European Soccer Part XIII

[USAFA Bulldog]

I found a pic.
Edit: I suppose I should give credit to who it's through...www.uefa.com (http://www.uefa.com)
http://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Photo/competitions/UEFACup/180657_MEDIUMLANDSCAPE.jpg

[MavrckMngr]

-Not only is Barthez a hack, but he's also quite the sieve himself. I'm thinking that last derby at Maine Road was like a token of his appreciation for my posts on this thread or something. :p

-There was a pretty decent article on Howard in the last issue of the ESPN Ragazine. Funny, issue after issue, there's only one article in the entire magazine that makes it at all worth reading.

-I thought I read somewhere that Collina is retiring after Euro 2004, but I can't remember where for the life of me. European soccer will be a different animal without him, whenever he does decide to retire.

-MUCH to my displeasure, it's looking like Manchester City will keep Kevin Keegan around another year. However, the board has demanded that City finishes top eight in the Prem next year for King Kev to keep his job. I'd still be happier with a new manager, but this is quickly turning into a Chelsea situation: for all intensive purposes, if Keegan can't get the Blues to qualify for Europe, he's toast.

-Save for one match, City's preseason schedule has been released. It's pretty much routine, @ Bury, @ Blackpool...thought we were supposed to play Lincoln as a fundraiser match for the Imps, but I guess not. I do wish we had Feyenoord again, even if that means a return trip to Rotterdam.

-It hasn't been released to the public yet, but rumor has it City's awap strip for next year is pretty much just like Bolton's away, except it's white with red and black stripes and the Thomas Cook logo on the chest (taking over First Advice due to financial woes). Needless to say, I'm unimpressed. Even the new home shirt's nothing special. I would've liked to see the club keep this last year's unis.

-Porto sucks.

-Come on, Palace!

[Craig P.]

Originally posted by MavrckMngr
-I thought I read somewhere that Collina is retiring after Euro 2004, but I can't remember where for the life of me. European soccer will be a different animal without him, whenever he does decide to retire.It won't be his decision. FIFA has a mandatory retirement age for international referees.

for all intensive purposes, if Keegan can't get the Blues to qualify for Europe, he's toast.That should be, "for all intents and purposes".

[jmh]

Originally posted by Craig P.
It won't be his decision. FIFA has a mandatory retirement age for international referees. There seems to be a pretty strong movement supporting the idea that they should make an exception for Collina, grounded on the idea that the mandatory retirement age is intended to do away with referees who get out of shape as they get older (and thus aren't as able to keep up with a game), and that Collina keeps himself in good enough shape that this isn't a concern.

[ColbyWMHB]

Man U is about to salvage their season with a win over Milwall at Cardiff. 3-0 as 90 minutes nears. Trying to decide who to root for in a Milwall-Man U match is like trying to choose between Dillinger and Capone. In any case, United will be 2004 FA Cup winners in a matter of moments, and Ruud (with 2 goals) is the controversial Man of the Match.

[jmh]

Fill us in... why controversial?

[Jon]

Celtic gets the Double, beating Dunfermline 3-1 today. :)

[ColbyWMHB]

Originally posted by jmh
Fill us in... why controversial?

From Soccernet:

"Official man of the match award goes to van Nistlerooy. I don't agree and niether do the United fans by the sound of it - they are singing the name of Ronaldo."

Ruud scored one goal on a PK when Giggs was taken down, and Giggs gave him a gimme for #2. Hard to argue with 2 goals, though...but some are :)

[jmh]

Gotcha. I was thinking controversial in the sense of like he elbowed a defender in the head before scoring each of his goals or something. :p

[Terrierbyassociation]

Houllier is out!!

Thank God.

[USAFA Bulldog]

This would be pretty sweet!

Collina to come to Premiership? (http://skysports.planetfootball.com/article.asp?id=204689&cpid=8)

[Terrierbyassociation]

Again, let's talk about this. Houllier has been sacked. Who will be the new manager of Liverpool? Do believe it was unfair of the board to fire Houllier?

I think he had to go, but some of the blame has to go to every player on the Liverpool side except for Steven Gerrard. Especially Owen, who got hurt frequently, and missed several penalties.
Murphy also deserved to play more, and not playing cost him a place at Euro 2004, which I find unfair. He'll be on the WC 2006 team if he gets a chance at first team football.

[Jimjamesak]

Well since Man U didn't win the league I have to change my celebratory image. I' thinking this one will work :D .

http://www.foxsportsworld.com/netapp/blobs/active/4/15/2423620_7_1.jpg

[FerrisLives]

Carlos Queiroz was fired by Real Madrid too. Real Madrid finished 4th in the Primera Liga behind Valencia, Barcelona and Deportivo La Coruna. Now that's embarassing.

Claudio Ranieri will be looking for a job in about a week. I expect there will be a number of teams that want him.

[Terrierbyassociation]

I think Liverpool should snag Ranieri. And when the reds stomp Chelski next season Ranieri can celebrate in the dignified manner with which he led Chelski.

[x-cheque]

I dunno, Ranieri? He certainly did what he could to keep a less than gelled side together, but at times - and i believe this has been mentioned here - his method for picking a starting 11 seemed less than scientific. I also wonder how and if this will alter Liverpool's transfer plans. Will Djibril Cisse still want to go to Anfield if Houllier is gone? The team also needs another winger, Kewell and Diouf aren't cutting it.

Marcelo Lippi of Juventus fame is also out of a job, as he quit after this season. I would be happy with either him or Claudio in the spot, though there's rumors that Kenny Dalglish wants the job. Who knows, for all this rumoring it'll end up being someone like Mike Keenan.

I was never really impressed with Houllier, even after the 2001 season. The change will be good for the squad and for the club, I think.

Who's going to fill the Juventus job? I hear the board wants Didier Deschamps.

[MavrckMngr]

Originally posted by ColbyWMHB
Trying to decide who to root for in a Milwall-Man U match is like trying to choose between Dillinger and Capone.

I couldn't agree more. Rags or Terrorists? So hard to choose. :p

TBA, don't jinx it. Ranieri may indeed come to City now.

To borrow a phrase, 'come to Mngr...':p

Also, news to report...City's July 24 friendly at Blackpool has been cancelled due to a lack of communication from the Seasider organizers, and the fact that Blackpool is hesitant to schedule preseason matches before they find a new manager. Instead, the Blues will be travel to Doncaster that day.

Nice to see Everton finished below City...anybody really think Rooney's going to ManYoo?

[Terrierbyassociation]

Alan Smith is moving to Manchester United, to the delight of the Leeds faithful :)

[Nathan]

Originally posted by Terrierbyassociation
Alan Smith is moving to Manchester United, to the delight of the Leeds faithful :) Does this give credence to the idea that Ruud will be moving on? Man, I hope not. I would assume that Saha is the odd man out here.

[Don King]

Originally posted by Nathan
Does this give credence to the idea that Ruud will be moving on? Man, I hope not. I would assume that Saha is the odd man out here.

Well, it by no means confirms it-- although I can't see either Smith or Saha moving back into the midfield, nor can I see either being used as "cover" in case one of the three goes out injured.

At the same time, though, I can't see ManYoo playing with a Smith/Saha strikeforce.

In conclusion: I dunno. :p

As far as Ranieri, I think the test of him would be to get a "normal" club, one where there aren't seventeen top-quality players to pick from on any given day. I feel like his urge to tinker at Chelsea was driven mostly by the options he was given; at, say, Liverpool, he wouldn't have nearly as many options. It'd be a challenge for him, I guess.

Mv-- I don't see Rooney going anywhere. He didn't have much of a season this year, did he? I heard almost zilch about him.