Comments on: Arsenal 3-1 Birmingham; the Good, Bad, and Ugly

By: LRV

LRV — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:10:06 +0000

@b: You are wrong; go check the rule-book. The rule is clear regardless of whether you got the ball first or not. That tackle endangered Walcot and is a sending off offence. The last rule-book update was 2 years ago. Find it, read it.

By: LRV

LRV — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:03:47 +0000

@Chrisb: Perhaps you are the idiot. If you want to live in the past, that’s your prerogative, but you have no right to force others to be a neandathal. You pretend to be an avid football follower without knowing what goes on in football. The rules of football are constantly updated. Dangerous tackles are outdated and are illegal. So Ridgewell should have deservedly got a red card. You say Adams, etc. Unlike you, we all cannot live in the past. It is precisely to forestall those sort of tackles and protect reall football players that the law was upgraded. Please live in this century or go watch Rugby or Wrestling. You must be one of those who love the dullard pundits who do not know the rules and no wonder English referees are no longer invited to referee world cups. Why would they, when they do not know the rules either.

By: LRV

LRV — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:49:56 +0000

@Chrisb: You are simply one of the smug and pompous football fans that make me sad. Tell any club to loose the money from TV rights and that club will curse you severely. TV money is huge money; and that is possible only because of the Millions of fans who subscribe to sport on the TV. So please don’t ever insult them or pass snide remarks at them. They contribute in no small way, perhaps in more ways than you do, to the Arsenal revenue.

By: LRV

LRV — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:24:10 +0000

Correct me if I am wrong Tim, but the football rule-book was updated only 2 years ago, wasn’t it? If so, shouldn’t the English referees and the stupid mediocre pundits be up-to-date, or even up-to-scratch on the revised rules? The Birmingham Butchery club goal was not Mannone’s fault in any way, except if you require him to be a superman. Larsson commited 2 fouls on him which the referee should have flaged. Larsson raised his hand to push Mannone’s hands, thereby depriving him of getting a hold on the ball. He also jumped into Mannone, barging him in the side, thereby upsetting his balance to ensure that he does not get to the ball. Secondly, Larsson physically blocked Mannone from getting a block on Bowyer’s shot from the rebound. These are known as OBSTRUCTING the Goalkeeper in the rules. 2 Experienced referees have confirmed that today. Any continental referee would have flagged any 1 of these 2 as fouls and the goal would have been disallowed. Just as Ridgewell would have been sent off by any continental referee for the intensity of his tackle on Walcot. It is defined as dangerous play in the rule-book, regardless of whether he touched the ball first or not. The 2 experienced Senior Referees also confirmed that; as they also confimed that the balloon goal against Liverpuddle should not have stood. Do you wonder then why English referees are not considered for the world cup? They, as well as the so called pundits, do not even knoe the rules. Very sad indeed.

By: Mia

Mia — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 17:04:22 +0000

Yes, it’s great, that playground. And stop off in one of the Turkish cafes round there and you’ll find them all screaming at the tv when Fenebahce or Besiktas are playing; or drop into the German place on Old street on CL nights, and they’ll be screaming for Bayern. . .

By: 17highburyterrace

17highburyterrace — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 16:33:24 +0000

@Mia, This is a good point as well. If you’ve got kids, the playground at the South end of Highbury fields is spectacular for it’s equipement and the diversity of the people who use it, from girls in headscarves, boys with side curls and every color under the sun.

Meanwhile, I’m loving the Wigan-Man City game (currently 1-1) as Zabaleta gets shown red and Ade limps off….

Would I be watching it if it weren’t for the millions getting pumped into ManCity and how they’re attempting to challenge us?

By: Mia

Mia — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 16:23:34 +0000

Are only English football fans real? Not Dutch or German or Spanish ones, say? They play some good football in those countries – you may even have seen it on the tv – so what is it that makes their fans less real than our ‘local’ rivals in Blackburn or Stoke? Just curious.

No offence, of course, but Chrisb sounds just a mite little Englander-ish and forgetful of the fact that London is a city in Europe, geographically and possibly culturally closer to Amsterdam and Paris than to Blackburn or Stoke. That’s one of the pleasures of living in north London – you can hear half a dozen of different languages on any street corner.

By: b

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 16:22:02 +0000

@chrisb, 60000 people watch a game at the emirates, millions watch on tv. Which group do you think brings more money to they club?
I don’t give two shits about the North London rivalry, it means nothing to me, i don’t even know any Tottenham fans that i can mock about it! I want to watch football, not fight some chav in the fucking street because he wears different colors than me.

I’m not really sold on a Super Euro league either, but your arguments are just silly. There’d be 4-5 teams each from Italy, England, and Spain, a couple of French, German, Portuguese, Dutch teams. If you honestly would rather go see Arsenal play Burnley than PSV, then that’s your business but I’m fairly sure the majority of fans would disagree with you. The local ones might miss their derby games, but then again the money people don’t give a fuck about the local fans anymore do they?

By: 17highburyterrace

17highburyterrace — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 16:17:03 +0000

@chrisb, You’re completely correct about Villa losing at home AND about the group stages of the Champions League–Total Crap….Which is exactly why us TV fans and the big clubs will demand some sort of ESL (Euro super league). Money makes the world go round….

You’re also right about local rivalries which is why I can’t wait for Oct 31 and the N. London derby (in High definition on ESPN to boot!) and why today’s TV matches (East Lancashire and Greater Manchester derbies) are fun to watch. I support Wigan in the latter both because they are David to City’s Goliath and because City are our direct rival in the table.

However, unless we go backwards and don’t care about the quality of the football on display (6+5 rules, etc.) we should favor more high level competition of some sort–Certainly Arsene does….See for example: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1206377/ARSENE-WENGER-INTERVIEW-The-transcript-Martin-Samuels-fascinating-meeting-Arsenal-manager–I.html

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:53:44 +0000

@Gareth26GOONER, I've seen videos of the Birmingham fans in action. Why doesn't the league crack down on that club? They have full on hooligan fans who proudly post videos of their fights on YouTube. Strange.