Posh Spice in trouble over finger-pointing incident.....UEFA spokesman said a player who makes a gesture could be reported to its disciplinary committee which could suspend him...

With Germany and Romania coming up next, Mr Posh Spice sure knows when to hit the news...

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

Answers

By all accounts, the abuse the players were getting from a small band of .................. (I don`t know what you would call them, so you fill in the blanks), was dreadful. I`d be suprised and disappointed if any action was taken against Beckham. Say what you like about him, but you can bet your bottom dollar he wanted to win as much as anyone - and tried as hard as anyone to achieve a result.

Watching the match, there did seem to be small wandering groups of `fans` running round the perimiter fence and gobbing off at the players. Why were they allowed to do that? Bet the papers don`t show a photograph of them! (:o|

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

it is reported that neither the referee nor his assistants reported Beckham for this after the match so no action will be taken. However, if UEFA decide to act on video evidence he'll be in trouble.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

Couldn't have agreed more that he was one of the better players in the England/Portugal game...problem is he should know when to keep his temper in check...the rest of the team were subjected to the same abuse (also wonder how they were allowed to do that) but were wiser not to react....

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

I thought Beckham was average for most of the game. The crosses for the goals were top drawer mind (although the 1st one was basically a free kick - dead ball and the defender hanging back almost 10yds). His one talent, of accurate long balls, was exposed when he doesn't have someone like YMO to pick them up.

I was also concerned about the group of men (fans? I don't think so) who seemed to be able to run around the perimeter fencing at will. They seemed more bothered about calling the Portugese players tossers (with appropriate use of the international language of gesturing) and waving their club banners. If you're bothered enough to turn up shouldn't you at least make an effort to get behind your team?

Good things: Wor Al came away unscathed; 2 good goals; no bother after; erm; that's it

Bad things: Adams, Campbell, Seaman, the Nevilles and Ince simply did not play well enough. But we don't have the personel to make the difference.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

I'm not defending the morons who yelled abuse at the team, nor the tw@ts that Bobby so rightly pointed out who were running up and down the far touch line who were yelling abuse and gesticulating to every Portugal player......but what the f**k did the England players expect.

2-0 up inside 18 minutes and seemingly cruising.....they then give a player, who is reportedly worth in excess of #40million all the time in the world to have a shot and score a scorcher of a goal.

Ah didicums Spunky.....it got deflected.....VERY SLIGHTLY....but he didn't even make an effort to try and and dive for Christ sake.....he flapped from the very first corner, and the only real decent thing he did was make a good flying save from Figo when we were 1-0 up....they capitualted big time, and get pulled back from 2-0 up to lose 3-2 (and could/should have been a hell of a lot more) and then they want everyone to praise them and say how hard doen to they are.....well SORRRRRRRRRRRY.......one last word,

OI BECKHAM.......two good crosses then go to sleep.....you can now take that finger and shove it up your @rse you tw@t....

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

How many times does Beckham have to show that he simply hasn't the temperament to play for England. He is unable to withstand criticism of any sort. This is not the first incident where he has gestured at the crowd after being abused. I am not standing up for the boo boys. I am simply stating that he should not be picked for England unless he can control that temperament. Send him home now

This all has nothing to do with the fact that I stand to lose #20 if he scores in Euro 2000. Oh no it doesn't :-)

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

C'mon. Let's lay off Beckham. Irrespective of whether he's a twat and plays for Newton Heath, he's still a good footballer and almost certainly England's best option in that position.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

It must be pretty miserable playing in front of the bunch of neanderthal ingrates that follow Ingerland. If I was Ferguson I would recall Beckham and Scholes, then Keegan would really be in the shit.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

Sorry,

I thought he was our best player by some distance. Yes he had a quieter second half, but he tried everything he knew.

Poor bloke must be sick as a parrot.

p.s. His name's Stupid Spice!

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

I am not saying that PoshPuff is not a great player, he clearly is, but what he did last night was tantamount to incitement to riot for f**ks sake......but no no, we mustn't say things like that.

He SHOULDN'T be banned, he SHOULDN'T be sent home, he CAN'T be withdrawn by Taggart......but he SHOULD be fined AT LEAST #50,000....lets face it.....if it had been Dennis Wise (or in past Ian Wright) who gave the one finger salute they would have been hammered......but no, not PoshPuff....you can't say things against him a) because there is probably a law against it and b) he might go away and cry to his miussus and they might just pack up and leave the country........

NOW THERE'S AN INCENTIVE IF EVER I SAW ONE!

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

Hey Pilgrim,

>>>>>Yes he had a quieter second half, but he tried everything he knew<<<<<

Speaks volumes!

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

ITK,

The point I should have made was that he, at least was still trying and getting the crosses in. I thought some of our players went missing in the final 15 mins. Heads down etc.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

I'm with Pilgrim on this. Beckham, particularly in the first half, ran his socks off. Not forgetting the two crosses he put in for the two goals.

To be honest, I have criticised Beckham's performances for England many times in the past, not playing anywhere near his club form. Last night was different. He was up for it and it showed. Sadly, we never got to see a dead-ball shot from him as we never won any freekicks in the danger area.

I thought Ince had a poor game, but as has been said elsewhere, he was outnumbered in m/f. Manmanamanaman had a decent first half of the first half, but faded after he scored. Apart from those two, I'm struggling to think of anybody who played well after the euphoria of the first 20 mins.

Another thing which disappointed me was Keegan's body language. OK, so he probably hadn't a clue what to do when we were 3-2 down, but did he have to make it so obvious in his expression? I hate to say it, but I think El Tel would be a better bet.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

I think Hoddle would have done a better job. Sorry, KK, we still love you.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

I really couldn't work it out last night. Beckham was either great or idiotic. With Scholes operating like a striker, we were effectively playing 4-3-3. That's THREE of ours against FIVE of theirs. And what were the defence doing? They were all sitting back and forming a line around Portugal's lone striker instead of pushing up and helping the midfield. After supplying the goals, Beckham was forced to push inside to help Ince in midfield. For realising that, I give Beckham full marks. For sticking his finger up at some yobs - nil point.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

ITK....you wanna change yer name pal cos you know diddly squat. If a striker scores two goals then he's done his feckin' job. If David Beckham supplies BOTH pin point crosses for two goals then he's done his job too. Why don't you take your finger out of your arse and stop being a bitter shite? Well...go on then ya twat.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

Beckham was excellent last night. Before you blame him for reacting to the abuse just think about the nature of the abuse. I wasn't there, but you can imagine Shearer etc being called a twat for being crap or whatever, but with Beckham it would have been about his wife and thats unacceptable. I wish he'd gone in and sorted the fuckers out.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

OK then Lanky....given that arguement you must therefore believe that Shearer had a brilliant game as well, cos he pulled two defenders away to allow space for both goals.......I think not.

As usual, you did not read the posting properly.....I gave Poshpuff full and due credit for two brilliant crosses, but that was it....he did sod all else once Portugal got their first goal....LIKE THE REST OF THE TEAM.....He's there for free and in a VERY priviledged position.....but he was the tosser who sticks up the finger to the people who pay his f**king wages....

now get your head out of Taggarts @rse, wake up and smell the f**king coffee

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

I thought Beckham and Scholes were our two best players....

Yes Beckham did go Awol during the match but he was still better than the rest of the dross out there...he was a million times better McMana(anonymous)man...P.Neville was total toss as well....we might as well play without a left hand side and put an extra keeper on or something....

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

ITK, that's a bollox argument. Ya can't sat WGB had a brillaint game for pulling away two defenders for the two goals cos (a) it ain't true (what game were u watching) and (b) that's his job... apart from scoring.

I did read yer post...1,000,000 times...and you did give him credit for the two crosses.....the ya dogged one of them and a defender for giving him too much space, then ya said he did fuck all else then ya said his ONLY talent was long balls. Yer wrong. Quite wrong. Dunno why I get so annoyed....I've come to expect WRONG from you.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

Lancy, sometimes you can be a real bore.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

Ang on a mo...is ITK DEFENDING these so called England fans that chase a man around the pitch just to hurl abuse. And YOU think it's justified cos ENGLAND fans pay his wages? And you want ME to wake up:-) ffs ITK you really have lost the plot. You don't know WHAT was said but rest assured if some wanker calls YOUR wife a whore and your kid a bastard I expect you to in amongst them. Now fuck off.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

Hi Screach-

Agree about KK's body language, even in the post-game comments he was looking up to the sky for answers.

Beckham could have threaded a needle in the first half, excellent but something happened after 2-0 and we just didn't make the proper adjustments. Also on the first Beckham cross, the defender gave him way too much time and that will never happen again. He's a good weapon to have but we need more than him to beat a good team.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

Pete T:- After the 2-0 point, Beckham got pulled inside where he couldn't do much damage, MacManaman and Ince got caught upfield too often and WHAM we have a flat back four facing 3-4 excellent midfielders plus a striker. A flat back four plus a goal keeper who can't even pass to a team mate, I'll add for good measure. At least when Wise came on he looked like he could hold onto the ball. None of the others gave me that confidence.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

LR - I thought you came on other websites to engage in some banter and wind people up. Not to BE wound up. IMO Beckham had a good game but didn't get the support from central midfield so that he could do more damage. However, I thought he was stupid to stick his finger up at some A***holes in the crowd. Not because of any virtues of the blokes in the crowd but simply because he didn't need to risk being suspended.

Calm down Lancy.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

LR: Ang on a mo...is ITK DEFENDING these so called England fans that chase a man around the pitch just to hurl abuse

ITK: I'm not defending the morons who yelled abuse at the team, nor the tw@ts that Bobby so rightly pointed out who were running up and down the far touch line who were yelling abuse and gesticulating to every Portugal player

LR: Ya can't sat WGB had a brillaint game

ITK: you must therefore believe that Shearer had a brilliant game as well, cos he pulled two defenders away to allow space for both goals.......I think not.

LR: (b) that's his job

ITK: Since when was it a strikers job to pull defenders to the wing.

LR: you did give him credit for the two crosses.....the ya dogged one of them and a defender for giving him too much space

ITK: Sorry..where have I said any such thing

LR: then ya said his ONLY talent was long balls

ITK: Again, where have I said that

LR: rest assured if some wanker calls YOUR wife a whore and your kid a bastard I expect you to in amongst them

ITK: If you put your head above the parapet for in excess of 20 grand a week, expect to get shot at.

At least I can accept that Al was all but annonymous for most of the game, you seem totally incapable of accepting anything critical of anyone who plays for Newton Heath........you'll be telling us next that the Neville Sisters were a class double act last night......

now can you please take some notice of your final three words on your last posting to me.....thank you and good night

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

I watched the game with Softie at the plush Willington Quay headquarters of the Corinthian league. I guess we both wanted England to win but weren't on the edge of our seats screaming them on. As I've said recently I can't get too bothered about England these days. If they played some of their home games in front of the rest of the nation I could start to get interested.

What amazes me though is the motivation and mentality of those baiting Beckham at the end of the game. They seem bothered enough to have travelled over there and spent good money watching the game. They are presumably "supporters". So why bait the player who had the assists for both goals and played no worse than most.

I've no time for Beckham and his celebrity lifestyle which is shoved in our faces every day, but if I were supporting a team there's no way I'd want to upset any of them by this mindless behaviour. As for Beckham's response, like most players, managers or fans from Heath "They don't like it up 'em" and get extremely unpleasant when things go against them. Cantona and Beckham are the most famous examples. Taggart's lack of grace is well known and we have seen plenty examples of LR's unpleasantness on here.

Football superstars are paid a lot more than enough to take this sort of thing on the chin without so much as blinking. Beckham should grow up, notwithstanding the appalling behaviour of the so-called "fans".

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

I just love the way most of you on here think that just because you get paid the wedge you have to take shit from the crowd? Since when? So it's a money thing is it? The more ya get paid the the more passive ya have to get? So....if a player from Div three gives the bird to some abusive fans, that's acceptable because he only earns #(n)....?

So what's the difference between calling John Barnes a black bastard or David Beckham's wife a whore? Nothing, except you lot would expect Barnes to be annoyed yet expect Becham ti ignore it. Get a grip!!

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2000

LR you continue to prove yourself a very stupid man. Now I'm not just saying that to hand out personal abuse - I'm going to tell you why you are stupid, unlike yourself who have insulted me several times on here with no evidence to support your libels. (I'm still waiting for you to justify the "hypocrisy" insult but you appear to have bottled out without apology).

>>>>>So what's the difference between calling John Barnes a black bastard or David Beckham's wife a whore? Nothing, except you lot would expect Barnes to be annoyed yet expect Becham ti ignore it. Get a grip!!

I'm sure John Barnes was subjected to that sort of stuff during his career - I don't recall him ever making gestures to crowds in response. The only person I recall responding to "racist" chants was Cantona, yet another ill-disciplined, bad loser, ungracious winner for Heath.

Now to return to the charge of your stupidity.

>>>>you lot would expect

This is a classic trick. You put words or thoughts into the mouths or minds of your opponent and then proceed to knock down the argument you have invented for them. The fact of the matter is that I for one, and I'm sure I'm not alone on this, would be equally critical of obscene gestures by any top flight professional. If every pro footballer responded in the way of Cantona, Beckham etc to abuse, then riots and death would result somewhere along the line. Football chanting has often been abusive or obscene. I don't condone that but the job of the player is to get on with his game and ignore it. What the hell if DB's wife is called a whore? He knows it's not true, the people saying it know it's not true. Why should it hurt him? Because he is immature and unable to live up to the responsibility of the fame he courts, that's why.

Stop presuming to know what you think I or anyone else thinks on an issue. You are often wrong. I KNOW this because I know what I am thinking.

The justification or the apology for the hypocrisy insult is still awaited...

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2000

The hypocricy label stems from your pedestal placing of "non-local" fans while hating the very fact that some of England's finest supporters...fans of Man Utd...support a team not from their town of birth. etc etc etc

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2000

"England's finest supporters". Get over yourself, LR.

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2000

Does anyone else get the impression that there are many 'lurkers' viewing these threads about England and Newton Heath and immediately going into Homer Simpson mode while he flicks through cable TV,

"Boring, Boring, (next channel) Boring.......why do we pay for cable, boring"

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2000

And yet, strangely enough, when it has been denied him a few days, he can be found on his hands and knees kissing the cable saying, "Never before has such a tiny piece of flex brought so much happiness!" :-)

I guess you have to take the Ingerlund/Newton Heath threads along with the rest - beats the Hell out of talking to yourself (ask anyone who's ever talked to me - they'll tell you!)

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2000

WELL SAID De BUILDER!

It is boring. Even to part-time lurkers. Glad that I'm not paying!

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2000

Douggie.."Some of England's finest supporters"

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2000

LR

>>>>pedestal placing of "non-local" fans

Uhhh? All the fans bar one that I paid tribute to were born and/or bred and/or live in the North East. Not that that makes any odds AS I HAVE SAID BEFORE.

>>>>hating the very fact that some of England's finest supporters...fans of Man Utd...support a team not from their town of birth

I have NEVER expressed such a view. I have said that the Manure fans of MY experience (remember I stitched you up on that one before) were rubbish. In-your-face "We're better than you" merchants (a bit like yourself in recent weeks) and virtually none of them had ever been to OT. Also, on average, many more Toon fans do have an association with the region than is true for Heath.

My "hypocrisy is side-splittin"? I am no hypocrite LR and you should keep your insults in check if you can't back them up.

You come on here, pick fights, insult people and are often offensive. What is your problem?

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2000

Here's more of your hypocricy Jonno. Last week some time after it was obvious that I'd lost me rag...you retorted with a big smile and a hook-line-sinker type of comment. You made it plain that you laid the bait..and I took it. Now I read this from you....."You come on here, pick fights, insult people and are often offensive. What is your problem? "

I do pick cyber fights...granted...but most of the time it's in reply to crap laid down by you and Bobby and ITK or the likes. I don't insult people with intention...unless I'm wound up and it's heat-of- the-moment stuff. And I'm no more offensive than you...you who constantly refers to my club as Newton Heath or Manure, our supporters as glory hunting scum etc etc etc. At the mo I'm in a heated one with ITK...but his some of his comments like most of yours make me sick. Ok?

Now...does that answer yer question?

You like to dish it mate but taking it is a diffrent matter. Now don't go getting yerself wound-up ok (BFG)

Man with no problem...LR

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2000

LR

>>>>I don't insult people with intention...unless I'm wound up and it's heat-of- the-moment stuff. And I'm no more offensive than you...you who constantly refers to my club as Newton Heath or Manure, our supporters as glory hunting scum etc etc etc.

Excuse me - this is a Newcastle United BBS. If I wanted to look for trouble or insults I could go on other bulletin boards. I choose not to do so. If you get offended by me calling your team BY IT'S ORIGINAL NAME, or MANUre then that is pretty trivial and of a different order of magnitude to the personal abuse you hand out. If you take offence at such stuff I can't imagine why you come on here.

There's no hypocrisy at all here LR. Like all the other times when you have taken me on, YOU ARE WRONG AGAIN.

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2000