Grand Prix Rejects

So we draw yesterday against the allmighty FC Astana from Kazakhstan, priceless...

Sorry for the doublepost but have breaking news: the game Belgium-Spain is cancelled due to the risk of a terrorist attack

After being 2 weeks away from home, the only interesting thing i read was how much the game Hong Kong against their arch-rival China lives there. (now China is the arch rival of pretty much every East-Asian country) Both games ended on a draw. Hong Kong is actually doing very good in the qualifying campaign, being second in their group.
Timor-Leste so far has scored 2 points, and Syria is also second in their group. No real surprises in Africa, and mid-and-north America. In South America, Argentina and Colombia had a very bad start, now being 6th and 7th.
The last qualified teams for Euro2016 are no real surprises either. Pretty much everyone except for the Netherlands and Scotland are qualified.

BREAKING: Real Madrid committed improper alignment in their Copa Del Rey game against Cádiz, Benitez put Denis Cheryshev, that was sanctioned in his last Copa match with Villarreal last season, in the starting XI, and now they could be knocked out of the competition

http://futbol.as.com/futbol/2015/12/02/ ... 58690.html (in spanish)

Benítez was manager of Valencia when they were disqualified from the Copa del Rey having played too many non-EU players during a tie against Novelda in 2001.

Oh Rafa, will you ever get smart?

I can't be bothered to find a link, but Real Madrid have indeed been DQ'q from the competition. It's not Benitez's fault, don't teams of this size have an admin side that takes care of stuff like that??

For the first time since 2001, a Belgian team made it to the second round of the Champions League. Congratulations to Gent. Yes it's true that their opponents weren't in a great form, but nevertheless, they put up a good showing, contrary to the shame Anderlecht usually brings upon us when they play CL.
It's amazing though how Vanhaezebrouck has managed to get such good results with rather average players. (they have significantly less individual talent than the traditional top teams in Belgium). We do know from the past he managed to get good results with the low-budget Kortrijk, but he also failed when given the chance at Genk. A year ago, nobody ever thought this team would become champion, now they're kicking ass in the CL.

I always like to see teams that usually have little or no chance of progressing, actually progress. Bit like seeing countires like Iceland, Northern Ireland and Wales in Euro 2016.

As for Arsenal, somehow we have pulled off a miracle and qualified. Giroud's first hat-trick too

The Sacked One

https://twitter.com/BBCSport/status/677498876153171968

What makes this even better is that Juande Ramos has been linked with the Chelsea job.

FullMetalJack wrote:What makes this even better is that Juande Ramos has been linked with the Chelsea job.

*heavy laughing*

Mourinho to replace Rudi Garcia at AS Roma. You heard it here first

Jimmy Hill, one of the bulwarks of English football, has left the pitch.. RIP.

Since the last post on this thread, we got the leaders spot in La Liga (altough it was only because of Barça having a pending match vs Sporting yet)

Also, Benítez is gone *mentally plays MatD's "Oh No"*

And last, Zinedine Zidane took the hot, hot seat at Real Madrid

AdrianBelmonte_ wrote:Since the last post on this thread, we got the leaders spot in La Liga (altough it was only because of Barça having a pending match vs Sporting yet)

Also, Benítez is gone *mentally plays MatD's "Oh No"*

And last, Zinedine Zidane took the hot, hot seat at Real Madrid

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/35313998
And Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid now both have transfer bans.

roblomas52 wrote:

AdrianBelmonte_ wrote:Since the last post on this thread, we got the leaders spot in La Liga (altough it was only because of Barça having a pending match vs Sporting yet)

Also, Benítez is gone *mentally plays MatD's "Oh No"*

And last, Zinedine Zidane took the hot, hot seat at Real Madrid

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/35313998
And Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid now both have transfer bans.

A transfer ban is always a problem, but it looks it is worse for Real Madrid than for Atleti

We have a young squad (Oblak, Giménez, Saúl, Kranevitter, Correa, Carrasco, Vietto, Thomas... all of them are important players) that must improve even without signing new players

Now we look at Real Madrid and things doesn't look that well, yes, they have some promising youngsters too (Kovacic, Ødegaard, Borja Mayoral...) but not as many as here, also, historically, they never seemed to care about the academy, unlike Barça...

AdrianBelmonte_ wrote:

roblomas52 wrote:

AdrianBelmonte_ wrote:Since the last post on this thread, we got the leaders spot in La Liga (altough it was only because of Barça having a pending match vs Sporting yet)

Also, Benítez is gone *mentally plays MatD's "Oh No"*

And last, Zinedine Zidane took the hot, hot seat at Real Madrid

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/35313998
And Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid now both have transfer bans.

A transfer ban is always a problem, but it looks it is worse for Real Madrid than for Atleti

We have a young squad (Oblak, Giménez, Saúl, Kranevitter, Correa, Carrasco, Vietto, Thomas... all of them are important players) that must improve even without signing new players

Now we look at Real Madrid and things doesn't look that well, yes, they have some promising youngsters too (Kovacic, Ødegaard, Borja Mayoral...) but not as many as here, also, historically, they never seemed to care about the academy, unlike Barça...

A transfer ban does mean they can still contract free players (at least it's like this in Belgium), so there's ways around such a ban. It just takes a little more work to find quality 'end of contract' players.

I just wanted to say that Tokyo Sexwale MUST win the next FIFA elections.

Longford AFC, who are dredging along the foot of the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League Division Two with double digit losses aplenty, have gone drastic and signed a World Cup semi-finalist with 78 caps for England to turn around their fortunes!

Yes, they've brought in 53 year old Stuart Pearce to arrest their woeful form.

Why didn't Woodford United or Stewarts & Lloyds Corby think of that?

Or maybe they did, but Psycho didn't fancy moving to Northamptonshire...

In other news, Palermo have now gone through four managerial changes this month alone. FOUR! We knew Zamparini was insane, but it seems he is going senile with the pressure of Operation Offside (an investigation about some good ol' Italian tax dodging).

Davide Ballardini was deposed of his position without actually being officially sacked at all for several weeks, and his replacement Schelotto doesn't have a Lega Pro license, therefore isn't even one of the four coaches in question. Rather, they brought in Viviani in the interim, then sacked him after about a week, promoted Giovanni Bosi from the youth team and send him back again after a single match, and have now brought in former player Giovanni Tedesco. Who is essentially being puppeteered by Schelotto until such a time as he has the badges required to officially take the manager position.

Meanwhile, in the director's box;

Maurizio Zamparini wrote:I challenge the judges to find a single irregularity in Palermo’s accounts. My club and I have always done everything to respect the rules. On Friday, at the Lega, I’ll ask the other 19 Serie A Presidents to suspend the league.

Shine on, you crazy motherf***er

So we won the Derbi Madrileño, now we are 4 points above Real Madrid, simply glorious

2 games to go here in Belgium, and there's still 6 teams that can end up in the relegation spot (only one spot, as the second division will be reformed). The relegation fight has never been that exciting since i can remember.
Currently, the 16th placed team has 27 points from 28 games, which is unusually high for a last-placed team.

Bit of an update from the league and non-league teams around me:

In League One, Gillingham have been at the top or very close all season and are currently 3rd, 4 points behind 2nd placed Wigan (who occupy the final automatic promotion spot).

In the Vanarama National (5th tier): Dover Atheltic are currently doing very well in 8th place, 6 points away from the play-off positions. however, they have several games in hand over those around them so a string of positive results will see them start to climb up.

Vanarama National South (6th tier): Ebbsfleet United are ten points clear at the top, Maidstone United are in the play-off places in 3rd and Dartford are just outside in 6th. All having very solid seasons.

Ryman League Division 1 south (8th tier): Folkestone Invicta are steaming away at the top, a whopping 18 points clear. Hythe Town, my old team, are currently 7th.

The 'let's all laugh at that team' award goes to these beautiful failures:

P W D L GF GA GD PTS
22 New Mills 28 0 1 27 17 105 -88 1

Evo-Stik Northern League Division 1 North, you make me proud...


BUT WAIT! Do we have a challenger for the AndreaModa of non-league football?!

22 Bashley 30 0 1 29 9 140 -131 1

Evo-Stik League Southern League Division 1 South West, I doff my cap...

Meanwhile in Singapore, the S.League has kicked off and, remarkably, some people actually give a shite for once.

Maybe that's due to the fact that the most overpowered team on the island, Tampines Rovers (who play in Jurong, literally on the other side of the bloody island), have signed a major star in Jermaine Pennant, having done a reverse Grant Holt by going from Premier League to S. League. Thanks Jermaine, I always wanted to meet a Liverpool Legend up close. Thanks.

Tampines are not topping the table at this early stage though despite a game in hand, thanks to my true home club, Geylang International, holding them to a 3-3 draw in front of 2,900 people. This means the current league leaders are Japanese side Albirex Niigata. No, not the actual Albirex that competes in the legit J. League. I'm talking about the little satellite squad they've set up here. Mind you, I've already mentioned a third of the teams in the S.League this season. Yes, there are only nine teams competing this year, the lowest since 1998, when the league was still in its infancy.

To give you a final heads up to the quality of football in the S.League, do you guys remember Steve Kean? You know…the one that doomed Blackburn to relegation? Well…he won the league last season. With a team from Brunei. In a Singaporean league. With a former Portuguese League player and an ex-Northern Ireland international. Yep.

New Mills and Bashley: this season's answers to Woodford United and Stewarts & Lloyds Corby of the recent past. But I'd go for Bashley for the latest Andrea Moda award, because their situation parallels the ludicrous mess that Woodford United found themselves in; they've had much the same kind of major upheaval in recent years. Two years ago they were relegated to the division they're currently failing in, and finished bottom last season with a record almost as appalling as their current one but somehow escaped further relegation. But as Woodford have found out, once the passage of doom and gloom is over, the rebuilding can start... as for Stewarts & Lloyds Corby, in the same division as Woodford, they now sit third after last season's utter catastrophe.

This should shed a bit more light on Bashley, an article from two years ago when the trouble was already brewing:
http://www.footballeconomy.com/content/ ... -trouble-0

Actually, the Andrea Moda award goes to Collado Union Villalba, spanish team which currently are bottom of their Tercera División (4th tier) group that have lost EVERY game played and currently have a whopping amount of -3 POINTS!

http://movil.resultados-futbol.com/terc ... sificacion (they appear to have 0 points, but they already have a -3 points deduction, idk why)

So Tottenham, Arsenal and Man City all lost tonight. It's actually going to bathplug happen, Leicester winning the Premier League.

It's been the most ridiculous season ever, hasn't it? Just when you think you've seen it all, another twist happens. It's brought me back to following football again.

So we are on Champions League quarter final, woah

Oh man, what a rubbish year in terms of people passing away. RIP Johan Cruyff, football's greatest revolutionary figure.

So, at work my colleagues and I have gotten seriously into the Chinese Super League following the large influx of stars to the league. We've each adopted a team, with my team being Shanghai SIPG. Managed by the legendary Sven-Goran Eriksson and boasting the likes of £227k-a-week Asamoah Gyan, they are one of the favourites for the league but currently sit second bottom after 2 games with 1 point. However, they are heading their group in the AFC Champions League.

More importantly though, the league very much seems to embody the rejects spirit. Having watched a match plus several highlights reels, the quality of the league leaves a lot to be desired. The difference in level between the Chinese players and the foreign imports is frighteningly obvious. In one match, with his team ahead in the final minutes, Ezequiel Lavezzi was screaming at his teammates for completely failing to understand the concept of hold the ball up by the corner flag.

Also, England just beat Germany 3-2 to start up the usual hype machine before the inevitable demise at the Euros.

watka wrote:Also, England just beat Germany 3-2 to start up the usual hype machine before the inevitable demise at the Euros.

Yes, I remember the excitement when we won 5-1 and then went on to win.....absolutely nothing whatsoever. There's a reason why I lost all interest in International football years ago.

watka wrote:So, at work my colleagues and I have gotten seriously into the Chinese Super League following the large influx of stars to the league. We've each adopted a team, with my team being Shanghai SIPG. Managed by the legendary Sven-Goran Eriksson and boasting the likes of £227k-a-week Asamoah Gyan, they are one of the favourites for the league but currently sit second bottom after 2 games with 1 point. However, they are heading their group in the AFC Champions League.

More importantly though, the league very much seems to embody the rejects spirit. Having watched a match plus several highlights reels, the quality of the league leaves a lot to be desired. The difference in level between the Chinese players and the foreign imports is frighteningly obvious. In one match, with his team ahead in the final minutes, Ezequiel Lavezzi was screaming at his teammates for completely failing to understand the concept of hold the ball up by the corner flag.

Another excellent example of this disparity I recall was from Demba Ba's Shanghai Shenhua, against your aforementioned Shanghai SIPG. Just look at how slow the Chinese defenders are reacting to the deflected shot. No wonder Ba was able to get a penalty out of it.

Biscione wrote:

watka wrote:So, at work my colleagues and I have gotten seriously into the Chinese Super League following the large influx of stars to the league. We've each adopted a team, with my team being Shanghai SIPG. Managed by the legendary Sven-Goran Eriksson and boasting the likes of £227k-a-week Asamoah Gyan, they are one of the favourites for the league but currently sit second bottom after 2 games with 1 point. However, they are heading their group in the AFC Champions League.

More importantly though, the league very much seems to embody the rejects spirit. Having watched a match plus several highlights reels, the quality of the league leaves a lot to be desired. The difference in level between the Chinese players and the foreign imports is frighteningly obvious. In one match, with his team ahead in the final minutes, Ezequiel Lavezzi was screaming at his teammates for completely failing to understand the concept of hold the ball up by the corner flag.

Another excellent example of this disparity I recall was from Demba Ba's Shanghai Shenhua, against your aforementioned Shanghai SIPG. Just look at how slow the Chinese defenders are reacting to the deflected shot. No wonder Ba was able to get a penalty out of it.

If he could finish, Ba would have ripped apart SIPG in that game.

East Londoner wrote:It's been the most ridiculous season ever, hasn't it? Just when you think you've seen it all, another twist happens. It's brought me back to following football again.

Luckily for your spare time, the large teams are coming around with European Super League threats, new UEFA Champions League format and wildcard system that will save big teams from having the nuisance of finishing high in their league in order to play Champions League football. Also, that new format will be designed to prevent those ridiculous Gents or PSVs or Benficas from reaching far into the competition because obviously what people will want to see is a big English side battling either Real Madrid or Barcelona (or Atlético if they are doing very well), Bayern, PSG or Juventus. Everyone else obviously should be in the Europa League. Obviously...

Rant over.

DanielPT wrote:

East Londoner wrote:It's been the most ridiculous season ever, hasn't it? Just when you think you've seen it all, another twist happens. It's brought me back to following football again.

Luckily for your spare time, the large teams are coming around with European Super League threats, new UEFA Champions League format and wildcard system that will save big teams from having the nuisance of finishing high in their league in order to play Champions League football. Also, that new format will be designed to prevent those ridiculous Gents or PSVs or Benficas from reaching far into the competition because obviously what people will want to see is a big English side battling either Real Madrid or Barcelona (or Atlético if they are doing very well), Bayern, PSG or Juventus. Everyone else obviously should be in the Europa League. Obviously...

Rant over.

It's just as well that I can't stand the Champions League, and wouldn't mind in the slightest if English teams were barred from playing in it. It's the only valid reason for voting to leave the EU.

London pls, etc etc

East Londoner wrote:

DanielPT wrote:

East Londoner wrote:It's been the most ridiculous season ever, hasn't it? Just when you think you've seen it all, another twist happens. It's brought me back to following football again.

Luckily for your spare time, the large teams are coming around with European Super League threats, new UEFA Champions League format and wildcard system that will save big teams from having the nuisance of finishing high in their league in order to play Champions League football. Also, that new format will be designed to prevent those ridiculous Gents or PSVs or Benficas from reaching far into the competition because obviously what people will want to see is a big English side battling either Real Madrid or Barcelona (or Atlético if they are doing very well), Bayern, PSG or Juventus. Everyone else obviously should be in the Europa League. Obviously...

Rant over.

It's just as well that I can't stand the Champions League, and wouldn't mind in the slightest if English teams were barred from playing in it. It's the only valid reason for voting to leave the EU.

London pls, etc etc

I find the Europa League more interesting anyway At least there you sometimes get rejectful teams to reach the group stage. Like the goddamn Shamrock Rovers a few years ago. Still a mystery how they made it

Speaking of rejectful football teams getting welcome exposure in European competitions, I've had a thought about the upcoming 2018 UEFA Nations League.

The league involves all UEFA members, split into four divisions, each division split into four groups, then a final knockout round, presumably with promotion and relegation. These divisions aren't decided with pots, mind, but by outright rankings. The top 12 teams go into division 1, the next 12 teams in division 2, then 14 and 16 in divisions 3 and 4. The result?

We have a 16-team division filled with only the most rejectful and therefore interesting teams in European football!