Ruffian42

Thought I%26#39;d send a post to you as we need to discuss the Chelsea thing. I read a post yesterday that came from a fellow Man U supporter and you mentioned that you%26#39;d treat us MU nuts if you don%26#39;t win the title this year.Well I%26#39;m there in August so I%26#39;ll be joining the queue if the unthinkable happens. Mind you we could always meet up,have a drink and discuss the merits of the Premiership and why you have an intense hatred of the Giants(the Jets maybe?) Whether that happens or not I look forward to many more of your great tips on the big apple and hope that my time there is half as good as everybody elses.

Ruffian42

Assuming I%26#39;m in town when you%26#39;re here I%26#39;d be delighted to meet for a drink and maybe some lunch. I have no fear of having to buy, cause even with Robben%26#39;s injury, Drogba being hurt again, Gudjohnssen getting caught drunk driving, Kezman and Tiago being totally useless--we%26#39;ll still win it in a walk. (Kerry Dixon...where are you now that we need you?) Now if you could arrange a trade so we could get Scholesy on the Blue side--I WILL buy you dinner.

I don%26#39;t hate the Giants. They%26#39;re just terrible. Their offensive line is a sieve. They have one decent wide receiver. Their linebackers couldn%26#39;t tackle a bloated fish floating on top of a pond and their defensive backs have been missing so long the police are probably conducting an investigation as I write this.

On top of that they have a coach who is a cross between a prison warden, a sadist and a serial killer.

Truth be told, while I find the Jets eminently more enjoyable to watch than the Giants, I must reluctantly admit to being a Miami Dolphins fan. Having won one less game than the Giants doesn%26#39;t place me in a wonderful position to criticize them, but at least we have a defense that occasionally stops people and we even beat the Super Bowl champions once this year.

Let me know when you get your travel details firmed up. Depending upon when you arrive in August, perhaps we can have that drink while watching Chelsea defeat Man. U. in the Charity Shield.

Ruffian42

It would be my pleasure to watch the charity(sorry community shield-what the heck is all that about?) between the blues and the reds-assuming we qualify that is! With regard to the Giants-what can I say.They may be rubbish but once you form an allegience with your club you follow through thick and thick-ask any Man City fan. As far as firming up my travel plans are concerned-I%26#39;m in NYC from 9th-13th August staying at the Southgate Towers hotel. I%26#39;ve bought a couple of guide books but fully intend to ask some questions on this site nearer the time.I check out the posts on a daily basis-I always find yourself,Bettina and NYCGirl to be extremely helpful and no doubt you will all be answering my queries nearer the time.Best of luck to you between now and the middle of May.

Okay. If the Charity...err Community Shield falls between the 9th and 13th we%26#39;re on for that. Otherwise, just a drink or lunch. Keep posting and we%26#39;ll firm up plans nearer to the date of your trip. I%26#39;m pretty much on this board daily so I%26#39;m sure I%26#39;ll catch your posting.

By the way, I can%26#39;t feel to badly for the Man City supporters. I spent a delightful day on Tuesday with a family from Maidstone whose 21-year-old son is a stalwart Gillingham supporter. How%26#39;s that for frustration?!

I don%26#39;t feel too bad for City fans-they have been badly treated by the club! My local pub is a City pub and derby day gets a little bit heated to say the least. Upon reflection I think its highly unlikely we%26#39;ll be able to watch the match together-its usually held on a sunday afternoon nowadays and I leave on saturday 13th(we fly from JFK at about 9pm). However I%26#39;d love to have a drink/lunch and discuss Mr Abramovich! You never know the 13th may even be the first day of the season.The FA are talking about moving the first weekend forward so the season can finish sooner so England will have more time to prepare for the world cup.Mind you we have to qualify first-and even if we do we don%26#39;t stand a chance with the Swedish turnip in charge.I%26#39;ve nothing against the swedish but he is the most over-rated manager in football-he does%26#39;nt have a clue.You should be so glad you%26#39;ve got Mourinho.

Glad I%26#39;m not the only one not particularly impressed by Sven. I know it was only a friendly but they looked like rubbish against a Holland side packed with more than its share of ';Who%26#39;s he%26#39;s.'; I%26#39;m no expert on managers, but I%26#39;d rather see Curbishley or McLaren in charge. And one day, with more seasoning, I hope Iain Dowie gets fit into the England setup. Remarkable what he%26#39;s done at Palace.

I think McClaren has more chance of making a go of it than Curbishley or Dowie-I think Curbishley has gone as far as he can as a manager.He%26#39;s done a fantastic job at Charlton but I just think the step up may be too much for him.I think the same applies to Dowie,but he would scare the hell out of the opposition with that face! When McClaren was coach at United he had some innovative ideas with regards training methods-he spent a lot of time studying how players prepared in the NFL and how they studied the opposition.He could do a job I feel,but I think when Sven goes the FA may look for another big name,probably another foreigner.To be honest I dont think it matters.All the clubs in the premiership have too many non-english in their sides.Whilst this makes for high quality football in the short term, I believe that eventually we%26#39;ll end up with a very average national side.

I agree about the influx of foreign players diluting the talent pool available for England. Even though England haven%26#39;t won the Cup since the days of Sir Alf, I thought some of their teams in the 70%26#39;s, 80%26#39;s and even 90%26#39;s were competitive with the best sides in the world. I simply don%26#39;t see that in recent years. When Emile Heskey can get capped--something%26#39;s missing. Where are the Gary Linekars and Chris Waddles of today? I just don%26#39;t see %26#39;em.

Speaking of the England side, I must tell you about %26#39;94. I was in heaven. The World Cup finally comes to the U.S. There was not a happier man in the country. I bought tickets for every game that was to be played at the Meadowlands. And what happens? England don%26#39;t qualify! Talk about being gutted! I even wound up watching Saudi Arabia of all people play someone like Morocco or Tunisia or someone like that. It still makes me angry when I think about it, especially since I%26#39;ll most likely be dead by the time the U.S. ever hosts another World Cup.

Different subject. Looks like I have a higher opinion of Alan Curbishley than you. But you%26#39;re right about Dowie. I can think of prisoners in Attica who%26#39;d be scared of that face.

I don%26#39;t know if you remember the circumstances to not qualifying.We played Holland in a group game (I think we needed to beat them to qualify).Ronald Koeman fouled David Platt(maybe just inside the box,maybe not) and as last man should have been sent off.Referee gives a free kick,no red card. Later in the game Holland got a free kick,Koeman takes it,misses,referee makes them take it again and it gets a wicked deflection and into the net-Holland qualify and we don%26#39;t-gutted.Mind you, you may have got off lightly-Graham Taylor was%26#39;nt called the turnip in the sun newspaper for nothing.

I vaguely remember the game (that%26#39;s what happens to us old guys, we forget stuff) but I definitely recall Graham Taylor being referred to as ';the turnip.'; It gave turnips--a delightful vegetable--a bad name.

Must say I am really looking forward to your visit. There aren%26#39;t too many people in the U.S. who are knowledgeable about English football specifically or soccer in general. And half the fun is discussing games played, speculating about upcoming fixtures and giving or getting stick about the club you support.

When I last visited England a few years ago and would join in football conversations in pubs, I was always met with stares of absolute amazement. None of the local fellows could believe that a native born and raised American knew English Football. They looked at me as if I had come from another planet. And back then I was able to rattle off the name of every player on the %26#39;%26#39;66 World Cup-winning side at the drop of a hat. You would not believe how many pints I won from Brits betting that I couldn%26#39;t do it. And when I mentioned about Alf Ramsay having managed at Ipswich, one gent was convinced his mate had set up the entire thing as a gag and didn%26#39;t talk to him for a week.

Great fun.