The Round Ball Game

[EdgeleyRob]

pssst wanna buy a manager, champions league experience and domestic league winner ... if you take roubles we pay you to take him away ..

The special one wants to come back but maybe he will go to Spurs when Harry takes the England job ?

[eighthobstruction]

pssst wanna buy a manager, champions league experience and domestic league winner ... if you take roubles we pay you to take him away ..

Never expect much from a man who belts his raincoat....it has to be said Chelsea are well Nutty these days....Coles pass across area Pwshhh....whole lot of them looking like they need psychotherapy....[still it is the winter and we all know Chelsea do not like the cold weather....]....can't wait till the next Totttiinngham derby....

[eighthobstruction]

Very possible when Abramovich dies, we will find the words Rich Russian Twit tattooed on his heart....

[BBMmk2]

The Speciial One for Spurs? Hmmmm..........

[aeolium]

I was pleased to see Zambia win the Africa Cup of Nations last night. I remember the terrible loss of their entire national team in an aircrash nearly 20 years ago (and a talented team that was expected to qualify for the World Cup) and this young team deserved their success, generally playing the better football and being more of a team than Ivory Coast. Zambia's French coach has obviously done a lot for them and it was good to see him carry the injured Musonda (who had been in tears earlier at having to come off) to the team celebrations. A bad night for Drogba though - this might affect his Chelsea form.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

yes a welcome final outcome but oh what a tedious match 120 minutes of stalemate and circa 16 penalties to settle it ...

[teamsaint]

rangers in administration. Unbelievable.

And portsmouth too (apparently). Oh well, its an even year so they would be I suppose.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

and Wolves have sacked McCarthy

[teamsaint]

and Wolves have sacked McCarthy

I know. Bonkers. After generations in the wilderness, MM takes them up and actually keeps them up. The wolves board should be on their knees thanking him.

mind you, their defence is shocking, so perhaps MM has something to answer for !

Somebody needs to invent an adjective for previously mediocre clubs who get into the Pl and then start behaing like they have been there for decades, and have a divine right to be there...........I'm sure you all know the kind of loftus road based clubs that I am talking about.

[scottycelt]

rangers in administration. Unbelievable.

And portsmouth too (apparently). Oh well, its an even year so they would be I suppose.

Yes, it would have seemed inconceivable a decade or so ago but both clubs are known to be in big financial trouble.

Rangers, in particular, are a huge club with a large worldwide support ... surely it cannot actually go under?

The Celtic chief executive wasn't particularly diplomatic when he said today that his club can easily survive without Rangers ... ... I'm not so sure ... they would have to move to a bigger league and there's not an obvious one on offer. England doesn't want the so-called religious/political baggage that both clubs inevitably carry on their travels and who can blame them?

It's a Pinky and Perky situation in Scottish football, and I have this distinct feeling that, despite the public sniggering, most Celtic fans (and club) will be secretly and desperately hoping that Rangers somehow manage to survive.

[eighthobstruction]

#670....Perhaps a change of colours might help....blue and white hoops ????

[scottycelt]

#670....Perhaps a change of colours might help....blue and white hoops ????

You mean like the Wee Rangers, south of the border ... ?

[eighthobstruction]

Bless em'....[could so easily have been called Rovers....]....

[johncorrigan]

and I have this distinct feeling that, despite the public sniggering, most Celtic fans (and club) will be secretly and desperately hoping that Rangers somehow manage to survive.

Completely agree SC - at least I think the Celtic Board will - they need their enemy, their rival. Celtic almost went the same way until McCann put them on sounder footing a few years back. It raises the issue however that Rangers have become an unfashionable club with the neutral, though they have been successful thanks in no small part recently to their astute previous manager Walter Smith. But in Scotland in this day and age there's not the money to support these big clubs - fans can no longer afford the huge amount of football around. I hope many will now transfer their allegiances to their home town teams and create a new era in Scottish football, rather than travelling en masse to follow the 'big two'.

[Lateralthinking1]

It raises the issue however that Rangers have become an unfashionable club

How recent is this? If it goes back to the 1980s, the reason could have been hats. Seriously. It was very common indeed then for red and green hats to be sold at Arsenal with Arsenal on one side and Celtic on the other. In fact, I wore one.

As a non-practicing C of E er it didn't seem at all crackers because of the Irish and Scots background of past players and the vibrant Irish music scene in North London of which I felt a part.

I believe similar hats were also available at other clubs at the time. No one really knew why they were ever on sale but they were popular and led to partial allegiances. Perhaps Rangers now need to do something similar with sympathetic clubs.