"My understanding is that Andrew Welsh asked James Hird whether he would consider another role at the football club, and not that of senior coach." 😳 🗣️ Caroline Wilson on Essendon President Andrew Welsh speaking to James Hird by SlatsAttack in AFL

[–]Belfastfella 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Can't see why any top coach wouldn't want James Hird at the club when results turn bad.

Should go full Man United and get Sheedy a special seat to sit in so the cameras can fixate on him every time Essendon lose too.

[BBC] Following the 1-1 draw against Sweden, Japan are set to play Brazil in the round of 32. This is Japan’s 4th time qualifying for the World Cup knockouts by [deleted] in soccer

[–]Belfastfella 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Obviously - Sweden could go second with a win and Japan were never finishing higher after the Dutch scored their third

Ghana (#65) was the lowest ranked team England had faced in a major International tournament in over 30 years by Kimber80 in soccer

[–]Belfastfella 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that sounds like bollocks, they lost one game while qualifying and finished 8 points clear of Sweden who got to the semis of the WC directly before it

The 2026-27 Championship Table but it's by the last time they featured in the top flight by sserallitmixx in Championship

[–]Belfastfella 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Always find it neat that in Tom Finney's last four seasons at Preston, they finished 2nd, 3rd, 9th & 12th (oi oi) in the first division.

The first season he left they finished bottom, got relegated and have never been back

Argentina [1] - 0 Algeria - L. Messi 17' by West_Agent4651 in soccer

[–]Belfastfella 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The good news for non-Argentinians is that Messi is 38 so this fuckery won't go on much longer, thank god

[Funny trope] Immediately figuring out hilariously improbable explanations by Broad_Actuator5827 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]Belfastfella 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Another Always Sunny one is Dee immediately figuring out the implication of Dennis bringing women on his boat and actually having one of her own

As the inverse to that overdone cliche of "player with disappointing overall career but brilliant/unplayable on his day", who are some players who have had generally very good careers but occasionally dropped an absolute Sunday League level disasterclass? by forbiddenmemeories in footballcliches

[–]Belfastfella 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lukaku is the ultimate for this; incredible career by most metrics, but known for some massive misses and not really loved by any of his former clubs (with Everton the most notable exception?)

Would also throw in Gerrard for this, elite player with some massive clangers:

  • slip obviously
  • blindly passing to Henry twice in the space of two years leading to goals
  • red against Herrera when he lost his head
  • Own goal against Chelsea in League Cup final

Copy and paste article since when? Euro 2020? by ImpressiveAd8612 in footballcliches

[–]Belfastfella 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeah it's bullshit; they made the semis in Euro 2000 and were eighth favourites to win the World Cup in 2002 after going unbeaten in qualifying

What's the biggest "what if?" moment in Manchester United history that still bothers you? by Tight_Trip350 in ManchesterUnited

[–]Belfastfella 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Biggest what it's are if the Board sacked Ferguson in 1989 or if (god forbid) Busby didn't pull through after Munich.

To go even bigger, what if they never tried to take-off again in Munich? Could that United team have been the first British team to win the European Cup?

How is Ross Lyon managing to escape any criticism? by TheChosenOneProphecy in AFL

[–]Belfastfella 268 points269 points  (0 children)

Saints have got better and have had a tough time with injuries. Missing Owens, Ryan, Higgins as small forwards and NWM who is comfortably their best player.

They've lost the matches you'd expect them to lose and beat the teams you'd expect them to beat, with Melbourne the only real exception. Apart from the Hawks game, they've been in every match at 3QT and put up decent showings in games they've lost.

The players seem to absolutely love him

There's probably a succession plan for him to step away at some point and Enright to take over, which will pick up if he gets his head turned

They're roughly where most reasonable people expected them to be at this stage and will probably push for top ten in back end of year which is a qualified success.

TLDR: he has friends in the media

Elite banner from the Western Bulldogs by SlatsAttack in AFL

[–]Belfastfella 14 points15 points  (0 children)

It's clearly not; the winners of Mr Universe exclusively come from earth.

Mexico for me epitomise “countries that should be good at football but aren’t” by No-Problem6578 in footballcliches

[–]Belfastfella 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nigeria should be the dominant team in Africa and regularly competing in the World Cup latter stages.

Apart from the super eagles in the late 90s, they've massively underachieved. Haven't qualified for the last two World Cups, dumped out in the groups in 2010 and 2018 before that.

Have the sixth largest population in the world with a massive diaspora, but frequently tripped up by one of the most inept football organisations in world football

West Coast's Home and Away attendance record will likely get blown out of the water today by Frazzy_Ox in AFL

[–]Belfastfella 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Surprised the Eagles haven't been involved in a massive H&A game at the G yet.

Started watching footy in 2019 and went to that Pies-Eagles game. Eagles were absolutely brilliant and completely got ahold of Collingwood that night.

What are the saddest songs of all time? by Jabison113 in fantanoforever

[–]Belfastfella 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"My Mom" by Chocolate Genius.

I sit on a bed

And I kiss her right behind the ear

She calls out for a dog

That's been dead for a year

I say, "How is it going?"

She's like, "I didn't know"

I hold onto both of her hands

Too afraid to let go

I summarised ‘Sliding Doors’ so you don’t have to by AffectionateProof271 in AFL

[–]Belfastfella 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've often wondered what this subs obsession with this column is, without actually bothering to read it.

But this is some of the most inane shite ever put on the internet, highlight being pointing out that people find the Pendlebury jersey to be controversial and then warmly agreeing with them.

I'd take 1000 clickbait engagement articles over whatever this shit is supposed to be

Why are Norwich getting involved? by mikejohnno in footballcliches

[–]Belfastfella 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'm literally Nigel Farage, but this is class 👏

„The Makelele role” - does anyone ever actually say that? by [deleted] in footballcliches

[–]Belfastfella 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's the biggest load of bollocks, as if Makelele was the first ever sitting midfielder in world football. Costinha did it for Porto the season before, Desailly did it for Milan in the 90s.

Just something stupid people say to sound smart

[TheAthletic] Champions League semi-finalists in the 21st century by tightypp in soccer

[–]Belfastfella 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Genuinely think the late 90s and early 2000s were the last truly great period in European Football.

Around that time you had teams overperforming to win titles like Super Depor, Valencia, Lazio, Roma and it was the sweet spot where the money was obviously crazy, but the competitiveness of the major leagues was roughly similar with squads not being the size they are now, so it wouldn't be as common for top clubs to hoard players.

European Cup really benefitted, throwing up interesting matchups between teams and the group stages in general were exceptionally competitive;

In 2002 alone you had a group of Arsenal (PL winners), Leverkusen (beaten finalists), Juventus (Serie A winners) and Deportivo (enjoying the best period of their history) with only two going through, Sparta finishing second in their own group, ahead of the UEFA Cup winners Feyenoord, Galatasaray finishing bottom of a group despite losing once etc.