Football - Never Say Die!

[BigFatCoward]

The sleazebag has resigned. We can talk about something else now. 

[polishgenius]

11 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

The sleazebag has resigned. We can talk about something else now. 

Resigned in the most stupid possible way

[ljkeane]

Really? 

[Teng Ai Hui]

I hate hearing Piers Morgan talk about football because I don't want people to know which team he supports.

[BigFatCoward]

1 hour ago, Teng Ai Hui said:

I hate hearing Piers Morgan talk about football because I don't want people to know which team he supports.

I find him fairly representative of that fan base to be  honest. I used to live right by the stadium, bunch of arseholes. 

[Denvek]

4 hours ago, Teng Ai Hui said:

I hate hearing Piers Morgan talk about football because I don't want people to know which team he supports.

He's the main reason I became convinced that Messi is better than Ronaldo.

[polishgenius]

6 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

I find him fairly representative of that fan base to be  honest. I used to live right by the stadium, bunch of arseholes. 

And some of their fans were known to be explosive.

[BigFatCoward]

2 hours ago, polishgenius said:

And some of their fans were known to be explosive.

i used to find them pissing up my wall all the time, i used to shake them and make them piss on themselves.  

[polishgenius]

Dublin is whatnow?

[Consigliere]

Pogba provisionally suspended for anti-doping offence.

[baxus]

So, is this a step towards a more serious drug testing program in football?

Off the top of my head, I can name Maradona and Adrian Mutu getting banned for cocaine and Rio Ferdinand for avoiding testing. Other than that, I can't remember anyone.

Given the increasing number of games and insane amounts of money as well as all the pressure to perform, I find it very hard to believe that football is that clean.

[Heartofice]

5 minutes ago, baxus said:

Given the increasing number of games and insane amounts of money as well as all the pressure to perform, I find it very hard to believe that football is that clean.

I've long suspected that the levels of doping is pretty high in a lot of sports. I think it's pretty hard to detect a lot of these substances, especially something like Testosterone where you can get benefits taking it while still keeping your levels at an acceptable level, and I'm sure there are ways around it all anyway. I'd guess the pressure to take something to give you even a little bit of an edge would be quite high, especially if you suspect everyone else is doing it too.

[Consigliere]

1 hour ago, baxus said:

So, is this a step towards a more serious drug testing program in football?

Nothing to suggest that it is.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Kicker is leaning into former Bayern sporting director Salihamidzic and his assistant Neppe (still at the club). It's really quite something. They have apparently access to some internal documents and his judgement regarding players is not great.

Davies, often viewed as coup by Salihamidzic, was apparently judged not good enough by him (and Neppe). A Canadian playing in the MLS does not have the quality to play for Bayern. He only pulled the trigger, when United threatened to sign him.

Next one was Wirtz. Everybody in Bayern's academy knew Wirtz was class, and one of the big global talents in that age group. They could've poached him from Köln's academy, if they put a real effort into it. But apparently their approach was rather half-assed. Instead Leverkusen moved in with the prospect of integrating him into the first team rather quick (not sure if Bayern could've promised it tbf) and really upset their local rivals by stealing their brightest. There was an agreement between the big clubs in the region (Köln, Leverkusen and Gladbach) not poach talents from their respective academies. After Leverkusen signed Wirtz Köln was like, yeah, right the deal's off now.

Next one Musiala. Like Wirtz widely regarded as one of the brigtest talents in that age group at Bayern's acamdey. Bayern originally were after Odoi. They only signed Musiala after Odoi's brother (also serving as his agent) pointed towards Musiala. Must have been quite something to be at the academy knowing, who the big talents were and the Sporting Director not being interested.

And finally Haaland. Bayern could have signed him instead of Dortmund. Player really wanted to join. But he was considered to be not a fit for Bayern's system. Again the academy staff telling him to bloody sign the player.

Edited September 12, 2023 by A Horse Named Stranger

[baxus]

2 hours ago, Heartofice said:

I've long suspected that the levels of doping is pretty high in a lot of sports. I think it's pretty hard to detect a lot of these substances, especially something like Testosterone where you can get benefits taking it while still keeping your levels at an acceptable level, and I'm sure there are ways around it all anyway. I'd guess the pressure to take something to give you even a little bit of an edge would be quite high, especially if you suspect everyone else is doing it too.

I'd say there's doping in every single sport that has achieved high enough level. People are just willing to turn a blind eye when it's their heroes doing it.

55 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

Nothing to suggest that it is.

The point was to start a conversation, not to suggest it is.  

[The Sunland Lord]

3 hours ago, baxus said:

So, is this a step towards a more serious drug testing program in football?

Off the top of my head, I can name Maradona and Adrian Mutu getting banned for cocaine and Rio Ferdinand for avoiding testing. Other than that, I can't remember anyone.

Given the increasing number of games and insane amounts of money as well as all the pressure to perform, I find it very hard to believe that football is that clean.

Pep was also banned 4 months in Brescia in 2001 for using nandrolone. He fought it for 8 years and finally was cleared of all charges in 2009, but he did sit out those 4 months at the time he tested positive. In 2005 he was even sentenced to 7 months in prison, but that got cleared altogether with the charges later on. 

[Wilbur]

7 hours ago, baxus said:

So, is this a step towards a more serious drug testing program in football?

Off the top of my head, I can name Maradona and Adrian Mutu getting banned for cocaine and Rio Ferdinand for avoiding testing. Other than that, I can't remember anyone.

Given the increasing number of games and insane amounts of money as well as all the pressure to perform, I find it very hard to believe that football is that clean.

Did the Samir Nasri case reveal that numerous players were either doing "blood cleansing" or else just getting high-class prostitutes served to them under the guise of "medical treatment"?  I seem to remember that he and his clique were originally charged with some form of low-level doping that took place in expensive "clinics", but in reality it devolved into some sort of cosplay prostitution.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Alexander Walke (former goalkeeper) was busted after test found THC his body. That was ages ago. So was Lee Bowyer btw.

Mario Vuskovic was busted for EPO use. He's denying it, but tests say he did it. So he is out for 2 years (until the end of the year 2024 I think).

Deco was caught using Furosemid in his final years (not directly a doing substance, but more something you use to mask some substances)

Brazil's Kerolin also got busted and suspended for two years.

Rene Higuita was caught with cocaine.
Stam and F. de Boer Nandrolon

Angelo Peruzzi also got busted iirc.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Oh, Germany can actually still play football?!

[A Horse Named Stranger]

In unsurprising news, Klopp has put an end to those speculations about him taking over as Germany manager. Pointing at his contract and commitment towards Liverpool FC. He was also not convinced by the idea, of him doing both jobs. Managing Liverpool and Germany. This was always the outcome.

Felix Magath has put forward his name as a potential Germany manager.

Lahm thinks van Gaal is the man for the job.