the football thread

[Jakob]

Was rooting for Croacia i must say.. what a team! Quite unfortunate the first 2 goals scored against them in the finals. The small things just didnt go their way

[13d]

well.. If anyone is interested .. rangers are in action again in a couple of hours, playing vs a Croatian team..
Europe league, 2nd qualifying round, 1st leg

expecting a tough game and hostile environment.. hopefully we can knock in some away goals

[steve]

that was a good away win but i think they might well be a good side on the counter. so i don't think the tie is over.

on another note ... i remember in school singing songs like no pope of rome and three cheers for the red white and blue... more than likely we'd get expelled for that now

[13d]

yeah, good score but rather lucky to come away with a win I felt.. they are pretty decent while we have about 8 new guys playing.. be a difficult return leg at ibrox, but hopefully we can progress having had another week to gel.. these games are pretty much pre-season, so early
got wigan at ibrox this weekend in a friendly match..

people get offended pretty easily these days, right? some of the football songs i really don't agree with, & sometimes the minority (of any team's fans) can go a bit ott.. but yeah, footie fans are pretty ridiculous.. the game is ridiculous.. mums, dads, doctors, teachers.. & so on ..acting like kids, singing silly songs, boo-ing opponents, crying etc.
it's amazing how much emotion is evoked from a silly game .. & it's not just an isolated idiotic cult.. the world is football mad

[steve]

people get offended pretty easily these days, right? some of the football songs i really don't agree with, & sometimes the minority (of any team's fans) can go a bit ott.. but yeah, footie fans are pretty ridiculous.. the game is ridiculous.. mums, dads, doctors, teachers.. & so on ..acting like kids, singing silly songs, boo-ing opponents, crying etc.
it's amazing how much emotion is evoked from a silly game .. & it's not just an isolated idiotic cult.. the world is football mad

you know what i would say... if you are easily offended then don't set foot in a football ground.

i know you are only trying to make light of it but as you say it does have a massive impact on peoples lives. Some people who don't get it may laugh at that but is it any more ridiculous than grown men and women standing in a field in the middle of nowhere or at a venue singing words to songs that have been put together that mean nothing. Following a musician or a band is an example of part of that need to belong, feeling something that connects with your select group, cult, fans or whatever term you want to put on it. You then build up a history of times, places memories and such like.

Football is a drug, it’s tribal. to a lot of people the club represent their community. although that feeling has become less so as the game has become more global and money has become the dominant force. But the clubs still have their own identity, colours, history and in some cases religious links based on the background of when a club was formed.

the modern game like society has been sanitised for money from tv, advertising and the push for every thing to be fit for a family audience. football is not immune from the pc brigade either. so what you get is the attempt to ban songs, you also get the ridiculous situation of a tv commentator apologising for bad language that might be picked up on the tv. how sad is that. but that is the world we live in now. it is all fake. it is all fake outrage it is about trying to create this world where no one is upset or offended but the reality is the more you ban things the more the easily offended get offended.

as you know there is a ban on what is classed as sectarian songs. the bottom line is you can try and ban any song within a stadium / private ground but it doesn’t change anything. the interpretation of your actions is the important thing not what you might sing. they are only words put together and the majority of fans who sing songs that some people would find offensive, do so inside a ground and once the game has finished they come out and that is the end of that for another week. it is all part of the theatre, as i said it is part of belonging, the football ground is their church.

[mishmosh]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI2gVNS29p8

Bless his cotton socks!

[steve]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI2gVNS29p8

Bless his cotton socks!

[13d]

Well trained
Can imagine him 30 years later in an ill fitting footie shirt, tattooed, with beer in hand singing the same song..

Rangers update:
good 3-0 win vs Wigan last week

1-1 last night in Europe league 2nd qualifying round, 2nd leg.. Rangers win 2-1 on aggregate vs a tricky team..

Still early days but looking much improved under Gerrard.. he really gets it.. he's a winner.. Great mentality and high standards, pleasing to see..

Not great to see.. seems there was some violence last night before the game.. Not sure how the media are reporting it (usually spun to negatively impact rangers)..
apparently a large group of away fans marched up to the stadium before the game and attacked rangers fans.. who responded... Chaos...

Hoping we can get through the 3rd qualifying round and playoff, to finally reach the group stages

[steve]

i watched the aberdeen game... couple of terrible decisions by the ref..it was never a sending off and it was never a penalty. but rangers should have won.

[13d]

yeah, the red card got rescinded the ref didn't even see it.. the linesman called it.. conveniently missing the 2 off-the-ball barges on the player from their defender

been a good week since.. Europa league 3rd round qualifier, 3-1 with away leg on Thursday, I think.
a good 2-0 win today with 10 men again

great improvement & still early days under gerrard.. wonder how lampard is getting on at Derby