A Beautiful Thread for the Beautiful Game

There are three distinct periods, and one of them is just one season.

• 2005-2013
• 2013-2014 (this is literally a transition period because it's a glimpse of the future, but still somewhat limited by the past because the commercial deals are just about to expire)
• 2014-onwards

Scottish Cup Semi-Final highlights. I'd be seething at the Meekings decision if I was a Celtic fan, but by the same token - if Celtic can't stop Caley from scoring for thirty minutes, they really deserve everything that they get. I also have very limited sympathy for Old Firm teams being given bad decisions, seeing how often they reap the benefit of this country's abysmal standard of refereeing.

Still a terrible decision though.

So that's why folks were linking to the famous Super Caley Go Ballistic headline in the match thread on Reddit.

So Notts County pulled off a goal... by pretending to have a spat between players. It has to be seen to be believed:

http://www.arsenal.com/match-menu/3706474/ladies/notts-county-ladies-v-arsenal-ladies

27 minutes. Bayern 3-0 Porto.

Daaaaaaamn...

So, it took Bayern less than 30 minutes to get 3 past Porto. Anyone surprised?

At least my gripes about the away goals rule will seem irrelevant now.

I'm more surprised that Reyes is playing than anything else.

And it's like the players forgot the lesson of the goal they suffered at home...

5-0 before the end of the first half.

Yeah, they're gonna get Mineirazo'd.

There's blood all over the pitch in the Allianz.

It's gonna be a 7-1, right?

More like Bayern 6 - Porto 1. Still, holy shit that was a rout if I ever saw one. I was watching this in the pub and I felt that the first leg loss struck a nerve for Bayern. They showed Porto absolutely no mercy and I'm afraid that some players in that club might not recover from such a total collapse at the Allianz.

edited 21st Apr '15 2:25:42 PM by sanfranman91

I can see Reyes and Marcano (the latter got 2 yellow cards) leaving the club.

Quaresma will probably be in the bench in the decisive match for the title against Benfica (this Sunday).

Still, in spite of the rout, at least Porto can still leave with a head held a bit high. And Lopetegui is gonna continue the development project (since he's great with man management), even if Porto loses against Benfica.

Remember how I posted that video of Inverness Caley Thistle beating Celtic which included one ICT player handling the ball in the penalty area and getting away with it? Well, Celtic have thrown all of their toys out of the pram in spectacular fashion since then.

First, they wrote to the SFA seeking "clarification" over the incident, after being "inundated" with calls from their supporters. So, in other words, they pandered to the more delusional and, er, "low-order" element of their support who couldn't take losing to a "diddy team" like ICT. What Celtic are trying to do, of course, is to imply that there was some sinister motive for the decision, rather than incompetence. Which, given the nonsense Old Firm players get away with almost all the time, is extremely rich.

Now, the defender, Meekings, has been banned from the final by the SFA - ICT are appealing the decision, of course. The SFA could find no previous examples of players being cited for the same offence when asked. ICT are appealing, of course. It's obvious what's happening here though: Celtic are mad and leaning on the SFA to change the rules to take their revenge, having failed to do so on the field.

And now FIFA might be getting involved.

TL;DR: Controversial decision goes against Celtic, Celtic moan like hell and manage to get a player retrospectively punished, something which has never previously occurred. It's almost as if the SFA only really cares about two particular clubs.

edited 22nd Apr '15 10:45:26 AM by Achaemenid

That's why I can never respect Celtic as a club.

Eduardo da Silva, for example.

Maybe if the SFA had been doing their job, this whole post-game suspension of Meekings wouldn't be a one-off? I mean, there's plenty of Celtic/Sevco/Hearts/Hibs players who've done stuff in-game that should have been landing them with straight red cards, who have had that stuff been shown on telly, yet got away with it because the SFA disciplinary committee are an insult to chimps.

Sure.

By why does it happen only on this one particular occasion, where a certain team are chasing a treble and get gubbed by a "diddy team"? Why does the SFA, having not bothered with this kind of thing for the entirety of the preceding season, suddenly think that a Scottish cup semi-final involving Celtic complaining is the right time for a trial run? Come on.

Money, Dear Boy.

Pretty much. Can't kill the golden goose. It's why nothing gets done over sectarianism. Sad fact, a large part of OF support loves the whole "fuck the pope/Queen" aspect of the rivalry, and they buy lots of club memorabilia etc, which in turn makes sick bank for the Old Firm.

What a difference four months makes.

This. The harsh reality is that without Celtic or Rangers (and maybe Hearts and Aberdeen), Scottish football/soccer would be equivalent in profits and on-field quality to non-league in England. It's pretty upsetting for fans of other Scottish teams, but it strikes to me that the survival of the SFA is heavily dependent on the viability of the Old Firm clubs (hence why Rangers is always shown on Sky even after their financial meltdown or the blind-eye toward the sectarian merchandise and chants).

Still, as someone who has otherwise supported Celtic since I was nine years old, I just hope Celtic gets some legit competition outside of Rangers (and perhaps Aberdeen) in the league soon. As much as most other Celtic fans hate to admit it, the absence of Rangers in the league has been severely hurting Celtic's attendances and their ability to survive in European competitions. It would be great to have other teams like Hearts or Inverness give Celtic a legitimate run for their money...

edited 22nd Apr '15 7:29:24 PM by sanfranman91

Since Rangers went bust, we have seen Hearts and Hibs begin a transition to fan ownership, Aberdeen mounting something close to a league challenge in the first time in forever, and St Johnstone and Falkirk/ICT winning the Scottish Cup. Hardly seems like the rest of Scottish football is doing badly to me.

I think the idea that Scottish football can't compete without the Old Firm is ludicrous.

#JeSuisJoshMeekings: Meekings is clear to play in the Cup final.

Sanity prevails. FIFA clearly been flexing their muscle, either that or the SFA recognized how bad the whole thing looked.

Hughes "disillusioned" by Josh Meekings saga.

It's official: After Fulham defeated Boro 4-3, Watford have been promoted to the Premier League. They beat Brighton 2-0 and they looked absolutely electric throughout the 2014-2015 season. I'll be looking forward to seeing the likes of Troy Deeney and Matej Vydra playing in the top flight. Welcome back...

edited 25th Apr '15 3:46:34 PM by sanfranman91

Vydra is on loan from Udinese. Is his contract out in the summer? If not he might return to Italy...

EDIT: I see that Tottenham's former second-choice 'keeper Heurelho Gomes - who always deserved to be first-choice at a good club, even though he couldn't break Friedel's grasp on the position at Spurs - is currently at Watford. He'll be getting regular Premier League football soon. Well, unless Watford buy someone better - but I doubt that'll be priority for them.

edited 25th Apr '15 10:52:49 AM by BestOf

Wow, have I really not visited this thread since January? Granted I'm not a massive football fan, but still.

In my 15 page catchup, I found this from Achaemenid on 1st March. Emphasis mine.

You hit 90 points today, though 100 goals requires 8 against Rangers. Pretty please, with sugar on top, pull that off?

I'm very happy as an Aberdeen fan, as we secured 2nd place with a comeback win against Inverness. Our teams like each other a lot, and there was pleasantness between us - chants of support for Josh Meekings, I believe. Caley went in front before an own-goal equalised for us, and we got a winner to go 19 points clear of them with 4 games left to play.

We could theoretically win the title still, but Celtic are 5 in front with 5 games left, so we definitely won't barring an almighty collapse.

I believe Aberdeen have yet to lose in the League to anyone except Celtic since November, a run of about 20 games - our unbeaten record was the highest of any top flight team on the planet at the time before Celtic ended it.

My local team, Queen of the South, also ensured 4th place today by beating Dumbarton, with Falkirk drawing with Rangers. A bit of Fergie Time may have been involved in Gers getting that late equaliser. Rangers are now 1 point behind Hibs with one game left to play each. Rangers have Hearts as I've said above, while Hibs get Falkirk.

Come on Hibs, its in your own hands...

edited 25th Apr '15 11:22:51 AM by CaissasDeathAngel