Football 2012/2013

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

He would earn my respect if he did go, Arsenal is too comfy for him.

[Slaaaaabs]

Walcott would probably do well in Italy I reckon. As for RVP I do hope the stories linking him to United aren't true, it would stifle the younger lads.

[Subtle Mocking]

I don't honestly think United can afford him anyway. A City move would be more likely, and I don't think he'll go there either.

[mook]

he might as well go to city and get it over and done with, seems like every other Arsenal player does in the end.


i am not bitter!

[kitsofan34]

If Walcott does want to leave he should go abroad, sick of this attitude that English players only option is the "Greatest League in the World".

[George Oscar Bluth II]

I'd love to see some English players go abroad, would definitely benefit the national team if nothing else.

[EOLAN]

I'd love to see some English players go abroad, would definitely benefit the national team if nothing else.

Maybe as Phil Brown said about Pirlo, he might be homophobic for not playing in another country.

Though apart from Mr Browns' Spoonerism, I did find his assertion that Pirlo wasn't great cause he performed in his domestic League only rather amusing, considering the Brits (and the Irish) rarely venture outside the British Isles. 

[mook]

good point. who was the last british player who did well on the continent?

[Queneau]

I have a real soft spot for Arsenal, and am a huge fan of Wenger - I love the way he wants his team to play and I love what he has done for the club as a business.  So, I have often felt disappointed by the players that have jumped ship, bailed early, before something great was able to happen.  I really hope Van Persie has peaked and that he can never reach the heights of last season. 

Spoiler alert

Actually, I hope City buy him and he gets seriously injured so that he can't play any more.  It would be better if this happened during his first training session.

[close]

Is Matthew Lowton any good? I'm glad that Lambert has recognised our need for a right-back.

[George Oscar Bluth II]

good point. who was the last british player who did well on the continent?

Beckham at Madrid/AC Milan. Before that you have to go back to the days of the Heysel ban though I think.

[Summer Loven]

good point. who was the last british player who did well on the continent?

Paul 'Gazza' Gascoigne or perhaps Paul 'Gazza' Ince.

[Crabwalk]

Nah, s'Paul Lambert innit.

Or Owen Hargreaves if you want to take a flexible view.

Or Joe Cole if you want to be (very) charitable.

[Squink]

Steve McManaman won La Liga twice and the Champions League twice with Real Madrid.

[mook]

hmm... and all of those were quite a while back! i'm slowly coming to the conclusion that britons ain't much cop at this footballing lark.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Eh? The answer is last season and Joe Cole.

I'm only surprised no-one mentioned Vinny Samways and John Collins, the way that was going.

[gmoney]

Ian Rush

[Smeraldina Rima]

John Charles and before that Bertie Felstead.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Pele.

[rudi]

hmm... and all of those were quite a while back! i'm slowly coming to the conclusion that britons ain't much cop at this footballing lark.

Hmm, maybe, but the Prem is inarguably the richest league so you'd expect the best English players to stay, surely? They're hardly country gents with an urge to do The Grand Tour are they?

[Slaaaaabs]

Pele.

and Bobby Moore, Mike Summerbee etc. in Nazi Germany?

[Geraint]

Yes, City are financially fucked.  Like the majority of football teams.  The worst that will happen is we'll sell our best players (a theme not uncommon, hey Ramsey, Earnshaw, Ledley?) and tumble down the divisions.  Is that really so bad?  We'll be where Plymouth are.  They'll be back up there because they're a relatively big club and city, just like we would. 

we came incredibly close to ceasing to exist on at least two occasions at the peak of our troubles. we seem to be on the start of an upswing at the moment but that's after narrowly escaping a third straight relegation and it'll be a decade until our finances are healthy. We survived, but if fans had been slightly less proactive investigating Ridsdale, Heaney, Guilfoyle etc during the process of finding new owners we'd have a Portsmouth-style owner having bought the club with phantom money, Ridsdale owning the playing side of things for £1 (and all signs during his spell are that he's still clueless about footballing matters, but worse: hands-on interfering clueless) and the certainty of at least one of us and Truro City being chucked out of the league system over conflict of interest rules.

Even if things go brilliantly over the next 5 years and we're back in the Championship and near debt-free, other clubs looking at that and saying 'lets copy that' is a footballing approach of playing chicken on the motorway

[Smeraldina Rima]

What are the rules?

When is a football deemed to have crossed the line? I understand the whole of the ball must have crossed the goal line for a player to score, but unlike tennis where the out rule applies to the part of the ball touching the playing surface when it bounces, presumably a football is judged at any point in the air and also by the outermost point of its complete diameter. Therefore, when a ball bounces down onto the line from the crossbar - and in this case assuming that this is its closest moment to the back of the net - can it look like a "tennis goal" (be touching only the grass goalside of the white line) and yet not be given as a goal because a small part of the ball as it curves upwards still hovers above the line tantalisingly and has not entirely transgressed?

Similarly what is the criteria for the offside level rule? Could a player have gone past the last man but by the grace of a backswinging arm and outstretched fingertip and gothic nail when the ball is played through find himself legally onside? If he leans back and holds the last defenders hand is he guaranteed to be onside or is it more a question of torsos? I notice very few commentators still cite 'daylight' and tend to call a man edging ahead offside but I don't know if this is accurate.

[rudi]

1. Whole ball must cross over the line, distance from ground notwithstanding.

2. Offside if any part of the body that can legally touch the football is beyond the penultimate defender when the ball is played to him/her.

Seeeeeemple.

[Queneau]

Okay, smarty pants - what's with the different colour kits then?

[buntyman]

How would Hawk eye work for detecting whether the ball crossed the line or not? I doubt it would be same as tennis as you'd need loads of cameras in order to avoid the ball being obscured by a player at certain angles. No way could it give a decisive answer on that goal for Chelsea against Spurs in the FA cup last season in under a second could it? If it could, i'm very impressed and could see no reason not to bring it in.

[Lost Oliver]

Newcastle to finish in the top 5, and Hatem Ben Arfa to be the first player to dribble past the moon on route to goal. What a joy that man is to watch.

[the midnight watch baboon]

How would Hawk eye work for detecting whether the ball crossed the line or not? I doubt it would be same as tennis as you'd need loads of cameras in order to avoid the ball being obscured by a player at certain angles. No was it could give a decisive answer on that goal for Chelsea against Spurs in the FA cup last season in under a second could it? If it could, i'm very impressed and could see no reason not to bring it in.

I believe that the HE cameras shall be attached to the ball itself, making it look a bit like an ungainly mace/comic book bomb.

[weekender]

Just in case any of you don't go in the YouTube thread, here's a fun video about Van Persie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKksMZdJdgY

[BlodwynPig]

Terry's All Gold Trial starts today.

The maximum punishment he can receive is, wait for it, a £2500 fine

[Queneau]

He would earn my respect if he did go, Arsenal is too comfy for him.

How is this true?