The European football thread

[The Funk]

There aren't many good pubs in or around Watford.

[bababui]

Originally Posted by molarmite

I'm gonna go play for Watford.

Id start with a better team as you get to learn the game. There are so many things to master. It sucks to get blown out game after game as you learn the tactics and training. And after you get a good feel for it you will probably want to start a new game.

[The Funk]

Originally Posted by bababui

Id start with a better team as you get to learn the game. There are so many things to master. It sucks to get blown out game after game as you learn the tactics and training. And after you get a good feel for it you will probably want to start a new game.

I see what you did there. :shifty:

[ukhotstove]

Originally Posted by Raderick

So if Wigan released a similar book that is worth £3,000, you'd buy it?

What do you think you have spare body parts for sheesh

[ukhotstove]

Originally Posted by molarmite

What's the name of the worst English Premier team?

In the FM game it would probably be between Watford, Reading and Sheffield United seeing those are the teams that came up this season.

[bababui]

Originally Posted by ukhotstove

What do you think you have spare body parts for sheesh

With Wigans history of glorious acheivement, the book would be the size of a matchbook.

[ukhotstove]

Originally Posted by bababui

With Wigans history of glorious acheivement, the book would be the size of a matchbook.

Wigans history despite them only being founded in 1932 is very deep, probably deeper than alot of teams who have been around since the 1800's. Piece of football history for you, which team fielded the first Spaniards to ever play in the FA Cup ? Also which team holds the record for biggest victory of a non league team over a league team ?

[LFC1892]

I know everyone realises the answer is the Latics, but just thought I'd post the answer...

Isidro Diaz, Jesus Seba and Roberto Martinez
For many years now Wigan Athletic have carried the tag "ambitious" attached to their name. But it certainly wasn't always so, and perhaps the title can be clearly traced back to one event in the Summer of 1995.
In February 1995 Latics were 16th in the Third Division, having struggled up from 22nd in the table in October. They were without a single point after their first five games and were playing to home crowds of about 1,700 and losing at home to teams like Mansfield 4-0. Things were not going well, and relegation to the Conference, and ultimate possible extinction, was by no means out of the question.
Off the field things changed, and Dave Whelan, the wealthy local owner of JJB Sports, took over as Chairman. His company already sponsored the team's shirts and with his support for manager Graham Barrow by the end of the season the team had reached a safe, but uninspiring 14th place in the table.
But in the Summer there was a flurry of interest from the football world, looking for once towards Wigan and the word "ambitious" started to be used. Whelan's business dealings took him to Spain, and the surprise announcement came that Latics had signed not one, but three Spaniards.

Jesus Seba
Roberto Martinez and Isidro Diaz arrived from FC Balaguer, while Jesus Seba was signed from Real Zaragoza. This was unknown in the lower reaches of the Football League, and soon Spanish Fever overtook the football supporting fans of the town. "Jesus is a Wiganer" was a very early joke, and sombreros, red and gold Spanish flags and stuffed donkeys were soon dragged out from attics where they had been stored on arrival home from Majorca or Costa del Sol where their purchase had at the time seemed a good idea.
The "Three Amigos" were an instant hit with the fans, showing a flair that had not been seen before at Springfield Park. Seba's ability to curl free-kicks, little "Izzy" Diaz's runs down the wing, and "Bob" Martinez's matador-style goal celebrations changed the outlook of the club. All three made their first League appearances in Latics' new shirt (the same design as worn throughout the country by JJB store staff) at Gillingham on the opening day of the season, with Roberto Martinez scoring on his debut.
On 11 November 1995 Martinez and Diaz became the first Spaniards to ever play in the FA Cup when they appeared at Runcorn, and obviously Roberto's goal in the game was the first scored by a Spaniard in the Cup.

Roberto Martinez - "Bob"
Not necessarily was it the case, however, that this new-found optimism was translated into results in the League, and by October Graham Barrow had paid the price of failure with his job following a 6-2 home defeat by Mansfield. But still the Amigos caused interest wherever they went, and at the end of the season Martinez was leading scorer with 13 goals, and he was included in the Third Division Team of the Year. The team just missed out on a play-off place, losing the last game of the season at home to Northampton.
Jesus Seba, of the three, found it most difficult to settle. His English was the poorest of them, and he left the club in May 1997 returning to Real Zaragoza. His last appearance for Latics was on 7 September 1996 when he came on for the last half-hour at Springfield Park against S****horpe. He is now playing in the Portuguese First Division with Lisbon based club, Belenenses. He actually only started 11 games for Latics with 16 sub appearances, scoring 3 times. But he was part of a revolution in Latics' outlook and fortune, and will always be remembered when other longer serving players will be forgotten.
Latics were on a roll, and by the end of the 1996/1997 season Latics were champions of the Third Division, with Martinez and Diaz both in the team that clinched the championship in the final game of the season at home to the team that has already been mentioned twice in this article, Mansfield Town.

Isidro Diaz and Roberto Martinez with trophy (and non-Spanish friend)
Diaz was the next to leave. Unable to command a place in the team he had gone on loan to Wolves in August and September 1997 but only played one game. He finally left Latics for Rochdale in August 1998. His last game was in the 5-0 drubbing Latics took from Bristol Rovers away on 10 April 1998. He later moved on to Chaves in Portugal, where he can often be found referred to as "Isidro". He played a total of 66 games plus 21 sub appearances for the Latics, finding the net 18 times.
Bob, with his quite reasonable command of English and a side-job of acting as TV pundit for Spanish soccer on Sky, stayed loyally at the club until July 2001. He was a marvellous ambassador for the club at all times, and often visited local schools for the club. He played a total of 180 games with a further 47 appearances from the bench. He scored 23 goals, and in the process picked up 24 yellow cards and 1 red. His last game was in the play-off semi-final at Reading on 16 May 2001. He moved on to Motherwell, and from there to Walsall where he had 1 start and 5 sub appearances in the First Division - making it to that division before Wigan did. At the end of the 2002/2003 season he went on loan to Swansea, and was praised by their fans for his role in saving them from the Football League trapdoor. So Latics' Spanish story came to an end. But over the years following the arrival of the Three Amigos Latics went on to sign Dutchmen, a Dane, a Canadian, an Argentinian, a Frenchman, an Australian etc etc. In terms of the club's future some of these have made a bigger impact. But in adding the prefix "ambitious" to the words "Wigan Athletic" it was the arrival of three Spaniards that changed the public view of Wigan Athletic forever.

[LFC1892]

Sorry I was bored......

In the 1934/35 season, Wigan beat Carlisle United 6-1 in the first round, setting a cup record for the biggest victory by a non-league club over a league club, a record which still stands today.

[ukhotstove]

Give the man a kangaroo burger, make that two. Like I said in another post way back, Latics used to be the Man Utd/Chelsea of non league football and if promotion and relegation had been around from Division 2, to the Conference, Latics would have been in the league years before they actually were.

See Curbishley as been named West Ham manager, personally I think he was made their manager the day that Eggert Magnusson took over, in fact Curbishley was probably given the job before they took over.

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by Sdpm100

Okay, I was looking at where Jeonbuk Motors finished in the K-League this year, and it looks like their exploits in the AFC Champions League certainly hurt their league form, as they finished 7th and 13th in the two stages.

But there is something quite peculiar about the first stage final table (IMO). See if you can spot it.

Okay, whilst I realise this doesn't interest anyone enough to get an answer to, here is a clue.

 1.Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma               13 10  2  1 21- 9 32
 2.Pohang Steelers                     13  6  4  3 21-15 22
 3.Daejeon Citizen                     13  4  7  2 13-10 19
 4.FC Seoul                            13  3  7  3 13-10 16
 5.Chunnam Dragons (Gwangyang)         13  2 10  1 14-12 16
 6.Busan I'Park                        13  4  4  5 24-25 16
 7.Chonbuk Hyundai Motors (Jeonju)     13  3  7  3 13-14 16
 8.Suwon Samsung Bluewings             13  3  7  3 11-13 16
 9.Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i              13  3  6  4  9-13 15
10.Incheon United                      13  2  8  3 11-13 14
11.Daegu FC                            13  2  7  4 14-16 13
12.Gwangju Sangmu Phoenix              13  2  7  4 10-13 13
13.Gyeongnam FC                        13  3  4  6 10-15 13
14.Jeju United                         13  1  6  6  8-14  9[*]
[*] Bucheon SK were relocated to Seogwipo and renamed Jeju United

[bababui]

8 of the 14 teams have more ties than wins and losses combined...in this context they arent unusual. As for the league...

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by bababui

8 of the 14 teams have more ties than wins and losses combined...in this context they arent unusual.

Well I haven't seen it before. Especially a team that finishes with 2 wins, 1 loss, and 10 draws.

Originally Posted by bababui

As for the league...

Hello??? I said nobody cared. I wish you could delete posts here like on other boards.

[Sdpm100]

*POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT*









Former Mexican coach quits after Boca Juniors throw away Apertura title.

BOCA Juniors coach Ricardo La Volpe said he would resign after his team lost 1-2 to Estudiantes in a playoff for the Argentine championship in Buenos Aires on Wednesday.

"I have to present my resignation because we didn't achieve our target," La Volpe told Argentine television as soon as the match finished.

La Volpe, who coached Mexico at this year's World Cup, took over in September, inheriting a team that had won the previous two titles under Alfio Basile.

But his side missed out on a third successive title in dramatic circumstances.

Leading the table by four points with two games to go, it lost to modest Belgrano and Lanus and allowed Estudiantes to pull level on 44 points from 19 games.

This sent the title race to Wednesday's playoff, where Boca lost despite taking a fourth-minute lead, courtesy of a Martin Palermo strike.

The Apertura title was Estudiantes' first taste of first-division glory since championships in 1968, 1982 and 1983.

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/art/200...ca_falters.htm

[Sdpm100]

Has anyone read this book?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Baghdad-FC-F...e=UTF8&s=books

I mention it as I heard the author on the radio earlier as Iraq play Qatar this afternoon in the men's football final at the Asian Games.

[ukhotstove]

Originally Posted by Sdpm100

Has anyone read this book?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Baghdad-FC-F...e=UTF8&s=books

I mention it as I heard the author on the radio earlier as Iraq play Qatar this afternoon in the men's football final at the Asian Games.

Not read it but should be an interesting read if it's done well, it seems like it's on the same lines as the Dynamo book I'm reading at the moment which just doesn't talk about football but the story behind the football story, if it's anything like Dynamo it'll be a good read.

[bababui]

I watched the Boca match until they scored the first goal then I turned it off because I couldnt believe they could possibly lose.

What other country in the world plays their league championship game on a wednesday afternoon??

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by ukhotstove

Not read it but should be an interesting read if it's done well, it seems like it's on the same lines as the Dynamo book I'm reading at the moment which just doesn't talk about football but the story behind the football story, if it's anything like Dynamo it'll be a good read.

Okay, I'll put it in the wish list.

Btw, have you or anyone else who uses Amazon.co.uk noticed the price of the book, when you put it in your wish list, it is less than on the product page? (for example that Baghdad FC one is £6.39 on the product page, but £3.28 in my wish list)
Is this a special offer that hasn't been publicised (that I can see), or what?

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by bababui

I watched the Boca match until they scored the first goal then I turned it off because I couldnt believe they could possibly lose.

What other country in the world plays their league championship game on a wednesday afternoon??

It wasn't a league championship game. It was a playoff because the two teams finished level on points, and the competition rules state the game has to be played at a neutral venue within 72 hours of the conclusion of the championship.

[bababui]

Originally Posted by Sdpm100

It wasn't a league championship game. It was a playoff because the two teams finished level on points, and the competition rules state the game has to be played at a neutral venue within 72 hours of the conclusion of the championship.

And the playoff determined what??

And they couldnt have played tuesday night?