Football (Soccer to those across the pond)

[mosaix]

Originally Posted by Tillane

Just heard the sad news that Sir Bobby Robson has passed away. A true gent, and an absolute legend up here, he'll be sorely missed.

I couldn't agree more. Every now and then someone comes along who is a truly nice person and gives the lie to those who say that you have to be hard and uncompromising to be a success. Joe Mercer was another, also sadly missed.

RIP Bobby Robson.

[Ursa major]

A very sad day.


A man who combined a passion for the game with honour and good-heartedness.

[Tillane]

Having now toasted Sir Bobby more than once (or twice, or thrice) I will say again - god speed to you, Bob, and God bless you. And that's from an athiest.

We'll miss you. We really will.

[Ross]

Well the new Championship season kicks off tonight. Has it really been 2 and a half months already?

Off to Boro in about 45minutes. The bar awaits and then a nice easy 3-0 win for the Blades. I can dream at least

[chopper]

i had to miss both local friendlies (vs Doncaster & Scunny), so will be relying on MOTD and the vagaries of the shop's rota this season. but with Olofinjana gone to Hull now, i think the January trip over the Humber might be pretty tasty.

[Ross]

Well I have to say I was very dissapointed with the performance last night.

[Tillane]

Reasonably happy with today's draw away to the Baggies, all things considered. A few good saves from Tim Krul, a decent finish from Duff, but we still look pretty poor at the back. And Ameobi...well, the less said, the better.

[The Ace]

Sheesh! A home draw against one of the worst teams in the division. The Jags are back.

[Tillane]

Ah, the new season. You can't beat it, can you, Ace!

(Actually, in the Toon's case, we probably can't beat anyone or anything.

[Ross]

Can't believe how many draws their were in the championship.

[pyan]

Well, new season, new manager, new division, same old Saints...ran out of steam in the last half hour and ended up with a 1-1 draw.

Still, it reduces our deficit to -9 points...

26th September is the one that causes me the dilemma, though - Carlisle v Southampton: I'd really like a draw that day...

[Lenny]

Thank the heavens for no more pre-season! We won both matches in America (one on penalties), which isn't really a surprise, but since then we've: drawn to Accy Stanley, lost to Leeds, Kilmarnock and St. Johnston!

Now that that's out of the way, bring on Stoke! A week of anticipation begins!

[The Ace]

You lost to St Johnston ? Did you actually turn up ?

[Lenny]

Burnley | News | Latest Headlines | Latest Headlines | St Johnstone 1 Burnley 0

It sounds like it was a decent match - plenty of chances for Burnley, with Johnstone's goal coming in the 83rd minute from a penalty. Bloody Kalvenes was the reason for the penalty. I hope that the Gods see fit to smite him before Saturday - he causes so many of the problems in our back line!! There were a few times when he could have lost us the Playoffs too, the berk...

EDIT: Kalvanes didn't even come on until the 75th minute!! For Pete's sake... eight minutes on the pitch, and he causes problems. GAH!

---

I hear that Thistle were due to sign a Burnley player on loan? What happened to that?

[Sephiroth]

Harsh, Lenny, very harsh. Been reading a few Burnley forums, and it seems like a majority of your fans rate Kalvenes highly -- just as we did during his season at Tannadice. Granted, plenty of folk have issues with his pace, which by all accounts caused him problems in the playoff final when up against a quick winger (and may cause him problems against the quicker wide players in the Prem), but he's a solid defender, very positionally aware, and with a great attitude and work-rate. Several posters said they considered him your best defender last year.

Of course, as with anything, it's all about opinions....... ^_^

(He's better than Brian Easton, though. ;p)



Anyway, I must add my voice to those lamenting the passing of Sir Bobby Robson. He's a true legend of the game, and will be sorely missed. Newcastle were at Tannadice for their first game after the news broke, and the minute's applause was enthusiastic from both sets of fans (there were 2000+ Geordies up for the game), along with a chorus of 'One Bobby Robson' that rang out around all four stands.

The game itself was a pretty insipid affair, and finished 1-1.

Yesterday, we completed our pre-season with a convincing 2-0 win over Blackburn, in what was also the away team's final friendly of the close season. They had a few players missing, but so do we at the moment, and although I don't like to read too much into pre-season games, the manner of our win was most satisfying. It could have been 3 or 4 (we missed another penalty, and their keeper made two brilliant saves near the end).

Can't wait for the Hearts game a week on Monday! Here's hoping we get off to a better start than last year, when, after all the media hype about us 'cruising to 3rd place' or even 'splitting the Old Firm' (), we were bottom of the league after five games.

It would be nice to have some strikers fit, of course, but meh. Bring it on!