Just realised we have no match this weekend. And thanks to Sky I cannot get to the changed Liverpool match (why bother with a season ticket?), so I might just have to go to Wolves away. COYW
I won't be there FFC4L, so your view on this is probably more valid than mine, but I hope we don't give Henry a hard time. It's about time we drew the sting from the anger Wolves fans have about feeling victimised. Whatever the rights and wrongs of Henry's tackle on Zamora, if we can't show that we've moved on, they won't and this will come to define the relationship between the two clubs. For what it's worth, I was there in September and I thought Henry won the ball when Zamora got injured. The injury was caused by Henry's trailing leg, not by the initial tackle. Whether that was intentional or not would take a better man than me to call. I certainly couldn't tell at the time (I was in the Hammersmith End, too far to see it clearly). I only came to a meaningful conclusion when I saw the highlights on Match of the Day. Either way, the last thing we want is the match becoming over-heated and vengeful and someone else - or even Bobby again - picking up another long-term injury. Time to build bridges, I think.
I agree that Henry's challenge was not intentionnal or malicious, but he is a dirty player and his actions since that incident have proven so. This may be why I think he is booed by our fans, the same way in which we would boo every Stoke player without them having done anything to our team. Wolves are a dirty club, Murphs was spot on, but as he is probably the dirtiest player at FFC, he probably wasn't the ideal player to say so.
I do agree with you on that. And I don't really want to knock our fair play score down by contributing to the lower fans score we would probably get. I do hope Murphy doesn't get a hard time because what he said was correct to an extent, especially after the start of the season where our players were on the end of some quite vicious challenges (Not talking about Henry in particular, though he didn't help himself with his red card against Wigan).
We certainly shouldn't be booing karl henry. While he has made some reckless tackles this season, the zamora was not one of them and so just unfortunate really. I remember at the game the referee didn't even give us a free kick and perhaps rightly so. Lets not ruin our chance of getting into Europe next season by getting worked up about something that was largely an accident. I don't believe for a second that there are any professional footballers who set out to break legs, even the joey bartons and el hadj dioufs of this world!
While hoping last year's comments had been largely forgotten so we'd get a reasonable time at Wolves, it seems that the thicker of the Wolves fans have been posting their grudge-held comments on the 606 board, so I guess Danny will get some treatment there next week. Oh well start practising "There's One Danny Murphy". COYW
Shows they're getting anxious GS, & it's obvious why. For my part I hope Wolves don't overtake us in the Fair Play League.
Bandy there was as much irony in my comments as a robot pressing his trousers whilst drinking Guinness.
I like the irony Rocky - You got me going for a moment and that the FP league was upside down! OK, just looked (I must get a new Anorak) and saw that Wolves are surprisingly mid-table (whereas the 2 NE clubs are at the bottom - Must be the cold/windy weather).
I haven't taken a gander at the fair play table but I'd imagine the top 4 are somewhere near the top? When will referees learn to stand up to the big clubs? The only time someone from Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea etc gets sent off is when it's against another of the 'big four'
The fair play table is based on lots of things, including fouls, but also behaviour of supporters and attacking play. This last one is a big factor in why the top clubs tend to do well. It isn't just a reflection of bias by refs (though, of course, that may be a factor). At this stage of the season, the fair play table tends not to change dramatically, as it is based on average scores. I think it's looking like us or Blackpool of the teams not otherwise qualified for Europe. I'm more concerned about what happens this weekend at Wembley. If Manchester City win the FA cup and then finish 5th, we've got less chance of any Europa league games being on telly. Here's why: If Man City finish in the top 4, the Europa League places go to Birmingham (League Cup winners - place already assured), 5th place (probably Spurs if City are 4th) and the winners of the Bolton vs Stoke semi. If you add us to the mix, there's only one team - Spurs - who are a bigger tv draw than us. If Man City finish 5th, and don't reach the cup final, or if they lose the final, then the above scenario is the same, but with City taking Spurs' place. Still only one team - city - who the tv companies are likely to strongly prefer to us. If Man City finish 5th and win the FA cup, they qualify for Europa League as FA cup winners, and 6th place - probably Liverpool - get the extra slot. This will put us and Birmingham behind City and Liverpool in the tv schedulers' pecking order, so we are less likely to get on telly. Sadly, I've spend a lot of time thinking through the above and working out what I want to happen in the cup this weekend as a result. The best result all round will be for Bolton to win the cup (I'd rather them than Stoke. Not sure I can explain why). All else being equal I would prefer Man City to win today, but this is making me lean towards United. Maybe I should just get out more.
