Harleybloke

Only 2/3 of the way up the slope on the 'High Ground' Orphs! After all supporting the Arses can't ever have been so bad. Always in the Top Div etc.

Sloping off to Swansea on a wet Tuesday night, Northwich Vic bombing us out of the cup circa '74, finding that more and grounds you've visited are now in the conference, constant sniping from the Big London clubs, I mean loads of my mates are Arsenal fans and the squarking whenever Watford beat them was deafening!!

People like me n'Fareham Bee, we's at the Top of the moral high ground. Even you sneer at the Watford/Taliban derby. There's as much passion for that and Bristol Rovers v Bristol City or Port Vale v Stoke as any big premiership clash. OK the numbers are smaller but the passion is the same.

And spare a thought for Orient fans, turn out every week following the 'O's when Arsenal, WHU or Spurs are closer.

I do understand what you mean though, I never want Moanchester to win, unless it's vs the Taliban. Nor Liverpool. If you follow a lower Div team and Watford have been in the lower two divs more than the upper two, the media's love affair with those clubs just makes you sick.

.....You couldn't hear it, if they were shooting at me with howitzers!

orpheum

There was a time when i would spend a lot of my terraces at Barnet and i still attend Wingate & Finchley in Ryman League Division 1 North so i do know what it is like at the lower end.
Also in the 1960s Arsenal were struggling to recapture former glories and unfortunately wrongly chose Billy Wright as the manager after George Swindon.Unfortunately he was a colossal mistake and it was a near miss from relegation in 1966 with only 3 of the last 13 matches won.Same again in 1976 in Bertie Mees last season.It is clear from what i have read that he had lost the dressing room.He sold Frank Mclintock,who called him Wendy and bought first Jeff Blockhead and then Mancini as defenders.He also sold Ray Kennedy which was an even worse mistake.So it has not always been roses.
However the point of my previous point is that people who live abroad and those that do not attend matches cannot really understand the depth of feeling about their closest rivals.If Spurs were unlikely enough to get to a major final does anyone seriously consider that we would be supporting them.

Welcome To Highbury The Home Of Football

batman

Another 'football related' death in Italy

''Italian football is facing fresh crisis after a Lazio fan was shot dead by police on Sunday.
Gabriele Sandri, a 26-year-old disc jockey, was killed at a motorway service station near Arezzo as police attempted to intervene to quell trouble.
Lazio's match at Inter Milan was postponed but the incident sparked further scenes of chaos elsewhere in Italy.
Roma's evening match with Cagliari was called off after the Eternal City club asked for it to be put back but an angry mob turned up at the Stadio Olimpico.
Some of them armed with stones and sticks attacked one of the police units in the vicinity of the stadium before raiding the headquarters of the Italian Olympic Committee.
Earlier, the match between Atalanta and AC Milan in Bergamo was abandoned after seven minutes because of crowd disturbances.
The incidents come nine months after policeman Filippo Raciti was killed during crowd trouble surrounding the Sicilian derby match between Catania and Palermo.
That led to draconian security measures adopted by the Italian government with numerous stadia closed until they made improvements to ensure better security.
AC Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf believes the troubles represent a problem in Italian society that goes beyond football.
The Holland international told Sky Sports News: "The situation had nothing to do with football and they (the fans) abused this to make another story in the stadium.
"The problem is a society problem... the Government have to do something about the situation.
"People are not happy and football is a great place to show your unhappiness.
"Unfortunately football is losing all the time - it's sad to see kids crying (in grounds)."
Seedorf was expecting trouble at Milan's game given the events earlier in the day.
He added: "I knew before the match there would be a strange atmosphere because of what had happened.
"Both Atalanta and Milan fans responded - it was a big problem because they wanted us to suspend the game.
"They didn't want the game to proceed - that was the only thing they were shouting from the first minute of the game.
"Their goal was to suspend the game and they succeeded in that.
"It was a precaution to not play the game. The protest wasn't against the players, it was against the Carabinieri.
"It's like civil war here and we are in the middle of it even if we don't have any responsibility.
"I'm looking forward to seeing some real action from the Government and sports federations.
"This is nothing to do with football."

(taken from orange online sports news)

Bats.

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

orpheum

back on top where we belong

Welcome To Highbury The Home Of Football

hankoler

It's looking like Arsenal's pot this year, being a neutral i hope they do win it , good luck to them.

batman

I agree .... barring a disastrous slump in form The Arse have to be the favourites. Mind you, there is still a long way to go and neither they or ManUSA have left the pack trailing too far behind.

Bats.

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

cletus awreetus

"The West Ham defender Anton Ferdinand admitted throwing the first punch in a confrontation outside a nightclub, a court heard today.
Ferdinand told police he thought the man might be an armed mugger who wanted to steal his £64,000 diamond-encrusted watch."


That just about sums up the modern day footballer for me. £64,000 for a diamond-encrusted watch.
Pathetic!

Harbottle

Nothing against Arsenal as a club but it would be nice to see a team with at least a smattering of English players win the English league.

Glad to see Steve Coppell is the latest to raise the issue of far too many foreign players in our league, having the league full of these so called better players does not seem to do anything to improve our chances of a club winning the Champions League. Wins have been few and far between in that competition.

batman

There used to be an outcry from some English fans about the number of Scots, Welsh and Irish players in the old Football League. The biggest difference between then and now is that those players included the likes of Best, Bremner, Giles, Cooke et al. Apart from the 'big names' many of the imports IMHO are no better than home grown players.

Even though Chelski have a large number of imports, I'd like to see the number restricted to no more than four in a side. Chelski have a very good youth academy in which 80% of the players are from the UK and Irelend.

I did read somewhere that Arsenal's academy has a surprisingly large number of UK players. Maybe orpheum knows more of this?

Bats.

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

David Brent

Although only a friendly, there was nothing inspiring about England's victory over Austria last night.
Plus the news that Michael Owen has injured himself AGAIN !!!! He will be out for another four weeks at least.

Whatever happens in today's match between Israel and Russia I still think England will struggle to beat Croatia at home.
Look at our current (available) strike force - Crouch (Liverpool Reserves) and Defoe (Spurs Reserves).
That sort of sums up our squad doesn't it?

Dave.

dremble wedge

From an Englishman - Good luck to the Scots today.

I think this picture says it all...

cletus awreetus

Why is Maclaren indulging a player who is recovering from a knee injury and is not fit and his last competitive game was against a Hollywood Celebrity Eleven?
That would NEVER have happened under the only succssesful manager England have had: Alf Ramsay. If you weren't fit, you didn't play - regardless of who you were.
What happened to the manager's desire for a new direction, it looks just like the team he inherited from Ericksson.
When will England's manager learn that no matter how good his players are (or imagine themselves to be), they cannot play together and a wholesale clearout is necessary. Bring in a whole new 11 players - youngsters who want to play for their country, not just turn up and think that inflated salaries and ego will win matches.

lordtednfs

I totally agree with you Cletus. Think back to the days of John Barnes & Paul Scholes in midfield, it was like watching come dancing, they would pass the ball, jump up and down a little bit and then do bugger all for the next twenty minutes or so. But in a club shirt and being paid, they would draw blood to win, but if you are not paid to die for your country, they will not perform. Dangle the Golden Carrot and watch the donkey move.

The same has to be said for many of todays "under performers" who dare to wear "The Shirt". I don't think a new 11 would be enough, maybe 30 or 40 to give more choice. Hargreaves is an excellent player, good choice Sir Alex. Ashley Cole has got lazy at Chelski, when he was at Arsenal, he was almost unstoppable as an attacking wing back, show my age, but look at him now, damn lazy. Lampard for sure, same for Gerrard. Maybe Green in goal, Robinson is making too many mistakes. Dawson at Spurs is a great defender and should be given a chance. More choices should come from Championship clubs perfoming well and are often overlooked, Why? Because outside the Premiership everything else is crap!

This is the toughest week for us England fans and we hope that they qualify. But if they don't there could be the Scotties to support. Man how they have turned Scottish football around and yet England have taken 5 steps backwards. Why? We were a force once upon a time and now we are a farce.

We need decent management. Bye bye McClaren, hello "The Chosen One".

______________________
Hooked off the line

hankoler

My heart goes out to Scotland, to lose with an extra time goal is cruel, their performance overall was marvellous and they deserved at least a point out of the game.

DB7

They have really played above themselves. It was only when looking at the teamsheet today and with ickle McFadden up front that the lack of depth really struck me.

England have the players but half the time they can't be arsed to put any effort in.