Kiitos Liverpool..Hyypia dumped "no longer wanted"

[otyikondo]

What's the reason for moving the hardcore fans up to the North Bank wilderness? Is it permanent? I'd hazard a guess that they wanted them kept well separated from the visiting fans, who always seem to get the spot under the tower in B (which is really rather generous if you ask me, but there may be police considerations involved - easier to get them in and out and so on).

If the Finnish fans had been in their usual spot in B19 and environs last night, there were enough of them that they might have bled across towards the Goimans. It sort of worked, concentrating them in a block in the middle of the North Bank, but it doesn't seem a very "user-friendly" place to be, what with a longer walk from the centre of town and no access to the big screen unless you turn around and bend your neck through 90 degrees. I don't know if the Azerbaijan game will be in the Stadium or in Finski, but they are hardly likely to bring enough supporters to force the same move again - or was it the fans' own choice?

Also season-ticket holders got a duff deal, as the gates for them seemed to have the longest and most slow-moving queues - and no visible staff directing people to the right queues, with the result that anyone and everyone joined the season-ticket lines. This was particularly obvious up at the North End, where that road comes in from Nordenskjöldinkatu. People walking up the street just joined the first line they saw, which happened to be for the kausikortti people, and nobody redirected them. A bit shabby, given that Palloliitto ought to be encouraging the folks who are willing to cough up their ticket-money in advance.

Some good shouts of "Veikkaus alas!" when it looked for a bit as if those monstrous objects behind the goal would get left there. And passing the Veikkaus flag up over the crowd in B while the game was going on seemed a bit counter-productive to me - would have pissed me off royally if I'd missed the opening goal for some publicity thing.

[TampereOwl]

Did you get a pint yesterday btw? They were selling Koff in the cafe underneath the main stand, but that may have just been psychological warfare against the 200-odd German reporters who were there.

There was nothing available at the d-stand, and I overheard some German fans wailing to some Finns that every ground in Germany sells beer for twenty cents a gallon or summat..
I'm not really a drinker, so didn't bother me.
Sneaky spliff in the carpark and I was mesmerised by the footy.

I had an extra ticket for the game last night, which I gave to a Spanish mate. He decided not to go as he'd have been sat on his own.
He's now gutted, the plum.

Schoolboy error from your mate there. That was easily the best Finland game I've seen, although I haven't been here that long. There might even be a decent crowd for the Azerbaijan game!

[flyingyellowpig]

Unfortunatelly Finland´s best players are too old,and it seems there isn't a natural replacement for them like most countires in Brazil,Argentina,Spain and etc....If Finland keep going like this.They will ever go to a major European league or world cup.

[TampereOwl]

Unfortunatelly Finland´s best players are too old,and it seems there isn't a natural replacement for them like most countires in Brazil,Argentina,Spain and etc....If Finland keep going like this.They will ever go to a major European league or world cup.

The Under 21s just won their qualification group for the European Championships next summer, and there are a number of younger talents like Pukki, Dalla Valle, Ojala and Lepola. The best player on the park yesterday (until he began to tire) was Väyrynen, who is 26. Eremenko (20) and Veli Lampi (23) also played big roles. If Litmanen had declared himself fit that team and those young players would not have had the same freedom: it just takes a coach who has a pair to pick the right team.

[otyikondo]

Unfortunatelly Finland´s best players are too old,and it seems there isn't a natural replacement for them like most countires in Brazil,Argentina,Spain and etc....If Finland keep going like this.They will ever go to a major European league or world cup.

Frankly, mate, I think you can consider yourself very lucky that TampereOwl there did not take you to the cleaners or rip you a new one more comprehensively than he did. You might consider telling the DUTCH they have no footballing future - their Under-21s just got eliminated from the same European Championships competition in which the Finns comfortably won their group...

TampereOwl might have added that to compare Finland - a country of five million with a very long winter and a rather short footballing heritage - with Brazil, Argentina, Spain, or even Etcetera, wherever that might be - speaks volumes for your understanding of football or sport in general. I rather doubt whether the Brazilians, for all their millions, have many good young ski-jumpers coming through.

We should be grateful for what we have and live in hope of better.

[Johnny_Peebucks]

Glad he didn't go to Stoke - the poor bastard....one crap English city is enough.

Even for a Finn Stoke would seem like a boring dump.

[antstar]

Maybe he should be happy that Liverpool has paid him a stupidly huge amount of money for the last so many years!! Ungrateful so and so!

[flyingyellowpig]

Come down mates.I was just telling that Finland or most Finns doesn't care much about football as they do to Ice-hockey,but let see,we compare with Sweden,Norway and Denmark.Those three have great football players and have already been to a few world cups.So isn't time to Finland try to copy their example? I really I wish to see Finland in a major league.

[sinikala]

Glad he didn't go to Stoke - the poor bastard....one crap English city is enough.

Even for a Finn Stoke would seem like a boring dump.

Ever been there?

[ChubbyPoacher]

Glad he didn't go to Stoke - the poor bastard....one crap English city is enough.

Even for a Finn Stoke would seem like a boring dump.

Ever been there?

I have, and to be fair it was a !"#¤%.
That was about 8 years ago though, it might be as good as Derby now, if not better.

[TampereOwl]

Glad he didn't go to Stoke - the poor bastard....one crap English city is enough.

Even for a Finn Stoke would seem like a boring dump.

Ever been there?

I have, and to be fair it was a !"#¤%.
That was about 8 years ago though, it might be as good as Derby now, if not better.

I was there two years ago. I'd say that at that point it didn't quite have the metroploitan sophistication and joie de vivre of Rotherham, but it was clearly more of a cultural centre than Wigan.

Having said that, Hyypiä lives in Wirral, how much worse can it get for him?

[Jussi]

What a way to treat a guy who has played over 400 games.
Wait until just after the transfer window had closed.
After telling Stoke he was not for sale.
Then dump him from the Champions League squad.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/footbal ... 605682.stm
He sounds pretty angry..
"They didn't want me to move elsewhere, so that's why I was told the news of having been left out, just after the transfer window had closed!"

Meh, typical bitter commenting on this. Anyway, Benitez came out and said publically that had he been allowed, (cause of the english players rule) he would have had him. However, who would you have dropped for him? seriously... dumped? more like left out because Liverpool had no real choice...

He'll get a testimonial at the end of the year.

[Bubba Elvis XIV]

Glad he didn't go to Stoke - the poor bastard....one crap English city is enough.

Even for a Finn Stoke would seem like a boring dump.

Ever been there?

From there...so yeah, once or twice....

[Bubba Elvis XIV]

Glad he didn't go to Stoke - the poor bastard....one crap English city is enough.

Even for a Finn Stoke would seem like a boring dump.

Ever been there?

I have, and to be fair it was a !"#¤%.
That was about 8 years ago though, it might be as good as Derby now, if not better.

What!?!?!??! I go to Derby for a nice day out when I can't get down to Notts...

(Selectadisc..Oh yeeeeeah!)