Yesterday, we (Garibaldi FC) qualified for our second semi-final in two seasons, defeating our biggest rivals 5 - 0.

Héhé

Let's hope your hooligan support doesn't show up for this season's semi-finals, Sly...

Around about now LUFC are being notified of the final decision in the fifteen points saga. The rest of us mere mortals will be notified at 5pm. Cue three hours of constantly refreshing rumour-mongering websites.

My money is still on sweet fuck all.

I'll bet he plays the kids against Gillingham to avoid injuries and they fuck us.

To be honest, getting nothing would be the simplest option, otherwise Doncaster, Swansea et al will (fairly enough) start their own legal wrangles with the League and still nothing will be settled. Admittedly I might be less sanguine should Leeds be dumped out the play-offs.

McAllister has already said in the local press that he's going to give some youngsters a go on Saturday; not a bad idea to give them a taste of a capacity crowd and see how they cope, although Gillingham's rivals at the bottom may not see it that way. Beckford and Freedman are in line to start up front, though.

It would be pretty fucking amazing if Bournemouth stay up, all told. And I'd love to see the damned Gillingham go down - bastards poached their manager from Stevenage Borough in a particularly unscrupulous fashion (even by contemporary standards). Relegation would be sweetening.

Do you realise that McAllister will have as many as five ex-Stevo boys at his disposal on Saturday? You can guarantee that they'd like to do one over Gillingham.

Fifteen point deduction stands.

Comedy bloody gold on Sky Sports News; chap from the League came out and handed the decision, in the form of a thirty page document, to the assembled press. The reporter looked at it, looked at the chap, and said "can you tell us where the relevant bit is?"

"Start at page one."

He looked doubtfully at the document again.

"Well, it's a big document. Where is the bit we need?"

"That's what the summary is for, on the first page."

He then looked into the camera, perplexed and shrugging, before waving the thirty page document to emphasise its size. Finally someone off camera found the 'bit' and told him the news.

Breaking, as it happens...

If we beat Gillingham and Swansea lose to Brighton, we'll probably have to change the song to -

We are the Champions,
Champions of League One.

I never expected those points back so I'm not right bothered.

Christian Vieri is a sad sight these days. Through Channel Five and ITV4 I've seen Fiorentina a few times in this season's UEFA Cup and every time Vieri has appeared he has looked a sad shadow of his former self: overweight, immobile, and unable to provide the spark his younger self would have brought and which he is obviously expected still to have. Tonight against Rangers he came on as a substitute and made several ignoble contributions before Waddling the decisive penalty far over the bar in the shoot out. Sad, especially as Fiorentina should have hammered Rangers; it's no great surprise that they didn't, though, as Rangers have made a mark of their UEFA Cup journey defensive solidity and no attacking inspiration whatsoever and somehow come up with a victory every time.

It has been classic two-leg football all the way and it will be interesting to see how that will translate into the one-off final in Manchester, especially against the coming Russian side of Zenit St Petersburg that hammered Bayern Munich this evening.

As for LUFC, well, as I said earlier I'm content that the deduction saga is over and will not be getting indignant about it at all. Bring on the playoffs and a fate decided by football rather than the courts.

daniel robert chapman wrote:Christian Vieri is a sad sight these days. Through Channel Five and ITV4 I've seen Fiorentina a few times in this season's UEFA Cup and every time Vieri has appeared he has looked a sad shadow of his former self: overweight, immobile, and unable to provide the spark his younger self would have brought and which he is obviously expected still to have. Tonight against Rangers he came on as a substitute and made several ignoble contributions before Waddling the decisive penalty far over the bar in the shoot out. Sad, especially as Fiorentina should have hammered Rangers; it's no great surprise that they didn't, though, as Rangers have made a mark of their UEFA Cup journey defensive solidity and no attacking inspiration whatsoever and somehow come up with a victory every time.

It has been classic two-leg football all the way and it will be interesting to see how that will translate into the one-off final in Manchester, especially against the coming Russian side of Zenit St Petersburg that hammered Bayern Munich this evening.

As for LUFC, well, as I said earlier I'm content that the deduction saga is over and will not be getting indignant about it at all. Bring on the playoffs and a fate decided by football rather than the courts.

Not a bad summary DRC, Rangers have struggled up front, but defensively they are great. The midfield is functional and hard working and with better forwards would probably function better. You do us some disservice by not mentioning that Steven Whittaker scored arguably the best goal from a british club in europe this season, against Lisbon away from home.

It's not often my team advance to this level in european competition, although we've been close a number of times and had some tremendous games. Remember the games against the then reigning english champs, Leeds Utd?

Tonight, we have made it to the uefa cup final and that is a great achievement. I'm glad we're there, I'd obviously like us to be playing better and more attacking football, we are capable, 3-0 against Lyon during the champs league, but jesus we're in the final. Hello Manchester.


Zenit were fantastic.

Hey Mr K, I would take nothing away from Rangers' performance tonight. 'Defensively great' is a huge, huge understatement. In fact, it is to Rangers' credit that Fiorentina threw Vieri on despite his decrepitude.

I missed Whittaker's wonder goal but I have found him very impressive in the games I have seen. All the poor sod lacked was somebody in the middle to aim at. He looks like a really good player, a classic winger; him, Broadfoot and Cuellar look like great players in fact.

I don't begrudge Rangers their place in the final one bit but they have definitely got there by being the second-best team with the immense defense at every stage. That is a completely valid way to approach the UEFA Cup as far as I'm concerned, but I will definitely be tuning in to see how it works out against Zenit in a one-off match at a neutral ground. It'll be the ultimate test of the tactic and considering what they've done to Bayern tonight, I don't hold out much hope for Rangers.

As for Leeds v Rangers 92/93... yes. A wonder goal by McAllister cancelled by John Lukic punching the goal into his own net; claiming later to be blinded by the Ibrox floodlights. Hateley's strike in the second leg rendered that question moot, but Leeds fans remember that campaign more for the magnificent Stuttgart trilogy (Carl Shutt's wondergoal in the Camp Nou perhaps the perfect realisation of Leeds' status as Division Two upstarts) and the general awfulness of the side that year (17th in the inaugral Premier League without a single away win).