Messages

Never been as apprehensive about a villa match in my life. This much bigger than any of the cup finals that I remember. So much riding on one game of football.

Incidentally i see that Fulham were allowing their fans to buy 5 tickets each and they have then went and sold a right few of these to villa fans. Could be a potential issue on the day.

I don't think so. Fulham's fans are not known for their aggression..
Do Villa lost their parachute payment after this season? If so this is definitely the biggest match in their recent history.

Still one more year, three years in diminishing amounts after relegation. Hoping Villa play like the Wolves match a few weeks ago. Brilliant performance but 1-0 will do.

Afair, it was the cleanest Monaghan Tyrone  championship game, almost absent of the depressing  ott cynicism, yet  there was a multitude of cards. I was confident of a Monaghan victory since the league campaign, relaxed about the game all day, but it does take away a little bit from it that this is a Tyrone team absent of real talent, those 5 or so talented  classy players who make the difference. I didn't notice Harte so much until his red card, there's a huge chasm where Sean C use to operate and they wilted uncharacteristically in the last 15  minutes where in the past you'd have big Sean leading the charge. Tyrone subs, made early and often, had no impact. Club wise, hats off to the Clontibret element.

Fermanagh next, Donegal lite, but probably will be a tougher opponent than today's.

Take it that Fermanagh comment is a win up cause if you saw the match yesterday those two teams were a couple of levels below.

Celtic have won 13 major trophies since Servco was formed!

Scottish League Championship: 7
2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18

Scottish Cup: 3
2012–13, 2016–17, 2017–18

Scottish League Cup: 3

2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18

Rodgers has won more Cups in two years than Neil and Ronnie did in the previous Five years!

Outstanding achievement. Only ever been done by two other European clubs. Winning the league is difficult but mandatory with our strength in comparison. However, winning one off cup ties takes a special mental and physical effort so to go two seasons without defeat in 4 cup competitions is remarkable. Another excellent achievement for our unique club.

If you have a car allowance and looking to get a decent deal on a, lets say on a 1.6 type car, with a decent extras, where is the best place to look? I'm not a petrol head so for me any new car is nice, loved the Ford Focus i had for 3 years, might even go back to that type, but interested in something different

I got a brilliant lease deal on an Infiniti Q30. Nissan's "upmarket" brand, Mercedes engine, fully loaded. Probably not the best car but different.

FFS like the Stoke game they wouldn't have scored if they were there for another 90 mins.
Massive pressure now on the Brighton game. Top 4 should have been secured weeks ago.

That was brutal, Salah has lost his mojo and Firmino not much better.
Brighton won't be quaking in their boots after watching that. Let's hope they find some form before Kiev

Christ, are you basing that on two games. Salah and Firmino have played brilliantly all year. I would expect they will be flying for the CL final.

A good win today against the wee Huns after that tool Lafferty had given them the lead, yet again the officiating was brutal, Naismith twice made tackles that both deserved red cards but never even got a yellow, Sutton called him a coward and was spot on, its imperative we keep Rogic, his ball for Dembele's goal was magic!

Rogic really is a joy. Always great beating those bigots.

Well Bhoys does anyone really think that Gerrard is gonna make make the Huns actually compete with us next season, cant see it myself, I thought Gerrard had a bit of sense ( badly wrong on that one)

Time will tell if he goes the way of Souness i.e.  going from being just a run of the mill attention grabbing asshole to a deeply bitter attention grabbing asshole...

No United game tonight ?

He might have utd leanings but his summation is right. Ego and self entitlement, they are a match all right.

[Is Lennon even coaching at all these days?]

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/liverpool-dismiss-zeljko-buvac-quit-14593526

A job for Gerrard maybe?

I'd say Stevie G would like the chance at management. Rangers are in a bad state at the moment but nothing a few big name signings wouldnt change. Gerrard would have ambitions beyond Glasgow and abit of success there could be used as an entry to the Premiership

Yeah, numerous titles and some CL success in Scotland really landed Lennon a plum PL job. No one in England rates Scottish league success. He'll be getting his next job because he's Steven Gerrard and not because he was successful at Rangers.

Souness got the Liverpool job after his spell at Rangers. Primarily I suspect because he was an Anfield old boy but having a bit of success up North  helped justify the appointment.
The same could happen with Gerrard. Never underestimate the stupidity of the people at the top.
Steve McClaren was appointed English manager on the strenght of a League Cup win with Boro

The comparitive quaility of Scottish football to English football has collapsed in the intervening years. Where's the last Celtic manager coaching now? Is Lennon even coaching at all these days?

You'll be asking us was he not shot in NY in the 1980s next....

You're proving my point.

Delia, as it happens, went from coaching Celtic to back to back SPL titles to managing a team in the Norwegian league.

I suspect you knew where Lennon was. Easy for you to slag Scottish football when you have no emotional investment. The standard is poor compared with top teams in England but beyond that the gulf isn't as great as you may think. Unfortunately for the EPL, it's the same managerial merry go round. Hodgson, Allardyce, Moyes, Pardew all continuing to get jobs despite most being dinosaurs.

It's not slagging when it's objectively true. I have no love nor hatred for Scottish football but it's row big teams playing with a bunch of minnows, and the gap between those two and the big European teams has widened significantly in the last decade even. The reality is for Celtic or Rangers to reach their potential as big clubs they need to get into the English football league.

This isn't the thread for that debate BUT look at England, France, Spain and Germany. How many different teams have won those league's recently? The gap between the top ten to 12 European teams and the rest is substantial.
Anyway, I hope Liverpool win the CL. Most exciting team to watch and couldn't stand Real or Bayern winning.

[Is Lennon even coaching at all these days?]

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/liverpool-dismiss-zeljko-buvac-quit-14593526

A job for Gerrard maybe?

I'd say Stevie G would like the chance at management. Rangers are in a bad state at the moment but nothing a few big name signings wouldnt change. Gerrard would have ambitions beyond Glasgow and abit of success there could be used as an entry to the Premiership

Yeah, numerous titles and some CL success in Scotland really landed Lennon a plum PL job. No one in England rates Scottish league success. He'll be getting his next job because he's Steven Gerrard and not because he was successful at Rangers.

Souness got the Liverpool job after his spell at Rangers. Primarily I suspect because he was an Anfield old boy but having a bit of success up North  helped justify the appointment.
The same could happen with Gerrard. Never underestimate the stupidity of the people at the top.
Steve McClaren was appointed English manager on the strenght of a League Cup win with Boro

The comparitive quaility of Scottish football to English football has collapsed in the intervening years. Where's the last Celtic manager coaching now? Is Lennon even coaching at all these days?

You'll be asking us was he not shot in NY in the 1980s next....

You're proving my point.

Delia, as it happens, went from coaching Celtic to back to back SPL titles to managing a team in the Norwegian league.

I suspect you knew where Lennon was. Easy for you to slag Scottish football when you have no emotional investment. The standard is poor compared with top teams in England but beyond that the gulf isn't as great as you may think. Unfortunately for the EPL, it's the same managerial merry go round. Hodgson, Allardyce, Moyes, Pardew all continuing to get jobs despite most being dinosaurs.

word on the street is that there'll be money made available for him to buy. be interestin to see if that happens..

Even if money is available, realistically how many players do they need to be able to compete with Celtic, I would imagine you would be talking 8,9 10?
Do they have that amount of money available? I doubt it.

They're about four games off Celtic and just back from the lower leagues - I think some of the suggestions about how far behind Celtic Rangers are is really fanciful stuff from people who just don't like Rangers.

To put that in perspective, Rangers Old Firm goal difference in past 2 seasons is minus 25.

Which is a few games a year and will likely change in Rangers direction again in the coming years if 100 years of history is any indication. People are setting themselves up for a fall if they think Rangers are far off winning a two horse race.

Rangers are in a mess financially, again. Unless there is someone willing to lose big money on them, they are hamstrung for the foreseeable. They have only survived the past two seasons due to soft loans from the boardroom, but not from King Funnily enough. Gerrard would be mad to take the job and if he does he has been ill advised or deceived. This year Celtic have cantered to the title, the gap is bigger than it appears. However, a good manager with a clear strategy and style could narrow that gap for rangers. They are more likely to go into administration again than win the title.

[Waterfoot/Glenariff]

Would agree with who said earlier about Plumbridge. I'd actually extend that to the Glenelly Valley as a whole.

Portstewart IMO tends to be underrated, nice tidy town, it benefits from being somewhat a student town even when the students aren't there, the Strand is a great beach and has little of the sectarian blight that is otherwise afflicted in nearby Coleraine & Portrush.

A little surprised that some parts of North Antrim haven't been mentioned, Cushendall and Waterfoot/Glenariff have looked like great spots any time I've gone through them.

Enniskillen has it's location going for it and again it's a tidy enough town, though for whatever reason I've always found the natives there a bit cold and unwelcoming, while the traffic in the town centre gets easily chocked at peak times.

Truthfully and honestly I've never been further south of Birr, nor have I ever been in Galway or Mayo with the exception of Charlestown, so I'll defer to those in the know about the southern half a lot better than I do.

You are correct 

I was once told waterfoot was the ghetto of Glenariff

Spent many a day "bunking off" in Waterfoot. Not exactly the best place to hide out! Cushendall was always better for a night out and a fight between the hurling factions.

Broughshane recently won channel 4's best village award. To be honest its always clean and has lots of flowers on display in the summer but other than that is extremely ordinary.

Used to have a great butcher's. Changed hands a few years ago so not sure how it is now. Nice local shops. Decent pub/restaurant.  Always well kept, lots of hanging baskets. BUT as always let down by the "bunting".

Brendans Rodgers - the easiest job in football

Are you a manager by any chance? Either in work or of a sporting nature?

as it goes I am

So you know it is not just a matter of turning up, and that players need motivated, and tactics need created and implemented, and longer term strategy need developed and so on and so forth.

when the opposition is at that level yeah. Good to see them stuff Rangers but there is no opposition in Scotland

That was a demonstration of control. Dominated from start to finish.
Munich, Barca, PSG and City have all pissed their leagues. Its all relative.

NI win their first medal on the track since 1986 (and first athletics medal since 1990) with Leon Reid's bronze in the 200m.  English favourite Zharnel Hughes was disqualified from 1st place moving Reid up from 4th.

Is he Northern Irish though?

He's as Irish as Zharnel Hughes is English

He's as Irish as me i.e. He has one Irish parent. Fucked about by the British has declared his intent to run for Ireland 🇮🇪.

Ive no love for City but the referee's absolutely shafted them over the 2 legs!!

No. City had 4 shots on target across the two legs, Liverpool scored 5 goals. It was no contest. People need to stop blaming the referee for City falling 5 goals short.

If the ref had done his job it would only have been three! 😋

If yer ma had balls she'd be your da!

My point exactly. Liverpool walloped City in the first leg, should have scored more than three. Liverpool seemed to be able to restrict their clear cut chances last night. Fully deserved. Let's hope Sevilla do it tonight also. Juventus won't overturn their deficit but would like to see less of the usual suspects in the semis.