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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 24, 2007 14:37:07 GMT
or putting coffee in the coffee at the Brookside snack bar, I only hope that the club do listen to such ideas. its not just me who noticed that then! They must secure the supplies from the same people who provide it to us hoi polloi at New Road! I bring my own sachet and add it to hot water provided!
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 21, 2007 14:04:45 GMT
I think it all comes down to character not money
Some players - Carragher, Lampard, Giggs, - would earn respect in any era for their attitude, respect for the game and others, ability, effort and loyalty. Other players would not.
You cannot con the fans that you are a 100% er for long if you are not.
I think there are some rather bewitched memories of England's gloriously successful international football past. It has been hard for us at International level since 1945 and possibly even before that (we were isolated from large parts of the football world for a long time pre- war) . Look at our first World Cup in 1950? Some of the "greatest" players in English football history humbled by the mighty USA. In the best part of 80 years we have won the World Cup once and never won the European Championship. I think we have to get real and recognise that it is not the money that kills England it is England's football structure.
We have all the money in the world for football it's just that as a nation we have no vision and no plan on how to convert all our great qualities into results on the pitch. Instead we would rather spend £700M+ on building a stadium who'se sole purpose appears to be to deliver a mechanism for getting the FA into the Guinness Book of Records for selling the most expensive hot dog in the history of professional sport (£4)! (actually they are a fiver at Twickers but at least the dog is real meat!)
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 21, 2007 11:21:30 GMT
Laps of honour have disappeared.
Didnt the losers trot round and get applauded by both sets of fans before slinking away to leave the stage for the winners before they too went round the whole stadium and received the respect they deserved from the losers fans?
Today it seems to be my team lost therefore we go cos we cant applaud a team who were good enough to beat our own (and by definition must be quite handy!). Also Man U fans (and they are not alone) didnt stay to applaud their own teams not inconsiderable effort and performance.
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 21, 2007 11:22:50 GMT
The offside law is the same as the ball over the line law or the free kick law.
If the ref gives it then thats what it is!
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 21, 2007 11:35:35 GMT
An awful lot said there.
1. Good signing of Mark Cooper (interesting specification for the role) 2. Sensible financial control to match revenues and costs until a new ground plan is deliverable 3. Recognition that it will be a tougher league next season
Certainly adds up to the recognition that non league football is a tough old game.
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 21, 2007 11:57:48 GMT
I think thats a fair call. I expect to see two or three not sign at the most.
I think we have to assume that this is where the "budget cuts" are biting. If the choice is between sounder finances and a larger more expensive squad then I go for the former in the current climate. It would not surprise me if a leaner more hungry and slightly less exeperienced squad performed just as well on the pitch next season.
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 21, 2007 11:28:59 GMT
George Clegg, Nick Colley, Shaun Findlay, Danny Hodnett, Shabir Khan, Gary Walker and Troy Wood have all been given time to think about signing up.
Given the names involved can we assume that the offers are not all that attractive and that we should expect a fair proportion of these players to go elsewhere if they secure a better deal by the end of May?
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on Jun 20, 2007 8:05:58 GMT
It's amazing to think there's only a division between them and neighbours Leeds United. A local derby in a year's time? A stunning thought. Leeds United 0 Parsley Celtic The Lion 1 Att 343 in the NW Counties after Leeds suffer a quintuple relegation following the "administration" scandal and Farsley go out of business and reform after losing money hand over fist in the Conference.
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 14, 2007 9:26:30 GMT
Clearly up to Conference standard.
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 14, 2007 15:15:27 GMT
The turnover of players is staggering really. There are a few notable exceptions - currently Webby and Danny - but the majority of players dont last more that a couple of seasons.
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 11, 2007 12:39:29 GMT
Holidays all round?
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on Nov 16, 2007 10:27:55 GMT
I hear Ladak is having talks with a Mr A Blair. New Kettering beckons. The inhabitants do have the look of people who have been the subject of many experiments over the years...
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 14, 2007 15:11:31 GMT
A bit too much mediocre EVERYTHING on tv now. No wonder nobody's watching. Yeah. The Gadget show was the best thing on TV in the past year. That says it all.
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 10, 2007 12:50:43 GMT
I think they are going to be free to air. Pay from start of next season. All u can do is channel hop Sunday and Monday and hope
Presumably it will be part of an overall Setanta subscription. Wonder what the Blue Square Premier Alliance Conference Football League Northern Section (Midlands & North) would cost if it was available as a separate package? £1 per annum?
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 8, 2007 12:14:26 GMT
clubs expected to join Worcester City in Conference (bugger that Blue Square nonsense) North Shouldn't we call it A.P.L. North on that basis? (although I dont think that was the original name of the Alliance??)
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 11, 2007 9:26:31 GMT
Anton Rippon's book about football during the war years (1939-1945) gives some great examples of people who came out of the crowd to play in professional matches who were entirely bogus. It was common for teams to have a palyer shortage due to wartime restrictions on travel and leave for service personnel and although the system of guest players allowed most XI's to be filled there were times when a last minute vacancy arose. No subs (other than U Boats) in those days so you were down to 10 if a joker made it on to the pitch! It would be quite funny today to see a joker appear at centre back for Man U in an important semi final....
... oh didnt that happen in Milan recently?
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 3, 2007 18:43:26 GMT
Isn't everyone guilty of assuming that those players not yet under contract sign up for next season?
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 11, 2007 14:55:59 GMT
Harriers new kit: white shirts with a yellow stripe down the back, brown shorts and thermal socks ;D ;D ;D Will they be wearing it at Wembley in the Final?
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 11, 2007 14:54:29 GMT
Red / black are the colours on the City's coat of arms and might therefore be appropriate.
Perhaps a change of club colours might bring a change of luck? (not a la Bromsgrove).
Interestingly AC Milan went from Champions League winners to a pub side in the space of 15 half time minutes in Istanbul 2 years ago so maybe Tim has a point!
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 11, 2007 9:29:06 GMT
How about changing the club colours to red and black just like AC Milan? Why blue and white anyway?
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 1, 2007 10:30:34 GMT
It stripes for me at home but we could ditch the green and yellow away?. Bring back Tango orange
Blue and White shirts with a bit of red trim, black shorts, white socks.
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 3, 2007 18:44:46 GMT
5 times round the world in total? That all? Ok Ok ! Point taken!!
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 2, 2007 18:15:58 GMT
It would be interesting to know just how far our squad travelled during the season to attend training and matches. 5 times round the world in total?
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 1, 2007 10:40:49 GMT
Andy you make important points and express them with great clarity.
As far as the squad is concerned the Warner / right back point is well made. In addition I think Preecey was being fair and honest with the player in allowing him the chance to move to a new club for the start of a new season. It was far from ideal not having a ready made replacement but I think RW deserved to be treated decently. I suppose it also reduced the wage bill over the Summer!
On balace I think it was well the 3 month wait for Wardy.
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 1, 2007 12:41:36 GMT
Interestng, that, BDS. For the first month, we were superb away and couldnt buy a win at home. Around September it switched around. In all those months after the first, we have one of the best home records in the league, and one of the worst away records. But as you say, still a lot of points dropped at home. What has impressed me has been the strike rate of the opposition. Not many clear-cut chances, but a high % of goals scored. Thats not a criticism of Danny Mac, at all, as the oppo have scored some stunning goals at the Lane. They certainly did and you cant legislate for half a dozen late stunners all coming in a rush. We could ceratinly have had 3 or 4 more points on merit but perhaps also we could have scored a couple more goals so that a late goal didnt cost us 3 points or a point. Post Xmas our goalscoring seems to have picked up. Our home record post Christmas has been good - if we maintained that for a whole season we would be in with a real shout and the gates would go up. I think it is really important to get off to a good start at home in the early part of the season and build the home support. I feel we lost 50 to 100 fans with our pre Xmas home form (no real empirical evidence for this) and they didnt come back later. If we won all 21 home games and lost all 21 away games we would be there or there abouts but th egate would be 1,000+ minimum each home game!
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on May 1, 2007 11:05:15 GMT
I thought we did decently. A top half finish and a decent run in the Trophy and nearly made the FAC 1QR again.
I'd like to see a shift in the attack / defence balance at home. Too many home points dropped cost us the play off place and we need to attack the oposition more early in the game. Get off to a fast start and put them on the back foot. Not quite caution to the wind but not far off.
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on Apr 28, 2007 9:00:28 GMT
Three each. 3 points for City. 3 runs for Ponting.
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on Apr 12, 2007 12:04:04 GMT
We can do no more than win on Saturday and see where we are although it will be far from easy against a team not safe from the "drop". I don't think we will be in for a carefree football feast - especially as I WILL be there this week!
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on Apr 9, 2007 12:31:28 GMT
There is I suppose the possibility of some financial irregularity or misdemeanour coming to light, administration (-10 points), ineligible players (-18 points or -3 depending what clout you have!), under the counter payments etc. How about that for straws?
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Post by B*ue dragonstander on Apr 17, 2007 15:40:39 GMT
I doubt if the radio would improve your behaviour...
I fibbed about my last word.
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