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News thread for the 2017-2018 season

andyt said:
Haven't seen a match all season then? :wink
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Nah ... he's watching Villa's "march" through the Championship with me. They actually haven't been half bad after a faltering start. Injuries are starting to pile up though. It's gonna be a tough Christmas season in the classy part of Birmingham*

* That was hard to type with a straight face.
 
jeffbear said:
Nah ... he's watching Villa's "march" through the Championship with me. They actually haven't been half bad after a faltering start. Injuries are starting to pile up though. It's gonna be a tough Christmas season in the classy part of Birmingham*

* That was hard to type with a straight face.
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The other part of Birmingham is 1 point from safety...
 
Yeah, I don't count leagues where Villa don't play or international competitions where Netherlands don't play. It's been a while since I've actually seen a soccer match. How's my favorite player ever John Terry, who I've never said anything bad about ever, doing?
 
VinatieriDefinesClutch said:
Yeah, I don't count leagues where Villa don't play or international competitions where Netherlands don't play. It's been a while since I've actually seen a soccer match. How's my favorite player ever John Terry, who I've never said anything bad about ever, doing?
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Shockingly ... he's hurt. He broke his foot in early November, which coincided with a surge in the team's performance. Coincidence? I think not.
 
VinatieriDefinesClutch said:
I always knew he was a bum. I've always said that, complete bum. There is no proof that I've ever said otherwise.
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Look ... I'm fairly neutral on the subject and even I consider him a bum. I only saw two Villa games when he was playing and he's absolutely leaden out there at this point. Whether that's age or a complete lack of give a crap or some combination thereof ... who knows?
 
MLS championship is done ... Toronto flipped the script on Seattle in a. rematch of last year's final. Jozi Altidore with the break through goal in the second frame powered a 2-0 win. Toronto was the better side all game, so that was a fair result. Oh, and Stefan Frei remains just a spectacular big game goalkeeper.
 
Toronto also became the first MLS club to win a domestic treble. They also won the Supporters Shield and Canadian Championship, which is only contested between 5 clubs, the 3 in MLS, Edmonton of NASL and Ottawa of USL.
 
Frankly, I don't think that Canadian championship thingie means much ... OK, it means nothing.
 
jeffbear said:
Frankly, I don't think that Canadian championship thingie means much ... OK, it means nothing.
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It gets the winner into the CONCACAF Champions League. But it doesn't have the scope of the US Open Cup so yeah, it's pretty worthless.
 
Celtic's non-loss streak in the SPL was finally broken by Hearts this morning ... rather emphatically, as Celtic's defense fell apart at the seams in a 4-0 drubbing. But what a streak it was ... a record 69 games without a defeat.
 
The NFL is announcing their London games for next year at a press conference tomorrow. Based on some totally anonymous and possibly wholly unreliable information, I get a feeling that the NFL will announce firm plans to place a 32nd team in London, based at New White Hart Lane. If so, Daniel Levy is going to break the bank on stadium naming rights and sponsorships. And Harry Kane will be a very, very highly compensated footballer.

I may be completely wrong, but I wanted to get my guess in, so if it's true, I can say I told you so. If not, well... not the first time.
 
That’s a pretty safe bet, considering the lengths Spurs went to to make the new Lane NFL friendly. I don’t think the logistics work for a minimum 5 hour time difference though. It also becomes the longest flight in the league.

And Harry Kane will still end up at Real Madrid, like Modric and Bale before him. :wink
 
Here is something else about the NFL in England. A recent survey found that 59% of those surveyed found the NFL boring, more boring than darts or snooker. The survey was from all across England and not limited to London, where all the games have been/will be played. That also doesn’t mean they won’t tune in again. But for now, NFL games except the Super Bowl are broadcast on Sky Sports pay service.

http://awfulannouncing.com/nfl/nfl-uk-games-misguided-survey.html


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Yeah ... all that makes sense, but it doesn't mean it won't happen anyway. Goddell by all accounts has been obsessed with adding a London team for the purposes of branding the NFL in Europe. In that sense then, what's important is the international branding campaign, not logistics and not the financials of the proposed team in specific.

Personally I think it's dumb. I've got enough English and Scottish friends to know that American Football is a niche interest at best in the UK. I guess the league thinks that an outpost in Europe will be good for TV rights fees in Europe, but that's FAR from given. And rest assured that the Players Association will fight them tooth and nail. The players by and large HATE the London trips and have exactly zero interest in spending two thirds of their year in England. Long term, how in the heck does having a franchise that can't really compete, located in a major world market that doesn't give a toss about the team or the league, play out? Quick answer ... badly.
 
Football is the most popular sport in America, but it is by far the least popular in comparison internationally to America's other major sports. Basketball has caught on in Europe, China and South America. Baseball has become the biggest sport in many parts of Latin America, Japan and Korea. Football is just, American. They can try all they want, but other than maybe the super bowl, nobody else on earth will ever care that much about the NFL.
 
The schedule is out, the NFL is playing 3 games in London in 2018, over 3 straight weekends:

October 14 - Seahawks at Raiders - White Hart Lane
October 21 or 28 - Eagles at Jaguars - Wembley
October 21 or 28 - Titans at Chargers - Wembley

Keep in mind that the guy who owns the Jaguars also owns Fulham (no games at Craven Cottage?). The Jags have played in London every year since 2014 and are committed to playing 1 game there every year through 2020.
 
andyt said:
The schedule is out, the NFL is playing 3 games in London in 2018, over 3 straight weekends:

October 14 - Seahawks at Raiders - White Hart Lane
October 21 or 28 - Eagles at Jaguars - Wembley
October 21 or 28 - Titans at Chargers - Wembley

Keep in mind that the guy who owns the Jaguars also owns Fulham (no games at Craven Cottage?). The Jags have played in London every year since 2014 and are committed to playing 1 game there every year through 2020.
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The Cottage is named that for a reason. It's a quaint little relic on the Thames. They modernized a bit during their recent stint in the Premier, but that place seats like 25K and is located in a natural bottleneck.
 
So I punted on that one, although Levy and Khan both made noises about it. Although I agree that for the NFL it's more wishful thinking, but if Levy can milk it for naming rights, more power to him.

ManU are lucky they have so much cash flow there's no pressure for naming rights. The traditional names for football grounds have so much charm. And yes, Craven Cottage is right up there with the best of them.
 
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