On the Ball (new Football Focus)

[matthew123]

>> Sandperson on Ronaldo

>> I sometimes think he's justified in his reactions

Unbelievable.

[Sandperson]

No, believeable, I said it and I think it's true. You didn't imagine it.

[matthew123]

So I guess you're from the school of thought that says, other players are justified in trying to break Ronaldo's legs due to the way he provokes opponents?!

[Mick Mac]

i too think ronaldo is a bit of a prima dona. More importantly i dont understand why he gets away with petulant off the ball kicks. He should be sent off for all of these and during the suspension be required to watch what george best put up with, real tackles by real men and his response was to get up get on with it and beat the man again.

[mockney piers]

I know quite a few Portuguese people, and most of them think hes a complete twonk.

Noone can deny his obvious and very great talent, and lets face it, most successful people don't get there by being nice.

I still want to smack him every time he does that incredulous (what me dive, hack, not a penalty etc etc?) look though.

[Mick Mac]

i too think ronaldo is a bit of a prima dona. More importantly i dont understand why he gets away with petulant off the ball kicks. He should be sent off for all of there and during the suspension be required to watch what george best put up with, real tackles by real men and his response was to get up get on with it and beat the man again.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Watch it, Carnell!

[Narnia]

Mick Mac Wrote:

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

> i too think ronaldo is a bit of a prima dona. More

> importantly i dont understand why he gets away

> with petulant off the ball kicks. He should be

> sent off for all of there and during the

> suspension be required to watch what george best

> put up with, real tackles by real men and his

> response was to get up get on with it and beat the

> man again.

I tend to agree with you Mick. Georgie was my childhood hero. However he did get sent off a few times! As for Ronnie, I think he does what would be expected of him on the continent, if he were there. The game has changed here in that respect with so many foreigners playing in England IMO.However it's frowned on (if it's not your player). It's now a matter of what you can get away with. I think that's existed in rugby for years though at least there isn't the feigning of injury. I don't see why football can't adopt what happens in rugby where the game continues in most cases if someone is injured and the player is treated on the pitch.Soon have those looking for something from the ref off their feet.Finally, how many times is Ronaldo genuinely fouled in a game? Against Inter it was almost every time he got the ball and in most Premiership games the ratio of genuine fouls to acting is a high one.

[????]

Can anyone point me in the direction of one Mr Jah Lush esq?....I haven't yet given him my prediction on the Sunderland AFC V Tottenham Hotspurs football match...

[Narnia]

I recently saw him encouraging rude behaviour on another thread.

[Mick Mac]

declan well made point and perhaps i dont watch as much footie as others but i feel ronaldo goes down unnecessarily far too often. Also i think there should be an onus on all players to stay on their feet and ride a tackle where possible which does not currently happen. Id prefer a return to a tougher game as the attitude now is touch me and i will go down. I love to watch a player try to ride a tackle and head for goal a great example being maradona v england 1986.

[????]

Well, could you tell him I have looked at the likely team selections, poured over the form, weighed up their respective league table positions, consulted Mark Lawrenson and gazed in my crystal ball and predict the following......

....Sunderland 8 Spurs 0

Thank you

[Narnia]

If I ever come across him again I'll mention it. Are your predictions usually 8-0 or am I confusing you with someone else?

[Mick Mac]

Easy for MU - 3-0 just after half time - this is quite a team - and bearing in mind the debate re Ronaldo above, its nice to see what they can do without him.

Celtic on the other hand go out of the cup today to the same team as they beat 7-0 last week in the league. But as always the league is what matters (always nice to win the cup too though).

[Mick Mac]

Todays Times - Michel Platini on european club football - "We want to return to being a sport, each club connected to its local community".

Celtic were the last team to win the European Cup with a team drawn completeley from the local community - all 11 players coming from within 25 miles of Glasgow, thats quite a statistic.

That team won, in 1967, the Glasgow Cup, the Scottish League Cup, the Scottish FA Cup, the Scottish League and the European Cup. Quite an achievement for a real local team.

I know I'm boring everyone - don't tell me. I write these posts to entertain myself I know noone cares about the bhoys. :)

[????]

MM...there's got to be a betting opportunity on Man U using the exchanges, although their odds for winning 5 must be plummeting...I'm not sure what it is but it feels like there's one! ie bettng on them then betting heavily on their opponents in each competition

[red devil]

Mick, when I was a student in Scotland I used to go to 'Paradise' and sample 'The Jungle', quite an experience!

I would often go wearing my Utd colurs, and because of the close links between the clubs never had a problem. You quite often see Celtic fans at Old Trafford too. Probably one of the best atmospheres I've ever experienced at a football match was when Celtic won the league in their centenary year, 1988. I remember there was a small contingent of Dundee 'wannabee Rangers' fans, who left the ground after only 15 mins as Celtic stormed into a 3-0 lead!..

[matthew123]

Right... Champions League predictions..

Liverpool 1 - 1 Real Madrid

Juventus 1 - 3 Chelsea

Roma 2 - 0 Arsenal

Man Utd 1 - 1 Inter

[Atila Reincarnate]

Liverpool 0 - 1 Real Madrid

Juventus 2 - 1 Chelsea

Roma 1 - 2 Arsenal

Man Utd 2 - 0 Inter

[matthew123]

Atila, so extra time at Anfield... and what is your prediction then?

[Atila Reincarnate]

Sneaky suspicion that Real will go thru

[matthew123]

Quote of the week: from Voronin (on from Liverpool) after scoring a hat-trick at weekend for Herta Berlin: ?I score goals for Hertha ? not for the English side. I don?t give a damn what they think of me back on the island.?

[Atila Reincarnate]

matthew123 Wrote:

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

> Quote of the week: from Voronin (on from

> Liverpool) after scoring a hat-trick at weekend

> for Herta Berlin: ?I score goals for Hertha ? not

> for the English side. I don?t give a damn what

> they think of me back on the island.?

No sour grapes there then.

[Mick Mac]

red devil Wrote:

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

> Mick, when I was a student in Scotland I used to

> go to 'Paradise' and sample 'The Jungle', quite an

> experience!

> I would often go wearing my Utd colurs, and

> because of the close links between the clubs never

> had a problem. You quite often see Celtic fans at

> Old Trafford too. Probably one of the best

> atmospheres I've ever experienced at a football

> match was when Celtic won the league in their

> centenary year, 1988. I remember there was a small

> contingent of Dundee 'wannabee Rangers' fans, who

> left the ground after only 15 mins as Celtic

> stormed into a 3-0 lead!..

Sounds fantastic - I never made it to Celtic until the new stadioum, so never experienced the Jungle. I knew a guy who used to go in the sixties when they were crammed in. He told me that you would be standing there watching the game and someone behind would call out "look out behind" and then pi*s on the terraces right behind you, apparently this was common place, they did not bother going to the toilets. Lovely.

1988 was fantastic though, I think that was Frank McAvennie's year , I think they won the double and in the cup I think they were losing 1-0 with a couple of minutes to go and they won 2-1.

[Jah Lush]

Liverpool 1 - 1 Real Madrid

Juventus 1 - 2 Chelsea

Roma 0 - 0 Arsenal

Man Utd 2 - 1 Inter.