2014/15 Football (aka soccer)

[JaggedFel]

Did u see the Pic going around of Bale and Evra with the caption How is ManU?

There is something ironic about two young guns not good enough for the Big Boys going down to Italy and combining to knock one of their old clubs out.

[Shinglepants]

Southampton are tearing Villa a new one. Sherwood's going to be emotional!

[DebkoX]

I do hope Saints finish above us, they've been the better team all season.

[JaggedFel]

Eh Bad Day for Gerrard, Zaha wrecks Liverpool

[Shinglepants]

It's looking more and more likely that Sterling is on his way out of Liverpool. Just been watching Sky Sports News and they're saying he feels the club have tried to bully him and not done enough to protect him from the media.

[weetomuncher]

Dave King, the Scottish born South African businessman with a major stake in Rangers that was the main driving force behind the takeover of the club earlier in the year has been passed as a fit and proper person by the Scottish Football Association.

He was a non executive director of the original company that went bankrupt at Rangers and this on top of the 41 South African tax convictions he has after a decade long legal battle with their tax authorities over millions of Rand of taxes his companies owed and the expensive settlement he had to make, it made the possibility of him becoming a director at the club questionable although he maintained that he would be cleared by the football authorities, after producing documents from the South African tax authorities that showed he was not disallowed from holding directorships there as he had settled the issue there.

He is now free to become fully involved at Rangers and has suggested he is willing to invest over £30m in the club. He is thought to have over £300m.

Rangers face the first leg of a vital promotion playoff semi-final tomorrow night against Hibernian at home. There will be a crowd of almost 50,000 at the game and they will be desperate to see Rangers getting to the big time again. Their three year exile from the top division has been a nightmare after the member clubs in the league voted them to the bottom division after the financial meltdown of the original company and the asset shift to the new company.

If Rangers win the two legged tie played on Wednesday, Motherwell will be the opponents in the final, again over two legs.

Hibernian have beaten Rangers three times in league play this season, with Rangers claiming two wins, only one in the league and one in the Challenge Cup.

Hibernian actually pipped Rangers to second place in the league, which is why Rangers had to play Queen of the South in the playoff quarter finals. Rangers won that one 3-2 over two legs with a 2-1 away win then a 1-1 home draw.

Hibernian are a genuine danger and a pretty good side. Rangers have been horribly inconsistant and being a big name doesn't mean anything in these kind of situations. Nottingham Forest are two times European champions and have been stuck in lower league football in England since 1999 and Leeds United were a huge team for many years and had financial problems that left them stuck in the mire too. Many other major teams have ended up in similar circumstances.

Stuart McCall has done a decent job since he became manager shortly after the new board arrived but he does not have a job beyond the end of this season unless the board offer him an extension to his short term deal. The press and fans seem inclined to think promotion would give him the job and while he has done quite well, the team have many flaws and it maybe isn't 100% fair to judge him by the team Ally McCoist cobbled together for nothing in transfer fees.

Without knowing what division the club will be in or who the manager will be, it is virtually impossible to guess what will happen next season. They could be contending for the Premiership title or could be in a tricky situation in the Championship again or virtually anything inbetween.

[dzub]

It's looking more and more likely that Sterling is on his way out of Liverpool. Just been watching Sky Sports News and they're saying he feels the club have tried to bully him and not done enough to protect him from the media.

he's about as good as gone.
if he stays next season, liverpool have an unhappy player in their ranks..which is'nt good at all.
i just hope he won't turn out to be a scott sinclair or jack rodwell, although he is far more talented than them

[Shinglepants]

Weetomuncher, are you happy to see Dave King come in then?

he's about as good as gone.
if he stays next season, liverpool have an unhappy player in their ranks..which is'nt good at all.
i just hope he won't turn out to be a scott sinclair or jack rodwell, although he is far more talented than them

Yeah, Liverpool have maintained he isn't for sale but generally speaking you don't want to keep a player who hasn't got his heart in it.

[weetomuncher]

Weetomuncher, are you happy to see Dave King come in then?

He did put in £20m in 2000 and never actually caused any major issues at the club during his first spell as a director and didn't really have anything to do with the financial collapse that put the club in the lower levels and seems to have a genuine interest in helping the club so yes.

Rangers won 2-0 at home against Hibernian tonight which gives them a fantastic chance of reaching the playoff final against Motherwell. They have to go to Hibernian on Saturday but they have to be hot favourites despite not having been too fantastic tonight. The defence showed some signs of weakness early on but tightened up and the team were dangerous on the counter attack, first with Haris Vuckic chipping the ball over a Hibs defender for Ricky Foster to pass the ball across the face of goal and Nicky Clark to score a cheeky backheel goal. Kenny Miller increased the lead with a deadly finish with the outside of his left foot to give Rangers a commanding lead going into the second game.

If Rangers do make it through, they will face Motherwell at home first then need to go to Fir Park to decide if Motherwell's 30 year Premiership tenure will end and Rangers will replace them. Playing at home first is normally considered a handicap but I actually think it can be a good thing if you build a decent lead in the first game. Scottish playoffs don't use the away goals rule at all which I have always felt is a good thing as they encourage home teams to be particularly defensive or play on the counter attack although it does mean attacking teams may no be so desperate to score and may shut up shop hoping to go back home with a draw.

I think many Rangers fans were more concerned about playing second placed Championship team Hibernian than 11th placed Premiership side Motherwell but the Hibs tie is NOT over yet despite perhaps the hardest part being done already in building a two goal lead against a side that had already had two wins at Ibrox this season.

Motherwell may be playing badly this season but they have the basis of the side that have been consistantly in and around the European spots in recent years, even taking the Champions League place that Rangers vacated after their financial crash as the club became ineligible to play in Europe for three years due to what happened.

The Rangers fans have been turning out in much bigger numbers, with 48,000 at the Queen of the South game and 41,000 tonight. The club are only charging £5 for entry though (instead of the normal £17 or so starting price for the almost 51,000 capacity stadium) as the clubs actually wanted free entry for season ticket holders but the league asked them to charge admission. The league demands a 50% cut of gate receipts from these games.

I also notice Sunderland drew 0-0 at Arsenal tonight, keeping Sunderland and their former Rangers manager Dick Advocaat in the top flight in England. I'm an Arsenal fan too though and this kills any chance of the Gunners finishing second but leaves them in a situation that only a 3 point and 7 goal swing in favour of Manchester United could send Arsenal out of the automatic Champions League spot for finishing third.

The controversial Newcastle owner Mike Ashley was causing chaos at Rangers too as a minor shareholder that was getting too heavily involved at Ibrox, in breach of rules which forbid shareholders having effective control of more than one club in the UK, even in different leagues. Newcastle can still go down and if Hull could beat Manchester United, Newcastle may come crashing down and I'll admit I feel sorry for their poor fans but I want Ashley to drop like a stone!

[dzub]

Weetomuncher
Yeah, Liverpool have maintained he isn't for sale but generally speaking you don't want to keep a player who hasn't got his heart in it.

Suarez (and Ronaldo) arguably stayed on for a couple of seasons at their respective clubs cos they were world class.
Sterling is'nt.
They also did'nt really show any displeasure like Raheem does
Time to offload him

[weetomuncher]

Looks like Sterling might be on his way to Arsenal but MAYBE Liverpool would want to send him to a foreign team instead...

[dzub]

oh my bad, i did'nt realize i did'nt backspace your name out. XD
bayern's apparently after him too but..uh..idk what pep's smoking

i'm not really aware about scottish football tho

[JaggedFel]

Arsenal disappoints. Juve secures the Double.

[dzub]

Arsenal disappoints. Juve secures the Double.

This BPL season's pretty much over.
no one has anything to fight for lol

so juve and barca both competing for the treble? i see a pretty good final coming

[JaggedFel]

This BPL season's pretty much over.
no one has anything to fight for lol

so juve and barca both competing for the treble? i see a pretty good final coming

First year for both coaches as well should be good. I want Juve to win so Buffon can get that UCL Title.