I hate football

[Ex-Staffs Gull]

When i moved over to Australia i couldnt get into the A League so followed AFL. Bloody love it, tough sport and although it has drug scandles and high earners, it is much more down to earth imo. Still stay up every Sunday morning till 3:30 but it still makes me long for 70s football which was so much more the game i fell in love with.

 

[jimbob5]

As a drug and prostitution baron I need to own some dogs which breach the Dangerous Animals Act. I allow them to run a muck on a local school's football pitch. I don't have to clear up after them because other people usually do. However when they forget or miss some I hate that aspect of football I must admit.

 

[jimbob5]

As a drug and prostitution baron I need to own some dogs which breach the Dangerous Animals Act. I allow them to run a muck on a local school's football pitch. I don't have to clear up after them because other people usually do. However when they forget or miss some I hate that aspect of football I must admit.

Hello! I wasn't expecting visitors.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

I like Liverpool, but this from Gerard reinforces why I have little respect for footballers...

"I need to accept it; the decision was right," Gerrard told Sky Sports. "I've let down my team-mates and the fans."

He added: "I take full responsibility. I don't know what caused it. Probably just a reaction to the initial tackle.

"I shouldn't say more about it really. I've just come out here to apologise to the dressing room and supporters."

"I shouldn't say more," he says. Why shouldn't he say more? What the hell does that mean? Show some backbone and explain yourself fully. And how about an apology to Herrera?

Interesting point. He's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. He's apologised and he clearly feels the initial tackle wasn't a good tackle which caused him to over react (it wasn't a good tackle but he shouldn't have over reacted either). But then you compare this to ALL of the Chelsea incidents where Mourinho has backed his players for pushing, stamping etc (the numerous Costa incidents, the Matic push on Barnes after his "tackle") and their lack of apologies for their actions and actually Gerrard has done a relatively decent thing compared to his peers.

Again, compare it to the Evans v Cisse incident where Cisse clearly apologised for doing something vile whereas Evans didn't apologise at all and hasn't been scapegoated, and again it really puts Gerrard in a better light, compared to Evans at least.

I guess these incidents are a no win situation. Everyone has seen the stamp and he either apologises (where people are now ripping apart his apology) or he does an Evans/Chelsea and he doesn't apologise at all for what all of us have seen. Either way he's damned. You could look at most matches every single week and there is an incident usually where at least one player from one of the teams does something pretty reprehensible, its just that with the Gerrard incident the game is so widely covered and it was such a fun narrative from Sky that people get more annoyed about that and the blow out of it than they do about all of the other incidents.

In reality, Gerrard was the only one to apologise for his poor behaviour in that game. Compare it to De Gea who apologised to no-one for some of the most disgusting simulation/play acting I've seen in a long time after the Skrtel "stamp" or the apology from Skrtel for his "stamp". Both were as reprehensible yet neither fitted the narrative as well so neither has been highlighted by fans as much.

 

[Brovion]

Yes, this is a disappointing and depressing thread, and I am sure you are right in that the views expressed here are reflected up and down the country. I am sure that at some stage there will be a tipping point, and fans will start to desert in droves, thus forcing clubs to perhaps re-evaluate their priorities. TV now seems to control so much, and I now find that I rarely watch the whole of the match as there is just so much on now.

Might I, however, just buck the trend slightly on this thread? Whilst I do agree that clubs put greed before fans, I am not certain that this is any different to what has always happened, just that the scale of the finances involved makes it seem so. As an adoring teenager in the 60s, I can still recall thinking that the club does not really care that much about us fans, though cannot remember now what the trigger was for such thoughts. One incident does, however, stick in my mind -Albion's first ever match in the old First Division against Arsenal. There had been huge crowds the year before and with the interest in the match, it should have been all-ticket. But the club did not do so and thousands of fans spent hours outside in huge queues, which should not have been necessary. It also emerged that whilst we were outside, the players had been arguing over money and only signed contracts a few minutes before the game started. Not surprisingly, we lost 4-0. Greed and lack of regard for the fans is not a modern phenomenon.

I agree with you. What makes it 'worse' now is how much more it costs. In the old days you put up with the crap because for the money it cost even if it was crap it was fun. Now with Championship match tickets approaching West End theatre prices the tolerance threshold, and the expectation threshold, have both increased.

 

[Hamilton]

Interesting point. He's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. He's apologised and he clearly feels the initial tackle wasn't a good tackle which caused him to over react (it wasn't a good tackle but he shouldn't have over reacted either). But then you compare this to ALL of the Chelsea incidents where Mourinho has backed his players for pushing, stamping etc (the numerous Costa incidents, the Matic push on Barnes after his "tackle") and their lack of apologies for their actions and actually Gerrard has done a relatively decent thing compared to his peers.

Again, compare it to the Evans v Cisse incident where Cisse clearly apologised for doing something vile whereas Evans didn't apologise at all and hasn't been scapegoated, and again it really puts Gerrard in a better light, compared to Evans at least.

I guess these incidents are a no win situation. Everyone has seen the stamp and he either apologises (where people are now ripping apart his apology) or he does an Evans/Chelsea and he doesn't apologise at all for what all of us have seen. Either way he's damned. You could look at most matches every single week and there is an incident usually where at least one player from one of the teams does something pretty reprehensible, its just that with the Gerrard incident the game is so widely covered and it was such a fun narrative from Sky that people get more annoyed about that and the blow out of it than they do about all of the other incidents.

In reality, Gerrard was the only one to apologise for his poor behaviour in that game. Compare it to De Gea who apologised to no-one for some of the most disgusting simulation/play acting I've seen in a long time after the Skrtel "stamp" or the apology from Skrtel for his "stamp". Both were as reprehensible yet neither fitted the narrative as well so neither has been highlighted by fans as much.

Can't argue with any of that. Basically it's like saying Gerrard is the best of a bad bunch and even his apology didn't go far enough. Not exactly inspiring stuff.

 

[Stat Brother]

More time pedalling = less time hating, Mr [MENTION=225]Hamilton[/MENTION].

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

Can't argue with any of that. Basically it's like saying Gerrard is the best of a bad bunch and even his apology didn't go far enough. Not exactly inspiring stuff.

Absolutely. I think my issue isn't with Gerrard or the other players mind. It is with the authorities (FA/UEFA/Fifa etc) and many of their decisions which serve to undermine both referees and the integrity of the game, which consequently often leads to players realising that the benefits of such idiotic behaviour far outweigh the negatives (why wouldn't they push the boundaries to win when trophies and vast sums of money are on the lines?!). To me De Gea's behaviour was as sickening as either of the Liverpool players' stamps (I still think Gerrard's was a stamp and Skrtel's was a motion issue) yet until retrospective action is brought in for things like that as well as tackles/spitting/biting etc, or until referees feel genuinely empowered to stand up to such play acting and also to teams/players swearing at them and surrounding them, then fans will continue to become disillusioned with the game.

 

[Brovion]

Enough of this negativity! Looking on the bright side - I bloody love Rugby. Didn't really care for it much as a sport whilst I was growing up but it's grown and grown on me. The Six Nations on Saturday was bloody brilliant, even if the Good Guys didn't quite make it. Really looking forward to the World Cup.

 

[Gwylan]

Now with Championship match tickets approaching West End theatre prices the tolerance threshold, and the expectation threshold, have both increased.

Approaching? I'm going to the opera tonight and a pair of tickets costs less than a one-off ticket for the Albion. You know that prices have gone sky high when a second tier game is pricier than a night at Covent Garden

 

[Hastings gull]

I agree with you. What makes it 'worse' now is how much more it costs. In the old days you put up with the crap because for the money it cost even if it was crap it was fun. Now with Championship match tickets approaching West End theatre prices the tolerance threshold, and the expectation threshold, have both increased.

I don't know what the relative price of a ticket now compares with what I paid to stand in the North Stand all those years ago _ assume it is more expensive now, and you are certainly right in that expectations then were so much lower. I was always under the impression as a kid in the 60s and then in the 70s, that with our huge support by lower league standards, the Albion team was on crowd bonuses, which might explain why we put up with years of relative mediocrity, with the odd promotion charge inbetween. Why put yourself out, when you can earn well, knowing that, say, 13,000 would be there irrespective. Other than dire relegation seasons, this figure always sticks in my mind for the crowd for many years.

 

[Hamilton]

More time pedalling = less time hating, Mr @<a href="http://www.northstandchat.com/member.php?u=225" target="_blank">Hamilton</a>.

You're right Stat.

No, hang on! Can you imagine one of our footballing darlings getting up from this! Richie Porte (who went on to win) at this year's Paris Nice.

 

[Hamilton]

You're right Stat.

No, hang on! Can you imagine one of our footballing darlings getting up from this! Richie Porte (who went on to win) at this year's Paris Nice.

Or getting up from this?

 

[Brovion]

Approaching? I'm going to the opera tonight and a pair of tickets costs less than a one-off ticket for the Albion. You know that prices have gone sky high when a second tier game is pricier than a night at Covent Garden

Blimey, really? For opera? I was going to say 'the same price as a West End ticket', because the last time we went to a show in London I think I paid about £55 for two tickets - so I thought I'd give football the benefit of the doubt price-wise!

But Jeez, yeah, 2nd-tier football more expensive than Covent Garden; I would never have believed it. No wonder I haven't been to a match this year.

 

[Gwylan]

Blimey, really? For opera? I was going to say 'the same price as a West End ticket', because the last time we went to a show in London I think I paid about £55 for two tickets - so I thought I'd give football the benefit of the doubt price-wise!

But Jeez, yeah, 2nd-tier football more expensive than Covent Garden; I would never have believed it. No
wonder I haven't been to a match this year.

It's 20 quid a ticket tonight ...
and they're not the cheapest either. Football has got more and more expensive while opera's got cheaper. Madness

 

[Stat Brother]

Separated at birth:-

&

 

[Pogue Mahone]

&

They are not really funny though, misnamed video, isn't it? What a bunch of tossers.

I find it hard not to hate the sport that I have loved all of my life,

 

[Hampster Gull]

Pathetic. Their younger selves would be ashamed

 

[BrianWade4]

Not to mention the tyrants and despots that own some clubs

 

[Stat Brother]

Raheem Sterling: Liverpool forward turns down new deal

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32149613

Raheem Sterling has told BBC Sport he is not a "money-grabbing 20-year-old" after confirming he has turned down a new £100,000-a-week Liverpool deal.

He also says he will not discuss a new contract with the Reds until the summer, no matter how big a deal he might be offered in the meantime.

"It's not about the money at all," the England forward said...


Why shouldn't it be about the money.
I'm sure there's a club that would pay him £150,000 a week.
Why should he have to settle for a weekly wage of only £100,000.