UEFA Euro 2020

[vandermolen]

Great news indeed.

He had a fantastic welcome when he first came on as a sub against Newcastle I think, applauded by the home crowd but also the Newcastle players and away supporters.

There was another quirky and lovely moment last week (or before) when Brentford played Norwich. Eriksen took a Norwich player down in a minor tumble. They both fell arms in arms on the ground. The Norwich player started to react angrily to the foul but when he looked up and realised who made him tumble, he suddenly had the widest beaming smile and decided to hug Ericksen on the floor.  He said in an interview that when he realised who had fouled him, he felt like Eriksen might need a hug 

Video here :

https://twitter.com/SkySportsNews/status/1501588052237553667

It's lovely Olivier - thanks for posting it.

[MusicTurner]

Great news indeed.

He had a fantastic welcome when he first came on as a sub against Newcastle I think, applauded by the home crowd but also the Newcastle players and away supporters.

There was another quirky and lovely moment last week (or before) when Brentford played Norwich. Eriksen took a Norwich player down in a minor tumble. They both fell arms in arms on the ground. The Norwich player started to react angrily to the foul but when he looked up and realised who made him tumble, he suddenly had the widest beaming smile and decided to hug Ericksen on the floor.  He said in an interview that when he realised who had fouled him, he felt like Eriksen might need a hug 

Video here :

https://twitter.com/SkySportsNews/status/1501588052237553667

Yes, a nice story. And there's no easy way of maintaining Premier League game time or playing role; he really put a lot of effort in it.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

The afore-mentioned Eriksen did well in his come-back via the Premier League (Brentford), and he has now joined the Danish national team for their next game. A happy story so far.

Yeah! 

Great news indeed.

He had a fantastic welcome when he first came on as a sub against Newcastle I think, applauded by the home crowd but also the Newcastle players and away supporters.

There was another quirky and lovely moment last week (or before) when Brentford played Norwich. Eriksen took a Norwich player down in a minor tumble. They both fell arms in arms on the ground. The Norwich player started to react angrily to the foul but when he looked up and realised who made him tumble, he suddenly had the widest beaming smile and decided to hug Ericksen on the floor.  He said in an interview that when he realised who had fouled him, he felt like Eriksen might need a hug 

Video here :

https://twitter.com/SkySportsNews/status/1501588052237553667

Can't watch the video here in the States, but I found an interview with the other player....nice story! 

PD

[MusicTurner]

Yes, a nice story. And there's no easy way of maintaining Premier League game time or playing role; he really put a lot of effort in it.

It has even been a surprisingly good come-back for Eriksen, scoring fine goals and playing very well in both Premier League and on the national team - 3 scored goals in just one week's three games.

[Irons]

It is not often I feel sorry for the fans of Liverpool football club but the events last week at the Stade de France prior to the Champions League Final were truly horrific. I am aware there are historical reasons why English fans and Liverpool in particular are treated with dread and suspicion on the Continent. But the use of tear gas and pepper spray by the French police went way beyond that. French commentators are unanimous that both sets of fans were well behaved. So why the brutality, including against women and children? 

[Papy Oli]

It is not often I feel sorry for the fans of Liverpool football club but the events last week at the Stade de France prior to the Champions League Final were truly horrific. I am aware there are historical reasons why English fans and Liverpool in particular are treated with dread and suspicion on the Continent. But the use of tear gas and pepper spray by the French police went way beyond that. French commentators are unanimous that both sets of fans were well behaved. So why the brutality, including against women and children?

The handling of the Liverpool has been despicable and the handling of the aftermath by the French Interior minister and the sports minister even worse.

For a bit of context, the issue is not just with English supporters but has also been brewing between French supporters and the authorities for a long while.

The local "Prefets" in charge of their local riot police forces take quite a negative view towards football supporters in general, even more so towards kops/ultras/away fans. Before Covid, they had even started to forbid away fans altogether in "problematic" games, even more so when the Covid restrictions were gradually lifted up. The relationship between supporters/clubs/authorities are sour at best.

A bit like the recent examples in England of late with pitch invasions, the post-covid "liberation" has been even more troublesome in France. Maybe they were expecting that Liverpool fans (drunk or otherwise) would create similar troubles, when it was anything but and the piss-poor organisation was solely to blame for the shambles (with a French culturally-expected metro strike thrown in for good measure).

Even with the shoddy excuse of replacing St Petersburg at "short" notice (while being pushed hard by Macron himself), you would have thought the Stade De France and the French FA would know how to handle a major game in their top venue by now. It's only been 24 years !

A very poor reflection on France two years away from the Olympics.   

[Irons]

The handling of the Liverpool has been despicable and the handling of the aftermath by the French Interior minister and the sports minister even worse.

For a bit of context, the issue is not just with English supporters but has also been brewing between French supporters and the authorities for a long while.

The local "Prefets" in charge of their local riot police forces take quite a negative view towards football supporters in general, even more so towards kops/ultras/away fans. Before Covid, they had even started to forbid away fans altogether in "problematic" games, even more so when the Covid restrictions were gradually lifted up. The relationship between supporters/clubs/authorities are sour at best.

A bit like the recent examples in England of late with pitch invasions, the post-covid "liberation" has been even more troublesome in France. Maybe they were expecting that Liverpool fans (drunk or otherwise) would create similar troubles, when it was anything but and the piss-poor organisation was solely to blame for the shambles (with a French culturally-expected metro strike thrown in for good measure).

Even with the shoddy excuse of replacing St Petersburg at "short" notice (while being pushed hard by Macron himself), you would have thought the Stade De France and the French FA would know how to handle a major game in their top venue by now. It's only been 24 years !

A very poor reflection on France two years away from the Olympics.   

It isn't the poor organisation that sticks in the throat  - the Euro Final at Wembley last year was as bad if not worse. But attempting to blame "British football hooligans" as the culprits when they were actually well behaved is very poor. Even worse, it is reported that the police allowed roaming gangs of thugs to assault and rob both English and Spanish fans at will.

On a lighter note, I heard a story from a couple of West Ham fans who went over to Germany for the game with Eintracht Frankfurt which I found funny. Eintracht "Ultras" roamed around the city searching for small groups of WH fans to give them what for. To reach the football ground it was required to walk though a wooded area, these two WH fans sitting on a bench were approached by a gang and asked if they supported West Ham? One Hammer stood up and said "Nine"! The blows came raining down, followed by the Ultras jumping in a car and speeding off.

[Papy Oli]

It isn't the poor organisation that sticks in the throat  - the Euro Final at Wembley last year was as bad if not worse. But attempting to blame "British football hooligans" as the culprits when they were actually well behaved is very poor. Even worse, it is reported that the police allowed roaming gangs of thugs to assault and rob both English and Spanish fans at will.

There's just a lot of fishy behaviour by the French authorities on this matter. All the CCTV files outside the Stade de France have been deleted. They are not to be kept more than 7 days normally, unless requested for by the authorities...who did it 12 days after only...conveniently. Omnishambles. Easier to blame the Liverpool fans I guess. That diversion, thankfully, is not working in France either.


Football itself is not much better this end. France is not faring well in the Nations League and my club has been relegated to the French Ligue 2 (30 years after an administrative relegation and and 55+ years since the last one sporting-wise). It will be a weird one. So much for subscribing to BT sport for the Ligue 1. At least I'll still have the Europa League with Arsenal (  ) and the Aussie Rules 


 

[Irons]

There's just a lot of fishy behaviour by the French authorities on this matter. All the CCTV files outside the Stade de France have been deleted. They are not to be kept more than 7 days normally, unless requested for by the authorities...who did it 12 days after only...conveniently. Omnishambles. Easier to blame the Liverpool fans I guess. That diversion, thankfully, is not working in France either.


Football itself is not much better this end. France is not faring well in the Nations League and my club has been relegated to the French Ligue 2 (30 years after an administrative relegation and and 55+ years since the last one sporting-wise). It will be a weird one. So much for subscribing to BT sport for the Ligue 1. At least I'll still have the Europa League with Arsenal (  ) and the Aussie Rules 

Bordeaux?

[Papy Oli]

Bordeaux?

Yes it is, sorry. Might even be temporarily relegated further down if we don't pass the pre-season financial checks with the relevant authorities this Tuesday, checks for which we do not have required guarantees yet (I think we need to sell for/find 20M euros extras for end of June).
Harder to do when your team is pants and your 2 or 3 most valuable players are the ones you should aim to keep to come back up immediately 

[Irons]

Yes it is, sorry. Might even be temporarily relegated further down if we don't pass the pre-season financial checks with the relevant authorities this Tuesday, checks for which we do not have required guarantees yet (I think we need to sell for/find 20M euros extras for end of June).
Harder to do when your team is pants and your 2 or 3 most valuable players are the ones you should aim to keep to come back up immediately 

That sounds a similar situation Derby County are in. Great club with a big fan base. Found an American buyer who insisted he had the funds only to withdraw at the last minute. A great club with history to match (Clough years) which could like Bury be kicked out of the EFL.

[Papy Oli]

That sounds a similar situation Derby County are in. Great club with a big fan base. Found an American buyer who insisted he had the funds only to withdraw at the last minute. A great club with history to match (Clough years) which could like Bury be kicked out of the EFL.

The financial commission passed its judgement yesterday and Bordeaux is for now relegated a further step down to League one equivalent. The club has appealed but needs to bring further guarantees to the table and sell for at least €22M worth of players in the next 14 days. if whatever they present to the commission in a fortnight is satisfactory, then we stay in the Championship/Tier 2. If not, this is pretty much curtains for the club and it would go bankrupt. Any potential takeover from there would see the debt wiped off but the club would have to restart from the highest amateur level, the 5th tier (National league equivalent). A sad indictment of our 12-year downward spiral.

Another big club followed that path (R.C. Strasbourg), about 10 years ago I think. They restarted from that 5th tier in an healthier set up and gradually came back, up to the level now of fighting for European spots this last season. They were averaging about 35-40K home attendance even in the 5th tier, breaking attendance records throughout the lower divisions. If there is a worst case scenario to follow, that could be it.

[Papy Oli]

(the less said about the Nations league, the better    )

[Irons]

The financial commission passed its judgement yesterday and Bordeaux is for now relegated a further step down to League one equivalent. The club has appealed but needs to bring further guarantees to the table and sell for at least €22M worth of players in the next 14 days. if whatever they present to the commission in a fortnight is satisfactory, then we stay in the Championship/Tier 2. If not, this is pretty much curtains for the club and it would go bankrupt. Any potential takeover from there would see the debt wiped off but the club would have to restart from the highest amateur level, the 5th tier (National league equivalent). A sad indictment of our 12-year downward spiral.

Another big club followed that path (R.C. Strasbourg), about 10 years ago I think. They restarted from that 5th tier in an healthier set up and gradually came back, up to the level now of fighting for European spots this last season. They were averaging about 35-40K home attendance even in the 5th tier, breaking attendance records throughout the lower divisions. If there is a worst case scenario to follow, that could be it.

Sad. Glasgow Rangers were kicked down the divisions and Celtic had a free ride. But with a strong fan-base there is always hope. Rangers are now back.

(the less said about the Nations league, the better    )

As my dear old dad used to say "Can't hit the ground with his hat" sums up perfectly the ability of England to score a goal in open play.