Football 2013/14 continued

[doppelkorn]

What would Maradonna be worth now though?

Aaron says £200m easily but I reckon more like £150m or possibly over £300m or even more?!

[Uncle TechTip]

Leave off the BBC, they're showing the Hand of God game at midday. Commentary from Barry Davies, too. Masters on and off the field.

I'd record and watch on skip. The back pass is strong in this one too. Also contains Jimmy Hill. What annoyed me most was that none of the commentators saw the hand ball until about seven replays.

[Utter Shit]

When are they doing a re-run of the 1-0 win over Paraguay in 2006?

[Deanjam]

What would Maradonna be worth now though?

Aaron says £200m easily but I reckon more like £150m or possibly over £300m or even more?!

That may be his street value.

[George Oscar Bluth II]

When are they doing a re-run of the 1-0 win over Paraguay in 2006?

Fucking hell we've been involved in some stinkers down the years. The Ecuador game that same World Cup too. Tedious.

[doppelkorn]

Is that the one where Beckham threw up?

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

Can they re run the one where Gary Lineker did a shit on the pitch and attempted to disguise it?

[George Oscar Bluth II]

I just remembered about the time we only just beat Trinidad and Tobago, and only cos Peter Crouch pulled on some guys dreadlocks to win a header.

[finnquark]

I grew up supporting Ireland in major tournaments. Here is a list of the games since I was born:

1994 - 1-0 vs Italy; 1-2 vs Mexico; 0-0 vs Norway; 0-2 vs Netherlands
2002 - 1-1 vs Cameroon; 1-1 vs Germany; 3-0 vs Saudi Arabia; 1-1 vs Spain
2012 - 1-3 vs Croatia; 0-4 vs Spain; 0-2 vs Italy.

That's the first time I've ever looked at the complete record. 11 games (I was born the September after Italia 90), 2 wins, 1 game in which they scored more than a goal, and maybe 3 decent games (Italy, Germany and Spain - but even then they were qualitatively shit). Thank god I stopped supporting them once I was an adolescent.

[Deanjam]

That Italy game in 94 was a great watch. It was probably a terrible match, but you couldn't help but get into it. Ray Houghton's cheeky goal, Jack Charlton getting into it with the officials, players almost combusting in the heat.

[dr beat]

A win for Gibraltar tonight, I'm wondering if its worth a cheeky flutter on them taking a point off Scotland in the Euro 2016 qualifiers.

[vrailaine]

The equaliser against Germany was a pretty great moment for me at least. We got to watch it in school and almost everyone gave up on it to go outside and play by that point.

[Blinder Data]

So after being linked with Moyes, Coyle, Clarke and Mackay (there goes my fiver), and then suffering the terrifying possibility of Roy Keane managing in the Champions League, Celtic have appointed some bloke from Norway.

I'm quite hopeful of Ronny Deila's potential, seeing as he took a tiny club from the bottom, spent little, used youth players, and got them playing such good football that they won a cup and the league last year. He seems perfect for the job, if rather green in terms of international experience.

Hank_Venture, would you be able to give me a lowdown on what he's like?

I'm just happy we've bypassed the Scottish has-beens and gone for a sexy foreign manager, especially one as sexy as Ronny. Woof!

[doppelkorn]

Astroturf?

[vrailaine]

Damn, I was really looking forward to seeing Roy Keane manage again.

[Blinder Data]

Astroturf?

I guess Norway's weather means grass pitches are ill-advised. More and more small Scottish clubs will have them installed over the next few years.

I think Celtic missed a bullet over Keane. Maybe in a few years.

Look, the guy's the Norwegian Klopp. You're missing the big picture!

[Hank Venture]

Hank_Venture, would you be able to give me a lowdown on what he's like?

Copy+paste:

"Scraped together a genuine title challenging, and eventually a title winning side out of nothing on a shoestring budget, playing exciting and attractive attacking football while doing so. Genuinely likeable man, annoyed he didn't get a shot at the national team. Great with youngsters.

Far surpasses the overhyped OGS."

Plus, great with man management, extremely hard headed when it comes to playing his style - sort of like van Gaal in the way that he is very focused on the process, not just the result. Presses high, can adapt play between possession oriented or counterattacking against better opposition, prefers a 4-3-3 with attacking fullbacks, should be a great incentive for youngsters to put in an extra effort.

My only concern is if things doesn't go according to plan immediately, building a team and blooding in kids takes time, and I don't know how patient Celtic are.

Oh, and he recently went 44 matches unbeaten.

[Blinder Data]

Great to hear all that, Hank. Our full-backs are the tits, and considering the disparity in quality between the league Celtic play in and the Champions League it's good to know he should be able to change up his tactics when the moment suits. He seems like a nice guy too.

Celtic should be patient and it's the right time to appoint someone young and exciting when there is little risk of losing the league. I imagine this year he will be free to implement his system. If progress is not visible and there's no improvement in Europe then I guess he might be shown the door, but the Celtic board are a cheap bunch and I imagine they'll be happy with what he does as long as gets the club into Europe and wins titles and cups. All this talk of attacking football is pleasing though.

My gut says he'll have an easy ride of it and will be a success.

[monkfromhavana]

Damn, I was really looking forward to seeing Roy Keane manage again.

He's being linked with being the assistant manager (part-time) at Villa, which would be a match made in heaven for me.

[George Oscar Bluth II]

Far surpasses the overhyped OGS."

When everyone was banging on about him the thing everyone neglected to mention was that Molde had the backing of a sugardaddy type. Ronny Delia's achievement seems far more remarkable

[vrailaine]

He's being linked with being the assistant manager (part-time) at Villa, which would be a match made in heaven for me.

Nah, Roy Keane managing a team who pretty much have to win their league and have much greater resources at their disposal than their rivals would have been ideal.

[Cleaners From Venus]

Roy Keane ; "Hi, is that ITV? Yeah, well, would you believe it, I am free for the World Cup after all!...Hello...Hello?"

[chand]

QPR have made a contract offer to free agent Rio Ferdinand, who was released by Manchester United at the end of last season.

The 35-year-old is keen on a move to London and Harry Redknapp is happy to give the veteran defender a one-year deal.

The Loftus Road club are prepared to pay close to £80,000 a week to secure the services of Ferdinand, who has also had offers from Aston Villa as well as clubs in Turkey and the USA.

I for one am surprised by this revelation, who on earth could've predicted that a club like QPR, managed by ol' tightwad Harry Redknapp, would sanction a move for an ageing Premier League star with large wage expectations?

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Why would Villa need Rio Ferdinand when they have just secured the services of 'successful' Premier League operator Phillippe Senderos?

[vrailaine]

Presumably they picked senderos over Ferdinand?

[thraxx]

Looks like Inzaghi has banged in another at Milan, this time in the technical area instead of the 6 yard box.  Seedorf is out (surprise surprise) and Filippo is in.

[Neil]

Locking this for size, go ahead and start a new one.