El Zen

I was meant to be over for the Palace game, but couldn’t afford to fork out the total cost for plane tickets, hotels etc. That’s something I’d normally be able to do at least twice a year, but now I wasn’t even close to being able to cover the cost without dipping into my savings. 

Made it uncomfortable, but for long periods we played them off the pitch. Deserved to win. 

On 05/09/2023 at 18:44, blandy said:

Do you think it’s just England, or everywhere?  To me it seems like it’s just here. World Cups and stuff it’s been fine, or at least has been better than with no VAR.

Everywhere. I hate it. Absolutely hate it. 

Congrats, @StefanAVFC. So happy for you, mate. 

The more serious I get with my new GF, the more I realise I’m gonna have to do all of this again. Or rather, I get more and more certain that I want to do all of this again. Crazy. 

15 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

Offside should be offside - the way to fix the rule is to simply get rid of the whole interpretative idea of whether a player is active - declare every player as active, all the time, and offside becomes very simple.

 

I’m not sure I’d want a 25 yard screamer in to the top corner being called offside because of a player being off out by the corner flag. 

But broadly speaking, I agree, if you’re close to the ball, you’re active. 

This used to work just fine with very little cunfusion. What an absolute mess we’ve made of this game. 

1 hour ago, Mic09 said:

The handball rule was a problem long before VAR - VAR hasn't caused the problem, nor has it fixed it in some cases. In others, it's worked well.

As for offside, we need the automated offside like in the world cup or the CL. I don't know why they are still drawing lines.

I’d argue it has made it worse through still frame photos and slo-mo, where you can find «handball violations» out of context. 

And the problem with the offside rule isn’t so much the lines, as how we’ve suddenly redifined the whole rule to protect the refs, to the point where nobody understands the rules anymore. Not even the refs.

1 hour ago, Stevo985 said:

Yes. Not saying VAR is perfect elsewhere, it has it's problems everywhere

But we definitely do it the worst. 

Hah! Try Norway

5 hours ago, The_Rev said:

 

Welcome to the internet! 

Wait. This is the internet? I’m disappointed. I thought the internet would have lots of naked women, instead all I get is moaning and fish puns? 

13 hours ago, wedge said:

I didn't say anything about conditions, we're talking about being able to bring flags/two-poles/banners/drums etc into the stadium, why would we want to make it easy for visiting fans to create a good atmosphere?

Because I want to have the best possible conditions to create a good atmosphere when I’m a travelling supporter, and because I want as much atmosphere in the stadium as possible. It’s much more fun to sing against an away stand in full voice, it makes me up my own game. I firmly support fans’ right to support their team as best they can, and giving them the best possible conditions to do so, home and away. That solidarity needs to exist across alliegiences. 

Ultras liberi. 

20 minutes ago, wedge said:

Villa don't have drums but we have plenty of two-poles (most courtesy of Project B6) and like you say plenty of flags and banners every  home game, but don't be aghast at not letting the away team's fans be able to create an atmosphere!! 

Travelling fans should have the best conditions possible. It’s what we would want when we travel. 

5 minutes ago, limpid said:

I think only flags (without poles) are allowed at any ground. I was surprised they were allowed in Scotland.

Several clubs have drums in England now. I’m sure I’ve seen two-poles too. And no banners allowed? Why? 

Is this true? If it is, it’s a complete embarrasment. 

12 hours ago, Mic09 said:

If you record a video your kid falling, and your Mrs says they tripped and you say they fell over a toy car, is the video replay at fault?

Or an incorrect interpretation of one of you wrong? 

There is nothing wrong with a video replay. The referee interpretation is crap. 

Everything is wrong with video refereeing in football. It would be shite even if it worked perfectly, and it doesn’t even work at all. What it takes away in terms of spontaneity is enough to bin it for me, but the pragmatic argument is that it can’t possibly work the way its proponents idealise, because football refereeing will always be subject to human error and subjective interpretation. Always. 

VAR makes football worse. Far worse. I want it sent straight to room 101 where it belongs. 

1 hour ago, Mic09 said:

Scrap what, Dean? Because he is at fault. 

Scrap VAR. 

Scrap it, scrap it, scrap it. 

STFU and take my money. I love it.

I hate to come across as a fairweather fan, but I just can’t find the will to watch the Yankees this season. Such an unexciting team to watch, such a poorly constructed line up. No World Series since 2009, Brian (Cashman, GM,) it’s time to go (and it has been for a long time.) 

35 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

I reckon we’re favourites to go through now

As legendary Norway manager Egil Olsen would always say, I reckon we have a fair chance. 

Too easy this Europe lark, innit? 

8 minutes ago, Rds1983 said:

But have you ever drunk Guinness - Cold Brew Coffee Beer at a gig?

That I have not. Sounds like it would make for a rather unpleasant beer shower. 

5 hours ago, luckyeddie said:

I have never

Drank coffee

Drank Guinness

Been to a music gig

Literally three of my favourite things in the whole world, that. 

I can teach history so the surviving population remembers life before the apocalypse. 

I can make simple wooden constructions, like a flower beed or a pretty dope treehouse. 

I can make relatively poor attempts at humour, poetry and literature. 

I can make babies. 

On 28/07/2023 at 17:15, Rds1983 said:

- AC Milan won the 93/94 Serie A by only scoring 36 goals.

AIK won the Swedish league in 1998 scoring 25 in 26 games.