Any Team, Any League, Anywhere! (The Club Footy Thread)

[Jam King]

just looking at those amazing serie A results

Imagine watching the italian version of match of the day, snore !!!!!!!

[Steve1977]

Hi John. With Blues it's a bit of a strange one. We are essentially a rag tag bunch of a team which consists of free transfers - in other words, players who other clubs didnt want - mostly anyway. Burke is a very good player and so is the Midfielder from France (N'daw). Our players are not 'names' but they'v been given a chance and they seem to be taking it.

In every game we are growing and I put this down to Chris Hughton. The guy seems to have got us playing a simple game...you pass the ball to your opponent you make a run, he passes back to you. It's not clever with marauding runs but neither is it one dimensional long ball. With a hectic domestic league he is rotating the squad but given how Blues are starved of European football, anybody that plays seems to be taking it with both hands.

If truth be told i dont see us getting any further than the next round...but to be in the group stage is cheeky of us considering the upheaval behind the scenes that has been going on. Hughton has got us aiming for wins in every game although we'r far from favourites in any game we play due to the rag-tag nature of our team.

[hogstrom]

just looking at those amazing serie A results

Imagine watching the italian version of match of the day, snore !!!!!!!

fully agree Simon, what was there to be said before the Lazio - Roma match (2-1)? "Lets see...we had a yellow card in the Bologna-match"

When it is Italy and i see such results my head is immidiately filled with conspiracy theories. All hometeams fail to score, actually only one team out of 12 did find the net during 90 minutes. Still, it is early season and italy is normaly not rigged this early. It is normaly these last 5 rounds that is filled with theatre in some italian matches, so i do belive it was actually only happened by coincidence.

I watched the match between Lecce and Lazio in the last round last year. The odds were just out of this world, odds on 2-3, 2-4 +6 and +7 in the match were slashed big time, this without any good signs, statswise, it was just movement in odds that was complete madness. What happened? 2-4 after 62 minutes and then both teams stopped playing. No more serious attacks. Without a doubt case fixed match, if you ask me.

[hogstrom]

Hi John. With Blues it's a bit of a strange one. We are essentially a rag tag bunch of a team which consists of free transfers - in other words, players who other clubs didnt want - mostly anyway. Burke is a very good player and so is the Midfielder from France (N'daw). Our players are not 'names' but they'v been given a chance and they seem to be taking it.

In every game we are growing and I put this down to Chris Hughton. The guy seems to have got us playing a simple game...you pass the ball to your opponent you make a run, he passes back to you. It's not clever with marauding runs but neither is it one dimensional long ball. With a hectic domestic league he is rotating the squad but given how Blues are starved of European football, anybody that plays seems to be taking it with both hands.

If truth be told i dont see us getting any further than the next round...but to be in the group stage is cheeky of us considering the upheaval behind the scenes that has been going on. Hughton has got us aiming for wins in every game although we'r far from favourites in any game we play due to the rag-tag nature of our team.

Unsure here, did not Chris Houghton do a decent job at Newcastle and then sacked? Pass-run is not a bad idea, at least much more enjoyable watching then these long balls I presume you´re right, if getting past this group-play, wich is decent chances currently, they need to avoid facing PSG, PSV, Atletico Madrid, and so on after that. It certainly would be nice for you and Garry if they did well Europe, wich does not happen regulary to a rather small club like Birmingham. I still remember when Palace were screwed of that uefacup-place after finishing 3:rd in the topflight in the early 90´s

[gdh82]

Unsure here, did not Chris Houghton do a decent job at Newcastle and then sacked?

Spot on, John, he's the same guy. His treatment at Newcastle was awful and I remember many commentators at the time agreeing too. Despite this harsh treatment, if I remember correctly, Hughton never caused a scene or anything. My impression is of a thoroughly decent man, who quietly goes about his business. And, as Steve says, he's somehow blending together a team without any financial backing whatsoever, which is the opposite of so much of today's footballing approach. We are very lucky to have him indeed. My fears when he took over was that he wouldn't be given enough time but now there's a concern he's doing so well that some other team may try and poach him!

[Tripod]

Can we hope for a rewiew from the match Bayern M vs Herta as well, Alex?

They (Bayern) really seem to be a class above the others this season. Watched Bremen vs Dortmund and Dortmund were lucky winning that fixture, i doubt they´ll repeat last season.

Missed this. Well, I would have praised Bayern highly, but then a week later they lose. I still can't quite take Hannover seriously. Anyway, Bayern has a very good midfield now, even if both Robben and Ribery are injured they pose a real threat. Though Ribery was on fire vs Hertha, after the early 3-0 lead nearly everybody stopped playing, but Ribery couldn't get enough. They also gained more stability at the back and Neuer might be the best goalie in the world at the moment. Dortmund is on the way up again, they also have a very good and still extremely young team. Behind those two I'd now say Schalke is good for third place, a bit weak at the back, have to see if Hildebrand is still any good.

[hogstrom]

Interesting game coming up, England - Sweden.

Internal is, slightly said, in favour Sweden. I recall Swift said England have not beaten Sweden since the 60´s. Latest, internal i have found from 1988-2006:

Sweden 2 - 2 England
Sweden 1 - 0 England
England 1 - 1 Sweden
England 1 - 1 Sweden
England 0 - 0 Sweden
Sweden 2 - 1 England
England 3 - 3 Sweden
Sweden 2 - 1 England
Sweden 0 - 0 England
England 0 - 0 Sweden

Hopefully Sweden place Ibrahimovich on the bench and play Toivonen instead, then i suggest good chances for another no-win-England. If that´s the lineup, i´ll likely sell England-win to 1,70-1,80.

[hogstrom]

Missed this. Well, I would have praised Bayern highly, but then a week later they lose. I still can't quite take Hannover seriously. Anyway, Bayern has a very good midfield now, even if both Robben and Ribery are injured they pose a real threat. Though Ribery was on fire vs Hertha, after the early 3-0 lead nearly everybody stopped playing, but Ribery couldn't get enough. They also gained more stability at the back and Neuer might be the best goalie in the world at the moment. Dortmund is on the way up again, they also have a very good and still extremely young team. Behind those two I'd now say Schalke is good for third place, a bit weak at the back, have to see if Hildebrand is still any good.

Bayern look extremely solid this year. They only seem to need one of these two (maybe none as you suggests?) to be super-effective, Alex. A sad change is that they more often tend to pass the ball around between def midfield and defenders instead of attacking, boring watching of cource - very much Barcelona-attitude when they reach 3-0, 4-0 = effective sleeping-pill.

[hogstrom]

Well, Ibrahimovich started. I have to say that ( should be said i did not have time to watch this match) it is clear when his performance was descibed as mediocre, that he, even though he is one of the better forwards in the game, does not fit into this team of Sweden. It does not work out at least not when he is not in top-form. Currently, it´s miles better with Toivonen as attacking midfielder behind Elmander.

Anyhow, good for England breaking that 43 year old spell.

[gdh82]

Go Swansea! Bet Thorsten is pleased with this.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 459110.stm

[hogstrom]

Good fun to see that Bayern Munich is struggling badly with their new defensive style. 0-2 vs Leverkusen today How can i suggest they´re struggling? Well (it´s hard to estaminate) but only Robben, Ribery and Gomez together is likely worth as much as the whole team of leaders Dortmund. Or, im not sure here, maybe that is a bit much to suggest? Anyhow, I truly hate to see a side that earlier was great to watch now turning to passing the ball from midfield to defence all the time Almost all the passing concerning Bayern M. is these days taking place between these two departments. Awful to watch. I guess they soon need boils of water throwing on the crowd that falls into sleep during match because of this boring style.

Another side in europe that earlier was great to watch was Ajax. Now they´ve done the same as Bayern, to 100% it´s about keeping the ball in the team, passing between midfield and defence... Im close to suggest both these teams tried to copy Barcelona, only that they forgot to add the attacking parts. Truly good fun that it´s backfired even worse for Ajax currently 5:th in the dutch highest division. It´s great to see that it does not work well because that must be the best cure vs this football-disease!

- Otherwise not so fun to see another goalshy team in Herta Berlin beating Bremen, Alex At least they dont have the same resources as the two examples i mentioned, that is a fully valid excuse for me.

Not only complaining here, it´s great to see that there still is entertaining teams around. Oh dear, did i not suggest that Mourinho was defensive minded coach 2-3 years ago?

[hogstrom]

Shocking, Barcelona had a player sent off - at home! I have no idea when that happened last, but it must have been a long time ago. Maybe Rodolfo have any idea when last time that occured?

[Rodolfo]

Shocking, Barcelona had a player sent off - at home! I have no idea when that happened last, but it must have been a long time ago. Maybe Rodolfo have any idea when last time that occured?

It is not very often that we see a Barça player get a red card, more at home! However, there is a general perception that they are having bad luck on refferees decisions, this season, in the league championship. On the other hand they have had plenty of luck in the Cup. Notice that I only say 'luck'. They can hardly explain their league position because of the refferees, although anyone could argue that that little extra luck is specially useful in short cup competition.

With League and Cup already decided, watch out for the outcome of the Europe Cup. Promises to be quite thrilling.