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*Official* English Football Season 2007-08

sledger

Spanish_Vicente
Ha, this bloke is crazy.

Yo sledger thought you realised but i can't see your post since you are on my ignore list son. So you could save yourself some time and not respond to what i post. Just a suggestion though dawg...

edit: on second thought don't know why i brought this to your attention, your dislike towards me will keep you responding anyway.
i've never said i dislike you, i will contest any point raised which i judge to be incorrect, thats what a forum is for, if the objective of your presence on these forums is to simply state your opinion then cry when someone argues with it......then, go listen to some vanilla ice or however else you spend your time.
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
4 appearances = play for england?
If they were his only 4 appearances, then probably not. They're just the most recent examples in an increasingly impressive body of work tho. He was excellent in the FA Cup final in 2006 and might even have gone to the WC had injury not intervened. He's been impressive in the comeback games I've seen him in & offers far more of a physical presence and aerial threat than most of the other options (particularly with Heskey out).

Well...Johnson and Defoe are decent strikers in my book, not many after that tbh.
Decent, but more like replacements for Owen rather than players likely to link up well with him. Hopefully McClaren is starting to realise that it's about picking the best combination, rather than the strikers who happen to have scored the most goals for their club sides.
 

sledger

Spanish_Vicente
If they were his only 4 appearances, then probably not. They're just the most recent examples in an increasingly impressive body of work tho. He was excellent in the FA Cup final in 2006 and might even have gone to the WC had injury not intervened. He's been impressive in the comeback games I've seen him in & offers far more of a physical presence and aerial threat than most of the other options (particularly with Heskey out).
where thats entirely true, its still not conclusive evidence that he isnt a flash in the pan (granted i know he probably isnt).
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
where thats entirely true, its still not conclusive evidence that he isnt a flash in the pan (granted i know he probably isnt).
No, fair enough. But it's not like him being in the squad will keep out anyone who's made an unarguable case for inclusion tho, is it? He's possibly been the best of the English-qualified strikers so far this season, sad indictment of our forward-stocks as that may be. Worth a look IMHO, particularly with Heskey (& quite possibly Owen) out.
 

sledger

Spanish_Vicente
No, fair enough. But it's not like him being in the squad will keep out anyone who's made an unarguable case for inclusion tho, is it? He's possibly been the best of the English-qualified strikers so far this season, sad indictment of our forward-stocks as that may be. Worth a look IMHO, particularly with Heskey (& quite possibly Owen) out.
yeah probably worth a look, as you have said he has looked impressive when he has played, my only grief was that he hadnt played for a prolonged period since 2005, but then again, there really arent any decent alternatives.
 

Craig

World Traveller
What do people make of Sepp Blatter's proposal to put a limit of 5 foreigners in a starting XI for League games, and his arguement is that they are artists not workers. IMO I see where he comes from but he has zero chance of succeeding as it would just end in the employment courts and the two biggest clubs in Europe affected would be Inter and Arsenal, so obviously we know where they will stand.
 

Agent TBY

International Captain
What do people make of Sepp Blatter's proposal to put a limit of 5 foreigners in a starting XI for League games, and his arguement is that they are artists not workers. IMO I see where he comes from but he has zero chance of succeeding as it would just end in the employment courts and the two biggest clubs in Europe affected would be Inter and Arsenal, so obviously we know where they will stand.
Oh please. Next he'll be saying there's too much money in football and because they're artists and not workers, they shouldn't be paid anything.

This idea of his would be particularly useless in Europe because of the Kolpak agreement. Everywhere else, the issue of foreign player overcrowding isn't rampant at all.

EDIT: Now that I think of it, this idea seems completely redundant. There's the kolpak rule, and then there's the restriction on Non-EU players.

England doesn't have any of that, but they're regulated by the British work permit system anyway. I don't see what this idea is going to establish. I think the existing system with the home grown players required for Europe is fine.
 
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steds

Hall of Fame Member
Ways steds would improve Association Football



  1. Make backwards/Sideways passes illegal
    This would remove the emphasis on faffing about and put more emphasis on, well, going forwards. If it is no longer physically possible to go forwards, the ball must be played into the box instead.

  2. The tough love law
    Any player proved to be guilty of simulation or generally being a big girls blouse will be punished by being sentenced to an "anything goes" period - a set number of games were no fouls on said player are to be given. This should teach said player that be a **** doesn't pay, infact it actually quite hurts. However, as the aim is to cure and not maim, should any player make a challenge during this period that injures the sentenced diver sufficiently as to keep him out of subsequent games, the tackler shall be banned for as long as the tackled is physically unable to play.

  3. Salary Caps
    Duh!

  4. De-saturation
    Football's a pretty much full year round thing these days, and 10 solid months of football (11 in a year with an even number at the end) is boring as ****. The season should be shorter and there should be less games played. This can be achieved by several methods, but first thing's first - the Carling Cup goes. Now I'm open to suggestions for reducing the number of games after this, but next step that could possibly be taken is weeding out the teams that no (normal) people like. Maybe Leeds, Millwall, West Ham, Cardiff and Manchester United for a start...

  5. Removing the tedium from drawn cup games
    After watching two sides play out a rubbish 0-0 draw, the last thing you want to see is 30 (or even 90) more minutes of the same. Therefore, I propose that extra time be played with the teams kitted out in sumo suits and that, should a penalty shootout be required, they should be taken with both the penalty taker and the goalkeeper blindfolded.

More to come. Maybe.
 
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Johnners

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
3 & 4 are very good points. I mean how enthralling having the same 4 teams year after year that have some chance of winning.
 

grecian

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
3 & 4 are very good points. I mean how enthralling having the same 4 teams year after year that have some chance of winning.
Sorry, Salary Caps can't work in football.

It's a lovely thought, but Footballs a truly global sport, I'm afraid. Even if all the best leagues in Europe decided to go along with it (which would be frankly staggering), a gulf state would get all the best players on massive contracts, then they'd make the money back almost instantly by selling the TV rights.

It works in the big sports in America, because that's the only marketplace.

Hate to piss on anyones parade, but the most successful and widespread sport, on this planet, really ain't about to make any radical changes.

I'm not against them. I'd abolish off-side if I could, never really understood why it exists:confused1
 

grecian

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Stick Peter Crouch and Ronaldo next to the keeper and hoof the ball up.
Not convinced this would happen, tbh. Not in todays over-complicated strategic world of football. I could be wrong, though, just think they should try it out, maybe in the non-league in England, would liven up my trips to the Park.

I think what really annoys me is them piss-arsing about with it constantly, trying to lessen it's impact. first-phase, second-phase, level onside (I mean when is a human-being ever exactly level with another).

Having said all this this, they could just properly ****ing implement the rule they already have tried to, "benefit of the doubt should go to the attackers". If they'd only had the balls to back that up, and when a linesman had giving an attacker onside, and he was yards off, just say "fair enough, benefit of doubt was giving the right way", we'd of stopped all defences playing a high line, or all the other pernicious ways of dull unimaginative, crappy defending, which is just meant to destroy any creativity.

Oh dear, possibly my longest ever post on Cricketweb. It's something I feel quite strongly about, tbh.

Probably years of watching lower league ****e football, where the lino constantly takes the easy way out, and flags for everything against the attacking side, no goal, no big controversy, after all8-)
 

Craig

World Traveller
Not convinced this would happen, tbh. Not in todays over-complicated strategic world of football. I could be wrong, though, just think they should try it out, maybe in the non-league in England, would liven up my trips to the Park.

I think what really annoys me is them piss-arsing about with it constantly, trying to lessen it's impact. first-phase, second-phase, level onside (I mean when is a human-being ever exactly level with another).

Having said all this this, they could just properly ****ing implement the rule they already have tried to, "benefit of the doubt should go to the attackers". If they'd only had the balls to back that up, and when a linesman had giving an attacker onside, and he was yards off, just say "fair enough, benefit of doubt was giving the right way", we'd of stopped all defences playing a high line, or all the other pernicious ways of dull unimaginative, crappy defending, which is just meant to destroy any creativity.

Oh dear, possibly my longest ever post on Cricketweb. It's something I feel quite strongly about, tbh.

Probably years of watching lower league ****e football, where the lino constantly takes the easy way out, and flags for everything against the attacking side, no goal, no big controversy, after all8-)
Solid rant my friend, let it out, otherwise you will end up like myself or Flem274* :p
 

Tom Halsey

International Coach
3 & 4 are very good points. I mean how enthralling having the same 4 teams year after year that have some chance of winning.
As Grecian said, salary caps won't work, and the fact that there are 10 months of football is because it's so successful and people don't get bored of it. Fact is, enough people like it so that it goes on most of the year - basic supply and demand, and moaning about it won't do anything.

And as for the bolded part, the English league actually does quite well in comparison with other leagues in terms of how many realistic challengers there are (I don't think there are four realistic challengers anyway, but that's another point). The dominant teams slowly change over time, anyway... Blackburn won the Premiership in 1995, were relegated by 1999. Now, I know this won't happen now, but still, there was already a lot of money in football by that point, and it's not that long ago. Tottenham, for instance, were widely predicted by pundits to be breaking into the top four this year... that isn't happening, fairly emphatically.

grecian said:
Hate to piss on anyones parade, but the most successful and widespread sport, on this planet, really ain't about to make any radical changes.
 
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Tom Halsey

International Coach
Not convinced this would happen, tbh. Not in todays over-complicated strategic world of football. I could be wrong, though, just think they should try it out, maybe in the non-league in England, would liven up my trips to the Park.
I don't see how it could ever fail to happen. With no offside law, you would simply have goalhangers galore, unless they come up with some other inventive law that gets rid of them.
 

grecian

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Hmm, well as I say, we'll never know until it's tried.

Anyway, a pathetic off-side decision against the Arse. Now it's 2-1, could it be vital?
 

grecian

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Best match of the season this, for me.

Sunderland have really giving The Arse a go. Refreshing to see, tbh, most teams would of rolled over and died at, 2-0 with Arsenal playing sublimely.
 

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