TalkBass OFFICIAL English Football thread 2012-13: Part 3

[bassybill]

By the way, this might sound ungrateful but I won't be able to stop myself hoping for a Villa win against the Toffees. As you know, as a Brummie I have a soft spot for the old claret and blue and the thought of them being relegated and leaving The **** (Baggies) as the only WM side in the Premiership is just too awful to contemplate.

[Tituscrow]

I thought your lads half-volley was a stunner....a classy goal worthy of winning any game.

Glad you are enjoying the book, though I had a moments panic when I thought you may have got it yourself. Hope the embossing was spelt correctly.

I wouldn't be surprised if Villa nick it today.

[bassybill]

Football trivia for you - what is true of both Stoke and Accrington and not true of any other club?

[MartinG1957]

They were both created by the Dark Lord?

[bassybill]

Originally Posted by MartinG1957

They were both created by the Dark Lord?

That's also true for Mordor Academicals, Dol Guldur Rangers and Gorgoroth FC.

I always find it amusing that cheeze refers to Stoke fans as "orcs" because the area around the Britannia Stadium could eassily be twinned with the Dagorlad battle plain at the gates of Mordor. It's like the blasted pits of hell (or it was when the place was first cobbled together on the cheap). Things aren't much better inside the ground, either.

Mind you, their old place had certainly seen better days. Do you remember the old Victoria Ground, Titus?

[SoVeryTired]

Originally Posted by MartinG1957

They were both created by the Dark Lord?

Don't be ridiculous.

(I think Accrington were created by Saruman.)

[SoVeryTired]

Originally Posted by bassybill

That's also true for Mordor Academicals, Dol Guldur Rangers and Gorgoroth FC.

I always find it amusing that cheeze refers to Stoke fans as "orcs" becuase the area around the Britannia Stadium could eassily be twinned with the Dagorlad battle plain at the gates of Mordor. It's like the blasted pits of hell (or it was when the place was first cobbled together on the cheap). Things aren't much better inside the ground, either.

Mind you, their old place had certainly seen better days. Do you remember the old Victoria Ground, Titus?

I went to the Victoria Ground with a Stoke-supporting friend. No, we won't go back, not there, not to him, they can't make us, gollum, gollum! But we swore to serve the master of the precious! No, ashes and dust, and thirst there is, and pits pits pits, and orcses, thousands of orcses, and always the great eye watching, watching!

[bassybill]

Originally Posted by bassybill

Football trivia for you - what is true of both Stoke and Accrington and not true of any other club?

First clue - this came close to being changed in 2011. But it wasn't.

[Darkstrike]

Originally Posted by Tituscrow

Should be a cracking set of games today.

Aye!

Originally Posted by Tituscrow

Despite Villa's freefall, I fully expect a complacent and profligate Everton to lose at home today.

I thought you were taking the piss, 1-2 as I type. Come on Fellaini, just imagine that they're United and cut 'em apart....

Originally Posted by Tituscrow

Arsenal v Stoke? Looking forward to an apoplectic Cheezewiz getting all angry about drooling orcs and suchlike.

Orcs V Hobbits, this must be quite like when Sharky and his men invade the Shire.

Originally Posted by Tituscrow

Fulham v United? RvP to put them to the sword.

We can only hope!

Originally Posted by Tituscrow

Toon v Chelski? I really hope the cheese-eating surrender-monkeys can at least hold Abramovichs playthings to a draw, but I suspect not.

Oui! Oui! I wonder have Chelsea finally seen sense, starting Demba Ba, Fernando "Skyloft" Torres shall be back next week.

Originally Posted by Tituscrow

Sitteh v the Redsh**e tomorrow? Sorry DS and SVT, but I'm hoping for a thumping home win.

Understand your reasoning, but there's no result that'll leave me happy. Why can't both teams get 0 points? Or -5, -5 would be nice...

Originally Posted by Tituscrow

And let's not forget poor old Bill's beloved black-and-gold's, who continue to look less and less like the team that sat atop the PL - albeit very briefly - not that long ago. Dean Saunders yet to bag a win? oh well, at least some new reading material is available to remind him of what used to be..,

This is disheartening, I wanted them back at the first attempt.

Originally Posted by MartinG1957

Agree with all of that Titus except for your own lads... I would expect Everton to come out on top over Villa - do feel sorry for Paul Lambert but can't understand why he went there in the first place...

And a word on the other lads with the odd shaped balls - with all due respect lads I hope Scotland give England a serious doing and Ireland likewise over Wales in Cardiff - now THAT'S what you call a triumph of hope over expectation - but what can you say, it's in the genes..... O flower of Scotland... :-)

Unrelated, mostly, but Flower of Scotland is an awesome song.

Originally Posted by bassybill

That's also true for Mordor Academicals, Dol Guldur Rangers and Gorgoroth FC.

I always find it amusing that cheeze refers to Stoke fans as "orcs" because the area around the Britannia Stadium could eassily be twinned with the Dagorlad battle plain at the gates of Mordor. It's like the blasted pits of hell (or it was when the place was first cobbled together on the cheap). Things aren't much better inside the ground, either.

Mind you, their old place had certainly seen better days. Do you remember the old Victoria Ground, Titus?

Dol Guldur Rangers? They the ones that play at Ibrox?

[bassybill]

Originally Posted by Darkstrike

This is disheartening, I wanted them back at the first attempt.

Not a hope in hell. As it stands at HT in the Championship, we are one place above the drop zone. I can easily see a second relegation for us this season.

[Darkstrike]

Oh my! That is bloody well awful!

[SoVeryTired]

Originally Posted by Darkstrike

Orcs V Hobbits, this must be quite like when Sharky and his men invade the shire.

Bonus points for reference to the book rather than the film.

It was confusing when I saw them as Mark Stein, a true hobbit, was playing for Stoke. And the great uruk captain, Kevin Francis, was playing against them for Stockport. The tallest and shortest players in the league against each other - I recall Stein being better in the air.

[Tituscrow]

Originally Posted by bassybill

That's also true for Mordor Academicals, Dol Guldur Rangers and Gorgoroth FC.

I always find it amusing that cheeze refers to Stoke fans as "orcs" because the area around the Britannia Stadium could eassily be twinned with the Dagorlad battle plain at the gates of Mordor. It's like the blasted pits of hell (or it was when the place was first cobbled together on the cheap). Things aren't much better inside the ground, either.

Mind you, their old place had certainly seen better days. Do you remember the old Victoria Ground, Titus?

Let me tell you a story. When I was living and working in Derby, I used to drive back to Chester to see my mates and go to the match. This was from 1993-1997 ish. The drive from Derby pretty much took me through Uttoxeter, Stoke and Crewe along the old A50.

The drive from one side of Stoke to the other used to take about 2 hours to do about 2 miles, during which I was forced to endure the 'sights' of Trentham, Longton, Meir, Normacot and other such delightful suburbs of this great city. We joke about Mordor, but I kid you not, the place is a dump. The folk are actually decent people, but blighted by a Thatcherite neglect that saw them suffer greatly.

Anyway, in the last year of my life in Derby, they built two things...the new A50 Stoke bypass and the Brittania stadium. So, every other week, I saw that place erected from the ground up to completion. I used to stop and take a photo - with an old-fashioned 'camera' - which I spliced into a time lapse sequence for a Stoke fan at the school I was working at!

My last visit to the Victoria ground was a pre-season friendly in 97, when the late Gary Speed played in goal and Big Nev played centre midfield.

As for today...I'm not even bothering to listen to the radio. A home defeat is inevitable.

[Tituscrow]

Bill - GREAT new avatar btw

[bassybill]

From my guitarist's Facebook page...

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Peter Odemwingie.

[MartinG1957]

Who?

[Darkstrike]

Originally Posted by bassybill

From my guitarist's Facebook page...

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Peter Odemwingie.

Hahahahahaha!

I pity the lad though, I don't think it was him with bad intent(like most seem to), just crossed wires.

[bassybill]

Originally Posted by Tituscrow

Bill - GREAT new avatar btw

It was being reminded by your book that done it.

Derek was a pal of mine in his later years. Decent bloke, despite some people's views of his actions during the Bhatti Brothers era. And without doubt one of our greatest ever players, of course. Even his detractors agree with that.

Here he is in action against your lot on a snowy Boxing Day in 1970. Great clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LmZT4O1caE

Steve Gordos, who co-wrote that biography, is also a drinking buddy of mine. He was a sports writer/all round hack for our local rag and he sat a couple of rows in front of me in the Billy Wright stand for about nine seasons.

[bassybill]

My own favourite Doog quote is from a conversation in the pub after one match. It went something like this: "People talk a lot of **** about the Wolves. Don't listen to them. Listen to people like Bill here who watches them week in week out up the road and all over the rest of the country."

That's pretty close to verbatim. Yep, the Doog actually said that about me. My WWFC supporter cred is forever validated by that remark.

And here's some blurb on the book.

Derek "The Doog" Dougan, king of the footballing one-liner, was perhaps the most flamboyant, argumentative, and controversial cult hero in the game's long and lurid history. As a player he submitted a transfer request on the morning of an FA Cup final, played in the 1958 World Cup, picked up a record suspension for swearing at a linesman, shaved his hair off "to feel fresh," formed part of the famed ITV 1970 World Cup panel which invented football punditry, and smashed in goal after arrogant goal for Portsmouth, Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa, Peterborough, Leicester City, Wolves, and Northern Ireland, inspiring the earliest known instances of football-related graffiti as his name was daubed across walls in each of those cities in recognition of his status as the crowd's rebellious hero. At Wolves, following a hat-trick on his debut, he formed a lethal partnership with Dave Wagstaffe and John Richards, although his abrasive character saw him fall out irreparably with Richards and numerous other high profile football figures. After such a career filled with panache and incident, Dougan could not hide his light under a bushel and he continued to pioneer new ground for former footballers. He discovered a political calling, attempting to form a united Irish football team to play Brazil in 1973 at the height of the Troubles. He also stood as a political candidate in his home constituency of East Belfast and represented UKIP on the BBC's Question Time. He was Chairman of the PFA, appointing long-serving Chief Executive Gordon Taylor to his post, and then became the Chief Executive of Wolves himself under the controversial regime of the Bhatti brothers, which almost saw the famous club go out of existence. Add in a colorful love life, the scandal of disappearing charity money, being asked to be a pall-bearer at George Best's funeral, violent assault, glorious goal scoring ability and a maniacal temper and you have the quandary which was The Doog. Coming within months of his early death, this biography, written by two of the journalists who knew him best throughout his tumultuous life, David Harrison of the News of the World and Steve Gordos of the Wolverhampton Express and Star, delves into the murky, entertaining and incredible world of The Doog by talking to many of those who witnessed each turbulent step, including John Richards, Pat Jennings, Gordon Taylor, Doug Ellis, Dave Whelan, Tim Flowers, Sammy McIlroy, Bobby Gould, Mike Bailey, Ray Crawford, Dave Wagstaffe, and features a hunt for an exclusive interview with the Bhatti brothers. With a foreword by former Northern Ireland team-mate and Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill.

[bassybill]

Wow - that must have been quite some end to the game at Goodison.

Results in the Championship mean Wolves are currently three places above the drop, so it could have been worse for us today.