Isegrim

I know, its bad enough hearing the national "anthem" at the start, they could think of something better to sing! It is strange why England fall back on playing the same long passes over and over when things aren't working, but thats the sort of thing the management should have addressed eaons ago as its easilly prevented. 149258[/snapback] I can understand resorting to long balls when things are not going well and the time is running up. But England played the long ball game right from the start. There is not passing involved in the game at all - especially from the two central midfielders who are barely involved in the build up of attacks.

5-0 to England with a Owen hattrick. I think when Trinidad conceade their first goal they fill fall apart.

Its LATICS you cock Addicks are Charlton. 148866[/snapback] Well, it's not easy to hear properly when your head is stuck up Lee Clark's arse...

To go into MattM4 mode: I can't stand those Italian cheats. Thankfully Tw*ttuso is injured, but they have more tossers in the team, though. C'mon Ghana.

Pfister is now back in charge. Absolutely hilarious episode. After Pfister quit Togo were talking to another Jorman manager, Winfried Schäfer, who was national manager of Cameroon a couple of years ago. He had an interview with them with a bloke in the other room claiming to be his assistant. When one of the Togo officials was asked who this man was the official told it was someone called "Christoph". Someone asked "Christoph who?". The official didn't know. Schäfer said he never had an assistant called Christoph so he didn't know who Togo had been speaking to.

Jose Antunes (aka Fumaca) who is still claiming to be a professional footballer has signed for the mighty Paderborn who are playing in Jormany's 2nd Bundesliga.

Did come up with a class bit of refereeing though. The Serbia player did the usual and disgraceful waving of an imaginary card demanding a booking, so the ref booked him! If all refs had the brains and balls to do this every time they were surrounded by players demanding the other teams players are booked and sent off it would be killed off in no time. As soon as a player or players start telling you what to do or swearing/shouting at you, book every last one of them and tell them to fuck off, its not hard and refs have the authority to do it. 147538[/snapback] The referees were told to do this as much as I know. Merk is a tosser, though. I think he swallowed a whistle as a small boy (what would also explain is funny voice). How he got voted best referee in the world in recent years is beyond my level of understanding.

It's good that everything more or less went all right yesterday in Frankfurt as the city is somewhat like Jormany's capital of hooliganism (and dickheads in general). Only relatively few arrests.

I'm sure Robben will be back to his old antics now he's on the international scene, dirty bugger. 147503[/snapback] That's more the way... I'm really looking forward to the game. It will be interesting to see who qualifies from this group. I quite fancy the Dutch to do well (although this is not very common for a Jorman). They play very nice football and as long as they don't forget to score they should walk over Serbia.

What, no mention why you dislike/hate one of the teams or certain players? Boring.

Huth has just confirmed in a press conference that he is going to sign for 'boro. He said - without naming names - that he did talk to other clubs, but felt they already had about 4-5 other central defenders and he feared he might remain second choice just like at Chelsea. Nice description about Middlesbore though, when asked about moving there. "The town itself isn't a nice place to live, but there are other places in the north that are actually quite nice."

Great game to start the WC. That balls moves wickedly, but I don't feel sorry for the keepers. Game went like expected. The Jorman defence is poor as the central defenders don't really work together. Most goals Jormany concede is by deadly passes into the back of the defence. In contrast to the past Jormany isn't well stocked with centre halfs of the calibre of Kohler etc. Metzelder was a good player but nearly three years out with injuries have taken their toll. Mertesacker isn't that bad normally but like Huth is too young and unproven yet. Therefore I actually quite like the Klinsmann's change in philosophy of Jorman football. It's not all about conceding on less than the opponent any more, but scoring one more.

If you are for historical buildings then rather go to Potsdam which has much more to offer. If you are going for the things like clubbing just don't go to the common tourist places like Oranienburger Straße where you only will find pricks and whores. If you are heading for smaller pubs and clubs outside these tourist magnets you won't get too many problems to get in, even as a group of people. Finding friendly people will be very hard as even by Jorman standards Berliners are the top bollocks of grumpiness.

First I got left out of the sweepstake and now people steal my gardening ideas. Xenophobic right-wing, warmonging Brits tbh And I think this thread was crying for an advice of how to cut daisies... Delighting in Daisies A garden chock full of nothing but daisies would be pretty boring. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't plant at least two-dozen more varieties than we do now. Daisies represent what's so right about gardening. They're wonderful, cheerful, exuberant flowers, simple, sophisticated and every compliment in between. They're often the first blooms young children pick to give to their mothers. And yet, daisies never stop speaking to the child in most of us. Planting daisies in abundance is equivalent to hanging a floral "welcome to my garden" plaque on the front gate. And at the opposite end of the trowel that's weeding them, most likely rests the hand of a gardener who's open, friendly, sharing, and ... smiling. Nature must consider daisies one of her finer accomplishments--and justifiably so--because she provides us with such a dazzling array of daisies and daisy-like flowers. Gardeners can select from a rainbow of colors in any number of sizes. Many are perennial, though there are lots of annual daisies, too. "Daisy" is rather a generic term referring to blooms with a central "disk," made up of hundreds of tiny fertile flowers, surrounded by delicate, brightly-colored "rays," or petals. Because each multiple flower resembles a single bloom (at least to our eyes, if not to the insects that pollinate them), daisies were for years known as "composites" and embraced by the family Compositae. Botanists could no longer abide it, however. Several years ago, daisies were switched to the aster family, Asteraceae. Indeed, many of them do look like asters ... or is it the other way around? With a little planning, your garden need never be without some daisies blooming, from early spring until well after frost. Jump-start the season with the daisy-like blooms of Anemone blanda. They're not really daisies, but they'll fool passersby. Plant the tiny anemone bulbs in fall for long-lasting early spring blooms in white or blue. Following soon after Anemone blanda comes the English daisy (Bellis perennis). This species is generally recognized as the original "daisy" (from the Old English "day's eye"), referring to the way the charming pink and white blossoms open with the sun. Bellis perennis combines joyfully with forget-me-nots in the spring garden. Also a bit temperamental is the short-lived fleabane daisy (Erigeron spp.). Beautiful blue aster-like blossoms are so sweet, however, and sprawly plants bloom for such a long time each spring that fleabane seems worth the trouble. It's not a regular in my garden, but I start some every few years just to renew by relationship with this old friend. Into the heat of the summer we plunge--a glorious time for daisies! The snow-white petals of Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum superbum) wink a cheerful greeting from the perennial border, where they cavort splendidly with daylilies of all shades. I like 'Becky' the best, for stout stems that don't need staking, but 'Alaska' and 'Switzerland' have their share of fans, too. 'Snowcap' is a dwarf variety. Perfect for cottage gardens are the tall yellow stems of golden marguerite daisies (Anthemis tinctoria). Tireless bloomers in the bright summer sun, perhaps they wear themselves out, because individual plants last only a couple of years. Prolong their stay in your garden by cutting back spent flower stems (the same is true for most types of daisies) to the basal leaves and making frequent divisions of small offshoots. No space for a perennial border? Container gardeners can choose from a lively selection of annual daisies. Charming in a windowbox or large urn is the cascading foliage of African daisy (Osteospermum ecklonis). I'm partial to the white form, for the metallic blue "eye" is unique, but the newer purple variety seems a bit more generous with its blooms. Gerbera daisies are handsome annuals and available in a host of classy colors--the deep salmon has no rival. To get around the fact that Gerberas are rather stingy with their flowers, try combining them in containers with pretty herbs or the delicate blooms of baby's breath. Early autumn is when daisies really shine, thanks in no small part to the very special Nippon daisy (Nipponanthemum nipponicum). Bold semi-succulent foliage gives rise to 3-foot flower stems covered with large snow-white blooms. Combine them with the gracious blue mounds of late-blooming Aster x frikartii (another daisy-like plant) and the golden sprays of 'Fireworks' goldenrod for a spectacular conclusion to the floral season. (Lindsay Bond Totten, a horticulturist, writes about gardening for Scripps Howard News Service.)

Hmm, as a "neutral" I think it is really difficult to judge. On the paper it might be the best English team ever, but I think that football has improved vastly in most countries (except Jormany). So most teams will send better teams to this World Cup. So maybe winning in the end has become even more difficult nowadays.

Part of the "entertainment" will apparently be totally accidental mishaps. And you say Jormans have no sense of humour. I am soooo disappointed they had to cancel the original opening ceremony in Berlin...

Nobody could convince him that it isn't a very clever idea wanting to hold a speech on Friday...

He actually looks like a left-wing do-gooder to me.

Really? Then it still rather shows the incompetence of the city council than any malicious intent (only if a xenophobe employee was behind it). As Toonraider said, they wouldn't get away with it.

I don't believe this story in the slightest.

I do agree with Matt here (again). The players we are looking for don't have to be established first team players, but players who give depth to the squad and ideally are young potentials who might develop in quality first team players (without already being paid like some). So it's not like buying expensive first team performers from our rivals, but looking for talent like we did with Ambrose and N'Zogbia, who are prime examples for players from lower domestic leagues and abroad. Another option might be to take players on load, e.g. from Chelea's well stocked squad. And if we go for first team performers, especially from abroad, we have to stop throwing away silly money and start to act more clever. I only can point at what Hamburger SV where doing here in Jormany. They bought the likes of van der Vaart, van Buyten, Boularouz and de Jong for a combined fee of 10-12m Euro (!). Newcastle paid 18m GBP for two useless donkeys in Boumsong and Luque... And I am not going to start to name names Football Manager style. I am about the transfer philosophy and correcting the wage structure in general.

It's not about fees, but wages. We could probably get two decent players in for Bowyer's wedge. 144602[/snapback] Very simplictic mathematics. Getting rid off Bowyer, Butt and Dyer, who are on something like 150k per week together, would reduce the annual wage bill by something close to 8m. All those players have contributed very little to first team fortunes over the last years. So the money was more less thrown out of the window. Those players can get easily replaced by players who earn much less. And the saving in wages would actually help to fund the transfer fees for these players.

Hardly, half a million who has not put a decent shift in in the past two seasons is good enough for me. About time we made a profit, too. 144462[/snapback] I'd value him at about 1.5 144465[/snapback] With Bowyer (and probably Butt too) it's a case of getting the massive wages off the books more than getting a "fair" fee. His contract is up at the end of next season aswell. 144469[/snapback] Exactly. There are too many fringe players on good first team wages. Bowyer has only produced something like a handful of good performances in a Newcastle shirt. So getting him off the wage bill is a good thing to balance out the wage structure. And wit Dyer sitting on his enormous wages means that I would have no problem in letting him go for a ridiculous small fee as well, even on a free transfer Newcastle probably would make a profit...

Is Gol still maintaining that there is nothing dodgy about Chelsea's transfer dealings?

I only watched glimpses of the game, but Hargreaves looked indeed totally out of place. He run around absolutely clueless about what to do and looks a totally different player as when I have seen him at club level. I didn't know he was booed when he came on, but that's really really poor behaviour.