The Smiley Smile Message Board

I'm a big fan of the English Premier League, just wondering if anyone else is a fan of football (soccer)? I'm sure if there is any Brits on here they would be fans.

Sure! Here's one!  :thumbsup

Sweet! Where are you from? Who do you support. I've been supporting Liverpool for about 12 years. But I'm looking forward to seeing the Man United vs Arsenal game tommorow. Always a fiesty game to watch!! Like that match a few years back where Vieira got sent off and then later on Keown and Lauren were abusing van Nistelrooy.. great stuff to watch.. :P

I'm from The Netherlands actually, but I find the English Premier League to be the most entertaining league (the best football is IMO played in Spain). It's always great to watch the highlights on BBC's Match Of The Day. I do not support one specific (English) team, though.

Tomorrow's game will be another cracker, you can be sure of that. Plenty of talented players on the pitch, especially Cesc Fabregas is a joy to watch.

Oh thats cool. Who's your favourite Dutch players from years gone by? I always loved watching Bergkamp, he was fantastic!! I agree about the Premier League being the most entertaining and Spain being technically the better football (though I think only the top 6 or so teams in Spain are good whereas the rest are just average). Italy though is the most boring league (plus it is all rigged!!)

Yeh Fabregas, what a player and so young. Naturally my favourite player is Steven Gerrard. I thought Liverpool was unlucky last week not to beat Arsenal as I think Liverpool had the better chances. Do you support any particular Dutch side? I used to be able to watch the Dutch league on TV in Australia but now we don't get it. I thought it was a decent league. I would say my favourite team in Holland is PSV. But that was from a few years back with the likes of Kezman etc..

You sure got that right, our league is 'decent', no more, no less. It can be entertaining at times...... I support the local club, Roda JC from Kerkrade. 'Your' Graham Arnold played here, btw.

Don't like to watch the Italian league either nowadays (though AC Milan play some good football), I'd rather watch the German Bundesliga or the French Ligue 1 these days. In the past (late '80s/early '90s) I had a weak spot for Sampdoria's attacking duo Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini. 

Steven Gerrard is a great player; the problem with Liverpool is that Rafael Benitez (who I think is a great manager and nice guy, don't get me wrong) refuses to pick his strongest team every game. I'm not a fan of his rotation policy. They go to Blackburn tomorrow. Tough one.

....Oh and yes, Bergkamp was my favourite Dutch of the last decade as well. He was brilliant. Fabulous technique and a great pro. A real example for the young kids out there. Robin van Persie's doing well right now, but he's not there yet.

Our best player at the moment is Edwin van der Sar if you ask me. Always reliable and very consistent.

The Austrian league is soooooo boring, I prefer to watch the Premier League too. Manchester United forever !!!!!!

Must be better than the Australian league. I obviously don't watch that as it bores me to death. And sorry Liverpool are better than Man United (overall that is :P)

My favourite Bergkamp moment was no doubt that goal against Newcastle a few years back! How did he do that? Unbelievable.

I agree. I've always been a big fan of van der Sar, until he joined Man United :P... but he is still a top player, one of the best goalkeepers in the world at the moment I think.

I never knew Graham Arnold played there. I'm not the biggest fan of Australian football so I don't really know much about the players. I only follow English football with a keen interest.

I agree. Rafa should be sacked if he doesn't change that policy soon. I think the Liverpool game will be a draw. Of course I am hoping for a win but I doubt it. Much depends on who he picks for the side though and I think Arsenal will beat Man United. That's the match I'm most looking forward too though.

I think the problem with Liverpool and with the Premier League in general is that there is too many foreigners. I'm not saying it's bad to have foreign players but if England ever wants to win the world cup then they need more English players in the league. Plus the local players actually care for the club whereas a French player for example doesn't really care about Arsenal. I mean take Arsenal for example, they only have one English player who ever gets a game which is Theo Walcott. The only other who I have seen play is Justin Hoyte. That is just not good enough.

 :lol

ManU will kick asses today.  ;)

We'll just see. To be honest, I just hope it's a good game no matter who wins or what the scoreline as long as it has plenty of drama, which these types of games generally do.

That's (too many foreign players) an issue that has been discussed many times, since it's not only the case in England. Germany, Belgium, Italy - it's everywhere. The REAL problem is that even the smaller clubs are bringing in a lot of foreigners these days. The thing is, there's not really a lot that can be done about it, legally. FIFA just cannot force all clubs to pick (let's say) 6 homegrown players. So we're stuck in the mud.

Still, the majority of the fans don't really seem to care, as long as the team gets the results (see Arsenal).  :(

But I fully agree with you, sometimes the clubs go 'shopping' abroad too easily, and show no faith in their own academy players. It's good to see Sir Alex Ferguson has learned his lesson. There was a period when he signed a lot of players that didn't add anything to the squad (Kleberson, Miller, Djemba Djemba etc.), at least now he's giving Man Utd's own academy players some chances again (Simpson, Eagles etc.). That's encouraging.

But, expect another shopping spree in January when the transfer window reopens........

And that's the great thing about the premier leage, top games are often boring but not in the premier ship!

I couldn't agree more with you. Good to see that you feel the same way. I think the only people who can do anything is the fans but it doesn't seem that they care. I can tell you now I would rather be cheering for Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher than Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt, Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano and Daniel Agger. As you say Arsenal are the worst offenders. And even though I don't like Man United, I respect Ferguson for giving some of the younger English players ago as well as buying English players (Rooney, Hargreaves, Carrick etc..).. I mean how did United become successful in the first place? with players like Scholes, Giggs, Beckham, Neville brothers, Keane, Butt etc.. most were English but if not British & Irish at least.

What about the situation in Holland, is there many foreign players in the Dutch Eredivisie? To be honest in an ideal world I think it should be 3 foreign players only in the starting line-up because at Liverpool for example I can't see why an English player can't do the job of some of the foreigners. Of course there is some exceptional players (Alonso, Torres etc..) so they should be included in the three players and then all the rest can be English.

By the way good game last night. I thought a draw seemed a fair result. I didn't watch any other games (Liverpool's game for example started at 4 o'clock in the morning so I obviously didn't watch it but it seems they again played poorly.

We got the goal in the last minute, can't believe it.  :'(

It was a great game (Arsenal v Man Utd) - I enjoyed it. Liverpool (as expected) had a tough afternoon. Blackburn Rovers are hard to beat.

Quite a lot of foreign players too here in The Netherlands, I'd say only 10% of them really add something extra, South American players like Suarez (Ajax), Gomes, Farfan and Salcido (PSV), for instance, or someone like Moussa Dembele (AZ, Belgium). Plenty of others that don't really make any difference, and could've easily been replaced by Dutch guys.

It was worse just after the Bosman case - most clubs have really opened their eyes in recent years. You must know that there's not as much money here as in England or Spain, so it all comes down to a good scouting network, to find bargains, mostly young players. And you can never really besure what you get, now can you?

The big leagues will aways have the big money, and therefor be able to attract the best players from all the smaller leagues. A good 'solution' would be to restrict the size of the first team squad to a max of 25 players, what you see now is that clubs have 30 or 35 players, and they can only use 14 every game, so a lot of excellent players are sitting on the bench or in the stands, whereas they could really strengthen a smaller club. FIFA has to do something about that if you ask me. If you have 25 players in your squad and want to sign a new player, you have to sell one first, and so on....

It's really terrible in Belgium, they've seen the consequences of their 'policy' now, as the national team is failing to qualify for the big tournaments every time now. Some clubs are doing great work (Standard Liege), others just haven't got a clue (Anderlecht) and spend millions on foreigners while their biggest talents from their own academy move abroad at a young age (Netherlands, France etc.). Sometimes you have to sink to the bottom before your eyes are opened.

Don't you mean THEY got the goal in the last minute?

Yeh Blackburn have been the real surprise for me this year. I expected them to do well (as Mark Hughes is a fine manager) but not THIS well. But generally any away game is hard to win in the Premiership these days. I mean Man United only JUST beat Birmingham 1-0 a few weeks ago and Liverpool only JUST beat Wigan Athletic 1-0 away from home and then Arsenal only JUST beat Sunderland 3-2 a few weeks back. And one of the hardest places to go I think is Portsmouth.

I think you make some excellent points. I agree that only about 10% of foreigners in most leagues add something special whereas the others are just average and could easily be replaced by local players who would actually put their heart into the match (as they are passionate about their local club). I think that is an excellent idea that clubs should be restricted to about 25 players. I mean look at a club like Chelsea, so many of their players are really good players like Shaun Wright-Phillips and they just sit there doing nothing whereas if they were at a smaller club they would be playing week in week out. I know Wright-Phillips is getting some games now but he wasn't before which is just such a waste of talent.

I think England are seeing the consequences of their 'policy' too because it appears that they might fail to qualify for the European Championships. Now they depend on other results to see them through.

Your last point is a key point but I wonder how long it will take English football to realise that having squads flooded with foreigners isn't the answer. I suppose now that the English Premier League is making billions of dollars a year, most of the people making the key decisions behind the scenes couldn't care less, but I wonder how long it will be before perhaps football in Europe will take a turn for the worse in some way due to corruption because of the HUGE transfer fees etc... I mean have you seen the proposed G-14 League (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G14)? I fear that this really could happen which would be disastrous to say the least for football in Europe and would mean that many smaller clubs would lose millions and many would ceise to exist.

By the way I think one young English player to watch out for in the Premiership is Micah Richards. Although he has had some average performances, he seems to be one for the future as he has put in some top-notch displays and especially for his age (19 I think).. because defenders usually are at their best in their mid to late 20's even moreso than strikers etc..

Richards definitely is one of the brightest talents around, not only in England, but in Europe. And he's indeed VERY young, I think he can learn a lot from someone like John Terry, one of the best defenders in football at the moment, in order to make further progress.

Portsmouth probably is one of the toughest places to go for any side, I agree. A lot of pace and physical strength. Always hard to play against.

You mention Chelsea, and you can easily add Spurs to that. Of course they have a lot of excellent young British players in their squad (Huddlestone, Dawson, Bale, Lennon, Bent, Defoe etc.), but I sometimes get the idea they're after every (young) player with a bit of prospect. They're always linked with tons of players, but they already have a large squad full of prospect!!

Look at their strikers alone: last year they had Defoe, Berbatov, Keane and Mido. Four excellent strikers, but only Keane and Berbatov played regularly. Still they went out and bought Darren Bent as well for (I believe) 16 million pounds. To sit on the bench! I'm a big fan of Jermain Defoe, but he hardly got a game last season or so far this season.

Three strikers would be more than enough. There's always someone you can take out of the reserves in case of injuries. Clubs don't know what to do with all their money. They have millions, so they go out and spend millions. Why not?

And it's getting worse and worse - the rich clubs are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer. That G-14 story you refer to is just another way to take control in their own hands and so make even more money. And the smaller clubs are trying to catch up, but the gap is getting bigger and bigger (plus they get robbed of their strongest players at the same time).

It's a mess, and FIFA/UEFA are doing nothing, except for filling their own pockets. 'We care about football'. Sure, dream on!

I would like to end by singing a Pink Floyd song:

Money, get away
Get a good job with more pay and your O.K.
Money it's a gas
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
New car, caviar, four star daydream,
Think I'll buy me a football team
Money get back
I'm all right Jack keep your hands off my stack.
Money it's a hit
Don't give me that do goody good bullmerda
I'm in the hi-fidelity first class traveling set
And I think I need a Lear jet
Money it's a crime
Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie
Money so they say
Is the root of all evil today
But if you ask for a rise it's no surprise that they're
giving none away

John Terry in my opinion is in the top 3 defenders in the world and has been for the last few seasons, hopefully for England's sake Richards will develop into one of the best right backs in the world while Terry is still performing well.

Portsmouth at home always seem to be hard to beat for even any of the bigger clubs. I think it's not only those things you mentioned but also the fans, it just seems a real intimidating place to go even though the capacity isn't THAT big, the fans are just really close to the pitch from memory.

I am surprised that they payed so much for Darren Bent when a player like Thierry Henry went to Barcelona for not much more than that? I too am a big fan of Defoe and can't believe that he hasn't been playing regularly. It's a joke, he has the potential to be one of the best strikers in Europe in my opinion but not while he's sitting on the bench.

I remember two or so years ago when Liverpool brought Neil Mellor from the youth ranks up and he was a superb finisher (seemed to have a knack for being in the right place at the right time) and then what do we do? We get rid of him and keep a guy like Fernando Morientes who was pathetic to say the least in England. I think you are right though, they have the money, so why not spend it?

Yes FIFA and UEFA don't care as long as there is money rolling in but if these big clubs split away and form G-14, then FIFA and UEFA will be regretting the fact they didn't do something earlier.. because obviously nobody will want to bid for the TV rights and advertising rights for the English Premier League if their is no Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool and likewise with La Liga if there is no Barcelona Real Madrid etc.... ALL the money from European football would be pumped into the G-14 competition, leaving the English Premiership, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga and all the other leagues in Europe in serious trouble and it would threaten the status of those leagues (ie: they would still exist but many would turn back to amateur leagues instead of professional)... Maby we are just being pessimistic and of course this is probably the worst case scenario but I really think changes MUST be made sooner rather than later.

Very appropriate song choice by the way.

I'm an Aston Villa supporter, have been for over 30 years. Current season ticket holder with my 12 year old son.

No gloryhunting for me..............

And may I say what a fantastic new owner/chairman we have in Randolph Lerner?

There is a lot said today in the game about foriegn owners of English football clubs, but our new American owners have been FANTASTIC.

They work in conjunction with supporters to make the club a better place; they look after us, making matchdays a better experience (off the pitch!); they have employed a top class manager, and they supply him with the money he requires.

Also, non-executive director General Charles Krulak actually posts on the Villa fansite I use, answering supporter questions and getting feedback to pass on to the Chairman.

I doubt any other club can boast that!

Haha, thanks.

Yeah, you're right about the G-14. The big clubs (Man Utd, Juventus, AC Milan, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich et al) are always in control, because they have all the (worldwide) fans behind them, and all the star players who people want to watch on TV or in the stadium. The real threat is that they KNOW they are in control, so they act accordingly.

But they forget they need the smaller clubs as well - in many cases these clubs helped them to become what they are now. Plus, there are always changes. Clubs that were huge in the past are completely lost now (Nottingham Forest, Borussia Monchengladbach, Leeds United, 1. FC Koln), and with the 'right' mismanagement it can still happen to any club, except for the really big guns (think of Real Madrid a couple of years ago), they can be in debt and still go out and buy players for 30 million pounds or so, while others get deducted 15 points for being 500,000 pounds in debt. It's unfair, and another issue that bothers me. The regulations stink, and are different in every country.

Yes, maybe we are pessimistic, and I hate being pessimistic, but it really is getting worse and worse. Something has to be done, but I can't see it happening, so there's no real reason for optimism.

Glad you agree!

To be honest I used to support Bradford City (still try to) but since I live in Australia it's hard because it's impossible to see any of their games. But when I was about seven years old (I'm now 19) I was drawn to the Liverpool club mainly by the likes of Owen and Fowler etc.. But also due to the Kop and "You'll Never Walk Alone". But I am sick and tired of Liverpool buying sub-par foreign players when we get rid of Owen and get Antonio Nunez instead? What a farce. Owen is a Liverpool legend without a doubt, but could Rafa Benitez care? Nope, couldn't give a crap.

Villa sounds pretty good compared to a lot of other foreign owners such as Hearts. I think it was them anyway where their foreign owner has been a disaster.

Talking generally, I would prefer the clubs to be in the hands of people who actually appreciate the traditions and history of the club and actually care for the club and its fans and not just money and usually that is only the case when they are English or atleast British owners.

Yes I agree. The big clubs control World football, not FIFA and FIFA realise this. But they should still be (and maby they are? but not very well) trying to fix the problems in European football in particular.

Good point about the bigger clubs going bankrupt etc.. I remember Leeds United were in the Champions League semi finals against Valencia (from memory) and then around two or so seasons later they were virtually bankrupt. Even Real Madrid of course aren't the force they once where. One thing is for sure though, while Roman Abramovich is in charge of Chelsea, I doubt they will ever go bankrupt :-D  I agree though, that that is unfair. It's double standards.

The problem is, what CAN be done? I don't know if there is a solution. Sure there might be a quick fix but then it will just get worse again I feel. The big clubs are just TOO big now.. Maby something could have been done a couple of years ago but I doubt it now. :-[

It sure is good to see that there is other people out there who see it the same way as me. Let's just hope that other fans start to become more outraged at what is going on in the beautiful game.

Hearts?  :lol Talk about a mess!

Will be interesting to see what happens at Villa in the long run. I really like Martin O'Neill, an excellent manager, he's proven that on many occasions, plus he's a very nice guy. Villa could do with some stability, so I hope it lasts. They've made some excellent signings, and O'Neill always brings out the best of his players. Think only of Gareth Barry who has done very well this season. It's a joy to watch Agbonlahor, Young etc.  

Oh yeah, you mentioned Neil Mellor..... Where is he now? Still at Preston?

Can you believe Liverpool are looking for another new striker? Come on! Crouch, Voronin, Babel, Torres, Kuyt - do they really need another one?

Liverpool are really spoilt for choice in the striking department, thats for sure.

Nothiong else will matter for me next Sunday though - we have GOT to beat small heath - they really are scumbags  ;D ;D ;D

Does American Football count? Probably not.

New York Giants all the way!

No, this only includes REAL football or atleast the ORIGINAL football. :P

I've always liked watching Aston Villa through the years. I think Gareth Barry should have been more of an England regular on the left hand side for England. I mean everyone used to say "we have no out and out left sided midfield player".. well what about Gareth Barry? Of course now he has been given opportunities recently and we have another out and out left midfielder in Stewart Downing but previous to that I would have liked to have seen Barry been given more of an opportunity.

Yeh Mellor is still at Preston. I saw him play a few weeks ago.

I can't believe Liverpool sometimes. Babel has been given VERY little opportunity as has Crouch. But I'm not really a big fan of Crouch myself. He's good but not THAT good. And Voronin has overall been poor. I think Kuyt has been dissapointing but I think Torres will become a pretty good player for Liverpool. I still wish we had Owen still though.

Barry has been criminally overlooked for a long time, he should have 40-50 caps by now, not 10!!!

Ashley Young is going to turn into a fantastic little winger too

I agree about Barry. I mean I would have rathered him over Trevor Sinclair (who played on the left at 2002 World Cup if I remember correctly). I suppose there is always going to be players that get overlooked though, just seems to be the way.

To be honest I haven't seen much of Ashley Young but what I have seen of him I've been really impressed.

What do you think of Rooney. Never been a big fan myself, he's good but over-rated in my books. On his day he is incredible but I don't think he is consistent enough and I think the reason he does well in the premiership at times is because players are scared of his hype etc.. I mean did you see the defending the other week I think it was against Boro? Absolutely atrocious. Whereas Italy + Spain + Brazil etc.. don't give a crap about the name "WAYNE ROONEY".. theyre not scared of him. That's just my opinion of course. But it always seems that England tries to rely on a few players and it seems to be the way in other sports too. When Owen was younger it was him, there's also been Beckham and now Rooney before all of them there was Gascoigne. And in cricket for example (which I am sick of), england relied on Flintoff etc.. how about England fans for once rely on the TEAM... Because I don't think there is one player in the England team who REALLY stands out amongst the rest (we dont have a Maradona or something)... I remember when Rooney first became a star etc.. and people were suggesting he was the new Pele.. that is the sort of thing I am talking about.. it's a joke if you ask me.

Crucial game tonight for Liverpool in the Champions League (Besiktas at home). It's 'do or die' from now on, basically.

Do you reckon they can still make it?

As for my opinion on 'Shrek' - I think the first movie was the best.....

England? It's about time the manager starts picking the best TEAM, so I agree with you. For years they've been looking for a formation to accommodate the best 11 individual players.... How many different midfield line-ups have there been over the years?

Defensively they're a mess without Terry. I'm not a big fan of Ashley Cole, a poor defender in my book.

But I'd better focus on my 'own' national team - which, to quote my legendary friends Laurel & Hardy, is "Another Fine Mess". 

 :lol - He's such an ugly fella... I can't understand why he is on advertisements etc..

I honestly don't think Liverpool can make it. I can't watch the game, because I don't have access to the channel that it's on. I know L'pool has come back from some pretty dire situations but I can't see us winning our last three games and then depending on other results.

I couldn't tell you but there has been a few midfield line-ups.

I agree about Terry....Ashley Cole is hopeless. I think he was decent as a youngster and showed potential but his defensive ability never really improved much over the years for my liking. But I suppose he is like a lot of left backs these days, such attacking players considering they are defenders. Who should be at left back then? Bridge, Lescott, Baines, Shorey or even Barry who can play left back?

Yes it seems to be the way with a lot of the bigger national teams in Europe over recent seasons. For example France, Holland, England etc..

Well, to be honest, I'd never call anybody 'ugly' for the way they look, and besides he's really popular with the young kids out there, so for me he's the ideal person to feature in ad campaigns.

Ashley Cole was an attacking midfielder originally, wasn't he? So offensively he's alright, defensively he's poor, and that shows in games against equal (or better) opposition, usually not against the weaker sides.

I like Leighton Baines, and Nicky Shorey isn't too bad either. I'd say of the ones you mention Wayne Bridge would probably be the best choice (if he's fully fit that is!). I'd rather have Barry in midfield.

Well I think he is 'ugly inside' as well. He doesn't seem the nicest person, always so agressive towards referees. He has gotten better, but I have never liked his attitude towards the game and that's my point that it's not good that he's a role model for kids. I mean a person like Michael Owen or David Beckham are much better role models for kids if you ask me. I've watched games of Rooney in the past and he honestly must have sworn over 20 times at the referee in some games.

From what I've always known Cole has always been a left back. He might have been a left midfielder in the youth teams etc.. but I remember his first couple of games and from memory (it's a long time ago) he played at left back.

Yeh I agree, Barry is a better midfield, but he's still obviously an option which is good as it gives some flexibility. I agree I have always been a big fan of Leighton Baines. Not sure yet if Nicky Shorey could make it at international level. What has happened to Wayne Bridge. Always injured etc.. but I agree if he CAN get fit and back to his old form for the likes of Southampton.. then I say he perhaps should be left back.

By the way, I think Liverpool won didn't they? :lol ;)

Yeah, the agression towards the referee is something I dislike as well, you see it a lot these days (not only Rooney does it - too many to mention).

I saw Ashley Cole once when he was really young (it was at the Amsterdam Tournament) and Arsenal faced Ajax (a pre-season friendly), and in the second half Wenger was throwing on a lot of subs, mostly youth players (18/19 years old) or reserve players, and Cole was one of them, and I think he played as a left winger almost (a very attacking midfielder).

Bridge was great when he played for the Saints, hope he stays fit and plays himself into the England team.

Well, Liverpool beat Besiktas by the narrowest of margins, didn't they? 8-0! Will see the highlights tonight. 3x Benayoun, 2x Crouch, 2x Babel - a goal fest! Seems like they woke up just in time, haha.  ;D

I agree, I think the referees should be more harsh on some of the players. If they come and argue with the referee and they refuse to go away then they should be booked. I also think that any time a player says to the ref "give that player a booking" then he himself should be booked. Of course there should ALWAYS be bookings for dives that are spotted as I see some referees saying that the player dived, yet not giving a yellow card. I think they should copy what the Rugby League does here in Australia and  review the game afterwards and anybody that the review panel deems has dived, should be banned for 1 match or 3 matches if they dive inside the box (eg: that Rooney dive that cost Arsenal the chance to go 50 games unbeaten a few years back)

To be honest though I think Rooney was/is one of the worst offenders at abusing referees. He is just overly agressive.

You are probably right. Though as you say it was just in a friendly tournament. From what I can remember, I saw Ashley Cole when he scored his first goal for Arsenal (that's the earliest I remember him) and at that stage he was at left back.

I think Bridge has never performed consistently well for Chelsea like he did for Southampton, mainly due to injuries of course, but yes it would sure be nice if England can quickly get a solid left back whoever it may be.

Hey you forgot to mention Gerrard's goal!! :P Why can Liverpool do this to Besiktas yet can only just (and perhaps undeservedly) beat Wigan 1-0 and likewise play extremely poorly and sneak a win against Everton? Ahwell, I saw the highlights (since I couldn't watch the game - I wish I could see the replay atleast :() and it looked like a fantastic performance. Why hasn't Rafa given Babel and Crouch more of a go this season, and I spose the same could be said for Benayoun too ???

By the way Robav63, do you remember the FA Cup Final from 2000 (I'm sure you do - and probably don't want to remember).. just wondering if you were there, because I have that game on tape and just thought I'd mention it since I was transfering some of my old tapes onto DVD. Do you remember Paul Merson's effort in the first half (I know it's a while ago now) but that would've been some goal. I wish you guys had gotten one over Chelsea on that occassion.

Someone suggested that in the future only the team's captain would be allowed to talk directly to the referee. Would that help? What do you think?

Was it El-Hadji Diouf who was saying some lovely words to the (assistant) ref last weekend? I'd say 'temper, temper' guys, and concentrate on your own performance on the pitch. He has a nice record, hasn't he, Mr Diouf?

Sorry for not mentioning Stevie's goal. ;D A couple of surprising results yesterday in the Champions League. The only game I saw was Olympiakos - Real Madrid. Tonight it's PSV's turn....

I would agree with that. Of course unless the referee wanted to speak with a player for fouling somebody or whatever the reason.

Yeh Diouf is one of the worst offenders too. But I don't think anybody tops the old Rooney (I think he HAS improved a lot).. there just seemed to be so much hatred in the way Rooney had a go at the ref, whereas Diouf for example seems to be saying it to the ref etc.. to be smart. That's how it seems to me.

Well I wouldn't have expected Rosenborg to beat Valencia away from home :o and Real Madrid to only manage a draw in Greece. I hope PSV win. I much prefer the Dutch teams over the Turkish teams to be honest.

A great start for Ronald Koeman at Valencia  ;D Madrid were poor yesterday, a boring game. PSV will face a tough battle tonight, with the fanatic Turkish fans and all the noise they create. They need to get at least something from the game. Probably the final game for caretaker manager Jan Wouters - Martin Jol most likely to become the new boss next week.

No real surprises last night really. Unfortunate that PSV didn't win last night. I think Turkish fans are some of the most intimidating fans. I certainly wouldn't like to play in front of them.

That's interesting I've always been a big fan of Martin Jol, I think he did a pretty good job at Tottenham except towards the end of course, but he has built a pretty strong squad at White Hart Lane.

Honestly, I didn't feel PSV were unfortunate to lose the game in Turkey. They got what they deseved - nothing. Overrun in midfield, poor display. It's really become a terrible international season for the Dutch clubs.  :-[

And Martin Jol (I like him too) will NOT be the new PSV boss, by the way. He has no interest in the job, so they're looking for someone else.

Some nice clashes in the Premier League tomorrow (and on Sunday):

Sunderland - Newcastle

Chelsea - Everton

Birmingham - Aston Villa

Man Utd - Blackburn

Good stuff to look forward to, don't you think? (Liverpool play Fulham at home.....)

I didn't see the PSV game (like I said I dont get to see any CL games anymore) but I wish they had won. I was shocked that Bolton drew with Bayern Munich last night (and incredible result for them).

That's a shame about Jol. To be honest I hope he comes back to the Premiership some day (I think I heard that he wants to stay in England).

There is some really good matches there. Especially the two derbies. And Blackburn always seem to perform well against Man United (I don't mean they usually beat them but they usually give them a hard time). Hopefully Liverpool can carry on their form from the CL and beat Fulham comfortably (say 3-0 or something) which is something they haven't been known for this season (except maby for Derby - but big deal). I think the Chelsea and Everton game will be pretty good too - they usually are. I'm in a tipping competition and here is who I tipped for this week:

Sunderland v Newcastle
Derby v West Ham
Liverpool v Fulham
Birmingham v Aston Villa
Chelsea v Everton
Bolton v Boro
Man U v Blackburn
Tottenham v Wigan (draw)
Pompey  v Man City
Reading v Arsenal

Do you think I should change any of my tips? I haven't been going too well this season (I missed a couple of weeks) so I need to make up a bit of ground.

Some reports in the press say that Jol's waiting to become the next Dutch national team manager........ Ajax is also still an option. Others link him to Newcastle Utd (what about Big Sam then?). I guess he's waiting for the right train to jump on. We'll see.

Agree with most of your predictions, these would be mine:

Sunderland v Newcastle
Derby v West Ham
Liverpool v Fulham
Birmingham v Aston Villa draw
Chelsea v Everton draw
Bolton v Boro
Man U v Blackburn
Tottenham v Wigan
Pompey v Man City
Reading v Arsenal

I doubt he would go to Newcastle. Big Sam is a pretty good manager and I think he will do a fine job for Newcastle. I guess you are right, he is just waiting for the right train to jump on. I honestly can't believe the Gary Megson is the new Bolton manager, I've never been a big fan of him myself. Gareth Southgate will certainly be a man under pressure if the form doesn't improve. Maby Jol will end up Boro?

Interesting that you tip Chelsea & Everton as a draw, that may well be the case. Im still sticking to my prediction. I think both local derbies will be very close (as they usually are). We will wait and see who's tips are the closest (even though they are pertty similar), sort of like our own mini-competition :p.

Not a fan of Megson either. Was surprised he got the job. Despite messing up all the time, they still get a fine new job every once and a while. Graeme Souness - same thing. Always leaves a mess behind. Glenn Hoddle, another one. John Gregory. A lot of crappy managers out there, but a lot of excellent ones as well.

Don't think Jol is interested in Boro (should the post become available - which is not the case yet).

Well, as for the predictions: 9 games played - 5 correct answers for me, 4 for you - not that bad, you were right with Villa, I was lucky to get Chelsea v Everton correct.

Reading - Arsenal today. Plus a lot of great clashes coming up on Saturday - think only of Scotland v Italy!!!! I really hope Scotland win this game.

Graeme Souness must be the worst manager ever. He might win a few games :P but as you said he always leaves a mess behind. While the others are bad too, he seems to destroy clubs. Why on earth anybody even considers him anymore is a joke. Look at how good the morale was getting at Newcastle just before he left ::) (think of the fight between Bowyer and Dyer). I mean he was at Blackburn at the players morale was really low and they were performing really badly. Then he gets sacked and Mark Hughes is working miracles at Blackburn now. Then he takes over at Newcastle (who in my opinion should have kept Bobby Robson - from memory he got sacked after not playing Shearer or subbing him off - which from memory again has happened to several Newcastle managers and I think it happened to Souness as well) and they almost get relegated. He is pathetic.

You are just ahead of me and we tipped the same for the last game so you win this weekend :P. I think I was lucky to get Villa though just as you were with the Chelsea game. I'm surprised Newcastle didn't beat Sunderland but I suppose Sunderland were at home and haven't been all that bad this season (atleast compared to when they were last in the Premier League). Good old Aussie Tim Cahill with a wonder goal.

I REALLY hope Scotland wins too. If they could qualify that would be the best. Imagine Italy or France (I'm not 100% sure on the situation in that group but I think Italy is more likely to fail to qualify) didn't qualify, that would be the greatest. I would like to see Scotland qualify, but even more so I would like to see England qualify. Come on Israel!!!

The Cahill goal was brilliant, he's a fantastic player. Have been watching him since his Millwall days (they had a good team then), he's been unfortunate with several injuries recently, but it's nice to see he's back now. He and Mikel Arteta are key figures in Everton's squad. Am surprised Yakubu isn't getting more games.

If Scotland win, Italy is out. I can see Israel getting something in their game against Russia, so all is not lost for England, but they have to win themselves, and show they really WANT to go to EURO 2008.

Did you know Dick Advocaat's hoping to become the new Australia manager? Was just crowned champions in Russia with Zenit St Petersburg.

Cahill is by far Australia's best player in my opinion. Viduka + Neill etc.. are good too but Cahill is definately the best Aussie going around at the moment. Kewell used to be the best.. at his peak I'd say he's the best Australian footballer ever.. he was one of the best players in Europe in my opinion, but his career has just gone downhill. He just doesn't seem determined anymore. Yes I'm surprised too about Yakubu, how much did they pay for him again?

GO SCOTLAND!!! I read somewhere that there is an Israeli player who has scored a lot of their goals and when they played Russia earlier on they picked up some sort of result (not sure if it was a win or not) and he got the goal(s).. Like I said I just read it on some message board so I don't know how reliable it is :P I think that is the key though, if Israel pick up a draw/win against Russia then England have to show that they want to do it for their country & the fans. I think its time for the likes of Gerrard etc.. to REALLY show what he can do, like he does for Liverpool at times. Some of the players just aren't consistent enough at International level in my opinion and Gerrard is one of them. A lot of them are world class players but they just can't perform consistently well at international level.

I've heard rumours about Dick Advocaat and the Australia job. But I don't know what to believe over here. For one, the media over here have very little clue about football and secondly they always seem to name people who they think will take over the Australian job. We've had Gerard Houllier named as a possible candidate for example. But that's interesting that there is rumours in Europe as well. I don't know much about his managerial career (besides what you just told me), but do you think he'd be able to do a good job for Australia with the limited amount of good players that we have?

Yeah, too many serious injuries for Harry Kewell. He was brilliant at Leeds, under David O'Leary's management, they had an excellent team, but then success went to the board's head, and they thought they could challenge the likes of Arsenal and Man Utd and spent way too much money.

Martyn, Kelly, Radebe, Harte, Bowyer, McPhail, Hopkin, Kewell, Robbie Keane, Batty, Hasselbaink - it was a joy to watch them. It's too bad really, because Harry's still relatively young. With the right support, there could still be some magic left in him.

Games like Scotland v Italy are really what it's all about in football - really look forward to that one!

Agree with what you say about the England players - they need to stand up now and let their feet do the talking. Do they really need McClaren to tell them what to do? They're not schoolboys, are they? Come on! They're pros, they earn a lot of money - look in the mirror!!!

Advocaat will either stay in Russia or move to your country. That's what he said in an interview. I'm not a big fan of him myself, but he is a determined guy, prepares himself well. He's good at organising a side, but tactically he's pretty defensive, always thinks of his own team's weak spots rather than the weak spots of the opposition.

His record is pretty good. Champions and Cup wins in the Netherlands (with PSV), champions in Scotland (with Rangers), and of course he's managed our national team, plus the national team of South Korea. Not successful at Borussia Monchengladbach, but he wasn't the right man for the job there anyway.

As for Australia, a lot depends on who's fit. If players such as Cahill, Kewell, Viduka, Neill, Emerton etc. are fully fit they can beat any side. They were one of the better teams in Germany in 2006, unfortunately some bad decisions of the referee spoiled their tournament chances. And look out for Luke Wilkshire (currently at FC Twente here in the Netherlands), he's becoming a really good full back!

I can't believe what happened to Leeds United. It's incredible how they went from one of the top sides in Europe (CL semi final) and then are now in League One. Unbelievable! Those names you mention sure do bring back memories. I've always thought it would be cool to see the top sides of English domestic football all be around at once if you get what I mean. Like the Man United side of the late 90's (the treble winning team), the Arsenal untouchables (or whatever they called themselves), the Liverpool of the late 70's early 80's, the Leeds United side that we mentioned before, the Chelsea side that won the title two years back etc.. etc... I know it's impossible but I think that would be some league. I really do hope Harry can get over his injury problems and come back strong, I would love to watch him at his best for Liverpool (something that we are yet to see)

I wish I could watch the Scotland game :-\ I agree though these types of games are the best. I remember when Bradford beat Liverpool on the last day of the season back in 1999/2000 to stay in the premiership. What an amazing event.

McClaren isn't the right man for the job in my opinion. I never thought he would do good. I would like to see a man like Big Sam take over the England job, that would be interesting. I think he would do a good job.

So I'm assuming he is nowhere near as good as Guus Hiddink?

Yeh we were unlucky against Italy, but that's football I suppose. Sometimes the decisions go for you and other times they go against you. That's interesting about Luke Wilkshire, I have only seen him a few times for Australia and he's never really caught my eye. But if he is becoming a top fullback that's great news, because Australia lacks depth at the back (actually in every position :P)

Haha, in certain computer games you can bring all these classic teams together, but I see what you mean, it would surely be exciting.

I still feel England will make it - but I can still see someone else (a new manager that is) coming in for EURO 2008. Anyway, it's up to the players, if they are as good as they think they are they go out and win the game. Doesn't matter if McClaren is on the bench, or Mourinho, or Woody Woodpecker. They've underperformed and need to get their stuff together. Enough experience in the side. If they fail, they don't deserve to be there. That's my view.

No, no, Advocaat is no Hiddink. Both are very experienced, and have seen it all. Still, Guus is cleverer, a charmer, always calm and relaxed. Looks after the youngsters in the team, and embraces the star players. Advocaat is suspicious, negative, and easily offended. But there are worse managers out there. But no, definitely no Hiddink.  ;)

Yeh in my old FIFA game I made all the classic squads but I dont play it that much to be honest :P

Who do you think would be a good England manager (presuming that they are English)?

England really need to start playing as a team. Well if Russia DO beat Israel and England win against Croatia (which means of course that England are out) then I don't think they deserve to go through. The table never lies.
Great. By your description it sounds like Advocaat is a REAL great manager ::)

Haha, well, he's not too bad, he's no Souness......  ;D Or Peter Reid......

Agree that the table never lies, the thing is, they don't have it in their own hands anymore, so the best they can do is win, whether it is enough remains to be seen. It would be a disgrace if they did not qualify. Liverpool's Yossi Benayoun is out for the Russia game, which is too bad, he's maybe the best Israelian player of the moment. They'll miss him.

My choice for the England job? Tough decision, if he has to be English. Look at the big clubs in the Premier League, they all have foreign managers:

Man Utd - Ferguson (Scotland)
Arsenal - Wenger (France)
Liverpool - Benitez (Spain)
Chelsea - Grant (Israel)
Spurs - Ramos (Spain)
Villa - O'Neill (Northern Ireland)
Everton - Moyes (Scotland)
Man City - Eriksson (Sweden)
Blackburn - Hughes (Wales)

Options therefor: Alan Curbishley (West Ham), Harry Redknapp (Portsmouth) or Sam Allardyce (Newcastle)? Who else?

I think they're looking at an experienced foreign manager (Capello? Lippi? Hiddink?). Maybe Klinsmann, as he's still popular in England and did well with Germany in 2006. Your guess is as good as mine  :)

P.S. Go here for Steven Gerrard's opinion on something we discussed earlier:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/7094812.stm

NOBODY is as bad as Souness :-D Peter Reid was pretty bad too but atleast he did some good things (ie: with Sunderland - although that was mainly due to Kevin Phillips :P)

Well one thing is for sure if England don't make it they don't deserve to. Yeh a real shame about Benayoun but I still think Israel are more than capable (they are at home, right?)

The only reason I said it had to be English was because if it could be any nationality then there could be hundreds of managers who COULD take over the England job when McLaren gets sacked ;D

I still say Big Sam would be my pick as England manager. He is confident (something which McLaren doesn't always appear to be) and although he might not encourage the most entertaining football all he cares about is the result. I've always like Paul Jewell as a manager, though theres no chance that he'd get the job of course. But considering what he did with Wigan and before that with Bradford City he certainly is under-rated by most people in my opinion. Don't know if he could handle the pressure of International football though

Yeah I heard about this. I agree with it but doubt it will happen. How will they suddenly get rid of all their players? (in the case of say Arsenal)... Still I don't think it can or indeed will happen.

Yes, it's Israel v Russia.

Owen's out now for Wednesday. Sometimes I feel he's made of glass. No luck for the lad.

I like Paul Jewell, he did a wonderful job at Wigan. He, Hughes, Moyes, O'Neill, Curbishley, Coppell, etc. are the sort of managers I like.

Report in the press today: Advocaat is staying on as Zenit manager - there you go Mikey!! No more sleepless nights!

In the paper tomorrow: Souness approached by Australian FA........  ;D :lol

 ;)

Ok so that plays in Englands favour atleast.

Yeh poor Owen. He's had some nasty injuries in recent times. I would say the most injury prone player though is Chris Kirkland. Man that guy has been unlucky.

Yeh, those managers take the lesser clubs and make them more established whereas Mourinho etc.. just get millions and millions of dollars to play with.

Good. I'm so relieved. I actually heard about it this morning (meaning morning in Australia) - so about 15 hours ago or something and I felt so relieved.

Haha!! Thanks for making me laugh. :-D Wouldn't that be a disaster. I spose though atleast he can't buy players so he can't bring in players like Ali Dia!! :-D (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Dia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Dia))

Apparently Souness may be going to Wigan. When will these clubs learn? That's another club thats going to have to be rebuilt almost from scratch :P

By the way Israel WON!! WOOHOO!! Go Israel.. I love Israel much more now :P But still England now HAS to beat Croatia which won't be that easy either.

Unfortunate that Scotland lost.. so does that mean that they are definately out? Or is it still possible for Scotland to qualify and therefore knock out Italy or someone?

Scotland is definitely out, yes, unfortunately. They did really well in the second half, deserved at least a point. A real anti-climax.

No, a draw will do for England. Here's the low-down from the BBC website:

An England draw coupled with a Russia win means both teams finish on 24 points. England will qualify because teams which finish level on points are divided according to their head-to-head record. England have the edge on goal difference after their 3-0 win at home in London was followed by a 2-1 defeat away in Moscow.

But it's risky to try and play for a draw - never know what happens in a game. On the other hand, Croatia have already qualified, so......  ;) 1 + 1 = 2.

Kudos to Israel, England got what they wanted.

And we've qualified as well, following a spectacular 1-0 victory over the mighty Luxembourg  :o :lol

The Aussies beat Nigeria in a friendly, right? 1-0.

B.t.w. it looks like Steve Bruce is heading for Wigan. Poor Graeme S.  :lol

Yeh Scotland beat France both times if I remember correctly. They should be in the tournament. Ahwell, sometimes Football isn't always fair.

Yeh England HAVE to play for the win, no question about that.

Yeh well done to Israel. I didn't see the game obviously but am so glad they won. Sucked in to our old mate Hiddink :P He said "there's no way we will lose" or something to that effect :P

Woah. Is that the record victory for Holland. What a result!! :-D

Yeh Australia played really well. I only watched the first half because it was REALLY early in the morning but I tell you who played REALLY well in the 1st half anyway... Harry Kewell.. You wouldn't believe how well he played, considering his injury problems and poor form in recent times.

Oh what a shame for Souness :P... I've always been a fan of Steve Bruce, he's done well as a manager in my opinion... so hopefully he can do well for Wigan.

Can't believe England lost!! What a joke. McLaren was a joke in the first place (I know it's easy to say in hindsight but he was never really THAT fantastic for Middlesbrough anyway)... I say appoint Big Sam right away. They are suggesting Shearer amongst others.. but he hasn't had ANY managerial experience. Anyway, can't believe it... didn't have access to watch the game but from the highlights England played pretty poorly.

That's really a disgrace.

Before I start about last night:

Good to hear Kewell did well. I honestly believe it would be best for him to change clubs (albeit on loan), and go someplace where he can get regular first team football again. He needs it if he wants to further his career. Feyenoord would be a nice club for him (Brett Emerton can tell him all he needs to know about the club, and they could do with a left winger), or if he prefers to stay in England, a club such as Fulham or Birmingham.

Too much competition for him at Liverpool. Latest news on the Autralia job: Pim Verbeek seems to be in pole-position now, another Dutchman. And another one I wouldn't pick, but that's another story. Besides, I'm not in charge.


What a game yesterday!!!  :o

It's unfair to put all the blame on McClaren. He wasn't on the pitch yesterday. Where was Gerrard? Lampard? Campbell? The only one who had a decent game was Crouch, who usually gets a lot of stick. They didn't do it, so it's all over now.

Hat's off for Scotland - they went down battling.

I think I'll leave it with that.  :-X

To say the least!!!


I agree. I think he should leave Liverpool all together though.

I've never even heard of that guy? Who is he?

Well I don't blame it ALL on McLaren but the majority of it on him. His tactics are pathetic. He picks Carson in goal!! He's an inexperienced youngster and you put him in goal in such a big game!! Robinson might have made one or two mistakes but you have to stick loyal to your players unless they play REALLY poorly over a few games.. Every player makes mistakes. And I don't understand some of the selections. I am a fan of Peter Crouch (I can't understand why people have a go at him - he does the job) but he hasn't played much for Liverpool. And why he picked Wayne Bridge is another mystery!! And I agree with most England fans.. they should only pick either Gerrard OR Lampard... probably Lampard.. and then I would go with someone like Carrick who can concentrate on defending so the other central player can attack.

Yeh well done Scotland.. Atleast they actually played with passion throughout the campaign!!

I see Holland lost.. that's a bit of a surprise really. But apparently they are the top-ranked side going into the tournament.

No surprise for me. We're spinning in a hole, there's no progress whatsoever. It was terrible yesterday, good thing we already qualified on Saturday, otherwise we could've ended up in England's company. No Denmark or Belgium either on Euro 2008. Too bad.

No Van der Sar, Seedorf and Van Nistelrooy yesterday, but still, guys such as Van der Vaart (who played well), Sneijder, Ooijer, Kuyt, Babel and Van Bronckhorst should be able to do better.

Van Basten is a hard to understand. Can't believe why he leaves good players such as Van Bommel, Hofland and Makaay out of the squad. We could do with George Boateng's winner's mentality as well. But he just seems to ignore these guys.

Verbeek took over from Advocaat as South Korea boss after the World Cup in 2006. Pretty low-profile (has worked for Fortuna Sittard and Feyenoord for instance). Is usually 'the assistant'. He's a nice guy and all that, but he's not going to win the war for you. Rob Baan (another Dutchman) is in charge, he's the managing director of the Australian FA if I'm not mistaken and I think he's desperate to bring in a 'friend'.

Oh yeah, now that McClaren is out the speculation can start:

Mourinho?
Cappello?
O'Neill?
Curbishley?
Shearer?
Coppell?

A lot of backgrounds on the BBC website. Big Sam has already ruled himself out.

That's a shame.. Still I would offer the job to him, see if he will change his mind once it's offered :P... sometimes that happens


Yeh I saw that Bulgaria were just one point behind in the end!! Lucky you got that win against Luxembourg!! I don't know who to support now in Euro?? I suppose nobody. I probably won't even watch much of it, besides the finals. I'm surprised though that Denmark especially didn't make it!!

I've always been a big fan of players like George Boateng. He is very underrated in my opinion. Won't do too much flashy sort of things but he does his job and deserves more credit! Players like him, Makelele, Hamann, Gravesen etc.. rarely get enough credit. I mean Real Madrid got rid of Makelele and they started conceding lots of goals... Everton get rid of Gravesen.. they started going down in form etc..
I suppose though it didn't really matter too much about the result though? Maby he was just trying out new players. Generally, what do you think about Van Basten as a manger though?

Great!! I don't like when people select their 'friends' in positions... That always seems to happen in sport. Like I'm sure it would've happened to you before, where the coach just gives his son all the opportunities etc.. There was one pundit in Australia (he is pretty stupid :P) who suggested that we should try and get Gianfranco Zola as manager!! ??? Explain that one to me!! :P

Yes, players such as Boateng, Makelele, Gravesen and Davids don't always get the credit they deserve, it's a key position in the team these days, that of (defensive) holding midfielder. As you rightly put it, you start to miss them when they're not there.

There's a time to experiment and there's a time to start building a team, Marco's been in charge now for a couple of years, but it feels if he's still experimenting, but it's going nowhere. He started off well, but after that the football became less and less attractive.

When you look at the stats, he's done a brilliant job. But that's the problem, we are different in the Netherlands. We like to win AND play attractive football, which is becoming more and more difficult, yet not impossible (Arsenal, Barcelona), if you have the right players.

There's a big difference between being a club manager and a national team manager. There just isn't enough time to implement a certain style, unless you work with the players day in day out. Van Basten's an admirer of the 1-4-3-3 system with wingers, but we simply don't have those wingers anymore (except for Arjen Robben, who's out-of-form). So now he positions Van der Vaart on the right wing, or Dirk Kuyt, only to have that position covered. 1-4-4-2 would suit us much better. The majority of the players are much more familiar with that. But he's never tried it out in a friendly or so....... Strange. Could've at least given it a try in a few friendlies to see how it goes.

Are we spoiled romantics?  :-\ Yes, maybe, haha. On the other hand, it's what made us earn respect all over the world, and distinguish ourselves. Attacking, dominant football. Nothing's left of that.  :-[


Gianfranco Zola? Where does he come from? A fantastic player though!!! Leo Beenhakker would make a good manager for Australia, but he has just extended his contract with Poland.

Btw Mikey, what do you think? Are we allowed to call ourselves the Smiley Smile Football Pundits or what? LOL.  ???  :lol

Yeh I understand what you mean. I think a manager should experiment for a little while when he first gets in charge but once he has found the right team you have to try and stick with the best 11 game in and game out so that they can start building a good understanding amongst themselves.

Yeh the Netherlands have usually always played attractive football and I think you guys still are capable of doing that. Though of course the results in the end are what people remember. So has Van Basten EVER tried different tactics in his time in charge?

I think this Zola guy is from Spain or something ::)  I remember watching him at Chelsea, he was fantastic to watch. Of course people remember that goal in the FA Cup against Norwich (I think if I am remembering correctly).. and I also remember his chip against Everton in the last second of the game in one of his last games at Stamford Bridge. Absolutely brilliant player!! Reminds me of Bergkamp in a way. Different but similar in that they both can pull off unbelievable things. Bergkamp's goal against Newcastle should have been the number one goal of the decade in the premiership. That was outrageous skill!!

Oh ok. I have never heard of him either!! :P

Haha!! I dunno how many people are listening to us, but I think we deserve to be called that :lol

Well, of course I know Gianfranco Zola. He's Italian, btw. Played for Parma and Napoli, where he was Maradona's 'right hand' so to speak. A fantastic player. With my comment "Where does he come from?" I was only expressing my surprise as to how the FA came to him for the manager job. Why Zola? Ah well.....

That Bergkamp goal against Newcastle (Nikos Dabizas!) can be found on YouTube, there's a nice Bergkamp Tribute video there with lots of goals in it. This one was 'ballet' like, sometimes it seemed he barely touched the pitched with his feet. I miss him, he was one of a kind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCEXkik6Iuk

Do you remember the goal he scored in France in 1998 against Argentina? Then there's some beauties he scored for Ajax, and of course a lot of Arsenal goals.

Can't really say Van Basten has tried anything else. He HAS tried players on many positions. Kuyt has played on the left wing, right wing and as a central striker. Van der Vaart has played on both wings, various positions in midfield etc. His best position is that of playmaker or playing 'off' a striker in a free role, like he does at Hamburger SV. But we have Sneijder for that position as well. Van Persie prefers to play there, and so does Seedorf.

It's all about finding the right balance, as with the England side. You have to make choices. Lampard AND Gerrard AND Joe Cole, etc, etc. Or only one of them? I think you'll understand what I'm trying to say.

I know that he's Italian!! :P That's why I did the eye-rolling emoticon.. :lol You can tell that Maradona was his mentor. The FA aren't considering him (as far as I know).. I meant for the Australian job that somebody in the media over here said that he would be a good manager for Australia.. which of course I think is outrageous!!

You can't blame Dabizas to be fair. I think he was as besumed as most people when they first see the goal!! Thanks for the video. I've seen all of those goals (except the Ajax ones) but it brings back great memories of watching him play. I remember when I first saw the Newcastle goal and I had to keep replaying it to see exactly what he did.. I just couldn't believe it.. I miss Bergkamp too. But then I also miss Zola, Shearer etc..

He wasn't the most prolific goalscorer but when he scored they were usually pretty special. I have seen the goal against Argentina on many occassions. I bet (if you were watching the game live) you were jumping up and down and screaming when that went in!! From what I can recall wasn't it the winning goal and just before it was to be decided on penalties?

Well I think the Netherlands are extremely lucky in terms of attacking talent (from what I gather not as lucky in terms of depth in the defensive department). Whereas England are lacking depth in most areas and usually lack imagination going forward!! What do you think about Kuyt at Liverpool? I remember seeing a few games when he played in Holland and he was fantastic but at Liverpool he hasn't impressed me that much. So many attacking midfielders!! I suppose Arjen Robben COULD even play just off the striker(s) as well!!

Yeh I see what you mean. Do you agree with me in getting rid of either Lampard or Gerrard - in which I say Gerrard as he is usually poor for England. And then Gerrard could always be used off the bench as an impact player anyway.

No, Dabizas can not be blamed, but I'm sure people will always remind him of this moment. Nothing you could do there. A genius at work.

The goal against Argentina was the winner (no penalties) - and sure, I almost jumped through the ceiling for joy!! It was a fantastic game (remember the incident Van der Sar was involved in with Ortega?).

You're absolutely right about our luxurious attacking department, yet we did not manage to score a lot of goals this qualifiying campaign. And ever since Jaap Stam retired from international football we have been poor defensively (except for Van der Sar, who has saved us on many occasions with some crucial saves!).

I'm not sure about Dirk Kuyt. He works hard (always) for the team, and needs spaces to run into, he's not the typical close range striker (like Robbie Fowler). From what I see and hear the Liverpool fans like him (especially for never giving up and going for every ball), but he should score more goals if he wants to become a regular. He's been going through some difficult times in his personal life, his father passed away not too long ago, and this week burglars visited his house.

And yeah, Robben can play off the striker(s) as well, but, unlike Van Persie, he hasn't really improved over the last 2 years.

Yes, I agree. You have to make a choice. Same at Chelsea: Lampard AND Ballack didn't really work. Never knew why they signed Ballack in the first place.....

I reckon Bergkamp is one in a million. Though he wasn't a consistent enough goal scorer for my liking. Who else would you say (out of the past 10 or so years) is a footballing 'genius'?

Yeh I thought it was the winner (like a few minutes from time or something).. I don't remember the incident with van der Sar and Ortega because I've never seen the match, I've just seen that Bergkamp goal on highlights reels etc.. Some of the best matches I've ever seen though is that 3-3 draw between Liverpool and AC Milan (incredible), Arsenal 5-3 Middlesbrough, Tottenham 4-5 Arsenal, Liverpool 2-1 Arsenal (FA Cup Final 2001), Liverpool 3-3 West Ham (FA Cup Final) but I would say my favourite match I've ever seen is Leeds United 4-3 Liverpool, just for the pure drama!! I know Liverpool lost but I was happy that Viduka did well... That's one of the best individual performances in a match ever!! How about that third goal from Viduka?? Incredible.. do you remember that game?

Yeh Stam is a legend (like Bergkamp) who is so hard to replace... Yeh Man United are also lucky that they have van der Sar (he seems to save them a lot too!!)

That's not good about his personal life. I think he seems like a nice guy and he does try hard.. I respect him for that, but his performances haven't impressed me as yet!! Maby I should give him a bit more time (some people need more time than others)

Well I haven't seen Robben over the last year or so (since he left Chelsea) but he was fantastic when he was at his best at Chelsea

Yeh the puzzled me as well.. I suppose if they've got the money they'll just buy whoever they feel like!!

Bergkamp was more and more becoming the man of the assist in his final playing years, great vision and first touch. He was an intelligent player on the pitch, and to quote Johnny Cash "had his eyes wide open all the time".

Genius? Pooh, tough question. Personally I really like the players that come up with unexpected things and tricks in the big games, so to do some namedropping:

Ronaldinho, Messi, Kaka, Zidane, Kanu, Zola, Okocha, Weah, Eto'o, Cantona, Giggs, Litmanen, Henry, Hagi, Stoichkov, Romario, Redondo, Ibrahimovic, Larsson, Raul, must've forgotten a few....

Those are some fantastic games you mention!!! I've seen so many over the years (Ajax in 1994/1995 was a joy to watch - the game against Bayern Munich comes to mind), plus I've always enjoyed the 1998/1999 Champions League Final - Man Utd - Bayern Munich. 0-1 after 90 mins, and then two goals by Man Utd. Sheringham and Solskjaer. Brilliant game.

Leeds-Liverpool 4-3, can't remember it, but I must've seen it - need some help there......  ;D

Yeh couldn't agree more what you say about Bergkamp!! He was brilliant at setting other players up!! Superb player to watch.

A lot of fantastic players you've named there!! Couldn't disagree with you at all on any of them. But I would add Stevie G!! He seems to come up with amazing goals or assists in crucial times...there was a ball he played at Old Trafford (Liverpool won 1-0) a few years back to Danny Murphy which was an incredible pass and a few games earlier at Highbury (1-1) he played a superb ball with the outside of his right foot about 40 yards straight to Riise who scored. Superb passer and a scorer of super goals!!

Yeh that CL final with Man U + Bayern was a fantastic game. What a finale!! Similar to the 2-1 FA Cup Final between Liverpool and Arsenal from two years later.

Well it was a fantastic game. Liverpool went 2-0 up but then Viduka scored two goals to make it 2-2 and then Liverpool got another back to lead 3-2. But then in the last ten minutes Viduka got two goals. The third goal was the best of the lot. He was in the box ran past 1 defender, spun on the ball which made another Liverpool defender fall over and then just placed the ball across the keeper into corner of the net (came off the post if I remember correctly).. Man that is hard to explain. It was fantastic though!!

Here's the match report by the way:
http://www.leedsfans.org.uk/leeds/history/86/8612.html

Thanks! That surely helped! Though I did not remember that Sander Westerveld was the goalkeeper in that game - seems so long ago. But I remember that final Viduka goal now, it's so hard to defend him, he's so strong, and his technical abilities are definitely underrated.

Of course I cannot disagree about Stevie G., it's just that every time he puts on the England shirt he seems to be a completely different player. And there aren't that many players anymore that can make such amazing long range passes (Frank De Boer could). That one with the outside of his foot was indeed superb, I remember it well.

Riise is one of my favourite players, btw.

What do you think of Blackburn's Morten Gamst Pedersen? I'm surprised that he's not been signed by any of the top clubs yet....... He's such an amazing player. Very underrated. Same goes for Bolton's Jussi Jaaskelainen - though there seems to be some movement regarding his future, with some big clubs interested in capturing him. A very consistent goalkeeper.

How about this weekend's Premiership games? My predictions:

Chelsea v West Ham
Blackburn v Newcastle
Portsmouth v Everton
Reading v Boro draw
Sunderland v Derby
Wigan v Man City draw
Villa v Arsenal draw
Liverpool v Bolton
Spurs v Birmingham
Man Utd v Fulham

Yeh Viduka is definitely underrated, that's for sure. He might not be the most agile player and I think that's why people under-estimate him. Same with a guy like Peter Crouch. You wouldn't think he would be ANY good at all but he has some skill.

Yeh true but Gerrard has proved that he can play at the top club level (Champions League final) and perform. I have always thought International matches are rarely as good standard as the top club games because the players don't always work together (England is the best example of this)

Yeh Riise has scored some magical goals!! Did you hear about how his wages got posted on the internet? (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7071296.stm)

I agree about Pedersen. I have always liked his attacking style of playing. I can't understand (as you say) that there is teams like Liverpool who usually struggle to score too many goals on a consistent basis and I think a guy like Pedersen could help Liverpool atleast be a little bit more creative in going forward. Yeh I have ALWAYS (ever since I saw him the first few times) been a big fan of Jaaskelainen.

Well obviously I'm not going to predict last nights results :P But the last three game I would tip:

Liverpool v Bolton
Spurs v Birmingham
Man Utd v Fulham

I think all of those games are pretty certain to be home victories although maby a draw between Liverpool v Bolton would be a possibility, unless there is to be some upsets tonight?

It's official: Pim Verbeek is the new Socceroos manager!

The other candidate was Frenchman Philippe Troussier.

 ::)

Yes I saw that Philippe Troussier guy, he was at one of the club games here in Australia. Who is he?

And is Pim Verbeek any good?

A short bio of Troussier can be found here at Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Troussier

And this is what I wrote about Verbeek previously:

Verbeek took over from Advocaat as South Korea boss after the World Cup in 2006. Pretty low-profile (has worked for Fortuna Sittard and Feyenoord for instance). Is usually 'the assistant'. He's a nice guy and all that, but he's not going to win the war for you. Rob Baan (another Dutchman) is in charge, he's the managing director of the Australian FA if I'm not mistaken and I think he's desperate to bring in a 'friend'.

More info here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pim_Verbeek

I guess he's third or fourth choice. It's proving to be hard to get the man you want these days, isn't it?  :-D

Shocking defeat for Liverpool yesterday...... I was kind of surprised when I looked at Liverpool's starting eleven - especially since they played Reading away...... What was Benitez thinking? Reading played very well, by the way. Steve Coppell's an excellent manager.

And did you see Everton's game? Yakubu on fire and an instrumental Tim Cahill!

Ok thanks. Do you personally think we should have gone with Troussier?

Sorry I forgot about that. Some of these names are so foreign to me and they are hard to remember (since Australia only has names like Matthew, Adam etc..) Yeah, I couldn't agree more with you there. I'm not so sure though that a foreign manager is the right choice for Australia. I would give John Kosmina a chance (not sure if you know him or not?) He is the Sydney FC manager over here. He just seems like a really determined individual.

I can't believe Liverpool lost, the game was too late for me (4am local time), but I watched the first half an hour or so and then went to bed. And after Stevie G had got Liverpool back on track I thought it was a certain Liverpool victory. I was shocked to read the result. I'm just hoping that Liverpool can beat Marseille.

I was out last night, but I did manage to catch the highlights of Everton's game. A hat-trick from Yakubu if I'm remembering correctly, some nice goals there as well!! What did Tim Cahill do?

Ever since Cahill has returned from injury Everton play SO much better, he was the missing link, and yesterday he played an outstanding game. He's the 'perfect' modern attacking midfielder, similar to Frank Lampard - always going forward, finding space and scoring goals.

I'm confident Liverpool will beat Marseille, they have to, Marseille have been inconsistent so far this season. They were lucky to win at Anfield.

Hey, no problem, I don't blame you for not knowing Pim Verbeek, I'm sure a lot of Australian players must've raised a few eyebrows in the last few days as well......

Don't know what to think of Troussier, I think that I too would've picked an Australian manager (like Kosmina - only know him from his playing days btw), most foreign managers are only interested in filling their pockets and see it as a great thing to be able to add another high profile job to their cv, whereas the national guys usually have more heart for the case and show more determination.

Marco Van Basten's also leaving his post after Euro 2008, and the speculation as to who is going to be his successor has already started.

Yeah Cahill really is a fantastic player, he is a fantastic header of the ball as well. He reminds me of a guy like Freddie Ljungberg with his darting runs. Like he seems to come out of nowhere. I agree, he reminds me of Frank Lampard too. He just seems to have good bits of everyone in him. Frank Lampard's goal scoring, Ljungberg's runs and the heading ability of someone like James Scowcroft (who? you might ask :P) I'm proud that we have such a brilliant Australian player. He played for Samoa in the youth teams before playing for Australia so he needed clearance from FIFA. Would have been a strange one if he couldn't have played for Australia. Cahill actually grew up right near where I live and he has a brother who plays in one of the lower leagues over here in Australia and from memory he was arrested recently!!

Yeah but I heard Liverpool played really bad at Anfield against Marseille, so maby Liverpool deserved to lose? But I am confident as well that Liverpool will win. But if they have one of their bad days it will be a close game.

Haha, yeah he has a strange name too!! I have always found it weird why some players change their names. Like why did van Nistelrooy change his name? From memory his name is something like Ruttgerus van Nistelrooij. I can understand changing his first name (sort of like a nickname) but why did he change the spelling of his last name?

Oh where do you remember him playing? I know he played once for Arsenal. I never saw him play but I heard he was an okay player (considering Australia didn't have many good players back then - probably only Craig Johnston)... But yes he is a decent manager and he doesn't take any rubbish from the players, which is what I like (I mean after all they are professionals). I couldn't agree more with that last point. I don't see why national boards (ie: English FA etc..) can't see it that way too? Okay so McLaren didn't do too well but that's because he wasn't suited to the England job. He's not agressive or doesn't seem confident enough. That's why I want Big Sam :-D, though I know that will probably never happen.

Yeah I saw that about Van Basten. Interesting, who do you think are the main candidates? And who would you personally like to see take over the job?

Yes, Cahill is a great header of the ball, especially because he's not really tall. Shows that it's all about the timing and positioning.

He came to my attention at Millwall, he was by far the best player in the team then (Lucas Neill was also there, Steven Reid, Neil Harris, Marc Bircham). I know Scowcroft from his Ipswich days, they had a fantastic season in the Premier League under George Burley's helm (with Marcus Stewart scoring the goals), and he played up front or on the right.

Van Nistelrooij never changed his name, officially that is. It's only because the letter 'ij' is not used outside our country and Belgium, therefor he changed it to 'y', to prevent people not knowing how to pronounce his name (same with Dirk Kuijt - Dirk Kuyt), so it is indeed only a matter of spelling.

Rutgerus Johannes Martinus (Ruud) van Nistelrooij is his full, official birthname, and 'Ruud' is just a shorter version of 'Rutgerus', same as 'Mart' would be of 'Martinus' or 'Theo' of 'Theodorus', haha. 

I remember Kosmina from his games for Australia - like I said Graham Arnold played for Roda JC in those days, same as Gerry Van Egmond (another Aussie with a Dutch name!), so I had some interest in the national team of Australia then. Can't remember him from his Arsenal days, but I knew he was a manager now (from the 'Football Manager' database, haha).

Van Basten's successor, these are the names circulating in the press:

Bert Van Marwijk (now at Feyenoord)
Foppe De Haan (successful with the U23/U21 teams, but he's ruled himself out)
Martin Jol
Co Adriaanse
Louis Van Gaal (AZ, failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup)
Frank Rijkaard (Barcelona - would be his second term as well)

Van Marwijk looks to be in pole position. These are all good managers, personally I think I'd take Jol, he's available and ready for it.

We'll see what happens......

Yeah I remember he did really well when Millwall got the FA Cup Final. The match was a bit dissapointing though. Would have been nice to see Milwall put up more of a fight.

Oh ok, thanks for clearing that up for me. In regards to Kuyt, it is interesting because the commentators (English commentators of course) seem to all pronounce his name differently. There is:
*KOW-T
*KITE
*KOY-T
Sorry if that's confusing but I tried to write it the best I could.

I'm glad they don't call van Nistelrooy his full name :P

Yeah I know Gary van Egmond. He is currently the manager of one of the teams in Australia. Kosmina only made one appearance for Arsenal (in the league at least) so I don't blame you for not remembering him :-D Ah, the good old football manager games!! So much fun :)
By the way, it's interesting because I have a lot of "Dutch" friends. By that I mean that they are born in Australia but they have Dutch parents and grandparents etc..

Yeah I hope Jol gets the job too. He seems like a nice fellow and he's a great manager as well!! :)

No, it's definitely not easy for the English commentators to pronounce Kuyt's name correctly, mostly because 'UY' does not exist in English.

So:
*KOW-T
*KITE
*KOY-T

(well done, btw!)

.....are all wrong, but it doesn't really matter, does it. That's what you get with all these foreign names. We know who they are referring to.

GARY van Egmond, yes, not Gerry as I called him previously. He never really made his mark here in the Netherlands (if I remember well he only stayed one season), unlike Graham Arnold, who did really well for us and NAC Breda. Good to hear he's a manager now. How's his team doing?

Do your "Dutch" friends speak any Dutch?

Oh yeah, before I forget, another Aussie that played for Roda JC is goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac, who's now at AC Milan. 'We' signed him from Leicester City and he did really well. Met him a couple of times and he's a very funny guy, and even taller than I am, haha. Still, Ruud Van Nistelrooy (then PSV) once managed to score a wonderful goal against him (a lob from his own half).

Yeah it is certainly a difficult name to pronounce in English (strange as well because you would expect a longer name to be hard to pronounce but you wouldn't think such a short name would be that difficult to pronounce).

It's an easy mistake to make. You should hear the news reporters in Australia. They ALWAYS make mistakes pronouncing/spelling names. For example:

*El-Hadji Diouf they pronounced El-Hadji Duff
*Thierry Henry they pronounced Terry Henry (as in Hen-Ree not On-ree)
*Freddie Ljungberg they pronounced Freddie LA-jungberg

And they are always mis-spelling names. Quite funny really :P

His team is doing really well. Most people (atleast me :lol) were predicting that they would finish second last or there abouts (there is only eight teams in the league and no relegation since there isn't enough money in soccer over here because it isn't that popular plus we have a reasonably small population). But at the moment they are in third which is pretty good. They are above Sydney (my team - who are 5th) and Melbourne (last seasons winners where they won the Grand Final 6-0 - but they are currently 7th :lol). We have a Grand Final system over here so it's a league and then the top 4 play off in a semi final and then go to a Grand final.. It's just the way other sports in Australia do it so soccer has always done it over here as well. To be honest though, I don't really keep up with the Australian league, it's pretty boring.

Only a little bit but only a few words here and there, but basically no. But some of there parents etc.. can

That's cool that you have met Kalac!! I have met Dwight Yorke and Ian Rush, but that's the only soccer players I've met. I have met other famous sportsman but I don't think you would know them (they are cricketers - which I think you'd atleast know of cricket wouldn't you? You're country is in world cups etc..)

I have read about that van Nistelrooy goal (didn't know Kalac was the goalkeeper though) and I tried to download it once but the video never worked, so from then on I just assumed it never happened :P

By the way, how tall are you?

Hmm, in the summer Philip Cocu was linked with a move to Sydney FC, I think it was Jason Culina’s dad who tried to persuade him to continue his career Down Under, but unfortunately for you guys he preferred a move to Al-Jazeera (UAE). Probably for the weather.  ;)

Isn’t Michael Bridges playing for Sydney these days? I always liked him when he played for Sunderland and Leeds. Injury prone, but a good striker.

Of course I know cricket, and I know the Dutch team is doing quite well sometimes, but I never watch it. I do watch a lot of other sports: besides football that would be cycling (a lot of excellent Aussies there – Robbie McEwen, Stuart O’Grady, Cadel Evans, Bradley McGee, Baden Cooke etc.), speed skating (typical Dutch thing), darts (now and then), tennis (always enjoyed watching Pat Rafter and the 'Woodies' double), etc. Out of these, football and cycling are closest to my heart, and through the years I’ve met even more famous pro cyclists than football players, haha. It's easier to approach them, plus there are a lot of races here in the South.

You must’ve met Yorke when he played for Sydney? Did Rush play there too?

I searched online for a clip of that van Nistelrooy goal, but couldn’t find it, but I’m sure you’ll see it someday. Oh and I’m 196 centimeter (= 6.43 feet), I think Kalac is 203 centimeter (= 6.66 feet). He’s a real presence, probably twice as tall as Lionel Messi, haha. We had a few really tall guys in our (Roda JC) team then, which was great fun (corners, free kicks).  ;D

Yeah I remember that rumour. Branko Culina (Jason's dad of course) was sacked as manager a few months back now. He wasn't a very good manager but he seemed like a nice guy. The weather in Sydney is pretty good too. Nice beaches with usually warm weather.

Yeah Bridges is at Sydney along with Juninho. But Bridges has been disappointing so far. He is only on loan though. I'm glad a lot of the Australian players have returned back to Australia. Ie: John Aloisi, Stan Lazaridis etc..

Yeah I can understand why you don't watch cricket. It can be pretty boring most of the time. Interesting, I'm not really into cycling at all even though there are a lot of good Australian's. Do you remember that Australian guy (can't remember his name now) who won the ice skating race (don't know the exact name of the event) after everybody fell over. That was hilarious!! Yeah I like Tennis occassionally. I loved watching Rafter too and of course I now enjoy watching Federer. I don't like Lleyton Hewitt at all though!! He's just such a whinger. And when he's losing he always somehow magically seems to get injured, not a big fan as you can tell :-D My favourite sports would be football and rugby league. Though I like a lot of other sports too.

No actually I met Yorke when he was still under contract with United although he had fallen out of favour with Ferguson and so he came to Australia for a holiday (in 2002) and then soon after he left United. Rush played for Sydney Olympic (not in the top league anymore) in 1999/00 and he ran a training camp which I went to. There was a fair few kids there and we were all put into groups and did training drills. He walked around and watched each group for a while but he didn't get to see everyone. Luckily for me though just as I was about to have a one on one shot at goal he walked up to our group. I thought to myself (I was only about 11 or 12 at the time) "here's my chance to impress Ian Rush" :-D And so I ran up to the ball and blasted it as hard as I could and it hit the cross bar and went over. Even though I missed I thought to myself "I bet he'll be impressed" but then he came up to me and said "you don't need to smash the ball to score, you need to place it" or something like that. I always remembered what he told me (well I remember the idea that he told me) and the next few seasons I became a pretty good goalscoring midfielder. Before I was only scoring about a goal a season. But the next year I scored 16 goals in 18 games and after that I averaged about 11 or 12 goals a season in approx. 18 games (depending if we made the finals).

Yeah I really hope I get to see it, because he never even scored outside the box for United!! :-D Though I've seen him score some pretty good goals for United (that individual goal against Fulham - in the match where he got the hat-trick) as well as a few good ones for Madrid. I haven't seen many of their games but there was a goal where he chipped the keeper. A really great finish.

That is pretty tall!! I'm only about 178cm. How tall is Lionel Messi?

Haha but tall people aren't always the best headers. Think of Crouch - everyone seems to always say "he's such a good header" but I think he is better with his feet. Am I the only one who notices that?

Cricket is not very popular over here, only with a small group of (fanatic) people, and it'll never be as popular over here as it is in your country or in the UK.

Yeah, yeah, remember that hilarious incident, it was at the Olympics wasn't it? Short track.

I see what you mean about Hewitt, he's not a very popular guy is he? There was a game once I remember seeing where he was already leading 6-1, 5-0 or something and still celebrating a winning point as if it was a crucial, deciding point by yelling "Come on!". That really pissed off the opponent (I think it was Martin Verkerk), and they had some words when they changed sides.

I like to watch rugby (on the BBC mostly), mainly because of the attitude of the players and the fair play and respect they show for the referee. A lot of footballers can learn something from that! Look at all the tackles! A footballer gets a slight push and rolls on the floor as if he's been shot....  Wussies.  :lol

That's some good advice Ian Rush gave you. And he should know! He scored goals for fun. But I understand your determination to do well and impress him. I've been in the same situation when I was a kid, also had some training sessions by pro players. And there were always scouts watching, and they told us before the game...... As a result we failed to impress, haha, because we were too busy trying to impress, doing tricks, trying to score goals from outside the box etc.

That's a pretty good goalscoring record!

You're right about tall players not always being the best headers. Kanu is another example. Ibrahimovic. It's all about the timing, positioning and jumping skills. Cahill is a good example, as we discussed before. I prefer the ball to be played in my feet as well.

I think Messi is 169cm, but he received some special 'growing treatment', as he was really short (155cm) a couple of years ago. But he doesn't need to be a good header, he has some other nice skills, haha.  ;)

Well of course. After all England and Australia have been playing cricket for around 130 years!!

Yeh it was at the olympics. He became reasonably famous in Australia after that. Atleast for the next year or so

No not many people like Hewitt... On comedy shows they always make fun of him. Haha yeh I hate how he says "come on" all the time. I remember another player (can't remember his name) kept doing the "come on" thing when he was versing Hewitt and he ended up winning and after the match Hewitt was saying things like "he was arrogant"... Take a look at yourself Lleyton!!

I couldn't agree more. That's the major problem with football... they go down WAY to easily. That's why I don't like a lot of the Italian, Portuguese players etc.. Like Cristiano Ronaldo who is one of the worst offenders in the premiership... If you are going to dive you might as well make it look realistic like Steven Gerrard who is a pretty good diver because he falls forward with his hands out in front of him and doesn't leap backwards in the air when he dives.... I don't know if you saw it but Louis Saha did a REALLY pathetic dive.... a blind person could've told that he dived that's how blatant it was :P but somehow the referee gave a penalty!! They've got to stop falling for it. I honestly think if a referee misses a dive anywhere outside the box then after the game a review panel should look at it and give the player a one match ban if they deem he dived. And if you dive in the box and the referee gives a penalty and it is deemed to be a dive then it should be a three match ban. That way players won't be diving for too much longer. I have also had another idea which is taken from rugby.. where if a player is booked then he should have to go off the field for ten or so minutes to cool him down. And that we he is atleast punished a little and it will make for less bookings.

Yeah he is the leading scorer (all competitions) for Liverpool!! That's some achievement considering Liverpool are the most successful English club ever. I think if there is ever scouts etc.. at games then they shouldn't tell you because then there is no pressure. Especially for a little kid because can you imagine you were training and then Pele came and watched you, you would probably play your worst game ever!!!

Yeah well my team was really bad. I was incredibly fit back then as I had to be.. I was the only half decent player all the other players were hopeless!!

Do you remember Ibrahimovic's goal against Italy? Incredible!! And of course I'm sure you remember Kanu's hat trick at Stamford Bridge!! Incredible as well. Yeah I prefer the ball played at my feet too. I don't understand teams who always play long balls down field (eg: Bolton under Allardyce).. It makes it so much harder for the strikers (although it can work in your favour if the defenders are bamboozled and you have a very skilled striker. Though of course Bolton were very successful under Allardyce.. but maby they could have even been better if they had played the ball to feet more often.

Haha yeah Messi is an incredible player. What did you think of all the World Footballer of the year awards that came out recently? I don't like Cristiano Ronaldo but I thought he was unlucky.

Shocked by the death of Motherwell's captain Phil O'Donnell this weekend. Only 35 years old. Puts things in perspective. Very sad. R.I.P.

Good ideas to get rid of the diving problem in football. Something should be done about it, but it's also an attitude problem. I don't think it'll ever disappear completely from the game, but right now it's getting way out of hand.

Yes, I remember that Ibrahimovic goal very well, incredible. He once scored a fabulous goal for Ajax against NAC Breda (it might even have been his last one for the club, I'm not sure), still his best if you ask me.

Here it is:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZgqsaDnsEq8

Reminds me of some of Bergkamp's best. Genius.

Ah, that Kanu hattrick was awesome! He's still one of my favourite players, and he was untouchable that day. Brilliant goals.

We've reached the end of the year, but fortunately the Premier League is only halfway, time for some predictions for tomorrow's and Wednesday's games:

Arsenal v West Ham
Aston Villa v Spurs (draw)
Fulham v Chelsea
Man Utd v Birmingham
Boro v Everton
Reading v Portsmouth
Blackburn v Sunderland
Bolton v Derby
Liverpool v Wigan
Newcastle v Man City (draw)

The African Cup Of Nations is coming up, a lot of clubs (Arsenal, Portsmouth, Everton for instance) will lose key players for a couple of weeks, who do you think will be most affected by this? Or do you think they'll be able to cope without them?

As for the World Footballer Of The Year Award, I think Kaka deserved to win, but it's always a close call isn't it? The players nominated are all excellent, world-class players. I think Cristiano Ronaldo has improved a lot over the last 12 months, he's become a much better team player. He used to bring out his bag of tricks every minute, but it did not always lead to something. There wasn't always an end result. Showing off his skills.

But now, he's brought it all together, he's scoring goals for fun: penalties, free kicks, headers, tap ins, placed shots, goals from dribbles, the lot. And he's a great provider, bringing in a lot of crosses. Plus he's got so much pace, it's almost impossible to defend him now. You never know what he's going to do next. The main contender for Player Of The Season I think.

Happy New Year to all, let's hope it's going to be a wonderful football year.

Yeah it seems all too common these days. Of course we had Marc-Vivien Foe a few years back, plus that Spanish footballer (Puerta or something).. seems like its happening too often these days. I remember other players have collapsed too. Benni McCarthey from memory as well as Khalilou Fadiga (while playing for Bolton)

I agree its way out of hand and of course its such a big problem in the game now that your never going to get rid of it completely. BUT if you bring in harsher punishments then it will atleast stop (after a year or so) atleast 80% of divers I think. I mean can you imagine getting a 3 game ban for diving in the opposition box.

That's phenomenal. I have never seen that one. Thanks so much!! That is definately better than the one verse Italy.

Yeh that reminds me of that Viduka game in many ways, though probably better (because he came off the bench like 15 minutes from time!!)

You tipped 5 out of 10 if I am remembering correctly?

I think Arsenal and Portsmouth especially. I think Arsenal should be extremely worried because now their lead is gone at the moment!!

Yeah I agree. Ronaldo has been phenomenal this season. I'm not a fan of him (as a person) but as a player you can't deny that he is a great player. And as you say he used to be brilliant as an individual but now he is becoming a team player. Which is pretty scary!!

By the way, It's weird that Anelka went to Chelsea!!

Happy New Year to you too. I'm sure it will be a fantastic year, even if England didn't qualify for EURO 2008!! :P

Fadiga had some heart problems, yes, and Kanu had to undergo heart surgery when he only just signed for Internazionale (from Ajax).

Oh, harsher punishments would definitely help, I agree.

Yeah, I tipped 5 or 6 correctly, haha, there's always a couple of surprises every week, but it's fun to give it a shot every now and then........  ;D

Anelka. Why do you think it's weird? I think it's a good choice, since Drogba will be away for a couple of weeks, Shevchenko is injured and Drogba's the perfect replacement if you ask me. He knows what it takes to play in the Premier League, can score goals and has the ability to play up front on his own if necessary. Of course it's a lot of money to pay for a 'short term replacement', but judging from the rumours Drogba's looking for a move away from Chelsea in the summer, so he could be the long-term replacement as well.

What else do you think will happen on the transfer market in the next two weeks or so? A lot of rumours in the papers (or on the websites), as usual the final days of the transfer window will probably be very hectic again, haha.

What do you think, which teams need strengthening? And if so, where? And who would you recommend? (Haha, just realised, these questions should keep you busy for a while......  :lol)

Yeah a lot of African players seem to have health problems.. Sad :'(

Yeah better than I probably would have done. I haven't done it for a while though. I've been too busy seeing Brian live!!

Well I just didn't expect it. I think it's an excellent signing. I have always been a fan of Anelka myself. I would like to see him do well.

Yeah I have no idea but I think someone (Barcelona, Real Madrid etc.) might make a bid for Ronaldo. Don't think he'll go though. I think he'll leave in a couple of years though. I have heard rumours (probably false) that Henry might be going back to Arsenal!!

Haha well I'm not going to answer for every team but for my team Liverpool I still think we need another quality striker. We need more depth there. I'm not a fan of Voronin and it seems Crouch isn't in favour too much anymore. Torres is great and I think Babel could be a quality striker but I think Kuyt isn't that great. So I just say have four main strikers (Torres, Babel, Kuyt and someone else? Don't know who though? I would have loved Anelka though!! Maby even Owen could come back!! :P)

I would say Liverpool needs strengthening in the midfield too.

Aside from them I would also say Newcastle needs a lot of strengthening. They need to splash the cash and buy a few quality (yet affordable) buys. I also think Bolton, Middlesbrough and Tottenham are also in that category. Those are the teams I would expect to be doing better. As for who all these teams should buy? I wouldn't know. It's too hard to tell!!