The 2011/2012 Football Season - Fans Thread

Sports Sports: Chat / Discussions
181

A nice little story to report on for a change.

My club, West Ham; have recently signed a 17 year old midfielder, namely Pelly Ruddock on a two-and-a-half year contract from Boreham Wood, the Conference South club or as it seems to be known this season, The Blue Square Bet South.

Nothing too strange in that you ask? given he is a talented player, but here is the point, the lad was aware that several other clubs were also very interested in him including QPR. His response was to ask his Chairman to politely turn down any offers to trial with other clubs because in his heart he wanted to join the Hammers.

Now very many may think the lad was certifiable to feel this way with the ever present lure of the big time and big money beckoning from other clubs but wait, there’s more.

According to Danny Hunter the Chairman of Boreham, Ruddock finally chose West Ham having been impressed by the manner in which the club conducted their business.

" They were impeccable to deal with " he said. He went on to single out the peerless Academy Director Tony Carr MBE.

" He is a sincere football man and when you consider what he’s achieved in the game, to then spend a lot of time with me to ensure the detail worked for all parties in terms of Pelly’s lodgings, education, finances and other smaller details meant a great deal to me."

For our clubs part, Tony Carr has declared himself delighted to have landed the promising youngster. “We are pleased to have signed Pelly,” he said. “We see a young player with great potential and hope, with further training and coaching we can produce a player ready to play for our first team in the not too distant future.”

Lots of stories abound regarding the greedy footballer but every now and then one comes up that is worth recording. I really hope it works for the lad and in doing so us.

Well played.

182

It is with great sadness to have to report once again that the footballing world has said farewell to another great.

It has been announced that the former Brazilian World Cup Skipper, Socrates has died in hospital at the age of 57.
Often seen as one of the greatest players of his generation he was a midfielder of class who won 60 caps for his national side, scoring 22 goals along the way.

He had been in hospital in San Paolo with food poisoning and was on a life support machine with septic shock when he passed away.

He had been in and out of the intensive care unit since alcohol abuse caused his stomach to hemorrhage back in August. Socrates, a heavy drinker, smoker and qualified medical doctor was trying to sort himself out ahead of a liver transplant.

At this time I prefer to remember him as the sublime player he was.
Who will never forget the 82 World Cup in Spain and the second round match between the very much fancied Brazilians and Italy.

What a feast of a match that was, The Samba boys had the talents of players like Zico, Socrates, Falcao and Junior whilst the Azzurri had Dino Zoff between the sticks and outfield players like Paolo Rossi, Marco Tardelli and the uncompromising Claudio Gentile.

Against all the odds Italy came away with a 3-2 win but I reckon it to be one of the finest games ever and Socrates was Majestic.

RIP
Socrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira

183

Hammer, that lad Pelly Ruddock, no relation to the rather infamous “Razor” Ruddock, who also had a spell at the Hammers? Another defeat for the Imps at Newport, by all accounts they were dire. Shame about Burnley, who seem to be on a bit of a roll. Glad that Socrates shortened his name, that was some moniker in full! Great player, in an outstanding Brazil side. RIP.

184

John, I don’t think there is any risk of that :wink:

185

I’m sure that the young man will benefit from joining the Hammers, he seems to have his feet firmly on the ground for one so young, good luck to him.
I wont say a lot about Liverpool’s only goal defeat at Craven Cottage, they seem to save their worst results for when they play the run of the mill sides and having Jay Spearing sent off didn’t help either, not to worry plod on regardless.

186

I think perhaps I have lost the plot a little over this latest decision by UEFA on Rooney.

Loose cannon Rooney - being polite - was suspended for three matches after his sending off for violent conduct against Montenegro. In reality, the petulant moron lost the tackle and cowardly kicked his opponent from behind which could in itself have threatened the injured players career.

He was in my humble opinion deservedly given a three match suspension.

We see the FA sending out a team of four lawyers to defend the indefensible and even more ludicrous they succeed in getting a reduction in the sentence provided he promises to be a good boy for a while.

Can it be right for the FA to appeal against a sentence that would have been automatic under their own rules? I say no.
What sort of message does it send out to every other transgressor of fair play? carry on regardless?

Would they do this for anyone else, I guess not.
And finally, is our national side so bereft of talent that we cannot do without him, for the sake of England I hope not, heaven knows what the guys who are picked when he is suspended but dropped as soon as he is back, will think. :twisted:

Go for a lie down now.

187

Hammer, could’nt agree more about this farce. What the hell was the total bill for sending all them faces out to Switzerland? You can imagine the amount of nosebagging and boozing that took place. One would have thought the future of the England Team was at stake, for goodness sake! The more you see that tackle, the more petulant it seems. Is’nt it time Master Rooney was given a reality check, and spent some time in the reserves? Liedown not needed, just somewhere to scream endlessly!

188

A quick rundown on the weekends fixtures for the more discerning supporter and I promise there will be no sarky references about competitions in Europe or teams from Manchester, snigger. :smiley:

As usual we start with Cowdenbeath, they are at home to Arbroath. The match at the Central Park ground kicks-off at 3:00pm.
This encounter has all the hallmarks of being a 6 pointer as ‘The Red Lichties’ currently second in the table will be hoping to improve upon a record which has seen them ending up on the losing side in more than half of the games played between the two.

The Blue Brazil on the other hand will want to put clear water between the two sides as only goal difference separates them at present.They will certainly not relish the sort of fight they needed just to get a point against Albion last time out.

Moving onto Lincoln City, The Red Imps travel to to Wales for the second time in successive weeks, this time they visit Colwyn Bay on Saturday for their first round tie of the FA Carlsberg Trophy. The match at the Red Lion Foods Stadium kicks-off at 3.00pm.

The free agent defender Jason Beardsley has signed non-contract forms following the departure of Jean Arnaud and will go straight into the squad. Looking at this one I take the Imps to overcome the Seagulls at the first time of asking.

Going up country - good name for a song title that!- a quick dash up the A580 and we will soon find Anfield, the home of Liverpool FC.
This Saturday they are playing hosts to QPR, kick-off 3.00pm.which will no doubt please Mr Dalglish. He will no doubt want to expunge the defeat at the hands of Fulham, last time out, from the memory banks of the squad.

Sadly that loss saw an 11 match unbeaten run end although they still are unbeaten at home this season. You have to go back to 1996 for the last match between these two which went the way of The Reds at Loftus Road.
The last time QPR played at Anfield in 1995 the infamous Razor Ruddock scored the only goal. I would really like to see The Reds put QPR to the sword if only to keep Neil Warnock quiet. :!:

As for our my little band of troopers, we are off the the Madejski Stadium tomorrow for our encounter with Reading who are currently in mid table. We are still without key players but hopefully Henri Lansbury is very near to coming back and should be in the squad.

Not a foregone conclusion this one, Brian McDermott will make sure the Royals will raise their game for this game, as seemingly and quite rightly do all the others in the league. A point from this and we would be doing well.

Finally, belated birthday wishes to Sir Geoffrey Charles Hurst MBE who celebrated his 70th yesterday. Still not too late to put your boots on Geoff.

To all those about to play this weekend, we salute you - weather permitting - Play the game and remember, it is far better to have played and lost than to have never played at all.

Not really, get out there and slaughter them :twisted:

189

Well you have realised by now that Annie has given up on Football, Rooney is an idiot and not much to say about Alex Ferguson for putting up with him, also thought Giggs had retired. Good luck to this thread and glad you are doing the right ups Hammer. Bye lads.

190

With you all the way on the Rooney fiasco John and Hammer, the FA have just succeeded in making a demigod out of reasonably good player, what an insult not only to the unfortunate recipient of his malicious tackle but to all the young aspiring players who are trying to break into the England set up, what a role model and what an FA!
I too hope that Liverpool see off QPR Hammer but will still keep my fingers crossed probably the same as you will be doing for your favourites at Reading, usually a tough place to go to.
Hopefully Lincoln will prove too strong for the North Wales side and Cowdenbeath will end up victorious against Arbroath.
Nice to read your posting Annie, sorry you have gone off the boil regarding football but not really surprised.

191

Cowdenbeaths Central Park ground was covered in snow last night but the game went ahead today after passing a pitch inspection thanks to a snow clearing team of over 30 volunteers. Well done to you lads and lasses.
The game itself ended in a 0-0 draw so the table positions are as you were.

The Red Imps of Lincoln City march into the second round of the FA Carlsberg Trophy thanks to a deserved 1-3 win at Colwyn Bay. Whilst the home side had to battle with 10 men due to an early bath order handed to McEvilly for waving his elbows about, the result was never really in danger.

Liverpool climb to sixth spot in the Premier League after their home win against QPR.The much discussed Luis Suarez let his football do the talking for him early in the second period.He headed in a Charlie Adams cross and netted the only goal of the match. In doing so The Reds avoided a fifth successive home draw.

As for us, I am bereft of any capable, logical or consistent speech to sum up todays debacle. In short any coherent argument I could have had has ceased to be and I am undone.

Of disclipine there was none, the insanity of two players dismissed. Application, endeavour, skill and a desire to win were missing in spades today.

Under Allardyce the Boleyn is quickly becoming a rest home for the weak and woeful. People will say he has bought us sucess but he has in fact had an easy ride recently against no real opposition but with back to back losses he is running but he surely cannot hide for much longer.

Lose the arrogance Sam and do the job you have been paid handsomely to do because at the moment you are destroying my club.

192

Im afraid that I had to look up where Colwyn Bay was,(Knew it was in Wales somewhere), now after the result, its sailing along on Moonlight Bay! Thought Liverpool deserved it, but QPR fought like dogs, hope they say up, Warnock and all. (seemed to have mellowed a bit the old bugger!) Hammer, not good, athough Kebe did windup Collison. Reading are hard to beat at home. Good news is ,Southampton dropped a point at home, so you guys are only two behind. Only glad I’m not playing in this desperate cold and rainy weather.

193

John, I must admit I have seen Mr Warnock on the box a few times lately and he sounds almost human and quite reasonable which is worrying.

I saw the few highlights of our match late last night and it looked a bit different to the streamed live audio version I heard earlier.

I still think despite the provocation that the red cards were justified but the first yellow handed out ot O’Brien was a bit strong. Maybe a tolerant ref would have had a word to both and carried on.
Fat Sam should have asked the ref to pick the subs as all the team were crap.
It is the travelling fans who suffer most, we had 6500 away to Coventry recently how many clubs in any league can boast that? it does not help to turn out garbage like that.
Lose by all means but fight for a result first.

194

I didn’t get much chance to see any football over the weekend because we had family members up from Dorset for a few days but by the looks of it The Hammers fell foul of the referee and a very resilient Reading side, not to worry, still only 2 points in it at the top.
Yes John, Lincoln did well on their visit to North Wales, hopefully a decent draw for them in the next round and an upturn in fortune for them.
Jim’s favourites held to a 0-0 draw in a match that could so easily have been called off but those brave volunteers deserve a medal!
According to reports, the game at Anfield was another one where a visiting goalkeeper decided to be man of the match but well done to QPR for their stirling efforts against Liverpool.

195

Ho Ho Ho, Santa smells, the elves have gone away but the football continues.

We start this weekends fixtures with Cowdenbeath, the Blue Brazil have 35 mile trip to Stirling Albion on Saturday with a 3:00pm kick-off at Forthbank.
The Binos are currently sitting at the bottom of the table and Caretaker boss Greig McDonald will for the first time take charge and be looking to change the fortunes of his club.They have lost the last five league games whilst the visitors record is WWDDD.
An away win should be the order of the day but watch out for a revival and with bad weather it could be a tricky match.

Lincoln City have a very long sleigh ride down to Gloucestershire for their match with Forest Green Rovers. The Saturday Kick-off at The New Lawn Stadium is 3:00pm. The Little Club On The Hill are the longest serving members of the league.They will want to improve their ninth place league position and will be looking to equal a club record of nine wins on the bounce if they can overcome Lincoln. The Imps on the other hand will be wanting to put together a run of sorts leading up to the double header against Grimsby Town over the holidays.
Manager Holdsworth reports that keeper Anyon tweaked a hamstring in training and will not be fit plus other injuries to key players will not make a season to be jolly.Let us hope John that a decent result can be ground out.

Liverpool have plenty of time to ski down to Villa Park for their encounter with Aston Villa on Sunday, the match will Kick-off at 2:05pm which will I suspect please the TV people more than it will KD. The Reds will hope to build on their recent win over QPR and gain some momentum as as they head into the Festive period. They will of course hope to better last years result which saw The Villa win 1-0, somehow I think the Reds will pass the Claret with ease.

And finally,the Hammers? we ‘entertain’- what a strange word that is - Barnsley at the Boleyn on Saturday with a 3:00pm kick-off. Once over I would have taken this as a cert home win. We are reportedly struggling to field a halfway decent team bought about by an astonishingly lengthening injury list and the self inflicted suspensions.
Mid table Barnsley will no doubt look at our available squad and double their resolve to inflict yet another home defeat upon the relegated ladies from the prem. I would not be at all surprised if they did.

In the meantime I shall content myself by delving once more into Ian Dales excellent new book on West Ham entitled ‘West Ham’. ‘A nostalgic look at the century of the club’. It covers the period 1895-1994. and has many hitherto unseen photos. Despite a couple of captioning errors it is a wonderful piece of footballing history and I can comfortably get transported back to the past which I daresay many will think is the best place for me.

With that sadly not being possible it only remains for me to wish our fans of the game, all the best for this weekends jousts and best wishes for a happy christmas and fruitful new year.

Onward.

196

Thanks as always Hammer for your entertaining previews and reviews. Keeping my fingers crossed for an away win tomorrow.

197

It is quite some time since I saw my favourites play such masterful football, especially away from home but how they didn’t win by at least a 4-0 scoreline is still a mystery to me! Never mind, I am still satisfied that they won 2-0 and made Aston Villa look quite pedestrian at times.
You were quite right in your assertion Hammer and Barnsley did prove to be a tough nut to crack but a 1-0 victory still ensured 3 points and leaves them just 1 point behind leaders Southampton, looking interesting coming up to the Christmas round of fixtures.
Lincoln still enjoying an upsurge in fortunes, coming away with a 2-0 victory at Forest Green Rovers.
Did Cowdenbeath have an enforced lay off?
I would also like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very merry Christmas followed by a prosperous and happy new year.

198

I have to confess to finding the Luis Suarez / Patrice Evra situation rather strange, especially the FA Tribunal that has decided the Suarez was guilty. It is not so much their verdict but exactly how it was arrived at.

Of course it is absolutely right that if Suarez was guilty as charged he should be punished. Racism has been a cancer in our game for far too long and it is rather sad that it has taken all these years to do something serious about it.

Many times I have stood on grounds at matches of all levels and been disgusted to see and hear the most despicable treatment of certain players.

All that said, there is a certain irony attached to this latest FA ruling. It seems now that if a player kicks the crap out of an opponent from behind and is seen by the whole world doing, it he can expect full support from everyone and have a just sentence reduced.

If on the other hand he is involved in a verbal altercation with an opponent - and this is not to say that is correct in any way - he can expect to be banned on the word of one player.

I look forward to reading the FA’s ruling in detail.

199

Hammer, what mystifies me is, how come John Terry’s case is subject to a police inquiry, and Saurez’s is not? Both alleged offences took place on the the football field, so how come the difference? Unfortunately both Saurez and Evra have previous in a way, Saurez biting an opponent in Holland, and Evra making unsubstantiated claims of racism at Stamford Bridge staff. As for Terry, he has a record that would gag a hyena. Always remember the arrogant bugger parking in a disabled spot at Pizza Hut, without any shame, as he could afford the fine.As for England Captain, whether or not he’s guilty of racism, that should go to someone a tad more worthy. Lets hope we’re all told the true outcomes of both cases.

200

Yes John, both cases are a little strange, neither of them have a lot going for them especially Terry. How he has got to be the national teams captain beggars belief given his form on and off the field.

It is somehow the sheer hypocracy that winds me up.
None more so than the creatures that are crawling out from under their stones to vent their spleens on the matter.
I think Ian Wright had it summed up when he said that anyone with a grudge can now play the racism card.

Like you , I hope we can get to read all the facts in both cases.