The World of Football/Soccer.

[ukhotstove]

Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich

Livepool fans, I need info!
What is the deal with Jamie Carragher? I see that he got no minutes and is not injured as far as I can tell. Is he not going to be a first team player?
He is on my fantasy team and I need to know if I need to transfer him.

EDIT: Wow....
I was going to just delete this post but I think I will leave it out of self deprivation.. Liverpool don't even play later today. Lack of sleep and posting on a internet forum is not a good idea.

As you found out they don't play till this afternoon, Carragher was the only outfield player to play in every league game last season and unless he gets injured he'll probably do the same this season.

[rudel.dietrich]

Well he ended up scoring 0 points for me anways. Liverpool conceded two goals and Jamie picked up a yellow card

And I had Sorensen riding my bench

[bababui]

A few insane Liverpool twits have managed to force Steven Cohen to cease production of the only decent soccer show in the US, World Soccer Daily.

A little history. He, a Chelsea fan, made an offhand remark blaming Liverpool fans for a fan disaster that killed quite a few people. The liverpool fan groups, especially those here is the USA, decided to go after him. They wrote letters to Fox Soccer Channel and had him canned from Fox Football Fonein. The losers were the audience because the show is horrible without him.

He owns his own satellite radio show he calls World Soccer Daily. He decided to carry on with that despite more LFC advertiser boycotts. Then a few terrorist Liverpool fans threatened his children and their friends. This was the straw that broke the camels back and he has ended the show out of fear for his families safety.

Way to go Liverpool fans. You have destroyed just about the only live footie media in this country. You have also disgraced yourselves yet again. And I hope the FBI find the few lunatics who made the terrorist threats.

[Russ]

That is insanity. I loved that show. Even when Howard was on it.

[Skipaway]

Originally Posted by bababui

Way to go Liverpool fans. You have destroyed just about the only live footie media in this country. You have also disgraced yourselves yet again. And I hope the FBI find the few lunatics who made the terrorist threats.

They didn't destroy the media. They only had a host replaced.

[bababui]

Originally Posted by Russ

That is insanity. I loved that show. Even when Howard was on it.

Its been a hard three weeks for US footie fans. Fox Football Fonein also being emasculated. Now there is nothing left to listen to.

[bababui]

Originally Posted by Skipaway

They didn't destroy the media. They only had a host replaced.

Well, the threats agianst Cohens children led him to stop doing WSD on satellite radio. The new FFF is basically a 2 hour infomercial for whatever FSC is broadcasting. I would say that they did destroy the only independent soccer media we had in the USA.

[Skipaway]

And aren't these caller-driven shows just time waster instead of real insights anyway?

[bababui]

Originally Posted by Skipaway

And aren't these caller-driven shows just time waster instead of real insights anyway?

How much anyone likes or dislikes Cohen is a matter of personal taste. While he did take calls, he was also a highly informed/knowledgeable guy with an extensive network of contacts to call upon. Since he wasnt affiliated with a network (he owned the company that did the show) he was free to air opinions that others might not be able to publicly express. I guess how much one likes caller driven shows is a matter of taste. But I wouldnt call them time wasters. I think these kinds of programs can help develop and nurture a community if done with care.

[mlyons]

While I think it's absolutely ridiculous of Liverpool fans to have done this (not to mention how hypocritical they are to be so hypersensitive about Hillsborough while refusing to take any responsibility for Heysel), I think you're reading a bit too much into the end of one man's career. It's sad that Cohen's career has been effectively destroyed by a single offhand remark (which wasn't even an unreasonable remark), but it's not going to have an ounce of effect on the development of soccer's fan base in this country. Cohen's audience was a tiny proportion of the soccer-enjoying public, and I sincerely doubt this will turn off any of them from watching soccer and attending MLS matches.

[Skipaway]

It's not like Cohen was a big fan of MLS.

[bababui]

Originally Posted by mlyons

While I think it's absolutely ridiculous of Liverpool fans to have done this (not to mention how hypocritical they are to be so hypersensitive about Hillsborough while refusing to take any responsibility for Heysel), I think you're reading a bit too much into the end of one man's career. It's sad that Cohen's career has been effectively destroyed by a single offhand remark (which wasn't even an unreasonable remark), but it's not going to have an ounce of effect on the development of soccer's fan base in this country. Cohen's audience was a tiny proportion of the soccer-enjoying public, and I sincerely doubt this will turn off any of them from watching soccer and attending MLS matches.

No it wont turn them off to the game. What he was very good at was bringing in new or marginal fans and make them more interested in the game. I do think it will hurt the development of the soccer fanbase. The other available coverage is pretty bad. I hope that Cohen returns after all this nonsense blows over.

And no, he didnt like the MLS much. It is run stupidly and with goofy and unnecessary American twists. But his criticisms were valid and now will unlikely be getting any airing. Thus even less pressure will be on the MLS to reform.

[Skipaway]

Originally Posted by bababui

No it wont turn them off to the game. What he was very good at was bringing in new or marginal fans and make them more interested in the game. I do think it will hurt the development of the soccer fanbase. The other available coverage is pretty bad. I hope that Cohen returns after all this nonsense blows over.

And no, he didnt like the MLS much. It is run stupidly and with goofy and unnecessary American twists. But his criticisms were valid and now will unlikely be getting any airing. Thus even less pressure will be on the MLS to reform.

I don't see how he's capable of bringing in new fans. It's not exactly on ESPN or a major sports radio network where general sports fans would just accidentally tune in.

[mlyons]

Originally Posted by bababui

No it wont turn them off to the game. What he was very good at was bringing in new or marginal fans and make them more interested in the game. I do think it will hurt the development of the soccer fanbase. The other available coverage is pretty bad. I hope that Cohen returns after all this nonsense blows over.

Who was listening to Steven Cohen who wasn't already a soccer fan?

[bababui]

Originally Posted by mlyons

Who was listening to Steven Cohen who wasn't already a soccer fan?

Friends/brothers or sisters/coworkers could listen and attract people who might accidently hear the show. Maybe not a lot of people, but judging from some of the posts Ive read, there were a few.

[rudel.dietrich]

Those phone in shows are horrible. Fanboys who know little to nothing about the game prattling on about nonsense.
I don't like the way his show and his carrer ended. But im not exactly upset to see the show ended. It was garbage that will hopefully be replaced with something better.
The less air time given to fans typicaly the better. 98% of them can't come up with anything intelligent to say when given a large auidence to speak too.

[phightin]

Update: I actually am coaching an NJCAA Division 1 Men's Soccer Team in my area, and it's going well. I went in thinking I was just going to be an assistant, but as it turned out the head coach can't be there half the time, and I've ended up running the entire preseason for the most part which has been a great experience. We have a lot of international players, and we should have one of the more competitive teams in the country if I can get them to play together and defend as a unit a bit more. Anyway, I've now gotten the title of associate head coach where I'm responsible for running the program technical, tactical, and physical development of the players while the head coach acts more as a gaffer and will have the final say in the starting 11 and the match day substitutions etc. The #3 team from the country is in our region, but like I said with our talent if we can play organized there's no reason why we couldn't steal a game from them in the regional tournament and go onto the nationals. Currently, I'm trying to talk my coach out of playing a 3-5-2 and sticking with a 4-4-2 or 4-5-1. While we're loaded in the middle and front of the pitch we don't have the talent in the back to only go with 3. Plus four in the back is always the easiest to learn and the most forgiving especially for a group of college kids who only play together a few months out of the year.



As far as espn losing the champions league I'm not too upset as they picked up a premiership game every saturday. It gives me more options to watch on matchday now, and I already get FSC anyway. I honestly think 1 premier league match a week of a top side throughout the year may draw in more loyal fans than 1-2 champions league matches for a few months in the US.

[bababui]

Congrats, phightin. Good luck with your climb up the footie tree. How lucky to get paid to do something you love.

[ry1220]

I know I must tread cautiously here. As a Liverpool fan in the US, I feel that the remarks that Cohen made weren't warranted. I'm not saying I agree or disagree with the fans wanting to get him off the radio, but they do have the right to express their discontent. However, the reaction to his remarks should not have included death threats.
Still, he's not the first radio personality to lose his job due to iffy comments, nor will he be the last.

That being said, I'm slightly put off at Bababui's sig. Unless, of course, by "Liverpool dumb", you mean losing two of your first three matches.

[bababui]

Well, in regard to the Hillsborough disaster, Liverpool fans use a government report to remove any blame for their actions..and completely ignore Heysel. But government reports arent the truth end-all be-all , are they? Have they found the WMD in Iraq yet?

Rabid Liverpool fans have hurt all North American soccer fans by using terroristic threats that led to the ending of WSD. Their utter lack of perspective is shocking. Especially when they sing about the Munich disaster.

They have really hurt the club they love in the eyes of many many otherwise neutral people.

Dola, he didnt lose his job on WSD. He owned it. He was forced to stop it because a few morons were stalking him and threatening his children