sharkyvilla

It should be a great final. I much prefer to watch this than another classico, as much as I enjoy watching Barca play. Still can't believe they contrived to lose, mind. Great performance by Chelsea.

Maybe he sliced a few clearances, but that's the price they are willing to pay to have a goalkeeper who is such a good footballer, which Valdes undoubtedly is.

That's the crux of it, really. Valdés could probably afford to be a worse shot-stopper then he actually is and they'd still persevere with him, as his ability on the ball and general distribution suits the team's setup and approach perfectly.

I'm pretty sure that's why Fergie plumped for De Gea as his long-term keeper. He saw how far behind Barca Man Utd were in the final last year and how important even having a footballing goalkeeper is to the way they play and he wanted the same. I like Valdes (btw that Drogba shot was pretty vicious and Valdes had quite a lot of ground to make up so he had to dive imo) and it only highlights how scary the depth of talent in just about every position Spain have that he barely gets a look in.

It's Pep's weird tactics that have given themselves more problems than they really should have. Why when he had the perfect system in place did he feel the need to change it this season?

case of too many cooks, he has perfect system and club signed Fabregas and had to find a spot for him but couldnt drop Busquets, Alves, Xavi or Iniesta.

True. Thiago's progress has been hampered by Fabregas's signing. I would have thought it would be better to develop him by bringing him in and out of the side when Xavi or Iniesta needed resting and then bring Cesc in in a couple of years time when his Arsenal deal was down to its last couple of seasons (I think he still had 4 years on his contract when he signed for Barca) to replace Xavi. Either way I think no other manager than Jose would have won the league for Real ahead of even this Barca side so I have to credit him as much as I dislike his football.

Gabby started the season great which suggests to me that he still has it, albeit he does have his limitations, but he has been dragged down like the rest of the club by McLeish and Houllier. You can guarantee that if he went to Sunderland he would play out of his skin for O'Neill, just like most players do. We just need to get some positivity back into the club starting with the right manager, not just for Gabby's sake but basically every other player we've got.

I thought Puyol was brilliant against Chelsea the other night. It's Pep's weird tactics that have given themselves more problems than they really should have. Why when he had the perfect system in place did he feel the need to change it this season? Still even the greatest managers get things wrong from time to time. Great post by the way Pride of Brum.

Yup spot on. Another weird selection from Guardiola. Cost them a few points this season.

What's this about Bent and Gabby not getting on? Any proof or is this just rumors?

it's garbage. they get on fine. Gabby does not like being out wide which is why he is keen on a move

Well if he put the **** ball in the net when he DID have the chance through the middle maybe he wouldn't be stuck out wide.

I think when he started the season strongly it was starting up front and scaring the shit out of defenders with his runs in the channels. By pulling defenders out of position it frees up Bent to make his runs in the box and put it in the back of the net. When McLeish's negative 4-5-1 really took hold Gabby ended up getting more marginalised and he just hasn't got the intelligence to make it as a winger. Gabby is just one of many who have suffered under McLeish's guidance.

I wish people would stop moaning. It's still entertaining and gets belly laughs out of me a few times an episode. The right person went on this task but he was clearly quite strong so it's a shock to see them go.

To be fair the spirit (hate that word but screw it) between the two sides was great. Drogba was a tit but it had a role in giving Chelsea a breather every now and then, he wasn't trying to get anyone booked. It was also nice that they did it without kicking lumps out of Barca, something hopefully Jose can learn from for Saturday.

Cracking game that. Chelsea were utterly brilliant but still could have got raped so they were lucky but fully deserved it. Terry and Cahill were top notch. I think having Iniesta out left was a bit of a waste as he and Xavi together would have increased the tempo at the right times meaning Messi wouldn't have had to spend so much time on the half-way line. Fabregas was a bit shit in truth so didn't really deserve starting in the middle instead of Iniesta anyway. I fancy Chelsea to score at the Nou Camp so would put them slight favourites as I find it hard to see Chelsea shipping 3.

I think the Chelsea-Barca game will be quite tight. Unlike Utd in the final last year where Sir Alex mentally put Giggs and Carrick up against Xavi, Busquets and Iniesta, Chelsea are quite strong in the middle of the park and have Mata and Drogba who can create something out of nothing. I haven't seen enough of Bayern this season but I would still back Real against anyone other than Barca.

I'd try to get rid of both from our wage bill, they've let the club down too often imo. Jeffrey Bruma is one that interests me alongside Clark or Baker. Maybe a bit too green to go into a season as a centre-half partnership though.

For me a lot of Ronadlo hate/criticism started in 2006 World Cup. If he didnt do the wink he get a lot more praise from media

He wasn't exactly Mr Popular before that though with his diving. I think Ronaldo thrives on the need to be disliked and show he's the best thing since sliced cheese (and know it) unlike Messi who seems to not really care that much either way. He is a truly great player though. Question, do people think Ronaldo's better than Maradona?

Did you lot know that countries such as Japan and Korea have a MUCH lower rate of colon cancer compared to the western world?

It's because they shit standing up and that it's healthier for the bowels. IIRC pooing like that doesn't congest your bowels and cause traffic up insider der. Somethin like that.

That just sounds undignified to me. Also, one would assume that the chance of making a mess were higher. Imagine standing for a curry or Guinness shit, carnage.

Yeah I desperately needed a shit so much when backpacking in Australia I didn't have time to take off my backpack so had to stand and try and get it in, ended up with some on my flipflop. Not great.

There is one downside to wiping standing up which I was just recently reminded of (and hence why I resurrect this thread, one of the greatest in the annals of OT).

When you combine this with being a single guy, and thus not bothering to install the bog roll into a dispensing apparatus but instead just letting the roll sit atop the toilet or a nearby shelf, it occasionally transpires that the roll gets dropped into the dirty water, thereby rendering a roll useless.

This is an event that doesn't happen often enough to make any effort to avoid it worthwhile, but it is most annoying.

My flat has a great bathroom but it has no towel or bog roll rails so the exact same thing happened to me not long ago. I have tried sitting down and wiping but my anus feels a bit too exposed and I'm scared of getting shit halfway up my forearm. So I just stand up and do it.

Madrid will still win the Spanish league.

It would be hilarious if they didn't though

Is 'lady Dane' Brody's wife? She is a hotty!

Saul's the terrorist. He is dodgy as hell.

Agreed Brody's wife is top notch. Also agree about Saul, he sort of failed the lie detector didn't he before walking out but the next day when asked the same question there was no shake on the graph, before Brody was able to lie through it.

Since then we've haemmorhaged money because O'Neill got such poor value.

What about £12 million paid out to MoN and houllier?

Money paid to blues as compensation?

Pay rise to Mcleish?

Why are the browns shit? Is that MoN's fault as well?

Correct me if I'm wrong but the Browns have always been shit, and Cleveland is a shithole that probably doesn't even deserve and NFL franchise. I have no idea why O'Neill got compo, Houllier was a little unfortunate. Why he went for McLeish I have no idea and I said up until that he made some decent decisions. It's the wages of the players that we can't shift and don't use (O'Neill even didn't bother using some of them) that has done the most damage.

I bet McLeish is shitting himself at the moment. If he were to lead two Midlands clubs to two consecutive relegations, his CV isn't going to look too clever, and I bet there aren't many owners who are as dense as Lerner and employ him again.

his cv looked shit before we appointed him

relegated with hibs

took motherwell from 2nd into 2 relegation battles

3rd with rangers

longest ever winless streak with rangers in spl

longest ever losing streak in old frim derbies

relegated with birmingham twice

That is just such a stupidly distorted summary of his career, I really don't know why people bother to post stuff like this.

Because people read it and take it at face value. It doesn't matter how many times people list his successes, he is so widely hated that it makes no difference at all.

If we go down - I think itll be this season rather than next. If mcleish has the chance to do what he wants then we'll be marginally better next season I think. If he is kept and isnt backed in the summer, then we are **** - and then I'll have issues with Lerner.

I dont really give a **** if im not in the 'cool' kids club on here, trent.

Cool kids?

It has nothing to do with being 'cool' and everything to do with having some common sense and the ability to see that Lerner has made far more mistakes than just appointing McLeish.

You are perfectly entitled to your opinion but I just think you will struggle to find anyone who shares it.

I agree with lexicon's sentiment, although I do think Lerner has made mistakes beyond hiring McLeish. However, I think some of the criticism of Lerner on here is completely over the top. Particularly as I think everyone is actually fully aware of the reality of what has panned out over the last few years.

Lerner threw money at MON with the hope the he would achieve Champion's League football and change the commercial fortunes of the club. As MON came close year on year, Lerner continued to throw money at him until, having failed for the third year to make it, he was forced to begin a process of rartionalisation (especially with the financial fair play rules looming) with the hope of bringing the kids through before perhaps having another crack.

We're now a couple of years into that process. Lerner was sold on the idea that Houllier had a track record of bringing youngsters through and a fantastic scouting network with which to supplement our own promising youngsters. I still believe that if Houllier hadn't fallen ill, had a full close season, and had been able to bring more of his own players in, we would be starting to see progress. It wasn't to be. Was it a mistake to hire McLeish - possibly, or perhaps, given the limited number of managers willing to take on the role, he was the best of a bad bunch.

For me, much as I loved him, MON made far more mistakes than Lerner. Perhaps Lerner's biggest mistake beyond hiring McLeish was putting so much trust in MON. People have been through it many times before on here, but some of the contracts MON signed squad players on were criminal. He failed to make the correct signings at crucial times and worse of all, when the cash dried up he spat his dummy out and **** off.

Totally agree with this post. I too loved O'Neill but sadly at none of the clubs he has managed has he left a decent legacy and we have been probably left with the worst of the lot. Randy just couldn't afford to bankroll O'Neill without actually getting into the Champions League as he isn't rich enough. Since then we've haemmorhaged money because O'Neill got such poor value. Up until he appointed McLeish which was always a disaster waiting to happen I think Lerner made pretty decent calls, some of them quite hard ones to make. I'd love us to get rid of McLeish in the summer, get rid of the deadwood and get David Dein in with a manager well versed in 21st century football with a reasonable transfer kitty. It probably won't happen though.

Can't recall the last time Barca had a player wrongly sent off?

But yeah, there's always going to be one team that gets more decision there way than another team. To say otherwise is to say that either refs are all perfect or that decisions perfectly balance out - neither are true.

Thiago's sending off last week was wrong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cleSnyEHN6c

They were only 1-0 up at the time but got on with it and won 2-0

I love cricket as much as football tbh. Snooker I've loved since I was small and I quite like watching rugby league players batter each other all night long. Not too arsed about rugby union, a bit too technical for my small brain.

I would love to have heard the final line-up of Oasis with Liam's vocals of 94-98. Chris Sharrock is a beast on drums and the wall of noise from Gem, Noel and Andy was quality, shame Liam's voice went downhill.

As captains go he has been excellent for us when there's been all sorts of division in the dressing room and mess on and off the field. Wish him all the best for a full and speedy recovery.

Well said Mazrim.

You hate a manager who saw us winning games and challenging top 4. You loved a manager who saw us losing games and fighting relegation. You now hate a manager for doing exactly the same.

It's very strange.

Actually, I used to quite like MON before he threw his toys out of the pram five days before the start of a new season. Like some on here I used to think he was the messiah but after he left I realised that the legacy he left behind wasn't all that great. I also realised that he spent a lot of money and that the job he did while decent, wasn't the sutff of miracles like people make out.

I never loved Houllier. I really don't know where you get this from. As always, putting words into my mouth.

Yes, I do hate McLeish, but it's more than a bit unfair to lump the two together. Overall McLeish has been working under easier circumstances. Also with McLeish, there have never really been any good signs where as with Houllier there were at least some. The most important point at all is McLeish's negative attitude. I know we'd sometimes surrender before the game had even started under Houllier but we seem to be doing this way more often under McLeish. Even the games we don't surrender we still don't put up much of a fight. We never dominate teams. We play the worst football I've ever seen.

Of course, this will probably all go over your head and you'll accuse me of loving Houllier and being hypocritical for hating McLeish in a couple of weeks time.

How is it that if you didn't hate Houllier you must have loved him?

God knows. I criticised Houllier a number of times and have said on multiple occasions that whatever the circumstances we shouldn't have been in a relegation battle.

I don't see how McLeish has been working under easier circumstances. OK Houllier didn't get the preseason but he had Downing and Young plus £30m to spend in January. McLeish came in with Downing and Young getting sold and less than £20m to spend plus the hatred of 90% of our own fans to contend with. He has been shit but Houllier was shitter imo.