The non-Watford football thread

Man City beaten by Wolves .

Liverpool's title to lose already ?

 

Well they have lost to everyone else
What amazes me is that in 2019 Spurs and Man United have a worse overall record than us

 

How the mighty have fallen

 

Oh well England were well and truly Czeched mate!

It was like watching us...

Poor passing, no real chances and average defending.

 

The England defence made us look world class
I wouldn't want any of that England team contaminating our team, we are in enough trouble as it is

 

Well we were linked to Rose and had a bid in but not sure he would have improved our defence !

No doubt Kane will be back on form next week though ..

 

I do not think Rose would improve us on his recent form
Kane I am not sure about he does not look the player from two seasons ago
If we can stifle the supply from midfield to him he will get frustrated and start cheating and hopefully get booked
A point would be good result
Every game is almost a must win game from now on but we must stick with the team regardless of individual results and show our support

 

Problems with racist chanting in Bulgaria. The game has been stopped twice and we haven't got to half time yet.

 

Easy solution abandon the game, award the tie to England at now 4-0 and make Bulgaria play behind closed doors until they can prove they have tackled the problem

 

Trouble is their FA denied it all and just claimed it was disrespectful of us to complain etc.

Even during the incident their manager was arms out telling us to get on with it .

Those "fans" kicked out had no interested in the football .

 

Although the crowd is not exactly large, is it fair on those who are not involved to have the game stopped? The ones creating the problem appear to have left the stadium, but will they be arrested? It is a problem, but surely the ones involved should be made an example of, with a night inside, and hauled before the courts in the morning.

 

True - they won't stop just because the game does .

 

The language of racism is something that we should all be worried about. Football is a naturally confrontational game, arousing passionate feelings, but it is a game after all said and done. You might manage to stop some of this unacceptable behaviour by severe punishment for those individuals involved, but that does not stop them from still thinking, if that is the word, that they are somehow better than others. The media, and even some politicians seem to think that they can get away with calling others names that border on being racist, all of which can get into the brain cell of some. A spirit of friendly competition is fine, but all too often unless you fit into the mould exactly, you are a second class person from a second class background. Rant over!

 

Football fans have always focussed on the 'best way' of riling up the opposition Frenchie. You only need to compile a list of sectarian songs from Ibrox, or anti Jewish songs directed at Ajax, Anderlecht or Spurs - or Ajax songs about the bombing of Rotterdam. I do not think that eg. the Feyenoord fans are against all Jews - just the self proclaimed Ajax ones. Thinking back to songs by the Mancs about Liverpool - 'In your Liverpool homes' - it's all meant to provoke the opposition. This isn't to say that we should be ignoring this - but do songs really hurt anyone ? There are many clubs in Europe where Facist emblems are used by sections of the crowd, and this is not just in the East - think of Lazio for example. I have also seen groups of Chelsea fans giving Nazi salutes whilst beating up parts of Paris. Conversely at clubs like Calcio Livorno, Olympique Marseille, Standard Liege or St. Pauli you will see emblems from the other end of the political spectrum. But as long as we are only dealing with songs is it such a big deal ? When it goes beyond that - and, I do not think it is safe for any fan of ethnic origins to visit a football stadium in the East be it Belgrade, Budapest, Kiev, Zagreb or wherever else, then it is time to take decisive action. There are some countries in Eastern Europe where football has become a no go area for normal fans - when two rival Russian clubs go head to head then normal people stay at home for the day.

 

I wonder why we see this behaviour in football, when I cannot think of the same thing happening in rugby union? This surely isn't just about songs though, it is about abusing individuals because of the colour they happened to be born into. I noticed on TV last night signs from the past in the USA saying that schools were for white children only. Surely we have moved on from such days. It is action that I would like to see, but the football authorities do not seem to be able to do much. Petty fines and closing part of a stadium are small measures. When English fans disgraced their clubs and country a ban on playing in Europe was put in place for a couple of years. Shame for those who only wished to see football at a high level, but good for the host countries and the people living in the towns where games were played. It was good however last night to see the reaction of the English fans inside the stadium who didn't take the bait. What happened outside seems to have been minimal, so a few plaudits go to the travellers.

 

The question remains as to whether songs at football matches really represent the political attitudes of those singing them. In Belgium and the Netherlands there have been a number of instances over the last few years - one song springs to mind, and I hate it, but will reproduce it here ``My father was in the commandos, my mother was in the SS, together they burned Jews 'cause Jews burn the best' `` I hope I don't get into trouble for reproducing this here ! This song has been used by fans of Feyenoord, FC Bruges and Ado den Haag against the fans of Ajax or Anderlecht. But does it really represent anti Semitism - or is it only hatred against Ajax and Anderlecht ? Feyenoord sing songs about Hamas, but very few of them would actually support the Palestinian cause. All of this is highly disturbing for members of the ethnic groups concerned, regardless of the reasons behind it. Why football and not Rugby Union ? The composition of football crowds was always different to Rugby. A football crowd was always a more territorial thing - about belonging or not belonging and political groups cottoned on to that at an early stage. At a relatively early stage (the late 70s) the NF were active at Chelsea, partially spreading their influence to the terraces at Millwall and West Ham and it was visibly noticeable that fans of ethnic origins were increasingly more likely to be seen at Arsenal or Spurs.

 

Friday night football with my local team and it is rubbish. I thought I had seen some poor refs in the last few games, but this one must be going for some award. Player gets clattered with studs in his midriff, and he gets booked for simulation. Still one end of the ground is pretty full, maybe because there was a special offer for a ticket at €3. Hope the second half is better!

 

Sad to hear if true although there seems to be conflicting reports from "witnesses "

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50114848

TBH throwing bottles and other objects isn't right on its own - regardless of the alleged racist abuse.

 

Liverpool have a goal rightly ruled out for handball .

Course they are at Old Trafford..

Would it have been given if it had been against us at Anfield?!