Beefy's Corner - The Off-Topic Chat Thread

What brings you to Southampton, Meowth?

 

The Big Lebowski tonight. Time to find out what everyone keeps going on about.

 

Yeah, that one has got past me too. I like Jeff Bridges as an actor, so one day.

 

I thought MOTD was going to be on iPlayer this season?

 

You probably have to wait a bit. 24 hours maybe.

 

Ah, my impatience is letting me down!

 

It is, from Monday. Just like The Football League Show has been before.

 

De klassieker is the biggest game of the season in the Eredivisie. It's Rotterdam versus Amsterdam, and in the late nineties and in the early years of this millennium, this was a battle. A battle in a war with guns, knives and even bombs. Hooliganism had reached the Dutch clubs in the late seventies but eventually reached its peak about some 16 years ago with the battle of Beverwijk.

On the 23d of March 1997 Feyenoord and Ajax supporters agreed to hold a fight on the side of the A10 motorway. Problem for the F-side of Ajax, 50 men turned up, when a couple hundred on Feyenoord's side showed up they had to flee the scene. A couple of days later the two hooligan groups met again in a field just outside Beverwijk. Baseball bats, knives, tasers and even claw hammers were used in the battle, and by the end the Feyenoord supporters won, but the damage had already been done when during the fight Carlo Picornie lost his life when he was beaten to death with a claw hammer.

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Carlo Picornie lying dead in the field.

Years went on and because of a crack down policy on hooliganism by police and politicians the streets were reasonably safe by the end of the last decade. There was a side problem to this way of banning out the hooligans from the game: the costs. When the financial crisis hit The Netherlands in 2008, the costs for police forces around stadiums and city centre's were so high that the government couldn't afford it any more and asked the clubs to chip in. They refused to do so as they themselves were in deep financial trouble as well. So the mayors of Rotterdam and Amsterdam came to the conclusion to solve the problem, the Klassieker had to be hollowed out. The government and the Dutch FA reached an agreement that the away fans were not allowed to come to the stadium or city where the game took place. Their solution was that when two are fighting, remove one of the sides. And then there is no one left to fight after or before the match. And as expected the fans didn't like the plan and protested.

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A banner in De Kuip saying: 'The klassieker is murdered'

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In the Amsterdam Arena, on the banner 'A Klassieker without colour', fans holding up a white sheet.

In the years that followed De Kuip and the Amsterdam Arena were silent, without ambiance. Without the away fans there was no competition for chanting and supporting between the two clubs. The age old heated atmosphere of two cities clashing was no longer. Nowadays the match is known for it's lack of soul, even though it doesn't show on the pitch as the matches were still very entertaining, but for the fans on the stands, it's not the same. And twice every year, when the Klassieker comes near, the supporters protest again, hoping for the politicians and the FA to give in and restore the biggest match in the Dutch league to its former glory.

Now yesterday the KNVB, the Dutch FA, announced that they were considering to reverse the decision to ban the away supporters at The Classic match between Ajax and Feyenoord. According to the FA the amount of offensive chants, riots and fights in- and outside the stadium have significantly decreased in the past couple of years. This has it's risks though, returning to what was once normal could spark a new wave of hooliganism, as the hooligans of both sides haven't been able to vent their anger and hate for four years now. Next year the ban might be lifted and the Klassieker might even regain it's once lost soul.

For some more on this you can watch Danny Dyer's Football Factories show, he made a special episode on Dutch hooligans, which you can find in the video below. Maybe it helps to get in the mood to watch the match. Which starts at 11:30 AM GMT.

[video=youtube;srdf-TzcfS4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srdf-TzcfS4[/video]

 

Always surprised that gangs fight it out with dangerous weapons and then are shocked when someone is killed. Think they watch too many films where victims can be hit again and again and just walk away. Or they think they can dish it out and it won't happen to them. Anyone who joins in a gang battle deserves it.

 

Sky just gave me a £5 free bet... want to bet on something today but not sure what!

Soldado to score first vs Palace is 5/1...

Spurs to win 2-0 at 10/1...

 

Livestreams for the match, starts at 11:30AM GMT:
http://www.wiziwig.tv/broadcast.php?matchid=211480&part=sports

 

I reckon Spurs -1 handicap is like finding free money, or -2 handicap is 5/1.

 

Remind me how handicaps work again?

 

You can bet on a team to start with - or + goals so I'm going to chuck £5 on Tottenham -2. So for the purposes of the bet they start 0-2 down. So to win the bet Tottenham would have to win 3-0, 4-1, 5-2, 6-3 etc.

 

Sounds good! I'll use some of my free bet on that and some on Soldado to score 1st.

 

With all of their new signings Sunderland are a bit of an enigma to me this season.....luckily Bearsy has scouted them out for me.......

Potential warning : it's a bit close to the line in places.

http://bearsyinvestigates.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/scouting-report-sunderland-afc.html

 

Made me laugh.

 

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/8876806/?