St Marco

Well tonight is the night, thank fook we don't have to pay to watch it on Sky Pay Per View Box Office! This has the makings of either a classic or a complete and utter snorefest. They are both counter punchers, people who let the opponent walk forwards. Naturally Pretty Boy will not change from that style so expect Marquez to be the one to push the fight. And that right there will be his downfall. Marquez is a quality fighter, hard as nails, a true mexican. People talk about the backing Hatton get's well you watch when this fella get's in the ring! He was knocked down 3 times in the first round vs Manny Pacman and got up and went on to give him a beating. Sadly the judges were chumps and gave it as a draw when most people had it as a victory for Marquez. An epic fight. A 3 weight champion, the re-match with Manny was a close affair but he was again knocked down once and this was to be the difference. I would love it really love it for him to win this fight and set-up fight number 3 against Pacman because they both fight with heart and do boxing proud. Mayweather on the other hand is an annoying fooker who i so badly want to see get knocked out. However the reason for that is because he is a loud mouth who treats people with total disrespect. The problem is he has the skills to back it up, he really is that good. As much as i hate Mayweather the person as a boxer he is one of the greatest of all time. Not the most exiting to watch but someone who understands the sweet science is not just about how hard you can hit but how often you get hit, he is possibly the greatest counter puncher to ever live in my book, to hit him is near impossible. He is a frustrating boxer who will drain the confidence of his opponent simply by avoiding every punch and throwing back little stinging jabs, then re-treating. A 5 weight champion and un-defeated. As i mentioned this could either be classic or a bigtime boring fight. If Mayweather comes out to win and not entertain then he will win on points easily. However if all the criticism of recent weeks about him being boring etc have got to him then he might open up a bit, he might have some ring rust which could make him a bit slow, a bit easier to hit. He might want to try and fight Marquez rather then avoid him and this then could turn into a classic. If that happen's then i would expect Marquez to at somepoint get one of his vicious uppercuts in then it will be lights out for Mayweather. I would love it to go that way, but it won't. Mayweather will be Mayweather and dance around all night avoiding being hit and Marquez will grow frustrated and disheartened. A unanimous points victory for Mayweather i can see. But you never know, and that is why i like millions will watch it. Come on Marquez!

As i said in my post i disagree FF. We played okay considering what the other team were doing. When we scored the 2nd goal we did not need to push the game, we just kept possesion and let them chase it. The crowd were doing the o'lays etc.. We were solid at the back and solid in midfield, we restricted them to 30-40 yard shots that had no chance. If we had not got those goals we would of still been more attacking rather then defensive. We were getting to the line and trying to cross etc...we did some nice passing, some of it was scrappy but compared to their hoof it up field tactics i think we did fine. That move where everyone was passing it only for Saga to do a back heel to nobody summed it up for me, at times was brilliant but individual skill let it down.

if we win our next game and they lose theirs we would reach 1 point 1st, that would be quite funny, surely even the moaning ****ers can agree on that one!

wow you sound really ****ed off Charlie, would you have prefered we did not get a penalty and lost then? As i said in the match thread i was right next to the 2nd one and took footage of the actual penalty being taken At that time we did not know what was going on as assumed we must have been offside. However it did appear that their guy pushed the ball down with his shoulder but it could of been his chest. It was one of those things you do not even register to think about as you rarely see them given. Never in the box anyway. But if the guy did move arm to ball then that is the right decision. The ref did his job. But if he didn't then that is harsh, really harsh. But we had that happen to us just a couple of weeks ago. Guess can never make everyone happy right

Just back Took a video of Lamberts second goal Lucky i was sitting in the Kingsland that game (swapped with a mate for a game, never again). Right firstly how ironic that those who have been *****ing and moaning all week about everything find it so hard to simply say a line or two of positiveness. We play crap and lose = moan We play crap and draw = moan we play good and lose = moan we play good and draw = moan we play good but get a awful decision against us i.e a penalty = moan we play **** and get an awful decision against us = moan we play okay and get an awful decision for us = moan we play okay, clean sheet, 2 goals = moan etc etc Seriously is Play well score 5, clean sheet, top of table, michael jackson does half time show, le tissier comes out of retirement and goes in goal saving 6 penalties, 5 managers sacked and 6 employed in 90 mins = happy..... I am convinced now some people are right in that a few are total wind up merchants. Right now that is out of the way. We played quite well i thought. First half we were the more positive team trying to play the ball down and into people's feet. The midfield and defence looked solid and their only chances were from 40 yards or so out, which tamely went to Davis or to the guy near the corner flag. We had a few chances but nothing really major. They seemed more intent on launching the ball and stopping the game as predicted. The penalty was up the other end so i could not tell if it was a penalty but from speaking to people there they say he was brought down clearly. So 1-0 thanks Rickie. After that im sure most expected us to go on and thrash them but again we did what we do and try and sit back a bit and let them come to us, creating a few little errors but nothing major, was all under control. Second half was the same as the end to the first in that it was a bit boring to watch. No real quality because of the way Yeovil were trying to play. With their 2nd penalty we were right there and still did not see it very clearly. We all felt the linesman had given for offside. However the defender did try and move his shoulder and the ball deffinatly hit him. It was a harsh penalty to be honest. But those be-moaning that are idiots, we have had that happen to us this year and it has cost us (Trotman). So to not be happy about it is laughable. After the 2nd goal it killed the game off really. Both teams knew it was game over. They hoofed the ball and basically every single time Jaidi or Trotman got to it. The game was stale and petering out. The subs changed that a bit with Waigo doing pretty well i thought. Looked bright and wanted to get forward. His booking was a disgrace. So all in all not our best performance but that does not matter. We have played far better and got feck all from a game or have drawn. The 2nd goal killed the game and we did not have that need to push things. If we were at 0-0 at that point i think we would of still won late on. It is hard not to feel sorry for Yeovil as it was a harsh penalty but we have left places with the same feeling and it is nice for it not to be us for a change. But overall we were by far the better side, we passed it well and tried to create the spaces. They had pretty much no real shots as all were either way off target or bounced lamely into Davis hands. We ourselves did not create anything either after the goals until Waigo came on but we looked the more likely to score in my view. So thank god we got a win, winning ugly is something we have not been able to do for sometime and these are the type of wins we need to get out of the drop zone. Lots of pluses in that our defence is awesome, our midfield is great but our attack needs a bit of work on. But it will come. Onwards and upwards.

cracker of a goal, mine are never that good. I scored with a scissor kick but it was not that amazing, basically a cross came in i scissor kicked it and got the angles all wrong, it hit the ground and bounced over the keeper like a sort of lob.... guess they all count right

I would consider myself PES through and through and have bought all but one version. However being that fan makes me realise how far the series has fallen. The fact i looked at Fifa 07 after not playing one since 2000 shows the downward spiral was noted awhile ago. Before ISS i was a Fifa player, before that a kick off player. I like football games and will give them all a fair chance. So it is good to read peoples opinions on both the series but as yet the only criticism i have seen/read of Fifa this year is normally followed by the words "i am a PES fan". I think one of those guys on the PES forum summed it up perfectly "You are used to what you are used to and to change will always be hard for some". Im just a fan of the better game and 99.9% of people will say Fifa 10 is better then PES 10. There are a few things i dislike about it but overall the things which are important have been improved such as the gameplay. The dribbling is better then PES, the crossing is better then PES, the shooting overall is better then PES, the corners are better then PES, the throw in's are better then PES, the penalties are better then PES the AI is better then PES, the animations are better then PES etc etc. You can go on for days. The tactics stuff is better in PES but that is because we have not seen the Fifa version yet which is in the full game. If what they showed from the gamespot footage of gamescon is in the final product then again Fifa will win that section too simply because you can create anything you want to create in terms of plays/tactics etc, complete freedom. No sliders. You can tweak those changes on the fly in arena or practice matches. Again as i said can go on for days. EA have added a lot to the game to justify shelling out again and overall it is an improvment. Where as PES to me just seems like the last three versions. No real change at all and if anything has now become to noob friendly in that anybody can play it, it does not take as much skill to play. Like that tricks video above, a good player can do those things, most cannot. In PES you have 2 dribbling animations and that is it. Very very limited. But it is as i said a matter of opinions, some who are used to it will love it and those who are not will probably not. But one statement is true in that recently more people are being converted to fifa players then pro evo players, there has to be a reason for that.

I agree pretty much the9. But i think you do notice the differences with the players. For example if i play as Barca i will try and get the ball out to Messi simply because he seems to be better at dribbling then the others. I can run at a defender and fool him into think im going one way when i actually going the other way. I think that is a lot like him. Same as Ibrahimovic, he is good at keeping hold of the ball and getting the ball down. I can notice each player from their likeness (the players i know anyway). In contrast i actually thought that was one of the weaker areas for PES10 this year. Gerrard,Torres,Messi,Henry,Inesta,Xavi,Alonso (coz he is still playing for liverpool in the demo) all look fantastic. But the rest look a bit wierd looking in places. The thing is i find Fifa 10 has improved on a lot but also in some ways gone backwards. But the ways they have gone forwards is in terms of gameplay and backwards in presentation. With PES10 it is the opposite, they have gone backwards in terms of gameplay but forwards in terms of presentation. It is sad that they can't just team up and fuse the two games together because if you had fifa's gameplay and pro evo's presentation the game would be amazing. Reading the PES forums i think most are unhappy about the game. You know it is bad when a guy who has 18000 posts on there and admin replies to the question "what build is the demo?" with "the **** build" hehe. The PES crowd seem quite a critical bunch! http://www.pesgaming.com/showthread.php?t=72662

also check this video out, it is some guy showing you how to do the tricks, one of the best game videos i seen and shows what you can do if you bother to practice

Think that is a very decent write up Mike. My brother who is a die hard pro evo player and is pretty amazing at it. Textme this morning to share his views on the demo "worst download ever". Don't think he was too happy I have actually given it a bit more time and in some places it has grown on me. My 1st post on here is wrong, after playing it on a higher level it is not as bad, it is ok. But some of the problems remain the same and for me that brings it down. For example the passing, it is delayed by a few MS which when your used to playing instantly is a bit of a downer. The sounds are fecking awful, it sounds like your shooting a gun every time you pass. As stated earlier the AI seem as dumb as i can remember. For example on one of the games i was just messing about and took a shot from the half way line. Their defender picked the ball up and ran with it. He got to about the half way line with 3 of my guy's heading towards him. Rather then doing what they do in fifa and pass it to another defender he just ran straight into them. Those little things kill the realism level of the game and make it pointless. If say your having a close game where one goal will seal the win that AI screw up makes it feel cheap. That for me is the biggest flaw, it is predictable and simply does not flow right. I have yet to see any sliding tackles or free kicks given. Crossing of the ball is all wrong, there are no levels of crossing just a long cross that has no curve and will go out 99% of the time. In comparison to Fifa, fifa got that right this year, the crossing in that is spot on. So i disagree with the auto pilot thing. Fifa 10 is hard as always to play, it takes time to learn it and be good at it. If you know how to play you can pull off things that others cannot. Fifa is more realistic in how a football game is played. Few games end with 4-0, nornally decided by just one goal. But that is real life. On the PES board a dude wrote up a really good post about why PES has gone backwards and it is a good read. He is a longtime pro evo fan and explains that all the things we used to hate about Fifa are now the the things we like about PES. Which basically means Konami could put out a version from 2 years ago and some people would say it is great. Fifa is improving every year, you can see it. PES just looks the same. The graphics do not look right, more cartooney, the colors are too bright. The one thing they have spot on in my view is shadows. But everywhere else this year Fifa burries PES again for like the 3rd year in a row now. The reason i have played the demo so much is because i want Konami to be as good as they were so a part of me thinks they can be. If it was say Alan Hansens football game i would of switched off after 1 game.

and great goal skintsaint!

interesting to see how old the demo build is http://www.epltalk.com/scooreys-fifa-10-gameplay-impressions/10921 Acording to those guys even on the release of the demo the build was three build's old. That is a longtime ago. I remember the samething happened with 08. The demo and final game were very different.

So you are admiting then that the only thing you are unhappy about is that we have yet to win. And the fact we have not won has dampened your enjoyment of the performances we have had?

for some reason i got a feeling they will score 1st then we will go on from that to win maybe 2-1 or 3-1. Would be happy with either.

Another example of what i mean is what Robert Martinez said the other day "We are still growing and getting better and hopefully we will carry on improving our level of performance. Saturday was a complete performance, although it was not an outstanding performance in any department. There are little partnerships on the pitch which are starting to grow and the communication links are important. "I think we are still in that period where we need to look behind results. Results affect the outside too much: if you win everything is fine and if you lose everything is wrong. There are aspects we need to correct but we have to be very pleased." What he say's there is basically the same thing as here. Results affect the outside too much. The little partnerships are improving. Where as last 2 seasons they were not.

No that was on regular level, i then changed it to top player level after writing that and have to say it is not as bad. However it still seems very clunky,robotic and non fluid in terms of passing and running. The Ai still have yet to have a shot at my goal but i am not scoring as freely due to the fact they are now tackling me with that magic press A and the ball will move to my feet thing. I am giving it more games though so who knows maybe it might grow on me a little bit but overall not too happy. Konami said they had gone back and created it from scratch with whole new engine etc... load of ******** that turned out to be then!

Wes what i mean by gelling is simply getting to know each other and how each other play. We have brought in what 8-9 new players in just under 2 months? The team has been changing with each new addition. Until the team is settled then you can begin to work with each other and build up partnerships which Sir Alex will tell you in his autobiography are one of the most important things in football. They do not happen over night and in some instances can take sometime before they work. We can assume Jaidi and Trotman are our two centre backs, they are yet to play together yet, they will need to build up a partnership. Lambert and Waigo are yet to play together yet they will need to build up a partnership etc etc In midfield we have progressed due to the fact it is more settled. We are a more compact unit there. So when i say gel i mean a team that has played together more then 1 or 2 games or in some instances not even 1 game. Anyone who play's football at any level then moves to another team knows how difficult it can be to adjust to the new players around you. Some players who are excellent at one club will sometimes be crap at another club. It is not a case of simply walking in and doing the same thing and being proffesional. Take Lambert for example. He tries quite hard and is excellent at keeping the ball and bringing others into it. He has not yet had many clear chances to score but has provided them to others. If Waigo or Saga can create chances for him he will put them away most of the time. When he does shoot he is on target most of the time from what i can see. So as i said a team needs time to learn to play alongside one another, so they can form an idea of what each other will do or maybe won't do. Our little lapses can be put down to stuff like that sometimes. In my view it takes more then a few games for that to happen.

Played 6 games now. Won each game by scoring more then 3 goals to 0. In fact they did not even have a shot at my goal. Not sure if that is because i am good at the game or because they are ****? ( i was Barca vs Liverpool). In a word the best way to describe this game would be "football?". Because it is nothing like football. I can score after going on runs with my defenders, the computer does nothing to stop it. It will not try and tackle me. When it does have the ball it passes every single time into the middle of the pitch. The ball then either get's passed to my player or bounces off their players foot and i collect it. There were no sliding tackles, no passes to the wings, no free kicks, no shots at my goal, no throw ins, no corners etc etc. The AI is possibly the worst i have seen in any game. The game feels clunky and non fluid. The passes are not instant and have a delay from when you press the button to when it leaves your foot. The 360 degree dribbling does not seem any different to before. The team mates just stand around doing nothing etc etc i could go on for days. The things i did like were the presentation of the game. When you boot it up it seemed to be really quick in terms of how long it takes to get from the menu and into a game. Shooting seems better then last year as has more weight to it. It is major easy to score though. Overall like all games it has it's good and it's bad. Unfourtunatly the bad are horrendous, you might aswell have no other players on the pitch. Would not be surprised to see the game fall in price to £29.99 before release.

In Australia http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6228600.html?part=rss&tag=gs_news&subj=6228600 Guess it wasen't a good day mate

Without a doubt. Like i said in the other thread somewhere we already need 4 wins to get out of the drop zone. That is if the others did not play and pick up any more points. On paper other then the Bristol Rovers game we have a nice batch of 5 games that you would think we have the team able to win. If we don't do that then naturally you have to start to think that things are going to be a lot togher then we thought. Then we can ask questions about why that is. I.e are the team not performing and if not then why not? Those are all natural normal things to ask. But we are not at that point, we are getting better. The only thing that is not getting better is turning the D on the results sheet into a W. As you mention we are not scoring goals, that is a concern. But we have added players who hopefully will change that now. We got a big group of defenders who hopefully can score from corners, we got Waigo who can be played in either midfield or up front. We got Saga back from the two week international break etc etc. In the Charlton game we for 70mins were the team creating the chances. We had some sitters. So we are creating those chances just they are falling to the wrong people. Things could be a lot worse, if we fail to win on saturday then naturally they will be. Every game we fail to get our 1st win puts more and more pressure on us.

As i said im just curious to know what you think TDD. Every thread you seem to have an opinion based on other peoples opinions but you don't have a base opinion. For example My base opinion is the team is playing better then it had, the manager has made the right tactical decisions, has brought in players who have done well and strengthened our weaknesses. The squad selections have overall been right. The results have not been that great but we have lost only twice in 7 games and are currently on an un-beaten run of 4. The last time we went 4 games unbeaten was a year ago. If one of the ref's was more experienced and called the right calls we would of won at least 1 of our games. That is not a player fault or a manager fault but a ref fault. If that was in say Man utd game the ref would of been suspended for that. While we have not won a game it is hard not to have seen the improvements we have made as a team. We have players who i feel care and show they want to be here playing for us. Because of those things generally i am happy with the club and am confident we are heading in the right direction. I think some team is in for a hiding from us sooner or later. We got a point from the top team who had won all their previous games. And so on and so on. That is my base opinion and that is why i am happy. I believe that there was nothing else the manager could of done to influence the results for the better. So my point is i would like to know what your opinion is rather then looking at someone elses and picking through theirs. Does that not make sense?

But this means you expect players to gel instantly. Most of our signings have been at the club just over a month. Two of them not even 2 weeks. Can those players be blamed for the 7 games they were not involved in? The team we have now is very different from the team we had 5 games ago. It takes time for it to come together. It is frustrating yes but no different from what we are used to. What we are not used to is the club building for the future. We all want the club to win, we expect them to do beat certain teams like Yeovil. It is like the metaphor used earlier in this thread. If you patch up your broken wall with some glue how long until it breaks again? If you re-build the wall it will take time to build but eventually will stand longer and stronger.

Ok right so then let me get this straight. You are 100% happy with the way the club is right now. You have nothing but positive thoughts towards the manager,players etc and agree that anyone who is criticising the owner,manager,players,santa after 7 games is a bit mad? I'm giving you a chance to show to those people who think your a **** why you think the way you do TDD. Because you disagree with everyone in every thread. I think people know what i think in terms of the way the club is right now, think a lot of people have said the same thing. A lot of people seem happy and up-beat with the club and have expressed their opinions. So rather then reading someone elses view of our current situation i think a lot of people would like to hear what your's are. So let's be having them, why are you unhappy with the way things are?

Ok just so we have it down on virtual paper what exactly is your opinion then TDD. We have listened to you disagreeing with everyone so let's hear your view as to why you feel unhappy, why things are wrong, what you would change and why the echo article is wrong etc.. So there can be no mistake make is obvious which camp you sit in. And you ***** and moan when people throw digs at you, again you cannot have it both ways. If you want to throw more digs then by all means do, but when i throw them back don't ***** about them.

Haha you see TDD i know what you mean and so does everyone else and all the back tracking in the world will not change that. You are who you are and we all know who you are by now As i said you are entitled to your opinion even if most disagree with it and find it quite silly. I guess time will tell just how silly right?