Leave it to the Fiver to see this whole thing for what it was: Hot on the heels of Channel 4's The 1900s House, where a family lived as the Victorians did with no concessions to modernity, comes The 1900s Press Box, where sports hacks opine as the Victorians did with no concessions to common sense. "Disgraceful!" "Shameful!" "Appalling!" "Scandalous!" "Sick!" they over-reacted after the frankly minor but entertaining spat at Old Trafford, before pulling on their stovepipe hats, mounting their penny farthings, and heading home with a view to engaging in a bit of frottage against that uncovered occasional table. Let's recap. An Arsenal player nearly kicked a Manchester United player. The Manchester United player over-reacted slightly. The Arsenal player was sent off. Two other Arsenal players pushed the Manchester United player around a bit. And, eh, that's it. All good clean knockabout fun, and the sort of thing we all secretly love, come on, let's face it. But Arsenal must be punished for their wild animalistic ways, so up to five of their players now face being charged by the Sanctimony Association as part of a major disciplinary crackdown. "The [SA] will be looking at various aspects of player behaviour during the match and in the scenes following the final whistle," bristled SA head of media Adrian Bevington, the hot air melting the wax of his bushy moustache. "The [SA] will make a further statement as soon as this process is complete." They may also probe reports of an alleged tunnel bust-up between Patrick Vieira and Ruud van Nistelrooy, which saw both players using unacceptable language that could have been heard by impressionable ladies and children. Quick! Throw some heavy hessian over Martin Keown!
Hear, hear!! for The Fiver. This match is EXACTLY the kind of thing that might turn Americans into soccer fans. Show any American non-soccer fan the last 2 minutes and they'll be hungry for more. Sad to say but we, as Americans, LOVE a good bust up. It has all the elements Americans cherish in their sports: heroes, villains, "trash talk", and some grade-school level pushing and shoving at the end of the match, plus enough bad blood to last a lifetime. It reminds me of when the Stars moved to Dallas. Most fans had no idea what the rules were or any of the nuance of hockey, but they did understand running people over and fights. Now the Stars have a very knowledgable crowd, but it was the neanderthal aspects that got them there in the first place. If the FA is smart, they cut a deal with ESPN to replay the match about a zillion times, then advertise the hell out of the return match on PPV. The FA cleans up at the bank, and the EPL starts getting a lot more ink in the US.
Just thought I'd chime in. I've historically disliked both ManU and Arsenal, being that they were the kings of the EPL hill year after year (boring). I actually started liking both clubs a bit more this year - ManU because they got Tim Howard, and Arsenal because they got Jens Lehmann (I've seen him a bunch of times with Dortmund and I like his game, if not his temper ). Arsenal showed a lot of guts and good defensive discipline. Major kudos for that. But Viera's kick at RVN was amazingly stupid, particularily considering he's their captain. Then the Keown slap and taunt on RVN, then Lauren and the other gang pushing RVN at the end of the game - what classless, moronic, cry-baby, jerk-off behaviour. And RVN out-classed them all by simply walking away. I know it was a heated match and emotions were running sky-high. Plus, they were understandably annoyed with RVN's over-embellishment of Viera's kick. But they need to get a hold of themselves. Even though I had no feelings, good or bad, for any of those individuals on Arsenal that pushed/taunted RVN prior to this, my gut reaction was "wow, what total friggin' A-holes". Don't be surprised if the FA slaps out some match bans or point deductions for it. Too bad for Arsenal. But hey, they brought it on themselves. If Arsenal wants to win the EPL crown this year, these players have some serious growing up to do. Otherwise, they will not be able to stave off ManU or Chelsea. Cheers and good luck to you guys.
Thought I'd say that there's a sticky thread on the Manc's board in which Motterman invites them all over here to let us have it. Good stuff, and a very mature moderator, I might add. Andy, why did you close the anti-RvN thread, instead of moving it to the Rivalries board, so we could carry on our childish behavior over there?
OK, I swear this is my last post on this topic, so here goes: To all the manUre fans bashing Arsenal as "classless thugs" today, ask yourselves 2 questions. 1. Did Arsenal have an "intent to injure" during the events? "Intent to end a career"? and; 2. Did anyone from Arsenal kick a manUre supporter in the chest following the match? If your answers to the above are "no" (as they should be) and you've been a manUre fan since before 1995 (as you all claim to have been), then what right do you have taking the moral high ground in this incident? Even your beloved Captain chose to say "no comment" when asked if RvN's antics were the fuse on the powder keg. If he felt any differently then a comment along the lines of "No, it didn't contribute to the fracas" would have been expected. I guess Keane-O realizes he would have done about a million times worse than what Viera did had the tables been turned, and chose not to slam another team member to the media.
More McCrap! I suppose PV was just asking Ruud if there was any mud on the bottom of his boot. He lashed out with his studs in an attempt to injure Ruud. Deal with that fact. Then go dig up stuff from years ago, shall I go digging for everything on Arsenal????? PV is the most red-carded player in EPL history and Keown is fourth. The video replays bear out everything I have said. Arsenal players were wrong in what they did. Now I will repost this especially for you: I have seen the replays a number of times and even you can't deny that any of this is true...no wait you can because you are one of the classless group of Arsenal fans that would condone and defend Wenger bringing a gun and shooting an opponent. Now if you had read my original post on the subject on one of the Arsenal threads you will see that I complemented your team and the fans who actually post intelligent thoughts and not just whining. That's way I say that you are part of the classless group. Oh and nice try posting to get your posse over here to defend you.
Just remember which forum you're on. I saw the replay of the collision between Ruud and Paddy. To be honest, I think Ruud tried to push off on Vieira as he was coming back down. Take a look at his right leg push Vieira off. I don't know, I think he could've landed without doing that, and I think that extra bit of momentum is what knocked Vieira down. As for Vieira, him kicking out was stupid. It wasn't necessary and the second yellow was totally deserved in my opinion. But I don't think Vieira is the only guilty one from that little encounter. Just take a look at the replay and pay attention to Ruud's leg. Might not be so innocent after all.
seriously, house18, why the hell are you here? it's our board. maybe the reason you keep coming back here to defend van Nisteldouche is because you know he's guilty and you're trying to convince yourself differently. sorry, mate, as soon as you tell yourself RVN is innocent, he'll be cheating again on saturday. so piss off back to your own board
Hind sight is 20/20. Probably should have done that, but after reading 7 pages of the adult equivilant of "your a stupid head" I just wanted to shut the door. I hope this thread doesn't end in the same fashion.
Concerning the Chelsea Boards comments... Well, I'm sorry if I don't want the league to turn into a 2 horse race, EVERY DArn year between Arsenal and Man Utd. Of course, I want Arsenal to win the league, but just think this group of players have had their run. With us, not being able to buy new talent, it makes it hard to compete. Funny thing is, my English friend (who lives in the US, HUGE Arsenal fan) said honestly he would rather see Merchandise Utd win the league if Arsenal didn't....NOT Chelsea, because he doesn't like this whole buying the title crap that Chelsea is doing with dirty Russian mafia money!!! So once again...take it easy, I'm a supporter of The Arsenal!!!
So what is he guilty of? As I pointed out in my posts he went over PV for a ball in the air, knocking him down (something that happens in most games at most levels.) He got the yellow card he deserved. Other then that it was all Arsenal acting up. I come here just like your buddies come to our board, when you post it goes on the main page, so you see something interesting you check it out. I also enjoy when fans of other teams will engage in intelligent conversation, not just the whining that can go on. Go back and read who I rip on and you will realise these are the people who insist that Arsenal have never done any wrong and it is all the evil FA or Man United running the world. It's too bad that you, as well as some of my cohorts can't actually attempt to engage in some intelligent conversation rather then trolling, because it could be interesting.
Look house18, you should really just give up here. What's done is done. It's no use to keep posting stuff here about it. Just chill out and wait for the FA to act. I've stopped posting here, and I think it's a good idea for you to do the same.
yeh i've been trolling. i dare you to find a single post on the manure board that's mine. i've never posted there. and maybe you should watch the kick out RVN does when he comes down on vieira. hardly legal. i'm not saying vieira is not guilty, i'm just saying RVN isn't innocent
Never said YOU were trolling, just some of your mates. Not much of a kick, just nestles his foot under his chest. Off course PV claimed he tried to stomp on his leg, though Ruud wasn't even near his leg when he came down. Even if you claim it is a kick it still doesn't excuse the behavior of your team.
You know, it's not even worth arguing with you anymore. I'll just admit that I'm a thug, I like thug tactics, everyone who has ever worn an Arsenal shirt should be suspended, and Wenger should be burned at the stake. But Arsenal still left OT with a point.
i've got a compromise. If RvN's foot on PV's back was just a "nestle" then MK elbow to RvN's neck was a tap on the back.
Said it before and I'll say it again, why wasn't van u boat penalised for the punch on Ljunberg when we won the league in thier back yard ? I saw, it sky saw it,but the FA never , very strange.
C'mon, Motterman. I crave his wisdom!!! I want to be cleansed of my thugness! I want to stop teaching U-6's how to intimidate their opposition! I want to LEARN, dammit!!!
And yet you've got the nerve to bring up Heysel in another thread. Now *that's* class. https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=1618375#post1618375