The Ali Dia Football/Soccer Thread

[DemocalypseNow]

It's just been confirmed that AC Milan have sold Ibrahimovic and Silva to PSG for nearly £50 million. Whoa ho ho!

Kostas will be pleased.

Actually, no. I am not happy.

PSG are single handedly devaluing Serie A, buying every star player in the league one by one. Last season they nicked Pastore, Sirigu and Thiago Motta, and now this season they have Lavezzi, Ibra, Thiago Silva and the "next Andrea Pirlo", Marco Verratti. Those Arab f***ers in charge are spending Italian football into oblivion. We don't have the money to compete. If the entire quality of the league declines, Italy's co-efficient declines, and Europe becomes a harder task to master as a result.

Yes, AC Milan are our rivals, and they have been idiots sometimes, but they never cheated and backstabbed in quite the same way as Juventus did to us. Even Allegri (AC's manager) took a swipe at Juve over the 30 titles debacle a couple of days ago. Rubentus are the true evil in Italy. Unfortunately, it seems as if they robbed a bank, because they are the only team in the country spending any big money right now. Already they have Isla, Asamoah, Giovinco, Caceres, Leali, Pogba only a couple of weeks into the transfer season. And now they are linked to Cavani, van Persie and Pazzini. Where do they get the money to buy all these players? Every other team in Italy is broke!

The entire system is flawed. Only Juventus own their own stadium. The rest rent stadiums from the city council. It's tradition. Problem is, no-one has any damn money to build their own stadium and escape the vicious circle. Juventus ruined the reputation of Serie A with all their cheating. They then decided the best thing to do was be morons about it and make a point of dragging every team in Italy down with them. They tried to frame Inter in Calciopoli, making up nonsense claims that Facchetti also bribed referees, so then they paid off a Juve-sympathetic judge to try and prosecute Inter. One small problem with that though...the 'evidence' they claimed proved this didn't even exist. It was pure fabrication. Juventus are the most disgusting piece of trash on earth. They have single handedly ruined what was once the greatest league on earth, first by tainting performance on the pitch by taking EPO, and then off-it with match-fixing and pre-selecting referees they liked. Because of their selfish actions, now the whole league is going down the can. I guess like how Rangers' cheating and illegal salary payment system has now put the nail in the coffin of the Scottish Premier League.

There is a saying in Italy...you should never run over a Juve supporter on a bike, because it is probably your bike. And that's the real root of the reason why this has happened.

Basically, this transfer is a sad reflection on the state of Serie A. We can't afford to keep our star players anymore. Look at Miguel Veloso, he had a good campaign in Euro 2012, and usually when a player has a good Euros or World Cup, they will move to a bigger club. He was at Genoa, a very respectable club with lots of top flight history - they have won nine Scudetti, the fourth highest in Italy. But, just recently he moved from there to Dynamo Kyiv. FREAKING KIEV. How did things get so bad that now Serie A is losing players to UKRAIKE AND RUSSIA?!

This is a total joke...I am mad at this transfer...so just imagine how betrayed the AC Milan fans must feel.

[eytl]

Go Central Coast Mariners! (And maybe, from next season, go the Western Sydney Wanderers as well!)

Oh wait, no-one here gives a toss about the A-League.

P.S. If only there was an F1 equivalent of the Ali Dia story ...

[Klon]

P.S. If only there was an F1 equivalent of the Ali Dia story ...

Well, after having looked up the guy we could have had one if Michael Schumacher would have absolutely choked his debut weekend in Spa and never gotten another chance since Weber lying to Jordan about Schumi's Spa knowledge boils down to a similar story.

[Ferrarist]

Those "investors" are such a pain in the ass that we in Germany have to be grateful that we have "just" Dietmar Hopp. Although Red Bull...I mean "RasenBallSport" (Because the DFB didn't allow RB to stand for "Red Bull") Leipzig is...not coming up, because they missed promotion into 3rd League for a second year in a row. Way to go RasenBallSport.

[Londoner]

Rangers are to be dumped into the Scottish Third Division. So that's basically guaranteed Celtic the SPL title for at least the next 3 seasons, and the once-unlikely match-up of Rangers vs East Stirling.

[Warren Hughes]

Stranraer's proposal seemed the fairest to me - that other non-league clubs were invited to bid for the spot vacated by old Rangers, alongside the newco. Then the vote would have been on which club to admit to the 3rd division. Isn't that more or less what happened when Gretna went under?

[FullMetalJack]

Re your signature; Stoke City have fans?

Yeah, they all thought they were original by 'Doing the Wenger'

[Nessafox]

Rangers are to be dumped into the Scottish Third Division. So that's basically guaranteed Celtic the SPL title for at least the next 3 seasons, and the once-unlikely match-up of Rangers vs East Stirling.

Not that unlikely, i once saw an official result where Glasgow Rangers played in the regional 1st division (that's 5th Belgian division), against Niewerkerken. However, it turned out this was a misspelling as it was actually Turkse Rangers...
Still, a funny mistake, and perhaps a writing on the wall

[Myrvold]

Go Central Coast Mariners! (And maybe, from next season, go the Western Sydney Wanderers as well!)

Oh wait, no-one here gives a toss about the A-League.

The A-League have quite strange rules for a European... With marquee players, guest players (max 10 games a season?), replacement players, max players, minimum players, residents here, residents there. Visa here, Visa there max salary cap...

And why the flying bananasplit is Australian Brett Emerton and International Marquee for Sydney? Shouldn't he be an Australian Marquee?

Though, the A-League have some interesting players. Brett Emerton, Shane Stefanutta, Adrian Leijer, Sergio Van Dijk, Patrick Zwaanswijk, Thomas Broich, Tiago Calvano (former Barca B player), Paul Ifill and Michael Bridges.

It is also a bit special that Wellington Phoenix isn't allowed to join the " asia champions league" because they are from New Zealand. But playing in Australia...

[DemocalypseNow]

Though, the A-League have some interesting players. Brett Emerton, Shane Stefanutta, Adrian Leijer, Sergio Van Dijk, Patrick Zwaanswijk, Thomas Broich, Tiago Calvano (former Barca B player), Paul Ifill and Michael Bridges.

That list is so devoid of talent, that it bored me enough for me to slip into a coma.

The only player I've ever take notice of in A-League is Broich. Oh, and Kevin Muscat. Because every league needs a Joey Barton...

[David AGS]

Go Central Coast Mariners! (And maybe, from next season, go the Western Sydney Wanderers as well!)

Oh wait, no-one here gives a toss about the A-League.

P.S. If only there was an F1 equivalent of the Ali Dia story ...

Hey, I do. Im a Victory fan. Although we have got a good squad, im not predicting anything yet. I was very confident last season, but look how that turned out to be.

Your GK Matty Ryan having a trial at Tottenham. Hes a gun!

Myrvold, correct, its a bit confusing. Each club is allowed two marquee players. 1 for a big name player and another for an Australian player. For instance, last season Melbourne Victory had Carlos Hernandez as International (Costa Rican International), and Harry Kewell. The rest of the squad is to be paid in the cap.

Outside of that, you are allowed a 'guest' player, for a maximum of 10 weeks. This has faded out a little. This is paid outside the gap as well.

BTW, Loved Kevin Muscat, first of all, has Maltese backround (like myself!), has a bit of mongrel and aggression. Probably during his playing time the best penalty taker in World football. Big call, but he very rarely missed. Good player, but will always be known for his agro, that tackle on Zahra (another Maltese!) was bad and nasty.

[tommykl]

My local team: Royal Sprimont Comblain Sport: the end result of endless mergers between Oneux, Sprimont, Comblain and Poulseur. The team's peak was 9 seasons in division 3 from 2000 to 2008. Since then, they've always been around in the top 5 until last year, when they finished 8th in Promotion D (4th division).

The reason I like Everton is quite stupid, really. When I lived in Malaysia, I was about 9 years old and very easily influenced. My best friend was Australian, and particularly fond of Tim Cahill. Having been a Man Utd 'fan' until then, and already rooting for the underdog (in everyone's mind, every team outside the big 4 sucked), I was instantly hooked to the team, and my fandom was reinforced when I learned that a) they're still the fourth most successful team in England history and b) Marouane Fellaini signed for them.

[Myrvold]

That list is so devoid of talent, that it bored me enough for me to slip into a coma.

The only player I've ever take notice of in A-League is Broich. Oh, and Kevin Muscat. Because every league needs a Joey Barton...

Never said it was players with huuuuge talent. I just like those players! For different reason. Leijer is a former Fulham player, Stefanutto have been in two Norwegian clubs. Van Dijk was a typical player I got to Volendam in some Football Manager games. etc. etc.

Myrvold, correct, its a bit confusing. Each club is allowed two marquee players. 1 for a big name player and another for an Australian player. For instance, last season Melbourne Victory had Carlos Hernandez as International (Costa Rican International), and Harry Kewell. The rest of the squad is to be paid in the cap.

But, then, why is Brett Emerton an "international marquee" when he is Australian?

[AdrianSutil]

Stranraer's proposal seemed the fairest to me - that other non-league clubs were invited to bid for the spot vacated by old Rangers, alongside the newco. Then the vote would have been on which club to admit to the 3rd division. Isn't that more or less what happened when Gretna went under?

Slightly different for Gretna, I was an armchair fan so I knew a bit.

After Millionaire Gretna Chairman Brooks Mileson fell seriously ill after the beginning of their SPL season, he immediately withdrew all his money from the club. The high wage bill, travelling costs and poor attendance (they were playing at Motherwell's Fir Park becuase Raydale Park was only a 2'200 seater), spiralled out of control. They took the 10-point deduction which confirmed relegation and administration.
The club were immediately placed in the third division AFTER Gretna said they could not fulfill their fixtures in the First Division. The only vote about Gretna was after the club effectively folded and there needed to be a new team in the third division, which went to Annan Athletic. It's a pretty fascinating read:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gretna_fc#_

[DemocalypseNow]

Isn't it sad that the only time that anyone outside of Scotland talks about the SPL is when one of the most successful Scottish teams of all time goes under?

Our league is an absolute joke. It can rot in hell for all I care. The SFA & SFL's pro-newco agenda can piss off. I don't want that infectious vile organisation anywhere near Scottish football. Who do they think they are, that they can just stroll up to the SFL and comandeer a place in league football? YOU F****D UP! Just because you once won a bunch of trophies (with a fair amount of those whilst breaking the law) doesn't give you the right to just waltz up to Hampden and demand a place in the SPL or SFL. If one of the other current non-league clubs offered a better proposal they should have been given a chance, which they clearly were not.

So basically, bathplug the SFL, bathplug the SFA, bathplug Rangers and bathplug Charles Green. You lot can all die in a bathplugging fire.

[AdrianSutil]

So where are Rangers now? And who takes the 12th spot?

[DemocalypseNow]

So where are Rangers now? And who takes the 12th spot?

SFL Division Three & no idea. Dunfermline has precedence on their side, yet SFA and SPL seem to think it should be Dundee, who finished 2nd in Div1, should take the vacant Club 12 spot. That has yet to be confirmed.

[AdrianSutil]

So where are Rangers now? And who takes the 12th spot?

SFL Division Three & no idea. Dunfermline has precedence on their side, yet SFA and SPL seem to think it should be Dundee, who finished 2nd in Div1, should take the vacant Club 12 spot. That has yet to be confirmed.

Rangers in Division Three

[RealRacingRoots]

So where are Rangers now? And who takes the 12th spot?

SFL Division Three & no idea. Dunfermline has precedence on their side, yet SFA and SPL seem to think it should be Dundee, who finished 2nd in Div1, should take the vacant Club 12 spot. That has yet to be confirmed.

Rangers in Division Three

Actually, I'm going to be really fascinated by the "New Rangers" and seeing how they will progress back to the SPL over the next few years.

[David AGS]

Myrvold, correct, its a bit confusing. Each club is allowed two marquee players. 1 for a big name player and another for an Australian player. For instance, last season Melbourne Victory had Carlos Hernandez as International (Costa Rican International), and Harry Kewell. The rest of the squad is to be paid in the cap.

But, then, why is Brett Emerton an "international marquee" when he is Australian?

Some clubs do take the option of using the International Marquee spot on an Australian International, You dont have to get an International on board! So in their case, they have Emerton and attacking midfielder Nicky Carle, who played in Turkey, then to Bristol City and Crystal Palace.

Bit confusing.

On the SPL, its fair to say Celtic will be champions for the next four years or so! I dont think it will happen, but it will be interesting if Celtic are in the EPL. If it happed, I still think they will be a mid table with an outside chance for a Europa League spot.

[AdrianSutil]

I assume Rangers will have released or sold all their players by now?

The interesting thing about the SPL is who will finish 2nd now and get into the CL

[DemocalypseNow]

I assume Rangers will have released or sold all their players by now?

The interesting thing about the SPL is who will finish 2nd now and get into the CL

Motherwell, Hearts, or Dundee United. No-one else. And because of the UEFA co-efficient, they'll lose their second CL place soon enough...

[shinji]

On the SPL, its fair to say Celtic will be champions for the next four years or so! I dont think it will happen, but it will be interesting if Celtic are in the EPL. If it happed, I still think they will be a mid table with an outside chance for a Europa League spot.

Maybe 10 years ago. They'd be Championship standard now I'd say, or Wigan-standard at the very best.

[FullMetalJack]

On the SPL, its fair to say Celtic will be champions for the next four years or so! I dont think it will happen, but it will be interesting if Celtic are in the EPL. If it happed, I still think they will be a mid table with an outside chance for a Europa League spot.

Maybe 10 years ago. They'd be Championship standard now I'd say, or Wigan-standard at the very best.

Would they be like Wigan in the sense that everyone wants them to just bathplug off from the Premier League?

[Ataxia]

On the SPL, its fair to say Celtic will be champions for the next four years or so! I dont think it will happen, but it will be interesting if Celtic are in the EPL. If it happed, I still think they will be a mid table with an outside chance for a Europa League spot.

Maybe 10 years ago. They'd be Championship standard now I'd say, or Wigan-standard at the very best.

Would they be like Wigan in the sense that everyone wants them to just bathplug off from the Premier League?

When Roberto Martinez eventually leaves, Wigan will go down. However, he's FAR too loyal...

I could imagine that Celtic would definitely hold their own in the PL if they ever got moved down there. But only if they got Martin O'Neill back...

[DemocalypseNow]

Wigan is basically how Celtic would do if they moved to the Premier League. Look at all the ex-SPL players they've got...

Fraser Fyvie (signed TODAY from Aberdeen!!)
James McCarthy
Gary Caldwell
Shaun Maloney
James McArthur
Conor Sammon
Daniel Redmond

Celtic have a few players who could cut it at Premier League level, but many that wouldn't. Emilio Izaguirre, Scott Brown, James Forrest and Victor Wanyama would be up to it. The rest, I'm not so sure. Hooper has scored for fun at times, but against really crap defenses, not so sure he'd do as well against the more organised English defense.

[David AGS]

I guess you are all correct in a way.

At Celtic, Samaras was a okay player with City, not spectacular. Stokes was an Arsenal trainee who played well in Championship but struggled in the EPL with Sunderland, and Hooper was a good player with Scunthorpe who were a lower side in the Championship. The trio of ex Cardiff players can all play too in Ledley, Matthews and Loovens.

The late 90's early 2000s Celtic side would have done well IMO.

A young Petrov, Bobo Balde, Lambert, Larsson, Rab Douglas, McNamara, Thomson, Viduka etc.

[QuickYoda41]

I guess you are all correct in a way.

At Celtic, Samaras was a okay player with City, not spectacular. Stokes was an Arsenal trainee who played well in Championship but struggled in the EPL with Sunderland, and Hooper was a good player with Scunthorpe who were a lower side in the Championship. The trio of ex Cardiff players can all play too in Ledley, Matthews and Loovens.

The late 90's early 2000s Celtic side would have done well IMO.

A young Petrov, Bobo Balde, Lambert, Larsson, Rab Douglas, McNamara, Thomson, Viduka etc.

Poor Stilian

I agree with you and the 2003 UEFA Cup final also speaks for that team.

[AdrianSutil]

I guess you are all correct in a way.

At Celtic, Samaras was a okay player with City, not spectacular. Stokes was an Arsenal trainee who played well in Championship but struggled in the EPL with Sunderland, and Hooper was a good player with Scunthorpe who were a lower side in the Championship. The trio of ex Cardiff players can all play too in Ledley, Matthews and Loovens.

The late 90's early 2000s Celtic side would have done well IMO.

A young Petrov, Bobo Balde, Lambert, Larsson, Rab Douglas, McNamara, Thomson, Viduka etc.

Poor Stilian

I agree with you and the 2003 UEFA Cup final also speaks for that team.

What is it Petrov has? Leaukemia?

[QuickYoda41]

Yes, he has leukaemia.

[FullMetalJack]

Yes, he has leukaemia.

It's such a shame, I was very saddened to hear that, nobody deserves to get leukaemia.

In all honesty, i'm surprised none of our fans took the piss, because some of them in all honesty are twats.

[David AGS]

Football/Soccer fans are known for their thugs, and their violence etc,

but all fans always have respect for past players, and or recently deceased club legends, or players in need (see below)

The applaud that goes up by both sets of fans are always forgotten. When they have a minute silence, it is a minute and you could hear a pin drop.

In our Aussie Rules, you can guarantee a drunken yobbo will be saying something inappropriate during the national anthem for instance.

So, with this I can remember last season, all the fans started to chant Petrov's name, as when the time clicked over to his playing number, and chantes got louder when he came out of the box and gave everyone a round of applause.

[FullMetalJack]

Football/Soccer fans are known for their thugs, and their violence etc,

I know, but I hate how all football fans are stereotyped in that way.

[takagi_for_the_win]

Yes, he has leukaemia.

It's such a shame, I was very saddened to hear that, nobody deserves to get leukaemia.

In all honesty, i'm surprised none of our fans took the piss, because some of them in all honesty are twats.

Didn't a banner appear in one of the stadiums bearing the slogan "Petrov- 19 days left to live" ?

[FullMetalJack]

Yes, he has leukaemia.

It's such a shame, I was very saddened to hear that, nobody deserves to get leukaemia.

In all honesty, i'm surprised none of our fans took the piss, because some of them in all honesty are twats.

Didn't a banner appear in one of the stadiums bearing the slogan "Petrov- 19 days left to live" ?

That was Hearts.

[AdrianSutil]

That's just disgusting.

I remember the crowd's reactions when Fabrice Muamba collapsed at White Hart Lane last season. Evryone stood up and applauded him when he was taken from the pitch. Not one person did, or said, anything in poor taste.

Sadly, a few knobtwats on Twitter put messages up for his death a few hours later. So not everyone was respectful.

[DemocalypseNow]

Didn't a banner appear in one of the stadiums bearing the slogan "Petrov- 19 days left to live" ?

That was Hearts.

And this is why I prefer the green half of Edinburgh. Hearts are a bunch of knobs. That banner was made by the Broomhouse Loyals ultras, who are Rangers sympathisers. So you can see the motivation they had for doing it.

As for their owner...I have no words for that mentally unstable wacko...

[FullMetalJack]

And this is why I prefer the green half of Edinburgh. Hearts are a bunch of knobs.

I agreed as soon as I found out it was Hearts, although I was slightly favourable to Hibs beforehand as we signed David Murphy from them.

[dinizintheoven]

I wouldn't usually chip in on this thread, but what does one of my local teams (i.e. Notts County) have to do with possible F1 rejectdom? The answer - Qadbak Investments, who nearly bought Sauber after BMW pulled out, and would have driven them into the ground within the course of the 2010 season... or maybe even before it had started. Notts County, the oldest club in the Football League, were well and truly dragged into the Qadbak quicksand, and were very lucky to survive.

Football/Soccer fans are known for their thugs, and their violence etc,
but all fans always have respect for past players, and or recently deceased club legends, or players in need (see below)
The applaud that goes up by both sets of fans are always forgotten. When they have a minute silence, it is a minute and you could hear a pin drop.

And so it was at Meadow Lane when Notts County played their first match after Brian Clough had died. Immense respect for a manager who had taken two provincial and hardly-glamorous clubs to major honours, even though one of those clubs was only just on the other side of the Trent and County's deadliest rivals.

It's a bloody shame, and I just can't see where it's going to end at this rate. We've had Wimbledon, Leeds, Bradford, Leicester have never been the same since they finally disappeared from the Premier League, and I'm concerned for Blackburn too. I mean look at Rangers in Scotland, that's a right old mess. It's all getting rather silly and I know it will come to a head at some point in the future, but how many more clubs need to be ruined before that happens? It's unsustainable and something needs to be done.

Nobody in the whole of the English football setup will do anything to avoid further clubs being wrecked until the only one left standing is Manchester United, because they're the only club that matters, don't you know. He said, sarcastically.

And so, on that note, I will now spin a sort-of-Perry McCarthy Forum story, involving a particularly rejectful team who you've never heard of. A friend of mine at school, many millennia ago, was very fond of Sensible World Of Soccer 1995-96, and particularly its management option. His favourite trick was to manage Manchester United, and exchange all their players with that of a rejectful foreign team of his choosing. All the Manchester United players found themselves given free transfers to the rejectful club, with all their players having over-the-odds sums paid to bring them to Old Trafford.

The best one of these was trading the players with Once Lobos, the worst team in the entire game. For some unknown reason, the El Salvador league had three divisions represented where even some European leagues only had their top division available, and Once Lobos inevitably finished bottom of the El Salvador Third Division every simulated season. Cue the transfer market... suddenly, Once Lobos had the likes of Peter Schmeichel, Roy Keane and Eric Cantona playing for them, whereas the best that Manchester United now had on the pitch was "star striker" Israel Alvarez, the only one of the former Once Lobos players to be rated at more than one star out of five (he had a massive one and a half). After thrre seasons, Once Lobos were El Salvador's champions with an untouchable record; after four seasons, Manchester United were bottom of the Third Division (the fourth grade at the time) and were only spared relegation to the Conference because SWOS 95-96 didn't have the Conference programmed in.

I look at this simulation, and I can continuously dream that it will happen one day. Even so, a bit of the truth is stranger than fiction; Once Lobos were promoted to the El Salvador Second Division in 1995, presumably with the same players that were in the team's line-up in SWOS 95-96 (which was programmed during the 1994-95 season and the teams on offer in the game were placed in the leagues they were in that season, rather than what they would have been in after promotion/relegation in mid-1995). They were promoted again to the First Division in 2004, but dropped straight back down. And, they're the oldest club in the El Salvador League, so the article says, which makes them El Salvador's equivalent of Notts County, bringing us right back round to the beginning of the post!

[DemocalypseNow]

Sometimes I wonder if Marouane Fellaini's favourite band is Queens of the Stone Age.