Weekend Football Thread.
More football is scheduled to happen this weekend.
We've got Sunderland at home. They're re-motivated under O'Neill and capable of giving anyone a game. They have players that can hurt us and shouldn't be underestimated, but we ought to beat them. Not too happy with the Mourinho to City bollocks just before a game that may see us return to the top of the league, but that shouldn't effect the players, though anything could happen with a Dzeko-led 4-5-1, as i'd imagine is likely.
Zero chance of United slipping up, and Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea will all quite probably win, too.
Villa 0 Chelsea 1
Everton 1 West Brom 2
Fulham 2 Norwich 1
City 2 Sunderland 1
QPR 1 Arsenal 2
Wigan 0 Stoke 0
Wolves 1 Bolton 2
Newcastle 2 Liverpool 2
Spurs 2 Swansea 1
Blackburn 1 United 3
Non-Prem games of note include West Ham v Reading and Brighton v Boro at the top of the Championship, Portuguese Primeira Liga title hopefuls Benfica and Braga clash at the Stade de Luz, an SPL battle for 2nd as Rangers visit Motherwell, Barca v DiS Footi Thread darlings Bilbao, a rehearsal for the Coppa Italia final as Juve host counter-attacking bad boys Napoli, and Valencia versus La Liga surprise package Levante.
Predictions, thoughts, bets, FF tactics, jokes about the size of Jordan's head, etc...
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our war of the roses clash with preston
is live on sky tomorrow lunchtime. should be an entertaining one at that.
hoping nile ranger and keith treacy get starts - I hear ranger was very impressive on his debut as a substitute last weekend.
jason koumas is training with us next week - remember him?
Some scores
Villa 0 Chelsea 2
Everton 1 West Brom 1
Fulham 1 Norwich 1
City 2 Sunderland 0
QPR 0 Arsenal 1
Wigan 0 Stoke 1
Wolves 2 Bolton 7 (Seven)
Newcastle 2 Liverpool 1
Spurs 2 Swansea 0
Blackburn 0 United 3
Villa 0 Chelsea 2
Everton 2 West Brom 0
Fulham 1 Norwich 0
City 3 Sunderland 0
QPR 0 Arsenal 1
Wigan 0 Stoke 1
Wolves 2 Bolton 2
Spurs 3 Swansea 0
Newcastle 2 Liverpool 0
Blackburn 2 United 3
really hope blackburn can pull something out of the bag
BASH THE BOOKIE (Week 6).
Sky are so petrified of another bashing they've taken to goading me this weekend - http://www.skybet.com/football
No real big singles or double take my fancy this time round, but i do like the look of a few odds-on homes, plus the odd value away bets, so i've (perhaps naively) decided to combine the two, slipping one outsider onto four doubles. Might work, might not.
Benfica v Braga's the big match of the weekend in Portugal. Braga are in amazing form (14 wins on the bounce), but this game will have a huge bearing on where the title goes, so i'd edge towards Benfica at home. Sheffield United at better than evens should be good value. The outsider here is Peterborough, who are VERY unpredictable, but they're due a win at home, and Leicester are hit-and-miss so it's worth a punt...
1) Benfica, Sheffield United, Peterborough - £4 (£52.73)
Gillingham are out of form, but generally strong at home. Winning at Motherwell is a big ask for Rangers given the circumstances there and the effort they put in against Celtic last weekend. Not many will back West Brom, but they have been decent away, and Everton are inbetween a cup replay and a big semi-final so who knows...
2) Gillingham, Motherwell, West Brom - £3 (£68.28)
Sheffield Wednesday really should beat Preston in the early kick-off. I'm not 100% sure Newcastle will beat Liverpool, but 2/1 at home seems a touch long. West Ham tend to fuck up my bets, but 12/5 on Reading given their league position and away form is also a bit too healthy to turn down, though any outcome is equally likely, i think...
3) Sheff Weds, Newcastle, Reading - £4 (£64.11)
Ipswich are strong at home, against Barnsley who are poor on the road. Tranmere have pushed on since re-appointing Ronnie Moore and Bury lose a few. Napoli's a big gamble, Juve are still unbeaten and will probably edge it, but they'll lose at some point, and Cavani's lot are *usually* big occasion players (the last time i backed against Juve they won 0-5)...
4) Ipswich, Tranmere, Napoli - £3 (£52.50)
Lastly, and somewhat predictably, i can't resists 16/1 on Sunderland. City will win that one 9 times out of 10, but the price is too good to completely ignore...
5) Sunderland - £2.50 (£42.50)
Pot after stakes; +£312.50
get the feeling it's a visitors weekend
Villa 0 Chelsea 3
Everton 2 West Brom 0
Fulham 1 Norwich 2
City 2 Sunderland 0
QPR 1 Arsenal 5
Wigan 0 Stoke 1
Wolves 0 Bolton 2
Spurs 0 Swansea 1
Newcastle 3 Liverpool 4
Blackburn 0 United 3
i was thinking similar.
don't particularly agree with some of your calls, but could easily see 5/10 aways.
I just figure Blackburn and Villa are both fit to roll over if they go behind against a big club
and once QPR are down to 10 men Arsenal should tear them a new one.
Has anyone said anything about Petrov being diagnosed with acute leukaemia
No
Poor show. Seems a bit more important than what accumulator people have got on.
terrible trolling.
fight me
...as soon as you apologise for being an absolute bumsnogger.
http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/social/4334560#r6669858
mancini - etihad funk
definitely makes sense.
your input has been noted.
really, really poor.
* your trolling that is.
fuck off you utter mug
i hadn't read the other thread. my bad. you can't delete comments on here (to my knowledge) but if i could i would. i'm a groovy bastard.
It was mentioned in the Friday thread
the explanation of Aguero's injury is priceless.
it sounds more unfortunately and painful
than hilarious and goofy
Mancini not saying what it was to start with had us speculating about rake standing, getting hit while someone turns holding a ladder, Balotelli merking him with a bucket perched over a door
My immediate thought
Was that some Balotelli shenanigans were to blame
Even now nobody can decide
The Sun: "(Aguero) had a knock that was initially only going to sideline him from last Saturday's game at Stoke. But a spray on the injury resulted in an allergic reaction, causing the foot to balloon and blister as if it had been burnt."
The Mirror: "Aguero hurt his foot riding on a mini-motocross bike while playing with his three-year-old son Benjamin at their Cheshire home. The Argentine striker then treated the injury repeatedly with an anaesthetic freeze spray, causing burns and blisters that left him unable to play or train."
I'd only read the foot spray thing last night
the bike bit on it's own would have been funnier
Plymouth away tomorrow innit
i'm at home so i'll be able to listen on the radio.
massive game, well nervous
What the fuck...
http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/oddballs/894789-iker-casillas-picks-his-nose-and-wipes-it-on-real-madrid-mascot-in-tunnel#ixzz1qcLi81zF
:D
:D
<3
Nervous about today (nothing new there)
I know we really should be beating QPR considering their current form, but having spent three of the last four seasons watching Arsenal forget how to win a football match after February, I keep expecting the banana skin to come along and derail everything.
You'll be fine.
The banana skins came early this year, innit - August/September and December/January.
This QPR side is one of the worst to ever play in th Premier League. If they stay up it will only be down to the absolute shitness of the other candidates.
Nice trolling with the last paragraph
With 7 games to go we have 28 points. Try these whole-season points totals for starters:
Derby 2007-8 - 11 points;
Sunderland 2005-6 - 15 points;
Sunderland 2002-3 - 19 points;
Watford 1999-2000 - 24 points;
Bradford 2000-1 - 26 points; and
Ipswich 1994-5 - 27 points.
We'll only be anywhere close to being one of the worst teams ever to play in the Premier League if we lose all 7 of our remaining games. And even then you're ignoring the fact that we've beaten Liverpool and Arsenal in the past week and should have beaten Man City earlier in the season.
Nice try, though.
Yep, said yesterday I had a bad feeling about this game
Team of scrappers who'll run all day and hoof you soon as look at you, fighting for their lives, small noisy ground, that bint Hughes barking on the touchline. All the hallmarks.
QPR are finished
everyone around them is starting to scrap and they keep rolling over
This comment also looks pretty silly with hindsight
no prem on telly today
bah.
What's with this?
Much as I like the 3pm uniformity of today's games, ESPN aren't showing anything this weekend.
this Aguero shit's got too much comedy value to just blow over.
I can't believe we'll just breeze past Sunderland and it'll be forgotten about. It's got the makings of a tale people will chuckle about well down the line after it costs us.
We've (somehow) got a bit of a striker CRISIS on our hands now. Aguero out, Balotelli forgetting that his primary job is a footballer, Tevez no more than 70% fit, and Dzeko, well...being the least-convincing 20-goal-a-season striker you'll ever see.
I expect we'll push Yaya forward to play off Dzeko in the usual 4-2-3-1, but there's no natural finisher in that side if so. We should still have enough to get past Sunderland, but such a stupid injury could prove costly. I'd expect us to beat Arsenal with Aguero and Silva in the side and fit, but that's probably not going to happen, and if not it's not completely beyond the realms of possibility that Arsenal could hold us for a point.
At least as a club when we cock something up we go hell for leather and do it properly.
Amazing match in Germany last night,
Dortmund 2-0 up with 20 minutes to go against Stuttgart and the game suddenly exploded into a shitstorm of brilliant goals, the lead changed hands twice and it finished 4-4. The most I've enjoyed a game as a neutral for years.
Can't envisage too many upsets in the Prem today. Normally West Brom at home is exactly the sort of game I expect us to lose (half-decent side content to let us have the ball, we try our 'shift the ball out left to Baines' tactic 398 times with no success, the crowd get agitated and we concede from their first meaningful attack) but the mood around the place has gone from poisonous to smiley optimism in the past couple of months. Ah who am I kidding- 0-1 (Scharner). My ante-post bets could reeeallly do with a Wolves win but they look incapable of ever getting another point. Silly season started in Italy already, the draw in the Bologna game best price 6/4. Give it a few weeks and we'll have odds-on draws in Serie B. Excellent.
Anyone who claims the Bundesliga isn't the best league in the world is clearly a simpleton.
good win yesterday: Barnet 0-1 Torquay
our Xteenth 1-0 of the season, still way off Swindon and those cuntish scamps Crawley are sneaking up too. Southend wallop Cheltenham to stay in the hunt
aston villa vs chelsea will be 0-0
Andy Carroll says he won't celebrate if he scores tomorrow
[think of you're own punchline]
yes you are
Frimpong's got a single out, then...
as well as a clothing line.
Senior games completed for Arsenal - 3.
BUT HE HIT SOMEONE IN THE FACE WITH THE BALL ONCE
Tbf
He has also been injured and sitting on his arse all day since going to Wolves, so probably just got bored.
11th anniversary of David Rocastle's death, aged just 33 from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
Particularly poignant in light of recent events with Muamba and Petrov.
*Always remember who you are, what you are and who you represent* RIP Rocky
Remember being wounded when we sold him to Chelsea.
Will never forget an absolutely outrageous bit of skill at Maine Road against Ipswich.
This one?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUaNieDfBVw&t=4m27s
Love that. Even though the finish is basically a close range near post touch it got nominated for MOTD Goal Of The Month just for that touch.
Football, eh?
Villa 0 Chelsea 2
Everton 1 West Brom 1
Fulham 2 Norwich 1
City 2 Sunderland 1
QPR 1 Arsenal 3
Wigan 0 Stoke 2
Wolves 2 Bolton 2
Really sad about Petrov. Always seemed like a stand-up kind've guy and well liked by the Villa fans.
Fulham away today
I can see it.
Revenge for 2004/Dickson Ethuhu
hey ESPN have edited that Wolves are shite advert to make it less damning
shame
Is it one of those trailers for upcoming games
That invariably show balls flying past Henessey into the net?
it was posted here a couple days ago
it basically was like "stoke, all about being solid, Wolves, anyone's guess" but its been changed to like "Desperate to survive" or some shit
Keith Andrews: "Roy Hodgson literally oozes knowledge every day on the training ground"
A future in punditry awaits
Some of the West Ham players are apparently gunning for Kebe after his brilliant baiting earlier in the season.
Would be a shame if both sides got a couple of red cards each......
Taken a punt on Jelavic this week in FF
Regarding a weekend game that has already happened...any Luton fans on DiS?
I'm liking the look of our line up.
Kalou on the left, ramires on the right, Mata playing behind Torres.
Shoot me down in flames
but I've got a feeling Villa will beat Chelsea today>
I also think Wolves will win
You think this Chelsea side might lose a game?!
You're fucking MENTAL, pal.
aw, Clint :(
fuck this man!
that Villa squad has quite a few regens in it
Chelsea shouldn't have any problems.
ah
and five seconds later
i never thought in 2012
we'd have a player csalled 'Carruthers'
Full of ham already 2 up
mental
our new signing Ryan Bennett is working wonders then
England under-21 international indeed
Norwich are safe though, innit.
Get any more safe and they're at risk of qualifying for Europe.
horrible thought that
WHY ARE WE STILL STARTING RAMSEY?
he's so poor. ESPECIALLY on the wing.
Jesus
Adel against Arsenal :D
The smile on my face...
this is like a beautiful inverse JOHN JENSEN SCORES
SUNDERLANNNNND!
Setanta idiot pundit blaming Taarabt for the goal
when it was Diakite who gave the ball away after Taarabt did a great bit of skill and passed to him
fucking blowhards
nice pen
nice decision
Phil Dowd shafts us again.
ahhhh
that's better.
citeh conspiracy
I don't know if it's that
he's definitely against us today anyway. I hate his face.
my 'sunderland mate' who is at the game
text me to say she reckoned it was a penalty. not the case?
the blokes on the radio who have seen the replay
said it was a definite dive and there wasn't any contact. These are the local guys though.
he ws going down but there was contact
always see them given.
They've gone overboard.
Definite contact- you could make a case for Dzeko looking for it and forcing himself over Gardner as he backs away, but there is definite contact.
Hmmm, DiS deleted some of my words.
Not watching myself, that was the verdict of the 5 Live coverage
:D Just a bit of bias there.
A lot of contact. One of those where the striker toes the ball away as the defender comes in for the challenge. Dzeko left his leg hanging to be caught, but Gardner definitely came in and caught him.
:)
I'm sure it will be somewhere in the middle. I'm waiting to hear what Alan Shearer has to say before forming my own opinion.
he stuck his leg in when he didn't need to
and he'll be disappointed with that
I hope this debate continues long after the final whistle if Sunderland win
:D
Bendtner
4th goal in five games
weird eh!
oh wait six
still better than you'd expect though innit. Despite him breaking the Arsenal self-confidence machine.
i dunno
he looks like a peaks and troughs striker. 6 in 6 and 0 in 6 as likely as each other.
lol @ west ham btw
fucking hell
I know there's other things going on at the moment, but what the hell is this?
http://open.spotify.com/album/2qq9lvSBrICY4ocWUC3alq
Jay-Z's Laugh
still half an hour left
city could come back into it. no reason they cant
TeveZ!
Really not a fan of this
"x does x when he wants" chant trend.
Don't mind that one, it can be funny
but I'm really not a fan of 'I wanna go home, x is a shithole, I wanna go home'. Everyone does it now. The tipping point for me was Leicester fans singing it. I've seen Leicester.
Yeah, that one seemed to catch on mid way through last season.
Home fans almost roll their eyes whenever it airs because they know it was going to be wheeled out regardless of lcoation or match cirsumstance.
away fans have been singing it about Bradford for a good 2 seasons
Sheffield United fans singing
"His name is Ched Evans...he'll shag who he wants"
small, small, small, smalltime
Dreadful set of scores for me so far this afternoon.
Events at Upton Park being quite amusing is the only thing cheering me up.
Oh hang on - Leeds are losing too.
1-1
If City can get a winner this could yet be a good day...
wait...this isn't KiK?!
It's Reckoning ffs
Balotelli's giving Hansen and Lawrenson a lot of ammo.
Seriously if we don't get oxlade chamberlain on the pitch now
i'm gonna kill wenger's dog
City arguing on the pitch
small-time. Cracking under the pressure.
more chickens coming home to roast for mancini #imho #onion
Accumulator:
Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, QPR, Wigan.
http://stayforevercrossfit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/braveheart-hold-original.jpg
nervy
how much d'ya win?
£776
nice!
Man City losing, Arsenal losing, Chelsea drawing
No Christmas card for Eric Lichaj then
FUCKING HELL
Eurgh
this is fucking shit.
Now I remember why I hate watching Arsenal most of the time.
fucking qpr
fuck
wow
guess some city fans are gonna regret leaving early.
still 5 minutes for them to get a winner, too.
Man City dick head fans leaving early
really hope Man Ciry win 8-3 now
If QPR hold on
this will have been a brilliant, brilliant day of football.
Watford :DDD
Only 6 points off the play-offs now
Still unlikely, but what an incredible job Sean Dyche has done since the turn of the year. Only 4 points off Cardiff as well, which makes you wonder what could have been if Malky had stayed on, but hey-ho.
Linesman hit by a coin right near the end
There's gratitude.
That's football!
fuck me
thats a massive point for City. can't help but respect that sort of a comeback.
Taarabt <3
Did I just hear the Man City fans boo a team that didn't give up and fought to the death to make sure they came out with 1 point
and almost got all 3? What a cunty set of fans
they were booing the ref
probably
I liked it when Balotelli fell over
and everyone in the stadium shouted 'get up!!!!!'
probably something to do with Sunderland making a sub during added time
That took a fair while, and Dowd added about two seconds for it.
it was David Vaughan
did you not see his goal for Everton the other day? We were trying to help!
they were shouting boourns.
LOL.
don't try and do football, mate, it doesn't suit you.
I'm not huge fan anymore, I was once upon a baby time
but I still have a passing interest, enough to feel the need to follow and share
fuck off
fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck ofokckdcsfovd`
Dunston through to the FA Vase final
Andrew Bullford has scored in every round. Nice work. Got sent off today too.
It's where Gazza was born ye kna.
howay the UTS!
Would be a fitting tribute to the dismantling of the Dunston Rocket.
Sheffield United still won't give up the chase
Tiresome but I'm sure we've got enough to hold them at bay now. 6-point lead, 6 games remaining. Huddersfield out of the automatic running beyond doubt now.
Pretty insane day of football, huh?
Erm...
Farnborough 1-2 Dorchester
Come on! Think that breaks the 50 point barrier for the first time in ten years or so. Lovely stuff.
We looked up for the fight first half
Characterised by Stearman and Johnson going nose to nose with Hennessey.
A team who weren't going down would've scored 3 or 4. But our ship is sunk, so we didn't.
Second half was a bit more fitting with our recent performances. Only 6 points and a bag full of goals off safety....
I almost forgot...
Mark Davies: cheating cunt
Not quite sure how Reading won that game by that scoreline
The prospect of Prem football again is starting to look real! Some difficult games ahead though
THERE BE A SHITSTORM BREWIN'
at preston north end. four pne players leaking the team and tactics to some of our players. graham westley understandably aggrieved. i'd be surprised if he was in charge of the team for their next game.
that said, preston are the worst team i've seen at hillsborough for a long, long time. just glad we were able to get the three points - madine's first goal was sublime.
He's a bit of a hack is Westley
Only knows one way - the high way. Apparently those four players have been sacked!
he played a centre half up front
when he had the option of iain hume and chuks aneke on the bench, and he left neil mellor out of the sixteen altogether. bizarre.
there's been talk of disharmony there ever since he started there, players not impressed by his methods. don't see him in charge there much longer at all.
Preston have made some spectacularly ill-judged managerial appointments since Moyes
haven't they
indeed they have
craig brown, paul simpson and alan irvine spring to mind. at least darren ferguson's been able to salvage his managerial career somewhat.
only billy davies really had any great success there post-moyes!
what was phil brown like
I thought he seemed to be doing oksy? I really don't know though
.
villa five points from the drop-zone and they have some TRICKEH games ahead
I hope West Ham aren't promoted
losing the play off final would be a good way of staying down. Big Sam's face would be a peach.
Seeing the tribute shirts for Muamba and Petrov really puts this to shame
http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/PA-12343382.jpg
Sunderland deserved all three points today.
They were the better side for almost the entire ninety minutes.
There was always going to be an unexpected result somewhere at home over the last few games, and Sunderland are now an alright side, but performance-wise, we were dreadful. The last time i can remember us playing that badly was when we lost 8-1 at Boro about five years ago. We were probably worse today than United were in the 1:6. Honestly.
That said, though the result has done us no favours, it's hard to conclusively say whether it's a bad, okay or good point until United have won, drawn or lost...and at least we eventually showed some fighting spirit to come away with something.
No problem whatsoever with the players arguing between themselves when losing. In fact, i like to see that (not the losing part, but you get the point...). What i have more of an issue with is the body language and work rate of a couple of the players, one in particular, but i'll let Hansen go overboard on that on.
I've got to be honest...at 1-3 i was quietly looking forward to drowning my sorrows with a good 10-pinter.
on the plus side...
just checked my bets...
- if Benfica win, fifty-three beer tokens.
- if Newcastle win tomorrow, another sixty-four.
when did you put the Benfica bet on?
last night.
http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/social/4334669#r6670799
City have got absolutely no chance
and I say that as a City sympathiser who'd love to see them win it. Even if by some miracle Blackburn win on Monday, can you really see City taking six points from the Emirates and Carrow Road? Away form is abject. United won't drop anything between now and the derby. Blame must lie with Mancini for tactical ineptitude and repeated shit team selections, as well as with some absolute cowards in that City team who shouldn't be wearing the shirt. I hate Hansen but he was spot on when he said there are no leaders in that side
naaaaaaaaaa
the way this season's been? wouldn't be surprised if there's a six-point swing in the last couple of weeks. anything can happen.
give over
so you can see united getting beat at home by swansea and city, who have been largely awful away from home throughout 2012 so far, beating newcastle away? behave
<'new user' bounds into Football Thread head first and armed with OPINIONS>
;-D
Cracks me up when you suckers seriously engage with such bumsnoggers.
he's on 365 posts.
and it's no worse than some of the stuff you come out with.
I'm kind of surprised
nobody's mentioned that the weekend before the derby Utd play Everton and City are at Wolves, the only time they've really got an on paper easier game in that whole period.
we established yesterday that you were an exremely poor troll.
good luck with your extremely poor trolling.
Two thirds of what he just said is what you've been saying in every football thread since the new year.
So we've established extremely poor trolling gets results.
What exactly is so clearly wrong
that it must be trolling? City have won two out of their last eight away in the league, it's hardly wild to suggest that they might drop something against a Norwich side that has punched well above its weight or an Arsenal side that, before today, had been on a very decent run.
he's just a bit sore
after seeing arsenal rejects dismantle his team.
HAHA.
Weak, mate. Even for you.
I doubt there's a person in this thread who has been as critical of City's performance today as me.
you're still not answering his question.
i tend not to engage so much with shit trolls.
if someone wants to show evidence that they've got a brain, and ask decent questions in an intelligent manner, sure, i'll answer away, but i'll leave you to argue with scattergun approach head-the-balls like this one.
it seems a pretty logical question
if your away form has been pretty poor - primarily because the manager has made the same mistakes time and again - why do you dismiss the suggestion that you might not win away against two decent sides? i'm not sure what it is that's unintelligent or 'indecent' (for want of a better word) about that. p.s. the petrov thing, i hadn't seen the other thread. sorry for the kneejerk. if i could delete the post i would.
i think my problem with your post
was about 'not knowing whether it's a good point' until united play. for me, any game you don't win is two points dropped when you're second and going for the title. but that's just me.
Southampton are so poor in this game
I dont know what to say after that
apart from that I want to do Mark Davies serious harm. Im off to drink myself into oblivion, see you on the other side
;-D
Blackpool have got a player called Bob Harris.
Lomana Lua Lua, Kevin Philips, Brett Ormerod
Milan-on-Sea
haha
City fan on 606 earlier claiming they league has not been thrown away and it's more to do United and their experience at the business end
nah - City had leads throughout the season and have pretty much capitulated over the last few months
bottom line - City's highly paid stars aint got the fight in em. they are mentally pretty weak.
yep, there was the odd great cameo and a game saver here and there, but really there appears no team unity and togetherness and this has really been highlighted over the last few months.
yep, there has been the odd badly timed injury along the way, but man, United are probably at the weakest ever squad wise (last fifteen yrs anyway) and should have definitely been spanked this season
Fully expect Mancini will get the flick at the end of the season - I like the cat, but second and no cup is quite a poor return
shame for football really - a pretty functional, well organised team winning the league....again
dull
surprised you managed to see the game, champ...
given your own side was playing at the same time.
what you talking bout, maaan?
Benzema does a Van Basten
http://www.101greatgoals.com/gvideos/van-basten-esque-golazo-karim-benzema-puts-real-madrid-1-0-up-v-osasuna/
Big upset in Estonia this afternoon:
http://meistriliiga.blogspot.co.uk/
You all remember that classic Kuressaare team of 2002, right?
did you see the Paide Linnameeskond v Kalju game last week?
i didn't, but noticed it when trawling through the scores - three red cards in about twelve minutes, all for the same side!
Yep
that one turned a bit ugly:
http://meistriliiga.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/paide-1-3-kalju.html
Didn't quite catch what most of the red cards were for - looked to be dissent or off the ball stuff.
Barca 1-0.
a Yaya-like run and finish from Iniesta.
ronaldo;
http://i.minus.com/ieVqHirp9BiZV.gif
why is he pointing at his tensor fasciae latae
its as if to say;
hey guys, look at my big leg
don't see messi doing that etc
^ This
I honestly don't think Messi could have scored that goal.
wouldn't have needed to punt it.
he'd have taken all those defenders on and chipped the goalie.
what a bastard
him over messi any day
joking aside...
do you reckon there's a person anywhere in the world who thinks Ronaldo's the better of the two?
(Ronaldo himself aside, obv).
I think he might have a more rounded skill set
in terms of physicality, aerial ability, pace and power but he isn't a team player to the same degree Messi is and will add flourishes to his play that aren't needed and can occasionally be costly.
I don't think he's better but I prefer watching him (in general) as I like a bit more power and drama in my play and he does that more than Messi who is just effortlessly brilliant all of the time.
(speaking as someone who doesn't watch La Liga week-in-week-out naturally)
I kind of feel sorry for Ronaldo
because he is an absolutely brilliant player but he's always in Messi's shadow. Messi is a better player but you don't see Ronaldo being touted as one of the best ever
He should be, without question
I do.
at least over the last season or so.
don't know if i can be arsed watching Balotelli fall over for another fifteen minutes, tbh.
Jonathan Pierce is such a doom monger.
Shut up you oven chip.
IS IT GOING?
Sessegnon will not be a Sunderland player next season
If Van Persie weren't out on his own, he'd be in contention for one of the player of the year awards. Should make the PFA team of the year.
pizarro should probably get more starts shouldn't he?
touch of real class, calm no matter what the situation.
not fit enough.
he's like Scholes - class in spells, especially from the bench, but you can't start him often, he'll get overran.
really?
toure has enough drive for 2 men. alongside him and silva&nasri either side you'd have enough muscle and stamina to make up it. he'd just pick out passes and make things work. i'd play him against arsenal.
have you seen the size of the lad?
he's wider than he is tall.
for me, tiresome bants aside, Barry always has to be in our midfield. we're so much shitter without him it's untrue.
have to be honest...
Kompany wasn't fit today, rushed back too soon, imo.
with Lescott out as well, Clichy rested and Micah Richards a) having a previous injury and then having to go off with a head injury, you can sort of see why we might concede goals today.
terrible goals to concede, mind.
That's what I thought. Didn't even know that he'd been training..
that was very classy
stay classy, San diego.
when Branislav Ivanovic is doing the business...
he's amongst my favourite Premier League players.
when he's playing shit and moaning all time, he's an annoying bastard.
aye, got a lot of time for branston
torres looked like he had a good game there.
Bit disappointed it didn't show Stearman's monster tackle after him, Johnson and Hennessey had been scrapping
The ball went 50 yards and so did Miyachi
;-D
Benfica grab 91st minute winner v Braga.
Nnnnice.
i'm sure tomorrows papers will...
focus as much on the Foster/Odemwingie and Hennessey/Johnson set-to's as the brief Balotelli/Kolarov one.
I'd find it upsetting
if the papers decided a relegation scrap and a nothing midtable game were more important than us.
ub T_B.
ycmiu
<3 Leeds.
Interesting that the ref from the United/Fulham game got demoted to the Championship for this weekend. Hmmm.
Adel Taarabt's fez
Watched most our game now.
Seems like we were excellent for 85 minutes, but truly woeful for 5 and almost paid for it.
Trezeguet has 7 in 9 for River Plate :')
Trezeguet would later state that the adrenaline he gets while playing for River surpasses any other moment he experienced in his career, including winning the 1998 FIFA World Cup with France and scoring the golden goal in the finals of the 2000 EURO Cup: "I am feeling things that I have never felt before. Not with Juventus, nor with Monaco and not even at international level with France. Being a River fan and seeing the passion that exists in this team, all the people and all the pressure, I have more adrenaline than ever before."
Just heard a troll on the radio accuse City of 'lacking fighting spirit'!
LOL.
Have i imagined us coming from behind to not lose four successive games?
Had he said we'd ran out of gas a bit, or haven't been as flowing since Silva's injury, or had become leaky at the back in Kompany and Lescott's abscence, that would be fair and accurate, but i'm pretty sure that winning two and drawing two games when losing all four with 10-15 minutes to go shows about as much 'fighting spirit' as you could ask for.
Just seems like the default conclusion for the clueless.
Players that earn a lot aren't spanking the opposition every week = they're not bothered about winning.
Couple of guys behind me at the game yesterday fighting with each other.
Horrible atmosphere from start to finish and a pretty disastrous performance. Kompany and Kolarov in particular were not at the races.
nothing new about Blue-on-Blue.
has always happened, home and away, when we were shit or now we're good, winning, drawing or losing...and we know it happens at most clubs.
i can see why it happens - normally one person taking exception to another being a constantly-depressing gobshite.
bottom line is thus - if you get to the point here you can't take a defeat or bad performance on the chin without acting like a complete cunt or even engaging in fisticuffs, then you're a sad, sad specimen and your club, whoever you support, would be better off without you.
probably an undercover rag
nah.
though some United fans are extremely obsessed with us i doubt they'd go as far as to shell out for a season ticket and attend home games in order to cause a small bout of fisticuffs at this time of the season.
the furthest i've seen them going is humming the Munich song to try and get City supporters to bite (Wembley), or making aeroplane gestures at City supporters (the 2:3), again, in the hope City fans might bite and then they can do some moral highground taking.
answered with deadly seriousness :'D
didn't see City yesterday cos i scratched my eyeball
Preferable option to be honest.
^ this.
it was probably the worst we've played at home since Stuart Pearce was manager.
walking wounded at the back, overran in midfield, and Balotelli just falling over every couple of minutes.
i always forget stuart pearce's tenure
how is someone so incompetant the current England manager?
They're broke.
i look forward to the day he brings a teddy to the dugout
lol
Newcastle's defence...
Simpson - Perch - Williamson - Jonas.
Would it be mad to have a few quid on Liverpool?
are Newcastle favourites?
probably we've been coming back into form and Liverpool have just lost to two of the bottom three
Perch has been improving at the same time as Williamson has been becoming more error prone. I think the pair of them of more in danger of conceding a penalty when Suarez tries to jink between them than they are conceding a goal in open play to Suarez (who takes about 37 shots per goal) and Carroll (who can't shoot and who surely doesn't have the heart to score against his boyhood club anyway).
Both defences are pretty weak. If Cisse, Ba and Ben Arfa can keep playing with that psychic bond they had for some of the goals at West Brom I can't see Liverpool being able to resist them.
Our midfield has had a very strong season as well - Spurs game aside - Guthrie has impressed, Tiote hasn't fired properly since coming back from Africa but every time he's missed Toon games in the past he's taken awhile to build back up. Cabaye has proven himself too.
krul
simpson - perch - williamson - jonas
cabaye - tiote - guthrie
ben arfa - ba - cisse
To be honest it's Craig Bellamy and Stephen Gerrard who I'm most frightened will be our undoing.
A Newcastle win puts us about 11 points clear of Liverpool in the league
£100+million well spent
No
they've just lost to Wigan and QPR
we've just beaten Norwich and West Brom and have an eight point lead on them.
I reckon we've got a decent shout
You can reckon what you want
You're not favourites with any of the major bookmakers.
Gahhhhh
Anyone get those audio adverts on firstrow which are seemingly hidden invisible and thus impossible to turn off? Fock refreshing every time they pop up; it takes the whole game to close all the pop up windows.
a reporter on Sky's Sunday Supplement...
"I have to be honest, i don't think Balotelli's on the same level as Ronaldo or Messi".
I don't understand why Newcastle fans are booing Andy Caroll
who cares? you're much better off now!
1) He spouted his fair share of bullshit about the move
2) It might affect his performance
why are Liverpool fans booing Andy Carroll?
what part of selling a shit, waster striker to one of their main rivals for five times what he's worth are they unhappy with?
You've seen them given.
3/10 for Carroll there
although I like the assumption of the commentators that there is no way he may have just lost his footing rather than intentionally diving
No arguments there.
why the fuck would you dive there?
you've beaten the defender, and the goalie open net, just stick it in the onion, ffs.
have to be honest, in real time, from the camera angle, i thought it was a pen.
I think he just lost his balance
also he's a diddy
:'D
atrocious dive
I'm sure Andy Carroll's head touched with the referee's there....
i'd genuinely love to see a player punch Luis Suarez full on in the face.
Joey Barton perhaps?
in a full on brawl?
Great goal there.
Well played Ben Arfa
after Demba Ba's success why did nobody else try to sign Cisse?
or maybe they did idk
was Cisse not offside there?
is it fair to say Newcastle are the most likeable team in the Premiership currently?
or is that Swansea?
probably.
team of the season, for sure.
It's Norwich
nah I dunno who cares
gotta say
That looked like a clear penalty for liverpool. Another of fergies henchman trying to stop the scouse tide of progress
Would have been so good if that was a goal.
fancy a 2-2 draw here.
10/1.
hmmm.
We definitely look like conceding a couple.
Banker.
Andy Carroll
http://odaecom.com/Images/horsedurr.gif
Think you might be the 100th person to have made this joke
You've probably won an iPhone or something.
still waiting
My God this Liverpool XI are ugly.
I don't know how to break this to you, son.
You're not exactly an oil painting yourself.
good job Liverpool managed to get them 40 points on the board, really.
lol about 10ft offside
Totally needed that though.
anyone notice Steveh G's body language then?
had a wild shot from distance, shrugged, told one of his teammates to fuck off and just allowed Newcastle to break without any concern of tracking back at all.
not a happy camp, imho.
I said it last week and I'll say it again
They don't look like they can be bothered at the moment. You can blame the signings on the board, Comolli etc but it's the manager's job to motivate the team and he simply isn't doing that at the moment.
HAHAHA.
3 games for Doni!
Very very very soft red card.
You don't like to see that etc.
you don't like to see simulation, no...
but equally, you don't like to see players leading with their heads.
contact or not, that should be a red card, and Reina's let himself down.
I just think it looks ridiculous
I'd be ashamed of myself if I was Perch.
completely agreed...
but so does a man trying to headbutt another because he's slightly better at football then him.
the red card should stand and Reina should be banned, and if it can be proven that there was no contact then so should Perch, but he won't, obviously.
Reina has been an absolute mug there. Brilliant stuff.
Am I imagining things, or did Reina spit at him?
This is hilarious (at least it is because it's 2-0)
Perchinho living up to his nickname
It should be Percherazzi
KENNY ON THE PITCH!!!
Steveh tellin' him to fuck off.
the fella's havin' a breakdown!
<3 outfield players in goal though.
hopefully he'll have to make a save or two.
Niall Quinn went in net and saved a pen once. Can remember Don Hutchison having a go, and of course John 'The Cat' O'Shea. Any others?
dean windass for oldham
think rio had a go once
quite a few have done it at wednesday
most notably lee bullen, who played everywhere for us during his four season stay.
phil jagielka at sheffield united kept a clean sheet against arsenal if I remember correctly.
Remember Fraser digby getting sent off against us like 20 minutes in
And our former captain Alan McDonald going in goal for Swindon and having a stormer. We lost 2-1
Steve Staunton
But can't remember if it was for Villa or Liverpool. Anyone?
for liverpool
vs everton
A victory for ethnic diversity.
henri lansbury?
registered as ressie gk often for west ham.
What a ruddy lovely afternoon so far.
If Swansea can somehow do Spurs now that'd make for an extremely pleasant Sunday.
Liverpool have won two more games than Bolton.
danny murphy <3
http://photo.sohu.com/20041202/Img223300521.jpg
.
Inter 5 Genoa 4
Both teams down to 10.
Good stuff all round.
another dull afternoon in the most boring major league in Europe, eh?
I see Roma grabbed five, aswell. Plus, there's Juve/Napoli to come later.
It might not be a popular thing to admit, but i think Serie A's been very entertaining this season.
i don't watch that much european football but serie A's always my first port of call
it's great
nah.
it fell well behind the Premier League, La Liga and Bundesliga for years in terms of entertainment value.
http://twitter.com/#!/RAWK_Meltdown :'D
;-D
At least Carroll was true to his word and didn't celebrate
This is gold.
Cheers!
Liverpool have only picked up 8 points in 2012
looking very likely to finish behind Everton and Sunderland, could easily finish outside the top ten if this continues.
Is there a more wasteful "world class" striker than Suarez in front of goal?
We looked streets ahead of them today and we haven't even spent half of that £41million they gave us last year on signing new players.
Even Carroll's comedy dive wasn't as good as Perch's stand out drop.
Newcastle have signed some fantastic players
of the top five signings of the season
I'd say we've got three very strong contenders
I keep hearing/reading...
...terms like "bottled it" and "cracking up" regards United going a couple points ahead of City, almost exclusively just from Carlsberg-drinking, Henleys-wearing, Talk Sport listeners, admittedly, but just so i know what they're talking about, can someone who prescribes to this sort of language rather than actually liking football point out exactly when this occured, maybe by way of a big red circle somewhere along the following sequence of results...
WWDWWWWWWWWWDWLWWDLWWWLWWWWLWDD
Much appreciated.
last nineteen games...
out of a possible fifty seven, thirty seven attained.
call it choking/bottling it if you like. bottom line - not championship winning form
agree with that.
congratulations on your first ever non-weak trolling contribution to a football thread.
you sound troubled, my man
HAHA.
i'm sat here in my pants, eating pizza.
grim image
really?
youre the only one that seems to be bringing it up with such a regularity
football is only discussed on mildly-popular music forums.
Gylfi again.
He's been a very
shrewd loan signing.
I can't understand why Hoffenheim have loaned him.
He looks like he could play at a top level club and they're anonymously mid table. Very odd.
Similar question I have about Pizarro
Chilean Dave fell out with the management quite spectacularly.
Swansea have been the better side here.
Should win it, really.
Scotty Parker's been getting pumped relentlessly.
truly bullied.
Should've put some money on this prediction tbf
http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/social/4323043#r6550426
(about winning one game during Feb-Mar)
Our season ended when Defoe failed to connect with Bale's cross in the 85th minute at the Etihad. Will be lucky to make 6th now. Fuck off Spurs.
:')
there are very few sides in the premier league that would be improved with adebayor, city are the last of them.
good enough for maybe liverpool, bolton or wigan though.
;-D
Is this the same Adebayor the Spurs fans have spent the last two months booing?
Pretty sure the Premier League's top scorers are alright at scoring goals.
Happy for him to start tucking them away over the remainder of the season, though. Can't see Spurs biting if not given how he's played for most of the season.
Villa, Blackburn and the Cup Final with Everton
has Reina's sending off ended Liverpool's season?
And Charlie Adam's injured!
Sami Hyypiä to co-manage Leverkusen
for the rest of the season. good for him. he could be a successful manager someday.
Pretty typical performance today, I think
Some decent football, the stronger team for most of the match, but still made harder work of getting the win than we should have.
gif?
http://h9.abload.de/img/untitled-1duyw9.gif
krul backs away
like he knows what's going to happen.
i've seen it a couple of times
and i think he just falls over. he'd just rather been known as a diver then someone who trips over his own feet.
I think he jumps to avoid the swiping arm that never came from Krul
then lands on his face not his feet. I don't think it was conscious Suarez-esque theatrics but I don't think he just trips over like a ungainly donkey.
looking at that
he doesn't really appear to dive does he?
as powerfulmellow says above though, thats probably better than the alternative
Not a bad weekend for Bookie Bashing...
1) Benfica, Sheffield United, Peterborough (WON £52.73)
2) Gillingham, Motherwell, West Brom (LOST £3)
3) Sheff Weds, Newcastle, Reading (WON £64.11)
4) Ipswich, Tranmere, Napoli (LOST £3)
5) Sunderland, £2.50 @ 16/1 (LOST £2.50)
+£100.34
Pot: +£430.34
forgot santa cruz was still at city
they could probably sell him to liverpool for £15m
that Sigurdsson goal was like that Forlan goal in the world cup
just watched it back
not that much like it actually.
cheers