Originally posted by antongould
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The Round Ball Game - II
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Originally posted by antongould View PostOff and running
Maidstone United 1 Hangers 1 ...... They got a penalty late in the first half to go one up and when the iPhone pinged again I feared the worst but we had equalised .......,
One of the threads favourite managers guided the Mackems to a 96th minute victory .......
Delighted to see Stockport County got off to a flying start ......
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Incidentally, football fantasy is a nightmare, We (English League) are not as great as we think we are. Kane and Salah are a quarter of the budget and both could be flaky. Lacazette is cheaper than Aubameyang, who is third price for goals in the betting, but he has performed better in pre season even if regarded as less sound. Plus the first two fixtures for Arsenal are lousy. We (me) are looking at Jesus but am/are not wholly convinced, Also at Tosun and Austin to free up a good midfield but probably not on balance Arnautovic, Zaha and Mitrovic.
We um and ah over Salah. Dropping points there might free up both Mane and Hazard but where will Hazard be two weeks in?. Also he does what he feels like. Sane - great stats -looks a bit unpredictable. We like Sessegnon at Fulham. We quite like Seri and Schurrle. We think that one or two of the Wolves players look quite good and that Wolves will finish in the top eight. We think Pedro has a rather special, currently off the radar, role for Chelsea this year but will this amount to points? We love the concept of Brighton's Jahanbakhsh and might throw caution to the winds in that regard from the start. The "why isn't he being mentioned at all?" is Watford's Ken Sema. Looks good on paper to us but may not be worth a gamble.
Defence? Well, you know, a bit of this and that. An Alonso versus Tripper versus Van Aanholt sort of thing. Cedric as the guaranteed back-up. Chambers as the cheap might surprise in a new role just ahead. Stick in - I dunno - a Lindelöf, a Laporte, something on those lines. Probably a Bournemouth thang going off in the goal. We did look again at the question "which should be our favourite Scottish team?" There are provisos with everything. We do like Ross County - and Celtic a bit. There's other stuff too - the Brechins and the Arbroaths, Inverness CT, Stranraer/QoS and Stirling Albion, But we feel that for better and worse it is Dundee Utd. The Edinburgh teams look quite good on paper but ain't it all a modicum half posh!?
Incidentally, a changed me - more timid in these last eight years and intimidated - not to mention anti the sheer amounts of money involved and disappointed with the post Highbury has started to contemplate a return to live football, sporadic, in which I will always be Arsenal and York but could I be something else? My Mum's family were Millwall and Charlton and attendance at the former would be ironic but weirdly it doesn't scare me as I know the accents in the majority who would be alright. Charlton is still more likely - I have also investigated Fulham (great stadium), Palace (always too close to me and parochial), Sutton Utd and even QPR. Probably none of this will happen.I had it in my head what I wanted to be after my parents. It was to do a York again but somewhere else. Bournemouth, Exeter, Yeovil....that was how I saw future regular attendance close to a new home but it now looks less likely.Last edited by Lat-Literal; 05-08-18, 02:13.
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Originally posted by Lat-Literal View PostWe did look again at the question "which should be our favourite Scottish team?" There are provisos with everything. We do like Ross County - and Celtic a bit. There's other stuff too - the Brechins and the Arbroaths, Inverness CT, Stranraer/QoS and Stirling Albion, But we feel that for better and worse it is Dundee Utd. The Edinburgh teams look quite good on paper but ain't it all a modicum half posh!?
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Originally posted by Lat-Literal View PostFor all of these years, I've gone for Newcastle as my north team beyond York City, irrespective of the current regime, but now that JC's excellent Jack Ross has flown to Sunderland, notwithstanding Lindisfarne's Sunderland Boys, I am questioning this slightly. It would be a very big shift for me. Very big. But my family connection, distant, is Tynemouth. I am still desperate to get there - I know the key road - but currently that is difficult. Are you able to advise on Tynemouth football support? Is it unequivocally Sunderland or a bit divided out?
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We did look again at the question "which should be our favourite Scottish team?" There are provisos with everything. We do like Ross County - and Celtic a bit. There's other stuff too - the Brechins and the Arbroaths, Inverness CT, Stranraer/QoS and Stirling Albion, But we feel that for better and worse it is Dundee Utd. The Edinburgh teams look quite good on paper but ain't it all a modicum half posh!?
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The Owls got off to a stuttering start with a 3-2 defeat away to Wigan and a sending off, this blow was softed marginally with the Blades losing in the late match to Swansea. Meanwhile Truro playing their first ‘home’ match at Torquay (yes it is a fair trek of almost 100 miles each way for supporters, and a Cornish side having to play all their matches in England), manage to lose 4-0 to Billericay. I fear long hard seasons beckon in both Cornwall and South Yorkshire.
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Originally posted by cloughie View PostThe Owls got off to a stuttering start with a 3-2 defeat away to Wigan and a sending off, this blow was softed marginally with the Blades losing in the late match to Swansea. Meanwhile Truro playing their first ‘home’ match at Torquay (yes it is a fair trek of almost 100 miles each way for supporters, and a Cornish side having to play all their matches in England), manage to lose 4-0 to Billericay. I fear long hard seasons beckon in both Cornwall and South Yorkshire.
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Originally posted by johncorrigan View PostWhen it comes to other teams I tend to follow players/ managers, Lat. So this season, as I have said, I will be looking at the exploits of Sunderland with interest. I used to like Man U when Ferguson was in charge - I have been less bothered about them since he left. I really like Klopp and so have been enjoying Liverpool's performances over the last wee while. I always look for Burnley's result as I have a raft of Burnley supporting cousins. I follow a few of the teams on this thread - Stockport/ Soton/ SheffWed...always liked Hartlepool right from when I was a kid as they were always hovering around the lower reaches of the old fourth division. I used to really like Everton, again because I have cousins who support them, but it'll take me a long time to recover from the Big Sam era. Not sure how I'll feel about Arsenal in the post-Wenger era - I liked his Arsene about! Regarding Scottish teams I like the Jags and Brechin, and I like Hibs because I think their manager is the best in the SPL (Neil Lennon)...and historically I probably have never quite let go of the old adage from my upbringing...'I support two teams, Saint Mirren and whoever's playing Rangers!'
The Burnley/Aberdeen ties brought forward a comment by one journalist about a huge difference in the financial worth of the two clubs which surprised me a little and I wasn't sure which way round things were. I'm guessing Aberdeen are wealthier - oil? - but I could well be wrong. They have finished second, I think, on four successive occasions but are a long way behind Celtic so perhaps haven't quite got the money to buy players who will challenge. At Burnley, Sean Dyche is an interesting manager. Very much of the North. Admirable for his achievement in getting his team to seventh in the Premier League and yet he would probably not be considered for one of the so-called top six jobs. Something about the style. A lot about how they generally want international managers. So if there is a next step for him, it would probably have to be abroad but it is hard to see it. Burnley just seems so right for him.
In terms of Scottish fandom, I tend in ideas about teams to orientate towards areas that I consider to be attractive and often on or towards the coast. Then it goes to the shallower sort of things like it is a good opportunity to find a team that are not the standard reds and blues. My two main clubs in England are red and actually by pure coincidence the other ones I like are in red or else in stripes. I suppose it's colour that is more in the equation with Dundee Utd plus the Marra song and the Beano. I do like the green teams too - Real Betis in Spain has a wonderful history to it. As for the now defunct Evian Thonon Gaillard, which used to be the team near UN Geneva, they were in pink! There is also the football ground question. I'm for old style rather than modern arenas or where infrastructure is minimal. I sense there is a higher percentage of older stadiums in Scotland; perhaps more in the urban areas.
Neil Lennon is thoughtful and has had to experience considerable difficulties so good luck to him at Hibs. To be frank, I am not keen on Gerrard. Rodgers, fine, but he doesn't have the hardest job in the world. I like Klopp. As I have said before, I very much like Huddersfield's David Wagner. Hughton is doing well at Brighton. Moore deserves his chance at West Brom. But the "how will it go?" is Leeds with the astonishing appointment of Marcelo Bielsa. Tim Vickery thinks him "very strange" in an amusing way but also notes his considerable talent.Last edited by Lat-Literal; 05-08-18, 21:06.
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Originally posted by Lat-Literal View PostI'm guessing Aberdeen are wealthier - oil? - but I could well be wrong.
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Belated thanks to Edgeley Rob for his excellent results service over the years, and best wishes to him in his retirement.
And also belated congrats to jc on St Mirren's promotion - a fine start in the top division last week (and also good wins for Stockport, Caley Thistle and Hereford in lower leagues).
I like this article about some of the lesser lights in the Scottish leagues (that modernist football stand!):
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