*Official* English Football Season 2016-17

[social]

The Predator boot was hugely successful for years, Johnston's design, he somehow managed to go bankrupt though.

If Allardyce getting to be manager means Noble gets his England cap it'll all be worth it. Having said that West Ham look a bit **** without Payet.

Went bust after investing everything into soccer schools for under-privileged city kids and being hung out to dry by the failure of a couple of councils to come up with promised funding

Seriously smart guy

 

[Uppercut]

Although, like most football fans, I spend 80% of my footbally time complaining, it properly pisses me off when the broadsheet blowhards write articles unfavourably comparing footballers to athletes from sports nobody cares about. Is it just Britain that gets an insufferable torrent of bullshit every time some pampered prick gets gold in Olympic Arse Clenching?

 

[Pothas]

Not noticed it as much this time, was awful after London. I really like the Olympics, mainly because it is sport that nobody cares about but those articles are one of the very worst aspects of its already somewhat nauseating coverage.

 

[GIMH]

Yeah, it's almost as bad as when people compare footballers to nurses and soldiers

Football is great. Of course there's problems with it, but it's still the best sport bar none. (IMHO of course)

 

[Uppercut]

Not noticed it as much this time, was awful after London. I really like the Olympics, mainly because it is sport that nobody cares about but those articles are one of the very worst aspects of its already somewhat nauseating coverage.

Yeah the coverage is completely nauseating. Post-match interviews were one step away from "and how did you get your buttocks so firm and muscular?" It desperately needs Roy Keane on board to balance the fawning out by brutally sticking the boot in.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Football is great. Of course there's problems with it, but it's still the best sport bar none. (IMHO of course)

He says on a cricket forum.

 

[GIMH]

Yeah, it's a close one tbf. Think I voted cricket when we had a poll on here once. I imagine the whites weren't doing too well. There appears to be correlation between our success and my love of the game

 

[vcs]

I agree with you. I find that football has a complete lack of sportsmanship, compared to other sports. But in a way, it wouldn't be so much fun without the cut-throat desire to win. And the money in football is absurd.

But yeah, the fawning over sports and athletes no one gives a damn about 99% of the time is pretty cringeworthy. Especially in India, where you have random politicians, businessmen and attention-seekers falling over themselves to felicitate our heroic bronze-medallists. It will all be forgotten by the time the next domestic T20 competition, or JAMODI series involving India begins, though.

 

[grecian]

Although, like most football fans, I spend 80% of my footbally time complaining, it properly pisses me off when the broadsheet blowhards write articles unfavourably comparing footballers to athletes from sports nobody cares about. Is it just Britain that gets an insufferable torrent of bullshit every time some pampered prick gets gold in Olympic Arse Clenching?

Good post until the last sentence really, it is annoying, but there's really no reason to slag off Olympians because of the Press ridiculousness. "pampered prick" can much more describe Prem players often, yet of course it's a silly generalisation.

The Press is crap in this country, it's not news they're behind every evil, yet getting on hating people because of them is probably what they want.

Of course the irony of all this stuff, and it happens when the cricketers and Rugger buggers do well too, is it actually proves how utterly obsessed with football we are in this country.

 

[Uppercut]

Good post until the last sentence really, it is annoying, but there's really no reason to slag off Olympians because of the Press ridiculousness. "pampered prick" can much more describe Prem players often, yet of course it's a silly generalisation.

The Press is crap in this country, it's not news they're behind every evil, yet getting on hating people because of them is probably what they want.

Of course the irony of all this stuff, and it happens when the cricketers and Rugger buggers do well too, is it actually proves how utterly obsessed with football we are in this country.

Yeah tbf I don't actually have anything against the Olympic athletes, they tend to come across really well. Quite a lot of Olympic sports are exclusively for the highly-pampered though.

 

[Pothas]

Yeah, it's a close one tbf. Think I voted cricket when we had a poll on here once. I imagine the whites weren't doing too well. There appears to be correlation between our success and my love of the game

I think cricket is a better game and I might love it more, care more about football though and that thing that it really has over any other sport.

 

[sledger]

I find myself caring about sports on the whole less and less these days. I still enjoy watching for the spectacle and atmosphere etc... but I seem to care less and less about the actual result, and it's rare I'll actually go out of my way to watch. Always seem to end up feeling like "the more things change the more they stay the same".

Might be rose-tinted lenses, but I swear the characters involved in most sports I follow were just so much more interesting about 15-20 years ago than the ones around today. Another contributing factor is probably the fact that following Arsenal feels like being Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.

It's strange though, as a kid I can remember eagerly awaiting every Arsenal game, or England test match, or whatever, as the highlight of the week. I dunno if it's just that other things interest me more these days, but that feeling of excitement and anticipation is just gone these days. And that makes me sad. I'd quite like to feel that way again.

 

[Uppercut]

I find myself caring about sports on the whole less and less these days. I still enjoy watching for the spectacle and atmosphere etc... but I seem to care less and less about the actual result, and it's rare I'll actually go out of my way to watch. Always seem to end up feeling like "the more things change the more they stay the same".

Might be rose-tinted lenses, but I swear the characters involved in most sports I follow were just so much more interesting about 15-20 years ago than the ones around today. Another contributing factor is probably the fact that following Arsenal feels like being Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.

It's strange though, as a kid I can remember eagerly awaiting every Arsenal game, or England test match, or whatever, as the highlight of the week. I dunno if it's just that other things interest me more these days, but that feeling of excitement and anticipation is just gone these days. And that makes me sad. I'd quite like to feel that way again.

I think it's an Arsenal thing. It's normally the Champions League games that I associate with that excitement, and Arsenal are in a kind of middle ground where it's not new and exciting like it is for Leicester and Spurs, but nor do they have a realistic chance of winning it like Citeh do.

They're also notably bad at playing as underdogs, so you don't get the feeling that they even have a puncher's chance. It's kind of exhausting when the positive surprises are so rare. I remember when they lost at home to Barca this year I was annoyed by how much they opened up second half when their tight first-half tactics had worked really well. But your response was "ah well, we had no chance anyway". I never felt that way with United in Europe, even when it was Moyes vs. Guardiola's Bayern.

 

[sledger]

It's a strange one, because usually when I resign myself to the "had no chance anyway" way of thinking it's not because I believe on paper they have no chance. It's more because I feel it's nearly inevitable that they will, for lack of a better way of describing it, "do an Arsenal", and **** it up in spite of themselves somehow.

But yeah, Champions League on the whole is a real going through the motions thing these days. Have found myself hoping they go out so that they can focus their efforts on the league in recent years, but I'm not sure that'd actually have any positive impact either.

I sometimes wonder if my lack of interest in the Champions League can be attributed to the rise of the internet and social media and so on. I mean, back in the mid-late 90s I remember feel a sense of awe and intrigue at seeing all these players from far off countries who nobody had ever really had the chance to watch before. These days there are endless bloggers and armchair experts who know everything about Dynamo Kiev's obscure reserve fullbacks etc... On the other hand, perhaps this isn't that true, because I still enjoy and am keen to watch the big CL games that don't involve Arsenal.

 

[grecian]

It's just one of those things a lot of people go through, you get over it if you're lucky, if not it's generally not a good road.

In the end all your childhood heroes have gone, and you realise looking up to other human beings as gods is a bit silly when you're a fully-formed adult yourself. There's also the sense of nothing being fresh anymore. It's what makes us all more cynical as we get older, and is probably something you should fight, as it generally leaves disenchantment in relationships, popular culture and sports is probably the least of your worries.

 

[Uppercut]

Losing that sense of wonder is just one of the shittier parts of growing up I think, but the Champions League has held up really well for me. The tie that really excited me last season was Atletico Bayern. One where we'd seen plenty of both teams but didn't know what would happen when they played each other. I'm still holding out for a Dortmund Barca game.

 

[Pothas]

Yeah it has got to be an Arsenal thing, it is just so boring, not the always coming in the top 4 an losing in the second round of the Champions League thing, but they same tedious debate every single year. I have been so lucky in that during a time in my life where I could potentially have become less interested my club had its best few years that almost anyone can remember.

There was something special about the Champions League when we were growing up and definitely had something to do with European Football being more distant then but I still love it now.

 

[Pothas]

Looks like Newcastle want to give us some money for a player who is in the last year of his contract and has a broken leg.

Could be a great move for everyone if he comes back well though, really hope he does.

 

[Ikki]

Yep, I reckon it's the Arsenal thing. Liverpool's had a pretty **** last 5-6 years and I'm still glued watching them in any competition. The ups and downs contribute towards the drama.

 

[sledger]

I don't really think it is an Arsenal thing to be honest, though I suspect Arsenal may be a contributing factor. I think Grecian's post summed up how I feel best.