Football Focus

[Otta]

I have to say I'm with PK on this one.

I do like West Ham as a club though, so hope they do okay despite the manager.

[Jah Lush]

Scores RD?

[Otta]

Saurez getting a lot of stick for another dive (quite rightly). No one really mentioning the stamp, and general physicality he took during the game though, and no one seems to be having a go at Bale, and it was hardly his first offence!

[Jah Lush]

Bale's was laughable but the Suarez one was pathetic.

[Otta]

Both cheating dives though.

I hate seeing Suarez dive, and actually Liverpool could in theory be much higher up the table had his genuine penalty shouts been awarded in the last few weeks, so his reputation is harming the whole team. Alan Hansen is right on this, he needs to make a real effort to stay on his feet, even when there is some minimal contact, and hopefully refs will start giving him the benefit of the doubt again. At the moment players are able to foul him then tell the ref he dived, and nothing is given because the ref believes the defender.

You reap what you sow / boy who cried wolf etc etc.

Stoke were basically roughing him up though.

[red devil]

This weeks winners and loooosers...

JL - 4 correct results + 2 correct scores = 10pts

RD - 2 correct results + 2 correct scores = 8pts

SC - 5 correct results + 1 correct score = 8pts

?? - 3 correct results + 1 correct score = 6pts

Ot - 3 correct results + 1 correct score = 6pts

MM - 5 correct results + 0 correct scores = 5pts

Mx - 4 correct results + 0 correct scores = 4pts

AM - 3 correct results + 0 correct scores = 3pts

[Otta]

I had one great week with 12 points, but then 2 weeks with 6 points. Told you that was as good as it would get.

[Mick Mac]

Thank the lord Declan joined in. You are out for next week matey.

[????]

where's the actual league table RD? come on fella you've got this on a Spreadsheet, you can do it

[Mick Mac]

Bale v Suarez.

I thought bale thought he was going to get kicked by the onrushing keeper.

Suarez's right foot was touched and about 5 seconds later he realised this and fell over. A bit embarrassing.

[red devil]

???? Wrote:

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> where's the actual league table RD? come on fella

> you've got this on a Spreadsheet, you can do it

Hmmmm, you and your spreadsheets :)

Problem is, people drop in and out, let's see how it pans out after a few weeks...

[maxxi]

Billhooks to a league table, I've had 5, 6 and now bloody 4 points. I even got a vote of confidence from Tony Fernandes in a PM.

Re Bale's dive - I agree with Mick Mac - when I saw it I actually thought he was taking evasive action as he saw the challenge coming in. Did he appeal/scream/hold his leg like a wounded git? If not it can't really be a dive can it. If a player doesn't seek to get something from the ref then going down without contact is always open to wider interpretation.

Suarez is a bit of a clown but Wellbeck is still this season's top diver so far.

Re BFS; I think he has always been a route-one blockhead as a manager and he has bought Jarvis and Carroll with that in mind.. BUT, there is evidence that even he has realised that that, in itself, is no longer enough in the PL. That coupled with the criticism from WH fans (that he pretends not to mind but really annoys him) has led him to lean more towards a passing game (when he thinks it'll work, i.e. not against Arsenal et al) and WH have played some attractive stuff this season - more than I thought they would anyway.

[????]

red devil Wrote:

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> ???? Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > where's the actual league table RD? come on

> fella

> > you've got this on a Spreadsheet, you can do it

>

> Hmmmm, you and your spreadsheets :)

> Problem is, people drop in and out, let's see how

> it pans out after a few weeks...

Average score with a minimum number of entries that grows over season. Come on. Get to work.

[Mick Mac]

Radio 5 is doing a 2 hour programme on Jock Stein tonight. 730 to 930. Just started. Arguably Britain's most successful ever manager. Their words not mine.

[Otta]

Jock Stein Honours (from wiki)

Dunfermline Athletic

Scottish Cup[81] (1) 1961

Celtic

European Cup 1967

Scottish League Championships 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977

Scottish Cup (8) 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1977

Scottish League Cup 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1975

IMO doesn't really stand up against SAF or Bob Paisley, but still an impressive haul in anyone's book, and the European cup was an incredible acheivement. Definitely not out of place in any discussion about greatest managers, but the lack of competition in Scotland just counts against him for me.

[Help-Ma-Boab]

Cheers MM. Just flicked onto it. Some great accents on there.

[Mick Mac]

You can achieve great things even with a Scottish team.

SAF's greatest managerial achievement imo was in Scotland ....

Under Ferguson, the Pittodrie club won three league titles, four Scottish Cups and a Scottish League Cup, alongside the European Cup Winners? Cup and the UEFA Super Cup, both in 1983.

[Parkdrive]

I'd be amazed if the players actually refused to take to the field with shirts bearing the the Wonga logo. Interesting stuff taken from the Independent below.

Newcastle United's ?24m shirt sponsorship deal with Wonga was engulfed in fresh controversy last night when the club's Muslim players were warned that wearing the new shirts would infringe Sharia law.

The intervention from the Muslim Council of Britain will heap further pressure on the club as it seeks to deflect widespread criticism after unveiling a four-year deal with the short-term loan company.

Of the Newcastle team who took the field against Manchester United on Sunday, four are practising Muslims ? Demba Ba, Papiss Ciss?, Cheick Tiot? and Hatem Ben Arfa.

Wonga, whose deal to succeed Virgin Money begins next season, drew criticism from MPs for the level of interest charged on its 30-day loans. If a Newcastle supporter took out a loan to purchase a ?49.99 club shirt, he would have to repay ?71.92 after one month ? a rate that would be equivalent to 4,212 per cent over a year.

The club did its best to offset criticism of the new deal by announcing that the Sports Direct Arena would revert to its original name of St James' Park. Wonga also promised to invest heavily in Newcastle's academy and the club's foundation scheme, which helps 15- and 16-year-olds find work.

However, the deal drew a stinging attack from Nick Forbes, the leader of Newcastle City Council, who said: "I'm appalled and sickened that they would sign a deal with a legal loan shark. It's a sad indictment of the profit-at-any-price culture at Newcastle United. We are fighting hard to tackle legal and illegal loan sharking and having a company like this right across the city on every football shirt that's sold undermines all our work."

Whilst it is accepted that Wonga have not behaved improperly it came in for further criticism from the Muslim Council of Britain. Under Sharia law, a Muslim is not allowed to benefit from lending money or receiving money from someone. This means that earning interest is not allowed. To comply, interest is not paid on Islamic savings or current accounts or applied to Islamic mortgages.

[StraferJack]

So Muslim Council of Britain was ok with Virgin Money but not Wonga? Seems a bit odd

[red devil]

I don't recall the MCGB advising Muslim players not to play for teams sponsored by companies associated with gambling and alcohol, both frowned upon in the Muslim world...

[Parkdrive]

red devil Wrote:

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> I don't recall the MCGB advising Muslim players

> not to play for teams sponsored by companies

> associated with gambling and alcohol, both frowned

> upon in the Muslim world...

Nor do I, perhaps they have a specific issue with Wonga?

[maxxi]

Parkdrive Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> red devil Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > I don't recall the MCGB advising Muslim players

> > not to play for teams sponsored by companies

> > associated with gambling and alcohol, both

> frowned

> > upon in the Muslim world...

>

>

> Nor do I, perhaps they have a specific issue with

> Wonga?

What a load of balls. Do they refuse to shake hands with female officials too then (like Iranian Paralympian Mehrdad Karam Zadeh who refused the Duchess of Cambridge's hand) for 'cultural' reasons?

ETA: When Ba was at WH he wore a short emblazoned with SBOBET's logo and gambling is prohibited under Sharia law. As for money-lending well, as has been said, Northern Rock and Virgin Money were in the same business albeit without the loan-shark feel.

You'd think the whining geordies would just be glad of some cash - and that St James' Park gets its name back.

[Otta]

I think they should be ashamed for doing business with an outfit like Wonga. Yes you can argue that Virgin was also a lender, but Wonga are legalised crooks.

[maxxi]

Agreed - they are loan sharks. But I don't think they are any less abhorrent in their appealing to those with little money to get further into debt and/or give themselves more problems than the screaming foreign bloke in the Ladbrokes ads or the constant offers of free bets by lovable Ray Winstone or, come to that, the national lottery.

Surely you can't think that the majority of people who lose money with those firms can easily afford it?

Pawn brokers and cash-for-gold and 'Money Shops' and bookies and I-wanna-buy-your-car-for-fuck-all and the whole pack are a sign that times are hard and there will always be vultures around to pick the bones.

[Chippy Minton]

I also agree Wonga are legalised crooks, but does it really surprise anyone that Ashley has done a deal with them? He's hardly someone that worries about his popularity status!

With regard to Muslim players, did Blackpool or Hearts not have any Muslim players when they sponsored them?