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Morons
Sorry, Mark Alvis. Philip Roscoe is a moron, and so is anyone who supports a big club (especially Man Utd) and moans about the cost of Chelsea's squad or claims they've bought the title. Man Utd have the second most expensive squad in the country, and their fans have the nerve to bitch about the one club whose squad cost more.
Get rid of Rooney, Ferdinand, Ronaldo, Nani, Anderson, Carrick, Hargreaves, Saha, Evra, Vidic and Tevez and replace them with local lads brought through the youth system, and they'd be in a position to accuse other teams of trying to buy success. Otherwise they come across as jealous hypocrites.
Andrew, LF
...Mark Alvis, your loathing of Chelsea is clear for all to see but that doesn't bother me. What does, however, is the frequent dismissal of a clubs worthiness to succeed based on their "history".
Are you therefore saying that only Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool should ever be allowed to compete for the league title? Don't they buy titles just like Chelsea?
Support which team you like and hate which teams you like, but please don't become so blinkered that you just appear a bitter hypocrite.
Boris Chapman
...I have been a reader of the mailbox for years and I always find it odd when idiots like Mark Alvis go on about History. What has history got to do with how good a football club is today and the respect it is held in? Of course Chelsea has history, any club started in 1905 must have history! It seems your history only counts if you won leagues and European cups in the eighties like Pool, Man Utd, Forest. Chelsea won the league in 55 with the Bentley Boys, obviously that does not count. Chelsea have won 4 FA cups, 4 league cups, 3 top league titles, 2 UEFA cup winners cups, one European super cup. Apparently none of those achievements count as history either! Why? Can someone please explain to me what is meant by "History" when referring to football clubs? What counts as history and what does not? And why do Liverpool, Man utd etc have history and Chelsea do not? Is it because they have won more titles and European honours? If so, can someone tell me how many honours you have to win before you have a history, 5 titles? 2 European Cups?
People hold up Liverpool as a club with "great history". This is true, but then people seem to select the history they remember. The main history of Liverpool I remember is sitting down to watch the European cup final in 1985 as a kid and then the sick feeling and anger that followed, finally followed by utter hatred for the supporters of a club that got English teams banned from Europe for 5 years. But obviously nobody is allowed to mention that and it does not count toward Liverpool's "great history"!
No club can do anything about the past, all they can do is make history today. One club that is making history at the moment is Chelsea and I am proud of it.
Paul H, London
This Should Be Good...
Surely with all the continued trouble surrounding the new stadium for Liverpool FC, it is time that the Government stepped in and not only ensured and provided funding, but swept away planning issues to make certain the club, the City, indeed, the English game has the stadium which it so clearly deserves?
No-one, not even the most cynical F365 correspondant, can argue against the fact that Anfield is the true Cathedral of world soccer, a place where Gods have been born, captivated crowds have been converted and any man not born a Scouser lives for the rest of his days wishing that he was one.
A redeveloped ground, an "Anfield II" if you will, would seal the nations love affair with the club, its legend, its characters, its place in the fabric of Britain. When we won our Champions League qualifier earlier this week, I could hear the collective sigh of relief around the nation loud and clear-the club and crowd doing their bit for England again, with Liverpool FC, matches are like a Royal Wedding, charm, excitement, anticipation-and, when televised, watched in awe by a rapt congregation.
So, for the club to be scratching around for funds and with worries about planning becoming a tiresome issue, I call upon the Government and authorities to sidestep the red tape for the real red army and build us a ground that will forever leave those not converted to the cause fighting each other to join, and a ground that will top any that has ever been built before.
Everyone knows it makes sense. When do we start?
Alan Waddle
Arsene, Is That You?
I write as a disgruntled Arsenal fan. Before you get your hanky out to mop up the tears of boredom I'm not disgruntled for the reasons that you might think. The summer transfer window has been a pain in the arse, as it always is. Some players want to leave, some players want to join, Wenger seems indifferent to the whole situation and fans believe all manner of nonsense spilt out in the press. This feeling of frustration seems to have taken root with many Arsenal fans as they demand reinforcements to equalise for the loss of Flamini and Hleb in particular.
My concern is that many of us have been sucked into the Transfer Window and left in a rabid trance which only big money signings can cure. I may be alone on this but I don't crave big money deals, I crave beautiful Football and players who want to play for us because they want to be part of our ethic. Wenger could easily have signed Arshavin for £20m and given him £100k a week. This would no doubt have made many fans feel more confident. It would have troubled me. Frankly, I don't want a player who dreams of playing for Barcelona one minute, us the next and then Tottenham. The same goes for Barry, a proven quality midfielder but one who's over priced and apparently dreams of playing for Liverpool. It's a cliché that we trotted out last season when things were going well but no one had heard of Vieira when we signed him, no one thought Flamini was good enough and everyone thought Henry was sub standard winger. All these players went on to play exceptionally well for us so who can honestly say, with 100% confidence, that Wenger is wrong and that Alex Song, Samir Nasri and even the much maligned (before he's even kicked a ball) Amaury Bischoff won't go on to be quality acquisitions?
We could have spent millions but in the current market what would we have got? Modric for £20m? Keane for £18m? Bentley for £18m? No thank you.
I just ask that our fans stop for a moment and support the team and understand that we are incredibly lucky to have a manager who builds a team in the proper sense. All our players are Arsenal players and know, or can be coached, the Wenger way.
It would also be incredibly helpful if our fans stopped reading crap news papers and listened to facts for a moment. Emmanuel Adebayor never said he wanted to leave as much as it's convenient to believe that he did. At worst he said he needed to talk to Wenger about his plans. He is an Arsenal player and a hugely important one at that. There is no benefit to booing him whatsoever and I urge all true Arsenal fans to bollock anyone near you who feels the need to boo him on Saturday.
We may not win the quadruple this year but we will challenge again. Keep the faith and remember your history.
Arsene knows, unfortunately many of our fans don't seem to have a clue!
Ben Smith - Arsenal Season Ticket Holder Croydon.
We Hadn't Noticed, But...
Is it just me or has Arsene Wenger started dying his hair? I first noticed this last weekend when we lost to Fulham. A couple of times the camera gave a close up and i thought 'he must have had a good summer break, even his hair seems to have caught the sun'. Then I started to think, wasn't his hair grey? Can a holiday turn grey hair blonder?
I was again struck by how well coloured and vibrant the professors barnet was during the CL match during the week.
After the match I was struck by two things. First, we keep hearing about Arsene having money in the bank to spend yet we see no players. I can only assume he is in fact spending the millions on hairdressers and hair products. The second thing that struck me was that the Fulham Arsenal game was of such low quality that i'd started to study the managers hair. I haven't done that since I went through a phase wondering how quickly George Graham would succumb to complete male pattern baldness....
Morgan Emmett
Sadly It's True
I got seriously drunk last night and now am having to get through the day aided by bacon butties, water and coffee.... My head is still spinning and I just read the Peter Cech, John Terry and Frank Lampard were all voted as the best players in their positions last season in the whole of Europe??? How can Lampard and Terry be the best in Europe when they were not even the best players in their position at Chelsea!! (Carvalho, Ballack, Essien anyone??)...can someone please confirm I am still drunk and I am imagining things...Or UEFA really are just confirming themselves as a massive farce.
Aaron (that fat bird looks fit) Collins
But This Chap Thought It Was Thoroughly Deserved
Wayne, Manchester seems to have misunderstood the UEFA awards yesterday. They were based on performances in the Champions League last year (hence why they were given out at the draw).
Based on the nominations, who did he think was going to win the Best Midfielder award? Essien played at right-back more than midfield, Fabregas only made the quarters, Gerrard disappeared for 210 minutes in the semi-final and Scholes only had a couple on influential moments through the whole tournament. On the other hand, Lampard scored in both the Semi and the Final.
Wayne even comments they should have just given the midfielder award to a forward, Ronaldo. Note to him: these awards are voted for the managers of the knock-out stage clubs. Frank was the best midfielder in the Champions League last year. Get over it.
Lawrence, London
Discuss
After hearing a lot of the usual whinging from the scousers about how their team lacks creativity and are unable to hold onto the ball, it got me thinking, is Rafa just the Spanish version of Big Fat Sam? The teams they manage are both cr*p to watch, full of hard working but not real quality foreigners and never really seem to improve. Plus they are both chunky fellas.
Sean, CCFC
We Got A Few Of These, You'll Be Amazed To Learn
To Greg, Australia:
"We should just sack Rafa, I don't think he will ever achieve anything in Europe with these poor displays. He certainly won't win it, and with Kuyt playing will never get anywhere near the semi finals let alone finals"
European Cup Winners - 04/05
European Cup Runners Up - 06/07 (with Kuyt)
European Cup Semi-Finalists - 07/08 (With Kuyt)
You're a tw*t!!
Ash (I don't like Kuyt and I don't think we can play good football, but these are the facts) London
S**t Chants
Someone mentioned in this mornings' particularly gash mailbox that: all this, "In Rafa We Trust" nonsense has got to stop.
I concur. And can I just for the record say, that anyone who I see with "In Rafa We Trust" or "Arsene Knows" in brackets or whatever at the end of their mail, is officially a cheese-dick in my eyes.
Which brings me on to my next point, are there things that your clubs supporters do/sing which causes you to cringe and wish that you weren't in the same group of fans??
I will get the ball rolling: I support Oldham Athletic (We are at the top of League One Don't you know), and about two seasons ago the fans in our main stand took it upon themselves to start chanting during league games, without the slightest hint of irony mind you: Who needs Mourinho... We've got John Sheridan.
It's wasn't big, it wasn't clever and it sure as hell didn't rhyme like wigan's humorous Mourinho/Jewellio chant.
Needless to say, I never joined in.
Gareth (Who needs Mourinho? We've got John Sheridan!) Sutcliffe, Oldham
Knowledgable
Here's a Friday quiz for you. Which Russian forward could shine in tonight's Wafer Super Cup? He was probably the best player in last year's Wafer Cup? His probably the brightest prospect in Russia. Final clue - he got injured before Wafer Euro 08 and his replacement in the starting line-up is being touted around at silly money after an average tournament. That's right the forgotten man from Russia, Pavel Viktorovich Pogrebnyak. Suspended for the Wafer Cup final last year but was joint top scorer, albeit with Luca Banjo Toni, with 10 goals. It's amazing what a couple of high profile appearances can do for your transfer value as opposed to an outstanding and consistent campaign. But what do I know about football. I'm sure Spurs' Director of Football Damien Comolli would have taken all these factors into account before sanctioning inflated bids for Ashavin and Pavlyuchenko.
CP, Cambridge
In Memory Of Louis
I cant help feel a pang of regret for what might have been with the confirmation that United have accepted a bid from Everton for Saha. Poor Louis, his fragile body just couldn't handle his mountainous talent. Off you go, to lie on a new treatment table. I'll never forget your magical goal from nowhere against Chelsea.
Michael, Sheffield
It Might Just Come Naturally To Them
Ah, the weekend. Obviously this means many of us will be having a watch of Soccer AM tomorrow, and I just wonder if any other F365ers have the same thought as me during the 'Skills School' section?
Namely, 'Jesus, are they actually tutoring the little feckers in how to be cocky, bling-bling, breathtakingly arrogant slappable rapper-wannabes with regulation footballer haircuts?'
Stevie Steve, Leeds
Really?
My brother doesn't believe me that Louis Boa Morte was once on Grange Hill.
Does anybody else remember this?
Rob
Quite Possibly
Is Ramon Calderon the biggest c**t in world football right now?
Tom Newey
We Did Warn You
That was one sh*te mailbox this morning. If anything my hangover has just got worse after reading it.
Derek Carr
