alfieconn

We play the Dippers 5 days before they play Dortmond

Got to love Dier :

Dier: "I’m enjoying every minute of it and you only play football for 10 years. There’s no point being tired for some of that."

"All I do is play football every day, I’m not doing anything else so there’s no reason for me to be tired."

"I’m not tired, I’m enjoying it. I don’t think there’s any excuse to be tired."

Well there's a shock, the four big clubs ( RM, BM, Barce and PSG) all drawing the smaller clubs !

was good that. what a lovely result and what a special goal by little phil.

Special goal !!! De Gea was totally at fault and made it easy for him

For anyone who didn't see the game

Question for you City fans,reading the doom and gloom on this page about going backwards...............this time next year with your new manager in place what will be acceptable progress?

Are you prepared to give him time to adjust to Premiership football or will you be expecting almost instant results?

What would constitute failure in your opinion(s) under Guardiola,s management?

You have appointed what many to believe is the best coach in the business so it will be interesting to read your replies.

Serious question

Serious answer. I would expect no less from Pep as has been expected from Pellegrini last and this season, which is, win the Premier, maybe a domestic cup and progression in the CL (I do not expect us to win it with our current squad).

Thats if your in it of course

We go to a lady in San Pakha (close to Borsang) mostly grows different lettuces, Puk Boom ( Morning glory) and Amaranth ( Thai Spinach) other Thai vegs available but not in large quantities.

It us not often man utd go into a home game as the underdog but this game they might be?, but you never know we might beat all odds and manage to scrape through to the semi final.

Could well be that The Pikeys are more thinking about 4th place

Just been told that king cobras like the lurk around rice fields. Anyone ever see one? What do you think about living on an orchard with regards to rats and snakes?

We get plenty of cobras & the odd banded krait in our garden. Our dogs leave their dead bodies for us to identify.

Just hope your dogs know their limitations as they get older.

Well 91 opinions and thats all they are.

Drawing a parallel with cricket.Since the game began, caught behinds or in the slips,did the batsmans bat or goves make contact with the ball or not?

They came up with "Snicko' which showes graphically, at the Umpires, request, the true picture and put up on the screen

Perhaps all football players could be fitted with a football version of "snicko" because that is the only way you will ever know.

I've watched the replay many times and still have no idea.If "intent" is the decider that's a huge grey area and pure speculation.

Where do the rules mention intent ?

Have rice fields on 3 sides of our house and don't have any problems with mosquito's, in fact the bedroom french doors are left open all night without any mosquito screens.

Well lads, tonight we are playing the best team we've faced all season so it should be a good bench mark to how much we have progressed this season and great experience for all our youngsters.

Hopefully no more than a narrow defeat to set it up for one of the special European nights at the lane in a week's time.

Have to laugh when people keep making comments such as " there was no contact" "minimal contact" "not enough contact to go down" etc etc when in fact there doesn't have to be any contact at all,

• kicks or attempts to kick an opponent
• trips or attempts to trip an opponent

To be fair the rule seems to be totally in the attacking players favour so some posters who don't fully understand the rules are saying " incorrect decision" when they should be saying that " the rule is incorrect"

^To be fair the rule seems to be totally in the attacking players favour so some posters who don't fully understand the rules are saying " incorrect decision" when they should be saying that " the rule is incorrect" - How can the law be unfair? It's the law, and you have to play within the laws laid down, therefore it isn't unfair.

Law 12 is:

A direct free kick is awarded when a player commits any of the following in a manner considered by the referee to be careless, reckless or using excessive force:

• Kicks or attempts to kick an opponent

• Trips or attempts to trip an opponent

(8 others are listed)

If a player commits a direct free kick offence within his own penalty area, a penalty kick is awarded irrespective of the position of the ball, provided the ball is in play.

The Interpretation of Law 12 further states:

• “Careless” means that a player has shown a lack of attention or consideration when making a challenge or that he acted without precaution. (No further disciplinary sanction is needed if a foul is considered to be careless)
• “Reckless” means that the player has acted with complete disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, his opponent. (A player who plays in a reckless manner must be cautioned)
• “Using excessive force” means that the player has far exceeded the necessary use of force and is in danger of injuring his opponent. (A player who uses excessive force must be sent off)

Did Delaney kick or attempt to kick an opponent? I don’t think so.

Did Delaney trips or attempt to trip an opponent? I don’t think so.

Was Delaney careless? I don’t think so.

Was Delaney reckless? Definitely not.

Was Delaney Using excessive force? Definitely not.

Therefore was it a foul? I don’t think so.

Dermott Gallagher, who is far more knowledgeable than any of us on here on this, and he also didn’t think it a foul and said:

A decision that has polarised opinion. I think no, but there are many people that think yes. I have watched this all the time and I think no, but what this does highlight to me is that if we have a video referee and we go to the video referee, we are still not going to get a decision that everybody is going to agree on. The reason I say that is that the two guys sat here - Neil McCann and Ray Parlour - spoke to me earlier and they are poles apart. One says 'penalty' and one says 'no'.

Though he wasn't reckless or using excessive force, he sure was careless. Sprinting so fast "into" a player so you can't fully back out especially in the penalty area? That I consider careless.

Now, let's bring in another perspective...

You're at a red light, minding your own business, but notice a car a bit further behind you. The light turns green and you slowly proceed, but suddenly feel a bump. Sure enough, the car that was a bit further behind you wasn't able to slow down in time or just approached you too fast.

Now, you get out and notice a small bump and / or scratch. Nothing major, but also not "nothing". Who was at fault? Was it an accident or should both just drive on?

That's how I feel what happened in the scenario...Delaney was heading to the ball ( or perhaps player ) too fast and couldn't slow down / fully back out of the tackle in time.

= foul

Perfect analogy NP, if he isn't careless then he doesn't touch Benteke, although there's still some who are saying that he didn't touch Benteke

Just keep The Hammers out of the CL for Pete's sake!! (who was Pete anyway)?

Yes that would really get the goat of an Os fan.

COYI

Don't like to see British clubs going out too early.

Given that Spurs and Leicester are near nailed on to qualify as well as Arsenal it appears you shall be most disappointed next year then.

You never did answer my question stones, how did you get on in the Europa Cup this season ?

Crystal Palace midfielder Joe Ledley has slammed the decision to award Liverpool a late penalty against the Eagles on Sunday, insisting that Christian Benteke dived to win the spot kick.

Replays showed clear contact between the knee of Palace defender Damien Delaney and the heel of Benteke, but Ledley stubbornly refused to accept the decision. He told the ​Croydon Advertiser: "I have had a look at it and I do not think it is a penalty at all. He did not touch him."

He continued, blaming Benteke for a 'dive' and the referee and his assistant for making the decision, saying: "If you go down like that, it is always in the referee's mind to give a penalty. It's definitely not a penalty. It is nothing. I thought it was a dive.

https://vine.co/v/Op909ZAM2m9/embed

Perhaps Ledley needs to have a look at himself before he accuses others

I just returned from bangkok and had shitty internet connection, so couldn't watch the video...until now.

for me, it is a foul. Did he go down too easy? We will never know, but please do sprint as fast as you can and while running fast get "slightly knocked on your foot...would love to see how well you can keep balance.

One thing that I would like to discuss though...I heard a couple of times, but never seen it in action, that I foul inside the penalty box does not necessary mean a penalty kick. Especially when it is not a clear goal chance. The ref has the choice to award a free kick.

Can anybody clarify this?

That would've been something to consider in this foul perhaps. It was not a clear chance at goal, there was a foul but only minor...maybe award a free kick from there?

No good mentioning "sprinting" on here NP as a majority of them can't remember the last time they sprinted anywhere, although i have heard that smokes likes to sprint away from the bar when it's his round

not the best of news, but hardly surprising, tbh would be surprised if he's the only one, http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/mar/08/dele-alli-tottenham-injuries-mauricio-pochettino

Well he won't be playing tonight, leave him out of the next 2 league games and play him in the return leg means he only plays one game in four weeks.

Have to laugh when people keep making comments such as " there was no contact" "minimal contact" "not enough contact to go down" etc etc when in fact there doesn't have to be any contact at all,

• kicks or attempts to kick an opponent
• trips or attempts to trip an opponent

To be fair the rule seems to be totally in the attacking players favour so some posters who don't fully understand the rules are saying " incorrect decision" when they should be saying that " the rule is incorrect"

I just returned from bangkok and had shitty internet connection, so couldn't watch the video...until now.

for me, it is a foul. Did he go down too easy? We will never know, but please do sprint as fast as you can and while running fast get "slightly knocked on your foot...would love to see how well you can keep balance.

One thing that I would like to discuss though...I heard a couple of times, but never seen it in action, that I foul inside the penalty box does not necessary mean a penalty kick. Especially when it is not a clear goal chance. The ref has the choice to award a free kick.

Can anybody clarify this?

That would've been something to consider in this foul perhaps. It was not a clear chance at goal, there was a foul but only minor...maybe award a free kick from there?

Sorry pal but your sentence... Did he go down too easy? We will never know,... is <deleted> he <deleted> did we all know that as for the rest a foul in the box is a penalty IF THE HUNTY BOLOX IS NOT DIVING.

Benteke chanced it and got a result end of story really

If you need any info on the offside rule just go on the spurs thread they are all veterans there.

You don't need to be a veteran to know the offside rule Red,even my 6 year old nephew knows the rule unlike yourself

Not sure anyone does it like us in Bangkok

It's nearly all Chelsea here in Suphan, hard to fathom then that the sports shop in Robinsons has shirts from a handful of lesser teams but no Chelsea.

Fit-again Silva and Agüero offer reminder of Citys potency

David Silva and Sergio Agüero were back to full fitness

That journo isn't right about Silva BB.

Silva is still having pains with his ankle and playing through it. That's why he's a bit hit and miss

Revealed: The reason behind David Silva's worrying loss of form

Manchester City Pellegrini has lifted the lid on Silva's struggles after he returned to form in the 4-0 win against Aston Villa

Manuel Pellegrini has lifted the lid on David Silva’s worrying loss of form - revealing the Spanish international has been playing through the pain barrier in a bid to keep Manchester City’s title bid alive.

The Chilean confirmed Silva is still struggling with the ankle injury that ruled him out for nine weeks before Christmas.

Full story:-http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/revealed-david-silva-struggles-form-10996841

Fark me ! another excuse

^Chicog, I think that's a decent enough summing up.

Reckon I out-Alfied Alfie ;-) Amazing what you can do when you've as much time on your hands as he has.

oops here comes...

How ironic, you've been posting about the Liverpool incident constantly since 13.40, the 1st time i comment about it is 14.41 and then you talk about how much time i have on my hands

I always wondered what happened if you couldn't pay your bill..........enlightening.

Don't get any ideas ups

Indeed you can, even the worst case scenario will not exceed this in cost. But once it has been spent, it is gone. Can you replenish this, or do you have another fall back plan after that emergency fund is exhausted?

Yes I can, the 5 mill. is money that is ring fenced, after that's gone I'm down to spending my money, my savings and my income, after that's exhausted I'm going to fly back to the UK and very lamely attempt to hold up a bank and spend my final years in Parkhurst, three squares a day, free medical for life and a nice view of the Solent.

Love the logic! made me laugh

Here's the thing -- you have a decent enough "reserve" and you also have income, so why not release the reserve, pay the premiums and have money for enjoying life? No need to end up viewing the Solent through bars.

There's a pretty fair chance that I may not even have to spend any of that money, in which case it goes to my heirs hence no point throwing it away on a what if basis if I don't have to.

And anyway, I like the Solent, it's a lovely spot.

What chance is that then 10% 30% 70% have you done any research on the stats ? i would imagine that the Health Insurance companies have hence the the high premiums they charge as people get older.

Give it a rest Alfred, if you want somebody to argue with, get married or something!

Argue, you made a statement and i was just wondering what you based that statement on ? anyway i suppose your "Give it a rest Alfred" means that you don't have a clue about the chances