Nothing to do with us directly (it is Tuesday so struggling for relevant comments) but it made me chuckle that on the Football page of the BBC website, Stoke do not get a "FOOTBALL" heading. FOOTBALL Bale ruled out for rest of season Redknapp refuses to blame Adam FOOTBALLAncelotti awaits fate at Chelsea FOOTBALLFifa unveils anti-corruption plan STOKEPulis hopes for quiet preparation FOOTBALLWenger admits to Arsenal frailty FOOTBALLDoyle poised to return for Wolves FOOTBALLRomanov feared Zaliukas red card FOOTBALLMcCarthy remains wary after win FOOTBALLThreadbare Wales squad for Speed FOOTBALLManager McIlroy leaves Morecambe FOOTBALLLennon still hopeful of SPL title FOOTBALLWarnock cautious about QPR future FOOTBALLHammers game a 'final' - Martinez Hope they win the cup though. (It would soften the blow for all those lads who can no longer play for us.)
Man Utd manager Sir Alex Ferguson reckons he's come up with the perfect way to beat Barca in the Champions League Final at the end of May. Realising that players such as Carrick, O'Shea and Fabio would be ripped to shreds if the Old Trafford side tried to play an expansive game against Pep Guardiola's superstars at Wembley, the wily old fox that is Fergie has sprung a surprise. Today he named the team to take on the Catalan giants - and its Stoke City. Sir Alex has taken advantage of a little known loophole in UEFA's regulations to sign the whole of Tony Pulis' side for the weekend of the Final. The Man Utd boss has calculated that he stands a much better chance of defeating the Spanish geniuses by playing the kick-and-rush,long throw game perfected by the men from the Potteries. Robert Huth, Danny Higgenbotham and Ryan Shawcross will kick lumps out of Messi and co, then launch the ball forward for Kenwyne Jones to get on the end of or Rory Delap will propel the long throws into the box and cause suitable havoc. Fergie is positive that Barca will be bludgeoned into submission by these tactics and victory will be his. And who would bet against him ?
Commachio, I wouldn't bet against Stoke. They've found a way of playing and other teams have got to find a way of beating them. We certainly didn't. I honestly don't think ManC will either. Re your signature: "Isn't ironic how newcastle united are called "THE MAGPIES", yet have nothing shiny" Did you know that the Italian word for "magpie" is "gazza"? Maybe we should nickname one of our players "gatto" (Italian for "cat") and he would turn out to be as brilliant as Gascoigne was - on the field, I hasten to add. (As I said, it's Tuesday, so struggling for anything interesting.)
gatto nero Or do we buy Gattuso, who would be 'gatto' with 'us' in his heart, as the cryptic crossword compilers might say. Back on the football front, I agree that Sessegnon could be our Gazza.
gatto nero? cat black, so i take it their language is like here, everything is back to front... so it's gatto nero sessengon then, and as for stoke may not be pretty, but it's pretty effective...
Io, "parlare italiano" sarebbe una grande exaggerazione. Not sure if that's right but that's about the way my Italian is. I get by but will need to brush it up when we get into Europe in two years' time. I only knew about gazza being magpie from La Gazza Ladra (spelling?), the Rossini opera, The Thieving Magpie. I'm much more at home in French. In fact, my greatest sporting moment (apart from 1973) was in 1998 when the English football team went to Caen in Northern France on their way to their World Cup headquarters. They played a friendly behind closed doors and I was their interpreter. Remember sitting on the bench with McManaman and Le Saux, who both had kind words to say about SAFC.
Now, for the BBC, Stoke do play football. FOOTBALL Trust wants Kroenke share boycott FOOTBALL Sheffield United sack boss Adams FOOTBALL Blackburn warn fans over tickets FOOTBALL Ancelotti should stay - Wilkins FOOTBALL Huth faces FA Cup fitness battle FOOTBALL League to wait on trophy ceremony FOOTBALL Brown and Boyle censured for spat FOOTBALL Jefferies plans to stay at Hearts FOOTBALL Gabbidon fined for Twitter post Spurs widen 2012 stadium review FOOTBALL McInnes is offered Brentford job Gun alert at Celtic training camp FOOTBALL Monthly award for Celtic's Lennon FOOTBALL Hearts to fight Jonsson dismissal FOOTBALL Dalglish hails rampant Liverpool
