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Football Discussion

Nightmare of a return to the Champions League for United tonight, most importantly because Luke Shaw has suffered a double leg break which will keep him out for most of the season (or the foreseeable future in Alton Towers language).

Having watched the challenge again, I don't think Moreno is in control of the challenge as he was lunging. He may have won the ball (though it's hard to tell from the angle I've seen), but that argument doesn't stand up on its own anymore these days. By the laws of the game, I think he should have received a red. I hope Shaw recovers and comes back stronger as he was really impressive in these first few games.
 
There's no denying that Diego Costa is a great player. However, his behaviour in today's game left a lot to be desired. Trying to get players sent off for no reason (and succeeding in the case of Gabriel, whom I'm yet to be convinced did actually stand on Costa's toe), and his behaviour towards Koscielny, including that stupid chest shove? I'm still completely mystified as to how he didn't get sent off for that. Completely inexcusable, and I hope that the FA punish him for it. With regard to the other red card given, I can't argue with it - Cazorla's challenge was clumsy, and he was already on a yellow, so he must've known he'd get sent off once Mike Dean blew the whistle for said foul.

Anyway - now onto Manchester United. :p It's not going to be easy for us over the next few months to cover the left-back position, but we've got three potential players to use there - Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind and Ashley Young. We're playing well, but sometimes not getting the results we need, which is very frustrating. On the bright side, at least David de Gea's signed a new deal to stay at Old Trafford for another four years, hopefully putting an end to the transfer saga involving him, United and Real Madrid.
 
Agree about Costa. Never a dull moment watching him though. Just imagine him after a few pints...

Blind would be the obvious choice, Rojo I consider more of a centre-back and Young is much more effective attacking. I don't think the De Gea saga is completely over yet. I'm guessing there's a buy-out clause in his contract and should Madrid still want to pursue him, they will trigger it and I think he'll still go. However on the bright side, we'll get a hefty fee for him if he does, and we've got a top quality keeper for at least another season so it's a much better situation now.
 
There's no denying that Costa's brilliant to watch. I just wouldn't want to meet him down a dark alley after he's had a few drinks. :p

And I agree with you about the left-back situation for us. It might be tricky at first, but we'll have to adjust to a team without Luke Shaw for a while.
 
Yet this quality player was in Damien Delaney's pocket the other week...

He seems more interested in falling over than playing football this season, and is being found it against defenders who don't lose their cool...
 
Newcastle United are officially the 10th best supported club in Europe. Then you look at the other 9 in the top 10 and see how they're in the Champions League, winning things...

It is appalling how much DROSS there is at NUFC and there has been for ten years.
 
Good wins for both Manchester clubs yesterday evening. As much as I dislike City, Arsenal and Chelsea, English football needs them all to at least get out of the group stages or 3 Champions League spots becomes a real possibility for next season or more likely the one after.

Something needs to change though. There is more money in English football than ever but we're absolutely dire in the European competitions. Wages is the obvious issue which springs to mind.
 
Well, it's been an interesting week for management in the PL. Brendan Rodgers sacked as Liverpool manager on Sunday after the Merseyside derby, with Jürgen Klopp being officially confirmed as his replacement yesterday evening. Dick Advocaat left Sunderland at the weekend, and it's just been confirmed that they have a new manager as well - none other than Sam Allardyce. Will he be able to drag Sunderland out of this rut? Only time will tell.
 
Allardyce will keep Sunderland up, though the football will be ugly.

Klopp I think is Liverpool's best appointment since Benitez. That said, there's a lot of work which needs doing to the squad so it will take time before they can seriously think about challenging at the top again.
 
Something slightly different - The front cover of tomorrow's Daily Mirror.

This is potentially major news. (Article can be found here, using DoNotLink). No player in the top flight has come out before, so for two to potentially do it is very promising. The last player to come out whilst still playing was Justin Fashanu in 1990, who then hanged himself in 1998 after being accused of sexual abuse amid fears he would not get a fair trial due to his homosexuality (the incident in question happened in Maryland, USA). Things have changed since then, though, with quite a few top-level sportspeople publicly admitting their sexuality. If the PL were to have openly gay players, it would be a major step to take, and I honestly believe more footballers could come out as a result of this. Furthermore, it may mean that young LGBT people may feel able to enjoy football - and other sports - a lot more. I do feel I should note that in the women's game, there are two footballers who are openly gay that have received call-ups to the England squad in the past twelve months (Casey Stoney and Lianne Sanderson), and Hope Powell - the former coach of the England women's team - is openly gay as well. Sexuality doesn't seem to be as much of an issue in the women's game, so it's more frustrating that it's still seen as a major taboo for the men's game. But anyway, I digress.

If these unspecified footballers do come out, then yes, they will receive quite a bit of backlash. However, I fervently believe that the news will have a more positive impact than anything else.
 
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In any other sport I'd say come out. In footie? The cavemen would slaughter them and make pitch time a misery....
 
I completely get what you're saying, Tom. There does seem to have been more of an effort made in recent years to tackle homophobia in football, with the Rainbow Laces campaign being quite a key one. If footballers come out, then I would hope that these efforts will step up a gear.
 
Rob said:
So, the Premier League table looks nice at the moment doesn't it?

:D
Click to expand...
Nobody at the start of the season could've predicted that Leicester would be top at this point. I'm still astounded by how well you've done so far, but the next few games could be a bit more of a challenge for you. And who would've thought that Leicester City v Manchester United would be a top-two clash a few years ago? I certainly didn't!
 
At home to Sheffield United in the 3rd round of the FA Cup? Yeah, I'm happy with that. Nice tie for Liverpool - away to Exeter.
 
We have quite possibly the worst draw we could have asked for! Spurs away (same tie as fourth round last year) and we have them away in the league just four days later, urgh!

:)
 
Whoever wins out of Scunthorpe and Leyton Orient must surely fancy their chances against Chelsea! :p
 
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