The Football.....

[AndyRM]

Wow! I don't think we'll ever see anything like Messi again, we are lucky to be alive to see him. He's not normal, his legs are too short for his body and he's a pipsqueak that can't run "right", his touch and thought process are superhuman, how does he nutmeg people like that, as if it's just part of the control touch?

There is no doubting his talent and abilities, and he's probably the most skilful player of this generation. However he'd be nowt without HGH, and his contract dealings with Barca are mercenary which is always in the back of my mind (petty, I know).

Also I don't think he'll ever leave Barca and for me true success as a footballer comes when you've proved you can achieve at different clubs.

 

[MarkF]

There is no doubting his talent and abilities, and he's probably the most skilful player of this generation. However he'd be nowt without HGH, and his contract dealings with Barca are mercenary which is always in the back of my mind (petty, I know).

Also I don't think he'll ever leave Barca and for me true success as a footballer comes when you've proved you can achieve at different clubs.

But there is nowhere for him to go to prove anything, anywhere else is down after Barca, he isn't going to RM.

I was old enough to appreciate Maradona at his peak and never thought I'd see anything like him again, but Messi is better, by far IMO.

 

[AndyRM]

But there is nowhere for him to go to prove anything, anywhere else is down after Barca, he isn't going to RM.

I was old enough to appreciate Maradona at his peak and never thought I'd see anything like him again, but Messi is better, by far IMO.

I totally get what you're saying, but personally I'd like to see him challenge himself elsewhere. Playing for one of the two richest sides in a league is fine, and I'm not suggesting he should go to Stoke or something, I'd just like to see how he'd cope at an equivalent side in a different league, like Ronaldo and Ibrahimovic have.

The Maradona comparisons are inevitable, and again that's another of my frustrations about Messi. Perhaps it's because the international game has changed, but from what I've seen Maradona dragged a bang average Argentina side to a World Cup, yet Messi seems to close up on the same stage. I've only seen videos of football from dayes of yore so I appreciate my interpretation of the past may be incorrect.

 

[Booyaa]

I totally get what you're saying, but personally I'd like to see him challenge himself elsewhere. Playing for one of the two richest sides in a league is fine, and I'm not suggesting he should go to Stoke or something, I'd just like to see how he'd cope at an equivalent side in a different league, like Ronaldo and Ibrahimovic have.

The Maradona comparisons are inevitable, and again that's another of my frustrations about Messi. Perhaps it's because the international game has changed, but from what I've seen Maradona dragged a bang average Argentina side to a World Cup, yet Messi seems to close up on the same stage. I've only seen videos of football from dayes of yore so I appreciate my interpretation of the past may be incorrect.

Pretty much spot on to be honest, Maradona won a world cup for Argentina while Messi does not normally appear to be the best on the team in most games, never mind the one to drag them to a win.

I don't think we will see someone this good in a long time though, I prefer Ronaldo as he seems more likeable but I think Messi is the better player (but Ronaldo didn't need drugs to get him to where he is). As football fans though we should be happy to have these type of players to watch, that goal up above from Messi is just a work of art and I could watch it over and over again.

 

[Brandane]

Barring 5 penalties in the last 15 minutes, it looks as if "they" are staying down .

A job 'WELL done!

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

Just back. Not a big gulf in class between 3rd in the Prem and 5th in the Championship is there?

Yet there is a chasm between 2nd bottom and 3rd in Chamionship

 

[Brandane]

A tweet on the BBC website:

"To be fair, Stuart McCall said last year he would do his best to keep Motherwell in the Top Flight! Mission Accomplished!"

 

[the_craig]

That is how you do that!

At half time I still had the fear, by full time it was over.

"Twist and Shout..."

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

What a weekend. I feel like the guy who lost a tenner and found a fiver.

 

[Roadhump]

Wow! I don't think we'll ever see anything like Messi again, we are lucky to be alive to see him. He's not normal, his legs are too short for his body and he's a pipsqueak that can't run "right", his touch and thought process are superhuman, how does he nutmeg people like that, as if it's just part of the control touch?

Great goal by an awesome player, but one of those that if scored by a mere mortal in a non-elite team would have been shown a couple of times on MOTD and people would be saying, "If Messi had scored that goal, they would have never stopped talking about it"

 

[Roadhump]

I have just finished reading a book by David Conn, a football writer (usually for the Guardian I think), called "Richer than God, Manchester City, Modern Football and Growing up". Conn is a lifelong Man City supporter who like most of us grew up supporting his team and idolising his boyhood heroes, but his journalistic research and reflections on the takeovers (at City and other clubs), over the years, and how the Sheik's money enabled them to buy success have left him very cynical, which could be said of many of us, but the reasoning and evidence to support his arguments are very strong. It is really interesting to hear a fan of a club benefiting from effectively winning the lottery, call the meaning of their subsequent achievements into question. I got it as an e-book and would recommend to anyone interested in modern football, whether you follow a top flight or lower league club - an excellent read IMHO.

 

[AndyRM]

So, the second coming of Dick Advocaat at Sunderland. Hopefully he'll not pull out again, or things could get messy.

 

[Piemaster]

So, the second coming of Dick Advocaat at Sunderland. Hopefully he'll not pull out again, or things could get messy.

Paging @Fnarr, paging @Fnarr

 

[AndyRM]

I'll say this for Big Dick too, he's got some task on his hands satisfying 40,000 Mackems. I wonder if he'll be able to last all season?

 

[Piemaster]

I hadn't realised his proper job title, I thought it was 'Dick Manager' when he's actually 'Dick Head Coach'