The Football Thread.

UnclePsychosis

scrumhalf said:

VAR needs a margin of error similar to cricket's umpire's call.

And it also needs the laws of the game to be revised by a committee of people who have been proven, incontrovertibly, not to have their heads stuck up their arses.

Go back to a handball being hand to ball. 

You actually demonstrate perfectly the problem with your example. 

Lazy, myopic, managers, players, pundits and fans have been saying for years all they want is "consistency" and "common sense". 

Then the football authorities brought in literally the only version of the handball rule that could be written if you want a consistent decision every time - and every fucker hated it because it was shit.

You can't have "common sense" rules AND get every single decision right. It's a contradiction. So let's bin VAR. It's not needed. 

TeleMaster

This might sound silly, I dunno, but some of the greatest sporting moments have been defined by mistakes. Hand of God, England's 66 goal, etc. Who remembers going home from the game going 'that was never offside, that was never a pen'? I remember it, and I miss it.

Mostly the decisions were inconsequential but you had those odd times where you had an amazing bit of luck where you got a decision that you shouldn't have, or even witnessed one against you. Either way these are some of the best talking points, the best moments. For me, it's all part of the romanticism and I think we should trust the referees and accept that there will be some mistakes, and that big or small, it's for the greater good of the game. 

While I think VAR should bring greater equality, I think it in practice it ruins the natural order of the game, ruins the flow of the match and sterilises it so I think we should also, bin it. 

usedtobe

axisus said:

mudslide73 said:

Well done to Forest for getting promoted to the big time. I think they've got some serious investment so should have a chance of establishing themselves. I think Hudds should have had at least one penalty but it just wasn't to be. Roll on August, eh?

Glad Huddersfield lost. The fans were complete arseholes when they beat Luton in the first playoff. Bunch of wankers. Well done Forest!

Forests hooligan element used to have a dreadful reputation, at one point, I believe.. is that still the case..?

bloodandtears

TeleMaster said:

This might sound silly, I dunno, but some of the greatest sporting moments have been defined by mistakes. Hand of God, England's 66 goal, etc. Who remembers going home from the game going 'that was never offside, that was never a pen'? I remember it, and I miss it.

Mostly the decisions were inconsequential but you had those odd times where you had an amazing bit of luck where you got a decision that you shouldn't have, or even witnessed one against you. Either way these are some of the best talking points, the best moments. For me, it's all part of the romanticism and I think we should trust the referees and accept that there will be some mistakes, and that big or small, it's for the greater good of the game. 

While I think VAR should bring greater equality, I think it in practice it ruins the natural order of the game, ruins the flow of the match and sterilises it so I think we should also, bin it. 

Unfortunately for some, those talking points still exist due to the inconsistencies of VAR; so you should be still be happy with your talking points?

UnclePsychosis

bloodandtears said:

TeleMaster said:

This might sound silly, I dunno, but some of the greatest sporting moments have been defined by mistakes. Hand of God, England's 66 goal, etc. Who remembers going home from the game going 'that was never offside, that was never a pen'? I remember it, and I miss it.

Mostly the decisions were inconsequential but you had those odd times where you had an amazing bit of luck where you got a decision that you shouldn't have, or even witnessed one against you. Either way these are some of the best talking points, the best moments. For me, it's all part of the romanticism and I think we should trust the referees and accept that there will be some mistakes, and that big or small, it's for the greater good of the game. 

While I think VAR should bring greater equality, I think it in practice it ruins the natural order of the game, ruins the flow of the match and sterilises it so I think we should also, bin it. 

Unfortunately for some, those talking points still exist due to the inconsistencies of VAR; so you should be still be happy with your talking points?

The expense, the endless delays to the game, and the ruination of the match experience for the paying supporter seem like a huge price to pay to end up back where we started tbh. 

VAR is a total farce and was doomed to failure the second anyone decided it should be used for anything beyond the truly obvious. 

Checking whether the striker was actually 3 feet offside? OK fine

Checking whether the fifty-fifty challenge was actually 51-49? Bin. Now. 

bloodandtears

UnclePsychosis said:

bloodandtears said:

TeleMaster said:

This might sound silly, I dunno, but some of the greatest sporting moments have been defined by mistakes. Hand of God, England's 66 goal, etc. Who remembers going home from the game going 'that was never offside, that was never a pen'? I remember it, and I miss it.

Mostly the decisions were inconsequential but you had those odd times where you had an amazing bit of luck where you got a decision that you shouldn't have, or even witnessed one against you. Either way these are some of the best talking points, the best moments. For me, it's all part of the romanticism and I think we should trust the referees and accept that there will be some mistakes, and that big or small, it's for the greater good of the game. 

While I think VAR should bring greater equality, I think it in practice it ruins the natural order of the game, ruins the flow of the match and sterilises it so I think we should also, bin it. 

Unfortunately for some, those talking points still exist due to the inconsistencies of VAR; so you should be still be happy with your talking points?

The expense, the endless delays to the game, and the ruination of the match experience for the paying supporter seem like a huge price to pay to end up back where we started tbh. 

VAR is a total farce and was doomed to failure the second anyone decided it should be used for anything beyond the truly obvious. 

Checking whether the striker was actually 3 feet offside? OK fine

Checking whether the fifty-fifty challenge was actually 51-49? Bin. Now. 

I hear ya, but my point was that you still have your talking points..

PhilW1

I'd keep it to catch/book the blatant cheating diving tossers, who then roll around for 5 minutes but are back to normal straight away.

Gassage

So, on Saturday, I attended the EPCR Champions Cup Final at Marseilles - La Rochelle v Leinster.

It was an incredible game, gladitorial, went down to the last second, physical and brutal beyond belief.

25k Leinster fans, 25k La Rochelle. 15k neutral. No segregation. Lots of people on the piss.

Not one arrest, not a punch thrown, delightful atmosphere and one of the best games you'll ever see. And the same French police who smiled, laughed and engaged.

I think I drew the long straw.

Why soccer is like this is beyond me.

usedtobe

I wish football was a lot more like rugby in some ways.. respect for the ref, (lack of) cheating, and supporters behaviour.. Mind you, Scottish and Irish national team supporters seem to be able to go anywhere, and have a whale of a time, without much fuss, so idk…

mudslide73

Gassage said:

So, on Saturday, I attended the EPCR Champions Cup Final at Marseilles - La Rochelle v Leinster.

It was an incredible game, gladitorial, went down to the last second, physical and brutal beyond belief.

25k Leinster fans, 25k La Rochelle. 15k neutral. No segregation. Lots of people on the piss.

Not one arrest, not a punch thrown, delightful atmosphere and one of the best games you'll ever see. And the same French police who smiled, laughed and engaged.

I think I drew the long straw.

Why soccer is like this is beyond me.

The two sports have different audiences. The outpourings of anti Liverpool tweets after Saturday's events show the level of tribalism at play. I'm not a rugby expert by any means but it doesn't seem to be a problem for the sport despite the fans being just as proud. The concentration of twats does seem to be higher at football for sure.

I did see some scrapping at Bears v Pears 2020 a few years back though... it seems the more you simplify the format the more twats it attracts

UnclePsychosis

I used to live near Murrayfield. I'd agree that rugby fans are a bit better behaved than football fans but that doesn't mean they're well behaved. Plenty examples of them pissing in people's front gardens and behaving like pricks.

Gassage

UnclePsychosis said:

I used to live near Murrayfield. I'd agree that rugby fans are a bit better behaved than football fans but that doesn't mean they're well behaved. Plenty examples of them pissing in people's front gardens and behaving like pricks.

In fairness, they were probably Scottish and were exacting revenge for your cover of Real Gone Kid.

sev112

I hear that next year you can’t win a cup trophy if you don’t score a goal in the final

3 finals , no goals.  That’s pretty rubbish, good goalie performance or not.

Hattigol

Indeed, the Greatest Attacking Team Ever somehow scored zero goals in 330 mins of play during their finals. 

Great to see Micky Owen proclaiming them as the best team in Europe and still 'the team to beat' - this is after just being, erm, beaten and despite them not winning the League or Champions League. Maybe nobody's ever explained to him the difference between the words 'the best' and 'my favourite'...

scrumhalf

If Michael Owen was fined for every cliche and load of bollocks he spouts he'd be pulling fag ends out of the cracks between paving stones. 

UnclePsychosis

Owen was quite a good footballer but it absolutely boggles the mind that anyone thinks he's worthy of payment to talk about it. 

Philly_Q

And Michael Owen's just about to become less famous than his daughter...

TeleMaster

UnclePsychosis said:

Owen was quite a good footballer but it absolutely boggles the mind that anyone thinks he's worthy of payment to talk about it. 

He won the Ballon D'or. I think quite good is probably an understatement.  

RobDavies

axisus said:

mudslide73 said:

Well done to Forest for getting promoted to the big time. I think they've got some serious investment so should have a chance of establishing themselves. I think Hudds should have had at least one penalty but it just wasn't to be. Roll on August, eh?

Glad Huddersfield lost. The fans were complete arseholes when they beat Luton in the first playoff. Bunch of wankers. Well done Forest!

As opposed to the forest fans and their flying headbutts….?

TeleMaster

I think it's safe to say that every football club has their muppets and hooligans.