Smiley Culture

25 minutes ago, Burning Gold said:

Put simply, there are too many bad teams in the Champions League. Most of the teams on the receiving end of a one sided beating this week won their league and simply couldn't hold a candle to teams from a better league, champions or otherwise. With the exception of the occasional shock result, this happens every year. Remember this next time someone comes out with the utter stupidity that the competition should only be open to league champions.

I don't think teams are necessarily 'bad', you might get the odd Azerbaijani qualifier who will go on to lose all group games or the like but they should usually be commended for their efforts in the qualifying rounds. I just think there's such a financial disparity in the competition and that is what makes this stage of the competition far weaker. 

Take Feyenoord for example, they're a famous European name and producers of many talented footballers but they're getting humped by the oil-rich Manchester City and they're not alone. If it's not the oligarchs, it's Arabian Sheikh's and Princes or energy drink companies pumping millions into a football team.

The Champions League Group Stages are, largely, poor. It seems like there's gaps forming in that, the richest clubs are getting richer and the rest are a fair way behind, despite not exactly being bad clubs or poor financially.

The aggregate score of games won in the first matchday of the Champions League this season was 40-6. 

Stevenage v Crawley Town - OVER 8 CORNERS @ 2/5 - £10 returns £14.00

Manchester United v FC Basel, Barcelona v Juventus & Accrington Stanley v Grimsby Town - OVER 1.5 GOALS - £5 returns £9.00

15 minutes ago, Stan said:

world cup final winning performances regardless who they're playing  

It was quite boring to watch to be honest. 

I think expectations need to be brought in line with the present. If this was the England side that Sven or even Fabio Capello had, I'd understand the heightened expectation but this is Southgate's side, captained by Jordan Henderson, with Joe Hart in goal and you're best players being Dele Alli and Harry Kane (which isn't meant as a negative). 

It's hardly like this squad is that good in terms of quality in comparison to squads that had Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney or that the record England have in major tournaments is that good that expectation should be through the roof. Look at this side, Gareth Southgate has almost had his hands tied in terms of selection of strikers, Jermain Defoe has been picked despite not starting the season on the pitch at Bournemouth, that's how poor the player pool is for the England national side at the minute. 

I get the performance may have been boring but it sounds like England were in control for the whole game and didn't look in danger of conceding or being put under much pressure at all. As I said, I didn't watch but I imagine the facilities in Malta weren't great, I imagine the pitch was probably quite hard and wasn't what you'd expect in England. 

I also don't get Southgate's comment about wanting England to "excite" Wembley against Slovakia tonight either. I get why he wants to do that, I'm sure every England fan out there would like to be entertained whether they're sat at Wembley or sat at home tonight but again, does Southgate have the players at his disposal to play an entertaining, exciting brand of Football that also provides results? That's subjective and I'd argue that no, he doesn't and he should play similarly to the way he's set out so far in his tenure and concentrate on qualification over a brand of Football that isn't conducive to the current setup of the England national team. 

10 minutes ago, Stan said:

agree that the result matters but it was the way in which the victory was achieved. 

Given the players England have at their disposal and had available for the matches against Malta and Slovakia, what do they expect? 

Right, I didn't see this Malta game and can't comment on the performance in any real depth but all I've seen is "underperforming", "underwhelming" and the like used to describe the match by journalists. I'm not really sure what more they expect. England went to Malta, won convincingly, remain unbeaten, remain on course for an appearance at the World Cup next year, kept a clean sheet and come through the game without any injuries, what else did the media want?

1 hour ago, RandoEFC said:

 

I expect this lot to play better as a side than the Golden Generation but the end result will be the same for another 3-4 tournaments at least.

Really?

I expect more dull football, walking qualifiers against inferior nations and ultimately complete rubbish at tournaments and in this UEFA Nations League thing.

11 minutes ago, Spike said:

Perhaps well-drilled mediocrity will outperform incohesive stars?

Is this the line we're going with over the 'fresh, new, young squad' line that was peddled out for Euro 2016?

24 minutes ago, Stan said:

People's thoughts on Chalobah's inclusion?

My initial thought was shock but then I spent time trying to think of someone else worthy of an England call-up that hasn't been picked and I come up with very few names. Danny Drinkwater and Ross Barkley are injured, Jack Wilshere's returning from injury and slapping teenagers and that leaves the likes of James Ward-Prowse, Mark Noble and the like. 

Is that the worst England squad selected of all time? I genuinely can't remember seeing an England squad selection with so few stand out players. 

That said, there are very few other options than those selected and even fewer players of a certain quality available to England any more. 

Fulham can also get fucked because there was only 10 corners in their game, not 11 as I needed. 

Trying something different tonight with £4 left in my Bet365 account;

Accrington Stanley v West Bromwich Albion - Over 10 Corners

Fulham v Bristol Rovers - Over 10 Corners

£4 returns £11.84

https://www.theroar.com.au/2017/08/22/reduce-number-sydney-nrl-clubs-make-competition-truly-national/amp/

@Danny seeing as we were discussing the future of the NRL, I've come across this piece. It would never happen I feel but an interesting piece nonetheless. 

30 minutes ago, Danny said:

The rumours were that they'd become the Gold Coast Bears as opposed to the Titans...a pointless exercise really as they're not going to get North Sydney fans turning up for them but that seems to have been squashed pretty quickly.

I don't think there's any relocation on the cards and everyone's mention away from the Titans was Wests but that's just media rumour. I think the next "big" changes to the NRL will be the addition of the West Coast Pirates and the Brisbane Bombers but from what I've read the NRL television contract runs until 2022 I believe so there's no changes expected until then. Other shouts for expansion are two other Queensland sides, Central Queensland and Ipswich. I believe Ipswich is the western corridor of Brisbane and could command a decent fanbase. Bombers I believe are South Brisbane and Broncos more north. Outside of Brisbane you have an area  that expands from Bundaberg to Cairns which is ginormous, Central Queensland would be located at Rockhampton and I imagine alternate between there, Mackay and Bundaberg.

The attendances in the NRL are abysmal compared to AFL but the centralised location of the Etihad and MCG make it so easy to stage highly attended games. I reckon if the NRL were to expand they'd go for a second Brisbane team and a Perth team only, but there's a market to crack in Queensland and the region could probably hold 3-5 franchises.

Most of the rumours are just the press over here and they can be shocking, you read it and it sounds like a geezer's had one too many and is just chatting shit about how he thinks the NRL should be run, a lot of opinion pieces that seem to have every Australian stereotype going.

Going back to the Bears, I don't think they've got any chance of a revival due to how shit attendances are in Sydney already and I can't see the sense in moving a historic side away from it's core support. 

Yeah, the attendances are pretty poor for what they really should be. 

Gold Coast have only been going ten or so years but they've had limited success on the park, but I never really heard any information about the Bears 'needing' a club in the NRL, I doubt there would be a massive attendance increase. 

I don't know if increasing will do harm to the game or make it better, I don't know when it gets too many over there. 

I'd like to see the Papua New Guinea Hunters side in the NRL, they've just won the minor premiership in the Queensland Cup and PNG is one of very few countries where Rugby League is the National game. I doubt there's any talk of them joining the big boys mind. 

1 minute ago, Danny said:

So Gold Coast Titans sacked their coach today after a run of poor results and an apparent stand off with Jarryd Hayne. I saw them two weeks ago away to St. George and they got smashed, they were fortunate not to lose by more than they did.

Might be off to Cronulla on Saturday so that could be decent, new ground and a beach day.

What's it like at Wembley? Get many travel down or do you see more of a southern contingent out?

It's hard to describe to people really. It's a festival of Rugby League to be honest. Though the two sides who are playing are heavily represented, you see all clubs' shirts out in force. There's definitely a large amount of Southern fans around on the day but the vast majority are northern. 

Whats happening with the Titans anyway? I thought there was strong rumours they were relocating to North Sydney and reviving the old North Sydney Bears' name? 

Wembley this Saturday for Wigan vs Hull FC. It cannot be as bad as the rain spoiled 2013 Final between the two sides in which Hull were nilled by Wigan, who weren't impressive either. Hope for a dry pitch and some good rugby if officials will allow. 

Might go to the annual 'Friday Night Lights' at London Skolars too. They have a chance of topping the middle 8's table made up of the best of the rest from the third tier. A top two position guarantees them a place in the Final for the Shield. Skolars' two rivals for one of those two places are Hunslet (it's in Leeds) and North Wales Crusaders. 

1 hour ago, Dan said:

Your hate just makes us stronger!!! We will go up and there's nothing any of you can do about it!!!

Everyone who says anything remotely negative or questions him is a 'hater'. 

I've learnt today that he nearly bought Brentwood Town, Bishop's Stortford and then Dagenham & Redbridge before someone, whoever the previous 'Ricay owner was, decided to sell him their club. 

I've been to 'Ricay a few times, it was a decent club with decent fans. I can only sympathise with them at this time because I imagine it's like watching a car crash, you know it's going to happen and you're watching it happen but you can't control any of it unfolding before you. 

I'm mightily glad Tamplin didn't get his tattooed hands on Stortford. 

Had Brentford v Bristol City last night as BTTS @ 4/9, which wasn't the greatest odds but I then had a few in-play bets and won with bets of 10/11, 19/20 and 21/20 with only Young Boys failing to score the 1st goal at 6/4 not coming. Ended the night about £25 up. 

8 hours ago, Aaroncpfc said:

There owner reminds me a bit of Simon Jordan. Probably why everybody around here was delighted they lost to Kingstonians the other day.

I really don't think that Jordan, as bad as he was at times, can be compared to Tamplin at Billericay. 

If people haven't already seen it, go and have a look at the mural he's had painted there at Billericay and what he's now doing to the changing rooms. 

It's all gunna end in tears there, I don't know when, but it will. 

On 11/08/2017 at 0:45 PM, Danny said:

I am finally a full convert to Rugby League.

Every night I've found myself watching a different game on tele and wanting to stick around in the hostel kitchen, a restaurant or bar longer than needed so I can catch the end or as much of a game as I can. I could never do that for Rugby Union, if it's not London Irish or England then I don't have much interest and even then it can get boring.

I'm sure my conclusion won't come as a surprise to anyone in here, but it's a massive shame that there's no real professional outfit in London and the south beyond the Broncos because League has everything in a game of Rugby that the general public want but don't normally get from a game of Union. I never got into Super League at home but the NRL has opened my eyes completely.

Both London's are doing fantastically well. Broncos have a more than decent shout at the 'Million Pound Game' after pushing Catalans very, very close last weekend and Skolars of League One, the third tier, are likely to be playing off for a piece of silverware in a month or so's time. 

On 12/08/2017 at 7:04 AM, Happy Blue said:

The NRL is the only rugby worth watching apart from Salford   ..i watch every Bulldogs, Rabbitohs and sometimes Raiders games just to see how the English players are getting on

Mainly this. I watch Saints' games and occasionally a big game but I mainly watch the NRL. 

Real Madrid to beat Manchester United @ 21/20. 

£5 returns £10.25

Draw or Northampton Town (vs QPR) @ 6/5 

£5 returns £11.00

7 minutes ago, Cannabis said:

Don't spend it all at once.

Little and often works well for me. Adds up eventually.

1 hour ago, Smiley Culture said:

• QPR vs Reading - Under 1.5 Goals in the First Half
• Milton Keynes Dons v Wigan Athletic - Under 1.5 Goals in the First Half

£5 returns £9.55

A winning start to the year, lovely.

• QPR vs Reading - Under 1.5 Goals in the First Half
• Milton Keynes Dons v Wigan Athletic - Under 1.5 Goals in the First Half

£5 returns £9.55

• Draw or Reading (vs QPR) - Double Chance
• Draw or Tranmere Rovers (vs Torquay United) - Double Chance

£5 returns £10.00

The bubble bursts after one game. I'm not that surprised. People's expectations were heightened after a decent pre-season campaign but our 'hardest' opponents were free-spending Billericay Town. Apart from them, it was pretty poor teams plus a spanking from Arsenal's 23's.

I think some people needed a reminder that this is basically a whole new squad, as proven by the fact that just one of today's starting lineup was at the club last season. The National League is no walk in the park and in the circumstances we find ourselves in, a season of mid-table mediocrity would be nothing short of a success.