We're straying off topic here however a bit before your time Supers, but I used to be fan of 'The Gemini Man' starring Ben Murphy. He had this watch thingy on his wrist and could make himself invisible with it. Saw an episode on one of the satellite channels a couple of years ago and it was total bollocks ! However, truly great shows from the past that I still enjoy on DVD are: 1. The Persuaders 2. The Avengers 3. Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) 4. Jason King 5. Department S 6. The Prisoner 7. Alias Smith and Jones 8. The Champions 9. Thunderbirds 10. Minder Anyone got any others ?
right, lets get this back on track - i'm intrigued by tipsy's idea about arrogance being a factor. i agree with this. i hate it when even today pundits still call it the best league in the world. i think for a short space of time between 2004-08 it probably was but its miles behind la liga for both quality and entertainment these days. our league is exciting to watch more often than not but i think pundits show arrogance and i think managers do too. even our own manager claims it to be the best in the world. this is deluded although in lambert's case you wonder if he uses it as a tactic to fire his players up and make them feel ten foot tall. and as mentioned before, this word 'product' doesn't help. its a sport - its football. i turn up to watch my team regardless of how they play or how well they are doing. i'm not put off by anything other than expense. if we want to use the word product in football its about time they reduced the cost of this product to be in line with the current downturn in quality on the pitch!
Kind of agree here but I wouldn't say the PL was miles behind La Ligue as it is always Real Madrid or Barca that win it the others are just making up the numbers a la SPL. There was a time when the EPL title would be won by either Manure or Arsenal but currently I would say there's now 6 teams that could possibly win it in any given season.
I believe the arrogance has mostly originated from the huge amounts of money spent of marketing the league. You can't blame sky etc for publicising it as the 'best league in the world' as they are trying to sell it. However this idea seems to of filtered its way throughout football managers/ players/ fans/ owners/ FA etc. Im sure most would agree a bit of arrogance isn't a bad thing, but when people think they or the team just need to turn up to win it becomes a problem. I'm not exactly sure how to put it but some throughout football seem to feel they've made it and then almost take their foot off the gas. It seems one good season makes a good/ great player which is of course not true. Basically its caused a lack of drive and determination to be the best. Also the FA and some clubs seem too proud to take the good things other nations do and look to utilise them in a way that works for the English game. Not sure any of this makes sense haha
I've been watching the program on ITV 24, can't remember for the life of me what it's called, something like 'Big match revisited', games in the 70's & 80's. Apart from the football which was far more 'brutal', the most shocking thing was the state of the pitches and the shortness of the shorts!!!!! The other thing I noticed was the complete lack of diving, players getting tackled in the penalty area, going down, getting back up and chasing the ball, no confronting the ref, no imaginary cards being waved, just big men playing football, I do miss that. But like most things of that era it was ****e. Superman: WTF, Daisy Duke in those shorts was NOT total crap!!! ILD OTBC
sorry, i meant in terms of quality and flair. our league is still a great one to watch and some of this years games have had goals galore but overall the league has had a big dip. i'd say the decline began around the time ronaldo left united. i'd also argue that its still only a two horse race at the top. man city will probably dominate for the next five or six years and nobody will come close to them. there are six teams near the top who are decent but none of them other than city have improved over the last couple of years (i've discounted newcastle for now)
in my experience, there are always three things which make a crowd go wild in the same way as a goal being scored or a fabulous tackle. 1) ref gets hit by the ball or falls over 2) floodlights go out 3) FIGHT!!! (technical term in a football context is 22-man brawl) we need more of all these things in modern football
I would genuinely like to see a few more fights in football. They don't bring the game into disrepute at all. They're just good fun!
three spring to mind at norwich matches. my second ever away match featured a 22-man brawl at highbury (during an absolute thriller as i recall - think we lost 4-3), we had a 22-man brawl with crystal palace in the late 90s i think and a 22-man brawl with huddersfield around the same time - i believe both teams ended with 9 a side that day
