Match of the Day

[Cornish Steve]

I arrived in Cornwall today, stopping over for a day or so en route to Greece. This evening, I watched Match of the Day for the first time in years. I had quite a shock:

- Wigan? In second place? I thought they were a non-league team!

- No Jimmy Hill or that former goalie Bob somebody-or-other?

- Where are the managers from England? They're mostly from other countries.

On top of that, I was disappointed with the calibre of play from teams in the First Division (or whatever it's called today). Sunderland are awful; West Ham are poor; Manchester United are terrible (I thought they were supposed to be good?). I wasn't impressed either with teams at the top of the table: Chelsea make a lot of mistakes; Tottenham and Arsenal are inconsistent; Bolton and Wigan both seem rather ordinary. Of course, I was watching highlights put together by the Beeb, and they may not represent fairly how teams are really playing.

From one evening's television viewing, here are Steve's predictions for this season:

- Chelsea will win by a mile
- London teams will take the first three spots
- Wigan will fall away as the season progresses
- Sunderland will finish last by a mile
- Everton will escape relegation
- Fulham will finish in the top half (one team that impressed me today)
- The BBC will continue to hold incomprehensible interviews with managers who struggle with the language
- England won't make the Final Eight in the World Cup (sorry guys)

One final point. When displaying the current score, the BBC use a three-letter code for most teams: TOT, CHE, BOL, BLA, LIV, etc. I had to think for a moment why they use ASNL for Arsenal but, after a while, it dawned on me. :)

[Jayne]

Yes they are rubbish, they should be banned from TV :lol:

Jayne

[mumper]

Hi Steve,

I think your predictions may be right with exceptions being Wigan and the three top spots. :D

[fastfences]

Hi Steve,
Yeah, I suppose it was a strange sight seeing guys running 'round without 14 kilos of shoulder pads and the like. Were you surprised when only the goalkeeper picked up the ball. Oh, the ball . . did you remember it is round?
i bet you were straight down the park afterwards for a bit of a kickaround!! :lol:
Cheers, Nigel

[fastfences]

Totally different subject, and serious! Are you amazed at how 'commercial' Cornwall has become in recent years?
cheers again, N

[Cornish Steve]

Totally different subject, and serious! Are you amazed at how 'commercial' Cornwall has become in recent years?
cheers again, N

The town in which I grew up has doubled in size in the last five years. What used to be fields as far as the eye could see is now row after row of new houses.

I don't have a car (I took the train down) so I've not had the opportunity to visit much this weekend. It's nice, though, to see familiar sites (and sights) and to visit family.

This is the difficult part about living overseas; we don't get to see family that often. On this occasion, I flew a couple of days early en route to Athens, flying via London.

[Cornish Steve]

i bet you were straight down the park afterwards for a bit of a kickaround!!

I would have been, but I had foot surgery eight days ago. It was tough flying to Brazil last week, and it's not so easy here either. I'm like an old man hobbling around everywhere (wait a minute, I am an old man!). I'll have to wait until my next trip before I can demonstrate my dazzling football skills!

[Asteeleleith]

This is half the problem.

Interestingly enough i went onto the West Ham website, being a hammers fan myself. And was shocked. Not by out 9th place position, thats normal

But Arsenal are for once only two points ahead of us. chealse is at top (then they have money bags abromovich don;t they!) man utd somewhere in between that. and the season is half over.

Whats going on!
no wonder we cannot win against teams like Brazil, or Italy.
I mean we worship Beckham who cannot even take penalties properly. :-)

Enough said on that i think

Al

[Cornish Steve]

...here are Steve's predictions for this season:

- Chelsea will win by a mile
- London teams will take the first three spots
- Wigan will fall away as the season progresses
- Sunderland will finish last by a mile
- Everton will escape relegation
- Fulham will finish in the top half (one team that impressed me today)
- The BBC will continue to hold incomprehensible interviews with managers who struggle with the language
- England won't make the Final Eight in the World Cup (sorry guys)


Hey, I'm not doing so badly.

- Chelsea is winning by a mile
- London teams are currently #1, #4, and #5
- Wigan is falling away
- Sunderland is solidly in last place
- Everton is climbing the table
- Fulham is also climbing the table

[fastfences]

Thanks for the update, goldctrnostradamus :wink:
Cheers, Nigel

[Hayles]

Dear goldctrnostradamus,

Tonight's lottery numbers please.....?

Forever grateful,

Hayles xxxxxxxx :lol:

[fastfences]

Poor Hayles,
I think you need a little more than 'goldctrnostradamus' can help with;
there is no Sunday night numbers :wink:

However, I'm sure goldcntrsteve can give you a 3,000 word precis' as to why there isn't and why there should be!

Cheers, Nigel

[Hayles]

Today's Sunday???

Where did Saturday go....? :( :wink:

I've got to have some time off.

[MinuWeb]

If you want saturdays numbers, just ask, I'm sure alot of people would help out there :D

[fastfences]

I thought she'd gone.

But our aura is still with her, and anymoo is destined to return soon. Just don't ask me how I know. :wink:
Cheers, Nigel

[Cornish Steve]

Not meaning to sound cocky, but the predictions I made back in October weren't so far off. Of course, there's a few more weeks left to the season, but it's looking good.

- Chelsea will win by a mile (they are)
- London teams will take the first three spots (4 of top 6 are London teams)
- Wigan will fall away as the season progresses (they have)
- Sunderland will finish last by a mile (they are)
- Everton will escape relegation (they are)
- Fulham will finish in the top half (getting there)
- The BBC will continue to hold incomprehensible interviews with managers who struggle with the language (what's new?)
- England won't make the Final Eight in the World Cup (we shall see)