I think I figured out why Pol Pot did what he did. To gain independence from France he needed support of Russia or China. Since they were communist he felt he had to impress them, so he leaned heavy into "revolution".
This is awesome! It's late April, and we're only a couple wins from a European trophy and CL qualification. It's pretty damn rare when May rolls around and there's still a reasonable shot at glory. Im genuinely excited! And to top it all off, when we lose in the League ... I don't really give a shit! Today didn't much hurt at all! Concede four at Wolves? Yeah, whatever. This is brilliant! As a Spurs fan, I've never had it so good! Thanks, Ange!!
In a bizarre season, Nottingham might make CL via top 5 and we might finish one spot off relegation but still get CL.
With Vic, Romero, VDV, Udogie and Porro, we are 16 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses. With any other combination in defence, we are terrible. If we can keep these guys fit, we just might get to the Europa Final.
OK ... it's saturday night, and I'm sat at the pub. I've finished the book I brought in*, and for no reason that I can recall, legendary Madrid centerhalf Fernando Hierro has popped into my head. At some point it occurred to me that he was probably my favorite-ever non-Spurs centerback. Which prompted me to caution myself, 'pook, have you really thought through you favorite non-Spurs centerhalfs?'. I'm pleased to say that the answer to that was, 'no, I'm not that pathetic'. But the sad truth is that i can't determine if Hierro is 'that guy' without taking a bit of time to actually examine that category. So i am now sat here, working my last pint, and engaged in the exercise of contemplating my favorite central defenders to have never played for Tottenham Hotspur FC. And since I haven't brought paper and pen into the pub, I'm creating the list here in the random thoughts thread. Here goes (listed with the clubs with whom i most liked them): Fernando Hierro - Real Madrid Emerson Thome - Sheffield Wednesday Carlos Zambrano - Eintracht Frankfurt Oguchi Onyewu - Sheffield Wednesday Reda Johnson - Sheffield Wednesday Phil Jagielka - Everton James Tarkowski - Brentford Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham Eddie Pope - DC United Jocelyn Angloma - Valencia Danny Shittu - QPR Richard Wood - Rotherham United Juanfran - Celta Vigo Paolo Negro - Lazio Luisao - Benfica Miguel Llera - Sheffield Wednesday Edit: ok, im home, and I've given this subject all the thought (or more than) it deserves, and I have to say, the answer is probably Thome. But Hierro is a close second. Not sure any of the others come close. Jags, maybe? Thuram (Parma) would be right there, but I think of him more as a fullback. Whatever. It's Thome. I'm done. Now you know. Goodnight Spurs board. *economist Glenn Loury's new memoir Late Admissions. It's quite good, actually.
What makes a good central defender? 1. A face only a mother can love. A proper mean mug. 2. Does inelegant things with elegance. That is to say, he can elbow a lad across the face, but it's done with such panache the referee gives a yellow instead of a red. 3. Calls his opponent all kinds of silly names. Fat boy and comments about his sister being the favorites. 4. Is more adept at the ball smashing into his head than smashing the ball with his feet. 5. Plays for your favorite or second favorite club. 6. And if we are to believe Golara, a shitty name. Feel free to add to this list on next visit to the pub, lads.
A proper centerback, him. Built like a brick shit(tu)-house, more than happy to accept (or initiate) contact of whatever force necessary (or greater). When doing inelegant things, what he lacked in elegance he made up for in enthusiasm. Scored the odd goal, too. 'Second division fan favorite', if you know what i mean.
So, about an hour into the West Ham game, I had occasion to give a moment's thought to former Hammer midfielder Kevin Nolan. But in doing so, the name that came to me was Gary Nolan. Now, no sooner had i thought that than I realized that Gary Nolan was a pitcher for the Cincinatti Reds back in the 1970s; but at that point I struggled to remember the 'stam Nolan's first name. 'Kevin' escaped me. I spent the last half hour of the game trying to remember Keven Nolan's first name. The salient point is that this query was more interesting than the game. Sadder still is that the West Ham midfielder i was envisioning was actually Mark Noble. 'Random thoughts' thread ... still a good idea?