Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Roger]

Teess - yes 46,000 - that's stunning - an all-time record at the 3rd level.
Sunderland MUST get one of the auto places and winning those 2 games in hand will get them up there. Wish you luck 

Well done to OGS - he has had 2 'easy' games but at least he's got Man Utd playing well. Meantime Tottenham have gone crazy with Everton and Liverpool also getting great wins. Man City off the boil 

Returning to my reality at Level 6, Torquay get their 8th win in a row and a crowd of 3863 - that's massive in NL(S). Trouble is, if we were in League 1 it would be around the same figure. Although TUFC are at the top, Woking have 2 games in hand. Torquay's home game yesterday was v Truro City at Plainmoor and on Jan 1st, the same game again at Plainmoor, due to a groundshare - it would be a local derby but Truro brought only 83 yesterday.

Kalvin Kalala and Connor Lemonheigh-Evans (a loanee from Bristol City) are quite special by all acounts. We'll see.

[Roger]

Crikey !    From John Arne Riise . . .

''I turned, but my eyes were half-asleep, and I didn’t see anything in the sudden, bright glare. But something made me realise that it wasn’t Agger. And soon I could see him – Craig Bellamy at the foot of my bed with a golf club in his hands. Bellamy raised the club over his head and swung as hard as he could. He tried to hit my shins, which would have ended my career, but I managed to pull my leg away in time.

I jumped out of bed, pulled off the sheet and held it between us like I was some kind of half-awake matador. Bellamy sputtered: “Nobody disrespects me like that in front of the lads!” He was completely gone. “I don’t care if I go to jail! My kids have enough money for school and everything. I don’t care. I’ll flipping do you!” He raised the club and swung again. This time he connected. Full force on my hip. I was so pumped with adrenaline that I didn’t feel the pain, but he hit me hard. It was an iron.''

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2018/dec/28/craig-bellamy-raised-the-club-and-swung-he-could-have-ended-my-career-john-arne-riise-liverpool

[Roger]

Congratulations to Leroy Rosenior MBE

Leroy Rosenior, Show Racism the Red Card Vice President, has been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list for services to education thanks to his work supporting Show Racism the Red Card.

https://www.theredcard.org/news/2018/12/21/show-racism-the-red-card-vice-president-leroy-rosenior-is-set-receive-an-mbe-for-his-services-to-anti-racism-education

[Roger]

From the BBC - ''Chelsea have signed Borussia Dortmund forward Christian Pulisic for 64m euros (£58m), but will loan him back to the German club until the end of the season.'' This is absolutely bonkers - Chelsea already have a large no. of players on loan - imagine paying that much for someone you as yet don't need in your team. The system is crazy.

What an amazing EPL turnaround - if Liverpool beat Man City on Thursday, they'll be 'up and away'. Man City must win ! Spurs still chasing but can't see Chelsea staying the pace if Hazard goes. An improving Arsenal can be discounted and we have yet to see if Man Utd can perform against better sides, having crushed, Cardiff, Huddersfield and B'mth - good decision to sack the completely crackers Jose Mourinho. Good luck to Solskaer 

Most importantly, in Torquay's away match yesterday, TUFC supporters outnumbered Truro City's, by 53:1. Is that a record ? Mind you the game was played at Torquay  Unbeaten in 16 league games since the arrival of Gary Johnson, 9 wins in a row, and top, although chasing Woking have 2 games in hand. Come on you Gulls !

[Teessider]

And in Blackpool there was a crowd of 11,000 to see them lose to Sunderland of which 7,800 were Sunderland fans

[Roger]

Hi Teess. So the other 40,000 Sunderland fans from last week had a day off 

[caller]

From the BBC - ''Chelsea have signed Borussia Dortmund forward Christian Pulisic for 64m euros (£58m), but will loan him back to the German club until the end of the season.'' This is absolutely bonkers - Chelsea already have a large no. of players on loan - imagine paying that much for someone you as yet don't need in your team. The system is crazy.

It's a hell of a lot of money for a player the club knew would be leaving at the end of the season and it reflects the demand there would be for his signing. The guy is only 20 years old. Once again we have beaten other teams to a top signing. City wanted Jorghino but he came to Chelsea with Sarri.

Hazard has already said he isn't going anywhere in January.

[Roger]

Hi Caller - it seems to be a massive fee for a Guy who'll be available anyway in 6 months time - it's for the player he will later become apparently Elsewhere in this piece, the move is said to be 'masterful' - time will tell.

Chelsea 'madness' - the view in Germany

''This is not the first time a Premier League club has spent big money on a Bundesliga player. It will likely not be the last. This particular deal is one German newspaper Bild has described as on the "border" of "crazy", based on the conditions of the agreement.

The whole thing is "madness" from Chelsea's perspective, the tabloid added. They say Dortmund have once again profited from the "irrationality" of the Premier League, as Chelsea splashed out 64m euros on a "positionally limited" player that, as a substitute more recently, has "stagnated".''

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/46740719

[caller]

Hi Caller - it seems to be a massive fee for a Guy who'll be available anyway in 6 months time

Yes, I am aware of that, but Chelsea clearly want him and it avoids the auction that will invariably take place at the end of the season for his signature. Now, if we could just sign a forward in January......

[Roger]

Bournemouth have picked up Dominic Solanke for £17 million and I'll be surprised if that doesn't prove to be a better signing than Jermaine Defoe - who is on his way to Glasgow Rangers on loan for 18 mths, at 36 years old  Good luck to him but at £100K pw he's proved a luxury for Bournemouth, a big mistake. Just 4 goals last season and no starts this season !

Here's another view :-

''While Rangers may be signing Defoe under false pretences, there are reports that the striker also has a misguided impression of the club he has joined. “When I heard there was interest from Rangers I was immediately intrigued,” Defoe told FFT.  “I’ve asked my agent to confirm what kind of hours a park ranger works, but it seems a logical step for me as it’ll require less pace and pinpoint finishing, and more standing with my hands on my hips and tutting. . . . . “A bit like Scottish football.”''

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/rangers-defoe-scouting-report-clearly-151832809.html

Nathanial Clyne is off to Bournemouth from Liverpool - a great player IMO but he can't get his place back at L'Pool - good for him - these Boys wanna play 

Wolves hero Benik Afobe has gone to Stoke, £12 million . .

[Roger]

I saw a replay of Man City v Liverpool last night  I had thought City would win and they did more than hold their own - BUT - Sadio Mane hammered the post, Vincent Kompany made a straight red wild tackle and stayed on. And I think we all saw Kompany hook the ball off the line, 90% over. So City were more than a bit lucky overall ?

Good ole Spurs scored 7 in the Cup ! Bit of a lesson for an aged ex Torquay Mark Ellis now Tranmere's centre back. Ouch !

Was looking at an old Fulham programme v Ipswich Boxing Day, 1963. What a defence including Tony Macedo, Jim Langley, George Cohen, Alan Mullery, Bobby Robson - wow ! The (then) incomparable Johnny Haynes and Graham Leggatt in attack. NO substitutes    Fulham smacked a miserable Iswich 10-1 and I was there. Advertisers included 'Radio Times', Pye LP's at 19/11d, 'Kai Ling' with Chinese set dinner at 6/6d, and Senior Service tipped at 2/10d for 20.

I wonder how many Baht to the £ then 

[Roger]

Some big knockouts in the FA Cup - Fulham, Cardiff and Huddersfield improving their EPL chances courtesy of Oldham, Gillingham and Bristol City    Barnet, Newport and Portsmouth also see off Sheff Utd, Leicester City and Norwich 

The biggest surprise maybe, Wolves pip rampant Liverpool - that should please TW - WHAT a difference a month makes - ''Wolves have fallen to pieces - one point in the last 6 games. If this form continues they will be relegated!!'' (TW Dec 2nd). Wolves are certainly back on track now TW   

Level 6 Woking can't hold Watford, unsurprisingly, and can now return to the more important task of chasing 10 wins in a row Torquay United at the top of the NLS. Before the Watford game, Woking had pocketed a tidy £320K from this FA Cup run - that's quite meaningful for a part-time team.

Looking forward to the EPL again !

[Roger]

Caller - at a quick look - Chelsea had NO Brits in their starting 11 and just 2 on the bench of 7 ? I hope that FA proposal progresses, i.e. to reduce 17 to 13 foreign players in the EPL squad of 25. The striker you want ? Talks going on with Higuain apparently 

Man Utd win again - I had a strong hunch but backed off for a draw 
Solskaer is doing great but IMO he's best to leave all the talk of the permanent role to the Media - stay out of it and get on with the job - it's obvious he'd want the job anyway. If Pochettino resists Man Utd, talk is now of Gareth Southgate . . . just MO but I think he's more suited to England than to Club Management.

[Roger]

10 winsina row 

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/46831080

[Roger]

Good to see the Managers of Nice and Monaco are still good friends - Patrick Vierra and Thierry Henri - two all time greats IMO. Martin O' Neill is now Manager at Notts Forest - that looks a fit but it's a while since he did well at Club level ? Andy Cole turns up at Macclesfield and Joe Cole at Derby - in support of Sol Campbell and Frank Lampard.

Mousa Dembele after 7 years at Spurs moves on to China - now out of the reckoning at Spurs, I'm sure he'll do well there and a nice pay day at 32    Great player IMO.

Leed's Manager in trouble for organising the watching of opponent's training - seems like a good idea to me. Most Clubs watch games of opponents coming up.

Chelsea's teenager Hudson-Odoi is about to get a GBP75K pw contract but has yet to start an EPL game