FMS Community Thread

[Terk]

The old man of the thread is Terk by some distance in my opinion .

That's only because I'm (on occasion) a bit grumpy

[weeeman27bob]

Well yes. That would be mainly it.

[Terk]

The forum has needed someone to take over the role of 'Grumpy Old Man' though. We've had a long history of them on FMS; Brian W, PM7, Gambit, Gricehead, now it's my turn

[weeeman27bob]

Ah.

I feel I could become a grumpy old man in 15 years time.

[mark wilson27]

I'm grumpy now and I'm only thirty, god knows what I'm going to be like when I get older

God help everyone lol

[BobBev]

Oi you lot - have you forgotten that I'm the official "old bloke" around here

[Balthazars]

Well, I only brought up the 'old man' joke beacuse 10-3 was commenting how talking about girls was making him feel old. I found that ironic because a lot of my friends enjoy calling me 'Grandpa' (despite the fact I am usually only 2-3 years older than most of them), and generally speaking I feel very old because I'm that kind of guy.

Other responses:

I disagree, I'm 23 and married. I got married at 22, and I think she comes before football.

I'm actually very glad to hear that, because you are married. I would hope that your wife comes before football! I would also like to think that if I were married, I too would put my wife before football!

But I am still thoroughly single, and right now football supercedes any attempts to find a girlfriend. Unfortunately where I live I don't come across too many girls that are interested in football (of the world-game variety) so there is usually going to be some tension between the two.

Anyway, regarding promtion in the Championship etc., has nobody noticed that 3 teams are still fighting for the last automatic promotion spot? Here are the possible teams are and what they'd need to follow Wolves into the Prem:

I am totally behind Reading returning to the EPL, although they are probably an outside chance as the Blades have it in their own hands. It's ironic for them that in order to get themselves up they might well put through someone else. I have a huge soft spot for Reading, I think Coppel is a fine manager, and would love to see them back up.

I don't mind Brum too much either, so won't be upset to see them come back up. Not too fond of the Blades though, so they would be my least favourite selection. My tip? The Blades, because the other two are playing each other, I think a draw could be likely, which means a win and they are up.

And finally, Barcelona 0-0 Chelsea. On paper it looks like a solid result for the visitors, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this may not be enough to protect at home. Unless Hiddink intends to go through on penalties, Chelsea will need to show a heck of a lot more offensively to get a goal at home; in which situation I see the chances of Barcelona scoring an away goal increase markedly.

Great defensive display in this match; but it looks like it took every man, woman and child at Chelsea to be behind the ball in order to achieve it. If they have to commit bodies forward to attack, there will be a lot more space for Barca to work with. Still, the only team to not conceed at the Nou Camp this year is great work.

Very finely balanced tie right now.

[The-Perfect-Fm'er!]

not sure if Barca without Marquez and Puyol will be good enough to cope with Drogba though?

[chesterfan2]

Oi you lot - have you forgotten that I'm the official "old bloke" around here

Errm, I think you'll find that's me.

[BobBev]

Errm, I think you'll find that's me.

Check the DOB in my profile if you don't believe me

[The-Perfect-Fm'er!]

52!

congratulations BobBev..now off you go, your meals on wheels has arrived

[tenthreeleader]

But then again, given your stature here as a writer, I imagine most people would just refer to you as 'Sir'.

Boy, that'll be the day.

[tenthreeleader]

I wonder which emoticon I should use.

If you have to think about it, it's probably best to wait.

[tenthreeleader]

What do you think?

I think Reading needs to go back up. Rob Ridgway can't make Steve Coppell look bad. It just isn't done.

[BenArsenal]

52!

congratulations BobBev..now off you go' date=' your meals on wheels has arrived [/quote']

LOL!

I wish I can find an Arsenal-loving chick to call my own.

Like Rachel. :o

[Balthazars]

Who's Rachel?

[archie#10]

Who's Rachel?

His character's partner in his story "The (continuing) rise of an unlikely Asian star"

..............

I think..

[BenArsenal]

Yes.

Man, do keep up.

[Wegason]

I'm grumpy now and I'm only thirty, god knows what I'm going to be like when I get older

God help everyone lol

To be a true grumpy old man you have to watch the first series of Grumpy Old Men on the BBC and agree with 95% of what they moan about.

I found that I was a grumpy old man before I exited by teens!

[Balthazars]

To be a true grumpy old man you have to watch the first series of Grumpy Old Men on the BBC and agree with 95% of what they moan about.

I found that I was a grumpy old man before I exited by teens!

Not quite before I exited my teens, but if agreeing with 95% of what they moan about is a good indicator, than apparently I'm not far off!

@Ben: oh come on, you don't expect me to read every story on this forum completely up to date, do you? I'm an old man, my eyes ain't so good anymore, you know!

[BenArsenal]

But Rachel's been there for a long time...

OK then, I forgive you on account of being a fellow Arsenal fan.

[glamdring]

Ah! Good to see 3 goals and the perfect result in yesterday's big match

Roll on Saturday and Tranmere...

[The-Perfect-Fm'er!]

The woman confirmed with swine flu, from the Redditch area, did not go to hospital and is being treated with anti-viral drugs at home, the BBC understands.

Look at my Location...brilliant!

[BenArsenal]

It's time once again for...

Post counts update!

Last time out:

1) glamdring 463

2) Terk 447

3) tenthreeleader 391

4) Peacemaker7 333

5) irishregan 323

6) Wegason 230

7) SCIAG 190

8) Kewell08 172

9) BenArsenal 167

10) Balthazars 151

11) viperk1 151

12) HD 146

13) stoehrst 143

14) copperhorse21 132

15) sherm 107

16) mark wilson27 99

17) Panpardus 94

18) weeeman27bob 94

19) Amaroq 92

20) markyt 90

21) milanfan_apoorv 83

22) canvey!! 80

23) gavrenwick 75

24) BobBev 72

25) Spav 68

26) flipsix3 61

27) Goofus 55

28) Blanco 51

29) george94 49

30) Raptor 46

31) blowcrapup 37

32) Dixie Flatline 35

33) JimT 35

34) displaced_seagull 33

35) WLKRAS 29

36) Manxie_Ash 28

37) O\'Hara_fan 26

38) Gennaro08 26

39) prince_capri 21

40) Donners 21

41) minisav 20

42) bluebellsareblue 18

43) Queen of the Stevenage 17

44) aaberdeenn 16

45) Nomis07 16

46) chesterfan2 15

47) flipstyle 15

48) Crpls 13

49) JamboJen 13

50) salkster2102 13

51) Wimb The Barman 12

52) Okkas 10

53) Offspring8 9

54) m1234566778 8

55) Bagpuss 8

56) dafuge 8

57) PoopyPants 8

58) The-Perfect-Fm'er! 8

59) PaulHartman71 7

60) HunterKiller 7

[minisav]

If I hadn't posted now, it would probably be the same. Been mostly browsing this thread.

Exactly glamdring. Hopefully they can do it at Glanford Park. It's a shame about Lansbury. It's a suspected leg break according to the after match report

[Wegason]

Ben, please stop doing that so frequently, its actually becoming quite annoying.

[Terk]

Ben, please stop doing that so frequently, its actually becoming quite annoying.

Exactly what Weg said. Stop it, stop it, stop it.

With your vote whoring, constant mentions of your story and post count updates, you're actually irritating my quite regularly.

[BenArsenal]

The latest update:

1) Terk 489

2) glamdring 473

3) tenthreeleader 412

4) Peacemaker7 333

5) irishregan 323

6) Wegason 241

7) BenArsenal 217

8) SCIAG 205

9) Balthazars 186

10) Kewell08 172

11) viperk1 161

12) HD 146

13) stoehrst 143

14) copperhorse21 139

15) mark wilson27 116

16) weeeman27bob 113

17) sherm 109

18) Panpardus 97

19) gavrenwick 93

20) Amaroq 92

21) markyt 90

22) milanfan_apoorv 83

23) canvey!! 81

24) BobBev 74

25) Spav 69

26) The-Perfect-Fm'er! 68

27) Blanco 62

28) flipsix3 61

29) Goofus 56

30) george94 49

31) Raptor 46

32) Manxie_Ash 45

33) blowcrapup 37

34) Dixie Flatline 35

35) JimT 35

36) displaced_seagull 33

37) Offspring8 32

38) WLKRAS 29

39) O\'Hara_fan 26

40) Gennaro08 26

41) minisav 23

42) Donners 21

43) prince_capri 21

44) bluebellsareblue 18

45) Queen of the Stevenage 17

46) Nomis07 16

47) chesterfan2 16

48) aaberdeenn 16

49) JamboJen 15

50) flipstyle 15

Terk has reclaimed top spot from glamdring, as it should be.

Everyone else is as is up till sixth, where BenArsenal have moved up two spots now, overtaking SCIAG.

Balthazars is also up, one spot to 9th.

mark wilson27 is also up one spot, to 15th.

weeeman27bob makes another big jump, 16th and climbing.

gavrenwick also deserves a mention, up from 23rd to 19th.

Probably the biggest jumper though, is The-Perfect-FM'er. A massive 60 posts since the last time sees him leap 32 spots from 58th to 26th. Well done.

Blanco is also up one spot.

Manxie_Ash has jumped four spots. Good work as well.

Offspring8 is also another big mover, moving up 16 spots from 53rd to 37th.

The rest are pretty much as they are, so we shouldn't speak of them.

Special mention:

55) m1234566778 9

[BenArsenal]

Ben, please stop doing that so frequently, its actually becoming quite annoying.

Oops.

Okay, that's the last one.

:o

[The-Perfect-Fm'er!]

Ooooo go me, I'm a great jumper

[Manxie_Ash]

Post Wh**e I think is the correct definition

[Terk]

Exactly glamdring. Hopefully they can do it at Glanford Park. It's a shame about Lansbury. It's a suspected leg break according to the after match report

Not so, decent news for the lad, at least it's not a broken leg.

From scunthorpe-united.co.uk

Hospital scans for defender David Mirfin and midfielder Henri Lansbury have revealed no bone breaks for the pair.

Both came off injured in Tuesday's 3-0 home victory over Cheltenham Town.

Lansbury (below) was stretchered off after injuring his knee but an x-ray confirmed there was no bone break and that he had damaged some medial knee ligaments

[SCIAG]

Exactly what Weg said. Stop it, stop it, stop it.

With your vote whoring, constant mentions of your story and post count updates, you're actually irritating my quite regularly.

Your quite is being irritated

Shame about Lansbury, I've always liked him.

Promotion: Sheffield United aren't exactly going to get much resistance from Colin Warnock's Crystal Palace. His middle name is "Blade" ffs!

[minisav]

Better than a break then He'll miss the rest of the season including play-offs? (If we get there)

He's looked pretty good from what I've seen

[Terk]

Your quite is being irritated

(Stupid 10 character minimum)

[Wegason]

I wouldn't mind seeing the Blades in the Premiership, they should probably not have been relegated due to that Tevez affair. West Ham were fairly fortunate with that ruling.

[SCIAG]

They shouldn't have sold David Unsworth really.

Additionally, surely Sheffield United would have been relegated last season if they had stayed up? I claim a place in the Premier League. Hang on, then we'd have been relegated, which means Newcastle are safe

Could you really not be more imaginative with your location Wegs?

[The-Perfect-Fm'er!]

Can't wait for the game, An early goal for Arsenal would do nicely, make the game a better one.

I've got a feeling If United score, they'll try and shut up shop abit, Fergie's already come out and said conceding an away goal scares him and I think they might be abit more cautious than usual. I think his team selection should be interesting though, whether we see Fletcher drop more to the right, Rooney on the left, or perhaps Ronaldo on the left?

or just a straight 4-3-3 with Rooney Ronaldo and Tevez upfront.....OR Anderson on the left as the man to watch Sagna who loves to get forward.

[BenArsenal]

Right, after being put in my place, I guess I shall behave now...:o

I hope Arsenal beats Man U.

[Manxie_Ash]

I don't care about the result, i'm just glad Fergie has started to see sense and is giving Tevez a start. If he ends up leaving at the end of the season, I will be very angry.

Hopefully, it will be just as good a game as the one in November. I hope United win, of course I do, but I wouldnt begrudge Arsenal victory.

[mark wilson27]

Bloody hell, O'Shea has actually scored, wonders will never cease

[BenArsenal]

We're done for.

You don't give a team like Man U that much space. The likes of Carrick, Fletcher and, worst of all, Ronaldo, are given the freedom of the pitch to run about. That is just suicidal.

[Terk]

Arsenal were starting to come back into that as half time came up. I could easily see it finishing 1-1.

[BenArsenal]

Well, we improved in the second half, but Man U were still better, closing us down before we could get a decent attacking move going.

I suppose we did well to restrict them to one goal, but if we play like this at The Emirates, we have no chance in this tie at all.

And for Man U fans complaining about Berbatov, imagine having two of him. That's what we have in Adebayor and Bendtner. Utterly frustrating.

Rant over.

[Manxie_Ash]

Yay! should of finished it off really. It's going to be a nerve racking second leg at the Emirates.

[Panpardus]

I think Berbatov has been decent this year considering his role, and the players he has around him, the 30 mil pricetag is a bit of weight to carry, but I don't think it's money that badly spent

Sure when you compare him to Torres things look bad, but if Torres was playing at United I don't think he'd be doing as well as he is at Liverpool.

[Balthazars]

Not enough. Totally not enough.

1-0 is perfect for United after a near complete performance from them in this game. As I was saying before, I don't think Utd have failed to score at Emirates since we moved there, and I think we will struggle to win by more than 2 goals.

Personally I think Wenger has got it wrong tactically for this one. I see no reason to play 'safety first' when away from home in the first leg of a semi-final, particularly when half of our first-choice defence is out missing. Surely the better option is to try and grab at least 1 away goal, even if you end up losing 2-1 or 3-2.

Almunia was very good today, some top quality saves. I think he has stepped up very well this season after a lot of people claimed he was not good enough. Gibbs did well after a bit of a shaky start. A much better defensive display, but a little similar to Chelsea, it cost us everything going forward. Our midfield was unbalanced; I honestly could not tell who was supposed to be on the left, Diaby or Nasri? If it's Diaby, that's an awful decision because he has no positional sense and I think that totally helped Utd to have a go at Gibbs. Without Arshvrin in the side we must play Fabregas deeper or he will be man-marked out of the match. We should have gone for a standard 4-4-2 in this game, and we certainly should be playing that formation at home.

Adebayor again looks lazy, I am becoming increasingly frustrated with his work-rate and I think he should be dropped for the second leg. Bendtner may still be a work-in-progress but at least this season I have been pleased with his willingness to make runs throw himself at balls and work hard. Sometimes you just need that to create a half-chance.

United still clear favourites to go through.

[The-Perfect-Fm'er!]

Balthazars, What I was suprised about was the the pundits saying Arsenal will be the happier?

If United score, okay it's not impossible, but you'd need to score 3 with Rio (seems fine) and Vidic at the back, that's a tough ask. I don't really get why Arsenal would be happier, they've been in great form lately and United have looked slightly shaky at times, yet you just sat back and really it was a poor performance from Arsenal. 1-0 going to the Emirates, you expect United on the counter attack against a shaky Arsenal defence to nick a goal..when was the last time you beat United by more than 1 goal?

Arsenal have it all to do.

[Balthazars]

Clearly those pundits are delusional, Perfect.

I should clarify, I think to win by two while keeping a clean sheet, is going to be very hard for us to do. That is why I really felt that we needed at least one away goal. To win by two without the necessary pressure of keeping a clean sheet would be infinately more achievable, particularly as Utd would have to come out and attack. To be safe now we need 3 goals, whereas with a 2-1 defeat we would only need 2 goals to be looking reasonably safe. It is a huge difference.

I am a hand-on-heart Gooner through and through but I cannot see this as a good result for us. We have left ourselves with practically zero room for error at Emirates; it shall have to be our performance of the season for us to get through after this.

I love Wenger, he is a great manager and has done great things for Arsenal. But he is human and not infalliable. He made a mistake tactically this match by playing for a draw and damage limitation. But what really irks me is that it seriously looks as if some of our players are not willing to work hard when up against it. That sickens me, it really does.

[The-Perfect-Fm'er!]

I don't like questioning such a great player, but Cesc Fabregas looked very lazy to me, didn't seem as if he really wanted to battle in that midfield. United had alot of energy in their with Fletcher and Anderson especially getting in amongst your midfielders, I definatly though being Captain, Fabregas really should of lifted his game and got about the pitch far better. Whether his passing is there or not, he needed to set an example tonight, especially as United really started to play at a high tempo, it should of been Fabregas to perhaps lift the players and try and set the stall for the rest of team. It never happened and apart Toure and Gibbs, I thought the rest of the players were average, Adebayor just failed to hold the ball up front, when your playing 4-5-1, that's just criminal. Walcott was largely ineffective, that's where his in-experience kicks in...instead of staying out side, he needed to come inside and link up more with Adebayor to try and get involved and just cause a few problems. In the end he stood out on the wing and didn't get a kick. Nasri, well I didn't see him all game, hiding for alot of the game. Diaby did okay, he's got the natural ability to be a great player, quick, strong, a fairly decent passer of the ball, but just lacks a final end product. (I think, obviously I don't see Arsenal as much as you do)

You definatly missed Arsharvin today, his directness towards goal has been so key to your recent good form in the Premier League. He's a fantastic player, he's got the pace, movement, touch, class of an Arsenal player and then the directness and quality inside and around the box that alot of Arsenal players have sometimes lacked.

I said it a year ago and I'll stick by my word that Anderson will be the one of the best midfield players in the world in 3/4 years, if not the best. He's so strong, quick, his touch and ability on the ball is also generally very good. He gets stuck into tackles and rarely loses out in a 50/50. Obviously one of the flaws he lacks is his ability to score goals at the moment, which perhaps could hold him back from being "The best"...he in a way reminds me of Essien. You feel he has the drive, directness and power to be a box to box midfielder who gets in support of the strikers, but then you I beleive you could easily stick him against someone like Fabregas and say "Man mark" him..and he'd do a top class job. Hopefully as he gets older, his levels of composure will rise and his decision making can get better, then we could be talking one of the better players in the world.