Football (Soccer to those across the pond)

[Tillane]

*Applauds mightily*

Well done, the Terrors!

And, with Kris Boyd (possibly) coming to the Toon on a free, being a Scot has surely never looked so bright...

I jest. Obviously.

[Lenny]

Japan 3 - 0 England... Lol j/k: Japan 1 - 2 England

A missed penalty, lots of missed chances, and three goals from one team. I feel slightly sorry for Japan! They played incredibly well, and I think they're definitely one to watch. Not an easy group for them, though.

We had some good moments, but it was somewhat fragmented. Hart put in an impressive performance, mind, and it was nice to see Joe Cole back in action.

[Sephiroth]

Cheers, Til!


As for Boyd... if it wasn't the case that he was leaving Rankers anyway, I'd say, "Yes, take him!!"

But he is leaving, and that's good enough for me. He's an odious character, and a fat, lazy **** (that's 'dude', in case you were wondering... ).

He knows exactly where the net is. Give him the ball in the box, and he will score -- he's the 'all-time' leading scorer in the SPL (albeit the Scottish top tier has only been the 'SPL' since 1998).

He's also indolent, and offers nothing in the way of link-up play, tracking back, etc.. It's all very well for him to be prolific in the SPL -- and I'm sure he'd bang them in for fun in the Championship, too -- but I'm not at all convinced he would cope with the attentions of the better defenders in the top half of the Premiership.

I could be wrong, but I don't think he has the work-rate or attitude to succeed in the English top tier. But I'm glad to see the back of him. I don't even want to think about how many he put past us during his time at the Blue Bigots.

[Wybren]

Speaking of fat and lazy, Bob Malcolm got the boot fromBrisbane finally! Last I saw him play was just before our coach change. He was the biggest waste of money Brisbane spent. I read he got a short gig with Dundee and is now sans club. Serves him right for coming over here thinking that it was easy money and he wouldn't have to do much. Now we have no ex ranger players in our squad.

SO cup time is nearly here, any more takers on a tipping comp??

[Lenny]

It might be worth making a new thread to ask and get the rules set out - I imagine there are some people who'd like to take part but don't read through this thread.

[Wybren]

Ah good point Lenny

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by Wybren

Speaking of fat and lazy, Bob Malcolm got the boot fromBrisbane finally! Last I saw him play was just before our coach change. He was the biggest waste of money Brisbane spent. I read he got a short gig with Dundee and is now sans club. Serves him right for coming over here thinking that it was easy money and he wouldn't have to do much. Now we have no ex ranger players in our squad.

Yeah, Bob Malcolm is the epitome of 'waste of space'. I mean, failing to impress at Dundee is pretty much the saddest indictment possible on a football player.

[Wybren]

All he did for us was stand on the field and look like a brick. I could run faster than him.

Charlie is back looking for a gig in Scotland too.

[Tillane]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

He's also indolent, and offers nothing in the way of link-up play, tracking back, etc.. It's all very well for him to be prolific in the SPL -- and I'm sure he'd bang them in for fun in the Championship, too -- but I'm not at all convinced he would cope with the attentions of the better defenders in the top half of the Premiership.

Sounds like a typical Toon player to me...

Plus we have something of a record of taking perfectly decent players and turning them into donkeys (think Guivarc'h, Andersson, Kluivert...), as well as a habit of buying donkeys from Rangers. So it's perfectly in keeping.

[The Ace]

What tees me off is that when you put Boyd in a dark blue jersey, he forgets where the net is.

That's unforgivable.

[Tillane]

I wouldn't worry, Ace. If he does come to the Toon, he'll soon be out of the Scotland side altogether.

[Sephiroth]

Now, I am the last person to want to come to Boyd's defence. I hate him. And yes, hate is a strong word, it's a destructive emotion, it hurts the perpetrator more than the victim, yada, etc, etc.

I hate him.

But 7 goals in 16 internationals isn't exactly a terrible strike rate, is it?

And now, I'm going to wash my mouth out....... :S



Til -- I immediately thought of Boumsong. Now there was a donkey. Who are the others?

Wy -- I'll keep an eye out for Charlie. I doubt he'll be back in the SPL, though, but you never know.

[Tillane]

I think the fact that he was universally known as Bumsong pretty much says it all, doesn't it?

Actually, I have to hold my hand up here. The other one I was thinking of was Craig Moore - except, of course, we didn't get him from Rangers. He had 13 games at Monchengladbach first. But he did prove himself to be a donkey. Anyone who can be kept out of a squad by Titus Bramble - a Toon squad at least - is, by definition, a donkey.

[Ursa major]

It sounds, Til, like your club has been putting both ass and sign in your attempted assignation with footballing success, methinks.







(I'd best not mention nation in this context. )

[Sephiroth]

Bumsong. I like.

There are first-team players for other clubs about whom one thinks, "Yes, he's injured! That means they'll have to play some diddy from the reserves, instead!"

And there are players about whom one thinks, "Oh no, he's injured! That means they'll have to play some diddy from the reserves, instead!"

Bumsong was one of the latter.


Don't slag off Craig Moore too loudly, though, or Wy will not be happy. Heh. I did explain to her some time back that he was rank rotten most of the time at Ran(k)gers, though. He did improve, but from a pretty low baseline. He went on to captain them. He's another player I always remember being happy to see play, though, because I always felt our forwards could get change out of him.

Even in his second stint at Rangers (1999-2005), by which time we were in one of the worst spells in our history (post-1960, at least), with forwards who could only be described as 'donkeys' themselves....

Alex Mathie (), Stephen Thompson, Jim Hamilton (), 'Quim' Ferraz...

[Actually, 'Quim' scored one of the funniest goals I've ever seen, in a derby at Tannadice, where he and the Dundee right-back passed the ball back-and-forth about three or four times before he 'megged him (IIRC), ran into the box and slotted it. He was awful, though.]

...Collin Samuel, Derek Lilley, an ageing (past-it) Billy Dodds, James Grady (), Stevie Crawford.......

Oh, don't mind me. I'm just thinking how much better off we are now.

*shudders*