Sunday 28 November 2010
WWLeague
This week in the league there were a couple of red cards at the Everton WBA game. The second one wasn't anything special. Mulumbu got booked once for celebrating with his fans then again for a late challenge. But the first was full of incident. First a WBA defender jumped with his elbow into Baines. He probably didn't get sent off because he made contact with his head rather than his elbow. You could argue that he should of been sent off for a headbutt but would of been harsh because he certainly didn't intend to headbutt him. Then Pienaar took a couple of kicks at the WBA defender that headbutted Baines. But the referee again didn't blow the whistle. Than Jara put in a 2 footed challenge on Arteta but won the ball. Arteta didn't like the challenge though and stamped on Jara. The red card was out and Arteta was off. I, personally, think that the footy pitch is turning into a wrestling ring. Let me tell you what I mean. Barton punches Pederson in the chest. Then next week 2 more Newcastle players commit offences. Williamson headbutts Elmander than Collicini slapped another Bolton player in the same game. All of these players got charged with violent conduct and suspended for 3 games. Next thing you know players will be wearing tight shorts and no tops when they play games
Saturday 27 November 2010
RECORD BREAKING DAY IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE!!!!!!!!
This week in the Premier League a new record was set. It was the most goals scored in one day. There were 6 at Villa Park were Arsenal beat Villa 4-2. 8 At Old Trafford were United beat Blackburn 7-1 with Berbatov getting 5. There were 4 at the Reebok after Bolton and Blackpool played out a 2 all draw making 4 . Wolves beat Sunderland 3-2 adding 5 more to the total. West Ham won 3-1 against Wigan. Another 4. WBA pulled off another upset beating Everton 4-1 at Goodison. 5 more. Only 2 games didn't have 3 or more goals in it. They were Stoke Man City which ended 1-1. And Fulham Birmingham which also ended 1-1. There are still 2 games to play this gameweek so who knows who many goals we could have on our hands. At the moment it stands at 36
Friday 12 November 2010
F1 climax
It is the last week of F1 this Saturday and Sunday and 4 drivers can still win the title.
Lewis Hamilton needs to win and for everyone above him not to score for him to be crowned champion. I'm a Lewis fan but I don't see him winning it this year. Alonso will be favorite but the Red Bulls will be looking to take both titles (after they won the constructers last weekend) and won't go down without a fight. I can't wait for Sunday. LET THE RACE BEGIN!
Lewis Hamilton needs to win and for everyone above him not to score for him to be crowned champion. I'm a Lewis fan but I don't see him winning it this year. Alonso will be favorite but the Red Bulls will be looking to take both titles (after they won the constructers last weekend) and won't go down without a fight. I can't wait for Sunday. LET THE RACE BEGIN!
Mid week prem
There were games on Tuesday and Wednesday this week so here are the talking points.
I'm going to make the blog a bit shorter because I just can't keep up with all the goings on in football.
I start with the Manchester derby and usually I would spend a long time talking about this but nothing happened. It seemed that both teams were more afraid of losing then they were more desperate to win. Whenever one team got the ball the other got 9 or 10 behind the ball and that was how it was for 90 minutes.
Now on to the major talking point of the gameweek. Joey Barton actually got away with punching Pederson in the chest full belt. I thought I was watching Haye V Harrison. The ref didn't spot it at the time so when he asked Barton and Pederson what they were talking to each other about Barton insisted that he only nudged Pederson in the chest and got away with no punishment. Anyway the FA has charged him with violent conduct and he will serve a 3 match ban. Cheer up Joey at least you did it on the pitch. If you did it on the street you might get a 3 month jail sentence and we both know you don't want to go back there.
Another thing that happened was that Blackpool made 10 changes to their team for their trip to Villa. The FA are deciding whether yo punish Ian Holloway for fielding a weakened side. Now how can it be a weakened side if the game finished 3-2 and they came from behind twice. In my eyes managers should be allowed to play whoever they want. If the team you play for is in the premiership and you get picked to play then surely that means you are premiership quality. And why should the premiership be any different to the Carling Cup. They are both trophies aren't they. Why are you allowed to field so called weakened sides in that huh.
Last, Luca Modric is furious with Lee Cattermole over the challenge he made on him on Tuesday night. The Croatian international accused the Sunderland man of 'putting his career at risk'. I've seen it and personally I have seen much worse and the player hurt has just hopped back to his feet and shook hands. Grow up you Spurs scum!
I'm going to make the blog a bit shorter because I just can't keep up with all the goings on in football.
I start with the Manchester derby and usually I would spend a long time talking about this but nothing happened. It seemed that both teams were more afraid of losing then they were more desperate to win. Whenever one team got the ball the other got 9 or 10 behind the ball and that was how it was for 90 minutes.
Now on to the major talking point of the gameweek. Joey Barton actually got away with punching Pederson in the chest full belt. I thought I was watching Haye V Harrison. The ref didn't spot it at the time so when he asked Barton and Pederson what they were talking to each other about Barton insisted that he only nudged Pederson in the chest and got away with no punishment. Anyway the FA has charged him with violent conduct and he will serve a 3 match ban. Cheer up Joey at least you did it on the pitch. If you did it on the street you might get a 3 month jail sentence and we both know you don't want to go back there.
Another thing that happened was that Blackpool made 10 changes to their team for their trip to Villa. The FA are deciding whether yo punish Ian Holloway for fielding a weakened side. Now how can it be a weakened side if the game finished 3-2 and they came from behind twice. In my eyes managers should be allowed to play whoever they want. If the team you play for is in the premiership and you get picked to play then surely that means you are premiership quality. And why should the premiership be any different to the Carling Cup. They are both trophies aren't they. Why are you allowed to field so called weakened sides in that huh.
Last, Luca Modric is furious with Lee Cattermole over the challenge he made on him on Tuesday night. The Croatian international accused the Sunderland man of 'putting his career at risk'. I've seen it and personally I have seen much worse and the player hurt has just hopped back to his feet and shook hands. Grow up you Spurs scum!
Tuesday 2 November 2010
The weekends action
This week had one amazing derby and one rather dull derby. I'm going to start with the exciting derby and that was between Newcastle and Sunderland.
Newcastle were the only team that turned up and absolutely bossed this game from start to finish. Kevin Nolan became the first man to hit a hat-trick in this fixture since Peter Beardsley and Aneobi got 2 to give the Toon Army a 5-1 victory. Darren Bent got one just before the end but by then there was nothing to celebrate.
The other derby was between Villa and Birmingham and it was dull. A goalless draw was the outcome and no team ever really looked like they had the upper hand. The draw doesn't help either team at all. They sit with Villa one place above Birmingham both hovering over the relegation zone.
Now for the biggest talking point of the whole weekend and Old Trafford was the venue for this. 1-0 up Nani burst into the penalty area and went down under a challenge (not sure who from). Mark Clatternburg said get up but DID NOT give a
free-kick. Nani was furious at the referee and was holding on to the ball with his hand. Gomes took the ball and put it on the ground, thinking that a free-kick had been given for Nani's handball, and started to take a run up. Nani hadn't heard the whistle so he just kicked the ball into the net. Clatternburg gave the goal but when Gomes went over to the lines-man saying Nani had handballed it he raised his flag. Clatternburg went over to his lines-man who said about the handball the ref then appeared to reply "I know. I played advantage" and the goal stood. I see why it stood and I agree with the ref. If he played advantage a free-kick has not been given. Lesson to all kids that may be reading this. Always play to the whistle.
Next I'm going to talk about the battle of the newly promoted teams. I've talked about Newcastle already so it has to be Blackpool and WBA. This game ended with only 20 men left on the pitch after WBA went down to 9 men in the first half. The second was spot on. Jara went airborne from behind on Varney and left the ref no choice. But the first was all wrong. I don't even think it was worthy of a yellow. It was a foul no doubt about that, which Charlie Adam converted from the spot, but there were 2 covering defenders and Carson to beat. Blackpool did it the hard way though after going 2-0 up they looked home and dry but WBA nicked a goal with 7 minutes left and piled on the pressure for the rest of the game. Credit Blackpool, they got the win and that is how you stay up.
On to the other games and Arsenal left it late to get all three points against West Ham. Rob Green was in amazing form and pulled off many a save before Alex Song scored an 88th minute header to keep the gunners in the title race.
I know its early days to saying who is in and who is out of the title race but let me just give you a run down on my view. Chelsea are going to run away with it if other teams can't steal points from them. Arsenal look good. They went to City and came away comfortable winners and as long as they keep on getting results they will be there at the end of the season. Man Utd, well you know that they will be there or thereabouts but if you ask me they don't look like a very well oiled machine they are getting results but teams like Stoke are really making them work for it and you would expect them to win these games without any problems. AS for City. They are a club in disgrace and to describe their problems I need to talk about their trip to Wolves.
A well deserved win for Wolves. After Adebayor gave City the lead from the spot Wolves fought back and scored twice to win the game 2-1. During the game the City players started to row amongst themselves. Now I know people are saying it takes time to gell but there will but you can't gell if you don't have team spirit. Something I think you can't put a price on. And also there is no suggestion that it is a happy dressing room. Santa Cruz has said he wants out in January and Tevez is homesick. No one has actually come out and said that they are alright. I say again, I see people leaving City in January but no doubt they will just get replaced by more big money signings.
Chelsea had to come from behind to beat Blackburn but once again they looked comfortable. They did have a scare when Roberts went through but put wide. That is the difference between Blackburn and Chelsea. Chelsea convert those chances.
Everton continue their good run with a win at home to Stoke. Not much to talk about in this game. It leaves Everton clear of the relegation zone while Stoke need to win their next game as they sit 1 point above the bottom three.
Liverpool might be starting to get their season back on track. They followed up their win against Blackburn with a win away to Bolton. The real test comes next week when they play Chelsea. As for Bolton it is only their 2nd defeat of the season so I wouldn't worry.
Last to craven cottage and it was a easy win for Fulham. Fulham now sit 10th but only 3 points clear of the drop while wigan are one place of the drop by 1 point
Newcastle were the only team that turned up and absolutely bossed this game from start to finish. Kevin Nolan became the first man to hit a hat-trick in this fixture since Peter Beardsley and Aneobi got 2 to give the Toon Army a 5-1 victory. Darren Bent got one just before the end but by then there was nothing to celebrate.
The other derby was between Villa and Birmingham and it was dull. A goalless draw was the outcome and no team ever really looked like they had the upper hand. The draw doesn't help either team at all. They sit with Villa one place above Birmingham both hovering over the relegation zone.
Now for the biggest talking point of the whole weekend and Old Trafford was the venue for this. 1-0 up Nani burst into the penalty area and went down under a challenge (not sure who from). Mark Clatternburg said get up but DID NOT give a
free-kick. Nani was furious at the referee and was holding on to the ball with his hand. Gomes took the ball and put it on the ground, thinking that a free-kick had been given for Nani's handball, and started to take a run up. Nani hadn't heard the whistle so he just kicked the ball into the net. Clatternburg gave the goal but when Gomes went over to the lines-man saying Nani had handballed it he raised his flag. Clatternburg went over to his lines-man who said about the handball the ref then appeared to reply "I know. I played advantage" and the goal stood. I see why it stood and I agree with the ref. If he played advantage a free-kick has not been given. Lesson to all kids that may be reading this. Always play to the whistle.
Next I'm going to talk about the battle of the newly promoted teams. I've talked about Newcastle already so it has to be Blackpool and WBA. This game ended with only 20 men left on the pitch after WBA went down to 9 men in the first half. The second was spot on. Jara went airborne from behind on Varney and left the ref no choice. But the first was all wrong. I don't even think it was worthy of a yellow. It was a foul no doubt about that, which Charlie Adam converted from the spot, but there were 2 covering defenders and Carson to beat. Blackpool did it the hard way though after going 2-0 up they looked home and dry but WBA nicked a goal with 7 minutes left and piled on the pressure for the rest of the game. Credit Blackpool, they got the win and that is how you stay up.
On to the other games and Arsenal left it late to get all three points against West Ham. Rob Green was in amazing form and pulled off many a save before Alex Song scored an 88th minute header to keep the gunners in the title race.
I know its early days to saying who is in and who is out of the title race but let me just give you a run down on my view. Chelsea are going to run away with it if other teams can't steal points from them. Arsenal look good. They went to City and came away comfortable winners and as long as they keep on getting results they will be there at the end of the season. Man Utd, well you know that they will be there or thereabouts but if you ask me they don't look like a very well oiled machine they are getting results but teams like Stoke are really making them work for it and you would expect them to win these games without any problems. AS for City. They are a club in disgrace and to describe their problems I need to talk about their trip to Wolves.
A well deserved win for Wolves. After Adebayor gave City the lead from the spot Wolves fought back and scored twice to win the game 2-1. During the game the City players started to row amongst themselves. Now I know people are saying it takes time to gell but there will but you can't gell if you don't have team spirit. Something I think you can't put a price on. And also there is no suggestion that it is a happy dressing room. Santa Cruz has said he wants out in January and Tevez is homesick. No one has actually come out and said that they are alright. I say again, I see people leaving City in January but no doubt they will just get replaced by more big money signings.
Chelsea had to come from behind to beat Blackburn but once again they looked comfortable. They did have a scare when Roberts went through but put wide. That is the difference between Blackburn and Chelsea. Chelsea convert those chances.
Everton continue their good run with a win at home to Stoke. Not much to talk about in this game. It leaves Everton clear of the relegation zone while Stoke need to win their next game as they sit 1 point above the bottom three.
Liverpool might be starting to get their season back on track. They followed up their win against Blackburn with a win away to Bolton. The real test comes next week when they play Chelsea. As for Bolton it is only their 2nd defeat of the season so I wouldn't worry.
Last to craven cottage and it was a easy win for Fulham. Fulham now sit 10th but only 3 points clear of the drop while wigan are one place of the drop by 1 point
Saturday 23 October 2010
A view on the weekends action
This is week is your week if you have sky sports as there are 4 live games on.
I start at White Hart Lane. Tottenham take on Everton and even though Spurs got beat in mid-week they showed great spirit to pull it back to 4-3. Van Der Vaart will also be available again as it is not a European clash. Everton will be high flying, who wouldn't be after beating your closest rivals the weekend before, but they have big injury problems. With Fellaini and Rodwell both already sidelined they are short in the midfield and earlier yesterday Osman was also ruled out for 6 weeks. A game that promises goals for me watch it if you are like me and have no plans.
The next live game is West Ham v Newcastle. Both teams that are sitting at the wrong end of the table for what the clubs have come to expect. West Ham would leap frog the Toon Army if they win at Upton Park on Saturday plus, if other results go their way, they would leave the relegation zone. Newcastle will not be an easy game though. The Magpies will also be looking for the win just as much to lift them into mid-table, if results go their way. Another good game but you might get a shouting at from the misses if you watch it instead of having an evening with her. So I recommend Match of the Day.
Stoke play United on Sunday as part of a double bill at the Britannia. Yesterday, Rooney signed a new contract at United keeping him there till 2015. That comes as a big relief to United fans and Sir Alex because it means they can focus on this weeks game. Stoke is not an easy place to go by no means but has got a bit easier over the last few seasons. Teams did not know how to defend the long-throw for the first two seasons Stoke were in the Premier League but as they enter their 3rd it has become less effective. Not saying its not a threat its just not as much of a problem anymore. In fairness to Stoke though they have started scoring more goals along the ground only putting the ball into the mixer when they are running out of time. Another good game watch it could be an upset.
The Last live game is the biggest one. City host Arsenal in a title contenders clash. Both teams enjoyed success in mid-week and the only advantage that anyone could say that the teams could of gained would probably be in Arsenals favor as they played on Tuesday and City played on Thursday. Meaning they have had longer to prepare. Fabregas is back for Arsenal after playing most of the game in mid-week. He was taken off mid-way through the second half but that was probably so that he didn't get injured after he had proved he was fit again. A win for either team would really be significant. For Arsenal they would overtake City into 2nd on goal difference. For city it would open up a 6 point gap between them and the Gunners. You have got to watch this one if you can. Have a big lunch so you can have cheese and ham toasties on the sofa in the second half for tea.
I will now round up the rest of this weeks games starting at St. Andrews. Blackpool are this weeks visitors and will feel hard done by after they were unfairly beaten by City last week. Ian Holloway returns to the side-lines and will no doubt make his voice heard if the officials get anthing wrong. As for Birmingham, they need a win and I think I can safely say that they do not leak many goals at home. Average game with an average score line.
Chelsea have got Wolves in what should be a Blues win. Drogba returns for Chelsea but Alex is still out. I expect Chelsea will find their feet again after playing out a goalless draw with Villa last week.
Sunderland have Villa at home and Bent returns for the Black Cats. Earlier this week I asked Bent to be a friend on playstation. If Sunderland win he will be in a happy mood and will hopefully flick the console on to wine down. Fingers crossed, I might have a footballer friend by the end of this weekend. Back to the Game and Villa will be happy after their performance against Chelsea. They will be looking to go one better this time and take all 3 points. Good game. I reckon it might be a surprise high starter on Match of the Day.
WBA host Fulham and I don't see many goals. Yes WBA have caused upsets this season but what they have lacked in is consistency and I fear that will be the case again this week. As for Fulham, they are really lacking up front so I don't see many goals from them either.
Wigan have been impressive this season, for their standards anyway. But they need to hold on to 2 goal leads away from home to make sure they aren't in the relegation battle come May. Bolton have also impressed me and will feel they have got a real fighting chance this week. Another good game keep your eye on it.
I finish with Liverpool and they can't buy a win this season. They drew 0-0 with Napoli in mid-week and it looks like they might not get into any European competition for next season. Blackburn will fancy themselves at Anfield to go and get something. I don't see a great game but I see talking points.
I start at White Hart Lane. Tottenham take on Everton and even though Spurs got beat in mid-week they showed great spirit to pull it back to 4-3. Van Der Vaart will also be available again as it is not a European clash. Everton will be high flying, who wouldn't be after beating your closest rivals the weekend before, but they have big injury problems. With Fellaini and Rodwell both already sidelined they are short in the midfield and earlier yesterday Osman was also ruled out for 6 weeks. A game that promises goals for me watch it if you are like me and have no plans.
The next live game is West Ham v Newcastle. Both teams that are sitting at the wrong end of the table for what the clubs have come to expect. West Ham would leap frog the Toon Army if they win at Upton Park on Saturday plus, if other results go their way, they would leave the relegation zone. Newcastle will not be an easy game though. The Magpies will also be looking for the win just as much to lift them into mid-table, if results go their way. Another good game but you might get a shouting at from the misses if you watch it instead of having an evening with her. So I recommend Match of the Day.
Stoke play United on Sunday as part of a double bill at the Britannia. Yesterday, Rooney signed a new contract at United keeping him there till 2015. That comes as a big relief to United fans and Sir Alex because it means they can focus on this weeks game. Stoke is not an easy place to go by no means but has got a bit easier over the last few seasons. Teams did not know how to defend the long-throw for the first two seasons Stoke were in the Premier League but as they enter their 3rd it has become less effective. Not saying its not a threat its just not as much of a problem anymore. In fairness to Stoke though they have started scoring more goals along the ground only putting the ball into the mixer when they are running out of time. Another good game watch it could be an upset.
The Last live game is the biggest one. City host Arsenal in a title contenders clash. Both teams enjoyed success in mid-week and the only advantage that anyone could say that the teams could of gained would probably be in Arsenals favor as they played on Tuesday and City played on Thursday. Meaning they have had longer to prepare. Fabregas is back for Arsenal after playing most of the game in mid-week. He was taken off mid-way through the second half but that was probably so that he didn't get injured after he had proved he was fit again. A win for either team would really be significant. For Arsenal they would overtake City into 2nd on goal difference. For city it would open up a 6 point gap between them and the Gunners. You have got to watch this one if you can. Have a big lunch so you can have cheese and ham toasties on the sofa in the second half for tea.
I will now round up the rest of this weeks games starting at St. Andrews. Blackpool are this weeks visitors and will feel hard done by after they were unfairly beaten by City last week. Ian Holloway returns to the side-lines and will no doubt make his voice heard if the officials get anthing wrong. As for Birmingham, they need a win and I think I can safely say that they do not leak many goals at home. Average game with an average score line.
Chelsea have got Wolves in what should be a Blues win. Drogba returns for Chelsea but Alex is still out. I expect Chelsea will find their feet again after playing out a goalless draw with Villa last week.
Sunderland have Villa at home and Bent returns for the Black Cats. Earlier this week I asked Bent to be a friend on playstation. If Sunderland win he will be in a happy mood and will hopefully flick the console on to wine down. Fingers crossed, I might have a footballer friend by the end of this weekend. Back to the Game and Villa will be happy after their performance against Chelsea. They will be looking to go one better this time and take all 3 points. Good game. I reckon it might be a surprise high starter on Match of the Day.
WBA host Fulham and I don't see many goals. Yes WBA have caused upsets this season but what they have lacked in is consistency and I fear that will be the case again this week. As for Fulham, they are really lacking up front so I don't see many goals from them either.
Wigan have been impressive this season, for their standards anyway. But they need to hold on to 2 goal leads away from home to make sure they aren't in the relegation battle come May. Bolton have also impressed me and will feel they have got a real fighting chance this week. Another good game keep your eye on it.
I finish with Liverpool and they can't buy a win this season. They drew 0-0 with Napoli in mid-week and it looks like they might not get into any European competition for next season. Blackburn will fancy themselves at Anfield to go and get something. I don't see a great game but I see talking points.
Tuesday 19 October 2010
The rumour starter thats me
Can I start by saying I put a post up about this story well before anyone had it in the papers or on the news. So I am the boy of ten years of age starting rumours that have now turned into serious talking points.
Wayne Rooney has apparently fallen out with Sir Alex Ferguson and will not sign a new contract when his expires at the end of this season, or it might of been next season I'm not sure. The England man has been off form this season and has said that he didn't know why Fergie was saying he was injured. It is said that he will try to leave United in January. Immediately you think teams like Real Madrid an City will try to sign him. City have shown that they don't care if they buy players from just over the road by buying Tevez. Morinho has said that he doesn't think Rooney will leave united but hasn't said that if he does he will not try to sign him. In a paper someone has written that Rooney would be offered £500k a week at City. A figure which is hard to say no to. People are saying that Torres is a possible replacement for Rooney if he does go. But they are both playing pretty similar at the moment.... poor. and Fergie would not sign a out of form striker no matter who he is.
I can't wait for January this is going to be a hot topic.
Wayne Rooney has apparently fallen out with Sir Alex Ferguson and will not sign a new contract when his expires at the end of this season, or it might of been next season I'm not sure. The England man has been off form this season and has said that he didn't know why Fergie was saying he was injured. It is said that he will try to leave United in January. Immediately you think teams like Real Madrid an City will try to sign him. City have shown that they don't care if they buy players from just over the road by buying Tevez. Morinho has said that he doesn't think Rooney will leave united but hasn't said that if he does he will not try to sign him. In a paper someone has written that Rooney would be offered £500k a week at City. A figure which is hard to say no to. People are saying that Torres is a possible replacement for Rooney if he does go. But they are both playing pretty similar at the moment.... poor. and Fergie would not sign a out of form striker no matter who he is.
I can't wait for January this is going to be a hot topic.
The weekends action
Another fabulous week of action in the Premier League so lets get right down to it.
The Mersyside derby was the pick of the games this week, or should I say the one sided derby. Everton were on top for all of this game and deserved their 2-0 victory. The new owners of Liverpool were at the game and they might be regretting buying the club for £300m after the performance they put in. I was watching the game and they didn't seem to have any shape. I'm not taking anything away from Everton but Liverpool were appalling. Torres didn't look bothered. Which strengthens my prediction that he will leave Liverpool in January.
Man City have moved up to 2nd with a 3-2 win at Blackpool. It was a controversial win though. First, Blackpool had a goal ruled out for offside which should of stood. And Tevez's goals should not of stood. I'll start with Blackpool's and what happened was that a ball got played over the top. When Grandin made a move to collect it and miss it he was judged to of been offside. Taylor-Fletcher was following up behind him (who was not offside when the ball was played) and he put it in. What made me angry was that Grandin missed it and was not blocking the goalkeepers view of the ball and therefore is not active. And that Grandin was actually onside when the ball was played and the flag should never of gone up anyway. Now to City's and Tevez was offside for his first. Then, he fouled the defender to get the ball back for his second. I feel for Ian Hollaway as he servered a touch-line ban for this game. After the game in his interview he said that he was unhappy and that how could he be expected to sit back and respect the referee's decision when he is getting wrong like that.
Arsenal came from behind to beat Birmingham 2-1 at the Emirates. This game had 2 talking points first was the penalty Arsenal were awarded after Dann brought down Chamakh. When you look at the replays you can see why the referee gives it. Dann made a lunge in in the box, missed the ball and Chamakh went down. Yes Chamakh made the most of it but a foul is a foul and it was a penalty. The second was Arsenal's rather aggressive approach to the game. Wenger had said that the scissor challenge should be a straight red after Cahill did it on Chamakh. But Eboue did it and so did Wilshere. Wilshere was sent off for the challenge and after the game apologised to Zigic. But you can't say stop doing that challenge and then have your players do it that just isn't on. I'm an Arsenal fan but I right this blog as a football pundit.
Man Utd dropped more points at home to West Brom after letting a 2 goal lead slip to draw 2-2. A horror mistake from Van Der Sar let West Brom draw level and from then on they looked the more likely to score. There has been big shouts that Wayne Rooney will not sign a new contract at United and I wil do a separate post about that story.
Chelsea injury problems proved crucial as they slugged out a goalless draw with Villa. The game had chances for both sides and the wood-work was struck on many occasions. The best chance game to Villa right at the end. Reo-Coker went through on goal and put his effort over Cech but wide of the mark. In the end it was a good result for Villa who join a very select group of teams that have stopped Chelsea from scoring this season.
Van Der Vaart just keeps on impressing at Spurs. He showed another piece of skill to set up the equaliser against Fulham which eventually led to a 2-1 win. The talking point was Spurs's second goal. When Huddlestone hit his shot into the bottom corner the flag went up because Gallas was offside when the ball was struck and made an attempt to convert it in. After consulting with his linesman the referee overruled the decision and gave the goal. It was a bit like Blackpool's disallowed goal. Gallas was offside when the ball was hit but was not in the keepers line of sight so because he didn't touch it he was not active. As much as it pains me to say it. Good call referee.
Bolton beat Stoke 2-1. Klasnic went from hero to villain in a matter of minutes though. First, he scored the winner for Bolton after coming on as a sub. Then seconds after that he pushed Whitehead in the face, an offence worthy of a straight red card, but got away with just a yellow. And right before the end he jumped into Delap earning him a second yellow followed by a ref. Maybe if Graham Pole was in charge he might of got a 3rd yellow.
Newcastle are still looking for that home win that has avoided them for a quite a few weeks and just managed to recue a point from a game that at one stage they were 2-0 down in. Andy
Carroll tried a Maradona and was booked which was very funny. I suggest you watch the highlights on Yahoo.
Wolves drew 1-1 with West Ham. Biggest surprise was Wolves weren't shown a card for the whole 90 minutes. West Ham should have won it though when Piquionne scored late on. The ref ruled it out though because he thought he had hand balled it, which he hadn't, and even booked him for deliberate handball. Poor Piquionne.
I end with Mondays game and it was a goalless draw between Blackburn and Sunderland. Samba was sent off for Blackburn but Sunderland couldn't capitalise. Steve Bruce said after the game that his side needs to stop relying on Bent to come up with the goals and start scoring more as a team.
The Mersyside derby was the pick of the games this week, or should I say the one sided derby. Everton were on top for all of this game and deserved their 2-0 victory. The new owners of Liverpool were at the game and they might be regretting buying the club for £300m after the performance they put in. I was watching the game and they didn't seem to have any shape. I'm not taking anything away from Everton but Liverpool were appalling. Torres didn't look bothered. Which strengthens my prediction that he will leave Liverpool in January.
Man City have moved up to 2nd with a 3-2 win at Blackpool. It was a controversial win though. First, Blackpool had a goal ruled out for offside which should of stood. And Tevez's goals should not of stood. I'll start with Blackpool's and what happened was that a ball got played over the top. When Grandin made a move to collect it and miss it he was judged to of been offside. Taylor-Fletcher was following up behind him (who was not offside when the ball was played) and he put it in. What made me angry was that Grandin missed it and was not blocking the goalkeepers view of the ball and therefore is not active. And that Grandin was actually onside when the ball was played and the flag should never of gone up anyway. Now to City's and Tevez was offside for his first. Then, he fouled the defender to get the ball back for his second. I feel for Ian Hollaway as he servered a touch-line ban for this game. After the game in his interview he said that he was unhappy and that how could he be expected to sit back and respect the referee's decision when he is getting wrong like that.
Arsenal came from behind to beat Birmingham 2-1 at the Emirates. This game had 2 talking points first was the penalty Arsenal were awarded after Dann brought down Chamakh. When you look at the replays you can see why the referee gives it. Dann made a lunge in in the box, missed the ball and Chamakh went down. Yes Chamakh made the most of it but a foul is a foul and it was a penalty. The second was Arsenal's rather aggressive approach to the game. Wenger had said that the scissor challenge should be a straight red after Cahill did it on Chamakh. But Eboue did it and so did Wilshere. Wilshere was sent off for the challenge and after the game apologised to Zigic. But you can't say stop doing that challenge and then have your players do it that just isn't on. I'm an Arsenal fan but I right this blog as a football pundit.
Man Utd dropped more points at home to West Brom after letting a 2 goal lead slip to draw 2-2. A horror mistake from Van Der Sar let West Brom draw level and from then on they looked the more likely to score. There has been big shouts that Wayne Rooney will not sign a new contract at United and I wil do a separate post about that story.
Chelsea injury problems proved crucial as they slugged out a goalless draw with Villa. The game had chances for both sides and the wood-work was struck on many occasions. The best chance game to Villa right at the end. Reo-Coker went through on goal and put his effort over Cech but wide of the mark. In the end it was a good result for Villa who join a very select group of teams that have stopped Chelsea from scoring this season.
Van Der Vaart just keeps on impressing at Spurs. He showed another piece of skill to set up the equaliser against Fulham which eventually led to a 2-1 win. The talking point was Spurs's second goal. When Huddlestone hit his shot into the bottom corner the flag went up because Gallas was offside when the ball was struck and made an attempt to convert it in. After consulting with his linesman the referee overruled the decision and gave the goal. It was a bit like Blackpool's disallowed goal. Gallas was offside when the ball was hit but was not in the keepers line of sight so because he didn't touch it he was not active. As much as it pains me to say it. Good call referee.
Bolton beat Stoke 2-1. Klasnic went from hero to villain in a matter of minutes though. First, he scored the winner for Bolton after coming on as a sub. Then seconds after that he pushed Whitehead in the face, an offence worthy of a straight red card, but got away with just a yellow. And right before the end he jumped into Delap earning him a second yellow followed by a ref. Maybe if Graham Pole was in charge he might of got a 3rd yellow.
Newcastle are still looking for that home win that has avoided them for a quite a few weeks and just managed to recue a point from a game that at one stage they were 2-0 down in. Andy
Carroll tried a Maradona and was booked which was very funny. I suggest you watch the highlights on Yahoo.
Wolves drew 1-1 with West Ham. Biggest surprise was Wolves weren't shown a card for the whole 90 minutes. West Ham should have won it though when Piquionne scored late on. The ref ruled it out though because he thought he had hand balled it, which he hadn't, and even booked him for deliberate handball. Poor Piquionne.
I end with Mondays game and it was a goalless draw between Blackburn and Sunderland. Samba was sent off for Blackburn but Sunderland couldn't capitalise. Steve Bruce said after the game that his side needs to stop relying on Bent to come up with the goals and start scoring more as a team.
Saturday 16 October 2010
A view on the weekends action
The premier league returns to our screens this weekend so here are my predictions for this week.
I have to start this week again on Sunday because its my favorite derby, the Mersyside derby. What is great for this game is that the off-field drama at Liverpool has been resolved, for now, and we can focus on what happens on the pitch. Lets start with teams and Torres and Konchesky have been passed fit for Liverpool but Dirk Kuyt is out after picking up an injury for Holland while on international duty. Funny I seem to remember the same thing happening to Van Persie about the same time as this last season. My advice to players in the premier league from Holland, try to get the flu in october, its pretty common around this time in Britain. As for Everton they have some bad news. Pienaar is out and David Moyes said he doesn't expect Louis Saha to be fit. Fellaini is out for six weeks after he injured his hamstring playing for Belgium. I love this game because of its habit of producing a red card. I see a draw but, because of Everton's injury problems Liverpool could win. After all, they will have new belief because of the takeover.
Arsenal have had a bad run of results and will be looking to set it straight against Birmingham. Walcott is fit along with Gibbs but Almunia is still out [though I'm not worried about that. I think Fabianski will do a good job] and Fabregas doesn't look like he'll be fit. Jerome is a doubt for Birmingham so he will probably be replaced by Zigic. Dun dun daa. For those of you who don't know Zigic is the tallest player in the world at 7ft 2in. Thats gonna be easy to defend when your team is the smallest in the league. I see a win for Arsenal but a narrow win. I do fear Birmingham from set-plays and am worried at how well we will do against a ball over the top.
Tottenham come into their game at Craven Cottage with confidence. Last time they played in the league they came from behind to beat Villa 2-1 and Van Der Vaart stole the show. He won't be any less confident after Holland beat Sweden 4-1 in mid-week. Fulham are the draw specialists drawing 6 of 7 in the league this season. But they're still unbeaten so you can't write them off. Good game but a victory for the London club from up north.
Bolton host Stoke and I have not got much to say about the game. Davies is out for Bolton and thats the news I know. Draw for me. I don't think you should watch this game if you are a neutral who has the option.
Man Utd play WBA and I see a hands down Utd victory. Earlier this week Rooney said he didn't know why his manager was saying he was injured. And he could make his return. I know WBA have done well this season but Utd are so strong that away from home I don't see them gettng anything.
Newcastle and Wigan meet at St. James' Park. I have been to hard on Wigan this season they haven't done as bad as I have made out. They have got results in games last season they would have got nothing in. They still can't fill their stadium but they might start getting a few more ticket sales if they can steer clear of relegation.
Wolves and West Ham shows to teams in different positions form wise. Wolves have lost their last 2 while West Ham have started to get some form. I see West Ham's form continuing and wolves still without a win in the last 3.
Villa play Chelsea in the evening kick-off. And Ancelotti has named his line-up already. He is without Drogba who has a virus. The Ivory Coast man has had a fever all week and has been unable to train. Lampard is still out and could also miss next weeks game with Wolves. The Blues are also without Alex, Benayoun, Sturridge and Kalou. Terry is fit though. He has recovered from the back injury which kept him out of the England team in the week. Villa will want revenge for the hammering Chelsea gave them last season and with Chelsea's injury problems and the fact that they are at home they will hope to come out of this game with at least a point.
Blackpool host City at Bloomfield Road and it is their first big test at home. As I Said City need to win these games too stay in the title race. I see City as the winners. No disrespect for Blackpool but City are on good form at the moment.
Last is Mondays game and it sees Blackburn and Sunderland slugging it out at Ewood Park. Bent is a doubt for Sunderland after he missed England duty with a groin strain. Gyan could make his first start to replace him. Draw for me. Sunderland have been impressive at home but Ewood Park is a tough place to go.
I have to start this week again on Sunday because its my favorite derby, the Mersyside derby. What is great for this game is that the off-field drama at Liverpool has been resolved, for now, and we can focus on what happens on the pitch. Lets start with teams and Torres and Konchesky have been passed fit for Liverpool but Dirk Kuyt is out after picking up an injury for Holland while on international duty. Funny I seem to remember the same thing happening to Van Persie about the same time as this last season. My advice to players in the premier league from Holland, try to get the flu in october, its pretty common around this time in Britain. As for Everton they have some bad news. Pienaar is out and David Moyes said he doesn't expect Louis Saha to be fit. Fellaini is out for six weeks after he injured his hamstring playing for Belgium. I love this game because of its habit of producing a red card. I see a draw but, because of Everton's injury problems Liverpool could win. After all, they will have new belief because of the takeover.
Arsenal have had a bad run of results and will be looking to set it straight against Birmingham. Walcott is fit along with Gibbs but Almunia is still out [though I'm not worried about that. I think Fabianski will do a good job] and Fabregas doesn't look like he'll be fit. Jerome is a doubt for Birmingham so he will probably be replaced by Zigic. Dun dun daa. For those of you who don't know Zigic is the tallest player in the world at 7ft 2in. Thats gonna be easy to defend when your team is the smallest in the league. I see a win for Arsenal but a narrow win. I do fear Birmingham from set-plays and am worried at how well we will do against a ball over the top.
Tottenham come into their game at Craven Cottage with confidence. Last time they played in the league they came from behind to beat Villa 2-1 and Van Der Vaart stole the show. He won't be any less confident after Holland beat Sweden 4-1 in mid-week. Fulham are the draw specialists drawing 6 of 7 in the league this season. But they're still unbeaten so you can't write them off. Good game but a victory for the London club from up north.
Bolton host Stoke and I have not got much to say about the game. Davies is out for Bolton and thats the news I know. Draw for me. I don't think you should watch this game if you are a neutral who has the option.
Man Utd play WBA and I see a hands down Utd victory. Earlier this week Rooney said he didn't know why his manager was saying he was injured. And he could make his return. I know WBA have done well this season but Utd are so strong that away from home I don't see them gettng anything.
Newcastle and Wigan meet at St. James' Park. I have been to hard on Wigan this season they haven't done as bad as I have made out. They have got results in games last season they would have got nothing in. They still can't fill their stadium but they might start getting a few more ticket sales if they can steer clear of relegation.
Wolves and West Ham shows to teams in different positions form wise. Wolves have lost their last 2 while West Ham have started to get some form. I see West Ham's form continuing and wolves still without a win in the last 3.
Villa play Chelsea in the evening kick-off. And Ancelotti has named his line-up already. He is without Drogba who has a virus. The Ivory Coast man has had a fever all week and has been unable to train. Lampard is still out and could also miss next weeks game with Wolves. The Blues are also without Alex, Benayoun, Sturridge and Kalou. Terry is fit though. He has recovered from the back injury which kept him out of the England team in the week. Villa will want revenge for the hammering Chelsea gave them last season and with Chelsea's injury problems and the fact that they are at home they will hope to come out of this game with at least a point.
Blackpool host City at Bloomfield Road and it is their first big test at home. As I Said City need to win these games too stay in the title race. I see City as the winners. No disrespect for Blackpool but City are on good form at the moment.
Last is Mondays game and it sees Blackburn and Sunderland slugging it out at Ewood Park. Bent is a doubt for Sunderland after he missed England duty with a groin strain. Gyan could make his first start to replace him. Draw for me. Sunderland have been impressive at home but Ewood Park is a tough place to go.
Friday 15 October 2010
Done and dusted
It has finally happened. NESV have bought Liverpool football club for £300m. This is what has happened over the past day.
Hicks and Gillet had the restraining order lifted meaning that the club could be sold.
NESV had a £300m bid for Liverpool accepted by the board.
RBS rejected Hicks and Gillet's attempt to repay the money owed by Liverpool, of about £240m, to the bank.
Hicks and Gillet said they would stop trying to block the deal but would still be suing 1.6 billion US dollars for what they called 'epic swindle' in damages.
The deal went through and when faced by the media the New owner of Liverpool answered the question "what about Hicks and Gillet suing for £1b?" with a smile and said "only that much" giving, to me at least, the impression he is confident that he will beat the pair in court.
It comes as a big relive to Liverpool fans because the deadline to pay RBS was today and if the deal had not gone through then they would of gone into administration and suffered a nine point penalty. The owners are saying that they have the money to put Liverpool back on top. Talks of a new stadium even got called out by one excited news reporter but the Chairman quickly said that all they are focused on right now is bringing Liverpool back to the top of the English game.
It has been a twisty, bumpy ride that could still twist and bump but the matter is Liverpool are now owned by NESV and not Hicks and Gillet.
Hicks and Gillet had the restraining order lifted meaning that the club could be sold.
NESV had a £300m bid for Liverpool accepted by the board.
RBS rejected Hicks and Gillet's attempt to repay the money owed by Liverpool, of about £240m, to the bank.
Hicks and Gillet said they would stop trying to block the deal but would still be suing 1.6 billion US dollars for what they called 'epic swindle' in damages.
The deal went through and when faced by the media the New owner of Liverpool answered the question "what about Hicks and Gillet suing for £1b?" with a smile and said "only that much" giving, to me at least, the impression he is confident that he will beat the pair in court.
It comes as a big relive to Liverpool fans because the deadline to pay RBS was today and if the deal had not gone through then they would of gone into administration and suffered a nine point penalty. The owners are saying that they have the money to put Liverpool back on top. Talks of a new stadium even got called out by one excited news reporter but the Chairman quickly said that all they are focused on right now is bringing Liverpool back to the top of the English game.
It has been a twisty, bumpy ride that could still twist and bump but the matter is Liverpool are now owned by NESV and not Hicks and Gillet.
Rooney unhappy with United
Wayne Rooney has said that he is annoyed with Sir Alex Fergerson about saying that he is injured. This is what Rooney had to say about the matter."I don't know why he is saying I'm injured. My ankle hasn't been a bother this season and wonder why he keeps on saying I'm not fully fit".
To me it sounds like another row is going on at United. I'm not saying he's on his way out of the club but keep your eye on it. Sir Alex has a bit a a record at getting rid of players he can't get on with. Tevez, Beckham, and I'm not sure if this one is right so correct me if I'm wrong, Van Nistoory [might of got the name spelling wrong but lets face it players from Holland tend to have long,hard to spell names].
I'm not saying he is on his way out because a player like Rooney is hard to come by and Fergie will surely try to set things straight with him before someone gets hit in the face with a boot.
To me it sounds like another row is going on at United. I'm not saying he's on his way out of the club but keep your eye on it. Sir Alex has a bit a a record at getting rid of players he can't get on with. Tevez, Beckham, and I'm not sure if this one is right so correct me if I'm wrong, Van Nistoory [might of got the name spelling wrong but lets face it players from Holland tend to have long,hard to spell names].
I'm not saying he is on his way out because a player like Rooney is hard to come by and Fergie will surely try to set things straight with him before someone gets hit in the face with a boot.
Liverpool saga continued...
This is Just a brief update on the Liverpool scenario.
Hicks and Gillet have had the restraining order, that was blocking the sale of the club, lifted.
New England Sports Ventures[NESV] have had a £300m bid excepted by the Liverpool board.
If the deal does not go through Liverpool will have to pay RBS by the deadline probably putting them in administration.
I think this deal will go through and that Liverpool will not go into administration. Hicks and Gillet have tried everything and have now given up on trying to stop the deal. Instaed they are suing 1.6 billion US dollars in what they call 'epic swindle'. Yes I said BILLION dollars. It looks like NESV are going to complete the deal this afternoon and will be the new owners of Liverpool. They would be able to free Liverpool of debt and put them in a stable financial position. I'm writing this blog with Sky Sports News on in the back round and am getting updates all the time. You are basically reading a live update of the deal as it happens.
Hicks and Gillet have had the restraining order, that was blocking the sale of the club, lifted.
New England Sports Ventures[NESV] have had a £300m bid excepted by the Liverpool board.
If the deal does not go through Liverpool will have to pay RBS by the deadline probably putting them in administration.
I think this deal will go through and that Liverpool will not go into administration. Hicks and Gillet have tried everything and have now given up on trying to stop the deal. Instaed they are suing 1.6 billion US dollars in what they call 'epic swindle'. Yes I said BILLION dollars. It looks like NESV are going to complete the deal this afternoon and will be the new owners of Liverpool. They would be able to free Liverpool of debt and put them in a stable financial position. I'm writing this blog with Sky Sports News on in the back round and am getting updates all the time. You are basically reading a live update of the deal as it happens.
Tuesday 12 October 2010
Liverpool takeover news
Liverpool are going to the High Court today hopefully to resolve this takeover matter.
Last night the Royal Bank of Scotland won a case against Hicks and Gillet meaning that the Liverpool owners can't fire anymore board members. What they have been doing to my understanding is getting rid of the people who will have a say in the future of the club and bringing in people who will back them up in court.
It is has reached the point that I think every Liverpool fan feared. Administration is looming and if this deal doesn't go through a nine point penalty will be granted.
If Liverpool do get a nine point deduction they would sit rock bottom of the league table with -3 points. They would be 8 points off West ham and Wolves in 19th and 18th and probably more scarily for the red half of Mersyside 9 point off their Rivals Everton, who no doubt are loving this more than ever. It would also most certainly be the end of any chance of finishing in the top 4 because they would be 14 points off Arsenal who currently hold that spot and even though the Gunners have lost a few games I don't see them dropping 14 points. Or any of the teams in the top 4 for that matter. Mabye you could hope that City would, but the place in the top 4 would surely be snapped up by Spurs.
But don't lose faith the deal could still go through.
Last night the Royal Bank of Scotland won a case against Hicks and Gillet meaning that the Liverpool owners can't fire anymore board members. What they have been doing to my understanding is getting rid of the people who will have a say in the future of the club and bringing in people who will back them up in court.
It is has reached the point that I think every Liverpool fan feared. Administration is looming and if this deal doesn't go through a nine point penalty will be granted.
If Liverpool do get a nine point deduction they would sit rock bottom of the league table with -3 points. They would be 8 points off West ham and Wolves in 19th and 18th and probably more scarily for the red half of Mersyside 9 point off their Rivals Everton, who no doubt are loving this more than ever. It would also most certainly be the end of any chance of finishing in the top 4 because they would be 14 points off Arsenal who currently hold that spot and even though the Gunners have lost a few games I don't see them dropping 14 points. Or any of the teams in the top 4 for that matter. Mabye you could hope that City would, but the place in the top 4 would surely be snapped up by Spurs.
But don't lose faith the deal could still go through.
Friday 8 October 2010
Liverpool takeover
I have more details on the suppose takeover of liverpool.
They are only pointers as I am still getting all the details and will keep you up to date on anything that happens as I promised.
First, the takeover has been approved by the premier league which means that they think that the Boston Red Sox are suitable owners and that they are fit to run a club. Which is great news because without approval from the league there would be no takeover.
Hicks and Gillet are trying to block the deal believing that it is invalid. They have tried to do this by changing the staff on the board to people who are more close to them and will back them up. Again I am not the takeover man and don't know about the details of these sort of things so please please please comment with any news or any corrections about my blog or the takeover.
The most shocking news and the one that might start to worry Liverpool fans is that it is going to the High Court to be decided and if it is blocked Liverpool could face a 9 point deduction. I don't know why they would be duct the points but I know that it would be a major blow to Liverpool as they are already in trouble points wise.
So Liverpool trying to get this takeover done is now a risk because of what happens if it gets blocked. To me it seems that Hicks and Gillet are just trying to get some money out of the deal[How shocking].
They are only pointers as I am still getting all the details and will keep you up to date on anything that happens as I promised.
First, the takeover has been approved by the premier league which means that they think that the Boston Red Sox are suitable owners and that they are fit to run a club. Which is great news because without approval from the league there would be no takeover.
Hicks and Gillet are trying to block the deal believing that it is invalid. They have tried to do this by changing the staff on the board to people who are more close to them and will back them up. Again I am not the takeover man and don't know about the details of these sort of things so please please please comment with any news or any corrections about my blog or the takeover.
The most shocking news and the one that might start to worry Liverpool fans is that it is going to the High Court to be decided and if it is blocked Liverpool could face a 9 point deduction. I don't know why they would be duct the points but I know that it would be a major blow to Liverpool as they are already in trouble points wise.
So Liverpool trying to get this takeover done is now a risk because of what happens if it gets blocked. To me it seems that Hicks and Gillet are just trying to get some money out of the deal[How shocking].
Wednesday 6 October 2010
Liverpool takeover is it happening!!!!!!!
I woke up this morning and the first thing I did, like every morning, was switch on Sky Sports News to see what the gossip on football was about.
And scrolling along the bottom of the screen in yellow [Which means breaking news] was that Liverpool had agreed to sell the club to the Boston Red Sox baseball team. I don't know how the fans will react but I'm looking at it from 2 prospectives.
The first one, and this is the one, that most of the fans will be taking into account, is that Hicks and Gillett will no longer be the owners of the club and that has been, in many of their eyes, the problem. But on the other hand, they are selling to more Americans and you wonder how much they care about the club or is it just the money[ though I don't see how it could be about money because Liverpool have none].
Some of the fans are delighted to have a new owner in prospect feeling that this is the start of an era at Liverpool. While others are happy that Hicks and Gilett will be out but are not sure if they like the idea of more Americans at the club.
I don't know much about takeover deals but I do know that this one has been in the balance for a while and is close to reaching a conclusion.
If you have any further details on the subject then please comment. And I will be sure to keep posting regular updates if anything happens.
Come on Claire maybe this is the start of the new 80's liverpool.
And scrolling along the bottom of the screen in yellow [Which means breaking news] was that Liverpool had agreed to sell the club to the Boston Red Sox baseball team. I don't know how the fans will react but I'm looking at it from 2 prospectives.
The first one, and this is the one, that most of the fans will be taking into account, is that Hicks and Gillett will no longer be the owners of the club and that has been, in many of their eyes, the problem. But on the other hand, they are selling to more Americans and you wonder how much they care about the club or is it just the money[ though I don't see how it could be about money because Liverpool have none].
Some of the fans are delighted to have a new owner in prospect feeling that this is the start of an era at Liverpool. While others are happy that Hicks and Gilett will be out but are not sure if they like the idea of more Americans at the club.
I don't know much about takeover deals but I do know that this one has been in the balance for a while and is close to reaching a conclusion.
If you have any further details on the subject then please comment. And I will be sure to keep posting regular updates if anything happens.
Come on Claire maybe this is the start of the new 80's liverpool.
Monday 4 October 2010
The weekends action
It has been a good weekend of football this time out so here are my thoughts on it.
I'll start at the bridge and Chelsea are now cruising at the top of the table after defeating local rivals Arsenal 2-0. It didn't come to much of a shock to me. I'm an Arsenal fan and yes I hate to see us lose but the fact was that Chelsea were on average a ft taller and 2 stone heavier than Arsenal making Chelsea the 2nd biggest team team in the league, 2nd only to Stoke and lets face it they're huge, while Arsenal are the smallest team in the league. Because of this fact Chelsea made it impossible for us to break them down knowing they would win any ball we played over the top. I think the score line flattered them a bit. Maybe 1-0 would of been fair but when they got a free-kick in the perfect shooting position Alex didn't miss the opportunity to rub our noses in it. The positive Arsenal can take out if the game is that Fabianski was pretty solid. The goals that he conceded he couldn't do much about. And the ones he could he handled very well.
I now move to Mersyside and start with Liverpool. I said they would win this won after what the other so called big boys did to Blackpool when they came to play but I was wrong. Unfortunately Match of the day 2 didn't record last night so I missed this game and City's. But this is what I think of Liverpool at the moment. ................ . That is it I'm speechless. Roy Hodgson didn't help the moral of the players or the fans after saying after the game that he thought that Liverpool were in the battle for relegation. What talk is that coming from a man who is managing a team who were once the champions of Europe. Another thing that happened in that game was how Torres was taken off after nine minutes. I don't know if he had a nock or if Hodgson just didn't feel he was working but it was only nine minutes in and he still had over 80 minutes to make a statement in the game. If Liverpool can't start winning they can kiss Torres good bye in January. As for Blackpool I made a mistake about their away form. They have played more than half of their games away and have found nine points. We shall see if they're premier league material if they start winning the games they play at home.
Man City did what I said they had to do to stay in the race for the title and that was beating Newcastle. If I was a City fan I would like to see a few more comfortable wins though. It is good that they are winning but one day 1 goal won't be enough to see them through the whole game every week. Newcastle got salt rubbed into their wounds after Ben Arfa broke his leg and will need surgery.
Is it just me or do we seem to be having a lot of breaks this season. My example is Wolves. They were only playing for 11 minutes and already they were down to 10 men. What makes this worse is that the man making all the bad challenges is their so called inspirational captain Karl Henry. He is setting a bad example for the rest of his team. Berra tugged on N'Zogbia just out side the box and thank goodness they payed the price from the resulting free-kick which Gomez fired into the roof of the net. Maybe that will make Mick Mcarthy change his mind about his over physical approach to the game.
Man Utd missed a big opportunity to get clear of Arsenal with a disappointing point at Sunderland. What really surprised me was the team Fergie fielded. Leaving big stars on the bench in a game that could have put some real daylight between them and rest of the pack. When I watched the game it looked like Sunderland were the only team on the pitch and were very unfortunate not to win it.
Van Der Vaart is like a angel sent from heaven for Tottenham. He was inspirational against Villa leading the way for Spurs to come from behind and win the game 2-1. I have got to hand it to Harry. He is very good in the market.
Stoke beat Blackburn 1-0 in what I called the battle of the big people. Surprisingly the goal didn't come from a long throw or kick into the box but on the ground.
And I wrap it up with the most amazing news of the weekend. Bigger than Chelsea beating Arsenal or Liverpool losing to Blackpool. EVERTON HAVE WON A GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!! They beat Birmingham 2-0 ending Birmingham's amazing unbeaten run at home. They had to wait until the final minutes of the game to see their team win a game that they actually scored in as they went ahead because Johnson turned an Osman cross into his own net.
FOR ALL YOU EVERTON FANS OUT THERE WELL DONE AND MAKE IT LAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'll start at the bridge and Chelsea are now cruising at the top of the table after defeating local rivals Arsenal 2-0. It didn't come to much of a shock to me. I'm an Arsenal fan and yes I hate to see us lose but the fact was that Chelsea were on average a ft taller and 2 stone heavier than Arsenal making Chelsea the 2nd biggest team team in the league, 2nd only to Stoke and lets face it they're huge, while Arsenal are the smallest team in the league. Because of this fact Chelsea made it impossible for us to break them down knowing they would win any ball we played over the top. I think the score line flattered them a bit. Maybe 1-0 would of been fair but when they got a free-kick in the perfect shooting position Alex didn't miss the opportunity to rub our noses in it. The positive Arsenal can take out if the game is that Fabianski was pretty solid. The goals that he conceded he couldn't do much about. And the ones he could he handled very well.
I now move to Mersyside and start with Liverpool. I said they would win this won after what the other so called big boys did to Blackpool when they came to play but I was wrong. Unfortunately Match of the day 2 didn't record last night so I missed this game and City's. But this is what I think of Liverpool at the moment. ................ . That is it I'm speechless. Roy Hodgson didn't help the moral of the players or the fans after saying after the game that he thought that Liverpool were in the battle for relegation. What talk is that coming from a man who is managing a team who were once the champions of Europe. Another thing that happened in that game was how Torres was taken off after nine minutes. I don't know if he had a nock or if Hodgson just didn't feel he was working but it was only nine minutes in and he still had over 80 minutes to make a statement in the game. If Liverpool can't start winning they can kiss Torres good bye in January. As for Blackpool I made a mistake about their away form. They have played more than half of their games away and have found nine points. We shall see if they're premier league material if they start winning the games they play at home.
Man City did what I said they had to do to stay in the race for the title and that was beating Newcastle. If I was a City fan I would like to see a few more comfortable wins though. It is good that they are winning but one day 1 goal won't be enough to see them through the whole game every week. Newcastle got salt rubbed into their wounds after Ben Arfa broke his leg and will need surgery.
Is it just me or do we seem to be having a lot of breaks this season. My example is Wolves. They were only playing for 11 minutes and already they were down to 10 men. What makes this worse is that the man making all the bad challenges is their so called inspirational captain Karl Henry. He is setting a bad example for the rest of his team. Berra tugged on N'Zogbia just out side the box and thank goodness they payed the price from the resulting free-kick which Gomez fired into the roof of the net. Maybe that will make Mick Mcarthy change his mind about his over physical approach to the game.
Man Utd missed a big opportunity to get clear of Arsenal with a disappointing point at Sunderland. What really surprised me was the team Fergie fielded. Leaving big stars on the bench in a game that could have put some real daylight between them and rest of the pack. When I watched the game it looked like Sunderland were the only team on the pitch and were very unfortunate not to win it.
Van Der Vaart is like a angel sent from heaven for Tottenham. He was inspirational against Villa leading the way for Spurs to come from behind and win the game 2-1. I have got to hand it to Harry. He is very good in the market.
Stoke beat Blackburn 1-0 in what I called the battle of the big people. Surprisingly the goal didn't come from a long throw or kick into the box but on the ground.
And I wrap it up with the most amazing news of the weekend. Bigger than Chelsea beating Arsenal or Liverpool losing to Blackpool. EVERTON HAVE WON A GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!! They beat Birmingham 2-0 ending Birmingham's amazing unbeaten run at home. They had to wait until the final minutes of the game to see their team win a game that they actually scored in as they went ahead because Johnson turned an Osman cross into his own net.
FOR ALL YOU EVERTON FANS OUT THERE WELL DONE AND MAKE IT LAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday 2 October 2010
A view on the weekends action
This week is a big week for teams chasing the title.
Arsenal travel to Stamford bridge to play Chelsea in what is arguably the most important game so far. Arsenal and Chelsea both had mid-week succes and that should boost them after last weekends defeats. The big talking point is who gets the number one slot for the game. Personally I think Fabianski should get the nod. Almunia made big blunders against WBA and although he saved a penalty so did Fabianski and frankly he didn't have the blunders to go with it. In fact I thought he was rather solid and that is always good for confidence. Injury wise Lampard is out and Fabregas is yet to be passed fit but for Arsenal it does look like they might have to take on their rivals without their captain [ at least not for 90 minutes anyway]. Earlier this week Ancelotti's father died and that started rumours that he would not be attending the game but the Chelsea staff have said that he would be back in time to take charge. Difficult one to call this.I hate to say it but Arsenal will have a tough job getting 3 points but I can see a respectable draw.
Man Utd will be all out to win at Sunderland because the other major title contenders play each other. It is a good chance for them to gain a lot of ground on one of them or a little ground on them both. But Sunderland is not easy in the slightest. They have proved they will fight for the death to get something from a game so Utd will have to get goals quick and then defend better than they have been. I think Utd will win based on quality but I said that about Arsenal and WBA and look who won that one.
Man City's next 2 games are vital if they want to stay in the hunt for the title. They host Newcastle this week and then travel to Blackpool the week after. They need maximum points from these games so they can stay in touch. Newcastle have not been what I hoped for this season. They have fizzled out since their 6-0 win over Villa and are yet to put down their mark as a long term premier league team. It would be a great place to get moving again. I mean The City of Manchester Stadium is a great place to win. I'll bet on City for this one because I think they will just out perform Newcastle.
Liverpool need to keep up the trend of thrashing Blackpool at home that Arsenal and Chelsea have already set. If I was a Liverpool fan then I would be wondering how they would get back into Europe. Gerrard is doing well but he is not a one man band he needs support[looking at you Torres] so that they can carry out results. But Blackpool have been alright on their travels. Lets not forget who won on the opening day with 4 goals. Yes they got thrashed by Arsenal but they had chances until they went down to ten men. And they kept Chelsea quiet for 45 minutes. If liverpool don't step it up then there could be an upset on the cards.
Villa sit 5th in the league at the start of the weekend but if they lose to Tottenham then they would be leap frogged by the london club. After a dodgy start Villa have found their feet and are starting to play again. I'm a bit clueless on Tottenham's team news but I do know that the red card Van Der Vaart picked up in mid-weed will not count for this game as it happened in Europe. Draw for the safe better but either team could win.
Wigan and Wolves has to promise goals. I mean they don't have he best defences so slip ups might happen often. Their might be a few bad challenges so I don't expect a flowing game but there could be talking points. Hard to call so i'll say draw.
It is starting to get a bit silly at Everton they still can't get a win and Birmingham isn't a nice place to have to go and do it. Birmingham are strong at the back at home and that is a major blow for Everton as they just can't find a way through defences right now. I like Everton and don't want to see them do badly but if you can't deliver the goods then what fun is it be in the top division. Stalemate.
Stoke and Blackburn will be a game of the ball over the top. Stoke are the tallest team in the league and I don't think Blackburn are far off. It won't have much action individual skill but it might have a goalmouth scramble or 2 which is nice for neutrals. If this is going to be won it is going to be won by a long throw 30 seconds from time if not then it'll be a draw.
WBA host Bolton and they will be over the moon with last weeks result. Bolton held Man Utd to a draw last week and that is also impressive. So what I'm saying is that it won't be dull and could go either way.
Last it's another all London clash at Upton Park with Fulham being the vistors. Fulham have the upper hand in terms of points because whatever happens they will remain on top of the hammers by the end of the week. Things are starting to look up at West ham last week they beat Tottenham and the week before that they saved a point at Stoke. Fulham are weak up front with Dembele and Zamora out so you wonder if Mark Hughes will change his formation. I'm going to bet on the Hammers for this one and hope it's a good game.
Arsenal travel to Stamford bridge to play Chelsea in what is arguably the most important game so far. Arsenal and Chelsea both had mid-week succes and that should boost them after last weekends defeats. The big talking point is who gets the number one slot for the game. Personally I think Fabianski should get the nod. Almunia made big blunders against WBA and although he saved a penalty so did Fabianski and frankly he didn't have the blunders to go with it. In fact I thought he was rather solid and that is always good for confidence. Injury wise Lampard is out and Fabregas is yet to be passed fit but for Arsenal it does look like they might have to take on their rivals without their captain [ at least not for 90 minutes anyway]. Earlier this week Ancelotti's father died and that started rumours that he would not be attending the game but the Chelsea staff have said that he would be back in time to take charge. Difficult one to call this.I hate to say it but Arsenal will have a tough job getting 3 points but I can see a respectable draw.
Man Utd will be all out to win at Sunderland because the other major title contenders play each other. It is a good chance for them to gain a lot of ground on one of them or a little ground on them both. But Sunderland is not easy in the slightest. They have proved they will fight for the death to get something from a game so Utd will have to get goals quick and then defend better than they have been. I think Utd will win based on quality but I said that about Arsenal and WBA and look who won that one.
Man City's next 2 games are vital if they want to stay in the hunt for the title. They host Newcastle this week and then travel to Blackpool the week after. They need maximum points from these games so they can stay in touch. Newcastle have not been what I hoped for this season. They have fizzled out since their 6-0 win over Villa and are yet to put down their mark as a long term premier league team. It would be a great place to get moving again. I mean The City of Manchester Stadium is a great place to win. I'll bet on City for this one because I think they will just out perform Newcastle.
Liverpool need to keep up the trend of thrashing Blackpool at home that Arsenal and Chelsea have already set. If I was a Liverpool fan then I would be wondering how they would get back into Europe. Gerrard is doing well but he is not a one man band he needs support[looking at you Torres] so that they can carry out results. But Blackpool have been alright on their travels. Lets not forget who won on the opening day with 4 goals. Yes they got thrashed by Arsenal but they had chances until they went down to ten men. And they kept Chelsea quiet for 45 minutes. If liverpool don't step it up then there could be an upset on the cards.
Villa sit 5th in the league at the start of the weekend but if they lose to Tottenham then they would be leap frogged by the london club. After a dodgy start Villa have found their feet and are starting to play again. I'm a bit clueless on Tottenham's team news but I do know that the red card Van Der Vaart picked up in mid-weed will not count for this game as it happened in Europe. Draw for the safe better but either team could win.
Wigan and Wolves has to promise goals. I mean they don't have he best defences so slip ups might happen often. Their might be a few bad challenges so I don't expect a flowing game but there could be talking points. Hard to call so i'll say draw.
It is starting to get a bit silly at Everton they still can't get a win and Birmingham isn't a nice place to have to go and do it. Birmingham are strong at the back at home and that is a major blow for Everton as they just can't find a way through defences right now. I like Everton and don't want to see them do badly but if you can't deliver the goods then what fun is it be in the top division. Stalemate.
Stoke and Blackburn will be a game of the ball over the top. Stoke are the tallest team in the league and I don't think Blackburn are far off. It won't have much action individual skill but it might have a goalmouth scramble or 2 which is nice for neutrals. If this is going to be won it is going to be won by a long throw 30 seconds from time if not then it'll be a draw.
WBA host Bolton and they will be over the moon with last weeks result. Bolton held Man Utd to a draw last week and that is also impressive. So what I'm saying is that it won't be dull and could go either way.
Last it's another all London clash at Upton Park with Fulham being the vistors. Fulham have the upper hand in terms of points because whatever happens they will remain on top of the hammers by the end of the week. Things are starting to look up at West ham last week they beat Tottenham and the week before that they saved a point at Stoke. Fulham are weak up front with Dembele and Zamora out so you wonder if Mark Hughes will change his formation. I'm going to bet on the Hammers for this one and hope it's a good game.
Friday 1 October 2010
1000 VIEWS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I want to say thank you for reading my blog and for helping me get 1000 views. I will have to stop blogging on every game but blogs like a view on the weekends action will never stop. The reason for this is because i am only 10 and need to be in bed by 9.00pm. So by the end of the day I'm pretty tired. Either because I have had 2 to 3 hours one to one tutoring or have just drove myself crazy with some lego all day. Just because the blog is being toned down a bit any major headlines will be commented on as soon as possible. I would also like to mention that the new series of match attax are out and they are a great thing to keep you busy if you love football. You get 6 cards for 50p which is much better value than gogos because they are £1 for 3 figures and 3 stickers and some weird boxes. If you have kids who don't like football as much me they are a great alternative though. Anyway thank you for 1000 VIEWS it is a big milestone for me and has made me very happy.
fantasy football tips
This week will be all about lower teams as there are quite a few lower league teams playing each other. Keep some big stars in,you don't want to gamble that much.But if you have a team dominated by one sides defenders and the other sides attackers than you should pick one team to do well and play them but keep one of the players that is out of your favour from the team you think will do bad and keep him in. You don't want to be wrong and lose a clean sheet or a goal because you risked to much. Use your transfers wisely the league is starting to spread out and we are starting to see who will be in the race to win on game week 38. If you don't consider yourself a top team than play players no one will have if they score a hat-trick and you are the only team that collected his points you have put yourself back in the running. Only do this if you aren't near the top [30 point or less counts as near the top for me]. Unless you're not scoring consistently don't change much because your playing right. If you are annoyed that I am not naming specific players its because i'm in this league to and I can't win if you all start copying my tactics.
Saturday 25 September 2010
fantasy football
I have decide to give tips on fantasy football.
The pundit said this week that striker Dembele would be a good buy but he's injured now and if you brought him in you can't change it without losing points. My last tip is to swap your captain this week if he is a Chelsea player. Go for someone from Man Utd or Arsenal to try and get points on the leaders.
The pundit said this week that striker Dembele would be a good buy but he's injured now and if you brought him in you can't change it without losing points. My last tip is to swap your captain this week if he is a Chelsea player. Go for someone from Man Utd or Arsenal to try and get points on the leaders.
A view on the weekends action
This week I'm going back to the old format based on my reviews.
Man city V Chelsea
Chelsea's first real test for this season and I smell an upset. Don't bank on Chelsea winning this one because we all now how capable City are. And the home advantage comes in very handy. Last season City did the double over Chelsea and that will be playing on both teams minds. On the return leg of that fixture Bridge refused to shake Terry's hand. If Bridge starts for city, because they have problems at the back injury wise, than I hope he does shake his hand. I mean surely he got his revenge after the crap world cup England had. If he doesn't he will be taking it way too far. Ancelloti was so confident that he named his team in an interview a day before the game. I was lucky enough to see the interview on Sky Sports News. The team envolved the regulars like Drogba, Malouda, Anelka, [Kalou is injured so he gets the nod] Essien and Mikel but no Frank Lampard. If he will be on the bench is yet be comfirmed but I read in the paper that he was struggling to recover from his hernia op and may miss Chelsea's next 3 games. If you are lucky enough to have Sky sports than watch this game live. If you don't have Sky sports than go to London with a few mates have a few pints and watch it in a pub. If you choose your pub wisely you might be able to watch it in 3D!!!!!!!
Arsenal V WBA
Arsenal will be disappointed that they let their lead slip in the last minute against
Sunderland. But this should be another win for the Gunners. At home with the confidence of that Carling Cup thrashing of Tottenham it might be another goalfest. I wouldn't be shocked if a number of the lads that played on Tuesday get a place on the bench. WBA also won in the Carling Cup so they will want to continue their form as well.
Birmingham V Wigan
Both teams lost their last game and will be looking to bounce back. Both teams are in the lower half of the table and for Wigan thats not to unusual but Birmingham fans will be annoyed and will want to get out as soon as posable. I don't see much between these two teams and I say draw.
Blackpool v Blackburn
At last Blackpool get to play their 2nd game at home. And the only time they have played at home was a 2-2 draw with Fulham. Thats pretty good seeing that Utd could only manage that as well. They may have been favourites to go down at the start of the season but they are certainly not favourites any more [for me anyway]. Blackburn have come under a lot of stick for the way they play especially after the blatant foul that El Hadge Douif [sorry if I got the name wrong but a player that dirty doesn't deserve his name to be spelt right]. I hope referees cut down on that because its just fouling your way to the goal. I'm going to say that Blackpool will win this won and cause a big upset.
Fulham v Everton
Fulham have had another big injury blow with striker Dembele, who was supposed to fill in for Zamora, has got injured. They are now very short on strikers and I wonder how they will set up. As for Everton and just gets worse and worse and worse. They have been knocked out by Brentford and need to get form or face relegation.
Liverpool v Sunderland
Liverpool have crashed and burned out of the Carling Cup and need to find some form or they have no hope of getting back into the champions league. Sunderland have no more part to play in the Carling Cup after they lost to West Ham. I see a game of two defences today and it might take something special to break the deadlock.
West ham v Tottenham
Two teams with different fortunes in mid-week. West ham won their first game of the season at Sunderland while Tottenham got shown up at White Hart Lane by rivals Arsenal. It is difficult to call but Tottenham are your safest bet .
Bolton v Man Utd
Man utd should win this one. The form they're in it shouldn't be a challenge. Bolton will try their best but I don't see them getting anything from this game.
Wolves v Villa
I understand this is a bit of a derby so both teams will be going all out to win it. If I see a goalie in the box at the end of stoppage time I will laugh my head off. I hope their is a goalie in the box because that always spells goal. Wolves for me but it'll be a great game.
Newcastle v Stoke
Newcastle we be buzzing after becoming the first team to beat Chelsea this season and at Stamford Bridge as well that just makes it all the sweater. Stoke sit 1 place of the relegation zone and will be desperate to get a win here to boost them up the table.
Man city V Chelsea
Chelsea's first real test for this season and I smell an upset. Don't bank on Chelsea winning this one because we all now how capable City are. And the home advantage comes in very handy. Last season City did the double over Chelsea and that will be playing on both teams minds. On the return leg of that fixture Bridge refused to shake Terry's hand. If Bridge starts for city, because they have problems at the back injury wise, than I hope he does shake his hand. I mean surely he got his revenge after the crap world cup England had. If he doesn't he will be taking it way too far. Ancelloti was so confident that he named his team in an interview a day before the game. I was lucky enough to see the interview on Sky Sports News. The team envolved the regulars like Drogba, Malouda, Anelka, [Kalou is injured so he gets the nod] Essien and Mikel but no Frank Lampard. If he will be on the bench is yet be comfirmed but I read in the paper that he was struggling to recover from his hernia op and may miss Chelsea's next 3 games. If you are lucky enough to have Sky sports than watch this game live. If you don't have Sky sports than go to London with a few mates have a few pints and watch it in a pub. If you choose your pub wisely you might be able to watch it in 3D!!!!!!!
Arsenal V WBA
Arsenal will be disappointed that they let their lead slip in the last minute against
Sunderland. But this should be another win for the Gunners. At home with the confidence of that Carling Cup thrashing of Tottenham it might be another goalfest. I wouldn't be shocked if a number of the lads that played on Tuesday get a place on the bench. WBA also won in the Carling Cup so they will want to continue their form as well.
Birmingham V Wigan
Both teams lost their last game and will be looking to bounce back. Both teams are in the lower half of the table and for Wigan thats not to unusual but Birmingham fans will be annoyed and will want to get out as soon as posable. I don't see much between these two teams and I say draw.
Blackpool v Blackburn
At last Blackpool get to play their 2nd game at home. And the only time they have played at home was a 2-2 draw with Fulham. Thats pretty good seeing that Utd could only manage that as well. They may have been favourites to go down at the start of the season but they are certainly not favourites any more [for me anyway]. Blackburn have come under a lot of stick for the way they play especially after the blatant foul that El Hadge Douif [sorry if I got the name wrong but a player that dirty doesn't deserve his name to be spelt right]. I hope referees cut down on that because its just fouling your way to the goal. I'm going to say that Blackpool will win this won and cause a big upset.
Fulham v Everton
Fulham have had another big injury blow with striker Dembele, who was supposed to fill in for Zamora, has got injured. They are now very short on strikers and I wonder how they will set up. As for Everton and just gets worse and worse and worse. They have been knocked out by Brentford and need to get form or face relegation.
Liverpool v Sunderland
Liverpool have crashed and burned out of the Carling Cup and need to find some form or they have no hope of getting back into the champions league. Sunderland have no more part to play in the Carling Cup after they lost to West Ham. I see a game of two defences today and it might take something special to break the deadlock.
West ham v Tottenham
Two teams with different fortunes in mid-week. West ham won their first game of the season at Sunderland while Tottenham got shown up at White Hart Lane by rivals Arsenal. It is difficult to call but Tottenham are your safest bet .
Bolton v Man Utd
Man utd should win this one. The form they're in it shouldn't be a challenge. Bolton will try their best but I don't see them getting anything from this game.
Wolves v Villa
I understand this is a bit of a derby so both teams will be going all out to win it. If I see a goalie in the box at the end of stoppage time I will laugh my head off. I hope their is a goalie in the box because that always spells goal. Wolves for me but it'll be a great game.
Newcastle v Stoke
Newcastle we be buzzing after becoming the first team to beat Chelsea this season and at Stamford Bridge as well that just makes it all the sweater. Stoke sit 1 place of the relegation zone and will be desperate to get a win here to boost them up the table.
Thursday 23 September 2010
Carling Cup 3rd round part 2
Last nights Carling Cup action was even more exciting than the first. It saw 3 all Prem ties so we would lose 3 Prem clubs. But no one expected Liverpool to go out, like their Mersyside neighbours, to a league in a league below them. Unlike Everton, Liverpool lost to a league 2 divisions below them. Let me tell you about it. Liverpool looked like they had this one in the bag when Jovanovic gave them an early lead. But Northampton scored an equaliser and at 90 minutes they couldn't be separated. So it went to extra time and Northampton took the lead in the Ist period. It looked like Liverpool would be going out but N'gog scored a late goal to send it to penalties. N'gog missed his penalty and so did another Liverpool player, I don't know his name, That gave a Northampton player,another name I don't know, a chance to win the shoot-out. He scored and Liverpool were out. After the game Roy Hodgson apologised to his supporters about the defeat. I think Liverpool will struggle to get back into the top 4 this season because they can't string a good run of wins together.
Chelsea also fell at the first hurdle losing 4-3 to Newcastle. Chelsea took the lead with Van Aanholt's first goal for the club. But Newcastle equalised through Ranger. Just before the break Taylor scored a great free-kick to put the Magpies infront. Aneobi scored at the start of the second half to give Newcastle a 2 goal cushion. Chelsea fought back and Anelka scored a goal to bring the Premiership champions back in the game. When Alex went over in the box, rather cheaply for my liking, Anelka stood up and brought Chelsea level. It looked to be heading for extra time when all of a sudden Aneobi scored in stoppage time to send Newcastle through. This proves for me that Chelsea can be beaten. Yes they didn't play their first team but if you keep on pushing they will crack. If you look at their fixtures so far they have been easy. When they start to play teams closer to them then we will see if they are still champions.
Man City lost away to WBA with a side that had 6 inexperienced youngsters starting. It is a massive blow to City because I see this as one of the tournaments that they could win, as well as the FA Cup. City have had a slow start and will be hoping to turn it round at the Bridge on Saturday.
Villa beat Blackburn 3-1 at Villa Park in a repeat of last years semi-final. It is Villa's first win under their new manager and they will hope that continues for months to come.
Wigan are also through after beating Preston North End 2-1 at the DW. It will be important for Wigan to have a good cup run so that the fans won't have to fear the drop.
Man Utd had a small scare at Scunthorpe. They went behind but managed to turn it round before half time making it 2-1. It ended 5-2 to Utd and they progressed into the next round. Utd will be hard to beat this Carling Cup. Now that
Tottenham, Chelsea, Man city and Liverpool are out. The only team you could see beating them is Arsenal but Wenger always sticks to the young lads even if its the final. While Fergie will play his first team in the final. The question is will he change because he knows he needs silver wear. Against Spurs he played a pretty decent starting XI with reserves on the bench if he needed them. I wonder what he is playing?
Chelsea also fell at the first hurdle losing 4-3 to Newcastle. Chelsea took the lead with Van Aanholt's first goal for the club. But Newcastle equalised through Ranger. Just before the break Taylor scored a great free-kick to put the Magpies infront. Aneobi scored at the start of the second half to give Newcastle a 2 goal cushion. Chelsea fought back and Anelka scored a goal to bring the Premiership champions back in the game. When Alex went over in the box, rather cheaply for my liking, Anelka stood up and brought Chelsea level. It looked to be heading for extra time when all of a sudden Aneobi scored in stoppage time to send Newcastle through. This proves for me that Chelsea can be beaten. Yes they didn't play their first team but if you keep on pushing they will crack. If you look at their fixtures so far they have been easy. When they start to play teams closer to them then we will see if they are still champions.
Man City lost away to WBA with a side that had 6 inexperienced youngsters starting. It is a massive blow to City because I see this as one of the tournaments that they could win, as well as the FA Cup. City have had a slow start and will be hoping to turn it round at the Bridge on Saturday.
Villa beat Blackburn 3-1 at Villa Park in a repeat of last years semi-final. It is Villa's first win under their new manager and they will hope that continues for months to come.
Wigan are also through after beating Preston North End 2-1 at the DW. It will be important for Wigan to have a good cup run so that the fans won't have to fear the drop.
Man Utd had a small scare at Scunthorpe. They went behind but managed to turn it round before half time making it 2-1. It ended 5-2 to Utd and they progressed into the next round. Utd will be hard to beat this Carling Cup. Now that
Tottenham, Chelsea, Man city and Liverpool are out. The only team you could see beating them is Arsenal but Wenger always sticks to the young lads even if its the final. While Fergie will play his first team in the final. The question is will he change because he knows he needs silver wear. Against Spurs he played a pretty decent starting XI with reserves on the bench if he needed them. I wonder what he is playing?
Wednesday 22 September 2010
Carling Cup 3rd round part 1
Last night the Carling Cup 3rd round took off. This is the round were the big boys get envolved. There were 3 all premier legue ties so that meant we would lose 3 big contenders. The pick of these ties was Tottenham v Arsenal. And what a game it was. Arsenal took the lead through Henri Lansbury after dominating the first half. Tottenham were quick out of the blocks at the start of the second half and equalised through Robbie Keane. Both teams really started to go for it but no one could find a winner. Extra time it was then and Arsenal cleverly got in behind the Tottenham back line and were awarded a penalty when Nasri was pushed over. Nasri dusted himself of and sent Arsenal back infront. Minutes later Arsenal opened up Tottenham again with Chamakh through on goal this time. A clumsy challenge by Naughton sent Chamakh to the ground and Arsenal had the chance to probably put it beyond Spurs. Nasri stepped up again and put it in the opposite side than the first. Tottenham had one cleared off the line, Nasri showing he can perform at both ends of the pitch. Just when Arsenal fans thought it couldn't get any better Arshavin sent a thunderbolt into the Spurs goal putting the icing on the cake for the Gunners.
In other games West Ham beat Sunderland 1-2 giving them a much needed first win of the season. And Stoke
beat Fulham 2-0 . Wolves were really tested at Notts County. They went behind in the first half but managed to pull it back to
3-1. Then Notts County scored again making it a last few tense minutues before Doyle scored in the 119th minute to seal it for the premier league side.
In the games involving lower teams Millwall's good start to the season has gone up in flames. The weekend before this they were hammered by Watford losing their perfect clean sheet record. They faced Ipswich at home and were defeated 2-1. Mabye all the hipe about Milwall going to the premier league at the first attempt will stop now. Swansea beat Peterborough 3-1 and Being a Portsmouth fan just keeps on getting harder as they lost 2-1 to Leicester.
The big shock of the 3rd round was Everton got Knocked out by Brentford. It was 1-1 afer extra time and Brentford went through 4-3 on penalties. What a result fo Brentford. As for Everton they just can't find their feet this season.
In other games West Ham beat Sunderland 1-2 giving them a much needed first win of the season. And Stoke
beat Fulham 2-0 . Wolves were really tested at Notts County. They went behind in the first half but managed to pull it back to
3-1. Then Notts County scored again making it a last few tense minutues before Doyle scored in the 119th minute to seal it for the premier league side.
In the games involving lower teams Millwall's good start to the season has gone up in flames. The weekend before this they were hammered by Watford losing their perfect clean sheet record. They faced Ipswich at home and were defeated 2-1. Mabye all the hipe about Milwall going to the premier league at the first attempt will stop now. Swansea beat Peterborough 3-1 and Being a Portsmouth fan just keeps on getting harder as they lost 2-1 to Leicester.
The big shock of the 3rd round was Everton got Knocked out by Brentford. It was 1-1 afer extra time and Brentford went through 4-3 on penalties. What a result fo Brentford. As for Everton they just can't find their feet this season.
Sunday 19 September 2010
Touchline tittle-tattle
You have all been great about sending in comments to my blog that I don't have time to answer them all separately so I'm going to answer them all in one post.
I'll start with Becky and I don't need Harry to give me any reviews because I managed to watch the game on sky player [because the room I'm in has no Sky Sports 1] but thanks for the offer.As for Regents Park its great to hear that we are winning and that Abraham has joined. As for you who don't know Regents Park was the name of my football team before I got ill. But I'll be back no doubt about it.
Next I move on to Lisa's question about which teams her 2 youngest children should support. The children in question are Lola [age 8] and Rudy [age 6]. Now Lisa supports Man Utd, her husband Ed supports WBA and their oldest son Louis supports Liverpool. I think that Rudy should support Everton to create a rivalry between Louis and him. And Lola should support Man City to create a rivalry between Lisa and her. As for Ed WBA don't really have an absolute team that they hate. They have Birmingham and Aston Villa but that isn't one that Match of the Day goes wild for. Sorry Ed.
Andy has said sorry for Sunderland's late equaliser against my beloved Arsenal and says that they deserved it. My reply to that is....
STOP BOASTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And that is all I have to say on the matter.
[Standing up and walking away with a bad mood].
Chris has asked me what Everton need to do to start winning. The answer Chris is simple, SCORE MORE GOALS AND DON'T CONCEDE AS MANY!!!!!!!! Its great that you're the king of comebacks but that is no good to you unless that comeback results in a win. Maybe you should just insist on playing in your away kit. That would probably scare them so much that they would forfeit.
Now to end I am going to make a statement. No one has commented on my new format for A view on the weekends action. If you don't comment I will have to go back to the old one because I will asume that you hated it so much you punished me by not commenting.
I'll start with Becky and I don't need Harry to give me any reviews because I managed to watch the game on sky player [because the room I'm in has no Sky Sports 1] but thanks for the offer.As for Regents Park its great to hear that we are winning and that Abraham has joined. As for you who don't know Regents Park was the name of my football team before I got ill. But I'll be back no doubt about it.
Next I move on to Lisa's question about which teams her 2 youngest children should support. The children in question are Lola [age 8] and Rudy [age 6]. Now Lisa supports Man Utd, her husband Ed supports WBA and their oldest son Louis supports Liverpool. I think that Rudy should support Everton to create a rivalry between Louis and him. And Lola should support Man City to create a rivalry between Lisa and her. As for Ed WBA don't really have an absolute team that they hate. They have Birmingham and Aston Villa but that isn't one that Match of the Day goes wild for. Sorry Ed.
Andy has said sorry for Sunderland's late equaliser against my beloved Arsenal and says that they deserved it. My reply to that is....
STOP BOASTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And that is all I have to say on the matter.
[Standing up and walking away with a bad mood].
Chris has asked me what Everton need to do to start winning. The answer Chris is simple, SCORE MORE GOALS AND DON'T CONCEDE AS MANY!!!!!!!! Its great that you're the king of comebacks but that is no good to you unless that comeback results in a win. Maybe you should just insist on playing in your away kit. That would probably scare them so much that they would forfeit.
Now to end I am going to make a statement. No one has commented on my new format for A view on the weekends action. If you don't comment I will have to go back to the old one because I will asume that you hated it so much you punished me by not commenting.
Saturday 18 September 2010
My top four
I received a question from Claire about who would win the Premier League and who would finish in the top four. I think it's too early to start picking winners but Chelsea do look unbeatable and if they keep their form I might start tipping them to win the league. As for the top four I reckon the three regulars will cover the top three. The last place will be contested by Tottenham, Man City and Liverpool. It will be tight and may come down to goal difference but it's too early for me to call it now.
Friday 17 September 2010
A view on the weekends action
I have managed to get hold of a laptop and so here is my view on the weekends action
ON TIME!!!!!
Today I'm going to start with Sunday's early kick-off. Its the big one. Man Utd v Liverpool. This is arguably the biggest game of the premier league season. Both sets of fans will be pumped up for it and there will be alot of crunching tackles during the game. For my prediction I'm going to say a draw. My reasons are both teams have had decent starts. If Man Utd had won their mid-week game, like Liverpool, I might of tipped them to win it but they will not be confident after that night and liverpool, who won their mid-week game comfortably, will be slightly more confident. Torres needs to turn up or Liverpool will have to rely on N'Gog up front. Man Utd need to use the home advantage to their advantage. If they can start the game brightly then the crowd will start singing and that is very intimitating for any side. Don't miss this one it is gonna be a cracker. Now back to saturday and to the tea time kick-off. Sunderland host Arsenal at the stadium of light and Sunderland have a decent record against the gunners. But don't let that fool you. Arsenal are the second highest scorer in the league and are coming into this game of the back of a 6-0 win in the champions league. I reckon Arsenal will win but don't write Sunderland off, history is on their side. Stoke play West Ham at home this week and they will be boosted by getting their first win of the season while west ham sit rock bottom without a single point on the board. Stoke should win this one if they don't do anything silly especially seeing that they are at home. I think every Villa fan would admit they've had a torrid start to the season. Bolton though have have had a pretty decent start by their standards and will be looking to capitalise on Villa's bad form. I see Bolton pushing Villa a lot this game but it will be hard as they are away from home. Blackburn v Fulham isn't a very promising game because Blackburn's main tactic is to throw the ball into the box whenever they can. Fulham are without their main threat up front Bobby Zamora and will be without him for many months to come. It will be interesting to see how Mark Hughes changes his attack, personally, I would like to see Dembele in from the start. As I said, don't expect much - the most excitement you might get is ordering your hotdog from the refreshment stand before the game. Everton have proved that it's not over until the fat lady sings with two goals in two minutes to go level against United. You can read my match review in a previous post. Newcastle's 6-0 thrashing of Villa has been followed up by a draw and a defeat. They are not looking like the team that hot promoted by winning the Championship. I reckon Everton may have this one but Newcastle won't go down without a fight. Tottenham host Wolves and last season Wolves did the double over Tottenham. Wolves have also started the season brightly in terms of their football and might trouble Spurs every now and then. Tottenham will be expected to win but if history repeats itself the White half of north London will be very upset. West Brom play Birmingham and I'll admit I have underrated them this season. It turns out they gave much more quality than I first thought. Birmingham have had a solid stArt and will hope to continue it at the Hawthorns. Many people would say this game could be dull but I think this might throw up a few goals. Man City go to Wigan having had a disappointing start to the season. The way they have been playing is very good but the results are very bad. Wigan have started better than I thought they would though this will be tough. They are at home which is a help but the support they get at the DW is very minimal. Blackpool have a tough trip to Chelsea which I don't think they'll get anything out of. They have been good away from home but the last time they went one of the big boys they list 6-0. I expect something like here. As for Chelsea Frank Lampard should make his return after his hernia op.
Please comment on whether or not you prefer the new format of my view on the weekend's action. I you don't I'll happily go back to the mr format. Please be completely honest in your opinion this format was just an experiment yo see which one you preferred.
Please comment on whether or not you prefer the new format of my view on the weekend's action. I you don't I'll happily go back to the mr format. Please be completely honest in your opinion this format was just an experiment yo see which one you preferred.
Thursday 16 September 2010
Dinos concerns
DINO IS RIGHT TO BE CONCERNED BECAUSE THE STADIUM OF LIGHT IS A TOUGH PLACE TO GO. WE DID LOSE THERE LAST SEASON AND SUNDERLAND WILL USE THAT TO BOOST CONFIDENCE. BUT I THINK WE CAN WIN BECAUSE WE ARE THE SECOND HIGHEST SCORING TEAM IN THE LEAGUE AND HAVE ALL THE CONFIDENCE FROM OUR CHAMPIONS LEAGUE VICTORY. BOTH TEAMS HAVE NEW WEAPONS UP FRONT. ARSENAL'S IN THE SHAPE OF CHAMAKH AND SUNDERLAND'S IN THE SHAPE OF GYAN. IT WILL BE A CLOSE INCOUNTER BUT I SHOULDN'T WORRY DINO WE WILL BE FINE
sorry and champions league
I AM SORRY BUT IVE BEEN ADMITTED TO THE HOSPITAL AGAIN WITH A TEMPERATURE AND WILL STRUGGLE TO GIVE MY PREDICTIONS FOR THE WEEKEND UNTIL LATE. AS I MENTIONED IN THE TITLE, THIS BLOG IS ALSO ABOUT THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. LIKE THE EURO QUALIFIERS I AM ONLY GOING TO TALK ABOUT SOME TEAMS.THESE TEAMS ARE ARSENAL, MAN UTD , CHELSEA,TOTTENHAM AND THE HOLDERS INTER. LETS START WITH ARSENAL AND THE PERFECT START TO THEIR GROUP WITH A 6-0 WIN AT HOME TO BRAGA. THROUGHOUT THE GAME ARSENAL PLAYED LOVELY FOOTBALL AND SCORED EVERY GOAL IN STYLE, EXCEPT FOR THE FIRST WHICH WAS FROM THE SPOT, AND BRAGA COULDN'T GET A SNIFF OF THE PLAY.CHELSEA ALSO SCORED A FEW WITH A 4-1 WIN AT ZILINA, NEVER HEARD OF THEM MUST BE MAKING THEIR CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DEBUT,WHICH IS ALSO A VERY GOOD RESULT. THE ONLY THING THEY WOULD BE UPSET ABOUT IS THAT THEY COULDN'T KEEP A CLEAN SHEET. NOW FOR MAN UTD AND THEY HAD A ALL BRITISH CLASH AGAINST RANGERS. RANGERS HAD ONE PLAN FOR THIS GAME AND THEY STUCK TO IT. EVERY TIME UTD WENT FORWARD RANGERS GOT 10 BLUE SHIRTS BETWEEN UTD AND THE GOAL. MILLER MADE SURE UTD COULD ONLY ATTACK WITH 8 PLAYERS BY OCCUPIEING FERDINAND AND SMALLING. IT ENDED 0-0 AND WAS RATHER DULL. UTD SUFFERED A MASSIVE BLOW AS VALENCIA DISLOCATED HIS ANCLE AND COULD BE OUT FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON. TOTTENHAM WENT 2-0 UP AWAY TO WERDER BREMAN AND WERE CRUISING BUT LET THAT LEAD SLIP IN THE SECOND HALF AND ENDED UP DRAWING 2-2. IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE YOU HAVE TO HOLD ON TO LEADS LIKE THAT AWAY FROM HAME, LIKE IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE. INTER DIDN'T START THEIR DEFENCE OF THE TROPHY TO WELL BY DRAWING 2-2. IF YOU ASK ME I DON'T THINKY THEY CAN WIN IT WITHOUT JOSE AND WILL BE STRUCK DOWN BY BARCELONA. THIS HAS BEEN MY CHAMPIONS LEAGUE REVIEW AND I APOLIGISE IF I CAN'T GIVE MY PREDICTIONS BY THE TIME THE GAMES START.
Tuesday 14 September 2010
The weekends action and Monday
I'm sorry I couldn't put this post up earlier but I got sidetracked so here it it is a few days late.
Well its been another action-packed gameweek in the premier league. With the top 2 maintaining their good starts with wins. But if I was to start there I would be being very bias. The only place to start was at Goodison Park were Everton hosted Man Utd. This was a classic and is by far the game of the season so far. Everton started the better team but failed to score when Utd were on the back foot. When they did score, through Steven Piennar, Utd had found their feet and responded with a goal of their own scored by Fletcher. Utd had taken all the confidence with them in the dressing room on to the pitch in the second half and 2 minutes in they took the lead through Vidic. Everton now had to go for it and when they pushed men up from the back for a corner Utd pounced. Scholes picked up the ball on the edge of his box, took it forward a few paces then hit an amazing ball to Berbatov. Distin, who was the only man back for Everton, decided to come for the ball but got the flight of it all wrong and missed it completely. Berbatov was now one on one and buried it in the corner with the outside of his boot. Utd were now cruising and had several chances to score again. Scholes blazed over and so did Nani. While I was watching the game I thought to myself will these misses come back to haunt them. Then I shook myself out of the trance and said ' Everton aren't going to come back from this 'or were they. Even though Arteta scored the goal that gave Everton a point it was Cahill who really saved the day for Everton. First he scored to make the comeback possible Then when the ball was played into the box he headed it down instead of trying a impossible header to grab the glory for himself. Arteta's shot had a bit of luck as it came of Scholes which diverted it past Van der sar. I have talked a lot about this game so I am gonna be quick with the rest of the games. I'll start with Arsenal and a 4-1 win over Bolton means they stay 2nd in the table. I love to see my team scoring goals but the one we conceded was very sloppy. A weak Konscielny back header was intercepted by Lee who took it round Almunia, who was now in no mans land, Lee then chipped it to Elemander who headed home. I think we conceded this goal due to inexperience at the back. Without Vermalean we have a young centre-back pair who need to learn when and when not to do things. Bolton ended the game with ten men and I have to say it wasn't a red card. He basically went through the the back of Chamakh but his studs were down and it wasn't dangerous so I don't know what the ref sent him off for. Chelsea easily defeated West Ham 3-1. The shock from that game was that Essien scored 2 headers. I mean when does Essien score headers? Scott parker scored a great goal but by then it was too late. Fulham may have come away with all three points from their game but they will be without Zamora for at least 4 months after he suffered a horrible injury. He was taken to hospital and needed gas and air to ease the pain. They say he has broken his leg above the ankle. This is a major blow to both Fulham and Zamora as he will find it hard to get into the England squad now. Man City have been very disappointing so far with only 1 win out of 4. They keep on saying the team needs time to gel but its been 3 years since they got that money so I think if the team hasn't gelled by now then something is wrong. As for Blackburn a point is a good result at City and they should be pleased. Blackpool have started amazingly for a team that came up via the playoffs. They have only had one game at home and out of the three away games they've had its won 2 lost 1. If they can keep this up they might even finish without the danger of relegation on the last day of the season. As for Newcastle, they have failed to beat Blackpool twice now in their last 2 meetings and apart from the 6-0 win against Aston Villa it hasn't been a great start to the season. WBA got a great point out of a game they were tipped to lose. Spurs have been delt another injury after Modric was seen on crutches when leaving the Hawthorns. Gyan scored on his debut for Sunderland but the celebrations were slightly dampened by Alcaraz netting a leveler for Wigan. Liverpool carried out a goalless draw at Birmingham. If it wasn't for Reina Liverpool would of lost. I did not get to see Stoke v Villa but Stoke got the win they needed to kick start their season. But for Villa their bad start continues.
Friday 10 September 2010
A view on the weekend's action
Here is my view on the weekends action a day earlier than normal.
Everton v Man Utd
This game has occurred near the later stages of the season in recent years and Utd haven't been as successful as they would have liked in 08/09 they drew 1-1 and last season they lost 3-1. So not really a happy hunting ground. But as I said those games were in the last part of the season, when Everton were finishing strong. Now that they are playing at the start of the season it might be different. Let's face it Everton's start hasn't been good and that will not make them high on confidence. Man Utd on the other hand have started pretty well, not 100% but still pretty good, and are in 3rd place beaten to 2nd by Arsenal because of the 6 they scored against Blackpool. Who knows, when Utd play Blackpool they might score 7. So basically Utd are on a high and will be tough to beat. I will say Utd based on form alone but if Everton keep playing like they do against Utd then Who knows Chris might have a smile on his face by Sunday.
Arsenal V Bolton
Arsenal will be without Walcott for this game which is a real shame cause he was playing so well and was a joy to watch, obviously if you support Bolton its not a shame and more of a relief. As many of you probably Know he got injured playing for England and will be out for 6 weeks. Van persie is also out till october. So Arsenal come into this game missing 2 stars. I would expect Wenger to put Denilson in for walcott and play Fabregas behind the front 2. As for Bolton confidence will be on a high after coming back from 2 goals down with ten me 2 a fortnight ago. They sit 5th probably their best start after 3 games in a long time. I would expect Arsenal to win because they are at home and rarely slip up at home. Though Bolton will certainly make it a challenge and will do whatever they can to stop them.
Fulham v Wolves
I think this will be a alright game with one or to pieces of drama or excellence. Wolves have started well for only their 2nd season in the prem an have saved points from Everton away and won at home to Stoke. So that is alright. Fulham have made a steady start with 3 draws but they have proved no lead is safe untill the final whistle blows after scoring late on twice. First against Man Utd and then the following week at Blackpool. I'll say Wolves on the way they have played this season. But if Fulham can keep the deficit at 1 then I would put money one them rescuing something late on.
Man City v Blackburn
City haven't started the way the way their football suggests they should have. They have got 4 points and have failed to put teams like Sunderland away after bossing the game then conceding a late goal. Black burn have started even worse they won their first game at home to Everton but then lost to Birmingham after taking the lead and then lost to Arsenal having pulled it back. I will say City cause of home advantage and that lots of players have had a good international break.
Newcastle v Blackpool
Newcastle for me. They have started very well only losing to Man Utd away which lots of teams fail to come away with anything. Blackpool have proved they can score goals but have failed to defend. They were poor against Arsenal and conceded a late goal against Fulham. Now you could argue that Arsenal were superb on the day and that they could of been undefendable. But they need to hang on to leads at home if they want to stay up. I'm sorry Blackpool fans but I don't think that you would be able to defeat Newcastle on their own turf.
WBA v Tottenham
I think Tottenham will edge this one. They will be without Defoe though because he has been ruled out for a few months. New signings Van der Vaart and William Gallas might make their debuts and Modric is fit again. WBA don't for me have the talent to defeat an in form Tottenham side.
West Ham v Chelsea
After the start that both teams have made Chelsea should win this one as they have won all their other games. West Ham have played three and lost three and sit rock bottom of the table. Upton Park isn't particularly a fortress either so I will say another high scoring game for Chelsea.
Wigan v Sunderland
Draw for me. Wigan will be boosted after beating Spurs at White Hart Lane because last season they got hammered 9-1. Sunderland are coming off the back of a narrow win home to Man City so will also be on a high. I don't see much separating these two teams and fear a goalless draw.
Birmingham v Liverpool
Liverpool, as I mentioned to Claire, need to score more goals to get higher up the table. They will definitely need to do that against Birmingham as they are stubborn at home. Birmingham will be disappointed after a fortnight ago they lost a 2-0 lead to a 10 men Bolton side. Liverpool should win this if Gerrard and Torres turn up. It might also be a chance for new signing Konchesky to make his debut but Hodgeson will have to drop one of his defenders for him to do so.
If you comment on this post I may not be able to answer in time before the games kick-off as I'm in Brighton this weekend. I have no idea who they are playing!
Thursday 9 September 2010
Sonny side up
This is my fantasy league. If hope you are doing one then best of luck.
CLICK ON THE TABLE TO IN LARGE IT
Wednesday 8 September 2010
Euro 2012 Qualifying
So England have started their qualifying campaign along with Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. I am only going to put posts out about these teams. If you want to know about any other nations results please comment and I will include them in the post. I'm going to start with England and 2 wins out of 2 is just the start we needed to make us forget the world cup. But I still think we need to work on a few things. Now I know we scored 4 against Bulgaria but at 1-0 they looked like they might get back into it. Even after we scored the 2nd we nearly let them in the back door and then we would of had a fight on our hands at 2-1. And against Switzerland we were 2-0 up against 10 men and we let them get a foothold. We might not be so lucky in the actual tournament. On to Scotland and they proved last night that just because Spain are in their group doesn't mean they aren't going to give them a run for their money for that 1 automatic place. At 1-1 against Liechtenstein they could of just excepted the point but these men are Scottish and if they don't get it all they don't want any. So Stephen McManus snatched a late late winner to make sure the Scots went back up north happy. Wales have only played 1 game in there campaign but it did end in defeat. They are in a very tough group with England probably going to take the automatic place and you would expect Switzerland to win the play-off. I Don't see Wales at the Euros but who knows. Republic of Ireland have got a great shout at automatic qualification after 2 wins out of 2. Looking at there group they could quite possibly manage it. And last but not least Northern Ireland. They, like Wales,have only played 1 game and, unlike Wales, have got 3 points. I have had a look at their group and the toughest team is Italy. They might not get the automatic place but if Italy take it then they have got a great chance of winning the play-off. A good start for England and the whole of Ireland. Scotland are still unbeaten and have made the 2nd best start possible. Don't worry if your Welsh you have played a game less than everyone else [except Switzerland] and there is a long way to go yet.
Friday 3 September 2010
Chris's Everton worries
Everton's start hasn't been good enough for Europe. They are playing alright but they need to find an end product. What is their goal scoring record after 3 games 1 goal for 3 against. It isn't good enough. I'm an Everton admirer at the way they can always pull something out of the fire against the big boys but they need to beat smaller teams like Blackburn and Wolves and if they want to beat Villa to the Europa league spot they have to beat them. If they keep on playing like they are, something will go their way eventually but if your after Europe you can't wait for that to go your way you have to make it go your way by forcing goals and winning games by big margins. I still wouldn't worry Chris but you do need a win to get your engine started.
A comment from Claire
You are right. At the moment as long as you get the 3 points you can relax. Its later on in the season that goals become important because the top 4 might be decided on goal difference. Liverpool will need to start scoring goals but at the moment they only need to focus on getting all 3 points.
Tuesday 31 August 2010
Transfer deadline day
There was a frantic rush to sigh players last night. The big signings where definitely Robinho's move to AC Milan and Sunderland's club record signing Asamoah Gyan. Robinho suprised me the most. Not the move, I thought he would go but only on a season long loan. I was not expecting him to join on a permanent basis. Sunderland acted faster than the big teams to break the club record signing fee for the second time in three years by signing Gyan for £13M. Gyan will probably replace Cambell who has ruptured his knee ligaments and is out for at least six months. Other deals that were done last night included Stoke. They got both Gudgjohnson on a season long loan and Marc Wilson for how long I do not know. There were question marks about Carlton Cole and if he would be moving to Anfield but when Babel said he wasn't joining West Ham the move stalled and never went through. Birmingham to were busy. Bringing in ex Arsenal midfielder Hleb on a season long loan from Barcelona. And Martin Jiranek for an undisclosed fee. Overal a pretty busy last few hours of the transfer window some big money being thrown around but mostly loan deals being made.
Monday 30 August 2010
Sundays action
Sunday saw Bolton host Birmingham and that for me was the game of the day. The talking points were the red card and how Birmingham couldn't hold on to a 2 goal lead against 10 men. First the red card. What was the goalie thinking he has made a challenge, you have the ball don't square up to him let alone hit him. You can't have any arguments about it he has to go. Now, Birmingham have 35 minutes to defend a 2 goal lead against ten men. In the premier league you have to win from that position. They give away 2 fouls and its level. For me that is not good enough for a team who finished in the top half last season. Next Villa Everton. Villa took the lead with a class goal by Luke Young. And that is how it stayed. Everton had their chances to level but Villa had chances as well. So Everton can't say they were the better team because they weren't. If you go a goal down you need to score one or you lose, they didn't score so they lost. Liverpool beat W.B.A 1-0. I think Liverpool need to score more goals against those sort of opponents if they want to get back into the champions league. Sunderland answered their critics by narrowly beating Man City 1-0. For me it was a penalty but that isn't the point. The point is City had tons of chances to score and as I say you can't win if you don't score. City have got lots of talent but its scattered over the starting XI and the bench. I predict a lot of players leaving City in January.
Belguim grand prix
I don't just talk about football I also comment on the F1. Mark Webber had pole position with Lewis Hamilton in 2nd. Jenson Button was in 5th with Sebastian Vettel in 4th. I've said these names because they are the main championship contenders well, there is Alonso so he was in 10th. The start saw Webber stall so Hamilton jumped into the lead. Kubica, who was 3rd on the grid, took 2nd and Button took 2 places up to 3rd. A few laps in and the first rain shower came but, it didn't last long so the leaders decided not to switch to intermediates and just servived on sliks. Webber, who was down in 7th after his stall, was climbing fast and was now 5th behind his teammate Vettel. It stayed like this for a while then an incident occurred. Vettel tried to pass Button on a straight. He lost the back end when he was getting into position for the pass and when he corrected it slammed into the side of Button forcing Button to retire and nocking his front wing off forcing him to pit and that put him 20th and ruined his chance of points. Webber was now in 3rd and soon caught up with Kubica. With ten laps to go it started to rain and Hamilton almost crashed because of it. He came into the corner to fast and ran into the gravel trap just managing to keep it out of the barrier and managed not to get stuck in the gravel so came out in 1st but his lead was cut from 10 seconds to about 2 seconds. The front runnerstried to stay out on sliks but it was to wet and they had to come in for inters. Some of the back markers put on full wets but there was no standing water so ended up destroying their tyres. What had sparked the back markers to change to wets was Alonso spinning into the barrier but it wasn't anything to do with him not being on wets he just ran to far over the cirb and lost it. The last laps of the race were nail biting but Lewis hang on for the win with Webber in 2nd, a bit of a let off if after his stall at the start if you ask me, and Kubica in 3rd. After this race the top 6 of the championship table looks like this.
1st Hamilton 182 points
2nd Webber 179 points
3rd Vettel 151 points
4th Button 147 points
5th Alonso 141 points
6th Massa 109 points
Sunday 29 August 2010
A question from Chris
OK Chris, I think we will both agree Everton haven't made the best start to the new season. They should of beaten wolves in my opinion and lost to Blackburn. Villa to haven't done very well either. No one would have thought they would lose 6-0 at Newcastle but they won their opening game so it isn't all that bad. You are away from home which doesn't help. It is however a good time to be playing Villa so don't right of another Villa collapse. I rate your chances pretty high but only if your stars turn up.
Saturday 28 August 2010
saturdays action
Saturday did throw up one big upset and if you don't know what it was you don't know much about the beautiful game. It happened at White Hart Lane. Wigan beat Spurs 1-0 and they deserved it. They were much the better team for me and created two chances just before the goal that really should have been put away. They do need to score more though because Spurs had a spell just before the final whistle to level it and if it wasn't for Al Habsi, the new goalkeeper who was drafted in to replace Kirkland after he conceded 10 goals in 2 games, they would of most likely lost there lead. I rate Al Habsi highly after that performance and for Wigan's sake hope he can keep it up. At the start of the season I thought Wigan would be straight down but if they can beat sides from the big 4 they might have a shout of staying up. On to the other games and I'm going to start with my team Arsenal. I thought we did extremely well to get all 3 points because they attacked us from the air all day. Every time they got a free-kick or a throw near the box up came the centre backs and in it went. I would like to highlight Walcott again. He scored another great goal and is really starting to come into his own. If he keeps on scoring and playing as well as he did that England place is in the bag. Next on to Blackpool who played their first game a Bloomfield Road in the premier league and it was not a bad start. A 2 all draw with Fulham is just as good as Man Utd managed against them. But it could have been sweeter they switched of before the end letting Etuhu score the leveler. If they want to stay up they have to hold on to leads at home whatever the opposition. Chelsea v Stoke wasn't as straight forward as I thought it would be. Lampard missed an early chance to give Chelsea the lead from the spot. And at 1-0 to the London club Stoke hit the bar so it could have been different but when Chelsea got the second it was all over. Man Utd beat West Ham comfortably 3-0. The good news for England fans is Rooney has ended his long goal drought. The last game was Wolves v Newcastle and it was 1-1 so not as good as I said but, the game had another story. The battle between Barton and Henry. Henry kept on putting late challenges on Barton and for me was lucky to stay on the pitch. At the end of the game Barton had a word with Mick Mcarthy probebly about the challenges from Henry. In his interview Mcarthy said the talk was nothing and that Henry had not targeted Barton. Maybe that is true but the game is over now so no point living in the past.
My view on the weekends action
Blackburn v Arsenal
I would think Arsenal straight away but when you look at the two teams you could say Blackburn might be in with a shout. My first reason for that is the completion of the signing Benjani. Arsenal haven't got the most solid back line so any new striker might cause us a problem. On the up side for Arsenal, Denilson is back from an abdominal injury, Konscielny is back from his ban, we have got a new defender called Squillaci so hopefully he will be good. Arsenal for me but don't be afraid to go Blackburn cause there could be an upset in the wings.
Blackpool v Fulham
I will say Fulham becuse of the way they played against Man Utd. It was incredible if they play like that against Blackpool they should win. But just because Blackpool lost 6-0 to Arsenal doesn't mean they might not do better against smaller opposition. They did beat Wigan 4-0.
Chelsea v Stoke City
I've got one word for you, Chelsea
Tottenham v Wigan
I would go for Spurs. You could argue they might be tired after their mid weak tie with Young Boys but Wigan for me just aren't a force to be reckoned with.
Wolves v Newcastle
Both teams have got off to pretty decent starts so watch out for goals. Carrol looks good and so does Nolan but for Wolves their whole team looks good. So I predict a good game. Newcastle have also got new signing Tiote to strengthen their midfield.
Man Utd v West Ham
Man Utd have proved they can score goals this season but they have failed to put Fulham away when they had the chance last weekend. So my advice to West Ham would be sit back and try to keep the deficit as small as possible and nick a goal on the break. They haven't had a very good start so a good result here could raise confidence to a new high.
Now on to Sunday
Bolton v Birmingham
Bolton have made a good start to the season as have Birmingham. They both have 4 points so both are yet to lose a game. If football was played on paper it would be a draw but football isn't played on paper is it.
Liverpool v W.B.A
Liverpool have had their fair share of criticism over the last few weeks but I think they will win this one because W.B.A just don't look strong enough even after a 1-0 win over Sunderland. I feel Liverpool will win this one on team size more than anything else.
Sunderland v Man City
Last week I said Sunderland would hold out against W.B.A but they couldn't. They couldn't even score one themselves so ended up losing the game. City look great and tore Liverpool to bits last weekend so should have no trouble dismantling a dodgy Sunderland defence.
Aston Villa v Everton
I was shocked when Villa lost against Newcastle I thought they would cope without Milner but I guess I was wrong. They are up against a Everton side who are making their usual start to the season. Slowly but surely.
Monday 23 August 2010
Sundays action
Now its time to talk about Sunday first Newcastle's shock win over Aston Villa. Who would of predicted a 3rd 6-0 win of the weekend. Carrol scored the second of the weekends hat-tricks. I thought Villa would at least get a point but to lose by that many was amazing. On to Man Utd and they should of been 3-1 up and home and dry but Nani fluffed the penalty which shouldn't of been a penalty in the first place so Hangeland ,who had just given Utd the lead with an own goal, scored a great header with one minute to go but then they did have to hold out against a barrage of Utd attacks cause 4 minutes were added on. Well done Newcastle and Fulham.
Sunday 22 August 2010
Saturday's action
Right, day one is finished of this weekend and I was right about Arsenal,Chelsea and Tottenham. You can decide if I was right about Everton. I said they wouldn't turn it around but they did draw so I guess thats not all bad.As for Birmingham Blackburn, it was 2-1 and Blackburn had a penalty saved so not as many goals as I predicted but you could say the penalty incident made up for that. I was wrong about W.B.A and was suprised when they beat Sunderland. Bolton got a good win at West ham I thought that would be a no brainer but I guess I was wrong. Lets move on to the talking points and where else to start then Theo Wallcott's hat-trick. He played amazingly and fully deserverd the hat-trick. Chamakh could of had a hat-trick of his own but only converted one of about four chances. I feel sorry for Blackpool as they beat Wigan 4-0 on the opening day and it was harsh that their second game was at the Emirates. I mean Arsenal aren't going to be battling for relegation while Wigan are so beating Wigan 4-0 is saying you intend to stay up this season. Also two away games three points who knows they might make their home a fortress like Stoke did and stay up on home form. I think Chelsea have clearly said we want to win this league 12 goals in to games makes that pretty clear. Wigan will struggle this season they can't pick up points at home. The next big talking point was definitely Stoke's disallowed goal against Spurs. To me it looked over the line and it just increases the argument for goaline technology or at least the extra officials on the goaline. That is all the major talking points of Saturdays action hope you liked it.
Saturday 21 August 2010
My sisters fantasy football form
Know I do fantasy football with my dad. We have a league with 34 teams in it. Now my sister made a team so she could join in but she doesn't really like football like we do she doesn't even know her login so she can't change her team. Anyway, she has Walcott in her team and he scored a hat-trick against Blackpool so now she has got more points then me! I would love it if you could comment on players I should buy to get my place back.
My view on the weekends action
ARSENAL V BLACKPOOL
BIRMINGHAM V BLACKBURN
I think this will be a good game. Both teams have got off to a good starts Birmingham have shown they won't give up by coming back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Sunderland. Yes Sunderland had 10 men but they still had to score twice in 45 minutes. Blackburn have shown they can beat teams that are supposedly better then them with a 1-0 win over Everton.
EVERTON V WOLVES
Don't expect Everton to turn it around just because its Wolves. May I remind you Wolves won their opening game away to Stoke a place I concider hard to play at. But they have home advantage but if Wolves play well and stay diciplined they could snatch a late winner on the break.My prediction a pretty even fair draw.
STOKE CITY V TOTTENHAM
As much as I hate to say it but Spurs will probebly win this clash. I know I just said stoke was a hard place to go but they look good they were much the better team against Man City and deserved to win. From a Stoke point of view, they will have to hope Rory Delap has has throwing hands on.
W.B.A V SUNDERLAND
Sunderland all the way for me. I just don't think W.B.A have the fire power to beat a rather big Sunderland backline. I think Sunderland win.
WEST HAM V BOLTON
I think I am right in saying based on last season draw all the way. They both fought for survival they both couldn't win for the life of them.So I think West ham v Bolton draw.
WIGAN V CHELSEA
I think I can safely say Chelsea have marked their intent to retain the title this season.So Wigan should be easy after a 6-0 win over W.B.A and Wigan's confidence might be down after losing
4-0 to favourites to go down Blackpool.I don't think anyone will argue Chelsea are favourites but anything can happen in football.
Moving on to Sunday 2 games to talk about, first
NEWCASTLE V ASTON VILLA
Villa now without James Milner, I think not sure if that deal has gone through but I think it has because Ireland has joined Villa.Newcastle have got a chance in my eyes because they are at home and for me have got a good side. Villa will no doubt miss Milner but I don't think it will have much of an effect on their team spirit on the pitch. When Barry left they kept on playing and did very well.Could be a draw but if anyones going to edge it I'd say Villa.
FULHAM V MAN UTD
Now I know Fulham have a great record against Man utd at Craven cottage but I still favour utd to win. Every time Fulham have beaten Man u it has been when they have been going through a rough patch either with injury or suspension. At the moment they are on a high so I think they will win.
And finally on to Mondays game
MAN CITY V LIVERPOOL
Don't expect a goal fest just because its to big teams I think this will be a stalemate or 1-1 draw max.I don't really know what to say about this game apart from it might get boring.I say draw.
So that is my view on the weekends action and my prediction for the results.
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