Weekend Football Thread
pretty busy weekend!
West Ham v Chelsea 12:45
Arsenal v Swansea 15:00
Fulham v Tottenham 15:00
Liverpool v Southampton 15:00
Man City v Everton 15:00
QPR v Aston Villa 15:00
West Brom v Stoke 15:00
Reading v Man Utd 17:30
Sunday
Norwich v Sunderland 16:00
Monday
Newcastle v Wigan 20:00
ELSEWHERE, FA Cup round 2, inckuding CRAWLEY vs CHELMSFORD and HARROGATE vs HASTINGS. BRADFORD and BRENTFORD will go at it again. Celtic host the mighty Arbroath. Last night Birmingham beat Middlesborough 3-2.
but surely game of the day is Munich Dortmund at 5:30. LET'S DO THIS.
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Game of the day Munich Dortmund...umm?
Real vs Atletico, surely.
zzzzzz
Half Time
Bayern
0 - 0
Dortmund
*leeds v huddersfield
Schalke v Borussia Monchengladbach should be good too
there's a Turin derby as well.
ajax vs. psv eindhoven's on too
of all those, bayern vs. dortmund should be the pick of the games however.
*Palace vs Brighton
oh and, MK Dons Wimbledon show down in the cup tomorrow
biggest english game of the weekend
loads and loads of handsome fixtures today
don't think im gonna leave my bed
sounded like we were pretty good against brentford
and it's nice to be in the 3rd round draw but ffs that's yet another fixture. already played 28 matches this season
City v Everton's pretty much alway a nailed on money-maker.
Last team to win at Eastlands. Great record against them (8 wins in the last 10). One of the most attacking sides in the league. Probably the only side who can match City physically. Moyes is pretty much the only manager who's got Mancini's mark. 6/1 is a crazy, crazy price.
Sure this will be taken as anti-bants swerving bants anti-bants, but honestly, you'd be mad not to have a few quid on them today, just sayin'. Not sure why Jordan_229_2 or dots/Yaya_Dzeko care either way, though, tbh.
aside from City winning this fixture fairly comfortably 2-0 last season,
Everton losing form recently and probably being without their best player. Don't think it'll be pretty but City should win.
Will bow to your superior judgement.
Didn't know Fellaini was out. That will be a bit of a blow to Everton, as i'd have thought he'd be their main threat.
Just going off the history of the fixture, recent games between the two (bar the one you mention), but also the fact that, as the weekend accumulators show, every top side's been on the end of a shock result so far, bar City.
History says i'm right, and i'm sure i'm not the only one who's won a few quid on the fixture over recent years. Good luck to you, though.
WAHEY.
There he is!
I'm sorry my opinion differs upon the possible outcome of a football game you evidently don't care about.
im with you today
got money on draw or win Everton.
away at cardiff tomorrow
fully expecting us to lose, however with jay 'first name on the teamsheet despite being dreadful' bothroyd out for a few weeks we might well benefit as a result. will allow us to go 4-4-2 with antonio and one of johnson and mayor on the wing; kieran lee at right-back with buxton out and hopefully returns for semedo, pecnik and o'grady in the team.
also hoping for a decent cup draw for once, haven't had a good one of those for about six seasons when we took man city to a replay.
Where's everyone off to today?
I'm hoping to take in moneybags Stockport Sports v Silsden.
£9.50 for admission and travel. That's what i'm talkin' about, Willis!
Going to the Reading match with the old man
Fully expect a ludicrous result, 3-6 or something.
Work.
fridge
Anfield to watch some billionaire ball
Really looking forward to it, haven't been to the football with my Dad for years. Shame Southampton are going to spank us.
good picture
http://www.101greatgoals.com/wp-content/gallery/gimages/cazorla-fellaini-lolz.jpg
Boro downed at Birmingham last night
For the first hour we controlled the game. Passed our way around Birmingham many times, yet profligate in front of goal.
Halliday's cross for Leadbitter's opener was delicious. Whipped in from the left wing with his left foot, Leadbitter thumped in the header with neither breaking his stride nor jumping.
Birmingham's leveller was a penalty scored by Boro boo boy Marlon King. Sloppy play on the edge of the box conceded possession to Birmingham. It was played to King with his back to goal. He attempted to turn Bikey, who was unavoidably square to the goal. He led his tackle with the wrong foot scything King down for an easy decision. Clumsy doesn't adequately describe it.
Birmingham took the lead through a goalkeeping mistake from Steele—his first of the season to my memory. Elliott volleyed the ball goalwards from the edge of the box. Steele jumped with his arms upright as if signalling it was heading over the crossbar. The ball dipped and Steele realised too late. A miscue.
The eminently offside McDonald scored the scrappiest goal to level.
King's winner was well taken. Poor McEacheran gave the ball away in midfield. King took the ball diagonally towards the goal. He shot through Bikey's legs and perfectly in the corner across Steele. The only moment of class Birmingham mustered all game.
Our defence was the reason for the defeat. If Woodgate played, there wouldn't have been a penalty. I felt he would have dealt with King for the last goal too. Bikey is great for balls into the box—both in the air and on the ground—but I find him a little clumsy in his general play.
2-2 in the big one
Gutted I couldn't get back up for this one. Sounds like we handed them their equaliser, then Clayton has annoyed the Leeds fans by over celebrating our equaliser. Good work. Cmon Town, lets have this.
Cocks
:D
hahahahaaaa
always nice to ruin some minnows cup final
wouldnt have cared but nice to see clayton will be gutted
sounds like we totally bossed it
9 points from an impossible looking 3 games, 3 points off 6th. winnable games coming up. YESSSSSSS.
Nice to see Leeds fans happy. Obviously they don't care about us though
Their rivals are all in the Premier League. Ten years ago.
they believe
their biggest rivals are man united and chelsea
in reality it's the sheffield clubs and huddersfield
I know some of our fans at wednesday are stuck in the past but they take it to a whole new level at leeds.
thanks for speaking on behalf of us all
Huddersfield - first time we've played them in 3 seasons
Sure Leeds fans will be up for it when it happens, but I can't think of anyone I know that cares in advance. Similar to the Sheffield clubs, Doncaster, Bradford; whoever else is frothing about us and chanting but we're pretty oblivious to (I went to a York match once and couldn't stop laughing at their anti leeds songs, they've never register on our radar)
In all seriousness, Huddersfield was a big occasion today, for the Grayson factor, beckford, Clayton being a bellend etc - and Our Yorkshire derbies are usually interesting, passionate occasions - but any Yorkshire club is deluded if they think it means nearly as much to Leeds as it does to them - Bradford, Hudddersfield, and Doncaster in particular.
I'm sure some thicko will equate this to us with chelsea/man utd, but I'd point them to listening to "we all hate leeds scum" on espn right now and every week with man utd - less so with chelsea generally but massively so in the past few weeks leading up to the derby
I have no qualms admitting that some of our rivals are small clubs - Millwall and Cardiff in this division are always huge games, and bigger rivals than any of the Yorkshire clubs. We're a weird one geographically
*reasonable, sensible post that won't get any replies because its not a trolly beckford.jpg
The derby = upcoming league cup game
Shouldn't have started drinking for the 3pm kick offs
good post
I guess it's because, geographically, leeds have been pretty far ahead of everyone else in west yorkshire and as such haven't had too many clashes with bradford/huddersfield etc. in the past - only until the earlier part of last decade when bradford found themselves in the premiership was there any kind of challenge from another team in the area and even then leeds were well ahead of bradford.
back in the seventies when leeds were at their peak (and challenging with the likes of man united, chelsea, derby, liverpool etc.) - the sheffield clubs were languishing in divisions two and three - and then when leeds dropped into the second division in the eighties wednesday had established themselves as a top flight club. there was never that leeds - sheffield rivalry until the early nineties when both leeds and wednesday challenged for the title in '92 and it pretty much developed from there
we've always had sheffield united and (to a lesser extent) the likes of barnsley, rotherham, chesterfield and doncaster in recent years spring up. it's only sheffield united and leeds that seem to really get our fans going
Good to see the Rafalution is in full swing
City really should have beaten them.
:'D
(chelsea)
Hope the West Ham fan I work with took my tip yesterday.
Told him West Ham by two goals. Half wish I'd taken the tip myself.
We're a fucking nothing side if luck isn't on our side. Lots of lovely little flicks and passes but absolutely no ability to force ourselves on a game.
Interesting decisions by the ref. Apparently Collins standing next to Ivanovic is a foul, but Carlton Cole using him as a step ladder isn't.
Diame is a monster.
I'm sad. Time to go drink.
Diame was an absolute monster - he's been well briefed...
http://i4.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article1430945.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/Newcastle+United+v+West+Ham+United+-+Premier+League
Reckon there is anybody richer than Abramovich about who fancies buying a football club?
Place your bets on the next chelsea manager now
Hiddink to return?
avram grant
I reckon Abramovich is just gonna put himself in.
so glad that fulham signed berbatov. when he was at man utd i kind of forgot what an influential player he could be
weeping at the shear holistic achievement of that flick he just did
he did another good thing
don't understand
why are we so shit? getting outplayed by swansea at home
we have such a lovely midfield, it just doesn't make sense :'(
fuck fucking dawson's fucking injured again
fucking gallas argh
fuck
oh jesus
now bale's done his hammy
nathan DIRE
i'll never. ever understand the idea of gervinho starting a football match
would rather gnabry started ffs
ABOUT TIME WOLVES
i really can't see us getting a top 4 finish
really, really can't.
So bad to watch.
fucking hell
man senderos is awful
spurs haven't even been that good.
DEM BOOS
:'D
laudrup such a don. taken swansea to the next level it seems. michu's an absolute steal!
The Irish Premiership is sponsored by Danske Bank (The Danish Bank)?
weird.
In other news, come on Agger and Laudrup!
Nah it's not weird
What used to be known as Northern Bank in nireland were owned by Danske and underwent re-branding to DB a couple of weeks ago.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/northern-ireland/18995530
joke of a team.
let's re-sign our striker from 6 years ago, that'll make it all ok
good results for Man Utd so far
and a good team out today. thought RVP would be on the bench tbh; a booking and he is out of the City game, and with Nani, Valencia and Kagawa out of that already we can't afford to lose another attacking player (even though Fergie'll put Giggs and Scholes out)
fucking Wycombe
those 3 points were ours :(
holy fuck
five goals, two hilarious dives from reading players and some absolutely shocking defending.
9-9.
just switch on the united game right now
wtf?!
Lindegaard's having a fucking mare here.
stick to blogging mate because you're keeping's shite.
I take back my post about Evans being a good defender from
the other day. Awful, awful defending. At fault for a least two of the three and that's being kind.
Lindegaard looks lost as well.
Anyway....C'mon United!!
C'mon United!
*your
Nah he's good.
United!
my word
rafael and evans having their worst half of the season, possibly their entire time at United.
good job we have Anderson and some strikers.
Bloody Nora. What the hell is going on.
Rafa looked distraught. I fucking love the kid.
Having Smalling in the box to defend crosses and set pieces is probaby the right move though.
Great win
Palace 3 Brighton 0. Yannick Bolasie was outstanding yet again. Buy if the season at £350k
lets have six years of OUTRAGE like we did for the Spurs goal for that, yeah?
ARGH EVERYTIME HE STARTS PLAYING FFS!
Flash Scores says Anderson's gone off.
Can't be him you're talking about. Along with virtually every other Yoonited fan you've spent the last three years slaughtering the poor boy!
nah
Wolves won a game
Wow.
fucking hell lindegaard
never seen such an obvious lack of communication in defence.
Lindegaard's doing well
kept United in it.
chinny
http://i2.listal.com/image/930629/200full-.jpg
Bayern v Dortmund's been a bit disappointing.
De Boer's gone with future best player in the World Viktor Fischer again.
But it's an important game against top side PSV. Ajax are in a lowly 4th. He's got faith in the lad.
Haha, rafael.
Showing himself to be a six year old. Funniest strop I've seen since Gallas a few years ago when Arsenal shot themselves in the foot.
didn't he throw a similar strop in the olympic final
when he was getting rinsed all over the shop?
good player but needs to grow up a bit.
had almost forgotten about that gallas moment :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PTUMgpHPn0
What happened?
I'm sure any 'strop' will be discussed in depth on Match of the Day, be all over the back page of the papers tomorrow, and taken as a surefire sign of dressing room unrest a la Balotelli.
Yaya_Dzeko replied to this!
well they brought up the paddy as the first thing of note in the post-match discussion
strangely wasn't mentioned that 2 of the 3 fouls that totted up to his booking were blatant dives though.
Citeh conspiracy?
rvp :D
VAN PERSIE_MISS_OUCH
fleetwood have sacked micky mellon
christ
he had them in the playoffs
strange sacking that, unless fleetwood are looking for someone a bit more high profile to fit in with their big spending ways
just looked at their messageboard and the fans seem pretty pleased
i still saw them as big contenders for the automatic places though. i dunno. hopefully this screws their season up
I knew i should have called one goal or less in the second half
The staggering inconsistency of everyone between about 6th and 15th is making me much happier about Liverpool's season so far.
Much happier than any of our players, our manager and most of our results anyway.
Barca are ruining Bilbao.
Crazy how much this Athletic side have gone to shit since last season. Doesn't even look like the same team who gave Man United two of the most comprehensive arse-whippings they've had over the last twenty years.
Is Llorente still rotting in the reserves?
Had a bit of a strop when he didn't get sold apparently. Should be a very tidy bargain for someone in January.
He's played quite a few games.
Good player, but i don't know if anyone's going to get him on the cheap. Think he's entitled to buy his contract out or something.
They're still got virtually the whole side they had last season, bar Javi Martinez, yet they're utter, utter piss.
Madness. In terms of fluid football, that team of last season was one of the best i've ever seen. Remember sitting there open mouthed after their home leg against United, and by the sounds of it i wasn't the only one on here who had a big of a chubby for them.
Apparently, Bielsa had a big barney with their board over, of all things, tradesmen being on the training ground without his permission.
Bielsa loves a good argument though
He isn't happy unless he's mid-barney with someone. Almost resigned in the summer iirc.
Fancy Athletico to give Real a good seeing to later
Nah.
If Madrid lose that there's a good chance Jose's getting his P45.
They'll win. They have to.
Yeah but
Falcao
Yeah, he's alright.
He'll probably score, but i think Madrid will win.
I'll go for 4-2.
real will put five past atletico tonight
i see the Arsene Wenger post-match interview
random word generator has thrown up some old favourites: jaded, not sharp, create
its fucking bullshit
that's just not an excuse. I was angry enough and then i come home to hear that guff.
i'm really, really concerned. the fourth place trophy looks a long way off right now
PSG beaten again.
3rd in a one-team league.
Won £140 today thanks to that
@cheekybetting or whatever it is that someone mentioned earlier in the week. thanks whoever did that.
balls, was going to check that out
someone on here won midweek because of it too
grats to Teej...
but i keep my eye on that site, and its win ratio is okay at best.
get the impression people get the odd good win, and fair play, but they probably call 1 in 4, even 1 in 5.
its the first time i've looked at it today.
to be fair i prolly got a bit lucky; a decent treble (palace, watford, leicester at 15/2) coupled with a £20 free bet via betfair.
Sam Allardyce getting lost in thought as he talked about cake :D
quite enjoyed that
that Morrison lad for Reading...
but of a monster, isn't he?
* bit
i have absolutely no opinion about his ass.
Joe Hart's really not playing that well, is he?
Bit weird that David Moyes reckons players can't be guilty of fouls if they're a bit tall.
If I had a player who was basically made of elbows and grasping hands
who one day got penalised for it after spending an interminable amount of immune to sanction, I'd probably be a bit upset too
Never mind, Phillip reckons they're due 6 penalties for that
Villa are starting Matt Lowton has a winger
if they stay up..
It's really weird when you remember that David Beckham still plays football
this Bolasie is a good player isn't he?
he fell over mainly for Argyle.
Sounds like he knows how to play football now
y'really can't beat FA Cup football.
particularly the early rounds.
will always be a bigger deal than the Champions League for me.
(heh).
indie points are on the way.
good man.
honestly, though, FA Cup rounds 1-3, that's what football's about. less quality, but more heart, and for me, more excitement.
the English title will always, ALWAYS be the bread and butter, the biggest prize there is, but the FA Cup's underrated.
i used to think it'd lost something, wasn't that big a competition, but when my former team won it a couple of years ago, honestly one of the greatest days of my life. I don't think winning the Champions League would've had the same prestige for me, personally, but each to their own.
great competition. the best club cup competition there is, easily.
;-D
http://uk.soccerway.com/players/jim-mcnulty/51119/
Fiercest derby in British football kicks off in an hour
and it's not on TV. Well done Sky.
whats that?
IT'S NOT A DERBY
sorry
im not sure which game he is referring to?
Blackburn v Burnley
what time's the 3rd round draw?
14:40
thanks
yw buddy
Completely forgot this was today
What with all the excitement around Norwich v Sunderland. I hope KiK takes a passing enough interest in Emirate-ball to bring out his "warm balls" schtick when United get drawn. It's some of his best work.
the best moments
are when it seems United get handed a tough draw, but then it all makes sense within the context of the larger fixture list/form team conspiracy.
Given that i'm a fan of the FA Cup but no longer a supporter of any particular club...
it doesn't really matter, though i'd probably rather the top Vulgarball teams drew eachother, in the hope that we could maybe see a couple of Football League clubs in the later stages.
Besides, didn't United get City, Liverpool & Leeds last season, all away?
The Champions League draws are clearly bent, but then that's a billion pound brand in its own right, where the suits line their own pockets and to do so have to give the biggest clubs the best possible chance to get as far as possible. The FA Cup, though? Nah.
love the 3rd round draw
its my favourite of all the draws, for sure
obviously swiss ramble isnt an arsenal blog
that was worded badly
this is true.
;-D
This is like when Man City fans used to boast about having the best floodlights in the country!
i think it's probably time.
he's a stubborn man though, so he probably won't.
it probably is, yeah
i do honestly think that he probably recognises this though. Either way, i'd much, much rather have wenger leading our attempt to get a good replacement next summer than ivan gazidis or whoever.
i mean if he doesnt step down i dont think we should sack him, cos chances are we'll get a worse manager
if he finds a good replacement and does step down, then that's probably the best outcome.
hope that clears up the self-inflicted confusion
a lot of people saying wenger should go
including *influential bloggers*. They're saying he should go at the end of the season, anyway.
I'm not convinced at all, although having said that i can see wenger stepping down if we appoint someone like guardiola in the summer (which i dont think is THAT far-fetched, really), even if we do eventually qualify for the champions league. Worth pointing out as well that we're only 5 points of 4th, which really isn't a disaster at all, especially given how many points everyone's dropping.
It's still really sad though. Wenger looked broken in his press conference after the game.
also...
there's no such thing as an influential blogger.
cheers.
This happens every time Arsenal have a bit of a wobble doesn't it?
A certain section of Arsenal fans start calling for him to go, conveniently forgetting how well he's done over the years. Probably the same fans who were convinced they were going to win the League after a couple of good results at the beginning of the season.
I'd be very surprised if they're not in the top four at the end of the season.
yeah i mean i was sort of taking the piss a bit
arsenal are a bit different from most clubs though, in that sites like arseblog get an absolute ton of hits. I can't remember the exact figures but arsenal have something like 5 of the most read football blogs on the internet, including non-partisan stuff like swiss ramble etc
I wouldn't be *very surprised* if they missed out on the top four
I think they've got a good chance of getting there (or even 3rd, if Chelsea forget to buy players in January), but their claim is no stronger than Spurs or Everton. They desperately need to start winning games though, and they need a squad that can put pressure on Arteta/Cazorla/Walcott/Podolski, who are currently looking a little laboured.
And as for the 'Wenger out' crowd
I'm not sure who's waiting in the wings who'd be any better.
this line of thinking is kind of starting to annoy me.
bit like a person in a relationship that's going nowhere who won't break up with their other half cos they're worried that
there's no one else out there for them.
there's a good squad there and it's not as if they can only perform for wenger (not that they're even doing that)
guardiola
michael laudrup?
Really don't see Pep coming to Arsenal, do you?
As for Michael Laudrup - what, because he won a game yesterday? Or because he's having a decent season with a team that had a decent season last time out?
One of the greatest things about Arsenal is that they're not Chelsea. If Arsenal end this season midtable (or even if they scrape 4th but unconvincingly) then maybe it'll be time to change, but having a little cry because of a bad week is pretty pathetic.
probably not aimed at me..
but i've been unconvinced about wenger for a longer time than the last week. in general it's a bit simplistic to say people are only crying because of one bad result. it's the overall trends and direction of the team that worries most of the more reasonable people
The 'in defence of Wenger' arguments are generally as leaky as the 'get rid' arguments
Here's a graph of Arsenal's league finishes, see if you can spot the overall trend re: Arsene Wenger http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Arsenal_league_positions_1947-2012.png
You can also point out Arsenal's relative success compared to other clubs who have moved stadiums. Apart from City they've pretty much all been relegated. And in terms of sustained success there's only been Fergie/United who have managed it in the modern era, and that's because it's exceptional rather than the minimum requirement.
Arsenal have been inconsistent this season, and pisspoor this week, but they've got the manager and the players to turn it around. I think it's too early to start fantasising about Pep.
anything any of us say about guardiola is pure speculation
but i don't see that it's unreasonable to think that, after managing arguably the best football side of all time, the prospect of having an unlimited budget just to try (and probably fail) to replicate his earlier success is one that i would've thought would be kind of unappealing. Whereas coming to a team like arsenal i.e. one with pedigree, top class facilities and scope for improvement, but also one where any league or champions league victory would have to be credited overwhelmingly to the manager (unlike if he was at chelsea/city) might seem more attractive. It's not like we'll underpay him, either. Wenger must be in the top 5 highest paid managers this side of russia.
Yeah so pure speculation, but it shouldn't be ruled out. I'm pretty sure he also held a `seminar` at the emirates with the board and wenger at the start of the season, whatever that means.
Alan Pardew's 3rd favourite.
Laudrup's a decent call.
Pep's not going to go to a club like Arsenal in a million years, is he?
preferable to chelsea
Not sure.
- They pay more.
- They challenge for trophies.
- They'll back a manager with transfer funds.
- Much better squad.
Most candidates would pick all that over more job security.
lol at Laudrup
Get rid of the guy whos done well for 10 years and get in the guy whos done well for 10 games.
imagine arsenal had never got rid of george graham
and had never brought in a relative unknown from japan, eh?
And that's exactly how it happened
exactly.
i'm not saying they need to sack him, anyway.
i'm saying if he does step down there are other options out there, whether it's one, two or three seasons down the line.
Much as I'd like to see Everton finish in the top four
I'm not convinced they've got the necessary depth in the squad if/when key players get injured. I agree Spurs have a good chance of achieving it and even Liverpool if they buy a striker or two.
I think it's likely to be a case of 'Best Loser'
Worth pointing out as well that we're only 5 points of 4th
AND only 1 point behind Stoke.
everyone's taking the piss out of luke chadwick on twitter
i like it when a former hyped premiership player actually excels in the lower leagues though, doesn't seem to happen that often.
err can't think of many examples. bradley wright-phillips maybe?
MK Dames
Ian Wright *no disrespect to Neil Sullivan...*
Goes on to insult him. Cool.
Good goal that...
but those idiots on the pitch should all receive lifetime bans from all grounds.
No excuse for that.
that dive by sullivan :D
oh man
incredible leg wresting on Balkestein there
WOW!
WHAT A GOAL!
victor chandler freaks me out
Ideal draw...
United v City
Arsenal v Spurs
Everton v Liverpool
Millwall v Chelsea
anyone else ever worry that they'll fuck the draw up and read a 6 as a 9
or have on left over at the end? something about footballers on live telly but not playing football worries me......
he just fucked it up, was 36 muamba!
timing
Nearly happened then.
Tricky tie, that.
Watford are bang in form.
for whom? as a neutral you should probably state.
how many teams drew Watford?
just strange for a neutral with no club allegiance
to highlight a tie in such a manner.
aye.
it was definitely the only tie i mentioned, boss.
you're definitely right.
definitely.
another tricky away tie. ah nuts.
Routine tie for United, really.
:D
Aye, I'd much prefer West Ham away to, say, Cheltenham Town or Oxford United (or even Watford).
bury/southend - brentford/bradford is the pick of the draw for me
Hopefully the live games will be...
Cheltenham or Hereford v Everton
Boro v Harogate or Hastings
Lincoln or Mansfield v Liverpool
But of course we'll get...
Swansea v Arsenal
Southampton v Chelsea
West Ham v United
ITV and ESPN usually have at least one lower league vs big timers.
Tends to backfire when the small club is hosting and the game gets called off.
ledley did well not to injure himself there
Very few exciting ties tbh
i'll just leave this here....
http://youtu.be/UtRO_kLkFJk
also decent article in the guardian about German football...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/david-conn-inside-sport-blog/2012/dec/01/german-fan-owned-clubs-bundesliga
£8.95 to watch Dortmund play in the best atmosphere in Europe. That's outrageously good value.
;-D
The new Scholeseh?
On the basis of that clip and his goal last year
United could probably do with a bit Gibbo in the middle next Sunday.
orient have turned this one around rather quickly
a shame as alfreton looked good at the start
Luton 2 - 1 Dorchester
Gutted. Should have won it really. We were all over them in the second half and their keeper had to make a couple of wonder saves. Brilliant atmosphere and second half, not-so brilliant result. Good luck to them though.
They got Wolves at home in the next round too. Gah.
I laugh at the numpties who
want Wenger out. Arsenal will win the League Cup this year and they'll think they're kings of the world.
Might be old news but
Steven Fletcher's had a hair transplant I see :(
Why can't these footballers bald gracefully?
Yeah but you see now matters have reached such a dire pass they WANT them to fail
because Pep Guardiola is sitting in the carpark ready and waiting to fix all their problems.
this doesn't make any sense.
I still don't understand why Sunderland are so shit.
Why are they so shit?
Poor players and an over-rated manager?
regardless of how highly rated he is o' neill's still got a good management record
and the squad on paper's better than the teams around them. without having watched them much this season it is a bit baffling
Rose, Cuellar, Bardsley
Johnson, Sessegon and Fletcher are good players but the flow of play towards them is so slow that by the time they receive the ball they are usually double marked or forced into positions where they can't do fuck all.
this is good
http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/one-of-the-best-things-youll-see-all-week-the-incredible-dancing-elgin-city-supporter-v-rangers/
gah
disappointing result but it appears a much better performance by wednesday today. was expecting to lose but it seems the players showed up and actually put some effort in. seems like the team perform better without bothroyd in the side! interesting to see prutton back and straight into the side too. big, BIG two games coming up against bristol city and barnsley.
looking forward to welcoming back all our rejects now at mk dons in the cup in january too :D
Well that's gotta be the least inspiring 3rd round draw I've ever seen
Brighton v Newcastle might make a decent game
The rest all looks pretty shit though.
A lovely day out to Kenilworth Road for Wolves. Not sure I'll be going to that, will wait for the replay where we'll do em on pens.
Oh Norwich
:)
?
Funny how everybody wrote Norwich off at the start of the season, and now they're comfortably surpassing the likes of QPR.
this is pretty mental.
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spl/tom-english-anthony-stokes-has-disgraced-celtic-1-2671302
Has this been mentioned anywhere?
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01630/SNN0205A---620_1630559a.jpg
West Brom STAR Liam Ridgewell
From the highlights, Lindegaard's looked like up there with the worst performances I've seen from a United goalie
Hopefully De Gea can settle back in quickly midweek, otherwise next Sunday will be messy.
Yeah, that sentence doesn't make sense. Whatevs.
Thought he looked fairly bad, but I wouldn't say it was the *worst* performance by a United keeper.
However, as you say, hopefully this will prompt a run in the team for De Gea, who's probably a better bet all round.
Seems to be a bit of a pattern emerging...
De Gea has a bad game, most people prefer Linegaard anyway.
Lindegaard has a bad game, "Get De Gea back in!".
Not exactly sure why Jordan_229_2's runnin' around kickin' off about it, though, to be honest.
Can't speak for Jordan, but I've always preferred De Gea of the two myself.
(NeedlesslyDefensive this'd this)
Well De Gea might be alright a few years down the line
but I don't think anyone would disagree that Lindegaard is currently one of the best all round keepers in the Premiership.
Yeah, I agree De Gea probably needs a year or two to get to his best.
He's a young lad after all. I honestly think he'll be one of the best keepers in the game when that happens, though.
that's pretty silly
how many games has he played? 12, 15? i've nothing against the kid but he's done nowt to suggest he's anything more than a good backup.
not sure anyone realistically thinks Lindegaard is number one.
SAF is trying to keep hold of him and bed De Gea into the team...but he's going about it in a very strange way. Dropping DDG after one small mistake in the Fulham game was a mental decision, which clearly affected his confidence and as yet he seems to need a run of games to grow into his role.
If he gains some weight and presence (he is younger than me and I'm only 21) he will be an excellent keeper. his price-tag is still hovering above him at the moment but he is capable of the absolutely spectacular (saves from Mata, Cahill and Baines stand out from memory). Given Hart's recent (cocky?) mistakes and the slight revision of expectations for him down from DEFINITE FUTURE WORLD NO.1, I would imagine they'll be at a similar level in 5 years time.
...doesn't help us in the here and now though, and we'll likely get spanked on Sunday whoever's in goal.
Blimey!
In FIVE YEARS a TWENTY MILLION POUND goalkeeper MIGHT be as good as CALAMITY JOE.
bit quick to bite there..
he was too expensive, but the idea that he is now second fiddle to Lindegaard is mental I think. Lindegaard is a solid keeper who would get into quite a few PL sides but really don't think there's many Utd fans who believe he's ahead of DDG in the pecking order.
I think Hart is excellent, just seems he began to believe his own hype this year, not been as imperious as usual, Dortmund aside, so think by the time DDG can grow a proper beard he'll be up there.
Just my opinion though, champ. I would ask if you agree but you won't have seen any of it this year of course.
imagine how quick he'd be to bite if he had any interest in premier league football!
There he is!
Not sure I've met a United fan who thinks Lindegaard is better than De Gea. Change 'most people' to 'Sir Alex Ferguson', and you might be on to something.
I dunno
he decided not to collect crosses but that was about it wasn't it? Not saying it wasn't a bad performance, but pretty sure De Gea's done the same on more than one occasion.
Think United might put in a cheeky double bid for Eriksen and Fischer in Jan
sorta think it's too soon for Fischer but maybe they can arrange to have him stay at Ajax for another season/two on loan. Don't mind if Eriksen goes to them or Tottenham but anywhere else he's been linked to might not be a great idea.
Eriksen's not good enough for a top English side.
Could see him going to Spurs, but i don't know if he's really cut out for the very top, as okay as he's apparently looked occasionally in Europe against decent opposition.
Yeah he's great.
Would make the Man Utd first team without breaking too much of a sweat.
Like Lindegaard does?
Nah.
Got a couple of Eeredivisie mates, both of them say Eriksen's a long way off being the finished article, though he's obviously a talented player.
I don't know how to break this to you exactly, but not every Danish player's a world-beater. In fact, lots of them are very mediocre, just like English players.
Well you're wrong
you don't get to be easily the best player for the biggest club in the Eredivisie by being "a long way off being the finished article". Not saying he can't improve, just saying he's already ready to play for a top club.
Yeah, what i'm saying is...
being the best player in the 8th best league in Europe (according to UEFA) doesn't necessarily make someone good enough to effortlesly blitz the Premier League with Manchester United.
Bryan Roy, Gaston Taument, Bolo Zenden, John Heitinga and Salomon Kalou have all been the best player in Holland at some point in recent time. An honour which Eriksen didn't even win last year, if memory serves me rightly.
Eriksen's at a different level to that he was at last season
and he was already the most talented player in the Eredivisie then. He's regularly shown his ability to up his game against big teams (Man City for example). He's drawn interest from a heck of a lot of major clubs in England, Spain and Italy. He's already turned down Man City. I don't think this is a Salomon Kalou #2 we're talking about here.
Don't know why you're talking about "effortlessly blitzing the Premier League" anyway. No doubt there'd be lots of competition, and he'd have to adjust to a significantly higher level, but I definitely think he's good enough to take that step now.
remember wen you said
lindegaard is one of the best keepers in the league?
Yeah but I'm being serious now...
Eriksen is well-regarded as one of the best midfield talents in Europe but I cba with this. I'll let him do the talking himself when he moves to a bigger club.
Might not be that great a league
But I seem to recall Ajax humping a team you might have once supported who won the prem last year and will probably win it this year?
I'll have to take your word for that.
Don't particularly see what that has to do with the argument, mind. Chelsea; the European Champions, lost by the same scoreline to West Ham on the weekend, didn't they? Don't know if it makes Gary O'Neil good enough to play for Man United.
My point is pretty simple - OBT's rating Eriksen a bit hightly when he's not proven himself either in a major league or achieved anything of note at international level.
He's a very talented player, but £20m, even £30m for someone 1.5 good season's under his belt, plus a couple of assists against Man City, well, no wonder why no top sides have bit yet, despite his agent hawking him around and claiming all sorts of interest from Spain, Germany and England.
Good luck to the lad, but history suggests i'm right on this one (unlike above, where history supposedly suggested i was right about something else and wasn't). How many top Eredivisie talents have come staight to England and stood out? I could name you two - Robben and Overmars. Even van Persie took four or five years.
Don't get me wrong, i like the lad, but OBT thinks he's the only person who's seen a bit of him. Just saying he's not ready for a top club yet, and the people i know who watch him week in, week out agree. There's a world of difference between being a top player in Holland and a top player in England.
We're allowed to have slightly different opinions about footballers, though, aren't we?
Jesus, that was quite lengthy.
Still, beats talking about Vulgarball, i guess.
Apart from the four paragraphs where i mentioned Vulgarball clubs.
van nistelrooy
Man City did "bite"
and tried to buy him during the summer but Eriksen turned them down.
I don't know what you mean by he hasn't "achieved anything of note at international level," he was Denmark's best player in qualifying for Euro 2012 ahead of Portugal and the comfortable home win against Portugal can be attributed in no small part to the way he played. And he was man of the match in that 3-1 win against your beloved oil soccer barons.
I am someone who watches him "week in, week out" but as I said we'll see what he's like at a bigger club when he moves which will be in January or next summer.
great win norwich
Peterborough away in the cup is VERY tempting, pretty much a local derby!