Football Discussion

On the ball city!!! Up the Norwich back to the top flight. Happy days!

We are Premier League, say we are Premier League!

What a fantastic day out... THAT is the way to get promoted in style. Not very often do Norwich fans see their club lift a trophy and let alone at Wembley stadium.

For my first match there to be watching my team get promoted back to the top flight at the first time of asking? Wow.

Such a good experience and the place went absolutely ballistic when we scored - not seen anything like it very very happy tonight!

I so wish I was there, I did leap off my seat in my local pub when the second goal went in. Thank god for high ceilings. I'm over the moon, I met delia (had to get a picture) at Brighton, beat the scum in the semis, my uncle being a scum fan and being in Brighton the weekend we stuffed them at Carrow road. Promotion to the prem.

Like I said before, On the ball city.

I'm glad the Norwich fans enjoyed their day at Wembley on Monday. As a neutral it was a fantastic game and as a Palace fan it was great seeing Jerome score as he has been superb for the Canaries all season (Redmond's goal was pretty damn good as well). Norwich's campaign was like ours in 2013, as we beat our rivals and went on to beat Watford after missing out on the autos.

Looking forward to visiting Carrow Road next season!

Went to Speroni's testimonial last night, and it was a right good party for him... The return of some of Palace's finest (and Matt Lawrence) resulted in some interesting moments... Pardew's a bit of a lazy player though, wouldn't sign him up...

Dundee were top notch too, which meant Jules got the night he pretty much deserved, even if the attendance perhaps didn't reflect it completely...

So stuff is actually happening about alleged bribery and corruption in FIFA. About sodding time!

Is anyone actually surprised? Regarding the Russia and Qatar World Cups, I thought straight away that the former seemed suspicious as England's bid was so much better. And then with Qatar it was just downright obvious. Qatar should not be anywhere near hosting the competition. And let's not forget the unprecedented amount of workers deaths in Qatar as a result of this. I can't imagine watching the competition in the winter either.

99% of people in Blatter's position would have stepped down, but he is simply something else. I look forward to the day he is no longer President and/or FIFA is completely reformed, which hopefully comes today but I have no faith in such a corrupt organisation.

I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner, actually! I knew something was up when it was announced that Russia had won the right to host 2018, given that England were widely recognised as having the strongest bid, and even more so when it was revealed that we only got two votes in the whole thing, and were eliminated in the first round. I might have even shouted a couple of obscenities in the middle of one of the libraries at college. Whoops. And when Qatar got 2022? I suspected something else was up. The fact that at least 1,200 people have died so far in the construction of the stadia for the World Cup in Qatar is appalling, and what makes it worse is that more people will die. Put simply, the World Cups in 2018 and 2022 should not be held in Russia and Qatar, but where could they go, given that the 2018 World Cup is only three years away? One suggestion for 2018 that I've come up with is to hold it on the British Isles, utilising stadia in an unprecedented five countries (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland), providing that there are enough stadia up to the required standards. I know full well that it'd be short notice, but it'd be a sensible compromise, and I think FIFA might end up having to waive the rule that one city can have no more than two stadia hosting World Cup games. As for 2022? The USA. They've got plenty of stadia at the required capacities, and it's seven years away, so there would be plenty of time for any changes to be made to stadia.

Oh, and the FIFA presidential election has gone into a second round after neither candidate got the required two-thirds majority. Interesting...

EDIT: Blatter's won a fifth term after Prince Ali withdrew.

Well one reason why our bid was so strong was because we had pretty much all the stadia already! I think only a few were either not built or were going to be expanded. Unfortunately 'sensible' and 'FIFA' don't really mix...

Dark days for the sport. A disgrace.

Two completely new stadia - one in Nottingham and another in Bristol - and expansion plans for ten others. It would've been great for the country if we got to host it, but for as long as Blatter is in charge of FIFA, I doubt we'll try to bid for the right to host the World Cup.

In all fairness I do like the idea of them hosting the World Cup in new nations, just not ones which only got it cos of oil money bribes/Putin being mates with Blatter. Plus the 2022 WC should be boycotted anyway imo because of the vile conditions the workers on the stadiums are forced to live and work in, regardless of the obvious corruption involved.

If the World Cup hosts were to change it would be a push for us to host it in 2018. We do not currently have enough stadia up to FIFA standard. Germany, who hosted it in 2006, would be your best bet. The World Cup would also be great in Australia!

Actually, yeah - Germany would be a safer bet. France could also work, but they're hosting Euro 2016, so it'd be a bit too much to expect them to host two major tournaments in the space of two years.

We all know what a hectic news day today has been, and this was another major event that happened; Baltter is quitting Fifa.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32982449

Frankly, the only positive news story of the day. Yet time is what is needed to ail FIFA's wounds, and frankly a total restructure is on the cards. Will probably post my full thoughts when I'm a little less shaken. He has done the right thing, I just hope it wasn't the sponsors or the law - rather his own sincerity that made him resign though I doubt it... oh Sepp.

Rafa Benitez finally in a job befitting a man who made Djimi Traore a champions League winner. The club he supports too Shame the fascists will sack him after 12 months but I'm made up for him.

Anyone else watching the Women's World Cup? Really refreshing to watch football without all the stoppages of men not getting back up, playing for fouls and time-wasting at a minimum etc.

England are sub-par though. No surprises there.

Fixtures being announced today, and four of Palace's are:

Norwich away first game - which I'm pleased with.
Bournemouth away on Boxing Day - which I'm not as I wanted them in August or May
Chelsea at home new years - Not the best start to the new year playing them....
Southampton away on the last day - Which I'm pleased with.

So at least it's bookends with fixtures I'm pleased with.

We have Bournemouth away on bank holiday weekend in August, what more could you want from the fixtures? That's going to be a cracking trip!

We have a decent start but a very tough final few games, ending with Chelsea away.

I'm quite happy with our fixture list. At home to Spurs on the opening day's going to be a bit tough, but hopefully shouldn't be too much of a problem. Games against the big clubs are quite well spread throughout the season, and our last few games should give us a decent run-in. Everton at home, Spurs away, Villa at home, West Ham away, Leicester at home, Norwich away, and then finishing off at home to Bournemouth? Seems pretty good to me!

Having said that, Stoke away and Chelsea at home over Christmas with only one day between the matches isn't exactly ideal, but I can live with that. Overall, I'm satisfied with our list, and bring on game 1 against Spurs!