Gareth Barry won't be on dis ting: Champions League and Europa League 09/10

After the euphoria of Celtic's first away win in a century... we get Arsenal.

Battle of Britain! Form book out the window!

Celtic dropping into Europa probably :(

http://i26.tinypic.com/1e9y0h.jpg

"Click here to replay draw"

Tried it. Still Arsenal.

Europa League qualifying draw is at 11.30 BST I think, featuring Everton, Aston Villa, Fulham and Hearts.

Stuttgart are Spanish!

haha well spotted

Today's No Shit Sherlock Award goes to new Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee.

Poor defending cost us - McGhee
Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee rued defensive lapses as the Dons went out of the Europa League with an 8-1 aggregate defeat by Sigma Olomouc.

Pana v Atletico could be a tasty tie too

well yeah it involves the champions to be.

Man, the Aberdeen fans that went to that away leg...

arsenal? oh shiiiiii-

: (

are Sigma Olomouc any good? Like, at all? Or are Aberdeen really just that rubbish?

Silly Celtic, if they'd only won the Danish league they'd have it easy.

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

SK Sigma Olomouc is a Czech football club from the city of Olomouc. They reached the quarterfinals of the 1991-1992 UEFA Cup. They also absolutely smashed Aberdeen in the Europa league qualifying rounds. Interestinly Diego Maradona's half brother, Tino once visited the city for a weekend break local sources are claiming this has something to do with there recent europa victory.

Just realised Hearts are unseeded and all three English clubs are seeded. Could be two Battles of Britain.

in these troubled financial times etc.

I think there is only a set of five teams that each seeded team can play? Villa can get St Patrick's Athletic but not Hearts. Worse case scenario is Genoa, the Italian Villa.

Bah was just thinking Villa vs Hearts would be a good tie. I'm sure Mad Martin would never tire of beating them.

ooohh NAC Breda - Villareal :) will we get another beating like Newcastle Castle gave us back in the days.

eh Newcastle Utd. :) 5-0 away (for us) and 0-1 (at home)

Everton vs Sigma - watch out for the tear gas!

Fulham vs Amkar

Dinamo Zagreb vs Hearts

tough one

lol

Hoping Twente get Dinamo Moscow given that Shteve wash thinking Sheltic would be an, how you shay?, eashy draw in the Championsh League.

Instead they get Qarabag Khankendi - some mob from an amateur league in Azerbaijan.

Hey, if he can get knocked out of Euro 2008 qualifying by a country with a tea towel for a flag there's no telling what could happen.

Also, just try saying Azerbaijan in a fake Dutch accent.

Would probably end up sounding like he was saying "that's your boy, Shane"

"Asherbaydshan, I think we, how you shay, shruck lucky"

Rapid Vienna vs Aston Villa

Fulham have to play against the easternmost football club in all Europe on the Thursday then play an away league game the Sunday after.

When are these games played?

CL is 18/19th and 25/26th August
Europa is 20th and 27th

Celtic vs Arsenal is currently listed on the BBC as Celtic Park on the 18th and Amirites on the 25th - not sure is that's official or not.

Had to look up Sigma Olomouc but someone has got to the Wiki site before me:

"SK Sigma Olomouc is a Czech football club from the city of Olomouc. They reached the quarterfinals of the 1991-1992 UEFA Cup. In the third qualifying round of the 2009-10 competition, they defeated Aberdeen F.C. 8-1 on aggregate, before being drawn against Everton of the F.A. Premier League, in the playoff round of the competition.. They are universally expected to achieve a smiliar result against the scousers but rumours are already circiling the town of olomouc to protect there hub caps with there lives . Everton's most famous fan,Stan Bilo is widely expected to go and shag a local kid. Interestingly Diego Maradona's half brother, Tino once visited the city for a weekend break local sources are claiming this has something to do with their recent victory. There is not really much point in Everton turning up, they are going to get hammered."

Silly Celtic, if they'd only won the Danish league they'd have it easy.

If they'd only won the SCOTTISH league they'd have it easy :-(

(I saw us against a Danish team last year and didn't think we looked capable of winning anything, tbh)

i'd feel silly not posting here after ailsa so kindly reminded me of it's presence. insane goals from olympiakos (?) tonight then?

Second one was nice, aye. I'm reasonably upbeat about Celtic in the Europa League - even at my most confident I can't see us overturning the 2-0 at the Emirates, but we didn't look out of our depth at any point tonight. I heard 'Arry was up looking at Scott Brown - ten million of your English pounds and he's all yours, mate. Thought Aiden McGeady and Glenn Loovens were top drawer, and Arsenal were made to work for a convincing-looking-on-paper victory they scarcely deserved.

Anything said on the telly about the clown who chucked a drink at Arshavin at a corner? There's always one...

arshavinshrug.jpg

i'm not sure about brown- he seems a little 7/10 in all depts, when we really need a little more inspiration in midfield.

celtic weren't shamed tonight- two flukey goals and plenty of counter themselves.

didn't see any of the other highlights, so no more on arshavin drink chuck, but after dida last season the stewards might want to up their game for a while (not that much can be done, thinking about it)

Quite enjoyed the game last night, think Arsenal probably deserved to win but it was a pity about the nature of the goals (obvs wont say no etc). Might have helped if Donati had stopped kicking it straight out of play from promising positions.

Didnt catch anything on telly about anyone chucking a drink at Arshavin, no.

<3 Vermaelen and Denilson so far this season. Vermaelen just goes for everything doesnt he? Interested to see how he'll fare against a Drogba/Torres/Rooney type, looks classy so far.

Crap FB status update joke:

What's the difference between Arsenal and U2? Nothing, both rocked Glasgow last night and went home with the edge.

Might have helped if Donati had stopped kicking it straight out of play from promising positions.

^^^this.
Felt a bit cheap losing that way. Arsenal weren't great but didn't need to be, Celtic weren't great but did. Pass marks for McGeady, Boruc, N'Guemo and maybe Loovens. Everyone else needs to step it up. N'Guemo is suspended for the Emirates, looks like Donati will get another game and Brown's possible sale will be held back.
I don't think 'Arry would have seen much last night to convince him to part with £10m.

Oh and Fabregas needs to stop the clutching ankle rolling around thing when he's not hurt. Just about every player I've ever admired from afar has come to Celtic Park and let me down by being a moaning/diving/cheating/injury-faking prick.

Arsenal played well in bursts, were good at the start of the second half. Goals were cheap, it felt a bit cheap winning that way. But considering how often I've seen Arsenal fail to score in games like this but seemingly hit the post 50 times I'll take it.

Weren't they supposed to be tormented and troubled playing at Celtic Park? How different is this team from the one that beat AC Milan etc?

Weren't they supposed to be tormented and troubled playing at Celtic Park?

I don't remember anyone saying that (on here at least). Arsenal have played in any number of huge games in front of huge crowds - didn't they score 5 in the San Siro? I assume some lazy Scottish hack asked Wenger if his players would be scared running out at Celtic Park?

I heard Arsenal were woeful. Four goals worse than woeful, in fact.

lol

Oh no, that wasnt aimed at you onimo! But, yeah a large part of the coverage I saw/read was dedicated to that sort of thing (I think partly on the assumption that Arsenal are *always* on the verge of crumbling as much as anything else). But how different is the team under Mowbray? Didnt they beat Man Utd at Celtic a while back?

Oh no, that wasnt aimed at you onimo!

I know, I just thought it was funny. We drew 1-1 with Man Utd last time they came to us (late equaliser for them) and beat them 1-0 the time before.

The playing style is significantly different under Mowbray. He is prepared to allow the creative players freedom to roam while trying to make everyone else mindful of the fact that e.g. McGeady might occasionally lose the ball and we need to cover for that. So far it's much more pleasing on the eye than Strachan's rigid 4-4-fucking-2 but it remains to be seen if it's any more effective in terms of results.

Aye, I thought so. I dont get to see Celtic much outside of Champs League so (barring anything unforeseen next week) am hoping to see them do well in the Europa. I think they'd be a good match up for any of the prem sides, which is prolly the only way I'd get to see them.

the praise for Arsenal from BBC radio team last night seemed somewhat OTT

Suedey 2, Celtic are available on yr Sky Sports several times this season. Though whether you want to watch them having lumps kicked out of them by an assortment of random thugs on a half-ploughed field every other week is entirely up to you.

Loovens made it in the Dutch squad. finally. 'bout time, we have no defenders anyway.

Wish I was watching this Lyon game. 4-0 up at half time, now 5-1. Here was me thinking they'd have been a better draw for us than Arsenal.

While Martin O'Neill is no doubt some kind of inexplicable transfer market retard, I just want to go on record as saying that Villa fans are such dumbfucks they deserve the Newcastle-style relegation they're trying to bring on themselves.

With any luck they'll turn it round and manage to upgrade it to a Spurs-style ungrateful sacking and scrape 17th place with a hilarious ineffectual foreign dude at the helm.

let's hope not

http://film.umwblogs.org/files/2009/01/seventh-seal130.jpg

l-r: league one, coventry city

Coventry promoted, Villa relegated, Coventry fans subsequently all die of ennui when they realise they still don't get to beat any Villa fans up.

or any Brum City fans, by dint of their club's promotion to the European Super League

(Carson) Yeung, will tear us apart, again.

Carson Yeung reads almost like the beginning of a 2007-08 Villa teamsheet

Carson Young Boomer Melds Birm

Villa have so few defenders in the squad that Ashley Young (7) is actually the second name called out when they run through the teamsheet.

hahahaha really

I mean the BBC-style in-order-of-position team listing, like Carson Yeung Boomer Melds Birm Less Than Minger Reo-Custos Appreciation Thread

Does this mean Brum will actually have cash to sign players who aren't, y'know, Gary O'Connor?

Dunno, Yeung is a Caymans-registered tax dodger but his main company still haemorrhages £7million a year.

remembered today that Carson Yeung was not only Villa 07/08 but also Charlton 06/07 :-/

Someone photoshop Eduardo onto this please
http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/41/84641-004-B9B64B23.jpg

I sincerely hope he breaks his leg the wee cheating fuck

Cheatardo or Cheaturdo?

lol cozen you sound like my dad, he said the same thing. And he's not even a celtic fan.

Quality dive imo

Not quite up there with Gerrard tho

fk u troll

I'd rather he scored with that wonderful curling shot there than from another shitty cheap joke of a goal. Gallas' back, Caldwell o.g. then a cheating non-penalty.

I don't think for a second Celtic deserve anything from this tie but we've surely used up enough bad luck to last us the rest of the season.

Wonder if Arsene will avoid watching a replay so he cant see Cheatardo diving.

x-post, yup, I'm under no illusions that arsenal are the better team here and they may have won but they didn't beat celtic over the two ties

YOU WOULDN'T STEAL A PURSE, YOU WOULDN'T STEAL A CAR, etc

had no idea eduardo broke his leg before btw, pre-emptive justice I suppose

Eduardo working hard on removing all that good will his broken leg brought

Lets hope UEFA do the rest and ban him for cheating.

2036: Let's get one thing straight here: Eduardo might have dived, but some of the things you lot are saying on the texts and 606 about the striker are utterly reprehensible. We can and will ban you, so please refrain from idiotic comments.

The Celtic radge army disgracing themselves to the nation's broadcaster, there.

lol

Best Supporters In The World ™

lol at the idea managers would tell players not to try and win penalties

Go Massimo - goal of the tie! Ah fuck the ref stopped it just as Arsenal's resolve was crumbling.

If ever there was an indication of the gulf in budgets it was us putting on Willo Flood and Arsenal putting on Arshavin.

Roll on the Lolropa League...

Rangers seeded second and will get an easier draw now.

Aye, adds to the comedy value in them fucking it up.

Rob McLean on STV talking about the gulf in class between the two leagues obviously didn't see Arsenal scoring 10 in two games in the English Prem.

I retract my leg break comment btw I ws just a bit angry, sorry :)

x-post, yup, I'm under no illusions that arsenal are the better team here and they may have won but they didn't beat celtic over the two ties

― cozwn, Wednesday, 26 August 2009 20:38 (1 hour ago) Bookmark

Pretty certain we did. With some classy goals, Gallas' bottom and 1 less player for 20 minutes.

you support arsenal

indeed i am one of them who buy organic waitrose products, boo africans and invest in children.

:)

somebody should probably kerlon eduardo tho

give him a kerlonic, say

http://www.lutralutra.co.uk/site_media/images/squirrelizer/1251323521810494338644184.jpg

Looking forward to Eduardo inspiring Croatia to victory over England with similar antics

sky news wont gloss over it then

"Having seen it again on television it doesn't look to be a penalty but we were likely to score the first goal and we always looked in control of the game," said Wenger.

"I believe it was not a penalty but I'm not sure if the keeper touched him. Eduardo might be a bit cautious because of the injury that he had. He might have jumped out of the way.

"I never asked in my life any player to dive to get a penalty but sometimes the player goes down because there is no way to get out of the way."

---

'Tis Martin Taylor's fault you lost today then.

Cheatardo

How have Wigan gone to shit so badly?

Stop saying Cheatardo.

You prefer Cheaturdo?

ha ha someone texted to you're on skysports saying give the guy (eduardo) a break. ha ha he's already had a break amirite

Had to lol at Tyldsley and Townshend after all those man of the match awards they gave to cunting Ronaldo. Why not suggest retrospective bans for the guy who dived his way through every match?

No defending Dudu, but I can see why he might want to avoid being tackled.

yeah, so he could con the ref into giving a penalty.

Have been trying to say to anyone who would listen (not many in the pub, should have stayed in this thread, but pubs have more reasonable cnuts, and you can avoid the ones that give you grief more easily) that under lucky circumstances (where there are no deflections and blind referees) Celtic could have been going into the second half of a game at the Emirates with it all to play for. And then I remembered that these things happen, and I'm used to it. Ah well. When's the draw for the Europa Lolgue?

Friday

What a finish from Donati. Imagine if he actually turns out to be a player! 'sake.

Huh, Cyprus in the CL second year in a row

What a finish from Donati. Imagine if he actually turns out to be a player! 'sake.

I hope everyone saw it and somebody buys him, take the useless cunt off our hands. LOL Wenger "Professor Football": "...sometimes the player goes down because there is no way to get out of the way."

Arsene Wenger OTM

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/arsenal/article3508261.ece

"I know people who have won trophies and I don’t rate them. I can give you examples of people who have won 100-metre medals in the Olympic Games and they have cheated. I know people in football who have done exactly the same. That is the history of football... To win trophies is important, but that is not the only thing in sport. Moral integrity is important."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/4842424.stm

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has called on referees to stamp out diving by suspending guilty players. ""We have to fight it and there is only one way to punish people diving obviously: suspension."

I've always hated Wenger and Arsenal, so this is all grist to the mill

I thought those who moaned when Gerrard dived would be equally outraged by Cheatardo.

Everyone moans when it's against them and goes quiet when they get a decision. I just felt the need to point out that Mr Integrity is as hypocritical as anyone else and needs to shut the fuck up.

Gordon Smith weighs in

Talking of hypocrites who need to shut the fuck up...

Donati believes Eduardo should be treated the same way as Lithuania striker Saulius Mikoliunas

LOL

don't really know what you expect wenger to say here?

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/premier-league/drogba-is-a-diver-says-humbled-wenger-1734939.html

Wenger was furious at the decision. Asked if it was a dive, he replied: "It was. We live in a league where divers are rewarded. It's not right but it's like that."

don't really know what you expect wenger to say here?

He's a cunt, and always ahs been, so I don't expect anything from him

I expect him to not go on for years about needing to clean the game up if he's going to go "ahem ahem uh maybe uh on looking again uh he was maybe trying to get out of the way of the challenge that wasn't going to touch him" when his own players do it.

What a cunt for not calling out his own players for diving like all others managers would do.

It doesn't make his suggestions on how to stop this sort of thing happening invalid.

No, he was a cunt before that

It doesn't make his suggestions on how to stop this sort of thing happening invalid.

Who is saying it does?

He's not going to call his own player a cheat. And I don't just mean that in the "it's what any manager would do". I mean it in the sense that it's what anyone familiar with how possibly-pending disciplinary proceedings work would do.

Not saying he's not a cunt, of course.

Petards hoisted, balloons punctured, all good knockabout fun

Tbf Wenger did also say this in 2006 - "We are all managers who can never say that one of our players has not dived. Nobody can say that in our league. I can say that when my team are not involved I am 100% against it."

Heh. Honestly I'm a bit baffled at how this is being treated like the first ever dive in world. It's not like Celtic werent already 2-0 down or anything. I know the first goal was supposed to matter, but it didnt actually change anything in terms of Celtic still having to score three goals to go through. Are UEFA going to probe Ronaldo/Gerrard/Rooney/Torres etc every time they dive? The disparity in reactions is bizarre. But I guess Gerrard was an honest player until he started feeling like he had - nay was *forced* to - copy those foreigners and their strange thinking.

Maybe it's just because everybody thought Eduardo was nice and he had their sympathies, and shockingly it turns out he's like all other strikers and will do anything to get a goal! Arsenal were lacking that a little imo.

Honestly I think Im so used to diving now Id be a little sad if it stopped, it keeps things lively.

don't know what all the fuss is about tbh.

nobody saw that no footballin lug tony hibbert last week at burnley?

Agree, the reaction's over the top, after all nobody made a big fuss when St. Ryan of Giggs dived to win a penalty againt Celtic in the same competition against the same goalkeeper. Some dives look worse than others though.

Honestly I think Im so used to diving now Id be a little sad if it stopped, it keeps things lively.

Bollocks

even if he won't call eduardo a cheat surely a simple "i couldn't see what happened etc" would be a better way of shrugging this off than "he's been injured so he might throw himself on the ground at any time"

better how? 'i didn't see it' gets the same level of derision

difference between a diver and a fouling defender? eduardo vs carragher?

Poor old Robby Bobson must be spinning in his grave

Well you'll never get rid of diving so may as well live with it. Honestly its the amount of hypocritical nonsense about it thats infuriating - commentators who often say 'And hes stayed on his feet there, maybe he should have gone down as he would have got a penalty etc etc', and while sometimes there's a cursory nod to 'being honest' theres always the sense (esp from co-commentating ex pro) that they think they should have.

Agree, the reaction's over the top, after all nobody made a big fuss when St. Ryan of Giggs dived to win a penalty againt Celtic in the same competition against the same goalkeeper. Some dives look worse than others though.

Uh, I believe I may have used a few choice words, and that one did affect the outcome of the game.

On this occasion I'm just happy to knock Wenger off his crusader for all that is good and proper in football perch.

Bollocks

Im coming around to that dangerous, South American, way of thinking.

even if he won't call eduardo a cheat surely a simple "i couldn't see what happened etc" would be a better way of shrugging this off than "he's been injured so he might throw himself on the ground at any time"

― sonderangerbot, Thursday, August 27, 2009 1:33 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

? He said it wasn't a penalty immediately after the match: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/video/2009/aug/27/eduardo-penalty-arsenal-celtic-champions-league

i actually didn't see it - was it a very bad dive/worse dive than usual then?

not really lol

On this occasion I'm just happy to knock Wenger off his crusader for all that is good and proper in football perch.

OTM. This is why I can't stand him.

i haven't seen it either. anyone got a link?

It was pretty bad but I can understand why the referee gave it though, from the position he was in

It was well executed by the lad, Eduardo

not clear from this at full-speed and wrong angle: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/robkelly/100001400/arsenals-eduardo-should-be-punished-for-his-dive-but-the-furore-over-the-incident-is-hypocritical-and-embarrassing/

if it wasn't in the penalty box would it have been a freekick?

oh shit wrong thread meant to post it to the cliche thread

gael cliche, as andy gray likes to call him

teammate of rossickie

Appropriate name for Rosicky that

? He said it wasn't a penalty immediately after the match: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/video/2009/aug/27/eduardo-penalty-arsenal-celtic-champions-league

― caek, den 27 augusti 2009 14:46 (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

ah okay, didn't catch that. good for arsene. just read the part where he defended the dive on terms of the recent injury, a statement which could set a precedent with dreadful consequences for football...

for reals.

i haven't read through all this, but once again, a simple video referee would've done the trick. Celtic coach sees it's a fault, demands a replay by the video-referee (each coach got 2 replay opportunities per half) Eduardo gets a yellow card.

Pot 1: Barcelona, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Milan, Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Sevilla
Pot 2: Lyon, Inter, Real Madrid, CSKA Moscow, FC Porto, AZ, Juventus, and Rangers
Pot 3: Olympiacos, Marseille, Dynamo Kiev, Stuttgart, Fiorentina, Atlético Madrid, Bordeaux and Besiktas
Pot 4: Wolfsburg, Standard, Maccabi Haifa, Zurich, Rubin Kazan, Unirea Urzicini, APOEL and Debrecen

man, look at this crazy shit. how did Rangers get in Pot 2? all of the Prem teams being in Pot 1 seems like a swizz too but you know one of them is going to be drawn in a GOD with Inter and Atletico.

Rangers got into pot 2 because Fiorentina beat whoever was meant to be in pot 2. Pot 4 looks like the weakest of piss the CL has ever seen, good work Platini.

Isn't Rangers in pot 2 because of the European points they scored last year? Which is also why Sevilla is in pot 1, and not Real?

lovin' pot 4. (not being ironic here) CL needs more exotic teams.

Rubin Kazan

Who's he?

sounds like a magician to me.

didn't Wolfsburg win the bundesliga? i guess they are the cream of that shitty crop in pot 4. they can round out the GOD.

Wolfsburg are ranked below Portsmouth in the UEFA coefficient table despite being German champions.

so much for germany coefficiency

"boom-tish"

SugBan Eduardo on http://www.skysports.com/ (poll, bottom right)

Rubin are Russian champs.

Unirea Urzicini <- no idea who these are tho.

Oh, they're the Romanian champions.

Managed by Dan Petrescu, who's nicknamed them "the Chelsea of Ialomiţa".

Well done on the ţ

Unirea Urzicini will set the Champions League alight. They beat Morton 3-1 in a pre-season friendly then tried to sign Jim McAlister.

"I know people who have won trophies and I don’t rate them. I can give you examples of people who have won 100-metre medals in the Olympic Games and they have cheated. I know people in football who have done exactly the same. That is the history of football... To win trophies is important, but that is not the only thing in sport. Moral integrity is important."

^^^^this is choice

He is a wanker par excellence

funny the way they have live text for the draw on BBC. how bored must people be at work?

shades of dida
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZviLX37sMY

Ronan: That live draw coverage also covering some games.

On this occasion I'm just happy to knock Wenger off his crusader for all that is good and proper in football perch.

Is this the same guy who was hated for bringing evil foreigners into the game? That bought Patrick Vieira and a bunch of other fouling bastards? The guy who nearly smacked both Pardew and Jol in the face? Who's agent is currently under investigation in france for transfer irregularities? Persuaded Sol from Spurs, Arshavin and Wiltord to threaten to strike to come and who's policy of buying young was compared by Platini to slave trades 'n shit...?

Meh. Just because the guy spends within his means and likes pretty football has never stopped him being a (lovable) cunt. Even Bobby Robson managed a team where Shearer never stopped throwing elbows.

The guy who nearly smacked both Pardew and Jol in the face?

slapped with an acrylic glove more like

wenger is a long way down the list of cuntish managers that have won league titles.

Loveable is about the last adjective I would use to describe Wenger

ok but all managers are cunts. that or they fail and never have a decent job again.

1721: Champions League Groups:
Group A: Bayern Munich
Group B: MANCHESTER UNITED
Group C: AC Milan
Group D: CHELSEA
Group E: LIVERPOOL
Group F: FC Barcelona
Group G: Sevilla
Group H: ARSENAL

Wonder if they will manage to keep Rangers out of England?

enough of shite, on with the draw

of this shite*

liverpool are going to draw real aren't they

Real Madrid with a 4/6 chance of facing a Prem team, hopefully the mob that sold them a virus.

that would be amazing, shit here goes!

bollocks

Real Madrid into... Group C: Milan :(

disappointing lack of clicking from the balls

lyon, i'm fine with that

Don't want Rangers getting Bayern, that way they can't get Wolfburg in Group of Lol.

Barca vs Inter should be fun.

united are going to walk this aren't they

Rangers get Seville :/

Ibra vs Eto'o :)

here goes, az and man u no doubt

where are you guys getting these quick updates?

@onimo: http://www.uefa.com/live/competitions/ucl/draw/2010.gs/draw_basic.html

ffs man u are a farce

x-post am watching it live

sky sports news

AZ! :)

united are going to walk this aren't they

so far it looks not bad for them. Got to go for my train :(

would be good if they had a joker in the bowls..."man united drawn with, HOLLAND 1974???"

where do they find these androids who are presenting it?

Barca v. Inter is going to be nuts. Eto'o hatrick, anyone?

Rangers get Seville :/

Let's see if they manage to avoid any arrests at that one

so shit, man u are going to send a weakened team to CSKA in order to concentrate on the league and then lose that match and also all subsequent matches in the league also and end up relegated.

i bet rangers avoid atletico

who would u fuk

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46274000/jpg/_46274739_champslge466.jpg

seriously man united...

bayern-juve-bordeaux looking like a great group of death.

united get bestikas to prove they have hot balls.

fiorentina liverpool lyon so far...could be worse I guess, could be better.

chelsea v. aguero

why couldn't athletico go into arsenal's group??

Arsenal going v. v. smooth :-)

if we avoid wolfsburg this will be the easiest group ever. carling cup team deserve even more matches.

So Wolfsburg to group C = GOD

anyone know why you guys couldn't get athletico? seems weird!

why oh why oh why do they draw the top seeds first

anyone know why you guys couldn't get athletico? seems weird!

it's because they both came thru the same section of qualifying no?

ah okay I figured it was just you couldn't be put in a group with teams from your country

Pretty certain Athletico and Arsenal aren't from the same country...

who can tell anymore with so many foreign players

into group D goes MORRISSEY

he'll not relish a trip down the Kings Road to Stamford Bridge

Standard with Wolfsburg strongest of the 4th pot, but still, great draw for Arsenal!

erm...yeah exactly hoy hoy which is why I'm asking why they were excluded from being in arsenal's group

yeah Arsenal's almost too easy, best draw of all

Rangers could qualify in their group. Especially if Sevilla have an off day/sell Fabiano.

Platini must be beelin'

arsenal always get a piss-easy draw

yeah Rangers could've gotten a lot worse

THANK YOU FOR WOLFSBURG TO MAN U!

yeah at least a bit harder for them

Exactly!

I wouldn't put too much hope on Wolfsburg being all that good

Poor Zurich...

I wouldn't put too much hope on Wolfsburg being all that good

― Aw naw, no' Annoni oan an' aw noo (Tom D.), Thursday, August 27, 2009 6:52 PM (7 seconds ago) Bookmark

Clearly you haven't followed the Bundesliga last year?

would be good if they had a joker in the bowls..."man united drawn with, HOLLAND 1974???"

would love this until football was ruined forever by United putting six past them without breaking sweat. The Nazi team from Escape to Victory might be better

I wouldn't put too much hope on the bundesliga being all that good

Not last season anyway

i doubt Wolfsburg are that much better than Jol Out Hamburg or Bremen plus they lack experience in this competition. Rick Rubin Kazan and AZ for the semis tho yeah?

I wouldn't put too much hope on the bundesliga being all that good

― cozwn, Thursday, August 27, 2009 6:53 PM (41 seconds ago) Bookmark

I'm not saying Wolfsburg will destroy ManU, but they do have a really good team (plus they managed to keep most star players from last season).

Not last season anyway

looked a bit more fun than most other leagues tho

yeah, just a wee joke

rangers getting off pretty lightly here, liverpool's draw could have been worse too

Liverpool for 3rd/Europa

i say this every year tho

Wolfsburg kept all their stars and added quality (If Martins returns to some actual form and forgets his lol newcastle past, he could scare the shit out of United). A lock for 2 draws against United and second for the group like they are used to by getting Villareal every year or whatever.

full groups

Group A: Bayern Munich, Juventus, Bordeaux, Maccabi Haifa
Group B: MANCHESTER UNITED, CSKA Moscow, Besiktas, Wolfsburg
Group C: AC Milan, Real Madrid, Marseille, FC Zurich
Group D: CHELSEA, FC Porto, Atletico Madrid, APOEL
Group E: LIVERPOOL, Lyon, Fiorentina, Debrecen
Group F: FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, Dinamo Kiev, FC Rubin Kazan
Group G: Sevilla, RANGERS, Stuttgart, Unirea
Group H: ARSENAL, AZ Alkmaar, Olympiakos, Standard

If Liverpool don't implode, is there a single interesting match in any of the British teams' groups?

always hard to travel to turkey eh

define interesting

i'm glad Utd get to play 3 clubs for the first time in the CL (or did they meet Besiktas before?)

I haven't been paying attention but if Madrid have strengthened their back line, Chelsea could get merked. Lyon and Fiorentina v. Liverpool also pretty interesting. The rest is meh central.

is there a single interesting match in any of the British teams' groups?

Not if Walter Smith has anything to do with it

Liverpool vs Lyon is a great tie

It doesn't matter about British clubs anyway. Inter v. Barca! Milan v. Real! Juve v. Bordeaux! Much potential for awesome games. And I'm intrugied to see what Lyon spent so much money on this summer.

michel fkn bastos!

you know pool will fumble their way through desperately if at all. the group stages inevitably provide some of the most boring footie of the season these days, not least cos finishing second vs finishing first makes no diff whatsoever.

yeah true. ban groups srsly.

should go back to knockout but then nobody would make MILLIONS OF POUNDS

knockout which 6 legs each round

with

i say replace the whole thing with an indoor 5-a-side tournament over one weekend

think jimmy floyd hasselbaink's batteries are running out

Why don't they just play basketball and be done with it

5 day Test Match with infinite substitutions

F'kin 'ell, 200 posts about a bloody draw, none about all the actual Euro soccerball that's going on. Hibbert sent off after seven minutes, Villa on their way out, meanwhile it all turns out nice for Dino Bucharest, who win the away leg 3-0 (Liberec having been awarded the first leg by the same score after the crowd-induced abandonment) and go through on pens. Elsewhere, some mad scores.

Villa also has two pens

ps Ashley Young also a diver, nobody cares

Villa's European struggles continue - will Martin O'Neill be a touch relieved, or is that a hammer blow to their season?

or, just maybe, somewhere in between

2149: Full-time Aston Villa 2-1 Rapid Vienna (agg: 2-2, Rapid go through on away goal)
Villa's European struggles continue - will Martin O'Neill be a touch relieved, or is that a hammer blow to their season?

ffs why would be relieved? even raising the question speaks volumes about how fucked this system is becoming. "yes now we are out of the europa league before it's even begun this will enable us to try and get into...next season's europa league much more easily".

cos he probably got what he wanted deep down w/out having to field a weakened team this time?

hey maybe he thinks he'll be in the Liverpool job by October so what does it matter

the previous two UEFA Cup champions are out of the tournament too.

LATEST: Uefa charges Arsenal's Eduardo with 'deceiving the referee' against Celtic. More details soon ...

Isn't 'simulation' normally punished by a yellow card? Don't see any reason for him to get any more than that, despite how much it infuriated me at the time.

There's diving in just about every game - if they're going to throw the book at Eduardo for one high profile incident they should do it across the board (which I would actually welcome, in the long run).

Everton in with Benfica.

http://halfbackflanker.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/rivaldo.jpg

sorry should have youtubed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgfRCa71Kmw

this got a £5100 fine. so i expect eduardo to be suspended for 18 months tbh

Is anyone kind enough to dig up the picture of the team that has a face on the inside of their shirt for over-yr-head celebrations?

Celtic last out of pot 2 and get... Hamburg

This?
http://nicspic2608.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/getafe2.jpg

yes, thank you.

It's a Getafe shirt

http://www.dirtytackle.net/2009/07/burger-king-and-getafe-take-sponsorship-deal-too-far/

Roma, Basil, Fulham - good group so far
Hamburg, Celtic, Hapoel Tel-Aviv - meh

mished out on, how you shay, Shteve'sh Eff Shee Twente

Benfica, Everton, AEK - not bad.

Loads of teams in this draw you think of as being good team but who are clearly not living up to their names. I base this on teams I remember being in the European Cup decades ago :)

RAPID VIENNA! I FUCKING KNEW IT!

fuck this shit btw. a dive is a yellow card, so why the fuck could he be out for 2 matches? and if he does get the ban, why the fuck is ashley young not getting anything? just because his team lost and no-one watches channel 5 backwater shit football doesn't mean it is just as bad.

Ha ha! 1984-85? Now that was simulation.

xp

Roma, Basel, Fulham, CSKA Sofia
Benfica, Everton, AEK, BATE
Hamburg, Celtic, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Rapid Cheating Lying Cunts Never Forget Fucking Vienna with their big fucking massive centre forward who makes John Carew look like Shaun Wright-Philips.

Galatasaray v Panathinaikos will be tasty

Wonderful draw! Borisov Works of Automobile and Tractor Electric Equipment! About 300km from the Polish border.

Lost track after Vienna came out but some of the groups were shaping up nicely. Should be quite a competitive group stage with a lot of fair to middling teams, most of which look better than the CL pot 4.

yes it's one you doner want to miss
xxpost

They'll be dancing in the streets of Borisov Works of Automobile and Tractor Electric Equipment tonight!

Am I right in thinking top two go through making 24 plus 8 CL parachutes for a round of 32?

lol from a Celtic blog I read:

Eduardo may be the cheat of the week, but Rapid Vienna are the cheats of a generation!

Seriously, I can see Everton finishing 3rd with 6-8 pts, but I'm all fired up to live vicariously through the travelling fans' adventures on the club forums.

Ha ha! 1984-85? Now that was simulation.

xp

― Michael Jones, Friday, 28 August 2009 12:53 Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

A simulation that, if one takes a long term view, might well have helped Everton to a bit of European glory - I'm sure otherwise we'd have reached the final and gubbed yous :)

so all divers will be punished in this way now even Owen, Rooney, Gerrard etc.?

Wonder how many legit penalties Eduardo will get denied over the course of the season now

Am guessing its not just a yellow card because he actually succeeded in deceiving the referee? It doesnt seem very healthy to make people think "ah well, this player is a cheat above all other cheats" because you know there wont be any consistency to this.

i don't think he'd be denied any for a legit penalty eduardo would have to remain upright until someone touches him and that's never going to happen as he's a diving cheating fucker.

henrik larsson never dived

i bet he never did coke either, unlike evil drug-taking Mutu

Previous sanction:

PARIS (AFP) — Lithuanian international Saulius Mikoliunas has been suspended for two matches after being found guilty of diving in the Euro 2008 qualifying match against Scotland, UEFA said Thursday.

The Hearts player will miss the matches against France on October 17 and Ukraine on November 17 after being found guilty of "deceiving the referee (by diving)" during the 3-1 loss to Scotland in Glasgow on September 9.

Lithuania scored from the penalty which was awarded in the 61st minute by Slovenian referee Damir Skomina after Mikoliunas went to ground.

"Players may be suspended for two competition matches, or for a specified period, for acting with the obvious intent to cause any match official to make an incorrect decision or supporting his error of judgment and thereby causing him to make an incorrect decision."

Wenger now thinks it was a penalty btw, or says "you could make a case for saying it could have been a penalty" or some woolly shite like that.

Players may be suspended for two competition matches, or for a specified period, for acting with the obvious intent to cause any match official to make an incorrect decision or supporting his error of judgment and thereby causing him to make an incorrect decision."

this is an awesome rule, and why the fuck isn't it used after every match?

Implication being that appealing (and especially winning a penalty) after your dive is worse than just diving and not appealing, which seems right to me.

It's a UEFA rule, not FIFA or FA btw.

so he's a cheating appealing cunt rather than a cheating diving cunt?

Dixie Dean never did coke. Tripes and onions and a pint of mild, perhaps. He wasn't a diver, either. Chin the centre-half and blind the goalie, perhaps, but that's just rough'n'tumble. He also never acted with the obvious intent to cause any match official to make an incorrect decision or supported his error of judgment and thereby caused him to make an incorrect decision. Peed in his half-time brandy, maybe.

he's a cheating, diving, appealing and succeeding cunt, i think

Ronaldo would have been suspended for most of last season, surely

Thing is, and I bet this isnt in the rules, is that they only appear apply when its really important, or at least seems so

Tripes and onions and a pint of mild, perhaps

take the best sex you've ever had and multiply it by a thousand. still nowhere near.

Or was Ronaldos diving not successful enough? I cant remember xp

Occasionally you see players trying to encourage the ref not to award them a penalty. I suppose they are trying to encourage this with that regulation. Good luck with that.

I do agree however that a "successful" dive should be punished more severely than an "unsuccessful" one.

When are they going to ban all the rapists, thats what I want to know

Fair Play to Robbie Fowler

Tripes? Yeah, tripes. Tommy Lawton literally never went to ground in the penalty area. He had to prise defenders' discarded boots out of his shinpads at halftime and return them to the opponents' dressing room, usually with a slice of his ma's Eccles cake. One quick round of "For he's a jolly good fellow" and then back out there, nutting them in off the laces from 30 yards.

Thing is, and I bet this isnt in the rules, is that they only appear apply when its really important, or at least seems so

or when the opposition/FA involved actually bother with a complaint?

When are they going to ban all the rapists, thats what I want to know

― Suedey 2, Friday, 28 August 2009 14:02 (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

http://brasilsoccer.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/robinho2.jpg

man i'm glad i don't represent this thread in a court of law

"Thing is, and I bet this isnt in the rules, is that they only appear apply when its really important, or at least seems so"

Could be because this retroactive discipline for diving is a UEFA-only regulation. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place, but I can't find any mention of it in FA regulations (i.e. English club football) or FIFA (World Cup).

what's the statute of limitations on the offences and can we hang derlei next

Hardly the first time anyone's swizzled a pen/free-kick in a UEFA competition though is it?

xp

Yeah, I think the rule in itself is all fine and good, but how many times has it actually been applied. Two? If they apply it consistently from this point on then fair enough, but you cant help feeling thats never going to happen, esp. with some players/darlings.

worth a shot, i suppose

well i for one will be applying this rule in principle in my everyday life henceforth, and i urge you all to do the same. let's make britain great again

eh, britain football

Youre going to sb people who deceive your judgement?

I hear Wenger was on Sky Sports News claiming that because there are Scots (or at least Scot) in high places at UEFA, they and the Scottish FA are working on behalf on Celtic.

He really seriously couldn't be any more wrong about the SFA "working for Celtic" in any way whatsoever.

SCOTTISH MAFIA

Wenger to wake up with a Shetland Pony head in his bed tomorrow

force fed haggis until his stomach bursts and is made into haggis

the beautiful circle of life

circle of fife

skrtel of life

skrtel of fife

(i'm not an innovator, i'm just here to help you with your ideas. it's all about you guys, seriously.)

Best one yet.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/european/championsleague/6101012/Michel-Platini-threatens-clubs-with-Champions-League-expulsion-over-debts.html

1) It's difficult to see how Man Utd could comply with this, probably Liverpool too, and possibly Chelsea, Arsenal and Man City (depending on how you interpret it). Not to mention Real Madrid. I think it's a good idea, but it's a bit stable-door-after-horse-bolts, and I doubt they would actually follow through on it as it could affect so many 'big' clubs that they could just threaten to set up their own rival competition.

2) It's amusingly hypocritical of Abramovic to complain about the owners of Man City chucking so much money around and asking for the rules to be changed to put a stop to it.

I believe 'if you take a loan and can pay it off' is fine, i.e. real & arsenal should be fine (real will obviously pay for ronaldo through shirt sales/extra sponsership and advertising etc.; arsenal are paying their loan repayments every year with ease.). Only in cases such as Liverpool and Valencia where they are struggling to pay banks back would it be an issue.

Abramovich has already pumped the money into Chelsea (not only in transfers but in training ground improvements etc.) so him having a head start seems cuntish but that's just the way it goes.

I can't tell whether this will further the gap between the biggest clubs and the rest or not. Madrid, United etc. have got into mass debts buying the world market, so if this comes into fruition then they will have a lock on who's shirts Africa and Asia etc. buy and where to advertise, while the rest are just left with their small town. The gulf stays huge, without anyone able to try and take on more money and gamble on getting a bigger market to raise revunue.

Pompey Go transfer crazy: the fight back and new era starts here

IN

Tommy Smith - 1.8 Million - Second Striker / Wide Right "Premier League" quality according to Ian Holloway and amongst the top 3 players in the championship according to Malky Mackay at Watford

Aruna Dindane - Striker - Season Long Loan from Lens - Ivory Coast International - will partner Piquionne in a new Pompey strike partnership
just confirmed:
DINDANE DEAL DONE
http://www.portsmouthfc.co.uk/?cms_id=78&qs_articleid=2787&qs_media=html

Kevin Prince Boateng - Midfielder 4 Million from Spurs SIGNED
just confirmed:
BOATENG JOINS POMPEY
http://www.portsmouthfc.co.uk/?cms_id=78&qs_articleid=2788&qs_media=html

Michael Brown - Midfielder from Wigan SIGNED

Jamie O'Hara - Midfielder - apparently Loan Until January from Spurs - waiting for official club confirmation
news on PFA website
http://bit.ly/AkTyo

and more players to sign by the Transfer Deadline - probably 2 central defenders and maybe another attacking midfielder or left back

OUT: this week

Distin - his heart was no longer at the club, le sulk goes to Everton - 5 million - very good transfer fee received for a 32 year old who was a Bosman from Manchester City

There maybe other exits:

David Nugent - is not good enough for the Premier League - offload to a championship club?

Matt Ritchie - Portsmouth's promising 19 year old winger is a transfer target for Notts County - possible season long loan or even permanent transfer if Sven's mob flash the cash

that should be on premier league thread !

i thought we'd all travelled back in time a year

Madrid, United etc. have got into mass debts buying the world market

Um, that's not how United got into massive debts. They got into massive debts by a hostile takeover funded by money borrowed from loan sharks which was immediately loaded onto the club (more or less).

Andy Gray Posted 28th August 2009

I am staggered by the UEFA decision to charge Arsenal striker Eduardo for 'deceiving the referee'.

It was a very strange ruling and especially considering it was for something that was unclear.

For all we know Eduardo might have been touched by the keeper - and in the laws of the game you don't have to be hammered, there only has to be the intent to tackle for a foul to be awarded - or he may just have been trying to protect his leg he injured last year.

In the modern game it is so difficult to decide if it is a dive - footballers travel at such a pace it only takes the slightest nudge to put them off balance. It is a really strange one for me.

It has also opened a massive can of worms. It encourages people to complain about and contest every decision. For instance, when a guy claims for a corner when he knows it isn't a corner - that's trying to deceive the referee, isn't it?

ll the Bristol City players who said Freddie Sears' 'goal' for Crystal Palace didn't go in were deceiving the referee - do we go back and charge all of them?

Arsene Wenger thought Ryan Babel went over softly in the Champions League two seasons ago to win a penalty late on - do we go that far back? Should Babel be retrospectively charged?

I saw Howard Webb book a young Fiorentina player in midweek for trying to win a penalty. I actually thought it was a penalty but he was shown a yellow card for simulation - so Eduardo does the same and could get a two game ban? Was the Fiorentina player not deceiving Howard Webb by diving?

All I can say is let's hope if we see a Barcelona, Real Madrid or Milan player do a similar thing this season UEFA are as quick to react as they were with Eduardo. It's not for me to say but their dislike of the English sides' dominance is well documented.

yeah when Pompey qualified for the group stages of Uefa cup - nearly won against the mighty AC Milan at Fratton Park and a gave Wolfsburg (who went on to win the Bundesliga) a good game away - narrowly losing

at least Pompey qualified for the initial group stages, something that Aston Villa couldn't do this season or Everton last season, and neither of these clubs have won the FA CUP this decade

Madrid, United etc. have got into mass debts buying the world market

Um, that's not how United got into massive debts. They got into massive debts by a hostile takeover funded by money borrowed from loan sharks which was immediately loaded onto the club (more or less).

― Teh Movable Object (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Friday, 28 August 2009 17:45 (7 minutes ago) Bookmark

I know, I should have said Barca or Milan instead, but the point still stands.

I think that's the first time this century that Andy Gray has been on Arsenal's side. Wow.

barcelona are actually a charity that plays football to raise money for school sand stuff, so they're not really the example you want either.

school sand stuff:

http://www.bookwish.org/files/imagecache/display/files/images/Treguine%20Camp%20school%20in%20sand.JPG

ok the new wenger quotes today are crazy.

I've seen some obvious cases where Uefa didn't intervene. On and off the pitch things have happened where no action was taken.
"But now the existing rules of football have been changed just for one case so we will from now on challenge every single decision that is made in Europe by the referees.
"This is the first time since I've been in football that the judgement made by the referee is not accepted by the football bodies."

i will besiege Gordon Smith's twitter every time i see a player dive without him then calling them out

such a shame he's mad

Wenger still has his #1 fan, Alex Ferguson

Bad show, The Fiver:

Indeed this year's cast list has some very big
names. Everton and the Queen's Celtic both have former Big Cup
winners in their group (Benfica and Hamburg)

Er, Celtic also have Big Cup winners, er, Celtic in their group. But whatevs.

The Fiver is awful.

Just reading the EL draws... dis ting may be really interesting to follow for the old relative-strength-of-leagues discussion (on the premise that the CL self-fulfillingly focuses on and thus strengthens the top four of each of the top four etc etc CLASS WAR NOW ahem).

B: Valencia, Genoa, Lille, yes exactly -- plus Dinamo Zagreb may not be entire pushovers.

D: Sporting, Hertha... Heerenveen? ok this is borderline, Netherlands along with Belgium have turned into a kind of tier 2* shop window for a while. Not yet Austria/Switzerland/Turkey kind of backwater with high wages and no eyes on them, but.

J: Forgot to think about the old East properly before I read this one. Toulouse, Brugge, Shakhtar D, Partizan maybe the most "no easy matches in the Europa League!" one?

L: Not Bad At All Minority/Overseas Group. Best team of the Basques, 2nd best team (traditionally) um of the Madeirans, plus a Werder who've got Pizarro back on fire once he got out of the Chelsea. Oh yeah and Austria Wien. No easy here either.

BOLD PREDICTIONS ok pretty obvious:
A: 1. Ajax, 2. Anderlecht
B: 1. Valencia, 2. Lille
C: 1. Hamburg, 2. Rapid
D: 1. Hertha, 2. Sporting
E: 1. Roma, 2. Basel
F: 1. Panathinaikos, 2. Galatasaray
G: 1. Villarreal, 2. Levski << most challopsy you'll find here
H: wow that is pretty weak... 1. Fenerbahçe, 2. Twente
I: 1. AEK, 2. Benfica
J: 1. Toulouse, 2. Club Brugge, the spoilsports
K: 1. PSV, 2. Sparta
L: 1. Werder, 2. Athletic

*) on the premise Portugal is alone at tier 1.5.

hm having got to the end of that I'm not sure it gives that much food for the old relative-strength-of-leagues discussion at all, to be honest. Not at all.

you don't think much of the British club's chances then - i'll be v surprised if they all fail to progress

I'm very curious to see what Fulham do, especially since this'll be outside the English league season, which I can't seem to get into for the life of me. I just want to see as much international playing time for Clint Dempsey and Eddie Johnson as possible, really. As always, I'm looking forward to the inevitable lol-results from the smaller eastern European teams too.

you don't think much of the British club's chances then

yah blueski that may have been semichallops actually. And some wishful thinking about balance of powers etc. If the 7th best English team is on a level with the best of the Swiss, that's somewhat ok and not entirely unreasonable. We'll see. ;)

(but you britishes deserve it a bit at least, because you posted gbr teams in CAPITALS during CL draw. Nice of you to capitalize APOEL for Louis though. :D)

because you posted gbr teams in CAPITALS during CL draw.

That'll be copying and pasting from the bbc.

BBC

Fair enough onimo capital : capital )

Predictions still stand though. British teams will be too preoccupied with earning a position which will get them into Europe next year. \_o_?

C: 1. Hamburg, 2. Rapid

I'd like to disagree with this but having seen the number of chances Rapid created against Villa I think Celtic might struggle against them. Normally I'd bank on at least 7 home points from a group like this (we've taken 9 against better teams in the CL, repeatedly) but we've just lost two home European ties in a row for the first time in years so the old Fortress Parkhead thing has taken a bit of a knock.

Betting currently has Celtic & Hamburg as very strong favourites to qualify but I think it'll be closer than the odds suggest.

i remember those cheating cunts rapid vienna from when I was a lad.

Aye, fucking shameful. Puts all this furore over Eduardo in the shade.

onimo plz gain many hope in that I know NOTHING about Austrian football anymore. Scottish? erm not either, but I can usually guess approx 2 of the top 3 teams before season starts. ;)

it sure does
xpost

i wonder if Harlequins/Dean Richards remember it too.

Rangers fans at it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9JKxk63fcw

the above came after this

The Parkhead side had found itself trailing 3-1 after the first leg of the Cup Winners’ Cup fixture but should have clinched their place in the next round thanks to a commanding 3-0 performance. Goals came courtesy of club legends Brian McClair, Murdo McLeod and Tommy Burns.

However, tempers flared thanks to the contentious last strike, when Burns legitimately challenged keeper Rudolf Weinhofer to slot the ball into an empty net, a goal which should have sent his side through.

There was an element of revenge afterwards when the goalie later appeared to kick Burns while coming for the ball, with Reinhard Kienast also sent off for a blatant swipe at the late Celtic manager.

Weinhofer then went down poleaxed, claiming he’d been hit by a bottle thrown by a member of the Parkhead crowd. Despite TV cameras later showing he hadn’t been struck, the overall fracas saw Uefa schedule a rematch at Old Trafford.

Celtic lost that encounter 1-0, a result made worse when a fan attacked Rapid’s keeper, Herbert Feurer. The Parkhead side were fined £17,000 and ordered to play their next home European game behind closed doors.

watch the goalkeeper kicking tommy burns
http://sport.stv.tv/football/45232-celtic-the-european-victory-that-never-was/

it doesn't show the bottle hitting the rapid vienna player on the head which caused the tie to be replayed (mainly because there was no bottle hitting anyones head and rapid were cheating)
I remember the player going through glasgow airport with a huge bandage on but noone was allowed to inspect it.

I dont think rapid vienna will get a warm welcome from the scottish press or celtic fans.

No-one came out of it with any credit. Some of it is quite baffling though - Rapid were fined for their behaviour. They appealed and the fine was *increased* yet there was still a decision made to replay a game Celtic had won fairly. The decision to replay the game was taken at an appeal hearing only attended by 3 out of 21 members (the rest didn't even know it was being held), two of whom were Austrian.

Celtic fans throwing bottles and coins was terrible too, as was the boy kicking the Rapid player in the balls (isn't he now their manager?) - though I still giggle like a schoolboy at the thought of someone patiently waiting at the tunnel to do so. A couple of our players (Peter Grant in particular, who contributed much to the atmosphere) didn't exactly cover themselves in glory either.

The Vienna player appearing with his head all bandaged up claiming he'd been struck by a bottle yet refusing to let any medical staff remove the bandage and examine him - then seeing the video and deciding it was a bottle not a coin - then pointing out to UEFA that they couldn't use video evidence and therefore it was a bottle again... holy fuck I mean how on earth did this all happen?

I'm fucking fuming again btw :)

haha i have been fuming about that whole thing ever since it happened.

over the years everytime that i've seen their name i recall the whole thing.

There's going to be an interesting atmosphere at that game.

enjoying being schooled abt rivalries (ie HISTORY) I had no idea about! :D

Will pay attention.

wiat so yr saying they wouldn't let even skeptical fans inspect his bandage? shameful bro

Rapid Vienna annoy me as much as Mike McCurry, and more than Porto 2003 version. Looking forward to peacceful revenge by just being better than them, though our history of keeping dickheads under control during Champions League games is not great (dude tickling Dida, bloke throwing a drink at someone - Robin van Persie? - v Arsenal last week), and with a simmering 25 year grudge to hold, I can only hope that the kind of twat who acts like this is too young to remember, and too stupid to read.

Hamburg away's probably not going to be a barrel of laughs either, what with the less civilised elements of Hamburg's fans being quite fond of Rangesr and not terribly fond of their cuddly anti-fascist neighbours and friends-of-Celtic St Pauli.

so is Platini really saying they're going to put spending caps on clubs because tycoon owners asked for it? spineless

is andy gray on drugs?

Platini is doing a very good job of making Lennart Johannsson's UEFA stewardship look reasonable and considered.

xpost Closest I've ever come to agreeing with him, so maybe.

I stopped reading when he said it was for something that was unclear so didn't give myself a chance to agree w/him

As far as I'm concerned Andy Gray's talking about the inevitable inconsistency with which this ruling will be applied, as well as the fact that it appears that UEFA were completely oblivious to the idea that footballers dive before Eduardo took a fall.

Everyone's agreed that it wasn't a penalty but as far as I'm concerned it's up to the referee to decide there and then if he was being deceived or not. I'm not saying that I don't think he intended to deceive the referee or that I don't want to seeing diving stamped out, but it's impossible to prove with certainty that that's what happened there.

For one you can't prove he could have stayed on his feet in that instance; he obviously expected to feel contact and was prepared to go down, but he was arguably losing his balance and going down anyway.

Secondly he doesn't get up immediately and start appealing to the referee for a pen, the ref gives it before anyone asks him to, as might support the case.

I just don't think retrospective punishment helps this kind of incident and afaik the only real answer is to improve the refereeing and/or add those assistants on the byline to prevent these things being given in the first place. I do think the referees should be more assertive when they do feel they've been deceived, as in the many occasions when a player goes down under pressure then jumps up and starts flapping in his face and the ref waves him away but doesn't book the little shit.

Bad show, The Fiver:

Indeed this year's cast list has some very big
names. Everton and the Queen's Celtic both have former Big Cup
winners in their group (Benfica and Hamburg)

Er, Celtic also have Big Cup winners, er, Celtic in their group. But whatevs.

There's not much danger of being knocked out by themselves, though.

dunno bt that

Was surprised Hamburg didn't win the Uefa last year, but I dunno what their strike partnership's like now that Olic has gone to Bayern.

Vienna have slow fullbacks and a keeper that can't catch, according to some of their fans; they look fairly beatable.

... but not by Aston Villa

hey, guys, any of you experienced with getting tickets for champions league games? my sister is visiting spain and would like to go to one of the group stages at the end of the month (barca or real on 29th/30th) but she read somewhere that they'd only deliver tickets to countries where the match is taking place??? is this true? if you can recommend somewhere to buy tickets it'd be great.

Uefa has overturned its decision to ban Arsenal striker Eduardo for two Champions League games for diving.

The Croatian was suspended after being found guilty of diving to win a penalty in the Champions League qualifier against Celtic on 26 August.

But on Monday, Uefa accepted Arsenal's appeal and he will now be eligible to play in their Group H games against Standard Liege and Olympiakos.

Arsenal had called the initial decision by Uefa "deeply flawed".

A Uefa statement said: "Following examination of all the evidence, notably the declarations of both the referee and the referees' assessor, as well as the various video footage, it was not established to our satisfaction that the referee had been deceived in taking his decision on the penalty."

Bullshit.

What a disaster for fair play.

fair play to them

Sucks that Eduardo will still be booed by every set of fans all season still.

He shouldn't have cheated then.
UEFA just bottled it as they didn't want to have to take the same action against every diving cheating cunt in football. There would be no players left!

when did diving start?

at least uefa come out of this incident with their credibility intact

when did diving start?

Franny Lee invented it in 1962.

Fair enough, tbh. I've seen far worse dives in my life, and actual instances of active deception (plz to ban Kyle Lafferty for life, kthanksbye), rather than the referee being fooled without anyone actually waving their hands around looking for the penalty. Public whinging shouldn't influence decisions. I mean, really, can we appeal to UEFA about the handball not given against Darren Dods on Saturday? About Amoroso (?) diving against us in 2001? Fuck's sake, I quite like the idea of cheats not getting away with cheating, but it was a ridiculous one to choose to start again with (since fuck all came off the back of the last two match ban handed out to that wee Hearts dude for Lithuania a couple of years back).

(don't really want Kyle Lafferty banned for life, btw, just getting carried away with this hyperbolic over-reaction stuff)

Fair enough indeed. Plus, the UEFA was probably scared straight when they thought ~ only for a second ~ how EVERY MATCH FROM NOW ON would lead to accusations, investigations, paper work, verdicts, appeals... they're not ready for that, they don't want all that hassle on their plate. And rightly so. A ban or penalty on diving is bonkers.

so what youre saying is cheating is ok because it happens all the time so too many would be punished and would lead to lots of paperwork?

A ban or penalty on diving is bonkers

yup. :)

so what youre saying is cheating is ok because it happens all the time so too many would be punished and would lead to lots of paperwork?

― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Monday, September 14, 2009 9:41 PM (49 minutes ago) Bookmark

No. That is not what I said. I for one would welcome the UEFA to so much paperwork the whole organisation would crumble down. But what I'm saying about diving is that if you don't have the means, rules or capacities to catch all divers, don't try to make a half baked case of just one of the many examples, like Eduardo. Ajax' striker Luis Suarez would never play a match in his life if diving were banned! (I would welcome him never to be seen again, but that's not the point here)
If you can't make a structural rule prohibiting diving, if a ban for one does not apply to the other (because the ref "didn't see"), it's not the diving that is wrong, it's the means to bring fair play into the game.

probably good to make an example of eduardo tho, as possible deterrence

They tried that before with Saulis Mikoliunas. It didn't work.

third time lucky...

Atmosphere at Besiktas sounds amazing.

mon ae Zurich.

now the atmosphere has gone *shakes fist at Scholes*

Dull night (no goals in first 25 minutes in any of 8 games!) livened up by Real Madrid going for the "entertainers" tag - 3-0 up and cruising then lose two goals in a minute.

5 live going nuts wanting someone banned for two matches because the ref indicated a dive - obviously not aware that if the ref calls it and deals with it then the two match ban rule* doesn't apply.

*not really a rule if you shit it at the first sign of a big club getting arsy

*not really a rule if you shit it at the first sign of a big club getting arsenal

*not really a rule if you shit it at the first sign of a big club getting arsene wenger

Looking forward to seeing this new Real team

FC Zurich	2-5	Real Madrid
		(HT 0-3) 
Margairaz (pen 64)	Ronaldo (27, 89)
Aegerter (65)		Raul (34)
			Higuain (45+1)
			Guti (90+4)
Bookings:		Bookings:
Stahel (25)		Kaka (16)
Okonkwo (50)		Drenthe (23)
			Casillas (64)  	
			Gago (68)
 			Guti (74)
			Diarra (82)

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46385000/jpg/_46385007_anelka226.jpg

"Nonnnnnnn, je ne regrette riennnnnnn..."

"now I return to my sarcophagus"

just saw a pic of alonso celebrating with ronaldo. felt like seeing an ex gf cavorting with hitler.

didn't know u were that old

^^^weak sauce

lol arsenal.

double lol arsenal!

(just turned over from Stuttgart v Rangers to see what was going on, thought it was a replay of whatever you were lolling at, and, ha, no. Hang on, that's the cnuts that knocked us out. How rubbish does that make us?!?!)

wtf arsenal

this is absolutely fucking ridiculous.

outplaying Utd but losing seems quite the psychological sledgehammer in the guts

Having a rookie goalkeeper playing - not even the good rookie goalkeeper at the club - doesn't help.

Poor Rangers, how it must feel to have your team losing.

a hoy hoy, you can turn over to Sky Sports Extra and watch Rangers getting beaten by a Stuttgart team featuring Hleb and Lehmann and pretend the other game's not happening.

From Mohammed from north London, an Arsenal fan who switched his telly off after five minutes, via text on 81111: "Please Jonathan, PLEASE tell me I'm dreaming."
I can't. I mean I'd like to Mohammed, I just can't.

lol@ the Stevie Me booking.

Not near a tv. xpost.

I kind of enjoy Arsenal losing at times. Mainly because it pisses off the cliched Arsenal fans and I'm really starting to hate them(/us.) There is still an air of post-invincible 'we shouldn't and don't deserve to ever lose' that is stupid and annoying and once we start respecting other clubs and hopefully, eventually start fucking adapting our tactics to how the opposition play, we can stop be a bunch of organic cuntbags.

I'm not watching the group stages on principle but I just wanted to second the 'lol Arsenal' upthread. Or possibly third or fourth it.

I like how it's an accepted fact that in the FA Cup any team can raise their game and beat anyone, but some dudes who are the champions of another country do it in different cup and ITV are like "These plucky Hungarians have had a shot on target! What bizarro universe is this?!"

Same also applies to the patience-lite dude on BBC who thinks it's astonishing to concede two goals to a good Belgian team after you've just lost to Man City, I guess.

I am watching Barca - Inter and it's a bit boring. Listening to the Arsenal match. Also peeling an orange.

Surprised Rangers is not the STV game though. I guess they want to save their budget for games later in the group stage. Didnt know Sky had it and was watching the Liverpool game (if the Rangers game had been on STV i wouldve just watched the english ITV on 853 on virginmedia anyway mind you)

I am watching Barca - Inter and it's a bit boring. Listening to the Arsenal match. Also peeling an orange.

house

lol at the idea that STV have a budget.

house?

http://images.buddytv.com/articles/Image/hugh-laurie.jpg ?

Keita should be playing for Arsenal the way he just missed that open fucking goal btw.

Thank fuck for ol' pink boots.

Barca's shirt is hurting my eyes but if anyone wants to see Zlatan playing well in a big game, he is doing alright and looks like he could score in the second half.

Rather have ol' pink boots missing sitters cos he's shit than old cunt boots missing sitters cos he can't be arsed to lean.

i think Barca - Inter has been pretty good so far, friendly but good. Messi pretty much doing whatever he likes

<3 Arsenal.

Inter-Barca was the wrong choice obviously.

I am hearing from my sources that there has been a whiff of controversy around some of the goals in the Arsenal game. Can someone confirm/deny this, because my sources are not terribly well-disposed to Mr Eduardo and his chums right now?

I could turn over, but I'm too busy doing a Derren Brown positive thinking vibe on the Stuttgart strikers.

whiff of controversy in that the dude who just scored wouldn't be playing if anyone at UEFA had a pair?

According to radio-

Second goal: Two players offside and a handball.
Third goal: Scored by a player who possibly shouldn't be playing and possible offside.

No controversy obv.

Cool, cheers. 'Mon the Hun (German version) against the Huns (knuckledragging version) so as I can turn over and lol at the post-match guffon the other side.

lol I clicked on the "listen live" link on BBC Sportsound for the Gers game

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/7039484.stm

No fucking idea what's going on :)

Still makes more sense than Scott Booth :-)

lol arsenal

Equalising goal one of the more ridiculous I've seen given in quite some time

Never in doubt.

It wasn't offside I thought (unless the ball brushed Eduardo's leg on the way through) but c'mon that's the biggest handball of all time

I've not seen any of the Arsenal goals but lol anyway at us getting the win.

handball was classic. about time arsenal got some dodgy refereeing decisions in their favour.

right?

Looks like another fascinating Champions League group stage

http://www.linshingthailand.com/images/1209372251/gal_Glasgow_big_snore.jpg

guti's finish was so great

ronaldo's second was loooooooolllll

awaiting butthurt

No butthurtedness, LJ, just weary resignation and a feeling of deja vu.

incredible

Gordon Strachan being replaced by Tony Mowbray hasn't changed a thing in terms of bizarro Euro team selections. Samaras not good enough to be ahead of an injured midfielder up front against Dundee Utd at home is chosen to lead the line alone in a European away game. Top scorer Skippy dropped (though makes a late time-wasting sub appearance with just enough time to get booked and let one of their players . Caldwell, a centre half who's having a mare of a season pushed into midfield where he manages to look worse, Loovens pushed into an uncomfortable right side of defence role to accommodate Mick who hasn't kicked a ball for Celtic since April. Did I miss anything or where there actually some players playing in position?

Oh aye, robust second half line-up with McGeady, Maloney and McGinn in midfield sending a strong message out, something along the lines of "Don't worry we'll get the ball back when it reaches our keeper!"

Can't wait till Sunday :(

(though makes a late time-wasting sub appearance with just enough time to get booked and let one of their players .

let one of their players roll around for the entirety of injury time, that should say.

You missed Andreas Hinkel (surely everyone else in the whole of Germany was injured the days he got his caps) playing the part of the invisible man at right back, and Dan Fox forgetting what the "defend" bit in the word "defender" means.

aptly enough, leaving him with nothing but 'er' as a job description

That's kind of my general reaction to him. He seems to get a free pass off everyone else in the world for possessing the incredible talent of not being Lee Naylor.

cannot work out an 'er indoors joke here ;_;

er in early doors?

He seems to get a free pass off everyone else in the world for possessing the incredible talent of not being Lee Naylor

this is commonly referred to as the gary doherty free pass

while he was still at spurs, the gary doherty free pass was usually the one he had just played to the unmarked opposition striker.

surely it was the flag he ushered the striker through with

He seems to get a free pass off everyone else in the world for possessing the incredible talent of not being Lee Naylor

It gets him a bit of a free pass with me. He can cross a ball so that's one thing he's got on Naylor. Not so sure if there are any defensive qualities lurking in there. I hear he's thinking of becoming Scottish.

if gary doherty was a bouncer he'd turn up at the wrong pub, and ignore the front door in favour of monitoring the window. while still making a shitup of it

I think if we could find someone who could both defend more like Naylor AND cross more like Fox, we'd be onto something. I believe these rare creatures are called left backs, and that some modern football teams believe them to be important.

And, aye, granny fox drank a can of Irn Bru once or something. For all his faults, he's got to be better than Calum Davidson, right?

I believe these rare creatures are called left backs, and that some modern football teams believe them to be important.

>:|

assou ekotto can cross, i guess.

alan fucking hutton, btw

Brian Easton is the best young scottish left back. Not ready for scotland yet obviously but he will one day (unless we continue with the dads army selections).
Celtic could've done worse and bought him. Owen Coyle will hopefully turn him into a top class player.

Celtic could've kept Charlie Mulgrew who seems to me to be better than Fox with a dead ball and not much worse than Lee Naylor in the tackle. Positional awareness is not an issue as Celtic managers train that out of any full backs they manage anyway.

Charlie Mulgrew's doing quite well in my work fantasy football team, which is where quality really matters.

"Celtic could have done worse and bought him" is not a recommendation btw. I prefer us not doing worse, so I'm glad he went elsewhere.

ok hes better than what you have

No streams, no 5live, I may have to just read.

you can get footy games in book form now?

sorry that was shit gag

Nah, I'm half way through Lolita, innit.

Tonight's highlight of commentary so far from Rangers v Sevilla, as Rangers are denied a stonewall penalty, came from whichever identikit twat with a mic they had there claiming that referees aren't meant to carry things over from other games, but this was the same referee who gave Wayne Rooney a seemingly dodgy penalty when England played Slovenia.

There really are no streams. This whole ITV only showing one game a week, and that's on Wednesdays is going to take some getting used to.

This is why God invented pubs.

Only pub here that shows football has Liverpool. God and I not getting on so well since I broke up with bible camp girl, obv.

I have Sky Sports, like, I was just offering an option. you need to find a wee local pub with a barman who likes you and will do what you ask because he values your custom.

Thinking of giving up the booze though. Or at least drinking way less :(

May just have to give in and give Murdoch more money.

woah liverpolol. (oh wait, gonna be another dull 'liverpool qualify at the last possible moment due to other teams incompetence' moment isn't it?)

There are streams about, check maged tv. Are we allowed to post links in here? We are playing some lovely lovely stuff but of course it is 0-0.

Ok the amount of chances we have bottled is just getting farcical now.

How Rangers didnt that that Penalty I'll never know. It was the kind of decision that usually goes against you playing at ibrox!

lol 4-0 sevilla

dude its the arsenal. we started abou diaby ahead of eduardo.

it is kinda academic when you ship 4 goals anyway. Ibrox is emptying even faster than usual(no matter the scores everyones left by 80 mins)