Romanos compares Bahrain to San Marino

Romanos compares Bahrain to San Marino

Good on Joseph for getting into the AWs games, but honestly ... Marius Lacatus2009-10-15 09:23:57

Romanos is an idiot. No-one with an ounce of brain would have even thought about writing that.

I know its off topic, but cricinfo had a series where 10 New Zealand journalists picked the all time NZ test XI.  Romanos was the only person to not pick Vetorri.  Apparently Bracewell is much better.  I have no time for any opinion of his.

I can see his point.

Who plays for FC Timbuktu?

Needs more Killen

Mr Happy, Mr Tickle, Mr Nonsence....

theprof2009-10-16 07:12:04

He's an idiot for agreeing with it, it's a ridicuolus comparison.

Romanos is a jackass.

He has to downplay any team sport that isnt Union or Netball.

He's using a old journalist trick, basically by saying "Im not saying this BUT"

hello. To be fair to Joseph, he's NOT a big rugby fan. He once told me his family used to think it was so funny having others accuse him of being a rugby head, they used to keep cuttings and stick them on the kitchen fridge.

His treatment of Football and Basketball is poor.

He is always negative when it comes to these two sports, and factually incorrect on many occasions.

 

Epic Fail!!!

He just mentioned it in a back-up article this week ("Football Fans Are A Strange Bunch"). He obviously reads what us moaners write. No mention of Andorra or San Marino funnily enough.

And i see this time he decided not to provide a facility for comments.

"Here's the thing: Sweden, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, Poland, Wales, Turkey, Croatia, Belarus, Austria, Bulgaria and Scotland have been eliminated from the World Cup reckoning after European qualifying matches.

Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela, of the leading South American countries, are also out.

Meanwhile New Zealand needs just one good day to get through.

You can understand why fans in those eliminated countries cock an eyebrow towards a New Zealand-Bahrain qualifier.

If some who rushed to trumpet their football knowledge stopped to think about it, they'd see the point."


Here's another point. It's the WORLD cup and there are places set aside for regions of the world.

I think something like that happens in the eggball WC doesn't it? If some who rushed to trumpet their sports knowledge stopped to think about it, they'd see the point.

I loved the Rattue article the other week saying we shoul;dn't go because we would be beaten.  He'll be the first to talk ablout plucky little underdogs only getting humped by 60 at the Rugby equivalent.

Maybe we shouldn't turn up for our own tournament in 2011. We'll only get beaten in the quarterfinals.

Serves us right for being ubertolerant and misty eyed (whatever that means... probably something a one-eyed Cantab thought up)

Hungary? Northern Ireland? Wales? Poland? Belarus? Austria?

f**k off Romanos. You know nothing about football.

It's bullsh*t - when was the last time Hungary/Northern Ireland/Wales qualified for the World Cup?

I'll tell you - 1986 for Hungary/Northern Ireland, 1958 for Wales. Belarus has never qualified.

Of the other European teams he mentions, Turkey/Bulgaria/Czech Republic/Scotland/Austria have only intermitently qualified for World Cups ove the past 2-3 decades, and none of them would ever assume it's their divine right to be at the World Cup. Sweden and Croatia are the only two teams on that list that have been qualifying regularly, and their failure to do so this time is hardly New Zealand's or Bahrain's fault.

Same goes for South American teams he mentions - Venezuela has never qualified, Colombia haven't since 1998, and Ecuador were there in 2002 and 2006, but that's the only two they've been to so far. Hardly powerhouses that have been mercilessly ripped off by FIFA's dodgy qualifying system.

Stick to squash Romanos.

isn' the point that Romanos is making is that the aforementioned countries have world rankings higher than New Zealand, but have found themselves on the qualification outer because they are required to qualify against much tougher opposition.

Junior822009-10-23 12:38:26

Bruce, I disagree with you on this one. He originally made the ridiculous comparion between Bahrain and San Marino (and quoted a 'blogger' saying NZ "couldnt beat FC Timbuktu"). That is why people unleashed on him. His riposte conveniently ignores that comparison and addresses the more reasonable (but still rather inane) point that a whole lot of countries miss out on the world cup. As I said before, if he wanted a right of reply, that's fine, but he should have acknowledged it was silly to compare Bahrain with the last equal ranked team in the world.

Yes, but their higher ranking stems from the fact they play against tougher opposition, so you can't have it both ways. Pluck Hungary into Oceania, and their ranking will be where we are now.

Like I said, it's an absolutely ridiculously stupid point to make.

Not that I think he's ever made a good point about anything else relating to any other sport. Omitting Vetorri from NZ best test XI? Puhhh-lease. They guy wants to appear informed and analytical, when in reality he comes across as a t**ser.