Saturday morning futbol open thread and musings.

Good morning early risers let’s hope today we are rewarded with some good futbol! It is I, one of the three gentlemen filling in for Hippo as he takes his hiatus from teh futbol. We all four watch the game a bit differently and focus on different countries for the most part. Today will be no different but 1st let’s get England out of the way!

Our 8 am games are as follows.

Everton visits Bournemouth (NBC SPORTS GOLD). This is week 4 of Hippo’s hiatus and they have picked up points in all 4, not that he would notice as his boycott continues with Fat Sam at the helm. I will just leave it at that and move on, kinda like Sam is going to do next season when they are fighting in the relegation zone….

Watford v Swansea (NBC SPORTS GOLD), the swans have a new manager in Carlos Carvahal so they should beat the Moose Hornets as everyone will want to impress.

Huddersfield at Burnley (FIND IT YOURSELF), both teams are very good and Burnley is 6 points clear in 7th. They won’t catch the big clubs but I always love when an underdog plays well and their fans go nuts. Have you seen their stadium? It is very quaint and is not flashy, just like their style.

Newcastle v Brighton (NBC SPORTS GOLD), both cam up last year in automatic promotion and the club I support is still mired in the Championship.

Liverpool v Foxy Footy (NBCSN), I dislike the Reds immensely but they have been fantastic to watch this year. To me they are like a Man City light. Now I do not want them to win the whole thing as their supporters are insufferable but they are a joy to watch. Lester has been in the top 10 most of the season and truly that is where they belong. They still have class from the year they shocked the world so I expected to see them here.

Chelsea v Stoke (CNBC), break all of the legs. ALL OF THEM!

The late one is Man U vs Southampton (NBC) and I will watch because it is -25 C outside and it is the only thing on. Do you miss Ibra? I mean Lukaku is fun to watch but Ibra is the most interesting man in the world. I miss Ibra.

The match that will be getting my attention takes place real early in Glasgow. It is at 5 am my time but I do expect to wake up for it as if I didn’t my late grandfather would scorn me. It is the Old Firm derby tomorrow and it is always a joy to witness the mayhem in the stands even if the class of football is not the highest.

When I arrived to live in Scotland I would say 80% of people that I would meet would ask what part of America I was from and who do I support, Rangers or Celtic? I would respond by asking where in England they were from and that I support Heart of Midlothian. On 80% of the pubs in the country there are signs that no football coloUrs allowed, unless a designated Rangers of Celtic pub (I was not allowed in a pub with a Fulham top, so it is NO COLOURS of any kind). I will spare you the history of Rangers going down to the lowest division for financial issues a few years back and the whole ‘new Gers’ crap. I have been to an old firm derby but not at Celtic Park. That place is a zoo, and the neighboUrhood  it is in is insane with their dislike of protestants with funny accents. That being said that was where I had to go to get weed and it is not the safest. At Ibrox it was still pandemonium but the police presence took you from the train station straight to the venue. Celitc have ruled Scotland for the last few years as Rangers has had to work their way back in to the top flight. I still expect Celtic to come out on top but they did just lose to Hearts recently (heh).

Do yourself a favoUr and head over the to the Old Firm wikipedia page. It is really interesting on more than a futbol level. There is a lot of information about Northern Ireland and the importance of the clubs to that country. I can tell you that in Belfast the coloUrs are worn on both sides of the walls and that they have to have 2 ferries over on matchday for each group of supporters to keep them separate. There are signs on the boats and in bars in Northern Ireland that strictly ban sectarian chants. Northern Ireland is awesome and if you get a chance you should really go and definitely take a black taxi tour it is worth it.

If you have read this far I have a book recommendation for you. It is “How Soccer explains the world : An unlikely theory of Globalization” written by Franklin Foer. You will breeze right through it and it is quite eye opening.

Have a great new year folks, it can only get better from here.!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZdFXcA_x0c]