Outstanding...not pretty...but another case of TCB by Reading. Not to jinx...but "if" they qualify for Europe...when was the last time a team made the jump and then qualified for Europe based on league performance? (i.e. not Fair Play, Intertoto, winning or being runner-up in either cup.). I guess with the way Hunt has played, Europe will be good for Bobby's sake, as even if he's the 2nd choice, he'll still get lots of PT.
You need to change the record jri, given the track record of newcastle game threads making a comment like that in the middle of the pbp was tantamount to trolling. Just my opinion
anyway, the two CBs for NU looked solid.. they can't be blamed for the goal.. well maybe Bramble was caught out a little bit, but not much.. I think Gooch and GR can get a two for one coach ticket..
And look what it's done for them! Oh...wait...crap... IIRC, they got relegated that season, too. Probably one of the teams Coppell is thinking about when he openly frets going to Europe.
If we qualified for the UEFA Cup wouldn't suprise me if he played a second-string team in it just liek he's been doing in all the Cup competitions for the last couple of years.
"IF" they do qualify for Europe it probably makes it easier to re-sign some players (sidwell still hasn't signed, right?) and bring in a couple more. Also their reserve team might just do ok in the group stage of the uefa cup.
We’ll go there by boat We’ll go there by plaaaaaane Reading in Europe? We must be insane. So sang the Reading fans tonight on an evening where Steve Coppell’s plans to avoid European competition went badly awry again. In truth it wasn’t a display that would get Europe’s giants (or even Europe’s considerably tall, being the UEFA Cup) quaking in their boots any more than the mild 4.3 earthquake which gently rocked England yesterday rocked the average householder. A game which promised quite a lot, between two teams who like to attack and often have a few geological fissures in their defensive rocks, looked one where goals looked likely. So it should be no surprise that there was only one, and precious few great chances beyond that. Before the game there was a minute’s applause for Alan Ball, and a near 45 minute silence for the first half. Reading’s rotated midfield had a stumbling awkward look to it, less comfortable that twisted underpants, finding it hard to create anything. Newcastle may have welcomed Michael Owen back into their team seemingly for the first time since colour television was invented, but apart from demonstrating an ability to be offside, he understandably had a sharpness that made round-ended scissors look lethal. He did poke one into the net, but the offside flag had been up for so long that milk could have turned to cheese in the meantime. Reading’s best chance of the half fell to Duberry, and he leaned back and took aim for the moon. Other than that the biggest incident was when referee Mike Riley seemed on course to perhaps be the first ref to send off a mascot, running half the pitch to have stern words with a man in a furry lion costume. The second half started a little brighter from a Reading point of view. A few opening creaked their way in. Seol, who’d had a sort of frustrating nearly but not quite performance that had matched Reading’s, started to find a little more freedom, even if he didn’t always make the best choices with it. It was just as complaints were getting a little more heated that he chipped in a cross, possibly meant for Oster, but it eluded him and fell for Kitson, who took one touch and slammed it into the back of the net. After a difficult time since his injury, he shared his joy by leaping into the crowd. After Kitson surfaced for air, Mike Riley, perhaps feeling left out, decided to show him a yellow card for his efforts. Kitson had perhaps Reading best other chance soon afterwards, but this time putting the ball just wide. Up the other end Newcastle were having chances of their own, but were aiming everything as Marcus Hahnemann, possibly transfixed by his shocking yellow boots. Bad enough on an outfield player, Marcus’ footwear was a fashion crime of a scale for which vigilante groups have formed for less, but their hypnotic impact was enough to mean they’ll probably get another outing. Other than that, there were plenty of half chances, but not enough whole ones, so even five minutes of added time, at least two of which must have been found down the back of the sofa, didn’t have any real tension. Nor any make-believe tension for that matter. While tt’s still a little early for Reading to be dusting off their passports, fans can ponder that while Reading may only be few miles from Broadmoor, home of the criminally insane, they know that qualifying for Europe might me insane, but over the season, doing so certainly wouldn’t be criminal.
Please, have a wee bit sense of humor. But if you want to play it serious- the dude is not being acquired by Newcastle after loan, and this is a YA abroad thread (not Newcastle thread). Had I said it there (Newcastle thread), fine with your comment. Here, we support our guys as well as (depending on how deep the relationship) the teams they play on- and that doesn't give carte blanche to irrationality, but on that particular play- Newcastle's central defense did look like shite. BTW- the Newcastle's thread abuse Bramble left and right with nicknames, and I'm sure your comment are pot/kettle/black....I'm sure I can EASILY FIND sarcastic quips from you about players that have no bearing on the PbP on teams you follow. If not, there are plenty of examples on English team thread that you have let go by passively. Why? Good question. So, essentially, you've overreached here and you are wrong. Other than that, you're ok (on occasion)
You don't understand - the Toon are massive and deserve a spot in Europe due to their massiveness because their support is so,um,massive... [trying to erase the image of the topless fat bastards from my retinas] So if they're so freakin' massive,does that make Reading ginormous?
Well the good news is we won't be inundated with Toon fans blaming Onyewu for warm beer and fat women and everything else that is wrong with the world.
Unfortunately, we will still be inundated with Gooch fanboys who will blame anyone but Gooch on one of his off games, including those not available for viewing anywhere in the US.
Which game would that be? I wouldn't worry too much about it though. Onyewu has probably played his last game for Newcastle.
Well it would only be tantamount to trolling if the expectation is that on a Gooch thread in YA there would lots of posters who were anti-Gooch and would therefore be offended by a pro Gooch comment ... Oh wait. I forgot where I was. never mind...
Stupid and obvious has always been allowed here. Gooch won't be playing much longer (if at all), so the 'comments' won't even be possible Prawn is neither a Gooch support, nor a Yanks Abroad supporter (that should be obvious from past posts), NOR a Newcastle supporter. So what's he doing here? Just trolling, looking for trouble. At least I follow YAs, and follow Gooch.