Football

[Frederick]

Fred, how are you feeling about the Houllier appointment?

Naturally disappointed to miss out on the likes of Maradona and er, Alan Curbishley but all jesting aside, I suppose I'm satisfied. No doubting that Houllier is a marquee name and he doesn't strike me as a joy rider, which is important. Obviously we need to see the fine print, such as the contract and whether Kevin MacDonald is staying on in some capacity (I hope he does), too. Needless to say before the deal was even done I received a snooty e-mail saying "Is Biscan still playing?" Tehehe (please no).

[TheBaronOfFratton]

Only caught the last half hour or so but I saw the goals. It looked a good game and Messi was fantastic. Batista didn't half look intimidating in the dugout though - reminded me of John Abruzzi in Prison Break. Quite the contrast from the World Cup. In his suit, Diego looked like he was auditioning for a part in Star Wars Episode VII: An Ewok Wedding.

^Ach, yes! Hell - that's totally who he reminded me of..!

Thank you for clearing that up...

And yeah, Batista's a bit more 'Mountain Man' isn't he? In his heyday as a player he was proper Grizzly Adams too!!!

[red_ed]

Baron, I haven't seen the game (downloading now), but I hear Argentina were in control and the scoreline is very impressive. I'd like to see how Batista goes in the long run, but at least he had the common sense to include Cambiasso in the squad.

Only caught the last half hour or so but I saw the goals. It looked a good game and Messi was fantastic. Batista didn't half look intimidating in the dugout though - reminded me of John Abruzzi in Prison Break. Quite the contrast from the World Cup. In his suit, Diego looked like he was auditioning for a part in Star Wars Episode VII: An Ewok Wedding.

You're so right about John Abruzzi

I think he's going for the Barca/Spanish style. Did well. I guess that would be expected with Cambiasso and Ever in the middle ...and Mash Potato!

[red_ed]

Fred, how are you feeling about the Houllier appointment?

Naturally disappointed to miss out on the likes of Maradona and er, Alan Curbishley but all jesting aside, I suppose I'm satisfied. No doubting that Houllier is a marquee name and he doesn't strike me as a joy rider, which is important. Obviously we need to see the fine print, such as the contract and whether Kevin MacDonald is staying on in some capacity (I hope he does), too. Needless to say before the deal was even done I received a snooty e-mail saying "Is Biscan still playing?" Tehehe (please no).

Houllier was good for Pool til he had his heart attack. Wonder if he's any good now. Watch out Big Sam, Villa is going to poach Diouf :|

[Frederick]

You gotta feel for Big Steve McClaren, three defeats from the first three league games. The first one was an admittedly cruel stoppage time 2-1 defeat to Bayern, the next one was a 3-4 home defeat to Mainz having been 3-0 up and today they were 2-0 losers against the mighty BVB. Meanwhile big money mad Schalke languish at the bottom, too. Tehe.

Speaking of money mad, funny looking win for City today. 1-1 at home to Blackburn. Sounds almost like a mediocre draw, in fact!

[Frederick]

Michael, your thoughts on the Gyan/Bent partnership?

[Michael*]

Michael, your thoughts on the Gyan/Bent partnership?

I like what I've seen of Gyan so far but in terms of a partnership, we might be in for a bit of a wait to see them as an out-and-out front two. Bent had to spend the majority of Saturday's game on the left after Cattermole's red card and with games against Arsenal, Liverpool and Man Utd fast approaching, my guess is that we'll be going 4-5-1 for the forseeable future.

Still, can't complain too much - the team appears to be taking shape (despite currently looking incapable of keeping 11 men on the park for longer than a quarter of an hour) and I've just bagged myself a ticket for the Arsenal game.

[Frederick]

Now is as good a time as any to express my utter loathing of Stoke City FC, an assembly of club footed bonefaced pathological cavemen who sadly love nothing more than to ruin Villa supporters' lives. For around sixty minutes tonight we were utterly in control, playing into feet and out muscling them in midfield. Lumbersome thugs like Shawcross and Wilson simply had no answers for the Rosicky-in-his-prime-esque wizardy of Albrighton and the steely determination of Downing and Reo-Coker. It was divine right, like when Arsenal show up at your ground and teach you a "footballing lesson". I felt most righteous and high on the hog and began dreaming of the day Rory Delap popped his shoulder, in effect ruining Stoke forever. Sure, it'd be nice to collect six points off of such primitive beasts every year every time but it'd be even better if they just went away and never came back. Win, lose or draw; every game against Stoke gives me an ulcer.

As soon as Riccardo Fuller came on I got the fear. This is normal, after all Fuller is an immense specimen and I am not. The problem is Collins and Dunne, both titans in their own right, started getting twitchy, too. This energy spread to the rest of the team and soon enough we stopped playing altogether, inviting more and more pressure, the consequences of which were pure Laurel & Hardy.

[Michael*]

In the unlikely event that I ever take over Sepp Blatter's job, my first order of business will be to ban run-ups on throw-ins. One of these days, Stoke's brand of "football" will get the game done away with.

[Frederick]

When did wiping the ball with your shirt stop being good enough? Honestly, the way he prats about with those towels you'd think he was a bull fighter! Does Didier Drogba call for his special boot spray just before taking a free-kick? No, no of course he doesn't. Its quite obvious to me that Rory Delap has an ego and a need for ceremony that would make Christiano Ronaldo himself blush.

[Michael*]

Now that I think about it, I'd quite like to see Drogba or Giggs get a quick shoe-shine before taking a free-kick.

For me, the recurring theme of this past weekend's televised games was fans celebrating stupid things. I watched in mild amusement as the crowd at St. Andrews cheered several Stephen Carr backpasses from the halfway line on Sunday. Then last night, the Stoke fans celebrated winning throw-ins like any other team would a penalty. Imagine what their reaction would be to a genuinely brilliant piece of skill, a bit of Messi magic or a Ronaldo stepover/riverdance combo. They'd have to start giving out defibrillators and oxygen masks at the Britannia.

[red_ed]

Unfortunate Freddy

[madristar]

Mourinho could take Portugal reins

The Portuguese Football Federation want Jose Mourinho to take charge of the national team for their next two Euro 2012 qualifiers in October, according to a report.

Record claims that FPF president Gilberto Madail has travelled to Madrid to meet with Mourinho's agent Jorge Mendes in an attempt to persuade the Real boss to oversee Portugal's games against Denmark on October 8 and Iceland four days later.

Portugal are without a coach following the sacking of Carlos Queiroz last week after he had been handed a six-month suspension for insulting anti-doping agents prior to the World Cup.

Former FPF president Joao Rodrigues has accompanied Madail on the trip, the Record reports, as he has good connections in Spain that could help secure Mourinho's short-term release from Real Madrid in order to take charge of the games.

Portugal are desperate to salvage their qualification campaign - having collected only one point from their opening two matches - as a failure to qualify would be seen as a huge blow to their bid to host the 2018 World Cup.

Reports had suggested Sporting Lisbon boss Paulo Bento was to take the job, but he denied that yesterday.

"I want to make clear that I did not sign any contract nor have I been contacted by someone from the federation," he said on TVI 24.

"I spent the day at home and have not signed anything."

[madristar]

Carlos Queiroz sacked by Portugal

Carlos Queiroz has been sacked as coach of the Portuguese national side.

The Portuguese Football Federation confirmed the news this evening, just two days after the national team suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat at the hands of Norway in the latest round of Euro 2012 qualifiers.

Queiroz is currently serving a six-month ban for his alleged misbehaviour during an anti-doping testing session at a training camp in the run-up to the World Cup, and was not on the bench for Tuesday's defeat.

Portugal were also held to a 4-4 draw with Cyprus in their opening qualifier last week, and the team's lack of performance on the pitch, allied to Queiroz's alleged misdemeanour off it, has forced the Portuguese federation to act.

The former Manchester United assistant manager had two years remaining on his contract with the Portuguese federation.

A federation statement read: "Given the recent events, and after reviewing the current situation concerning the national coach, the directorate of the FPF decided unanimously [to end] the contract... with the national coach, Carlos Queiroz, with immediate effect.

"This decision was communicated to Carlos Queiroz."

The statement added that the search for new coach would begin immediately with a view to having a new man in place in time for the team's next qualifier at home to Denmark on October 8.

The statement added: "[The FPF will] start immediately contacts and talks with a view to hiring a technician who performs the functions of national coach in time to prepare and lead the team in the forthcoming qualifying matches for Euro 2012."

Queiroz has been in charge of Portugal since 2008 and led them to the World Cup in South Africa, where they lost out to eventual winners Spain in the last 16.

This year has been dogged by controversy for Queiroz, with the 57-year-old involved in a physical altercation with a Portuguese journalist in February, while there were reports of a World Cup spat with Deco prior to his alleged run-in with Portugal's anti-doping authority.

Agostinho Oliveira has deputised for Queiroz in Portugal's opening two Euro 2012 qualifiers, with the stand-in coach presiding over the country's worst start to a qualifying campaign since 1996.

Portugal are currently second from bottom in Group H and already trail leaders Norway by five points.

[Frederick]

Need some help from you chaps. Unfortunately I'm going to be missing the Schalke-Dortmund match this afternoon and was wondering what would be the best to place to find a torrent of the game come Monday morning (?) Please and thank you.

[SympathysSilhouette]

They kicked the Messi'ah off the pitch!

Have no fear, he will rise again on the third Sunday!

(Supposedly out for three weeks with ligament damage. Hope that's all it is...)

[Frederick]

THE PLEASURE HAS RETURNED!!!

[red_ed]

If you still need it Freddy,

Links for the Schalke 04 vs Borrusia Dortmund game (Wide Screen, 1129 MB)

http://www.fileserve.com/file/QWbFdKE

http://www.fileserve.com/file/9kK2sHT

http://www.fileserve.com/file/7A5ep3s

Credit to Bobik007

[red_ed]

They kicked the Messi'ah off the pitch!

Have no fear, he will rise again on the third Sunday!

(Supposedly out for three weeks with ligament damage. Hope that's all it is...)

Look at it this way, Barca actually won at the Vicente Calderon I hate it when Messi gets kicked off the pitch. You'd expect him to get kicked off more often tbh

[Michael*]

They kicked the Messi'ah off the pitch!

Have no fear, he will rise again on the third Sunday!

(Supposedly out for three weeks with ligament damage. Hope that's all it is...)

Look at it this way, Barca actually won at the Vicente Calderon I hate it when Messi gets kicked off the pitch. You'd expect him to get kicked off more often tbh

Defenders have to catch him before they can kick him.

But what a superb game that was. How good is David De Gea? :|