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Dave Wigan's shit-eating grin (Weekend Football Thread)
Man City play and probably underestimate the pie-eaters in the Cup Final.
Vital penultimate weekend in the Premier League, as Newcastle and Norwich quite probably need a point against QPR and West Brom, respectively. The race for 3rd/4th may also be settled, as Chelsea go to Villa and Spurs to Stoke.
Play-off games include the second leg of Watford v Leicester, and several non-league finals - FC United v Hednesford, Brackley v Halifax and Salisbury v Dover.
The biggest game outside of the UK's probably Porto v Benfica, which should decide the Primiera title either way. Barca should wrap up La Liga with a point at Atletico Madrid, and PSG Ligue 1 with a result at Lyon. Other games include Fenerbahce v Gala, though the title there's already done, Milan v Roma & Lazio v Samp.
AOB?
Can't believe I have to support Stoke tomorrow.
Eurgh.
Pellegrini
into 1/10 to be next City boss after a flood of Moyes-type weighty bets appaz.
Heard the same myself.
Right before the Cup Final. Imagine that!
:)
Oh come now, it's come from Balague so we can take it as gospel.
Sounds like Balague's been being a bit mischievous ahead of his mate Martinez' big day tomorrow.
One article in AS, in which he couldn't even name City's owner correctly, lead to a few low three-figure bets across the UK bookmakers. Naughty. Wouldn't surprise me if there's some truth in it, but pretty poor timing from him, let's be honest. Fully expect the rag press run with it tomorrow morning, but you come to expect that sort of thing.
Said it was Al-Fahim didn't he! The man is a cretin.
Anti-anti-bants
Stoke are gonna hammer Spurs. Peter Crouch is gonna score a hat-trick. All with his left foot. From 40 yards. He's gonna do the robot. Tom Huddlestone is gonna cry.
there's actual football being played this weekend?!
i must of missed this bit in every single piece i've read since wednesday
Predictions?
City 0 Wigan 3
Villa 0 Chelsea 2
Stoke 1 Spurs 1
Everton 2 West Ham 0
Fulham 1 Liverpool 2
Norwich 1 West Brom 1
QPR 0 Newcastle 1
Sunderland 1 Southampton 1
United 5 Swansea 0
:D
you may remember
Labour MP Liam Byrne left a note for his successor saying 'Dear chief secretary, I'm afraid to tell you there's no money left'
It would amazing if Fergie did that.
28 years today since the valley parade fire
RIP
Tragic stuff.
People who've never seen the footage of it should watch. It's standard material on fire safety courses nowadays. I've been on about four with different jobs, and people are always left lost for words. The first few moments of the footage are just of the game, it's pretty surreal, then you see a slight flame and within literally seconds the stand's almost completely alight. Frightening.
the radio commentary is horrifying as well.
i've only watched it once
it's so horrible. hard to comprehend what it must have been like to have been there, people who were don't tend to talk about it much
its absolutely harrowing
the police in the ground deserve all the respect in the world, even from just that single video you can see they saved countless lives by going into the fire and pulling people from the fire.
Good luck today to Spanish Bob
ex-captain, Chester City legend, all-round great guy. If anyone deserves a trophy it's him.
Why Wigan are nailed on to win the Cup...
INJURIES
Wigan have several injuries, but all to borderline squad players and defenders. City have bigger worries. Aguero's nowhere near match-fit, Silva isn't 100%, Yaya will virtually be playing on one leg and other players are shot. Advantage Wigan.
STRIKER PROFLIGACY
City's big problem this season, they can't put the ball in the net. Lots of pretty football, but no-one clinical in the box. Aguero, 30 last season, has about 12. Dzeko's got 14. Tevez 13. Top sides need top strikers, and none of City's have done the business this season. Advantage Wigan.
MANCINI.
Gone. Fin. Told this week. Will be announced sooner rather than later. The players will know. The mood behind the scenes will be low. Can a manager really be motivated when he knows his P45's in the post? Advantage Wigan.
HIGH LINES
City struggle when sides press them high, as we've seen this season in games like Southampton home or away, Everton away, Spurs second half at WHL, Liverpool home and away. When City can't dictate the tempo of a game they get seriously rattled. Make no mistake about it, Wigan will dictate play here. Advantage Wigan.
PACE IN MIDFIELD
Simply, Wigan's midfield has more spunk about it than City's. All City do is break up play, feed, feed, tippy tappy, lose possession. Wigan have pace, on the ball and off it. Maloney and McManaman can kill City down the flaks, and Gomez has the killer ball in him. Advantage Wigan.
LITTLE TO LOSE
City royally ballsed up the title this year and were simply outclassed in Europe. They HAVE TO win the Cup. For Wigan, second place is no shame at all. All the pressure here's on one side. Advantage Wigan.
WHELAN HEADLINE
53 years ago a spritely young Dave Wigan had his leg snapped in the Cup Final, playing for Blackburn Rovers against Wolves. Not only was his game ended, but his career too, and with those days being before the introduction of subs, Blackburn had to play a man down and got royally spanked. This Cup Final's about Whelan. It's everything coming full circle, there's nothing City can to to stop fate in its tracks. Advantage Wigan.
THE PANTS CONUNDRUM
City have the elite goalkeeper in the country, by an absolute street. Best defence in the league for three years on the bounce, though admittedly he's been a bit overcomplacent at times this season. This year, Mancini promised backup keeper Costel Pantilimon the domestic cup games, and he's done very well, conceding few goals, but last night he revealed he's leaving the club. Do you still play him, or do you play the better keeper? Mancini's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. Advantage Wigan.
TEMPTING FATE
Yaya Toure's already talking about a periood of City dominance in the pre-match build-up. Naive. In big games, the side who talk more normally end up with egg on their faces. Advantage Wigan.
FERGIE FACTOR
Let's make no bones about it, Fergie leaving Man United's the biggest possible news story that could happen any week. The whole country's talking about it. Rumour has it that it was Fergie's plan to release the news on Saturday morning, only for staff to leak it to the local news outlets after they found out. You wouldn't bet against old ginsoak having one last chuckle, as United's prawn sandwichers wish him goodbye with a resounding home win after City are embarrassed at the national stadium. Advantage Wigan.
ONCE IN A LIFETIME
City won the Cup two years ago. They'll probably get to a few more Finals. Without silverware for decades, but now Cup success along with the odd title will be expected. Whist always special for the fans, will it really be to the likes of Yaya Toure, David Silva and, y'know...some of the other lads who've won Champions Leagues and World Cups? Wigan might not get to another Cup Final in our lifetime. This might represent many of their players only chance to win something. Advantage Wigan.
If you know your football, you'd have to say almost everything points towards it being Wigan's trophy.
please play devils advocate for a minute and write a similar post as to why city will win..
We haven't even conceded to Wigan in 7 games.
King Tipper himself used to say he wants Wigan to remain in the division purely because they are a guaranteed 6 points for us. Domestically, City have shown themselves capable of rising to big occasions and in the latter stages of 2013 they have been doing exactly enough to beat opponents week in, week out. City have the momentum, and rested all of their key personnel midweek; Wigan will be struggling with the gut punch Swansea handed out, and will be playing exactly the same tired and overwrought team (in other words, his first point is an outright lie). At the best of times Wigan's defence is god awful; right now they are so beset by injuries they're using a recently arrived def mid as a left back, which proved disastrous on Wednesday- If you want to know why Wigan are where they are a back line of Boyce, Caldwell, Scharner and Espinoza tells its own story. This isn't just "another" trophy to City; they need this to keep up their record of one domestic trophy per season since Mancini took over, and so this season which has been disappointing by their measure can end on a high. Make no mistake, Mancini will really want this, particularly with the board pointedly leaking supposed Pellegrini interest. Wigan meanwhile are likely to be overawed by the occasion as well as conflicted as to whether to really go for it with their top flight fate still hanging in the balance, which combined with their aptitude for playing casually is likely to end messily. Finally City are, y'know, a hell of a lot better than Wigan. On paper, on form, on the pitch, on head to head, everything points to a low scoring win for the team in second place.
cheers for that
I did seem to remember man city being an alright side and wigan not being that good
blimey!
Why City are nailed on to win the cup....
£360m spent on players.
Games aren't won on paper, pal.
Nor are they won in ridiculously overlong DiS posts...
But you wouldn't think that knowing you. I've put a rare bet on City today, I hope you've do t the same for Wigan 'cause then I could imagine I'm taking the money off you directly.
Juve's top scorer only scored 10 goals in the league all season
and they won it.
Good grief
Sub-headings and everything. Enjoy the final, big man.
:') you've outdone yourself this time
Dangerous team, Wigan
Fucking hell.
That's pitifully sad and desperate, even for you. My condolences.
You wrote all this just before you set off for Wembley, didn't you?
Joke's on you.
BASH THE BOOKIE (Finale)...
After several years of successfully relieving the turf accountants of literally billions of pounds, today's my last hurrah. Gonna sting them one final time and not step foot in a bookies again (bar National day, obviously). The winnings are already assigned for a football tour of Europe next season, so thanks to good old Victor Chandler i'll be taking in places like the Dragao, De Kuip, San Mames, the Millerntor Stadion and Parc des Princes. Awooga indeed!
Bet 1) £50 on Wigan (draw or better) @ 5/2.
Bet 2) £32.50 on Wigan outright to win @ 9/1.
King Tipper.
Anyway, lads...
moustache. Ticking another ground off today. Le Stade de Hainaut, Valenciennes v Rennes. Should be a cracker. Joie de vivre!
What channel you watching that on?
HOLY SHIT TODAY IS REALLY HERE
So proud <3
think it's a bit disappointing that city are going for pellegrini
He's not really a hot property is he in terms of world managers, and they should be able to entice anyone with the money. He's done well getting average sides into the champions league but not winning much. He'd probably have been a better fit for us in that respect.
Also just think how boring that managerial duel would be. Moyes v Pellegrini. After these years of it being so hotly contested by two passionate, successful managers, to that!
Isn't I refreshing that they're bringing someone in who could build a team
And play good football and everything? Rather than just your quick fix glamourous manager?
I can understand the logic with Moyes but Pellegrini's 60 and has only been with one club more than two seasons.
I'm not sure it constitutes long-term planning.
Really odd appointment if it happens imo.
He's only had three clubs in Europe, where managers are given a chance
One was Real Madrid and the other have been massively shady with finances. So I think he's due a bit of slack in that regard.
Yeah - I'm not necessarily criticising him for that.
I just can't immediately see why he'd be seen as more likely to succeed than Mancini or various other options.
don't really want mancini to leave
i think it's pretty obvious that begiristain is pulling the stings now and that pellegrini is his man
didn't mean to this that
it's very obviously just some shit stirring. I'd be extremely surprised if we got rid of him on the basis of one disappointing season in which we've still come comfortably second and got to a cup final. He'll be given one more shot at Europe.
^Hark at Paddy Crerand there...
;)
It's nonsense spouted by Balague maybe at the bequest of Pellgrini's agent.
But more likely he just made it up because that's what he does.
good luck to brackley town this weekend
would be great to see them taking on luton, hereford and grimsby next year
it's raining on cup final day
heartbreak
: D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHeSSb8akHk&
Why is Chelsea's mascot girl about 20?
Ah piss.
Benteke scores. Fucking Villa.
They're definitely going down next season when they sell him over the summer
Seeing how he has scored all but two of their goals this season
the last day of the season isn't going to be as exciting as i thought
DK doesn't look so silly now eh?
Or maybe he does, I dunno
Never a red card.
Fuck sake.
i hope lampard breaks that stupid record with one of his deflected efforts and then it's given as an own goal by the dubious goals panel
and then he breaks his leg or something
twat
shrewbie :(
i like seeing records get broken i guess
WELL DONE LAMPS
shrewbie :)
Looking forward to JT collecting the Europa League trophy on crutches!
With his shins pads on of course!!
most awkward pitch invasion ever
Nah, Hull last week surely
Got to hand it to DanielKelly
those anti-bants came off perfectly.
Has wembley not got an indoor tv studio bit?
The guys on ESPN are getting soaked, ridiculous
Not wanting to sound like I'm channeling
Forza but does that a) Lift the Wigan players or b) Distract them?
Villa giving a fine display of shooting themselves in the foot.
Kinda gutted I wasn't there for Frank's record goal.
Thought Villa played really well for the most part, looked poised to fucking batter us until Benteke got what he deserved.
A 4th win at Villa Park in 15-odd years after being going a goal and a man down ... Stupid me being concerned, eh?
big big fan of frank lampard. made up for him.
Can't stand the fat prick
but weirdly pleased for him.
Well done *shudders*...Lamps.
Me too
Brilliant player
Completely delighted for Frank
and the win is very handy too.
As a matter of curiosity, are there any other League clubs who have their all-time top scorer still playing for them?
Izale McLeod now he's back at MK Dons.
Probably not anyone else.
when did Lampard become popular?
i missed something
anybody who spends that amount of time rubbing shoulders with John Terry
eventually comes to look like a humble saint in comparison
Always been loads of people who love/brown nose him,
always been plenty who vocally resent him. One group is bound to be louder in the immediate aftermath of a record-breaking goal.
Midfielder with the highest goal tally, weird
Have Chelsea never had a big famous historical striker?
There's Osgood, but he's adored for his style and personality more than anything else.
Jimmy Greaves probably would have been the one moon the 1960s if there wasn't a falling out.
:')
Don't know what that word was even supposed to be
Alfie Moon is Chelsea's highest goalscorer
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xTcFj2jkyfY&feature=fvwrel
Although they've had higher scoring strikers,
I guess that Jimmy Greaves and Drogba would be their most famous ones, and Greaves was only there for a few years before heading to bigger and better things at Tottenham, via Milan.
Ripper win to Freo over Collingwood tonight
After taking a 32 point lead after the first quarter, boosting it to 38 points by the main break, and then dropping THE WHOLE FUCKING LOT to be trailing by 2 points at the 3 minute mark in the final quarter, the Dockers came back booting a magnificent 5.3 to 0.4 across the remaining 25 minutes, to win by 27 points overall (100 - 73). A superb effort from Magic Sunny Walters (4.2) up forward, aided by some excellent footy from Johnson and Ibbotson in the mid-field. Another great show of talent from Luke McPharlin to shut down Collingwood's danger forward, Travis Cloke. The only sour note was Griffin going down clutching his knee — possibly a season-ending ACL injury.
Looking forward to next weekend's away game against Sydney. Before tonight I'd pretty much written Freo off on that one, but I can't help but wonder whether we might be a chance, what with Hill and Fyfe back in the side, and maybe Clarke too. If we do manage to achieve the impossible (beating Sydney in Sydney), it will go a long way towards shoring up our claim to top 4 status.
Just saying - love this post, thanks Rob
haha
fucking collingwood
So harsh by Manchini not playing PanTilimon
:(
Mancini must have read kiks point about him leaving.
Advantage City.
No point watching the game
Wigan will win with a canter
BOOBS!!!
My word, that jacket's a bit loud.
How come, no one's mentioned the biggest news of the day yet?
i.e. Big Sam signing a new 2 year deal with West Ham, thus ruling himself out of the Real Madrid job.
Eden Hazard's face :D
http://www.whosay.com/m/juanmata?wsref=fb&code=Fkh5NzW
Looks like he's helping birth an arse baby
stream for the cup final please??? PM?
itv.com?
it's on ITV you dork
Don't like this camera angle.
It needs to be a lot higher than this.
That bit right at the halfway line looks a bit empty
Are those the expensive seats?
Yeah I was wondering this.
Maybe they're stuck in traffic or summat.
clichy getting destroyed at the moment by callum mcmanaman
Think Wigan needed to score
whilst we've been playing dogshit, expect (hope) they will tire in the second half. They've got about 8 players sat ten yards outside their box waiting for our inevitable pass straight down the middle. If they had somebody playing ahead of Kone they'd be a really fearsome side.
aye was thinking the same
that half was much better for city than wigan as wigan were doing all the running
THEY ARE BANGIN' IT!
"I'm trying, I'm trying"
"Not trying hard enough, Clichy."
True tbf
set up for a yaya toure 85 minute thunderbolt
City are beginning to look stronger now.
Injury time winner I reckon.
espinoza runs a lot doesn't he
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE13GJvMf3Q
what is Zabaleta complaining about?
definite second yellow
think he was shouting at his team mates for being shit.
Fair enough then, they are shit...
I thought he was arguing with the ref's decision
Shame that. Pab Zab is City's most likeable player.
Red card was inevitable, but he doesn't deserve to be talked about in the same breath as Kevin Moran.
HOLY BALLS!!
!
amazing!
Well deserved Wigan
Now hang on for dear life for a few minutes (",)
love a good header from a corner
so much fergie time
wow, kik was right
wonderful stuff
twentynine will be delighted
City :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
City were utter wank
YEAH!!! Love a good underdog win! Great header as well
do the city fans still want mancini to stay?
wow!
genuinely thrilled for Wigan
hopefully they'll still be hungover on Tuesday
:DDD
Martinez has won more trophies than United's new manager!
I hope twentynine has an absolutely fucking mental one.
Boyce the first Barbadian to the FA Cup (i think) pleased for 'em
*win
shut up about:
the crazy gang
dave whelan.
talk about martinez more
can we swap moyes for martinez?
anti-bants strikes again
Even the biggest wall of anti-bants ever constructed can't withstand the tidal wave of lols brought about by losing a cup final to Wigan.
That city performance was an exact copy of how shit Arsenal were against Birmingham in the league cup a few season ago
Brilliant
Wigan hugely deserved that. Martinez got it spot on tactically. Despite being a blustery old tit at times, am really pleased for Dave Whelan.
No one has said 'the magic of the cup' yet, what's going on?
Also very pleased for Emmerson Boyce and Ben Watson
Two guys who have always come across as proper honest hardworking pros, and for them to captain the team and score the winning goal, great stuff.
Two
Of my favourite Palace players. Boyce was a great right back for us and Ben one of our academy lads, plus I like Wigan as a club.
They deserved it.
Hard to feel hard done by, we barely turned up; didn't trouble their patched up defence much and it figures we'd get sunk by a classic Barry mispass. Barring one man they are a very likable club and I'm made up for twentynine and Martinez tbh, really am. What a moment for them.
embarrassing bottle job
That was the worst cup final since City were last in it.
The Stoke game was awful
I thought today was pretty entertaining overall, idk.
it was a great game
I enjoyed it
wasn't great though
It was painfully dull
like most English football.
hated it
It was one team attempting to cautiously score against s better team without committing too much. Then committing a bit more when they had one more man.
I like end to end chance ridden heated encounters in the cup. This was none of those things.
I enjoyed that game a lot, even before the goal.
The best final since the new Wembley was finished? Probably. Both teams at least tried to play football rather than withdrawing and lumping it long. Man City's big names were disappointing, and never looked like they were being allowed to enjoy themselves, but they contributed to to the match more than many will say.
Bit surprised at some of the bitterness of some Man Utd supporters. Bit small-time.
Completely agree
Good stuff I thought. What Wembley and the FA Cup needed.
Loving this remix of "the football song"
Up dancing and everything
Paul Scharner
is a very good looking man
what a cupset!
I'm in work in town, and I thought it was oddly muted outside.
so happy for twentynine.
apparently dave whelan once broke his leg
More culture club than crazy gang
I heard he spent his £400 compo
Setting up a market stall in Blackburn
Well Hart and Barry combined to fuck that up.
Well done to Wigan absolutely rinsed us.
Wigan are Culture Club.
Will Arsenal have to give Wigan the guard of honour as well?
I'm sorry Ciry fans
I rarely bet, and when I do, this happens. Perhaps this forza guy knows what he's on about?
He was just covering himself against any 'banter'
that might've been thrown at him as a Manchester City fan (as he has been all season).
As it is I think it's quite amusing that he posted that ridiculously long post above before setting off for Wembley.
Haha, what a clear explanation of "anti-bants" :)
Hasn't he apparently ditched City though?
Actually who gives a fuck, well done Wigan.
I won £47.50 on Wigan winning
Iaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh
Congrats!
:D
https://twitter.com/Ankaman616/status/333314449077329920/photo/1
Owners wouldn't let him take the bus home with everyone else
old.
Oh man :D
Beautiful day out, even bumped into the love of my life. ^.^
Rather touched some awesome DiSers are pleased for me ^ up there. You're lovely x
:)
must have been amazing man, returned some faith to the little guys
Now don't survive at the cost of Norwich, thanks.
Scholes last game part II today
Looks very much like Benfica have bottled their title at virtually the last hurdle.
Last minute Porto winner. The manager and players looked, understandably, completely dejected at full time. Hoping that's how they stay, rather than doing a bit of a wounded animal thing.
Really fancy Wigan to get something at Arsenal on Tuesday now.
Also, does anyone know if there's anywhere I can stream last night's MotD?
http://www.101greatgoals.com/gvideos/aston-villa-1-chelsea-2-motd/
I think Wigan struggled more in their 4th round game against Macclesfield than yesterday.
Well done to them. It's depressingly easy to nullify City at the moment.
what a goal
goal of the season probably
in British football at least
Been sitting on the lawn listening to the radio and heard the cheers from the ground
i'm confused which game people are referring to now
Championship play-off semi
Vydra, right? Looking forward to seeing this people are going nuts about it
aye i guessed that but s_a_d is edinburger based
read the bbc update and was a lovely goal up there apparently
must be really good Watford fans then
Apparently the majority of Spurs fans aren't going to be in Stoke until about 2pm
Someone's thrown themselves in front of a train. Doubt Sky will be pushing the kick-off back today - missing our 12th man for the first half RAG CONSPIRACY
Can't believe how much of a Stoke fan I am right now
Still fully expect Spurs to win 4-1 though.
A pleasure to see Adebayor has returned to his usual self today....
swansea might be worth a bet at 9-1 today
oh my
GOD?1! the championship is bananas
would've been brilliant if leicester had scored after the pitch invasion
AMAZING
WATFORD!
SCENES
Incredible scenes
Can't believe this is the third time that exact situation - saved penalty in stoppage time, team goes up the other end and scores - has happened in games like this in the last couple of weeks.
Excellent result in the playoffs - either get the team my work sponsors (Watford), the team from my adopted hometown of eight years (Brighton), or effectively my local team to where I grew up (Palace) go up to the Premier League.
amazing game.
what on earth is going on with all the missed penalties leading to goals down the other end, clearly Leicester learned nothing from Brentford's experience.
Chuffed for Watford, they were definitely the better side and if they go up and keep most of their loan players they'd probably have one of the more skilful midfields in the Premiership.
Aren't Watford under a transfer embargo?
I'd be very worried for them if they did go up.
Until September 1st, I think.
Although someone in another thread on here reckoned the Pozzi's could just release a load of free agents from their other clubs, whom Watford could pick up on September 1st.
Absolutely gutted
We really need to stop letting cocky Frenchman take penalties for us
Very happy for watford
And Charlie Adam the complete thundercunt is sent off too :DDD
i seriously don't think losing Adam will make any difference..
he's been a completely useless fat blob before he got sent off
It will be good to have Almunia back in the premier league
he always was good at saving penalties
are agger and skrtel injured? or OFF?
injured and virus
Staying and leaving.
C'mon Norwich fucks sake
I don't REALLY want there anything to play for next week (£50!)
lol
ANOTHER late Spurs goal.
LITERALLY having the opposite end to our season to how we started
I think we dropped about 20 points from winning positions between August and January
Don't mind them so much now
but jfc have 82nd minute minute and later Spurs winners and equalisers pissed me off this season
so Rooney's not even in the squad today
QPR beating Newcastle :D
guy next to me in the library just started fistpumping and shouting when newcastle scored the penalty
so i hope they win
actually he sounds really posh and southern no thanks
Why do you think Rooney wants to leave btw? It's weird
Jones injured him in training
James Ash: "To not select Rooney is an insult after all he's done for Ferguson."
As a Leicester fan I'm gutted to have lost but glad we're ruled out of going to the premiership
...is that wrong? At least we'll win some games in the Championship...also I live near Brighton and losing to them in a play-off final would involve me staying indoors and avoiding everyone I know for the whole of the next season!
Was defo keen to see Prem action, personally.
Oh well.
SNODDYYY!!!!!
Talksport tentatively reporting Mancini has left Man City
with immediate effect.
for a game with 3 first half goals, this QPR-Newcastle game is abysmal
but if we can hold on to this lead I won't care in the slightest. We have been so gash recently though, we barely deserve to stay up.
EVERYBODY SHUT UP, FERGIE TIME :')
van bommel's last game today
gets sent off. how apt.
just found this again :'D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWD_Ivof3Wo
:D
United quick to make up a chant about Mancini getting the sack
didn't think he'd be the manager United fans would be focusing on today.
obsessed_with_city
there have been as many chants about Park as Mancini sang, really.
obsessed_with_ji
never trust a west brom goalkeeper
would respect grant holt more if he'd got on his knees and headed it in, mind
GRANT HOLT!!!!
Ben Foster howler :D
kevin mirallas is so great isn't he
really hope his next season isn't so injury disrupted
probably wants to go with fellaini and baines to manure
ripping...
...the Hammers to shreds. Pienaar and Coleman on fire.
WE ARE STAYING UP
I SAY
us newcastle, sunderland all winning
this could be a weird week for Wigan
Aye, it's not looking good for them at the moment.
They've got Arsenal in the week which'll be very tough, too.
as things stand
Wigan have to beat Arsenal or will go down
ooh, southampton equaliser
so now a draw would keep them alive
Steve Bruce looked like he was asleep there.
I know it's not a great game, but even so.
Arsenal get a reserve keeper for their last day of the season for the 2nd year in a row then
... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCowxH0FGzQ
steve harper's a good lad
to be fair Steve Harper's unlikely to do anything as moronic as what Rob Elliot did today
no rag conspiracies here. Will be nice for him to play one last game for the club at St James's, takes a lot of club loyalty to stick around as backup keeper for the best part of 20 years (probably an unwise amount of loyalty).
Yeah I was only being half serious
Just wanted to feel sorry for myself about last season again
AHHHHH
I actually just made a Gary Neville Goal-Gasm noise at that
we could finish 10th if we beat Man City :D
it's crazy
on the verge of relegation and could end up midtable
Newcastle are mathematically safe
we need a big change in footballing philosophy for next season though. The stat about us having the highest proportion of long balls in the division is pretty staggering considering some of the players we have. Can't see Ben Arfa and Cisse wanting to stay for much longer at a club that plays the way we do.
Pardew deserves a bit more time, god knows we need some long-term stability, but if he's not willing to do things differently then we'll just find ourselves in the same position again. Even last season, we played mediocre football a lot of the time but were just good/lucky at grinding results out.
so wait, only villa and sunderland can finish below wigan now even if they win the last two
or wigan 4 points, sunderland lose, plus big goal swing
Good god Pardew needs to go
sorry I know what you mean about stability but we don't have any movement off the ball, we don't pass the ball about, our attacks are ineffective, our set pieces are ALWAYS shit (except for Cabaye direct free kicks), all these things should have been addressed by the coach a long time ago. He's not good enough, he played for draw many times this season and it nearly bit him on the arse.
He's a good manager when the pressure's off and everything's going alright, last season there were no expectations and we played some decent stuff, but we got turned over a few times by smart managers and this season we barely managed not to be turned over ever. As soon as things are going wrong he goes more and more negative and as a result it's been stoke all season long.
Get rid of him now, replace him with someone who wants to play some actual football, and may coach the players, who have the quality, to actually pass and move and make clever runs.
If we keep Pardew he'll buy back Carroll and we'll be lumping it forward all next season, and we'll get relegated next season.
he;s just said
"thank god we're not in the europa league next season"
Fuck off Pardew. Please go, please.
So am I right in thinking
the only teams that can now go down are Wigan, Villa and Sunderland?
along with reading and qpr
yep that's right
technically fulham and southampton but there would have to be a massive goal swing to send them down.
Fulham and Southampton could mathematically go down
But it's extremely unlikely given their goal difference.
Yeah I'm right
unless Wigan beat Arsenal then beat Villa by a single goal and Southampton or Fulham get utterly destroyed about 12-0. Yeah.
If I wasn't an Arsenal fan I would love Wigan to win on Tuesday to make it a straight up relegation playoff with Villa in the final game, with the added bonus of Sunderland shifting uneasily.
As it is, I obviously hope we get the result on Tuesday, even though it will mean a far less enjoyable last day for the neutrals.
MICHUUUUU!
It would be rather amusing if in Ferguson's last game they finally lost after leading at half time.
we were proper, proper shit today
real sad defeated relegation type performance
phil fucking jones
stopping a ball with his armpit there
Can't wait for the picture of his face at that precise moment to emerge
I guess yesterday's result means I can say this and only be vehemently disagreed with,
rather than called a soft-brained bender or whatever it was, but would sacking Mancini really be that harsh?
I know and understand why City fans don't want to become an embarassing revolving door management hell hole, and that Mancini wasn't really given the players he wanted last summer, but just one real title challenge (albeit a deservedly victorious one) and no trips beyond the CL group stages (again, albeit despite coming up against strong opposition) in three years is not what I'd expect or be content with if I was the one pumping hundreds of millions of pounds into the club.
I can see why fans like him and would want him to stay- pretty charismatic, not afraid to rile the neighbours, was in charge during huge trophy wins and very special moments. But from the perspective of the people who are investing out of their own pocket, I'd not be impressed.
Stability is what we really need
but... this season we've seen a few too many of the sort of performance we got yesterday. They've raised some serious questions about Mancini's man management
There have been some glaring deficiencies in the way we've been playing and they don't seem to have been addressed. i.e. The complete lack of pace in the team has meant that we've really struggled against defences pushing up and teams capable of passing and moving. I wanted Hughes out because of the way he failed to even try to do anything about the defensive shortcomings when he was in charge so to not hold Mancini to the same sort of standards would be hypocritical.
re: Martin Tyler's commentary for the Wigan goal
sounded a bit jaded imo.
i've a feeling anderson is off too :(
halifax town back in the conference
that's nice
Schmeichel's there.
Good to see Lindegaard having fun.
He's been a vital cog for them this season.
jesus christ
back of my head hurts from smiling
i laughed when he said he's going inside for a while
http://i.minus.com/iV7dVcBlRainq.gif
:D
:nearly as good as: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LySzPYhqYu8
Mancini almost certain to be sacked in the morning then.
Certainly haven't done well in this thread have I.
i wasn't too sure about it myself up there ^
i'm a tad annoyed at how inept the club were at getting rid of sven then hughes and now this.
Pretty heart broken about it tbh.
Had a woeful season but the man got the banner down and provided me with 2 of my 3 favourite moments of supporting City.
Fuck Pardew
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2013/05/12/3974043/i-dont-care-if-arsenal-beat-us-4-0-pardew-elated-after-newcastle-?source=breakingnews&ICID=HP_BN_1
mark lawrenson was really lithe 11 years ago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QX6QhEZ9Cvw#t=402s
looks about 2 inches taller too
Going to Reading v Man City on Tuesday.
Hoping for goals, but think its gonna be a bit shit right?
A relegated team versus a team playing for nothing on the biggest downer imaginable?
Why would you think that?
have we all seen this delicious watford commentary?
http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/8708759/late-drama-at-vicarage-road
think the money shot is about 1 min 5
PSG confirmed Ligue 1 Champs
Alex Ferguson rumoured for the sack
tony pulis is the sourest man alive
Goodness me.
What an absolute disaster for Ben Foster.
crikey
recently back in the england set up isn't he? makes sense.
gotta be John Ruddy after that
He's a very decent keeper to be fair.
Nice to see him back.
pretty sure wba have taken some form of bung here
pretty sure QPR really are that bad
sorry
it's late
quite like robert snodgrass
despite the leeds thing. he looks like loads of people i went to school with
did you go to a catholic school in glasgow's east end?
dunno
you don't know where you went to school?
what drugs were you taking at the time and where can I get some?
Howson's goal just made me wet again
:D
can't get enough of harry slagging his players off
Milan/Roma was suspended for a while earlier due to racist chanting
fans later said it was out of boredom
that ball by Coutinho for Sturridge's third was lovely
I know it was Fulham...
But Sturridge's performance was pretty special wasn't it. If they strengthen their spine up (new CB, new dominating midfielder) I'll predict they'll finish 4th.
This gets said every time Liverpool beast a side who don't deny them space.
They'll similarly beat QPR by a large scoreline, and the upward momentum of the Scouser hype graph will steepen.
Next year is definitely their year
UNITED! will collapse, Chelsea are a bunch of complete bastards, Man City are only going downwards, Arsenal are crap, Tottenham will lose their only good player. LIVERPOOL CAMPIÓNES!!!
Sir Michael Laudrup on Match of The Day.