European hangover
Thu May 15 08:58AM
In the end, Rangers' European campaign mirrored their fans' day in Manchester, as great passion and excitement gave way to disarray. In fact there are several parallels:
It started early: July 31 for the team, while the supporters kicked off a mammoth drinking session by queueing en masse to get into Wetherspoon's at 9am.
They defended in numbers: Rangers had nine men behind the ball for much of their campaign, while they moved an occupying force of 100,000 into central Manchester.
There was alcohol involved: much of Manchester was dry by mid-afternoon - the Gers faithful possibly driven to drink watching a side that failed to score in nine of its last 13 European fixtures.
They initially won praise: Rangers' "plucky" play-for-penalties style earned them many fans who appreciated their passion and organisation. It was all fun and games throughout the day in Manchester as the fans got royally pished.
It all ended a bit messily: on the pitch, Rangers eventually capitulated after 70 minutes under the cosh. Outside the stadium, the Glaswegians were under an altogether more literal cosh as they clashed with police. Cue condemnation from the same media that were loving their antics earlier in the day.
They need to get themselves together: yesterday the shops had no booze - today there could be shortages of Alka Seltzer and plasters as the fans take their hangovers back up north and prepare to face the wife. Rangers have the small matter of a domestic treble to win.
It was not exactly the Watts Riots, but the scenes of violence were obviously unedifying (ED doesn't remember seeing anyone mooning at coppers in South Central LA).
If you're surrounded by a 100,000 inebriated Scottish football fans, few things are likely to provoke more disastrous consequences than the big TV breaking.
Although there is no serious suggestion of over-zealous policing, ED wonders if it really took three heavily-armed riot cops to take down the slightly confused-looking man in the photo above.
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Make your mind up. Passive-aggressive Chelsea manager Avram Grant just can't decide whether to be graceful over Manchester United's league title.
May 11: "I sent a message to Alex Ferguson congratulating him. He is a great manager and a great person. I congratulated him for a great season and for the title. I wished him all the best."
May 14: "In England there are some very good referees but some you can influence ...Paul Scholes should have been shown a red card and Wigan awarded a penalty."
Asked whether he was pleased there would be no English referee at the Champions League final, he replied; "I can say it like this - yes."
Trouble is, Grant's attempts at mind games are clumsier than a teenage clinch behind the bike sheds.
Why is he bothering to put pressure on English refs when the domestic season is over? What is he trying to achieve?
The main problem with Grant is that he does doesn't seem very managerial. He doesn't do or say anything that other managers do and just seems a bit awkward.
Forget the results - Jose Mourinho just 'felt' right, Grant does not. And that is why he will be out of a job in a few weeks.
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Early Doors is saddened to hear about the death of Tommy Burns from cancer. Burns is most famous as a former Celtic player and manager, and represented Scotland eight times. He was 51.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY: Kevin McNaughton explains the sordid origins of his costume for Cardiff's FA Cup song: "The Danger Mouse suit was one I bought for our Christmas bash. Those parties can get pretty messy and I wanted something I could chuck away afterwards but I kept it just in case it came in handy." It's nice to have an outfit for every occasion...
NICKNAME OF THE DAY: "Sir Charles" - What Carlos Tevez is known as back in Argentina. Think of it as their equivalent to "El Tel".
FOREIGN VIEW: Zenit keeper Vyacheslav Malafeev said the team were woken up by a middle-of-the-night fire alarm Tuesday night. He said: "At 12 o'clock (midnight) the alarm went off, everyone ran out of their rooms, we thought we were on fire.But then they explained that it was three Glasgow fans who had set off the alarm on the third floor."
TALKING POINT: After copping all types of flak for criticising Rangers, today Early Doors is putting steven.rowan in the firing line: "Well, well, well!!... The wheels are finally coming off the Rangers glory wagon!! Can't say that I'm surprised - they've been riding their luck throughout every European game this season... So now for the domestic treble?.. I don't think so. Motherwell will rip them apart on Saturday, and surely Q.O.S. are worth a few bob at the bookies?.. As for the after-match trouble - Surprise, Surprise without Cilla Black!!"
Today - Were you at the game/in Manchester last night? Do share your experiences. We'd love to hear them.
COMING UP: England Under-21s are in action tonight against Wales in Wrexham. Should be good fun. As indeed should the League One playoff second leg between Dirty Leeds and Carlisle. Follow both matches in full on eurosport.yahoo.co.uk - they kick off at 7.45pm.
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IM this storyAbout ten past nine yesteday evening as the first Zenit goal went in, i turned to my mate and said, "oh my god, there's going to be carnage".
From samuelbanks on Thu May 15 12:00PMsav46e, I was wondering how long you would take to pipe up - just like you do everyday!! And you are rabbiting on like every sore LOSER does!! All the excuses and ifs and buts are all well and good but you just can't accept it can you. You say 'concentration loss and severe bad luck' have robbed you of the title - I didn't see either of those things when Liverpool BULLIED you and then got a draw because Malouda went down like a little fairy and got the softest pen in history!! I hate Chelsea because of people like you (glory fans, buying trophys) which is a shame, coz my missus is a LIFELONG fan and I used to respect them. And watch who you are calling boy, muppet
From agentblue_99 on Thu May 15 12:01PM@ sav: i love ur rationalization. so "Grant" won more points than United players since he joined?(good for him) Chelsea lose concentration in the final minutes and United score important goals in the final minutes? (like that's our fault
)Chelsea have never been outplayed and lost fewer games? Yes! Yes! Yes!
on the other hand...
United got more points and more goals overall. United don't lose concentration. United don't lose games in the final minutes (not as often as they could). A few games this season went to the opposition as a result of penalties. Against Pompey. Against Chelsea. (U really believe the penalty given against Carrick at the Bridge was a better decision than the one given against Wigan on matchday 38?)
Chelsea don't have be to be outplayed. Often all it takes is for the other team to draw.
Chelsea have big players? Of course. Does that mean that United don't?
I don't intend to convince u that my team deserved to win the league (this yr or last yr). If ur team's coach can say the things he says, then what more can I expect from the fans?
we can rant all we want, but the Prem cup is staying at Ol Trafford this summer.
Both teams are good enough to win the CL. We'll have to wait and see.
From tosinsbox on Thu May 15 12:02PM@ Barny: the Scots are soft teddies compared to Polish football fans. I put my money on Legia Warszawa getting a 5 yr ban after their first UEFA qualifying match.
Football is not a matter of life and death. It's more serious than that.From tosinsbox on Thu May 15 12:05PMGood point made by Barny, as always. Trouble is, Rangers' "Minority" of moronic thugs is considerably larger than what most teams would define as a minority. Also, the Rangers fans have blamed the "Shambolic" organisation of the local council. Um....sorry, but weren't you all warned not to come down without tickets in the first place? The council expressly stated that they would not be setting up these "Fan Zones" to start with, but were FORCED to bow to the pressure caused by moronic statements of "Well, we're coming down anyway, whether you like it or not." So they HAD to set up these Fan Zones (and didn't have much time either, i might add) to, ironically, try and avoid the violence which flared up anyway because Rangers didn't get their own way.
Shift the blame, that's the Rangers way.
From kevmun82 on Thu May 15 12:10PMED you are a very naughty boy. The real reason you didn't want Rangers to win the Uefa Cup was because you wanted to see a riot. ED, that is despicable. It had nothing to do with their 'boring' style of football did it? Tut tut tut tut!
From samuelbanks on Thu May 15 12:10PMI said ur team deserved the league overall. Just said Grant was right by sayin the decisions that day were bad. He was right n he's gettin a bashing! So calm down. Didnt say you didnt have big players either. I just said the big players Chelsea have raise ther level in big matches when needed a bit more.
As for agentblue_99. "And watch who you are calling boy, muppet" hah. u are a loser! Bullied by Liverpool, orite then. sounds likely!
From sav46e on Thu May 15 12:11PMlol tosins said everything so theres nothing left to say....
makes u wonder how desperate they are to buy success if they are willing to pay 80 million for Messi....hes good....but 80 mill?????From jpaes28 on Thu May 15 12:12PMsav46e - notice how calm and collected the responses from tosinsbox are compared with your mindless rants?!? That is becuase he is a winner, he has witnessed his team play beautiful, FAIR football (you came 20th in the fair play league this season, united 7th)and he has nothing to whinge about prior to Moscow. Jealousy gets you nowhere!! And was that our 17th (!) league title? How many have you got again?
From agentblue_99 on Thu May 15 12:19PMactually a better question is how many league titles did u'll win before buying the last 2 you have???
From jpaes28 on Thu May 15 12:21PMtosinsbox,
please dont think of last nights events as 'scottish'.
i dont class rangers as scottish, they are an embarrasment, they just happen to litter our league.
rangers have been banging on for years about joining the premier league, truth is after last night, what little hope there was of that ever happening has gone. the premier league wouldnt touch them with a barge pole now.
From marcgrant7 on Thu May 15 12:23PMThe man in the picture reminds me of one of those dads dancing badly at a wedding.
From samuelbanks on Thu May 15 12:25PMPost 37 - you are a loser, as already discussed. And you have been getting bullied off Liverpool since time began - hence why they have 18 leagues and 5 european cups and you don't and why your players have to resort to blatant diving to get points. Grant didn't just say the decisions on the day were bad, he said we always get the benefit from the ref's and that we can 'influence certain match officials' he then went on to say 'that he was pleased it is not an english ref in the CL final' - indicating that all English officials are bent in our favour (forgetting that he is the manager of an english team, that plays in england with english refs all the time - and that its the foriegn divers in his team that surround the ref everytime they dont get what they want)so get your facts straight and remember that it is cole and terry who were publically lambasted for chasing refs and showing disrespect towards officials, not our players
From agentblue_99 on Thu May 15 12:25PMwelcome to sav46e bashing day!!! lol
From jpaes28 on Thu May 15 12:32PM@ marcgrant: Pardon me. I realised my error after clicking "submit". I just hope the Chelsea and United fans who go to Moscow behave...it's hard to predict the behavior of the Russian police force.
From tosinsbox on Thu May 15 12:37PM40 arrests out of 100,000? Doesn't sound like a riot to me. Sounds like a few @#$% up idiots, and of course no other club in the world has these types of 'fans' does it? I think any fans from any club would be p'd off if they went to celebrate their team in a European cup final and then couldn't watch the match on the big screen provided thanks to a technical hitch. Try blaming the council for cocking up the entire day and not being able to handle so many supporters, even though they openly invited every Rangers fan to Manchester for a festival atmosphere.
From t.nutkins on Thu May 15 12:40PMyes cause everyone is against Chelsea. thats why they get charged for chasin refs and noone else does. if decisions werent so bad wouldnt need to chase them either.
if your talkin bout diving, eh Gerrard. if your talkin bout bein bad to refs, Mascherano, Rooney!
My response was very calm. Its only football, if I wanted to rip u I would. wouldnt be hard for me.
Chelsea! Blue is the colour. Id love us to win the CL, then I can come on here n rub all yer wee red noses in it. will be a good day.
please stop callin me a loser, hurts so much.
From sav46e on Thu May 15 12:46PMt.nutkins
The number of arrests do not always tell the full story.I take your point though. There have been worse riots. However, by all accounts the centre of Manchester was a bit of a war zone last night.I know someone who was there. Knowing him, he probably started the whole unsavory affair. But you're right-if you combine drink, large crowds and dissapointment you're going to get trouble. No matter whos involved.From samuelbanks on Thu May 15 12:47PMyea theres always gonna be trouble. The fans were told not go if didnt have tickets then folk were gonna go anyway so tried to get somethin sorted.(as already stated) so they cant really say Manchester should have done more. I seen people gettin punched when just standin there, thats no on.
From sav46e on Thu May 15 12:53PMIsn't the centre of Manchester always a bit of a war zone.
From mpasc66 on Thu May 15 12:55PMI live in Manchester (the blue half) and was sorry to see firstly Rangers lose and secondly the trouble during and after the game, as far as i know all the Rangers fans had had a great day having a few drinks in the nice weather and so on, just enjoying themselves, then ready for the game one of the big screens packs-up which is a major dissapointment,I think anyone would have been P***** off after travelling all that way.
Doesn't anyone constantly check the equipment beforehand, I wouldn't blame the Rangers fans I blame Manchester City Council for another half-hearted attempt to try and host an event like this, they are just not upto it.
One good thing at least some of the expenses the councillors pocket will now be cut back to pay for the damage caused, should do a proper job in the first place.
From rigby515 on Thu May 15 12:59PMFrom football365
Memo to the People of Manchester
We here in Aberdeen would like to apologise wholeheartedly for failing you yesterday, for indeed, it was our duty to warn you, that Rangers fans are indeed the scum of the earth. Stabbings, riots, trashed city centres: sadly, this kind of behaviour is the norm for our Rangers supporting cousins. Aptly, the European Kings of Winning Without Scoring were taught a footballing lesson last night, which serves as compensation in a sense to us all, having endured watching a brand of football which makes Chelsea look like Brazil, but again, I reiterate our apologies, though I'm glad the whole world will now see and agree, that these people should be kept in a cage, cordoned off in Govan, as we, Aberdonians, have motioned all along.
Iain 'Rangers will Lose the Title at Pittodrie' Grant
From davybroo on Thu May 15 01:01PMmpasc66
Good shout, i think last nights riot was tame compared to a typical Saturday night in Manchester.From samuelbanks on Thu May 15 01:01PMsav46e- Yes, Manchester council could have done more. They could have prepared properly for such an event. Why not use Old Trafford as a big screen viewing area then they could have contained most of the supporters easier? Do they really think an influx of 100,000 people coming to support their team in the UEFA cup final are going to be all nice and tidy? The council knew how many fans were coming and didn't organise anything, they were just out to make a quick profit. And where's this footage of people getting punched when just standing there? Care to share that with us?
From t.nutkins on Thu May 15 01:06PMdavybroo
Theres no need to apologise.It was probably the Northern Irish element that started the rioting anyway.They're always good for a fight. Try getting the ferry from Cainryan to Belfast after an old firm game.Its a bloody nightmare.From samuelbanks on Thu May 15 01:11PMsamuelbanks - possibly. I generally find most old firm fans to be pretty obnoxious though. Big fish in a small pond, which is bad enough...throw all this sectarian sh ite into the mix and the end result is totally unpleasant
From davybroo on Thu May 15 01:24PMtosinsbox - you stole my hat???
From davybroo on Thu May 15 01:27PMTosinbox;
I cannot comment too much on foreign fans other than the ones reported in the media. (Turkish fans who knifed the Leeds fans way back a while now come to mind.) When any European matches take place, you only have to watch the fans when the cameras roll on them , without sounding bias they look like they would slaughter their own mothers,(some not all,). I have not been priveledged enough to go to a major match abroad as yet, but there are certain countries I would not feel safe to go to thats for sure.
From barny1158 on Thu May 15 01:32PMDavybroo
If Tosinbox is cramping your style, i'll lend you my wee hat. I've no need for it this weather.Gets too itchy.From samuelbanks on Thu May 15 01:42PMSamuelbanks and Mpasc66
Is it really that unsavoury on a saturday night in Manchester?....lol!!
I will give it a miss should I get the chance to go there then.!!From barny1158 on Thu May 15 01:44PM
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