Anyway, I find it somewhat ironic that the man who symbolises everything that is wrong with English football was the one who missed the final penalty.
Comments like this are a big part of the 'English disease' in terms of succeeding at international level. Your bitterness over him leaving your club that has no ambition means that you cannot totally back your country.
Under no circumstances have I ever, ever, ever, not backed my country. I am a passionate Brit and Englishman. I would support England at tiddleywinks. I would dearly have loved both Ashleys to have scored those penalties, but reality is reality - and they both missed. There are also truths about Ashley Cole's history that cannot be ignored. In fact I would also add that I find John Terry to be as despicable person as I have ever read about and until this month I thought he was past his best, but he had an excellent Euro 2012.
I may be a proud Englishman, but I do not wear blinkers, I have the right to recognise that there are limitations to our football team and especially to the attitudes of many British footballers. It is not just anger at Ashley leaving Arsenal - I am used to players leaving by now!! But Cashley was widely ridiculed for the stupid comments in his autobiography where he stated that Arsenal offered him £50k a week, but that his demands were for £55k which Chelsea met (in fact I think he said he was insulted by Arsenal's offer). I am afraid that is a demonstration of how distant many of our footballers are from reality, as his philandering behaviour when he had the damn fortune to have Cheryl Cole sat at home waiting for him with her legs open. The man is an arse, and, as such, I do think that the fact that he missed a penalty is symbolic.
I admire your blind loyalty to the Abramovic millions, but truth is truth. Ashley Cole is a symbol of all that is bad with English football.
Martin Curtis BA (Hons) ELL (Open)
(status accurate from 3 August 2010)
A world without heroes
Is like a world without sun
You can't look up to anyone
Without heroes
Shrek has been criticised by Cappello
I agree totally
Fabio Capello has made a thinly veiled dig at Wayne Rooney's below-par form for England at Euro 2012 by joking that the striker must only understand "Scottish" because he "only plays well in Manchester".
The comment by the former England manager, understood to have been made on Italian television, was itself a reference to the criticism that Capello, and his Italian back-room staff, believe was directed at them from Rooney this month. The comment that Capello appears to have reacted to in particular was Rooney's observation that it was simpler now that the players were communicating with a native, English-speaking manager.
Capello said: "After seeing the latest game [against Italy], I think Rooney only understands Scottish. That's because he only plays well in Manchester, where Sir Alex Ferguson speaks Scottish."
The United striker said before his first game of the tournament against Ukraine that the fact that Capello's successor, Roy Hodgson, was English had made a difference. Rooney said then: "I think it helps everyone being English. There are no words lost in translation and we understand what the manager wants from us. The manager trusts his players, which is obviously a big help to the players."
Rooney did also thank Capello for the lengths he went to in order to get his three-match ban for the red card he received in qualifying against Montenegro reduced to two games at Euro 2012. The comment about Rooney understanding "Scottish" is fairly typical of the kind of jokes that Capello used to attempt, usually with only moderate success, when he was England manager.
The biggest-selling Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport has been forced to apologise for a cartoon in which it depicted Mario Balotelli as King Kong, in a crass attempt at satire involving the striker climbing Big Ben rather than the Empire State Building. With sensitivities about racial abuse running high at Euro 2012, it was recognised by the paper as a crass decision and removed from its website.
The player himself and his family were understood to be very unhappy with the
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Anyway, I find it somewhat ironic that the man who symbolises everything that is wrong with English football was the one who missed the final penalty.
Comments like this are a big part of the 'English disease' in terms of succeeding at international level. Your bitterness over him leaving your club that has no ambition means that you cannot totally back your country.
But Cashley was widely ridiculed for the stupid comments in his autobiography where he stated that Arsenal offered him £50k a week, but that his demands were for £55k which Chelsea met (in fact I think he said he was insulted by Arsenal's offer). I am afraid that is a demonstration of how distant many of our footballers are from reality, as his philandering behaviour when he had the damn fortune to have Cheryl Cole sat at home waiting for him with her legs open. The man is an arse, and, as such, I do think that the fact that he missed a penalty is symbolic.
I admire your blind loyalty to the Abramovic millions, but truth is truth. Ashley Cole is a symbol of all that is bad with English football.
An arse and a dumb one at that, I can agree with but a symbol of all that is bad? That comment suggests you are as distant from reality as the over paid players. The guy is arguably the best in the world at his position... He has proven that since leaving Arsenal, since that time Arsenal have proven nothing. RVP is a suspected rapist who has also been caught out cheating on his wife but I'm sure that is different ..........
Where has there been any speculation about RVP? I've not seen it. Can you tell me where I challenged Cashley's ability as a player? Everything else about him, yes. He is a player made by Arsenal so of course I recognise his ability as a left back - albeit he is not as consistent with Chelski. But, he left because of money and no other reason - he has made that plain himself.
Martin Curtis BA (Hons) ELL (Open)
(status accurate from 3 August 2010)
A world without heroes
Is like a world without sun
You can't look up to anyone
Without heroes
skinnymartin wrote:Where has there been any speculation about RVP? I've not seen it. Can you tell me where I challenged Cashley's ability as a player? Everything else about him, yes. He is a player made by Arsenal so of course I recognise his ability as a left back - albeit he is not as consistent with Chelski. But, he left because of money and no other reason - he has made that plain himself.
He left for money and success and has consistently got plenty of both
If that is true about RvP it is unacceptable - as it is with anyone. Does't make Cashley any less guilty though, nor John Terry for any of his many failings.
Martin Curtis BA (Hons) ELL (Open)
(status accurate from 3 August 2010)
A world without heroes
Is like a world without sun
You can't look up to anyone
Without heroes
Fans could be forgiven for getting excited, some have maybe become slightly obsessive. Since the news broke about a month ago that Leeds were in takeover talks, one Leeds forum alone has received an impressive 1.95 million page views on its takeover thread. Finally, the takeover looks almost finished. The buyers’ due diligence was (as LUST suggested) more advanced than Leeds’ statement suggested, and although the buyers’ trust was reportedly damaged last week, it is understood that the deal is all but done.
This autumn saw the 11-year anniversary of Rio Ferdinand’s signing for a record transfer fee of £18m. The anniversary came at a time when talented young manager Simon Grayson’s exciting young team had been dismantled and left lifeless by a visionless Leeds board. Grayson, like his young team, had a lot to learn, but the future looked bright. In December 2010 a great brace for Max Gradel meant Leeds beat QPR to go to goal-difference with 2nd place in the Championship. That summer Bradley Johnson and Neil Kilkenny were allowed to leave on the promise of better talent. Kasper Schmeichel was then ousted from the club and Max Gradel shockingly sold days before the transfer window after declaring he would sign a new contract at the club. Four young players with bags of talent had been thrown out of the club, and as Christmas 2011 came it was hard to adjust from that team, to a midfield of Pugh, Vayrynen and Brown that got destroyed 4-1 to Barnsley. As if things couldn’t get any worse, Jonny Howson was told to sign for Norwich in January and Simon Grayson paid for Ken Bates’ lack of suitable investment. Grayson could be criticised for his transfers, but how can a manager plan his acquisitions when in July he is told he has £2m less to spend than the year before, and only later (when the best targets have gone) is he allowed more to spend?
Leeds have had terrible luck, been the victims of a string of terrible decisions from their board, and have been stuck in the lower leagues while pundits unanimously explain that for the good of football and given the size of the club, we should be in the Premier League. We passed the 10 year anniversary of David O’Leary’s sacking last Wednesday. With talk of the buyout now only requiring the transfer of funds, were Leeds United the victims of a 10-year curse? And if so, who or what was behind it? ...
(only my opinion,in no way am i insulting you....statement copyright of plugtwot)
Leeds were architects of their own downfall, nobody to blame but themselves but ..... At least they went for it and it almost worked. Id prefer that anyday to being penny pinching also rans.
I'm Chelsea so it is impossible to wish Leeds luck but if good times are around the corner again then do the 10 years that have past since the big time really matter? I can think of one deluded bunch that have matched Leeds's trophy haul in the last 8 years. I'd rather have the ups and downs than stagnation.
The odds on Leeds getting promoted have steadily fallen since talk of a takeover began,we are currently second favourite to win the league, despite only signing 3 players. I’d imagine in the next few weeks, that might well change again.
The last thing we need is to get ideas above our limits, we’d all love to see Leeds back in the Champions League in 2 years, winning trophy after trophy, but before we even get into the Premier League we’ve got a long hard season ahead and promotion is by no means a given. Confidence is key, but making sure we don’t get over confident is too.
(only my opinion,in no way am i insulting you....statement copyright of plugtwot)
Kev wrote:The odds on Leeds getting promoted have steadily fallen since talk of a takeover began,we are currently second favourite to win the league, despite only signing 3 players. I’d imagine in the next few weeks, that might well change again.
The last thing we need is to get ideas above our limits, we’d all love to see Leeds back in the Champions League in 2 years, winning trophy after trophy, but before we even get into the Premier League we’ve got a long hard season ahead and promotion is by no means a given. Confidence is key, but making sure we don’t get over confident is too.
I'm sure leeds will do what they do every year..
Make a great start to the season,looking good for promotion,sack.there manager & tumble back.into oblivion.
If offended please feel free to report me to your nearest MOD
Are the final days of master Bates Reign now upon us? Will our club be awash with Arab money over the next few days?
How will we write up the seven-and-a-half years under Bates? Will the history books be kind to him?
Personally I was delighted when Bates rode into ER back in January 05. Despite his past connections, I felt we needed a footballing man at the helm. Krasner, McKenzie and even Ridsdale did not have the combined knowledge and experience put together than Bates had in his little finger.
I cringed at his abrasive ness but I also admired it. Leeds needed a chief " tell em to fu*k off"(er) however rather than turn his scorn on the outside hating Leeds world, other than the BBC, he seemed hell- bent on civil-war upsetting the supporters clubs, the general fan by hiking up ticket prices and the long running battle with ex-director Melvyn Levi reportedly cost Leeds £4m in legal fees.
I was never a fan of Kevin Blackwell, I still cannot understand to this very day why Ken gave him a new deal in March 06 and sacked him six months later. Leeds should have kept their powder dry until after the Play-Off final debacle and Blackwell should have walked after the 3-0 defeat against Watford.
We saw the two sides to the Wise and Poyet regime, the slump which took us to our lowest standing in our entire history but then came the siege mentality which momentarily took us to the top of League One on Boxing Day 2007 despite a fifteen point deduction before a ball was kicked.
The actual process of how Leeds handled going into administration is worthy of a book itself, maybe the Guardian hack David Conn has already drafted the manuscript? but like you no doubt, I wanted Bates Out in 2007 but we were powerless to stop what seemed like dodgy dealings behind the scenes, eg the major creditor prepare to write-off a kings ransom as long as Bates remained at the helm backed by the seemingly secretive Swiss-based FSF when seemingly credible alternatives were ignored.
That was soon forgotten as Leeds, under Bates' prodigal son Dennis Wise made a storming start to 2007/08, Wise left however in January without a whimper for some faceless role at Newcastle. In came Gary Mac, Leeds legend, nice guy but not up to the task of taking us back to the second tier.
It seemed like Bates had found his own northern adopted son in Simon Grayson. Grayson became the first Leeds boss in 30 years to win at Old Trafford and managed to drag us back into the Championship in his first full attempt. Then a respectable seventh placed finish was far more than consolidation.
Grayson is assured a kind write up in the history books, the slaying of Manchester United and deliverance from annual trips to Colchester, Walsall and Yeovil cement his place in Leeds folklore for eternity. The majority consensus that he was forced to work on a shoestring and could not budget for the loss of Messers Beckford, Johnon, Kilkenny, Schmeichel etc. These bullet points will override any suspicion that Grayson was a limited coach tactically, without a plan B, over reliant on oan signings and a poor judge of players eg Bessone, Valrynen, Rachubka.
Bates' role during the horror show that was 2011/12 will be rightfully scrutinised. His persisant pursuit of additional revenue incomes is a double-edge sword. He is right in a business sense when he says that Elland Road must be utilised for more than 25 days a season. However there are only so many of the "prawn sandwich" and "pass the Chardonnay" brigade prepared to sacrifice a chunk of their disposable income watching a mediocre mid-table championship side struggle against teams of similar ilk.
Bates is just a dozen or so years younger than our beloved club. Maybe he did win five trophies at Chelsea all on " the smell of an oily rag". Perhaps he managed to persuade Kerry Dixon to quit Dunstable Town for £150 a week. Maybe Doug Rougvie and David Speedie were lured to the Bridge on the promise of as many gallons of Iron Bru and Tunnocks Wafers as they could carry south?
Yes footballers are greedy and judging by the number of hideous Gun Metal sports coupes and mock Jeeps in the Elland Road players car-park even our under-achievers are on a fair crack, but our failure to pay a competitive salary in comparison to Norwich and even Bristol City is a bitter-pill to swallow for fans who pay Premiership prices to sit in the cheap seats?
I think the timing is right for a clean break, as much as I enjoy reading his Chairmans Column I feel the time has come for Ken to bid the UK and LS11 farewell and spend a long and happy retirement in Monaco with his wife and hopefully we can one day look back at his time with us as a necessary evil to get us back to where we belong!
(only my opinion,in no way am i insulting you....statement copyright of plugtwot)
Cracking euro match last night,The spanish desrved winners,at least we can say we were defeated by the european finalists.
C'mon England anyway who scheduled england next match a couple of days before the start of the premiership..
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a couple of days before the start of the premiership..