Mick Mac

They won't beat Ireland (hopefully) but if they do they are a real grand slam chance. If England don't win today I won't bother hedging for the final game as I just could not then see England improving sufficiently to win in Paris. Both bets placed will win me over ?200 so I'm happy to have hedged a bit. No grand slam is not attractive - its good odds cos everyone knows France will win it now :))

Very good odds I agree but I am a Kauto fan and a Ruby Walsh fan. Tony McCoy sometimes does not do the business when on a top chance horse for some reason. Ruby is a cool head and I think he knows Kauto's perfect cruising speed. McCoy may have pushed Denman too hard so he was uncomfortable and slipped up?

???? Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Why didn't you just bet England to beat France? > That'd hedge it properly. I would not get 8/1 on that. I don't think England will beat Ireland today (or beat France) but if they win today they are a better team than I thought and will then have areal chance of beating France and will be quite short odds, so I thought now was the time to take the 8/1. If they are good enough to beat France in Paris they will def beat Ireland today, so the two go together.

And guessing Gordon Darcy to score the first try....

I have hedged a little of my France bet by putting a little on England to win slam at 8/1. Of course England have no chance to win slam as Ireland will hammer them but if they beat Ireland tomorrow their odds on the slam will crash and best I don't leave it to chance for England to upset me on the final day....

Cmon France.

Its their own money and they can do what they want. They are a profitable business without taxpayer help and its none of our business what they do - unless you are a shareholder - if you are just an account holder I'm not sure they will not be particularly worried if you close your account but thats your choice.

matthew123 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Successful teams have leadership all over the park > - so even if Gerrard is the Captain you'd still > expect one of the centre halves to command the > defence. Better to have the Captain in midfield > who is usually more balanced about defensive & > attacking requirements. Roobish. ;-) C'mon France.

Agreed.

Midfield is the most important position on the pitch in any team I would give this position priority. He breaks down attacks, wins possession and gets the team moving forward. This is his role. I think however the main organisational skills are needed in defence and that's where you should have your captain if the appropriate leadership qualities are available. But I'm happy to agree to differ. :)

jimmy two times Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Mick I take your point, but in all honesty > defensive organisation in open play and from set > pieces is usually worked upon and honed tirelessly > in training. Everything should really be in place > on match day and the defensive unit should almost > be able to work automaically. The coach/ manager > would have worked through making his defence > compact, dealing with the aerial threat of the > opposition, whether they play a high line or play > deep, whther a holding midfielder will pick up the > forward who likes to drop into the hole or whther > the centre back goes with him,whether defending on > set pieces should be zonal or man for man. I agree > an intelligent and vocal captain at centre back > can offer tactical reminders to his fellow > defenders during games should tiredness creep in > and they switch off. But I don't think a captain > should always be a centre half on this basis. To me this analysis explains very well why the captain would preferably be a defender. Could you put the same analysis together to support why the captain should be a midfielder?

jimmy two times Wrote: > > Somtimes captaincy is as much about inspiration as > it is about organisation. Well that's where we disagree jimmy. Inspirational players can help inspire other players on a good day. But there is one part of the team that requires organisation and leadership more than any other and thats defence. Inspirational players can make a big difference but you don't give them the captaincy just for good performances. We all know there have been great captains in midfield and these are sometimes justified but if I were a manager I'd go for a central defender (subject to quality and leadership ability being there of course). Naming lots of captains who have won things does not mean their captaincy contributed materially to that team performance on the pitch. I give you Dino Zoff lifting a world cup as captain. Are you going to tell me he made a big contribution to leadership and organisation during the games? Cryff and Maradona were great players. Cryff has moved on to be a great manager so we can probably look back and surmise that he made a captains contribution on the pitch. But whether Maradona had any constructive influence on the field outside his own performance is questionable.

Lots of good wishes hibbs. Hope your pals looked after you and made it a day to remember. MMx.

jimmy two times Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I still can't understand why Steven Gerrard hasn't > been awarded the captaincy. Ferdinand is not a > worthy candidate in my opinion and he now clearly > has fitness issues. A defence needs to be marshalled. Hence mostly a captain will be a defender. Gives him the necessary authority to get the defence towing the line.

As usual I don't know what to do - might let it run and hope they beat Wales and take it from there. Why has Declan changed his name to Narnia?

hibbs Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Happy birthday Peckhamgatecrasher, I hope you had > a wonderful day my friend. Tx Enjoy your day and week PGC. Until sunday.

ooh yeess. Eh i mean, no.

hibbs Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Ted Max Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Yep. It works > > > > Doesn't look right, though. Fuckme shoes. > > > > Also known as bedroom shoes ;-) Dont get it...Am i slow. As far as im aware nothing happens in the bedroom these days.

Mick Mac Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Paul Reaney - The most under appreciated player > of > > the Revie era and 3rd in the all time list of > > appearances. A true gent. > > And > > Paul Madeley - Made a house a home..... Madeley Homecare I know this cos he had a branch in Ballymena in 1980 ish.

david_carnell Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > As a Leeds fan I'd quite like to meet Cantona too. > First I'd ask whether he really did give Lesley > Ash one and then I'd kick in the nads for > defecting to United. > > In all seriousness there are probably two or three > that would be a tough call to seperate: > > Paul Reaney - The most under appreciated player of > the Revie era and 3rd in the all time list of > appearances. A true gent. > > David Batty - a Leeds man thru and thru who won a > league championship and returned after a sojourn > to help guide us to the Euro Cup semis. > > Lucas Radebe - A giant of the game in all senses > of the word and a hero on the pitch. And Paul Madeley - Made a house a home.....

I can understand "don't worry your pretty little head" might be annoying. I get that at work all the time. Or is it "dumb paddy", its one or the other, I can't remember which, but either of them would annoy me tbh.

Actually if you watch it again Jimmy, he was standing right behind the referee trying to get to the ball when the referee backed into him as it was being kicked. Not that I care about Arsenal CL but I think the referee can be a little too helpful to one team at times.

jimmyraj Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > I think it's good that there's such a mixed > economy of pubs in the area - I can't see why the > complaints about it being 'gentrified'. At the > end of the day if you want an old school boozer > with sport on the TV, there's the Prince Albert, Guess what Jimmy - I want to watch my sport in a "new" school boozer. A nice environment. Don't be such a one dimensional twat. Edited to say that you are new so its nothing personal - but I think its an old fashioned attitude.

No Loverats GG?