Messages

I'd have Henderson before Allen every day .

+1

In what role though? 

Spent the afternoon with  a good friend back for Christmas.  Lives in Liverpool and has been a season ticket holder for 20 years...the way the team has been playing this season, the consensus over through among alot of fans is if it continues during the next 3 week Rodgers the 'helper' will be gone. They cannot see where or how the turnaround starts...pity

[Bradley was/is better than both Brown]

Enda Muldoon (Derry), Paddy Bradley (Derry), Ciaran McDonald (Mayo) should all be on that team. Bradley was/is better than both Brown and Forde and did it consistently year in year out.  McDonald would have a strong argument for best 15 of this millenium and Muldoon was class personified.  Michael Meehan should be in there too, had a great 5 or 6 seasons.  Why no mention of Keith Higgins, another definite starter.

Being a big derry man and fan of paddy bradley i would still have to disagree on paddy being better than declan browne,Declan was a amazing player and if born in kerry would go down as a all time great imo.

Surely it would be Bradley instead of mattie ford, rather than for declan browne?

Paddy Bradley is/was better than all 6 forwards in that team.

Why is he not playing for derry then? What do you see that brian mcivor doesnt

That is the $64000 question. If anyone watched any of this year's senior club championship, it's a no brainer  that Paddy should still be lead in the line in the county shirt

(a wee dig in Stephen Hunt's direction I'd say)

Silly season for the GAA but this is pathetic.

+1.
Why not use up the space in the paper with  silly qoutes or tweets of the year.

-1

[Bradley was/is better than both Brown]

Enda Muldoon (Derry), Paddy Bradley (Derry), Ciaran McDonald (Mayo) should all be on that team. Bradley was/is better than both Brown and Forde and did it consistently year in year out.  McDonald would have a strong argument for best 15 of this millenium and Muldoon was class personified.  Michael Meehan should be in there too, had a great 5 or 6 seasons.  Why no mention of Keith Higgins, another definite starter.

Being a big derry man and fan of paddy bradley i would still have to disagree on paddy being better than declan browne,Declan was a amazing player and if born in kerry would go down as a all time great imo.

I've never seen Declan Brown play apart from the odd highlights reel. Couldnt compare him with Bradley, Forde, Coulter etc as I havent seen much of him. Some talent by all accounts

Always hard to pick the forwards. Ford mentioned above, incredible talent. Hitting points from any angle with defenders hanging off him. Paddy Bradley, incredible forward who never went missing (when on the field!). Trained harder than anyone in the Derry panel and was consistantly brilliant through many many baron years. Was unreal again in this years Derry Championship...by far the best forward on show.

Re Mayo, maybe the author thinks there is an AI in them yet and was hesitant to add them

Sorry but someone just said Celtic have a bigger fan base than Utd, Lpool, Chelsea, City... Celtics support comes from the green side of Glasgow, Green side of the North, some Free Staters and a class of weins in Thailand!!

For Celtic to move forward from here they need Rangers back or they need to get into England. Their appeal and fan base will continue to decline unless either of these 2 things happen.

Chelsea, Man City....what's that John McEnroe quote? :-)

[it's partly fuelled by the occasions making players knock their bollocks out and subsequently feel tireder (the majority of games on either have been latter stages of a knockout tourney), but mostly fuelled by the camera angle, which is set at 10-20% higher than any ground and as such makes it feel bigger.To see the inverse of the second theory, watch BBCNI local soccer. The camera angle at those grounds makes the pitches look tiny and if truth be told, makes the action look weaker.]

It's a nonsense that pervades soccer as well. For Croke Park read the old Wembley. it's partly fuelled by the occasions making players knock their bollocks out and subsequently  feel tireder (the majority of games on either have been latter stages of a knockout tourney), but mostly fuelled by the camera angle, which is set at 10-20% higher than any ground and as such makes it feel bigger.

To see the inverse of the second theory, watch BBCNI local soccer. The camera angle at those grounds makes the pitches look tiny and if truth be told, makes the action look weaker.

Definately right about the occasion getting to players and the experience of playing at Croke Park, I know players that have played there for the first time find it deceptive and it probably takes some getting used to. Specific example being a shot from between the 21 and 45 feels like much further out.

BBCNI local soccer is cabbage patch footy. The mind boggles actually that local soccer (amateur) is played on pitches way smaller than at the top level. That said, our inter-county matches are 35mins a side while club footy is 30mins.

Soccer pitches are small the world over. Mind walking into Old Trafford when I was a nipper and couldn't get over how small it was ! Wembley was the same....there's not a council pitch in the Derry City area much smaller than Premier League pitches. 

[epl]

Celtic are not fecked without the Huns.

Will never be enough money in Scottish soccer again to have Celtic competitive at CL level- with or without the Huns , but Celtic will keep winning and dominating most years.
Celtic park not full as there is a bit of a recession still in Scotland !
Attendance still over 35k each home game afaik

Celtic need to get out of Scotland - they would be more attractive to epl without the violent baggage that the hun hoardes bring!

That said, I can't see the Huns be let die as a club.
They are the establishment

They are not good enough to play league 1 in England let alone premier league. Celtic's problem is the premier league brand is solid enough and they can't bring anything new to the table on their own.

I suppose with their stadium, attendances,  world wide support, history etc they couldn't really add to what Hull, Barnsley, QPR etc bring to the PL

I'd say it's more of an optical illusion given the size of the stadium and the big crowd etc.

One of the O'Sé brothers said it felt much wider because the gap between the side line and the seats was so wide. It gave the impression of so much space as opposed to a metal fence a yard or 2 fom the side line

some achievement...fair dues to the man

[swap Hendo for Lucas]

think we played well yesterday but the team lacks confidence in themselves and beginning to look like they have lost a bit of confidence in BR as well. This new set up works well but surely it is 100% perfect for Moreno on the LHS and then put Markovic further up the pitch or even on the RHS and swap Hendo for Lucas. Morreno and Markovic have searing pace and that is the first requirement for the wide role. We dominated possession all game apart from a 10 minute spell but couldn't convert which is an ongoing problem which needs rectified next month whether Sturridge returns or not. Sell Borini for 10M, Balotelli for 7M and put a bit more to it and get ourselves a decent proven striker who will score goals and more importantly suit the system. Balotelli and lambert do not suit the style that BR wishes to play so why have them....

team going forward should be;
                           BJ
       Kolo            Skertl           Sahko
Markovic     Hendo    Gerrard   Moreno
              Lallana      Coutinho
                     Sterling

When we lose the ball we have numbers in midfield and when we regain the ball we have plenty of options for going forward with pace out wide and up top.

Easier said than done however.....

no way! Lucas has been one of the few shining lights in the last month or two for me. Henderson has regressed from last year at a severe rate of knots. Maybe the criticism is ott at times. He had a good season last year, his limitations hidden somewhat. He does not have the skill set, and more importantly the brain to read the game as a covering midfielder.

What to do with Gerrard and Henderson are the 2 biggest questions for me

Gerrard: either play him in a more attacking role or not at all. Opposition players are literally drifting past him at their leisure. For whats its worth, Id start him in the more advanced role

Henderson: 100% not on the wing thats for sure. He's not a winger and offers very little going forward. The jury is out on Can, but Henderson would be behind Lucas and Allen but still a decent enough player to have about as he is, erm,  fast and athletic.

A productive festive period could really spur them on. The work rate needs to remain relentless though

Chrikers that's poor. And rte were never offered Ted :-)

Did Borini spit in Rodgers direction running off? (Maybe not but he wasn't happy). Can see his frustration though.  Team canny score and he sees himself as a goal scorer not getting a decent run

Giroud had the freedom of the box for his goal...Crazy defending

Great to see big Marty bag the equaliser.

Gerrard needs to be played in behind the striker / s or benched and Henderson needs roaded to the Vauxhall Conference.

Great work rate though and if there was a top striker on there the game could have been outta sight by half time

Everton will finish in the top four this year.
There, I've said it.

They are very good going forward.
Now that the defence has settled down they look a far better balanced team than the likes of United, Liverpool or Spurs

that prediction is looking well of the mark. shocking performance today from manager and players. too many players in the comfort zone. distin, howard and barry need dropped. starting to doubt Martinez, the way things are going he'll be fighting another relegation battle.

Hard to fathom considering Everton dominate in every game ;-)

Is Borini gonna get any game time?  With Sturridge injured, he'd near be the best bet on scoring a few (with a bit of a run in the team)

Re Henderson...I near wince everytime he's on the ball with an opponent closing in on him