Glasgow and Paris, Roared on by a fanatical home support, `Kop on Tour` feeling, Celtic lost out on penalties to the poorest Valencia team I have seen. Anyone with a memory or a statistical bent (cue guff4s) will remember how I rated them when they hit the big stage 3yrs ago. Ok players move on and players were missing tonite but apart from Vincente I was not impressed. "I am your Larson, your Henrik Larson" missed 2 sitters but without Agathe their attacking options are limited. Celtic were in the lead in the shootout but both Larsen and Valgaren failed to hit the target. With the movement of the goalies -v- Ravenelli fresh in my mind it was interesting to see that Dick Jol gave Valgarren another chance after Canizares saved his first attempt, his movement was not as pronounced as Shay`s and the other g

PSG missed a stream of chances against Gers and it should never have went to penalties, Rangers got one with 3 mins to go but Ronnie de Bore blasted over the top. Rangers won the ensuing shootout so Supa-Kev I am afraid that you may not see Claudio Reyna for a while yet. BTW Where Did-e Domi go? , no sign tonite unless he was playing in the French YMCA League. Nearly forgot Flo missed a chance with his heed that Flo Capp could have sunk, 12 mill, yowser!

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2001

Answers

a.m.post

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2001

But Vicente was very good, superbly fast feet.

Couldn't believe Ayala didn't get sent off, need to wind him up in the World Cup and Argentina could be short of a defender.

Very funny way Carew spelled his surname on his shirt ??

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

Watched Ipswich, quick detour for Spin City at 9.00 (lost control of the remote for 5 seconds), back for the end of the match and then onto Eurosport to watch extra time and pens in Paris. Very educational. Thoroughly enjoyed seeing Anelka whinge and whine before sporting the largest ice-pack seen since the Titanic on his leg as soon as it was rumoured that he might have to show us all his prowess at taking penalties. What a complete tit. Hope Reid does sign him.

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

And Claudio celebrates by signing for Sunderland....

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

He's quoted in Sporting Life as being excited to sign for a team that's 'going places'. (?!)

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

Of couse ciara, Barnsley, Norwich and other exciting places he has never been to!

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

LOL, guess Europe got a bit boring. ;-)

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

Some Irish mates of mine (Celtic fans) got the **** kicked out of them by a gang of Valencia fans. These are NOT lads who cause bother, ever, but they are big fellas who would be targets for only the most drunken / superior numbers type of hooligan. This is not an isolated incident. There is MUCH more violence at football in Spain. Not quite '80s England levels but much more than now at home. But what is the Spanish word for ANY English fan? Correct... 'Hooligan'.

There is trouble at most games, most weeks in Spain but does it get press...No. However, if there is a European game involving an English side, the papers are full of worried policemen for weeks in advance.

Sorry if I'm off topic but it REALLY pisses me off.

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

Steve, I agree and it p*sses me off, too. The thing is that the English will have to go some to lose the reputation they got in the eighties. What really p*sses me off, though, is the role of the media in the way England fans are portrayed. There's a book by a bloke called Colin Ward (Gooner) about this - he is a journo who has followed England as a fan for years and he says that the media will give lads cash to kick off, even paying some lads to overturn a bus in Sweden in 1988. I was sceptical about whether he was talking the entire truth but, because my firm acts for FIFA and the French Football Federation, got tickets to a number of World Cup games. I now know for a fact that the media invents at least 50% of English hoolie problems, either by paying lads to kick off, inventing evidence or just plain lying. I'm not saying English fans are angelic and I detest your average no-surrender England fan but they are about half as bad as portrayed.

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2001

....or are half of them as bad as portrayed, dougal?

While never attending England away games, my suspicion is that there is still a core of perhaps a few hundred on the 'no surrender' brigade who are initiating bother. While this continues, I'm afraid all travelling fans from England will be tarred with the same brush.

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2001

True, Clarky, but I think the hard core of the Germans, Dutch, Spanish and Italians is at least as big and as bad as our hard core. What those countries don't have is a tabloid press that will give a drunk lad £50 to hold a machete.

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2001

BTW, I agree that we are paying the price for a few. However, the only fatality is France 98 was caused by a group of Germans beating up a policeman. Of course, it could easily be English doing the same thing, but...

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2001

When Man U played Bayern here 2 (?) years ago the place was overrun with red shirts. The press were hysterical from the moment they knew who was playing but the entirety of the coverage and scaremongering focused on the English. Not a word about Germany's less-than-perfect record.

On the day, every bar was packed to the rafters, many running out of beer. The Mancs were by far the most visible contingent but there were plenty of Germans enjoying a pint or ten as well.

So, a city full of 'rampaging hooligans' drinking 'oceans of beer'. A recipe for disaster? No. The whole thing was enormously good natured with plenty of groups of Germans and English drinking together without problems. Many were taking advantage of the sun by lying around on the Ramblas, enjoying the day.

So what to do if you're a jounalist with egg on your face? Friendly English? Drinking without fighting? No sexy stories here...

I personally witnessed a camera crew film a group of shirtless lads on the Ramblas. One was lying down, getting a suntan, together with some locals who had joined them. I laughed, pleased at how it had all turned out.

That night on the telly, I saw the footage of the lad. The commentary was all about the drunken hooligans, unconscious on the Ramblas, intimidating the locals. I couldn't beleive it. Despite the fact that there were something like half the number of arrests compared with an average Barca home game, the Spanish media still managed to portray the day like the second coming of Genghis and his hordes.

I can't see our reputation ever changing, to be honest.

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2001

Steve, this summer, the mayors of all three cities we played in wrote to NUFC saying we'd been a pleasure to have. Any of that in the newspapers? You know the answer.

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2001