money and then just give the bloody thing away???
It’s utterly ridiculous the price they’re getting it for H2H. Forget the figures but they’re only having to pay £20m towards a £200m conversion, and then nothing back from gate receipts. Fucking crazy!
Still at least we’re not in a recession or anything, and can afford to throw public money around!
Elsewhere, as the meltdown continues apace, one Frenchman in North London rubs his hands together and says “I’ll have him, him, and him please”.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/mar/21/eu-debt-spain-football-clubs
your life’s come to something when you’re watching Little house on the Prairie in your lunch break
worse still when you’ve seen it before
oy
COME BACK YOU RIP ROARING REDS FOR FUCKS SAKE
henceforth known as CBYRRRFFS
Great link Lars. Wise words from Woj.
As a young lad, I always had a thing for pretty Mary Ingolls.
But then she went blind, and vain fucker that I am, our relationship turned to dust.
Cheers tabs. And the story about the EU striking down on (effectively) publically funded clubs is very interesting. Once the EU starts getting involved you are in trouble and can be pretty damn sure that the days of free money for those clubs are well and truly over.
she rocked herself up in later years tabs
leather jacket big hair the lot
lord know what reverend alden woulda thunk
Haha cba 🙂
Indeed Lars.
You’ve gotta admire the lady’s taste Cba …
http://melissasueandersonfan.com/Melissa%20Sue%20Anderson%20book%20cover.jpg
Saw this link on Twitter, I found it very, very interesting reading:
http://www.wsc.co.uk/forum-index/27-football/777492-a-history-of-hate-cro-vs-srb-22-mar-2013
Afternoon all,
Hehs above, Tabs, cba, H2H.
Some good links I’ll have to read later.
H2H, since Wolfie didn’t have the nerve to ask, I’ll do it for him:
Has van Wolfswinkel got any Dutch caps ? 😉
Ollie – is it you ? Re Monaco ish:
Will Cardiff and Swansea ( and Berwick) have to relocate their head offices too, or is it just a French thing ?
Eandy,
For God’s sake, there’ll be mayhem in here !
We’ve already got van Wolfswinkel in prospect and, with Wolfie almost overcome (ahem) with excitement, you start talking about Bony !
What is this club / bar turning into ?
Financial Fair Play ?
So instead of Olliegarchs and crooks funding small clubs back to glory, the government (West Ham) and councils (Harringay – Tottenham) are are to start throwing cash at them instead.
And how will West Ham fill 54,000 seats each week ?
my sincere apologies for any mayhem which might occur on this very site 😛
Little house on the prairie?
Ho Lee Sheet, bring back the NFL discussion!
It is indeed ridiculous that stadia are literaly given away, when we had to basicaly mortgage our future to move to the Grove. The same happened in Manchester. Utd built up their stadium by years of wise investment, Citeh got theirs for bugger all and were then taken over by a Sheikh with more money then God, doesn’t really seem fair does it?
Eandy. Bony’s only in it for the money, he’s been flashing his undies at all the Russian clubs giving them come hither looks. No doubt that he’s doing the biz this term, but the Ere Divisie’s top scorer can be a dubious comparison to other leagues top scorers, remember Alfonze Alves?
Heh Trev, he has indeed. (Dutch Caps;) )
So the bubble is about to burst and La Liga is in danger of literaly becoming a two team league……
Would anyone really notice the difference. 🙂
Oliver Holt: An Admission
He writes in the Daily Mirror: ‘Hodgson’s press conferences at a hotel half way up the hill in a little republic were dominated by Ferdinand’s absence. And perhaps the problem is partly ours. Perhaps the focus on Ferdinand is a symptom of our inability to to move on from the characters who have dominated the national team for so long.’
Perhaps, Oliver? Perhaps the journalists asking the questions are partly to blame for the questions being asked? You think?
heh Trev 250. I haven’t made a thorough backdrink, but I haven’t seen any trace of impersonation 🙂
El classicos every week!
I agree, it seems like that is all they play already.
Can we go get Isco from Malaga? We seem to have a good relationship with them.
And how will West Ham fill 54,000 seats each week ?
Fat Sam must take up a good few thousand on his own. 🙂
Theo with a thigh strain. Out of internationals. Doubt for Reading.
Hope that’s the extent of it.
Lars – Wow, that is a truly fantastic link. Cheers mate. Very sobering. The name of Vukovar is enough to give anyone the shivers. Man’s inhumanity to man writ large.
For anyone that is interested in the Yugoslavian Civil War, I would recommend an absolutely fantastic BBC Documentary series called “The Death of Yugoslavia” which is now available on Youtube. Freely admit that I never really understood all the differing factions involved in the War until watching it. It’s detailed without being incomprehensible, accessible without being patronising. Basically the sort of thing that the Beeb still remains very good at.
Trev – lots of hehs. 🙂
Hey fellas,
I’m looking for a persuasive speech video that I need to send to my instructor.
It has to be 9-11 minutes long.
I can find plenty on youtube but I prefer to hear a sports related persuasive speech.
Do you know of any?
Ollie @256 – Heh, you can always rely on Mr Holt. What a thundercunt! 🙂
H2H @259 – Haha 🙂
Snir!! Surprised you’re still alive mate after the dramas that your National Side put you through today.
Before I start looking for you, what on earth is a “persuasive speech”? 😉
If you mean motivational/Inspirational speech, how about this one …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO4tIrjBDkk
Tabs – it has to be between 9-11 minutes.
Inspirational speeches are considered special occasion speeches, but I’ll see what you can give me.
If it plays on pathos then it’s fine.
I just need it to be 9-11 minutes 😀
And Tabs- That is sooooooooooooooooo out of character for Dudu Aouate (our GK).
The third goal was horrible, but all it does is reinforce my belief that La Liga and crosses don’t go hand in hand (he plays for Mallorca).
~254 mr nfl norcal
sorry i didn’t get to you sooner
i was ploughing my back 40
( steady , smallballs! )
little prayer on the housie is a quality show
and i’m sure every gooner here will back me up
come on fellas
here we go
let’s stick it to the unbeliever
COME ON !
.
.
fellas ?
.
ok – eff off – nfl ‘s shite !
Snir – I think this qualifies pretty much spot on. Special occassion and very inspiriational https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
Eandy – there are four categories of speeches.
Special occasion, informative, persuasive, and demonstration (how to).
Inspirational speech more often than not falls under special occasion speech (I did a special occasion tribute speech to Herbert Chapman).
In any case, that speech is wayyyyyyyy over 11 minutes 😀
Snir – heh, much clearer now what a “persuasive” speech is. Ahem, 🙂
Cba – Haha 🙂 Got my “Little House on the Prairie” scarf on, and am drinking a cuppa out of my Nels Oleson mug here.
Up the Prairies! They got an NFL team NorCal? 😉
Easy cba,
I didn’t start the NFL discussion( *cough,cough*-tabs).
You can keep you ” half-pint” Engles
I’ll go with a full pint.
That makes me wonder, should we now refer to Trev as “Laura Engles ” He does love a half pint! 😉
🙂
Tabs – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twl_PCchhyg
This could be under the persuasive speech category.
Oh and Merlin Olson played in the NFL. Just saying, to continue the NFL prairie theme.
Not that I know anything about “little house on the prairie”. 😉
tabs 263, I knew you’d appreciate 😉
Remember the episode when the Engles house got burgled?
The little scouse on the prairie did it.
Snir, I’m with you now.
You could do a lot worse than take a look at the work of the late and great Christopher Hitchens on YouTube (hundreds of vids available so you should be able to find one that fits your timeframe).
I say that with a huge amount of bias as I freely admit he is a “hero” of mine. If you’re unfamiliar with his work, he was perhaps best known for his fearless defences of freedom of speech (including what has come to be known as “hate speech”), his castigation of all religion, his hatred of dictatorships especially those based on fundamental religion, and his dismantling of public figures as diverse as Henry Kissinger, Bill Clinton and Mother Theresa.
Whether you agree with him or not (and I mostly did) he was recognised by most of his religious and political opponents as a worthy and quite brilliant opponent whose command of language was second to none.
Worth a look mate.
*scurries off to find out who Merlin Ollsen played for* 😉
Tabs – You probably missed the first post 😀
I can find a persuasive speech, but I’m looking for a sports related one, ’cause I’ve swore to myself that I would write about sports on every paper/project I need to hand in.
It’s been working well so far 😀
This is of course in my first two years which are core classes here in America.
Next year I’m starting the real degree and will write about sports since it will be my major. 😀
This one was pretty persuasive;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPBm-GvEVlg
Now if only someone could do a “Score a Goal” track.
Ah, now you tell me Snir 🙂
Not fussy at all then! 😉
Will put my thinking hat on.
H2H – heh 🙂
Tabs,
He Played for the Los Angeles Rams who are now in St Louis and owned by……. Wait for it……….Kronke!
Haha NorCal, Rams have already been ruled out 🙂
Snir, needs fleshing out a bit and needs to be updated, but its pertinent truths are still very persuasive …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ_Xf2ydr2k
Snir, one tip – just don’t do what that dude in the video you linked to and look at your notes every three seconds 🙂
tabs@261: I’ve seen the first part of that BBC documentary now, very interesting stuff I have to say. Will watch the other parts as well, that’s for sure.
Yeh it’s good stuff Lars.
Evening all, been gallivanting around Swansea today so couldn’t keep up with everything. Will be doing a NextGen preview after several pints and dinner.
There’s lovely…
A week late, ‘holic!
Enjoy your dinner.
I think Amis provided an insight when he compared Nabokov to Hitchens. Nabokov, famously claimed that he thought like a genius, wrote like a distinguished author and spoke like a child. Hitchens, according to Amis, thought like a child (in a visceral sense by seeing things clearly), wrote like a distinguished author and spoke like a genius.
I’d probably disagree with Amis on the writing front Tabs because there can be no doubting that Nabokov was much more than just “a distinguished author”. But Hitchens would be the one you’d always want to listen to, the one you’d want to watch and certainly the one you’d want to have a pint with (or in his case, a bottle of Scotch!).
There are fewer people who make the world a little brighter for others in this short life. Hitchens was one of those rare people. His presence is deeply missed.
Looks like Poldi came on in the 19th minute of the Germany game due to Draxler (he’s very good) injury.
Completely agree Joe. Hitchens was a life-enhancer, a pleasure to read, and a pleasure to listen to.
Nothing became him like his terribly premature going. Despite his best attempts to appear cantankerous, arrogant etc, he was clearly a very brave man, and at heart a very very good one.
Wouldn’t have fancied going drink for drink with him though! Amazing that so much of his copy was filed after very heavy sessions.
As you say, much missed.
Ox on the scoresheet for Eng-er-land
H2H, that is good news even if the opposition is crap.
From the Sweden-Ireland came I can report that… eeerr, no I can’t because fuck-all has happened so far with just under 50 minutes played. That is one awful game.
TR just coming on for us, right after Denmark scored for 1:0 to them.
HT Englands got 5.
292 and Giroud for France. Goal just before half-time, 1-0 as France could easily have conceded.
Benzema is shit again.
And 2-0 France just at the start of the second half.
0-2 for Denmark..TR showing his class but crap defending on corner..sounds familiar.
Nederland 2 up, not playing well.
0-3 oh well
Ribéry 3-0, as Finland equalise in Spain.
tabses it…
(the real Ollie tabs it this time)
Hrmpf, I tabsed the tabs position…
NL full time 3-0
Ramsey scores penalty for the sheep shagers
haha Lars
Hey, who’s pretending to be me again ?
Aaron does thre decent thing by geting himself red carded.
Come home son. 🙂
Will the real Ollie please stand up.
Heh, did he kick Bale, H2H. ? 🙂
And the fake one get a life……
Or at least a new user name.
I hear Ollie 2 is available. 😉
Alas not Trev.
It was a decent rugby style tackle on James McArthur.
You can take the boyo out of Wales, but……….
Good evening all.
H2H, just watched your link @234, the look on the guys face and his gesticulation as Pesci queries him is priceless, he would have peed in his shorts if Pesci had pulled a gun out.
Too many hehs @ various above. Will I be wrong if I said that the Interlull makes us all 50% funnier than usual?
Hopefully he won’t get called up for the next few then….
It would appear there are now more Ollies than Andy Gorams. Let’s stick with Mr Goram, shall we? Thanks. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> new post!
Hey Cent,
Are you saying H2H isn’t usually very funny ? 😉
tabs … By far the greatest speech with a sporting theme was given in the form of a toast to the 40 Club in London in the early ’80s by barrister Sir Humphrey Tilling. In it he recounts the Four Ages of Cricket based on Shakespeare’s The Seven Ages of Man. It is utterly hilarious and had the audience in fits.
A recording was released years ago by the ABC in Australia entitled The Six Ages of Cricket (regardless he speaks of only four), but copies now appear to be as scarce as Spuds Top 4 finishes. Nothing on Youtube and most of the leads you’ll find by Googling lead nowhere.
I have the speech on tape and have transferred it to MP3. I could send you a copy by email, although the file is 11megs, so tricky.
Also, it’s hardly what you’d call ‘persuasive’ … just the best sporting speech you will ever hear.
Oskar