Just went a bit light headed a moment ago. Noticed in an article somewhere that Koeman had scored quite a few goals in his playing career. So I looked up his stats. For those who don't know, hold onto your hats, and remember that this guy is a central defender: In all club competitions he played 685 games. please log in to view this image He scored 239 times. He is the world's leading scoring defender. Oh, and he played in 78 games for Holland, scoring 14 times.
That is amazing. I had no idea he was that prolific. Interestingly, although practically all our other positions on the pitch have been scoring for fun this season, our CB's haven't managed a single goal yet. Ron must be jumping up and down willing them on at every set piece.
I think if you're considering a sex change PL, it probably should be a prime consideration. You don't want bits getting tucked away unless you've asked for it to be done...
Why not Nou Camp. Barcelona's a terrific city to visit (hold on to your wallet, though). http://www.fcbarcelona.com/info-tickets - tickets from â¬49 for Ajax tomorrow. Generally a few available even at short notice for all but the biggest games. The whole Vin family is going to go sometime next season with the boys separating from the ladies for one evening as we go to the match. Vin
Cripes..! You are young. A Babel Fish is creation of Douglas Adams, from HHGTTG. Here's an extract: The Babel fish is small, yellow, leech-like, and probably the oddest thing in the universe. It feeds on brain wave energy, absorbing all unconscious frequencies and then excreting telepathically a matrix formed from the conscious frequencies and nerve signals picked up from the speech centres of the brain, the practical upshot of which is that if you stick one in your ear, you can instantly understand anything said to you in any form of language: the speech you hear decodes the brain wave matrix. So the Babel Fish is a universal translator that neatly crosses the language divide between any species. The HHGTTG points out that the Babel fish could not possibly have developed naturally, and therefore it both proves and disproves the existence of God. It is such a bizarrely improbable coincidence that anything so mindbogglingly useful could evolve purely by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see it as a final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God. The argument goes something like this: "I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing." "But," says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED." "Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic. "Oh, that was easy," says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white, and gets killed on the next zebra crossing. Most leading theologians claim that this argument is a load of dingo's kidneys. But this did not stop Oolon Colluphid making a small fortune when he used it as the central theme for his best selling book, Well That About Wraps It Up for God. Meanwhile the poor Babel fish, by effectively removing all barriers to communication between different cultures and races, has caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of creation. And reality is hardly any different. [I added that last bit myself]
I haven't seen anyone post this yet and I thought it interesting enough to share - an article on what has become on some of footballs 'lost' grounds. If anyone else like me enjoys the history and nostalgia of grounds of old then I recommend this little piece giving some info on the grounds of Arsenal, Oxford, Middlesbrough, Stoke, Southampton, Bristol Rovers and Bolton. http://http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-29460621 Additonally, for anyone interested, I recommend http://www.footballgroundguide.com for some info/photos on other lost grounds.
Thanks for the recommendations, fellas. We've decided to first look at which cities have the best prices for flights and accommodation, then look at ticket prices for those places. Currently Munich is winning, but there's plenty more investigating to be done. I agree that Florence would be an amazing place to visit, but we're struggling to actually figure out the logistics of it. Websites for Italian teams aren't very helpful.
I have done Rome and Madrid for football weekends; both excellent although football wise, Rome was a little scary - they're mad. My next destination for football is hopefully Florence, then Dortmund or Munich.
Florence. Not sure on value for money games, but beautiful city, and the food isn't bad too. Surrounding countryside is also pretty. I actually managed a bit of skiing in the Apennines. That was January mind.
Rome derby - yay, what a day/night out that is ! Went to Rome derby in 2009 when Lazio won 4-2 and it was absolutely bonkers. Luckily mostly with Lazio supporters so amazing celebrations. Ultras from both teams are nutters but stayed well clear of them. We were on bus going back towards Terminus railway station afterwards and the driver was a crazed Roma fan - taking corners at high speed and taking off from stops whilst people were still getting on/off, it was hilarious but scary too ! We survived.
Mentioned it briefly elsewhere, but I'll post it in here. I recorded a podcast last night with Chris Rann (George Weah's Cousin - does bits for the Metro etc) and his mate Dan. I think it's going onto iTunes on Wednesday. I know TSS tends to keep posted on Chris's work, so thought I'd drop that in here. We were discussing Sunderland, the two Stoke games, Tadić and then there's a few light-hearted bits in there too. However, it was the first edition - so it's early days yet.
An Indian footballer dies after attempting a somersault celebrating a goal. That's horrible. Only 23 as well. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29689747