Ron Burgundy

heres some of vincents best work

Ha Yes Vinnie! i reckon hes hard both on and off the pitch

I was talking with my mate last night after watching this:

And we were arguing about who is the hardest footballer – not necessarily on the field but off it.

I reckon Duncan Ferguson (6tf 4) would batter Ibra (6ft 5), even though I’m sure I read somewhere that Ibra was well trained in Taekwondo. In fact I reckon John Hartson might even give Ibra a pasting too.

I love this clip, Duncan Disorderly owns Ince:

And this:

I also love this because I reckon Shearer would batter Keane
– Shearer doesn’t budge:
 

I also thought of a list of footballers who might be consider
hard but their either just dirty or have short fuse:

Keane, Muscat, Barton

This probably isn’t the thread for this but….

Last night’s game between WHU and Spuds reminded me so much of when we played Everton away under O’Neill and won 2-3 in the last minute (A Young last min winner).
 

I bet last night Spuds fans felt just like we did that night, bouncing, chasing a CL spot, exiting players, last minute winner from a wonder kid, manager running onto the pitch afterwards ‘you’re a genius! genius!’.

Now look at us.

Bugger.
 

Thing is Spuds are going to kick on unlike us – no chance Bale will be going to Ci£y etc.
 

I can only hope that just like Spuds in the way they lost it under Ramos and almost got relegated that we will one day be the same and be back up there fighting at the top of the league.
 

Somehow doubt it though.
 

Bugger.

Standard negotiation tactics - nothing to be worried about unless we go down, then he will no doubt be off as he is way too good for the championship.

We are a tin pot two bob club now.
 

I absolutely detest the Thunderbirds countdown its so small
time and cheesey.

Now, at the risk of contradicting myself, theres a kind of operatic classical number that they play during some parts of Xfactor that would work quite well (usually during the start of the show intro when they have last weeks montage), its a bit the like the Champions League music but more pumped.

For some reason i think it might be Mars by Verdi or something, or Aida Triumphal March or someother poncey bollocks.
 

tbf Joe Bennett is a better defender than him....

 

 

said no one ever

hahaha

Wigan away - last game of the season is going to be the decider i think.. .. .. ..

Absolute quality yesterday I thought, hopes he keeps it up, if he was about a foot taller he could be the midfield daddy we need.

My opinion constantly changes about Lambo. From one perspective I think he will have worked a miracle if he keeps us up because the majority of the players are shite.

On the other hand he makes totally crazy tactical decisions that I just don’t get.

Which ones? They are all in use except for the one which was never completed (ends by Halfords) unless I am missing something.

 Mainly Duddeston - http://digbeth.org/digbeth/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/viaduct-poster-DiG.jpg

But i can see others on google earth i think.

Heres another article:

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/residents-group-pushes-ahead-with-plans-150820

im not sure if thats Duddeston or another branch

 

I'd like if you could elaborate on some of those points Ron. I'm especially curious about sweeping statements re: entire network needing upgrading to HS2 standards, all the rolling stock needing upgrading, branch lines and the fact that we cant engineer like the Victorians.  It's quite a lot more difficult to get shit done today because unlike Victorian times, a brown paper bag stuffed with a huge bribe is not how we do business any more despite what the public perception is. 

 

 

I don’t think I made my point properly.

 

Basically we need to think bigger.

 

The HS network is all well and good, but the rest of our network is poor.

 

Why can’t we have all mainlines made up the HS spec? (I know the cost would be enormous) but come on UK PLC lets go balls to the wall!

 

What can’t we re-open all redundant / derelict lines. I know the village I live in would benefit greatly.

 

My point about the Victorians was that they over-engineered everything. Look at Armstrong’s Tyne Bridge, Barlow’s work on the Manchester and Birmingham line, Bazalgette’s sewers, all of Brunel’s work, Greathead's work, Telford’s aqueduct,  I could go on.

 

My point is there buildings, bridges, tunnels etc. have lasted 100’s of years through change that could not have been anticipated. They have gone above and beyond what they were originally designed for.

 

Nowadays we embark on projects that have a shelf life of 30, 40 50 years max. We do things on a piecemeal basis rather than seeing the bigger picture.

 

If you work in an office look out of you window and look at how many buildings from the 60’s and 70’s are being torn down for new office blocks. I bet in 30 years they will be tearing them down again.

 

Wasteful, naïve, pointless.

 

I think the HS2 will be great for Brum but its small beer and we need to think bigger.

 

 

 

A few more questions with regards to your points:

 

Which HS network is good? Which parts are poor?  I cant really speak with any level of experience for the entire network and I've spent eight hours a day on trains for the last fifteen years.  The WCML seems pretty decent as far as I can tell. It's full to bursting south of Birmingham/Rugby, but it's fast and seems reliable enough.  The Great Western is being electrified, the East Coast seems busy, MML; busy. There are tons of others I cant speak for. How do you know?

 

Why cant we have all mainlines made up to this spec?  Because there are too many stations on them at the moment.  There are 11 stations between Birmingham & Coventry, it's barely 20 miles.  There are 14 stations between Birmingham & Leamington Spa on the Chiltern route to London. Again, it's barely 20 miles.   You get this in every major metropolitan area. You have to run stopping services between the express trains, stoppers slow expresses down no matter how cleverly you path the trains.   

 

It's also difficult to speed up existing lines much beyond 100-125mph even if there are plenty of trains which will go faster. The current signalling standards on existing lines is only deemed safe up to 125mph. There are literally hundreds of areas of track where the curvature of the line means trains cant go full speed over them. This wasnt a big deal when the lines were built and the very fastest trains were chuffing along at 60-70 mph and had to stop for water every hundred miles, but now trains would be capable of thundering along at 250mph forever (or at least until they run out of track) you need to build a line which allows them to do that on. It needs to be straight and it doesnt need a local station every three miles on it. 

 

You also need a good suburban railway. By and large I think we already have that. Certainly in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and a few other similarly sized places. Yes, they are overcrowded at peak hours but then so are the roads. Have you seen the A40 at 6pm? Sometimes you just have to suck it up. 

 

Why cant we re open all the old lines?  Well, and this is speaking as somebody who has a vested interest in the railways running, not all of them were worth it. A lot of them ceased to be relevant once the car was invented. There are plenty that were closed that never should have been (Great Central, Oxford - Cambridge, Stratford - Honeybourne are three I can think of off the top of my head, there are loads more) and some of them have been reopened, some of them are in the process of being rebuilt and some cannot be rebuild because the land they once occupied now has roads or buildings on top of it. 

 

The Victorian buildings point is an interesting one.  I love it. The stations were works of art, but some of the viaducts and tunnels they built in the mid 19th century were sensational including tons of stuff the public never gets to see. The Great Western Mainline between Paddington and Bristol is one of the greatest feats of engineering of all time, literally no compromise was taken in building that thing, but it was built at the height of the Empire when London was essentially the capital city of the world and we had more money than we knew what to do with and it didnt matter if a hundred blokes died during the construction of the job. Those days are long gone and they will never be coming back so we have to work to a budget these days, and health & safety has to be stuck to. 

Ignoring all of your points completely - do you know what might happen to the viaducts that spread out throuhgout Digbeth? Ive always wondered.

By the way I’m not Zoggy Bashing here - I’m saying that using stats to make a case for whether he is any good or not is a bit naïve. I think he’s improved a lot recently.

"Assists" is a bit misleading though.

You can beat 3 players and play a perfect cross right onto the foot of a striker who then falls on his arse and kicks the ball into the stands. That doesn't count as an assist. Meanwhile, you can have a defenders clearence bounce off the back of your head and into the path of a striker who scores and that does count.

I think the "chances created" is a much better way of looking at the contrabution of a midfielder.

Spot on mate

So setting up goals is useless?

 The majority of the time its simply a completed pass though.

Against Albion he passed the ball to GA who scored.

Wow.

'Assists' are too much of a broad statistic.

You need to analyse it in more depth.

I don't get the b'ham to London part. It's pretty fast anyhow

B'ham to Manchester is fairly wank though

I think its a psychological thing - say you can get somewhere in under an hour from London and it looks/sounds/feels good

what is he wearing

Also, check out his mad skillz

I'd like if you could elaborate on some of those points Ron. I'm especially curious about sweeping statements re: entire network needing upgrading to HS2 standards, all the rolling stock needing upgrading, branch lines and the fact that we cant engineer like the Victorians.  It's quite a lot more difficult to get shit done today because unlike Victorian times, a brown paper bag stuffed with a huge bribe is not how we do business any more despite what the public perception is. 

 

 

I don’t think I made my point properly.

 

Basically we need to think bigger.

 

The HS network is all well and good, but the rest of our network is poor.

 

Why can’t we have all mainlines made up the HS spec? (I know the cost would be enormous) but come on UK PLC lets go balls to the wall!

 

What can’t we re-open all redundant / derelict lines. I know the village I live in would benefit greatly.

 

My point about the Victorians was that they over-engineered everything. Look at Armstrong’s Tyne Bridge, Barlow’s work on the Manchester and Birmingham line, Bazalgette’s sewers, all of Brunel’s work, Greathead's work, Telford’s aqueduct,  I could go on.

 

My point is there buildings, bridges, tunnels etc. have lasted 100’s of years through change that could not have been anticipated. They have gone above and beyond what they were originally designed for.

 

Nowadays we embark on projects that have a shelf life of 30, 40 50 years max. We do things on a piecemeal basis rather than seeing the bigger picture.

 

If you work in an office look out of you window and look at how many buildings from the 60’s and 70’s are being torn down for new office blocks. I bet in 30 years they will be tearing them down again.

 

Wasteful, naïve, pointless.

 

I think the HS2 will be great for Brum but its small beer and we need to think bigger.

 

Also im not sure about the Victorians being corrupt in any significant way. Altough im open to being educated. I thought major infrastructure projects in those days were at the behest of the Government and undertaken by specific urban corporations (local board or whatever you want to call it), a bit like a modern day Quango, with someone like Thomas Telford at the helm. I would bet that there is far more brown paper bag stuff going on nowadays! ha!

ordinary, but like his passion, if he improves and gets a decent CB alongside him we could have adecent defence. i think he will get better.

Loss = Likely Relegation, but funtimes to be had scrapping away until the final day, its gonna be soooo close IMO

question

is he a striker that can play centre mid and right wing

or

is he a centre mid that can play up front and right wing

or

is he a right winger that can play centre mid and up front

Ive wondered that myself, does anybody know if he is being deplyed in the same way as he was when playing at A.Z.?

Ive seen a bit of footage but cant really tell

my pecker is up for some reason

result against the 'appy 'ammers

 

 

show pony.

 

who's been great lately

 

nothing more than we would have expected originally.

 

how many goals has he scored again?

 

Unlucky not to score a cracker against newcastle.

 

How many assists has he got again??

 oh great so he hasnt scored, although he nearly did against newcastle, and he has 3 assists (which by the way has to be one of the most useless statistics in football).

yep... he's a worldy

show pony.

 

who's been great lately

nothing more than we would have expected originally.

how many goals has he scored again?

show pony.