2010/2011 Season Thread

[Bigsby]

I don't really have an EPL team, I generally just support whoever's got the players or managers I like best. This year I'm probably supporting Birmingham because I like Alex McLeish as a manager and I think he's doing a fucking fantastic job there, building a really strong team in his own image that are hard break down and work really hard. Plus they have McFadden

Previously I followed Everton for a long time, because I like David Moyes, plus they had McFadden. I might be a little bit gay for McFadden.

Yeah, I'm exactly the same. Liked Newcastle for a while when they had some Scottish players. But in terms on "title contenders" Man U will pretty much always be my "English" team because of eth Fergie connection, ie I would rather see them win eth league than Chelsea/Arsenal etc.

[Guest Gladstone]

Surely the majority of Scottish football fans also have a team in the Premiership that they like? Since most probably make this decision when they're quite young it's hardly surprising that people tend to pick one of the exciting sides towards the top of the premiership. I can't really see a problem with a group of Man U fans in a pub in Edinburgh.

I honestly couldn't give two fucks who wins in the Premiership, apart from last night when I was supporting Aston Villa because I needed Luke Young to get some points to maintain my status at the top of the Fantasy Football league.

That went well for me.

[Shaki]

I don't really have an EPL team, I generally just support whoever's got the players or managers I like best. This year I'm probably supporting Birmingham because I like Alex McLeish as a manager and I think he's doing a fucking fantastic job there, building a really strong team in his own image that are hard break down and work really hard. Plus they have McFadden

Previously I followed Everton for a long time, because I like David Moyes, plus they had McFadden. I might be a little bit gay for McFadden.

I have a touch of the McFadden related gayness too. Generally I like to see Scottish players and managers doing well too (except B. Ferguson....and for some reason I find Boro's stuttering under Strachan funny....obviously I am a little confused). Really what I'm saying is I am a fan of the Championship.

[Scorge]

Surely the majority of Scottish football fans also have a team in the Premiership that they like? Since most probably make this decision when they're quite young it's hardly surprising that people tend to pick one of the exciting sides towards the top of the premiership. I can't really see a problem with a group of Man U fans in a pub in Edinburgh.

Nope, never understood that shite.

I do have a soft spot for QPR, but only because Eddie Hitler supports them....

[ca_gere]

Follow yes, support no. you should be plumped with a) your local team or b) the team you were forced to support growing up via mum/dad/granda/etc. If they're shit and play crap football tough luck.

I follow players more than teams. I hate man yoo but follow Berbatov and have done since his Germany days. Dunno why. Same with Scottish players outside Scotland (as above) and American players too (Cobe Jones for Sheff wed and Alexi Lalas for Padova ftw).

[Paranoid Android]

Well obviously there are some who don't, but most people I know who are big football fans like to follow the premiership and have a team they support.

Even if someone has started supporting a team for the most arbitrary of reasons, if they've since been following that team for a long period of time, that in itself is a clear connection to the club. Even the "accepted" reasons for supporting a club (local team, parents etc) are just incidental reasons to start investing your time and attention to that club, I'm not sure they really give someone a stronger connection to the club.

[Adam Easy Wishes]

Follow yes, support no. you should be plumped with a) your local team or b) the team you were forced to support growing up via mum/dad/granda/etc. If they're shit and play crap football tough luck.

This man speaks the truth.

I can't get passionate about any team other than Aberdeen or Scotland.

[Soda Jerk]

Supporting your local team is quite an aged tradition these days anyway, I feel. Relocating seems more common than ever, and if you relocated once or twice as a kid, then you probably don't even have a local team. Or maybe sometimes you just fucking hate your local team. Everyone who was a Leeds supporter at my school was an annoying little shit, and that was before I even liked football. Instantly written off. It helped that my Mums side of the family are Mancs, and mostly United fans, so I could rub it in when Man Utd beat Leeds. To this day, I've still been to more United games than Wednesday, despite not really having any real emotional connection to them. You don't turn down a United season ticket.

[Woodsinho]

I have a touch of the McFadden related gayness too. Generally I like to see Scottish players and managers doing well too (except B. Ferguson....and for some reason I find Boro's stuttering under Strachan funny....obviously I am a little confused). Really what I'm saying is I am a fan of the Championship.

It's not funny.

We are at home to Burnley tonight, they haven't won away from home yet this season but then they've probably only had 2 or 3 away games. This'll be their best chance so far to get one, especially if Barry Robson ends up at left back like he did on Saturday. I can't help but question GS2's thinking on this one, he's loaned out our 2 left backs (andrew taylor/jonathan grounds) without signing any replacement and then wonders why we're getting destroyed by right wingers.

It's not funny.

[Soda Jerk]

Iwelumois going to get a hat trick..... of stupid close range misses.

Only kidding. The Championship is his level. They should name the division after him. He's going to score 90 goals this season, then when they get promoted, he'll score 2 all season. A penalty, and a tap in which should have been called for offside, but wasn't.

[Guest Gladstone]

This man speaks the truth.

I can't get passionate about any team other than Aberdeen or Scotland.

Talking of passion for a team, I was nearly tearing my fucking house down watching Scotland the other week. That's kind of what I'm getting at, I don't understand how you can get to that stage watching a game of football if you're "supporting" a team down in England that you're only really supporting for some weird reason, like I dunno if you're a Rangers fan and you suddenly start supporting Birmingham because Ferguson plays for them, or a Celtic fan supporting Villa because of O'Neill, Petrov/Maloney, or a Dons fan supporting Birmingham because of McLeish etc etc. You haven't grown up supporting these teams, so how can you get passionate about them?

I watch plenty of Premiership football, just hoping for a good game, and I find myself rooting for one team over the other sometimes just because of how they're playing or if it's a plucky "wee" team against one of the top 4 or if Man U (for example) is just playing sublime football etc etc. But I couldn't actually give a fuck about the result at the end of it all. I find it funny watching Man City be shit, and Joe Hart keeping them in games after spending lorry loads of cash on players. Although I seem to remember Chelsea taking a few years before they got a proper foothold in the league, and I sense Man City will do the same. They'll soon form part of the "Big 3" - Chelsea, Man Utd and Man City. Liverpool have already fallen away, and I suspect Arsenal will too.

EDIT: Fuck this, I'm moving to England and supporting someone down there - it just started fucking SNOWING in September.

[ca_gere]

But it'd be crazy not to support your own country. Same thing. You're Scottish so you have to support Scotland. I'm from Aberdeen so have to support the dons. (my true local team would be Peterhead i suppose but when I was growing up they didn't even have a proper stand, when you're 5 this counts for a lot. And I played for the boys team so you can't support a team you can get a game for). I could like/follow/cheer on any other team or country but I could never call myself a supporter

[Guest idol_wild]

My football stance has changed dramatically over the years. When I first started going to games (back in about 1989, but not without adult supervision until about 1992), I knew very little about football, aside from some player names and the positions they played.

Over the years, I developed quite a passion for Aberdeen Football Club, and most of that was down to a sense of belonging to a tribe. Supporting a football club seriously is a very tribal and primitive thing to be involved in, and that was quite exciting. My football club was my identity. I felt I fitted in with the other fans, shared a similar passion and stance for our team, and generally revelled in the fact we thought we were hard-done-by outsiders.

In reality these days, though, I cannot relate to my football club, its players, or the vast majority of the other fans one iota. Which actually really saddens me. It doesn't help that as a working man I am ironically priced out of football, yet when I was a child or a student, I could afford it quite easily - both home and away games.

However, I'd say at this point in my life that I am a bigger football fan than I ever have been, and I would also say that I am almost obsessed with it. Yet, strangely, I don't really find myself "supporting" a team, as such. I've never really had an English team, just a number of results that I always look out for before others. And I much prefer English football to Scottish football - especially the Championship and the two or three levels beneath it.

[Paranoid Android]

Talking of passion for a team, I was nearly tearing my fucking house down watching Scotland the other week. That's kind of what I'm getting at, I don't understand how you can get to that stage watching a game of football if you're "supporting" a team down in England that you're only really supporting for some weird reason, like I dunno if you're a Rangers fan and you suddenly start supporting Birmingham because Ferguson plays for them, or a Celtic fan supporting Villa because of O'Neill, Petrov/Maloney, or a Dons fan supporting Birmingham because of McLeish etc etc. You haven't grown up supporting these teams, so how can you get passionate about them?

At least in my experience this kind of thing isn't the case with Scottish football fans supporting English teams. I always believed that people did grow up supporting the English side as well, the choice might be made for a silly reason but it's usually made when 10,11,12 years old.

[Shaki]

It's not funny.

We are at home to Burnley tonight, they haven't won away from home yet this season but then they've probably only had 2 or 3 away games. This'll be their best chance so far to get one, especially if Barry Robson ends up at left back like he did on Saturday. I can't help but question GS2's thinking on this one, he's loaned out our 2 left backs (andrew taylor/jonathan grounds) without signing any replacement and then wonders why we're getting destroyed by right wingers.

It's not funny.

Sorry, I wasn't thinking! I mean you no ill feeling. I think my amusement comes from me being a self-loathing Scottish football fan who thinks it funny that WGS bought a random selection of quality and shite SPL players and everyone thought they were going to win the league.

See now that's a tough one tonight. Scots V's Scots. Let's hope it's an entertaining game with lots of goals and a late Barry Robson winner.

[Bigsby]

This man speaks the truth.

I can't get passionate about any team other than Aberdeen or Scotland.

Yeah, me too, still "follow" Man U and or other teams with Scottish connectiosn though.

[Murrr]

I support Newcastle because they were forced upon me from a young age. Up until the age of 7-8 I thought football was shite and not worthy of my attention, but my Dad got me into supporting Newcastle during the same period of time that Kenny Dalglish was busy dismantling Kevin Keegan's wonderful team. I'm too young to remember the first Keegan era, and I think we finished 12th in the first season I really took an interest in football. I've been following them ever since, through thick and thin, and they'll always be my number one club. I have a strong affinity for Aberdeen as I was born here, but I really don't have all that much passion for them. I honestly have no idea how someone can feel really passionate about more than one club.

Additionally, I don't understand people who have loads of foreign clubs. C'mon, Bufty, let's be honest: you don't really support Barcelona, Ajax, Lyon, Inter Milan, and Bayern Munich, do you? There are certain foreign teams I'll look out for when the scores are on (Dortmund, Hellas Verona), but I wouldn't say I support either team. That shit just baffles me.

As far as international football goes, I really can't force myself to be interested in Scotland any more. I've tried, God knows I have, but I just can't get behind the team as much as I want to. I'll always cheer for them, but, I dunno... I just don't have the same passion for Scotland that I do for Newcastle. Maybe it's because I think the hierarchy is broken, maybe it's because I don't like the players... who knows?

[Paranoid Android]

Additionally, I don't understand people who have loads of foreign clubs. C'mon, Bufty, let's be honest: you don't really support Barcelona, Ajax, Lyon, Inter Milan, and Bayern Munich, do you? There are certain foreign teams I'll look out for when the scores are on (Dortmund, Hellas Verona), but I wouldn't say I support either team. That shit just baffles me.

It depends on whether they follow the league and watch games though? If someone takes a keen interest in Bundesliga and Ligue 1 why shouldn't they start to follow a team? As I said before merely "following" a team can over time turn into a strong link to and passion for a club.

I wouldn't say so anymore, but when I was younger I was a big supporter of Juventus. With Channel 4's awesome coverage serie a was actually the easiest league to follow for a person without Sky when I was growing up. I felt a strong affinity for the league and the team I arbitrarily picked the first time I tuned in.

I never really followed La Liga when I lived in the UK but since I've been living in Spain I've built a strong connection to Barcelona and although my passion for them isn't as strong as it is for Aberdeen I wouldn't say it's any less genuine. Nor is my passion for Chelsea who I picked just because all the kids at primary school picked an English team.

[Soda Jerk]

However, I'd say at this point in my life that I am a bigger football fan than I ever have been, and I would also say that I am almost obsessed with it. Yet, strangely, I don't really find myself "supporting" a team, as such.

I agree with the principality of this. I get quite nervy, gripping the arm of the sofa when watching football I have no real affiliation with, just because top level football is great to watch. I'm not a huge fan of Spanish football, but I still find myself watching it alot. I remember watching the El Clasico's last season, rooting for Real Madrid, and being utterly disappionted each time. Despite not having any real connection with the teams playing, I seem to be able to forge a connection as the game goes on, and get a bit heated when things start going wrong, or elated when goals start flying in. You could compare it to the likes of crying at the end of a film. You don't even know them, and they're not even real, but you're still bawling. Football is better than films. Bulletproof analogy.

[Murrr]

It depends on whether they follow the league and watch games though? If someone takes a keen interest in Bundesliga and Ligue 1 why shouldn't they start to follow a team? As I said before merely "following" a team can over time turn into a strong link to and passion for a club.

I'm not saying they shouldn't, I'm saying that I don't understand it because I cannot relate to it. Like I said before, I simply cannot understand how somebody can feel a strong passion for more than one football team. It's like having two wives.

[Guest idol_wild]

football...You could compare it to the likes of crying at the end of a film. You don't even know them, and they're not even real, but you're still bawling. Football is better than films. Bulletproof analogy.

I totally agree.

Okay okay okay. New direction for the thread - has watching a game of football ever made you cry?

[Paranoid Android]

I cried after Scotland lost against Morocco in' 98

[Soda Jerk]

England. Southgate's penalty miss. I kicked the edge of a chest of drawers though. I think it was that which made me cry.

[Scorge]

In reality these days, though, I cannot relate to my football club, its players, or the vast majority of the other fans one iota. Which actually really saddens me. It doesn't help that as a working man I am ironically priced out of football, yet when I was a child or a student, I could afford it quite easily - both home and away games.

Rapidly reaching this point with Thistle to be honest - had quite a large disagreement with a few other fans on Saturday who were part of the 'Sack Jobby' brigade, who fail to see that it's out BOD that are slowly killing the club off and the manager is working with the proverbial hands behind the back. Oh, and I paid 17 quid to get in. To a bottom of the 1st division scrap.

(At least when I pop along to watch Montrose I'll get a laugh with the banter in the Dynamo end, even if the football is largely quite rubbish.)

[delboy]

Wembley last year after Cambridge lost to Torquay in the play off final, we really should have got promoted back to the football league that season. To lose twice on the trot in the play off final was too much for me and my fellow supporters to take and to lose with such a lifeless limpless display (as we had done in 2008) meant a season which had promised so much disintegrated to nothing. I foresee a long hard struggle ahead to get out the conference and since that day its been proved correct. We're in this tinpot league for many seasons to come I fear.