Football

[AlterEgo]

Finally seen the Newcastle penalty from Saturday.
Ferdinand doesn't 'win' the ball. He challenges as Ben Arfa tries to push the ball past him, and the ball hits his outstretched leg. That's why the assistant sees it, because from the ref's viewpoint, Ferdinand's outstretched leg appears to get the ball first.
The challenge was definitely rash.

It was a great tackle (I am a Liverpool fan). Ferdinand does win the ball as he successfully diverted the ball out of play for a corner. He robbed Ben Arfa of possession.

 

[EM2]

It was a great tackle (I am a Liverpool fan). Ferdinand does win the ball as he successfully diverted the ball out of play for a corner. He robbed Ben Arfa of possession.

No, he was lucky. If Ben Arfa had decided to lift the ball or cross it, instead of pushing it forward, Rio would have clattered him.

 

[Royston Vasey]

Bruce gone!

 

[Minilad]

Sign on potato head, sign on potato head

 

[blackettstreet]

No, he was lucky. If Ben Arfa had decided to lift the ball or cross it, instead of pushing it forward, Rio would have clattered him.

i think ferdinand definitely clipped ben arfa's legs. also, rooney should be getting a ban for that appaling kick out at coloccini. you'd think he would have learned from the montenegro game, but he remains the same thug as before.

Bruce gone!

More disruption at Sunderland.

Tragic.

()

 

[Minilad]

small heath get beat. Oh well

 

[SS4]

small heath get beat. Oh well

Was it 5-1?

 

[Minilad]

Was it 5-1?

Only 1-0 but who cares

Barga v Brugge in the last round of games. A draw there and small heath are toast

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The so-called "depth of talent" of the lesser players at Manchester United was somewhat called into question last night. Another embarrassing performance in front of their own supporters against a team from a lesser division who had trouble in scoring goals in the Championship of late. That is three home matches recently where Manchester United have not played anything like the football you would have expected from a team in second place in the Premiership.

 

[Ivo]

The so-called "depth of talent" of the lesser players at Manchester United was somewhat called into question last night. Another embarrassing performance in front of their own supporters against a team from a lesser division who had trouble in scoring goals in the Championship of late. That is three home matches recently where Manchester United have not played anything like the football you would have expected from a team in second place in the Premiership.

So the two most likely threats to City are out of the League Cup. Great... more money mockery. They may as well just go to the FA and present them with a cheque for the trophies. Something tells me Platini won't join in though - but that he would if City were French...!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I see that the draw for the two-legged Carling Cup semi-finals has paired Manchester City against Liverpool, which will be quite a good examination of both teams credentials.

At least, there will be a side from outside the Premiership in the final, with the other semi-final being between Cardiff City and Crystal Palace.

 

[Butts]

Sign on potato head, sign on potato head

As manager of Villa when you get rid of Macleish

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Some alarming statistics just published

The Premier League have said that the fees paid to agents by clubs in the Premier League, in their last annual returns, totalled £71.87 million. The three clubs who paid the highest totals from this figure were:-

Manchester City.......£ 9.66 million
Tottenham Hotspur...£ 7.57 million
Liverpool.................£ 7.01 million

Strangely enough, Manchester United were down in seventh place in the list.

 

[Ivo]

Are you sure you meant to say "alarming" and not "predictable"?

 

[Robinson]

More disruption at Sunderland.

Tragic.

()

Normally it's Newcastle who make all the headlines in the managerial merry-go-round

Of course the Sunderland fans don't just hate him cos he was a boyhood Newcastle fan... of course not...

And as for who they're going to bring in next... I hear Roy Keane's out of work...

 

[ACE1888]

Steve Bruce, a Great Defender as he was, in my opinion, is totally overrated as a Manager, loves the sound of his own voice too much. Martin O'Neill emerging as favourite according to Sky Sports News.
Although we (Celtic) lost 0-1 at home to Athletico Madrid last night, realistically we were playing a team who's No.9 cost £25+ million, we competed well at least. European competition is getting like the Premier League, easy to buy success alas, just look at the 'scant' lip service Harry Redknapp pays the Europa League, prioritising or being realistic anyone?

 

[balne-wonderer]

The so-called "depth of talent" of the lesser players at Manchester United was somewhat called into question last night. Another embarrassing performance in front of their own supporters against a team from a lesser division who had trouble in scoring goals in the Championship of late. That is three home matches recently where Manchester United have not played anything like the football you would have expected from a team in second place in the Premiership.

What do you mean in front of their own fans? The place was empty!

I know it's been said many many times but I now fully believe Man Utd have started a very slow but noticable decline. Fergie is quite clearly shaken by Man City, he has constantly tried to dismiss them in interviews including when he said "we've played all the top teams already" a couple of days before the Man City game. The 1-6 result clearly left him shattered and confused.

It's also starting to become noticeable that Man Utd's power over refs is starting to decline. They cannot compete financially with Man City and the £700m bond issue is a just a ticking time bomb, that debt was not wiped out, it was simply put "on hold" for a few years.

I was born in 85, I have grown up with total Man Utd domination, glory supporters everywhere, kids in the same school as me (A leeds city school) supporting Man Utd, urgh! Time for it to change.

 

[SS4]

Steve Bruce, a Great Defender as he was, in my opinion, is totally overrated as a Manager, loves the sound of his own voice too much. Martin O'Neill emerging as favourite according to Sky Sports News.
Although we (Celtic) lost 0-1 at home to Athletico Madrid last night, realistically we were playing a team who's No.9 cost £25+ million, we competed well at least. European competition is getting like the Premier League, easy to buy success alas, just look at the 'scant' lip service Harry Redknapp pays the Europa League, prioritising or being realistic anyone?

O'Neill screws every club he goes to. Sunderland won't need a bench with him in charge

 

[Royston Vasey]

Normally it's Newcastle who make all the headlines in the managerial merry-go-round

Of course the Sunderland fans don't just hate him cos he was a boyhood Newcastle fan... of course not...

And as for who they're going to bring in next... I hear Roy Keane's out of work...

Not really actually, even though the media like to oversimplify it to that. It didn't matter when we appointed him, it wouldn't have mattered if he was doing well. He's not hated for being a Geordie, he's hated for his dismal efforts. Three wins this calendar year, heading for the Championship, hasn't come close to replacing Bent and then loaned out Gyan after the deadline, poor signings, no tactical ideas, criticised the fans repeatedly...

Bob Stokoe was a Newcastle fan, he's an absolute hero among us! Bobby Robson got some stick while Newcastle manager but after he was fired nobody had a bad word to say about him, even before he fell ill.

There's a general feeling among the majority of fans that the "fat Geordie b*stard" chanting didn't help things and has been criticised heavily by our own ranks.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I was born in 85, I have grown up with total Man Utd domination, glory supporters everywhere, kids in the same school as me (A leeds city school) supporting Man Utd, urgh! Time for it to change.

Born in 1985...nobbut a youngster!!!

I was born in North Manchester in 1945 and have always supported Oldham Athletic for as long as I can remember, but do recall both Manchester United and Manchester City having thousands of dedicated supporters, even in the Oldham area. However, I do tend to be more considered in my judgements on Premiership football teams when I make postings, from my team's position of two divisions below them.

I see that you are a supporter of Leeds United. Oldham Athletic and Leeds United played against each other in League 1 until recently, but it was strange to report that Oldham Athletic had a very good away record at Leeds United, but conversely, Leeds United had an excellent record when playing at Oldham Athletic.

 

[steamybrian]

The so-called "depth of talent" of the lesser players at Manchester United was somewhat called into question last night. Another embarrassing performance in front of their own supporters against a team from a lesser division who had trouble in scoring goals in the Championship of late. ...................

..I admit I am a lifetime Crystal Palace supporter..born in South London and lived for many years about a mile from Selhurst Park
I watched the match last night on Sky TV in a local pub in Kent with many other Palace supporters and one Man U supporter.
Please give some credit how well Palace played.
The first Palace goal should be a contender for Goal of the season -a thunderbolt from nearly 40 yards .! It needed something special to end their goal drought..

..Talking of drought ..it has rained all day today here in the South East and I can't remember the last time that happened.................

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The first Palace goal should be a contender for Goal of the season -a thunderbolt from nearly 40 yards! It needed something special to end their goal drought..

I was not decrying the efforts of your team in an away match to a team who are one division above yours in a cup quarter-final and the goal that you describe was remarkable without a shadow of doubt. In matches such as this, the lesser team usually strive to raise their game. You must admit that Crystal Palace have been struggling the find the back of the net recently, as I also referred to in my posting.

The point that I sought to make concerned the lack of quality in the so-called "lesser lights" fringe players on the books of Manchester United, compared to other clubs in the top reaches of the Premiership.

 

[richw]

Just seen a sketch on you tube with dalglish phoning sir Alex, and offering to build him a palace for his efforts, and that he was going to build it from crystals. Hilarious, but can't make it sound as funny typing it out!

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk

 

[Zoe]

Euro 2012 draw is at 5 PM today. The teams have been divided into four seeding pots for the draw.

1. Ukraine, Poland, Spain, Netherlands.

2. Germany, Italy, England, Russia.

3. Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Sweden.

4. Denmark, France, Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Stoke City's 1-1 draw against Dynamo Kiev saw them qualify to the final 32 of the Europa League.

 

[Ivo]

Not a clue why, but here is my tip for the Draw tonight. I do enjoy this kind of thing!

A: Spain, Russia, Greece, Czech Republic
B: Poland, England, Croatia, Ireland
C: Holland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark
D: Ukraine, Italy, Portugal, France

JUST TO REPEAT: THESE GROUPS ARE NOT THE REAL GROUPS (barring a massive "fluke" of course)!

Group D is probably the strongest here. And yes, I know we English are sick of the sight of Poland and Croatia, seen as we draw them in every other qualification campaign...! I can't help but feel that England-Ireland will happen though!

Also, my tip is that Spain will defeat Italy in the Final. On another forum, I correctly called Spain to beat Holland at the World Cup, as well as Germany reaching the Semis. I also said we would though :roll:

European competition is getting like the Premier League, easy to buy success alas, just look at the 'scant' lip service Harry Redknapp pays the Europa League, prioritising or being realistic anyone?

Stoke City's 1-1 draw against Dynamo Kiev saw them qualify to the final 32 of the Europa League.

Obviously Stoke aren't reading the same script as 'Arry. Good on them, I say; it shows that at least one team in this country sees the Europa League as a valuable competition in the calendar, as Middlesbrough, Bolton and Portsmouth always used to a few years ago...

 

[balne-wonderer]

Born in 1985...nobbut a youngster!!!

I was born in North Manchester in 1945 and have always supported Oldham Athletic for as long as I can remember, but do recall both Manchester United and Manchester City having thousands of dedicated supporters, even in the Oldham area. However, I do tend to be more considered in my judgements on Premiership football teams when I make postings, from my team's position of two divisions below them.

I see that you are a supporter of Leeds United. Oldham Athletic and Leeds United played against each other in League 1 until recently, but it was strange to report that Oldham Athletic had a very good away record at Leeds United, but conversely, Leeds United had an excellent record when playing at Oldham Athletic.[/QUOTE]

Yep, I said the same thing earlier in the thread.

I can remember a 94th minute Ian Westlake winner at Boundary Park and two decent 2-0 wins. Yet at Elland Road I can remember Leeds being 0-3 down at half time one season, we made it 1-3 in the first minute of the second half but the scorer, Leon Constantine broke his arm in the process of scoring! I also remember playing Oldam about 2nd game of one season and getting beat 0-2. I don't think Leeds ever beat Oldham at Elland Road in League One.

Every time I went to Boundary Park it was always freezing cold. Decent away end though that created an excellent atmosphere.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The latest financial news concerning Birmingham City is that their bankers have now withdrawn their overdraft facility. This may have some previously unforeseen implications.

 

[bb21]

I bet none of you can feel as worried as a Portsmouth supporter at the moment. Poor old Pompey, things just seem to go from bad to worse.

I know I shouldn't laugh, but still, a quite funny (and silly) piece nonetheless.

 

[SS4]

The latest financial news concerning Birmingham City is that their bankers have now withdrawn their overdraft facility. This may have some previously unforeseen implications.

The most unforeseen event of all is that they won something