The Ali Dia Football/Soccer Thread

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 22 May 2014, 17:41

tommykl wrote:
This wrote:Meanwhile in Belgium
I've explained you people before about the matricule system the Belgian football is using. I've already mentioned that Seraing, currently playing in 1st provincial has bought the matricule of Boussu Dour, playing in 2nd national. Now Boussu Dour on their hand will take over the matricule of Charleroi Fleurus, to play in 4th national. As i mentioned before Charleroi Fleurus has merged with FC Charleroi, but they will continue with the matricule of Seraing, in 1th provincial league. This, ladies and gentlemen, is Belgium at its finest.
Another club is planning on doing the same. 4th national side team Terjoden-Welle (which i suppose is going to merge with Dender) has sold their matricule to Crossing Schaerbeek. (their claim to fame is their recently demolished stadium, very famous in the urbex-scene) but this team is not the same as the original Crossing, who currently play somewhere in the lower provincial leagues, and have moved out of Schaerbeek somewhere in the eighties. It's a different team taking over the name and the cult of another team that actually still exists. And yes, Crossing is yet another team from Brussels.
I don't wish to sound Flamingant, but it's usually the teams in Brussels and Wallonia where these weird things tend to happen

That's because all those teams are in relatively shite places And don't tell me you wouldn't see that sort of stuff in Antwerp

The difference is, when a Flemish team tries these tricks, their fans protest immediatly. A Walloon team usually has no fans :lol:

Post by **tommykl** » 22 May 2014, 17:49

This wrote:
tommykl wrote:
This wrote:Meanwhile in Belgium
I've explained you people before about the matricule system the Belgian football is using. I've already mentioned that Seraing, currently playing in 1st provincial has bought the matricule of Boussu Dour, playing in 2nd national. Now Boussu Dour on their hand will take over the matricule of Charleroi Fleurus, to play in 4th national. As i mentioned before Charleroi Fleurus has merged with FC Charleroi, but they will continue with the matricule of Seraing, in 1th provincial league. This, ladies and gentlemen, is Belgium at its finest.
Another club is planning on doing the same. 4th national side team Terjoden-Welle (which i suppose is going to merge with Dender) has sold their matricule to Crossing Schaerbeek. (their claim to fame is their recently demolished stadium, very famous in the urbex-scene) but this team is not the same as the original Crossing, who currently play somewhere in the lower provincial leagues, and have moved out of Schaerbeek somewhere in the eighties. It's a different team taking over the name and the cult of another team that actually still exists. And yes, Crossing is yet another team from Brussels.
I don't wish to sound Flamingant, but it's usually the teams in Brussels and Wallonia where these weird things tend to happen

That's because all those teams are in relatively shite places And don't tell me you wouldn't see that sort of stuff in Antwerp
The difference is, when a Flemish team tries these tricks, their fans protest immediatly. A Walloon team usually has no fans

Nah, they have fans, they're just used to taking this crap :lol:

watka · Post by **watka** » 22 May 2014, 21:14

AndreaModa wrote:Quick question - is anyone in the UK collecting the Panini World Cup stickers by any chance? If so, I will likely be needing some legitimate, trustworthy people to do some trades further down the line as my doubles pile gets ever bigger! Anyone interested shoot me a PM or use this thread - I guess it's as good a place as any to chat about good old football stickers!

I am collecting and have about 150 swaps at present but I'm waiting for a colleague who has a massive order coming before I offer any swaps on here.

Going back to Serie A, from a reject perspective surely the biggest news is that Sassuolo, from a town was a population of 41,573 (similar to Kingston-upon-Thames) has survived.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 22 May 2014, 22:33

watka wrote:Going back to Serie A, from a reject perspective surely the biggest news is that Sassuolo, from a town was a population of 41,573 (similar to Kingston-upon-Thames) has survived.

From what i've seen of them whenever their matches have been televised, they deserve it. Especially away at Fiorentina a couple of weeks back, extremely entertaining match.

Although AC Milan and Lazio could be contenders for their abysmal seasons, ROTY would have to go to Catania, from finishing 8th last season (even ahead of Inter), to relegation is a valid reason in my opinion.

watka · Post by **watka** » 22 May 2014, 22:58

FullMetalJack wrote:
watka wrote:Going back to Serie A, from a reject perspective surely the biggest news is that Sassuolo, from a town was a population of 41,573 (similar to Kingston-upon-Thames) has survived.

From what i've seen of them whenever their matches have been televised, they deserve it. Especially away at Fiorentina a couple of weeks back, extremely entertaining match.

Although AC Milan and Lazio could be contenders for their abysmal seasons, ROTY would have to go to Catania, from finishing 8th last season (even ahead of Inter), to relegation is a valid reason in my opinion.

I'm assuming Sassuolo don't have some kind of Hoffenheim-esque rise to glory about them do they? I've seen nothing to suggest that they are disproportionately wealthy.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 22 May 2014, 23:15

watka wrote:
AndreaModa wrote:Quick question - is anyone in the UK collecting the Panini World Cup stickers by any chance? If so, I will likely be needing some legitimate, trustworthy people to do some trades further down the line as my doubles pile gets ever bigger! Anyone interested shoot me a PM or use this thread - I guess it's as good a place as any to chat about good old football stickers!

I am collecting and have about 150 swaps at present but I'm waiting for a colleague who has a massive order coming before I offer any swaps on here.

Cool, I'm in the same position at the moment actually as I have a big batch on order that should be delivered tomorrow from which I'll have plenty to swap, and I owe a guy at work 31 so need to clear my debts first!

Note to Biscione - there's a few there that I'm after so once I know where I am after this lot come in I will post up what I want/have.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 23 May 2014, 08:24

watka wrote:
FullMetalJack wrote:
watka wrote:Going back to Serie A, from a reject perspective surely the biggest news is that Sassuolo, from a town was a population of 41,573 (similar to Kingston-upon-Thames) has survived.

From what i've seen of them whenever their matches have been televised, they deserve it. Especially away at Fiorentina a couple of weeks back, extremely entertaining match.

Although AC Milan and Lazio could be contenders for their abysmal seasons, ROTY would have to go to Catania, from finishing 8th last season (even ahead of Inter), to relegation is a valid reason in my opinion.

I'm assuming Sassuolo don't have some kind of Hoffenheim-esque rise to glory about them do they? I've seen nothing to suggest that they are disproportionately wealthy.

Indeed, they are quite a small team. They're not the poorest team in the league at least, their owner Squinzi was able to purchase the Mapei Stadium outright (which is a wee bit down the road in Reggio Emilia, not Sassuolo itself). They were helped by having quite a few good players on loan/co-ownerships; Berardi, Zaza, Marrone, Cannavaro, Sansone etc.

IIPOTY would have to go to Hellas Verona. They started brightly, and while they finished 10th in the end, it was an extremely close upper midfield battle - 5 points more and they would have been in the Europa League next season. Selling both Jorginho and Iturbe (who they finalised the outright purchase of for 15M euros this morning) will give them a massive financial boost too.

ROTY? It's a little harsh to give it to Catania as a whole. They made one mistake all year - hiring Luigi De Canio. He was a clown. Maurizio Pellegrino, despite his top-flight inexperience, showed what that team could do. Their PPG more than doubled under him. De Canio could only scrape 0.65 points a game, while Pellegrino pulled a much more impressive 1.71 points per game. De Canio ran Catania into the ground, and the changes they made were too little too late. They could have been saved if the right change had been made sooner, rather than instinctively running back to Maran.

I would definitely give ROTY to Luigi De Canio, though.

David AGS · Post by **David AGS** » 23 May 2014, 10:13

Agree with Hellas Verona.

Many would have tipped them to go straight back down, probably even more so when they signed Toni. But the veteran did very well!

Sassuolo did also well, usually always competitive. Actually on 'paper' they have a really good squad.

Im sure Parma will want Sansone back though, a player with immense potential

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 25 May 2014, 17:23

So Hiberian have been relegated

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 25 May 2014, 18:26

Looks like the goalkeeper position of the national Belgian team is cursed: Gillet suspended, Casteels injured, Proto injured, Mignolet injured, so now we're having the likes of Bossut and Kaminski for the friendly game against Luxembourg. In theory Mignolet and Casteels could still make the world cup, but you never know. If this curse is going on, we could lose Courtois too, so we should defenitely consider getting a comeback for Preud'Homme and Pfaff

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 25 May 2014, 19:09

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:So Hiberian have been relegated

At least there'll still be an Edinburgh derby neat season, then! And Rangers will be in the same division...

Celtic must be laughing their way to another title, though. Somebody stop them! Motherwell! Dundee United! Aberdeen! Inverness Caledonian Thistle! I don't care who it is, somebody, do it! Play dirty if you have to, channel the spirit of Millwall, Leeds and Cardiff...

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 25 May 2014, 19:11

dinizintheoven wrote:
Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:So Hiberian have been relegated

At least there'll still be an Edinburgh derby neat season, then! And Rangers will be in the same division...

Celtic must be laughing their way to another title, though. Somebody stop them! Motherwell! Dundee United! Aberdeen! Inverness Caledonian Thistle! I don't care who it is, somebody, do it! Play dirty if you have to, channel the spirit of Millwall, Leeds and Cardiff...

Oh goody another year of CELTICWINSLOL. At least the Scottish championship could be interesting next season

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 26 May 2014, 18:57

This wrote:Looks like the goalkeeper position of the national Belgian team is cursed: Gillet suspended, Casteels injured, Proto injured, Mignolet injured, so now we're having the likes of Bossut and Kaminski for the friendly game against Luxembourg. In theory Mignolet and Casteels could still make the world cup, but you never know. If this curse is going on, we could lose Courtois too, so we should defenitely consider getting a comeback for Preud'Homme and Pfaff

Why don't they give Coosemans a run out? Regardless, as long as Courtois stays fit, Belgium will be just fine...as for Gillet, just as well he's still banned, he'd be far too rusty to just turn up and be in a World Cup after a year out.

dinizintheoven wrote:
Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:So Hiberian have been relegated

At least there'll still be an Edinburgh derby neat season, then! And Rangers will be in the same division...

Celtic must be laughing their way to another title, though. Somebody stop them! Motherwell! Dundee United! Aberdeen! Inverness Caledonian Thistle! I don't care who it is, somebody, do it! Play dirty if you have to, channel the spirit of Millwall, Leeds and Cardiff...

Doesn't matter if every other team buys the referee, Celtic will still win. Even if they appointed Jim Fallon (has 2 leageu game wins in his entire managerial career) as the manager, they'd do just fine!

As for Hibs, thank god they went down. They needed a good kicking. Sometimes you need to suffer to learn. Hibs didn't take the threat of relegation seriously enough until it was too late to correct the slide. Hearts finished below them, but the maroon side of Edinburgh has much more reason to hold their heads high - they exited with dignity in a situation which meant their odds of staying up were a million to one. Hibs should have stayed up easily but totally collapsed. An utterly disgraceful season for the Leith side of the city. Makes me glad I moved flat from Leith to Gorgie in April... :roll:

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 26 May 2014, 21:11

Biscione wrote:
This wrote:Looks like the goalkeeper position of the national Belgian team is cursed: Gillet suspended, Casteels injured, Proto injured, Mignolet injured, so now we're having the likes of Bossut and Kaminski for the friendly game against Luxembourg. In theory Mignolet and Casteels could still make the world cup, but you never know. If this curse is going on, we could lose Courtois too, so we should defenitely consider getting a comeback for Preud'Homme and Pfaff

Why don't they give Coosemans a run out? Regardless, as long as Courtois stays fit, Belgium will be just fine...as for Gillet, just as well he's still banned, he'd be far too rusty to just turn up and be in a World Cup after a year out.

Coosemans has been quite inconsistent , so in that logic, Bossut was a safer choice, and he didn't disgrace himself against Luxembourg today. Then of course, it's only Luxembourg, so he's still unproven at international level, except for a few European games with Zulte Waregem. The fact that Coosemans currently plays for Waasland-Beveren isn't a good sign either. Now as long as we have Courtois i'm not worried, altough his succes is getting to his head, and considering that, it wouldn't be a bad thing if Mignolet could pressure him a little bit. Let's hope Simon gets fit on time. Well i mentioned Gillet because he was the official number 3 goalkeeper before his suspension. Now good goalkeepers is sort of a Belgian tradition, and this is the thing that will make the difference between going to round 2 and progressing further.
Well, at least we won again, it's been 5 matches ago since we last did. Then of course, not winning against Luxembourg is not worthy of a world cup team. Luxembourg is by no means as bad as many people think, but their physical fitness isn't up to international standards.

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 27 May 2014, 17:05

So Pochettino to Spurs. How will that work?

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 27 May 2014, 18:08

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:So Pochettino to Spurs. How will that work?

Much better than Sherwood and AVB!

Post by **Ataxia** » 27 May 2014, 18:15

Daniel Levy's nothing but a common thief. If Lallana and Shaw leave Southampton, the team are going to have to unearth a few more gems if they're to match last season. A real shame Pochettino's left, since he was in the middle of something good at St Mary's. Especially with Tottenham's managerial track record.

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 27 May 2014, 19:14

Ataxia wrote:Daniel Levy's nothing but a common thief. If Lallana and Shaw leave Southampton, the team are going to have to unearth a few more gems if they're to match last season. A real shame Pochettino's left, since he was in the middle of something good at St Mary's. Especially with Tottenham's managerial track record.

That's why I do have sympathy for Sings fans at the moment because the club wad in great form this season, especially at the start.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 27 May 2014, 23:10

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:So Pochettino to Spurs. How will that work?

I wonder why he left Southampton? He had job security and great status among the fans and the players, and he was bringing the team into heights they had not reached before. Now he's going to a team which has had a roller-coaster of performances from the players, a board which makes Roman Abramovich seem patient, and 104 million pounds less to spend on transfers that, to be honest, didn't really work out well. If Pochettino makes Tottenham into winners like he did to Southampton, he'll certainly benefit from that and will be known as one of the better managers in the Premier League. But it has the potential to turn very badly and could put his reputation and career in jeopardy, if his reign ends up like AVB and Sherwood.

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 28 May 2014, 11:01

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:So Pochettino to Spurs. How will that work?

Appaling. Daniel Levy has no concept of patience and as such will have fired Pochettino by Novemeber. What Mr Levy fails to realise is that getting into the top 4 these days is even harder than it was back in the good old Martin Jol days, and he is under the impression that Spurs have a god given right to be in the Champions League.

Meanwhile, Landon Donovan has been left out of the US World Cup squad in favour of....... Jozy Altidore. Yep, the man who averages a goal every 3 matches for the US of all teams has been left out in favour of Mr 2 Goals a season. This will certainly end well for the Americans...

Post by **Ataxia** » 28 May 2014, 18:57

Aerospeed wrote:
Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:So Pochettino to Spurs. How will that work?

I wonder why he left Southampton? He had job security and great status among the fans and the players, and he was bringing the team into heights they had not reached before.

Presumably because he knew the board were planning to sell Shaw and Lallana, perhaps? Schneiderlin, Lovren and Rodriguez are highly sought-after too...

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 28 May 2014, 22:56

Ataxia wrote:
Aerospeed wrote:
Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:So Pochettino to Spurs. How will that work?

I wonder why he left Southampton? He had job security and great status among the fans and the players, and he was bringing the team into heights they had not reached before.

Presumably because he knew the board were planning to sell Shaw and Lallana, perhaps? Schneiderlin, Lovren and Rodriguez are highly sought-after too...

Honestly, they have a really good team on their hands, they should be looking towards getting a big star on transfers. It can't be anyone too expensive like Balotelli, however, but I think they can find someone that they can pull out of a hat.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 29 May 2014, 10:11

takagi_for_the_win wrote:
Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:So Pochettino to Spurs. How will that work?

Appaling. Daniel Levy has no concept of patience and as such will have fired Pochettino by Novemeber. What Mr Levy fails to realise is that getting into the top 4 these days is even harder than it was back in the good old Martin Jol days, and he is under the impression that Spurs have a god given right to be in the Champions League.

Meanwhile, Landon Donovan has been left out of the US World Cup squad in favour of....... Jozy Altidore. Yep, the man who averages a goal every 3 matches for the US of all teams has been left out in favour of Mr 2 Goals a season. This will certainly end well for the Americans...

Maybe Klinsmann is right in the end, but leaving Donovan out weakens the team in my opinion. Let's not forget that this is a string group from where the US already had troubles to get out in the first place. Thus I conclude this can only mean good news for Portugal. Shame that half our team (Cristiano Ronaldo) is injured.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 30 May 2014, 19:24

In more Serie A news - Ghirardi is so pissed off Parma had their Europa League place taken away from them by UEFA, he is selling the club altogether.

It's really quite an overreaction, Parma had a great season and they are making much progress under Donadoni. The last thing they need is this destabilisation.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 30 May 2014, 19:39

Biscione wrote:In more Serie A news - Ghirardi is so pissed off Parma had their Europa League place taken away from them by UEFA, he is selling the club altogether.

It's really quite an overreaction, Parma had a great season and they are making much progress under Donadoni. The last thing they need is this destabilisation.

Do Torino get their spot then?

Post by **Londoner** » 30 May 2014, 19:59

"48 years of hurt, never stopped me dreaming"

And, just to future-proof this post (which sums up how much of a chance England have this time around)

"50 years of hurt, never stopped me dreaming"
"52 years of hurt, never stopped me dreaming"
"54 years of hurt, never stopped me dreaming"
"56 years of hurt, never stopped me dreaming"
"58 years of hurt, never stopped me dreaming"
"60 years of hurt, never stopped me dreaming"

That should do it.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 30 May 2014, 23:34

FullMetalJack wrote:
Biscione wrote:In more Serie A news - Ghirardi is so pissed off Parma had their Europa League place taken away from them by UEFA, he is selling the club altogether.

It's really quite an overreaction, Parma had a great season and they are making much progress under Donadoni. The last thing they need is this destabilisation.

Do Torino get their spot then?

They have done, yeah.

Despite making the EL, and I suppose unsurprisingly, club and Serie A lead scorer for last season Ciro Immobile has left for pastures new - Dortmund. Should be interesting.

Post by **Ataxia** » 31 May 2014, 00:54

Biscione wrote:
FullMetalJack wrote:
Biscione wrote:In more Serie A news - Ghirardi is so pissed off Parma had their Europa League place taken away from them by UEFA, he is selling the club altogether.

It's really quite an overreaction, Parma had a great season and they are making much progress under Donadoni. The last thing they need is this destabilisation.

Do Torino get their spot then?

They have done, yeah.

Despite making the EL, and I suppose unsurprisingly, club and Serie A lead scorer for last season Ciro Immobile has left for pastures new - Dortmund. Should be interesting.

I'd have thought Immobile would have some trouble moving...ah-HA! HA!...I'll show myself out.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 31 May 2014, 20:37

Rumours are saying Frank Lampard and David Villa are off to the MLS.... Oh dear... :lol:

David AGS · Post by **David AGS** » 02 Jun 2014, 09:59

Pochettino,

well hopefully for Spurs fan he does better than the last Spanish manager. Juande Ramos.

Gees, Gunners fans had some fun at that time. One Day Ramos etc lol

Seems like every player is linked to Arsenal right now. Remy, Manzukic, Fabregas, Aurier, Etoo, and...Balotelli!!!!

W12 · Post by **W12** » 02 Jun 2014, 16:00

Biscione wrote:Panini World Cup sticker swap tiem!

We just received a shipment from Brazil yesterday and have some spares to swap with people! Here's my full list of current doubles, post yours and we can see if we can swap some!
Code: Select all
 44 - Dante (BRA)
 74 - Rodriguez (MEX)
107 - Eto'o (CAM) [x2]
117 - Sergio Busquets (ESP)
119 - Iniesta (ESP)
161 - Aranguiz (CHI)
184 - Colombia (shiny nation sticker)
188 - Zapata (COL)
196 - Cuadrado (COL)
221 - Mitroglou (GRE)
231 - Yaya Toure (CIV)
247 - Nagatomo (JAP)
270 - Diego Perez (URG)
302 - Johnson (ENG)
303 - Gary Cahill (ENG)
326 - De Rossi (ITA)
327 - Pirlo (ITA)
393 - Honduras (shiny nation sticker)
408 - Jerry Palacios (HON)
427 - Palacio (ARG)
558 - Diskerud (USA)

Here are my stickers:

619 - Kokorin (RUS)
457 - Hajsafi (IRN)
500 - Götze (GER)
77 - Aguilar (MEX)
94 - Nounkeu (CAM)
548 - Cameron (USA)
636 - Dong-Won (KOR)
620 - Kerzhakov (RUS)
430 - Messi (ARG)
86 - Peralta (MEX)
622 - Korea Republic
481 - Mba (NIG)
326 - De Rossi (ITA)
340 - Rodriquez (SUI)
226 - Aurier (CDI)
45 - Bernard (BRA)
441 - Mujdža (BOS)
277 - Cavani (URU)
431 - Bosnia-Herzegovina
399 - Garcia (HON)
513 - Coentrão (POR)
263 - Lugano (URU)
245 - Konno (JAP)
393 - Honduras
43 - Hernanes (BRA)
428 - Agüero (ARG)
512 - Pereira (POR)
554 - Jones (USA)
248 - Sakai (JAP)
190 - Armero (COL)

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 02 Jun 2014, 16:03

Well we got Lambert. Hope Rodgers uses him well

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 03 Jun 2014, 22:11

From all the players at the world cup, only 12 come from the JPL, and 4 of them are goalkeepers, so that's a sign it's not going well with our competition.

Eifelland · Post by **Eifelland** » 06 Jun 2014, 08:51

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:Well we got Lambert. Hope Rodgers uses him well

When we sold him to Saints a few years back, we went downhill very fast. From League 1 to the Conference in about 4 years. Gloriously rejectful on our part (Bristol Rovers).

David AGS · Post by **David AGS** » 09 Jun 2014, 09:22

I read somewhere that Bristol Rovers get a certain amount of cash as part of that (Lambert) deal, hopefully that will help your club get back in the league

Eifelland · Post by **Eifelland** » 11 Jun 2014, 22:13

Here's hoping. It was in the region of 600,000 which brings the total we've received from selling him to about 1.6 million. Not bad considering Rochdale sold him for 200,000 and certainly not bad news for Rovers.

Now we just need to get ourselves promoted back into the league, which as Luton showed, is easier said than done...

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 13 Jun 2014, 01:00

Watching Croatia has led me to the one most important existential question in football: how many teams are there that have a checquered pattern outfit, other than Croatia and Schumacher's benefit-team?

(And i don't include the fashion-rejects outfits of the late eighties and early nineties)

GerhardTalger · Post by **GerhardTalger** » 13 Jun 2014, 08:24

PSV Eindhoven had a blue/black checkered pattern away shirt just a year ago. But only for the national league, as the UEFA prohibits the use of checkered patterns on the back to show the number on the shirt properly.

By the way... what a bad referee, and this was just the opening game.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 13 Jun 2014, 13:41

What are the odds that the World Cup is fixed this year? Oh well, the battle for 2nd and 3rd will be interesting...

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 13 Jun 2014, 15:12

Aerospeed wrote:What are the odds that the World Cup is fixed this year? Oh well, the battle for 2nd and 3rd will be interesting...

There are no words as to how angry that refereeing made me last night. Urgh. Just for beating Croatia, I hope Brazil get their arses kicked by the Dutch in the second round.