English Football Thread! 2007-2008 Season

[demondude]

I'm hoping ronaldinio comes to chelsea. :)

[blim]

While it would be great to see Ronaldinho playing in England, i cant see why he would want to leave Barca.

Also, i am shocked to see Martin Allen has left Leicester after only three games!

[Loony BoB]

I'm hoping ronaldinio comes to chelsea. :)
Career Suicide 101

[Psychotic]

Ronaldinho + long ball team = oh boy.

EDIT: Champions League draw.

Pot 1

AC Milan
Barcelona
Liverpool
Inter Milan
Arsenal
Real Madrid
Chelsea
Manchester United

Pot 2

Valencia
Lyon
Porto
Sevilla/AEK Athens
PSV Eindhoven
Roma
Benfica
Werder Bremen

Pot 3

Celtic
Schalke
Stuttgart
Steaua Bucharest
CSKA Moscow
Sporting Lisbon
Lazio
Marseille

Pot 4

Rangers
Shakhtar Donetsk
Besiktas
Olympiakos
Dynamo Kiev
Fenerbache
Slavia Prague
Rosenborg

I believe this is ordered based on their UEFA seeding. A poor Champions League campaign for Man United or Chelsea could see them being dropped into Pot 2 for next season. Their coefficients are 99.6, and Valencia's is 99.4.

Pot 3 looks a lot stronger than usual. Do not underestimate Stuttgart, Steaua Bucharest or CSKA Moscow, and Pot 4 has several eastern European countries, making travel difficult. Here's hoping we get Rangers or Rosenborg, based on that and that alone.

EDIT2:

Juventus defender Jean Alain Boumsong is attracting interest from Liverpool.

Tuttosport says Liverpool have made a late move for the Frenchman, who has been made available by Juve this summer.

Reds boss Rafa Benitez needs to find cover after losing Jamie Carragher to a rib injury and selling Gabriel Paletta to Boca Juniors.

I literally yelled when I read this. It's obviously bull:skull::skull::skull::skull: as it comes from tribal football, but jesus christ you do not even JOKE about this sort of thing. It's bad enough reading us being linked with Julio Baptista without this. Thank fuck Rafa came out and said this today: "We were checking some options for the first team squad yesterday, but it's very difficult to find the right players this late. I don't think we will be signing anyone now."

[Loony BoB]

I believe this is ordered based on their UEFA seeding. A poor Champions League campaign for Man United or Chelsea could see them being dropped into Pot 2 for next season. Their coefficients are 99.6, and Valencia's is 99.4.
Actually, only United are really under threat. Valencia and United both reached the quarterfinals of the 2002/03 season, so they are the most likely to drop valuable points. Chelsea, meanwhile, went out on the first round of the UEFA Cup in that season so I'm pretty sure that whatever they do they'll still be in the top eight.

[blim]

Group A
LIVERPOOL
Porto
Marseille
Besiktas


Group B
CHELSEA
Valencia
Schalke 04
Rosenborg


Group C
REAL MADRID
Werder Bremen
Lazio
Olympiakos


Group D
AC MILAN
Benfica
Celtic
Shakhtar Donetsk


Group E
BARCELONA
Lyon
Stuttgart
Rangers


Group F
MANCHESTER UNITED
Roma
Sporting Lisbon
Dynamo Kiev


Group G
INTER MILAN
PSV Eindhoven
CSKA Moscow
Fenerbahce


Group H
ARSENAL
Sevilla/AEK Athens
Steau Bucharest
Slavia Prague


Typically easy group for Man U, Celtic are gonna struggle. Liverpool and Chelsea should be OK though.

[Psychotic]

Of the British teams, Arsenal and Celtic are going to have the worst time of it.

[Loony BoB]

Typically easy group for Man U, Celtic are gonna struggle. Liverpool and Chelsea should be OK though.
While I don't think that it's a HARD group, Roma managed to walk over Lyon in last season's CL and were second in Serie A - meanwhile Sporting Lisbon were second in Liga, too.

Don't really think there are any definite easy groups this time around.

EDIT: I got one of my three preferred teams from the available pots - Sporting Lisbon. Nani & Ronaldo vs. their old team, should be quality. :)

[Rocket Edge]

We certainly do NOT have an easy group. Roma away last year was as hard a game as we got all season. Dynamo Kiev are sort of like our bogey team aswell.


EDIT: I got one of my three preferred teams from the available pots - Sporting Lisbon. Nani & Ronaldo vs. their old team, should be quality. :)
That's what I was thinking. That automatically puts Sporting in with a chance. Besides, they are Portugese, and all Portugese teams are bastards to beat. All they do is dive & score wonder goals. :mad:

Other than that I can't really complain, because no group has it easy. Poor Celtic, thats possibly the hardest group of them all they are in.

[blim]

Shouldn't that read "all portugese PLAYERS"

[charliepanayi]

Not too bad a group for us, I'm happy with that.

[Psychotic]

I forgot about Rangers. They definitely have the hardest group.

[Bart's Friend Milhouse]

Hooray for Group G, the only group solely made up of real champions

[Rocket Edge]

Shouldn't that read "all portugese PLAYERS"
What?

[Psychotic]

Ashley Young and David Bentley in the England squad but no place for Jermaine Pennant? For smurf's sake, McClaren.

Also, with Yakubu on board, Everton could well be pushing those North London lovers for that elusive fourth spot. Mind you, I do think I underestimated both Arsenal and Liverpool at the start of the season.

And now the Premiership really is the Cold War. The north is the USA (Liverpool, Man United...Aston Villa sorta I guess) and the south is Russia (Arsenal, Chelsea, Portsmouth). USA! USA! USA!

EDIT: oh :skull::skull::skull::skull:, just heard Pako Ayesteran is leaving Liverpool. He's the assistant manager, for those of you who don't know, which I assume is all of you. If you've ever noticed an angry looking bald fella sitting next to Rafa, that's him. This is a heavy blow.

[Cz]

Looks like our luck held out in the CL draw. I'm pretty confident that we'll win our group, which certainly wouldn't have been the case if we'd drawn, say, Valencia. The English clubs should all do fine, but Rangers and Celtic will probably have trouble getting out of those groups.

Not sure what to make of all the takeover talk. Fortunately it seems there's no question of ousting Wenger, so it shouldn't destabilise the team too much. I hope it doesn't turn into a distracting off-field battle, though.

EDIT: Xabi Alonso, scoring from 40+ yards? *yawn*

[charliepanayi]

Poor old Derby, they already look doomed.

[cloud21zidane16]

Poor old Derby, they already look doomed.

haha:p the bookies predicted them to go down before the season even started:D

[Psychotic]

Looks like our luck held out in the CL draw. I'm pretty confident that we'll win our group, which certainly wouldn't have been the case if we'd drawn, say, Valencia.Seriously? Sevilla are easily as good as Valencia.

6 games (inc. the Tolouse games fyi!), 16 goals scored, 2 conceded (both penalties), fucking awesome. And it looks like Torres and Voronin have had no problems settling in, with 6 goals between them. Oh baby.

[Heath]

They predict all the promoted teams to go down because most of the time at least two of them get relegated.

Lucky win for Everton today but I'm not complaining. At least Anelka and Lescott scored which means more fantasy football points for me. Also I feel so very, very sorry for Derby. I mean, I would've liked them to beat Liverpool so Everton would be sitting top at the moment, but 6-0 by the Kopites? Have some sympathy for Derby!

[Psychotic]

Hahahaha nice edit, I saw the original you toffee tosser. :p I'd have thought you lot would've been used to being second behind LFC by now!

[Heath]

Hahahaha nice edit, I saw the original you toffee tosser. :p I'd have thought you lot would've been used to being second behind LFC by now!

This is the first time Liverpool have been top of the League since Benitez took over, fact fans. Even Everton have managed to top the League on at least one occasion since then. Also I would've kept the original effort had it not been for the swear filter =P Of all the times for me to break from my charming and respectful personality.

[charliepanayi]

Amusing to see Spurs somehow manage to get a draw out of an almost certain victory today. Though I suspect their terrible form at the moment will come to an abrupt end when they play us in a fortnight.

[Cz]

Looks like our luck held out in the CL draw. I'm pretty confident that we'll win our group, which certainly wouldn't have been the case if we'd drawn, say, Valencia.Seriously? Sevilla are easily as good as Valencia.The same Sevilla whose main goal threat is Freddie Kanouté, right?

Eh, I'll take your word for it.

[DK]

Going from the information I can find, he's scored more goals at Sevilla than every forward Arsenal have currently put together. :p

[Psychotic]

Can't argue with 21 goals in the Primera Liga last season!

This week has shown to me that the title race really could be four way, and that's ignoring United's "the Return of Keane oh my god biggest game ever you'll see we're Sky we're always right!" dull borefest, and Chelsea's slump to Aston Villa.

For Arsenal, their two wins this week were impressive, particularly the one today. Going a man down against Portsmouth? Last season, they'd have drawn/lost that. This season, no. Fabregas has finally started getting on the scoresheet regularly, and do mine eyes deceive me, but do Hleb and Rosicky look like their former Bundesliga selves?

As for Liverpool, well, 4-0 and 6-0 speak for themselves. "But it's only Tolouse and Derby!". The scoreline wasn't what was impressive, to be honest. Nor was the fact that it was done without the media's idea of who Liverpool's best players are (if you'd asked me at the start of the season who LFC's best player was, I would have told you Javier Mascherano, and these past two games have only confirmed it). No, it was the way that Liverpool played exciting, attacking football, and every player (bar one - but we will get to him in a second) has been fighting for the ball, chasing lost causes and giving their all for the team. Breath-taking stuff.

The man I referred to was John Arne Riise, who has now decided to increase his long range left footed blasts into Row Z per match from 2 to 5. It's not helpful, especially when you're playing behind a young lad making his debut and is struggling to get into the game. Thankfully, it would seem he has been replaced as our #1 left back. By whom? The only outfield player to have started every game this season. Alvaro Arbeloa. What a revelation he has been! I really can understand why the Deportivo fans were so angry that they sold him to us that they spammed various Liverpool forums with hate messages. I doubt half the football fans down the pub even know who AA is, but that doesn't matter, he does his job effectively and consistently. Rafa's Spanish signings are now 5 to 3 in terms of good to bad. Nice going, beardy.

Oh, and I fully support Heskey for England.

[charliepanayi]

I don't think going one man down was ever a problem for us, in the old days when we were getting players sent off left, right and centre we were doing well still and winning titles. Indeed, we often do worse playing AGAINST ten men. But we did a lot better today than we did against Portsmouth at home last season, granted.

The good start continues but three out of our first four games have been at home, and I want to see how we do now against Spurs (who'll be dying to beat us, and whom we havn't beaten away since 1999 I think) and West Ham (10 points from 12 against us in the last two seasons) away in September.


And I always knew Rosicky would take a season to really get motoring, just as Pires did.

[Burtsplurt]

Boro are finally beginning to look good. But, despite an exciting match with plenty of chances, we were still last on MoTD with a rather cursory "That was a great win for Boro" from Gary Lineker as the only summarising from the studio. Apparently the editor of MoTD is a Boro fan. Maybe he means Scarborough.


The same Sevilla whose main goal threat is Freddie Kanouté, right?

Eh, I'll take your word for it.

They hammered us in the UEFA Cup Final a couple of seasons back. Whenever I've seen them play, they look like a good outfit. Very good teamwork more than outstanding individual players. Freddy actually looks quite good!

[charliepanayi]

Sevilla are indeed a very good team, they've won back to back UEFA Cups in the last two seasons and ran Barcelona and Real Madrid to the penultimate weekend of the Spanish league last season. They're impressive considering their comparative lack of resources.

[Loony BoB]

Kanouté was actually 5th in the European Golden Boot 2006/07, too - behind Totti, Alves, van Nistelrooy and Milito. 5th equal with Ronaldinho.

Thankyou, Villa. If only I'd bout Bouma into my squad. I should have had more faith in their defence considering how well they did last season.

Still not 100% convinced with United's attacking but Saha was impressive in his 45 minutes with 2-3 potential goals, and Tevez looked far better when sitting behind someone - although I still favour Rooney (which is an easy thing to do). Glad to see Ronaldo coming back for us, we should be a much better Premiership side in two week's time. Will be a big enough game, too, Everton away won't be easy at all. A good prequel to the Chelsea game for sure.

[Heath]

Also, with Yakubu on board, Everton could well be pushing those North London lovers for that elusive fourth spot. Mind you, I do think I underestimated both Arsenal and Liverpool at the start of the season.


How charming of me to insult Liverpool and not even noticed something vaguely nice said about Everton. I think we'll give 'em a run for their money but I'd still say we're a bit away from finishing 4th again, now that I'd complain though. Perhaps if we'd got Fernandes I'd have more faith in 4th place.

[Psychotic]

Apparently Peter Crouch was singled out as an evil man by the FIFA head of referees to the rest of the referees before the World Cup. It really does not come as a surprise, seeing some of the pathetic fouls given against him. And seeing as the same referees referee the Champions League (well, some of them do) it explains the diabolical decisions against him in the final last season. Surely this should not be allowed.

Also, the Real Madrid coach today came out and started criticising Liverpool, claiming we were their main rivals. Move over Barca, Sevilla, Valencia et al, LFC are going to win La Liga! We probably do have more Spaniards than Real...

[blim]

On Sunday Sky are showing some proper football, no overpaid primadonnas, actually no talent either but anyway Brentford are on tele. Woo Hoo :)

[charliepanayi]

So...England this weekend (and on Wednesday). This is pretty much crunch time for them. Ditto for Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland to some extent. I think England will win both games, lord knows they need to for their sake.

France v Italy tomorrow should be fun too.

[blim]

I think England may well win but i strongly suspect it will be another woeful performance.

I also have a horrible feeling we might lose and Scotland win, i don't think i could bear that. (nothing against Scotland, just my Scottish friends will make me suffer)

[Croyles]

Why is Wembley always so quiet??

[charliepanayi]

Well England won easily enough. Now they'll need to take 4 or 6 points off the Russians and they should be OK for qualification then. Wednesday should be interesting, I'm not sure if even Guus Hiddink can make Russia any good.

Northern Ireland's chances have pretty much gone down the pan after today's defeat though.

[Psychotic]

Good performance + No Lampard = ROCKET SCIENCE!!
Why is Wembley always so quiet??'cause it's filled with representatives of all the FA and England's sponsors.

[Burtsplurt]

Yeah, and there's a load of those people with 10 year tickets, a lot of whom don't seem to bother turning up. So even when it's a sell out, there are still loads of empty seats.

And, like Psychotic said, those corporate plonkers drinking champagne and eating sandwiches with the crusts cut off don't help.

[Croyles]

On the channel I was watching they said loads of people turned up late for the second half cause there was cake and they missed Englands second goal. :D
The old Wembley had a much better atmosphere.

Oh and Wales - Germany 0:2
They controlled the game easily enough but without the usual shine.

Italy - France 0:0

Anyone noticed that a lot of favourites are having trouble with the qualifiers? England, Portugal, Italy and Spain.
Although I think it can be argued that Spain and Portugal arent actually favourites anyway.

[charliepanayi]

I don't think England can be called favourites either XD

Turkey and Malta drawing was a good laugh for me, gives Greece's chances of qualifying a boost anyway.

[Croyles]

Oh please god no not Greece! Borefest of the century!
They ruined what could have been a great Euro 2004.
Their football was so boring. It was only affective because their style caught people off guard. :p
Down with Otto Rehhacles!

[charliepanayi]

Ruined it?! As a Greek Cypriot I invite you to stop talking right now! They won the bloody tournament at least, which is more than the likes of England have done thus far. And they beat the hosts twice (it's not often the hosts get beaten in a final, it's only happened in the 1950 World Cup and Euro 2004) and the holders along the way.

What on earth would you expect a team like Greece to do? Play an open game and get torn apart as a result? You may have not found it very pleasant but it's not really surprising that they employed a very defensive approach considering the teams they were playing. Defence usually wins championships, look at France in 1998 and Italy in 2006. And Germany whenever. It's not pretty to watch I know, but it won them the tournament. You can argue of course that you can be defence-oriented and still exciting to watch etc, but it's a pretty tricky one to pull off. Especially when you have players like Greece.

You can tell I get very defensive about Greece winning Euro 2004...no-one trashes one of the most unexpected pleasant surprises of my footballing life!

[Croyles]

Sorry man, I wasnt being entirely serious.
You can slap me now if you want.

I still dont like their style though (though I think theyve changed it a bit since the Euros), and I found every game they played boring to watch.
I usually love it when the underdogs win, just in 2004 I wasnt too keen on their football.
I didnt actually care who won that tournament since my favourite teams all went out before the final.
And course your being defensive, I would be if someone was talking crap about my beloved German team.

[charliepanayi]

It's rather hard to criticise Germany's general record I find, aside from Euro 2000 and Euro 2004 it's pretty impeccable - trophies and finals all over the place XD

[Heath]

It's rather hard to criticise Germany's general record I find, aside from Euro 2000 and Euro 2004 it's pretty impeccable - trophies and finals all over the place XD

Yeah, but who cares about that? 1966 is all that matters. I mean come on people! :D

[Croyles]

It's rather hard to criticise Germany's general record I find, aside from Euro 2000 and Euro 2004 it's pretty impeccable - trophies and finals all over the place XD

To the annoyance of a lot of people. :D

[Psychotic]

I thought Greece winning was great, 'cause c'mon, it's Greece!

Defensive play isn't necessarily boring to me, either. I love to see last ditch tackles, bodies flung in the way of the ball, players being chased and harried and the like.

Although I do think there's certain occasions when it's just uncalled for, ie, THE MERSEYSIDE DERBY YOU FILTHY TOFFEE GIMPS! I hope to god we go to Goodison and do exactly the same thing to them. Put the shutters up, stuff Mascherano and Sissoko in the middle, and dare them to cross the halfway line, and when they do, hoof it right back up to Mr. Crouch. It will be beautiful revenge.

[Croyles]

Theres defensive play and then theres what Greece did in 2004 :D
Anyhow, I was in too minds about them. I thought it was great that the underdogs won, but all their games were really boring to watch.
Its still better to win ugly than to lose pretty though, no denying that.

[Loony BoB]

Theres defensive play and then theres what Greece did in 2004 :D
Anyhow, I was in too minds about them. I thought it was great that the underdogs won, but all their games were really boring to watch.
Its still better to win ugly than to lose pretty though, no denying that.
Personally I wouldn't support United if they didn't play attacking football.

[DK]

Some fan you are :p

[Octavious]

Redskins 1-0 !!

[Croyles]

Does England have a qualifier game today?

Germany has a friendly against Romania.

[charliepanayi]

Yeah they're home to Russia - big game for them.

I take England to win 1-0 though.

EDIT: Well I'm already wrong. Time to switch to the more finely poised France v Scotland in the second half.

[Jess]

2-0! :jess:

As a Newcastle fan it's nice to see Mikey scoring. :D

[charliepanayi]

Until he gets injured again anyway!

EDIT: France v Scotland, what a fantastic result!

[Psychotic]

Fair play to McClaren. I would never have picked Heskey and Barry if I were in his situation, and now I'd rather see them start ahead of Rooney and Lampard...although I'd rather see myself start than Frank bloody Lampard. As for Rooney, well, his reputation of England's Bestest Best Player For Serious, as the media would have us believe, anyway, was built entirely on Euro 2004. He's done bugger all in a white shirt since then, and it seems Heskey really helps Owen out, so yeah, why not?

Also, fuck the BBC (I know, I say it after every England game, just as I like to abuse Lampard :D) for their Wright-Phillips love. Slightly above average, nothing more. Pennant as England's #1 man on the right, plz. The fact that he is behind Wright-Phillips, Lennon and Bentley is a bit of a joke if you ask me. At least he can actually cross it...

[charliepanayi]

The Wright-Phillips love is just because they don't want Ian Wright to get into a strop back into the studio XD

So now the media shall shift back into 'McLaren is God' mode (last seen er...never) until England mess up again, at which point he'll be Worst Manager Ever once again. When shall the wheel next turn? Who knows!

[Croyles]

Well done to England!
Russia's goal should have been allowed though. That wasnt hand, that was chest.
two 3-0s in a row now. :)

Friendly: Germany 3 - 1 Romania
Great game after falling behind with 1 goal, which is an accomplishment, seeing as how Romania is top of their group above Holland and were unbeaten for 14 games.

[charliepanayi]

The following teams are looking good to qualify at the moment anyway:
Germany, Czech Republic, Croatia, England, Spain, Sweden, Holland, Romania (along with the hosts Switzerland and Austria)

The remaining groups all have two to qualify from the following options pretty much:
Poland/Finland/Portugal/Serbia
France/Italy/Scotland
Greece/Turkey/Norway

[Psychotic]

While we're talking about Euro 2008, I'm going to use this opportunity to say that I intend to put a bet on Switzerland making the semi-finals at least. A decent, young side plus home advantage means the potential is certainly there.

[charliepanayi]

I sometimes think Switzerland have a decent chance of going far next summer, with the extra boost of being hosts. But then I remember their horrendous game against Ukraine at the World Cup last year and I'm not so sure ;) - but they could go well definitely.

[DK]

hahahahah, France.

[Croyles]

I want Scottland and France to qualify.

[charliepanayi]

One problem for Scotland is that Italy and France still have Faroe Islands in their remaining games - Italy in fact finish off against them. And also Scotland finish their fixtures before the other two teams, so Italy and France will probably go into their final games knowing what's needed. But France do finish off against Ukraine, which will be tough for them.

I'm still thinking Italy and France will do it just about, Scotland v Italy should be a fun game now.

[Loony BoB]

Aye, it should all come down to the following games now, which are the only games I can see Scotland, Italy or France possibly dropping points in...

Scotland host Ukraine - Scotland should win. 13th October.

Georgia host Scotland - Scotland should win. 17th October.

Scotland host Italy - I'm not even going to guess. 17th November so it'll be a bit colder than the Italians are used to, although the winters here have been somewhat milder lately.

Ukraine host France - France should win... but 21st November in Ukraine is always going to be tough for them and I wouldn't be too surprised if they drop points here.

[Heath]

Although I do think there's certain occasions when it's just uncalled for, ie, THE MERSEYSIDE DERBY YOU FILTHY TOFFEE GIMPS! I hope to god we go to Goodison and do exactly the same thing to them. Put the shutters up, stuff Mascherano and Sissoko in the middle, and dare them to cross the halfway line, and when they do, hoof it right back up to Mr. Crouch. It will be beautiful revenge.

Can't help it if our defence is too good for you :D

I often think that Gareth Barry is one of the most underrated players in the Premiership. He's probably Villa's best player and his last two appearances for England have really shown how good a player he is.

[Psychotic]

I think a defence of 10 men is too good for any team.

[Loony BoB]

I think a defence of 10 men is too good for any team.
Agreed. United vs. Reading. :(

[Heath]

We've improved since then. I think Moyes was a fan of negative tactics purely because of the squad we had at the time. If you look at Everton this season we've been much more attacking. It showed against United last season when we were owning them until their first goal. Then things started to go a bit pear-shaped and...

I imagine we'll defend more than we should against the likes of United and Chelsea in order to get at least something out of the game. I'd be surprised if Everton didn't get a goal on Saturday though.

[Psychotic]

'07-'08: Official Let's Give Stupid Penalties Against Liverpool Season. Christ, 3 already. Thank god Reina saved it!

[Jess]

According to Sky Sports Live Score Centre online, Newcastle v Derby kick off at 3pm today, and as far as I'm aware we aren't even playing today. :exdee:

Spurs fans must be loving their lead against Arsenal. :jess:

[Resha]

Arsenal fans must be hating it --

...:(

[charliepanayi]

No lead for Spurs after 90 minutes though! Excuse me whilst I laugh a lot for the time being.

On a more serious note though - will we stop falling behind in games and missing chances for a near-eternity! :( - today we came back but we don't want to keep putting ourselves in that situation.

Still, it feels good for now to have got one over on Spurs once again.

[Loony BoB]

I see Liverpool got a draw. I bet they would have won if it weren't for the fixture being on that certain date with those certain games before and after it by so many days.

[Psychotic]

I see Liverpool got a draw. I bet they would have won if it weren't for the fixture being on that certain date with those certain games before and after it by so many days.Probably!

But in all seriousness, we do get way too many 12.45 kick offs. I don't really care about the effect it has on the players, but the effect it has on my sleep.

[Jess]

I think we are in a nice position at the moment.

Should Newcastle beat Derby on Monday, we'll go 3rd, unless Man City win tomorrow then we will go 4th. Nice! :jess:

[Valiant]

Yep, must admit that Newcastle are looking in good shape at the moment. Should beat Derby aswell...reckon they have to be on course for the worst goal difference ever in a Premiership season.

Charlton moved 5th today, and two home games coming up over the next week, so good reason to be optomistic, but obviously not getting carried away. A draw away to Colchester is by no means a bad result though, considering the teams that fell down there last year. Any other Championship fans around here then, or just me? :D

[charliepanayi]

Well so much for Newcastle beating Derby! =P

[Jess]

OH DEAR GOD NOOOOOOO!

Newcastle players should be getting a kick up the fucking arse from Big Sam right now. The only good players on the pitch tonight were Milner & Rozehnal. Grrrrrrrr. :mad2:

Derby had to win sometime, and our unbeaten streak had to end. It was too good to be true! :weep:

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

edit. I am mad as a bug :mad2:

[Psychotic]

Hey Jess tell me what the score was because I can't be bothered to look it up.

Also my eyesight is temporarily really, really bad, so it would help if you typed it in big, bold red letters.

My short term memory has also been damaged, so perhaps you could post the score over and over again to help it sink in.

Thanks buddy.

[blim]

now thats just cruel

funny, but cruel

The question is though: Can Miller save Derby from relegation?

[Psychotic]

The question is though: Can Miller save Derby from relegation?I don't know if he could save them, but maybe he could help them to at least put up a fight, which, until now, is something they simply haven't done.

[DK]

No. He used to play for Wolves. Derby are doomed to relegation, no doubt about it.

Re: Jess,

hahahahah

[blim]

scored 50 goals in 162 games for wolves, although while checking that i realised he scored a lot less at Celtic than i thought (only 7 goals?? in Scottish football????), yeah, you're probably right after all

[Jess]

Ooooh, I'm Dan and now Manchester City are a potential top 10 team, I can start being an arse! :p

Get back to me when City beat Derby!... oh, wait! xD

[DK]

What planet have you been on for the last two years? I was still being an arse when we were relegation zone dodging. xD I lived off that win over Arsenal for an entire season. :aimkiss:

[charliepanayi]

Great start to the CL by Chelsea I see. Mind you, Sevilla tomorrow will be a tricky one for us.

I'm not sure who to predict as winners this season, especially as three out of the last four were pretty surprising in retrospect. But I would say Roma and Sevilla are dark horses to watch out for. And yes, I say that despite that 7-1 Roma suffered last season at Old Trafford! They're better than that, seriously :(

[Psychotic]

FAO all referees:

STOP.
GIVING.
PENALTIES.
AGAINST.
LIVERPOOL.
YOU.
BASTARDS.

Conceded more penalties than we have goals this season, and all of those goals were from the penalty spot.

[Jess]

What planet have you been on for the last two years? I was still being an arse when we were relegation zone dodging. xD I lived off that win over Arsenal for an entire season. :aimkiss:
See you next week, bitch. :kiss:

[charliepanayi]

Can't ask for more than the start we had tonight. More of the same would be nice for the rest of this group stage.

[blim]

not yet confirmed but if true:

Stone the crows BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Chelsea | Manager Mourinho leaves Chelsea (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/7003912.stm)

[Psychotic]

not yet confirmed but if true:

Stone the crows BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Chelsea | Manager Mourinho leaves Chelsea (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/7003912.stm)Ding dong the witch is dead!

[Jess]

:surprised!

[blim]

Would be a loss to english football if he leaves the country, although his press conferences are normally more entertaining than watching his team.

[DK]

Graeme Sounness for Chelsea. Imagining the Hilarity of what he'd do with all that money is almost too much for me to handle :excited:

[blim]

According to BBC it is now confirmed, left by "mutual consent" apparently Ramos is favourite

[The Captain]

Wow, I can't say it was completely out of the blue (no pun intended), but the timing does seem random. Do you think it's because Shevchenko saved his bacon and he just couldn't bare it anymore?


Take care all.

[Loony BoB]

I reckon Chelsea just shot their chance of winning the Premiership, personally.

[The Captain]

Which is fine by me. New question though: Does that mean a new team will crack the top four in their stead or will they still stay Champions league bound next year? And can they still put together a solid campaign in this years go-around?



Take care all.

[charliepanayi]

I doubt that this will de-stabilise Chelsea to the extent that they don't finish in the top four now. Who knows whether it'll seriously affect their title challenge though in the long run.

That git's gone and stolen our thunder from beating Sevilla last night now :(

[Jimsour]

At the minute it looks like Liverpool are in there for the best chance but United have came up the table quickly.

Even though City are second at the minute, we'll not win the league this time around its going to take a long time to get to that standard :(

[Resha]

I was at school when I heard. BING BING BING :D MEGA SCORE. THE GRINCH IS OUT.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a140/poogala/gahaha.jpg

[Cz]

Mourinho was 50/1 to win the sack race at the start of the season. Whoever made that bet is waking up to a wonderful, wonderful morning. :D

This shouldn't hurt Chelsea too badly, to be honest. Abramovich won't waste time in bringing in a quality replacement for Mourinho, and the squad's already there to allow them to challenge for the title. Their position will be weakened, sure, but they're not going to slip out of the top four any time soon.

[Heath]

Mourinho was 50/1 to win the sack race at the start of the season. Whoever made that bet is waking up to a wonderful, wonderful morning. :D

This shouldn't hurt Chelsea too badly, to be honest. Abramovich won't waste time in bringing in a quality replacement for Mourinho, and the squad's already there to allow them to challenge for the title. Their posi<b></b>tion will be weakened, sure, but they're not going to slip out of the top four any time soon.

Another one of those moments when I wish I were a betting man.

It makes me laugh sometimes to see the quality managers that Chelsea have gotten rid of since Abramovich took over in Ranieri and Mourinho. As much as he annoyed me, I secretly like Mourinho if only because made the Premiership more interesting. I've read that Hiddink and Klinnsman are among the favourites to take over in the long term.


Graeme Sounness for Chelsea. Imagining the Hilarity of what he'd do with all that money is almost too much for me to handle :excited:

If Sounness or David O'Leary took over at Chelsea it would make my day. I was trying to think of more Premiership managers who were awful and the first name I thought of was Les Reed (remember him?). He just scared me more than anything though. Creepiest guy ever.

[Rocket Edge]

I'm sad to see Jose gone, honestly. He certainly won't take over another Premiership team (Not Spurs). As for the new manager, the only reason he got in is because he's personal friends with Abramovich! Chelsea are a team in decline. :D

Jose I expect will take over the Portugese national team.

[DK]

Even though City are second at the minute, we'll not win the league this time around its going to take a long time to get to that standard :(

You're the fellow City fan then! Good man.

Clearly, Chelsea will fall from grace and the mighty City will take their place in the big 4. :cool:

Okay so I still think we're only going to achieve a top 10 finish but it's nice to dream rite

[Jess]

byebye mourinhoooo~

If this happened before the season began I would have said helloooo spurs into the top 4, but now I don't know what to say! :jess:

[Psychotic]

I think Avram Grant will do a very good job as Chelsea manager.

Now then, where's Heath when you need to show some smug red superiority? :confused:

[Heath]

I didn't think we played that badly in all honesty. 4-3-3 seemed the best formation and I was fairly pleased with the line-up to begin with. Wessels and the defence played well. What the hell happened with the rest of the players and indeed the rest of the match is utterly beyond me.

[Loony BoB]

1654: FULL-TIME Liverpool 0-0 Birmingham

Thankyou, Birmingham. Now we just need Arsenal and City to drop points, too.

[Jimsour]

So far Fulham 1 City 0 :/

Come on Sven sort it out.



You're the fellow City fan then! Good man.

Clearly, Chelsea will fall from grace and the mighty City will take their place in the big 4. :cool:

Okay so I still think we're only going to achieve a top 10 finish but it's nice to dream rite

We'll be in the top 6 teams this season I reckon we've made such a comeback!

YES, 1-1.

[Heath]

1654: FULL-TIME Liverpool 0-0 Birmingham

Thankyou, Birmingham. Now we just need Arsenal and City to drop points, too.

You must've been really optimistic in hoping that Arsenal would drops points at the Emirates against Derby.

I'd like to think Everton could finish in the top 6 again but I've not been terribly impressed by us this season. Except Leighton Baines who is fantastic.

[Loony BoB]

You must've been really optimistic in hoping that Arsenal would drops points at the Emirates against Derby.
Oh, I didn't mean today.

[Jimsour]

3-2 to City so far!

[Resha]

:p Well, whatever you meant. YEEEEHHHH. diaby's goal hot hot hot hawtwhothothot :goofy:


edit: and yeah, petrov, wtf. good stuff.

[Psychotic]

Apparently even if you are unbeaten, that is not enough to challenge for the title! Unless you're a London club.

oh blah blah they're blaming rotation again. Didn't say it was rotation that won us our earlier games, did you? It's because Pako has gone.

[Jimsour]

City Fulham match ended 3-3, brilliant match.

[charliepanayi]

Yeah that Man City-Fulham game looked like a cracker. Now to see if Arsenal can actually *gasp* win against West Ham next week, or add to the Arsenal book of 101 ways to manage to lose to West Ham.

It's very pleasing so far, though god help us if Fabregas gets injured at some point.

[DK]

Man what a classy game that was, shame we ended up with a draw but I'll take it, keeps us at second and it was a cracking match anyway. Nice to see us picking up goals away from home too, and scoring consistently this season.

Now to face Newcastle in Midweek and hopefully leave me with something to rub in Jess' face :excited:

[Jimsour]

Yeah was a cracking match, one of the best this season in my opinion, intense as hell. Once Fulham scored we scored and it kept on going like that.

Once the entire City team are use to it we'll be going even better. We arent a team like united that have had a strong team for several seasons, so this is only the beginning.

[DK]

Yeah that's why I don't have high expectations or anything just yet or anything, as long as we finish top 10 for a couple of seasons, I'll be happy to just let the team gel and grow. Some people are talking about aiming for the UEFA cup and all that, but tbh I really don't care just yet, I'd rather we consolidated our team first and built a strong squad before jumping straight into things like Europe.

[Heath]

Yeah that's why I don't have high expectations or anything just yet or anything, as long as we finish top 10 for a couple of seasons, I'll be happy to just let the team gel and grow. Some people are talking about aiming for the UEFA cup and all that, but tbh I really don't care just yet, I'd rather we consolidated our team first and built a strong squad before jumping straight into things like Europe.

Not being in Europe next season would give you a much better chance to get to it the season after when those that qualified ahead of you try to balance three cup competitions as well as the league. Or else you can just bugger it all up at the first hurdle like Everton like doing :p

[Jimsour]

everton are going to burn themselves out but I'd like to see them do well too, have a soft spot for them.

[Jess]

West ham who? :jess:

[Psychotic]

West ham who? :jess:United. God, don't you know anything about football? :rolleyes2

[demondude]

Roman abromavich needs to die.

[Jimsour]

Chelski are going to moan for the next two weeks.

[James Keene]

DID YOU KNOW THAT ELFSBORG IS BETTER THAN ALL THE ENGLISH TEAMS?
http://www.gefleblueboys.se/pics/If_elfsborg.gif

[Psychotic]

Well yeah, English teams don't have Elves playing for them. Well, except Fernando Torres of course, but he can't fight off eleven fellow Elves single handedly.

EDIT: Speak of the devil, he nailed a hat-trick tonight! :eek:

[The Captain]

Man, I don't get why Torres doesn't start all the EPL games. He scores every time he starts it seems. It's so hard for strikers to find their rhythm when they come on after halftime or for the last ten minutes, etc, etc.

Also, I've been hearing that John Terry was a big turncoat on Jose's departure. How true was that?


Take care all.

[Loony BoB]

Man, I don't get why Torres doesn't start all the EPL games. He scores every time he starts it seems. It's so hard for strikers to find their rhythm when they come on after halftime or for the last ten minutes, etc, etc.

Also, I've been hearing that John Terry was a big turncoat on Jose's departure. How true was that?


Take care all.
Torres: I get why. Benitez!

Terry: Doubt it, personally. Those guys loved him pretty hard.

[The Captain]

Also, ESPN just ran a report saying Ronaldinho is coming to Chelsea for over 100 million pounds!


Take care all.

[Psychotic]

Yeah, the Ronaldinho-Chelsea thing has been doing the rounds, recently. I suspect he'd be the new Shevchenko...

Also, this is a nice article about the whole Torres thing. (http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/NG157112070926-1433.htm)

[Resha]

So, about all that criticism pre-season about having too young a team...

(and granted, it may be way too soon to talk, but I just can't resist, because it used to make me so angry)

Average age vs Newcastle -- 21 years and 2 months. Rockin'.

[charliepanayi]

Resha - it still is way too soon to talk, though I know what you mean about how pissed off all the pre-season slagging off of us was. IF we get a trophy (that isn't the League Cup) in the cabinet this year, then we'll have plenty of time to boast XD. I did get a little annoyed reading someone in the paper yesterday saying that we'd beaten 'nothing' thus far. Well they're right, but then beating 'nothing' was our main problem last year!

I have noted that by late October, we'll have played 6 games at home and only 3 away, so that's pretty skewed in our favour early on and we'll need to catch up on thise away games later. After that, we have Liverpool away, and I'm sure that the only 4 times we've managed to beat them in the last 20 years there in the league, we've won the title. So that game could be a useful barometer for our chances XD

It's kind of been an odd start to the season though. Man Utd are 2nd and havn't even played amazingly well yet, Chelsea are going to need a little time to right themselves (though I expect them to still regroup and challenge for the title), Liverpool are still to me a mystery wrapped in an enigma (nice signing in Torres seemingly), and god knows if Arsenal can maintain the early form. It all feels a bit strange at this moment.

[Loony BoB]

Out of the Carling Cup. When we play non-Premiership English teams, we burn. Every time!

[Heath]

lol Man U.

I was rooting for Coventry as I always root for the underdogs in cup competitions so I was pleasantly surprised. Unlike when Everton got knocked out by Shrewsbury a few seasons back, but let's ignore that.

[Resha]

Resha - it still is way too soon to talk, though I know what you mean about how pissed off all the pre-season slagging off of us was. IF we get a trophy (that isn't the League Cup) in the cabinet this year, then we'll have plenty of time to boast XD. I did get a little annoyed reading someone in the paper yesterday saying that we'd beaten 'nothing' thus far. Well they're right, but then beating 'nothing' was our main problem last year!

I have noted that by late October, we'll have played 6 games at home and only 3 away, so that's pretty skewed in our favour early on and we'll need to catch up on thise away games later. After that, we have Liverpool away, and I'm sure that the only 4 times we've managed to beat them in the last 20 years there in the league, we've won the title. So that game could be a useful barometer for our chances XD

It's kind of been an odd start to the season though. Man Utd are 2nd and havn't even played amazingly well yet, Chelsea are going to need a little time to right themselves (though I expect them to still regroup and challenge for the title), Liverpool are still to me a mystery wrapped in an enigma (nice signing in Torres seemingly), and god knows if Arsenal can maintain the early form. It all feels a bit strange at this moment.

Oh, absolutely. I shall scour my mouth. But let's just pretend it was a bit of a gentle reminder to...to the critics, shall we? :D Haha. I still don't think we have much of a chance at winning the league, and with even the highest pitch of my optimism, I'd say second. Unless of course, something miraculous happens and we continue in this form until like...forever. But yeah. It's just nice to think of. And if miraculous things do happen, all caution to hell and spleen split forth :D

[James Keene]

Eoff needs Andorra, San Marino och Faroe Islands fans, then everything would be perfect

[Loony BoB]

Chelsea are so screwed. :D Terry injured, Drogba sent off and and Shevchenko booed so bad Grant gave in and took him off. xD Laughin' it up.

Torres apparently muffing a couple of chances for 'pool, Chelsea struggling at home against Fulham and possibly about to lose a home game (and I will have to watch it if that's the case, if only to hear the reception at the end of the game). Miller suddenly a goalscorer again (he always was a hit/miss guy, eh?), Anelka still scoring goals even if Bolton are troubled as hell, 9 goals in a single game (so far) at Fratton... incredible day so far. Only hoping West Ham can pull something out of the hat and then United can gain some ground on the top two.

[Psychotic]

I loathe plastic fans who boo their own players. It happens at England and it happens at Chelsea. If you don't like how the player has done, fine, but save that for until you leave the stadium. When you're inside the ground, give them 100% support 'cause booing doesn't help anybody.

Even so, oh I hope this is the beginning of Chelsea coming apart at the seams. Probably not, but I can dream. :D

Yossi Benayoun is a great player to have on your bench.

Bloody hell, 7-4 is an incredible score. Never seen anything like that before.

[charliepanayi]

Indeed that's a record aggegrate score for a Premiership game I believe. Not even sure when 11 goals was scored in a game in the top-flight. Can't wait to see that on MOTD tonight. And there was a missed penalty too!

Another win for us, can't complain. And I'm glad to see Man City still doing well, I like seeing Sven shoving the media's jibes back down their throats. They won't maintain it most likely but they've done well thus far.

[Heath]

I loathe plastic fans who boo their own players. It happens at England and it happens at Chelsea. If you don't like how the player has done, fine, but save that for until you leave the stadium. When you're inside the ground, give them 100% support 'cause booing doesn't help anybody.

No, but as an Evertonian I can certainly understand why some fans do it. Sometimes performances are just awful in the first half and at least the crowd venting their opinion tends to improve their performance in the second half. Understand it, but certainly don't approve it, mind.

Hope we beat Boro tomorrow because we really need to pick ourselves up after this slump. Be interest to see who Moyes starts with up front. I'd say Yakubu and McFadden myself, but who knows?

Also, as for the 7-4 I was really shocked to see that result considering I expected a 1-1 draw. Most goals I've seen personally in a Premiership match was Everton beating Southampton 7-1 years back.

[DK]

See you next week, bitch. :kiss:

Please come back again and again, you're always welcome :heart:

[Jess]

See you next week, bitch. :kiss:

Please come back again and again, you're always welcome :heart:
I'd rather not. :(

As for the 7-4 thriller, wow. :jess:

[Heath]

I quite like how the League table has teams from Liverpool and Manchester occupying 2nd through to 5th. How neat and tidy.

Also, I'm pleased by Arsenal's early form. Out of the supposed Big Four, I'd rather they won the league than the others. If they'd like to gift Everton 6 points this season, I'd be even more inclined that way. If Resha could have a word with Arsene Wenger about this deal, I'd appreciate it.

[Resha]

I quite like how the League table has teams from Liverpool and Manchester occupying 2nd through to 5th. How neat and tidy.

Also, I'd pleased by Arsenal's early form. Out of the supposed Big Four, I'd rather they won the league than the others. If they'd like to gift Everton 6 points this season, I'd be even more inclined that way. If Resha could have a word with Arsene Wenger about this deal, I'd appreciate it.

Geez man :p I'll help you poke fun at Liverpool any day of the week (and twice on Sundays!) but...I...just don't know if I can bring myself to do that

That being said, 'grats on the 2-0 :D

[demondude]

According to the newspaper abromavich sat with the crowd during saturdays game but had to go off because people were shouting rascist comments towards him.

And I cant believe we drew to FULHAM avram grant and roman abromavich are going to destroy chelsea.
And even though it sounds bad I want chelsea to not do well this season so abromavich can see what an ass he's made of himself.

*rant over*

[Psychotic]

Geez man :p I'll help you poke fun at Liverpool any day of the week Wouldn't want to ally with a stinking gunner anyway. We have a bigger club as our allies (and I'm not even talking about Nottingham Forest...pretty sure they hate us, but that's what happens between big teams who have actually won European Cups :)), Metalist Kharkiv.

FC Metalist Kharkiv left the Everton fans raging last week when the players arrived at Goodison Park clutching bags of souvenirs from the Liverpool megastore.

Love it. :laugh:

So how are you going to poke fun at Liverpool, Pooja? I've yet to see you do it successfully, so I am quite looking forwards to it.

[Resha]

There's always the good old "hey pawl liverpool r gay" I can pull out in times of need :shifty:

[Psychotic]

LFC are gay? Ha! More like we-take-it-up-the-Arsenal!

[Resha]

Yeah, that's what they said about Posh Becks, isn't it? :-) So how does it feel to be on par with that?

(anyways I don't want to go into the logistics of this, but taking it up the blah = gay)

[Psychotic]

LFC are gay? Ha! More like we-take-it-up-the-Arsenal!
LFC are gay? Ha! More like we-take-it-up-the-Arsenal!
LFC are gay? Ha! More like we-take-it-up-the-Arsenal!
LFC are gay? Ha! More like we-take-it-up-the-Arsenal!
LFC are gay? Ha! More like we-take-it-up-the-Arsenal!:rolleyes2

[Resha]

If that wasn't innuendo I dunno what it was :confused:

WHATEV. >=(

[Cz]

Why should Liverpool and Arsenal fans making fun of one another at the moment, when things are going so delightfully wrong for Chelsea and Spurs? There'll be plenty of time for immature my-fans-are-louder-than-yours banter come the business end of the season. For now, can't we just bask in the blissful suffering of teams who deserve it?

[blim]

I take it you are enjoying the spurs-villa game then CZ :D

[charliepanayi]

Maybe we'll get an 11 goal thriller again, 6 goals already XD

Will be hilarious if Villa win this

EDIT: Villa, you SUCK! Losing the chance to stick Spurs into even more trouble, and after being 4-1 up! Useless!

[blim]

EDIT: Villa, you SUCK! Losing the chance to stick Spurs into even more trouble, and after being 4-1 up! Useless!

Not that i've got owt against spurs, you're right. They really should not have given that win away.

[Loony BoB]

They shouldn't have conceded at all. Bouma has been pretty good for my fantasy team so far!

[Jess]

What is it with these high scoring games? xD

[Jimsour]

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee104/jungneil/elano01.gif
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee104/jungneil/elano03.gif
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee104/jungneil/elano02.gif

What.
A.
Goal.

ELANO

[DK]

He is a total gun :heart:

[Psychotic]

Oh Villa, the things you do.

Also that is a seriously quality goal.

[Jess]

I was starting to forget about that.

[Heath]

Definitely a quality goal.

Also, the reason Paul has to resort to laughing at Arsenal is because Everton have decided they've had enough of being crap for this season. Until Thursday, most likely, when I use the old "well the UEFA Cup is for losers anyway" excuse.

[Cz]

I can't believe Spurs managed to come across a team more unreliable than they are. I guess it's still only a point for a team that thought they were going to be top four material this season, but it could have been so much more. :(

[Psychotic]

For those of you who think Rafa only cares about the Champions League when he selects his team, think again. For tonight we are starting with Sebastian Leto on the left flank. Apparently Rafa doesn't care about anything!

[blim]

lol^

chelsea one down already! sack the manager :D

a quick prediction Celtic 1 - Milan 3

[cloud21zidane16]

Chelsea equalise 1-1, I dont think chelsea will win 1 trophy this season though.

[Psychotic]

EDIT: oh :skull::skull::skull::skull:, just heard Pako Ayesteran is leaving Liverpool. He's the assistant manager, for those of you who don't know, which I assume is all of you. If you've ever noticed an angry looking bald fella sitting next to Rafa, that's him. This is a heavy blow.This. Very much this. Come back, Pako. :(

[Cz]

So the problem is Rafa's rotation of assistant managers, eh? Yes, this explains everything.

Marseille's goal was brilliant, though not quite as brilliant as Dida's antics at the end of the Celtic game. Great stuff. :thumb:

[Loony BoB]

lol^

chelsea one down already! sack the manager :D

a quick prediction Celtic 1 - Milan 3
Someone obviously doesn't know about Celtic's home record in Europe.

Fantastic game, watched it from start to finish and loved it. Great goals, too (for Celtic) and the finish by Dida, well, what can I say? Pussy.

[blim]

Aye, now i cant take the piss out of my Celtic supporting mates :(

Watched Liverpool instead, god they were crap.

[cloud21zidane16]

Fantastic game, watched it from start to finish and loved it. Great goals, too (for Celtic) and the finish by Dida, well, what can I say? Pussy.

what can anyone say? talk about dramatic:p that game had a great atmosphere as well.

[Jimsour]

Great score for Celtic, hurrah. Been a good week for me! City win, Celtic win.

[Jimsour]

City vs. Boro tomorrow.

GONNA WIPE THE FLOOR WITH THEM.

[Heath]

Matches like Metalist Kharkiv-Everton are ones that ensure that no Evertonian can possibly have a greater life expectancy than 25.

[Loony BoB]

United players (ie, every player which has been given a shirt number), the roles they are used in predominantly, and which are injured.

GOALKEEPERS
Van der sar - INJURED
Foster - INJURED
Kuzscak
Heaton

DEFENDERS
Ferdinand
Vidic - INJURED
Evra
Neville - INJURED
Brown - INJURED
O'Shea - INJURED
Silvestre - INJURED
Piqué
Evans - INJURED
Bardsley - INJURED
Simpson
Eckersley

CENTRAL / DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS
Hargreaves - INJURED
Carrick - INJURED
Fletcher - INJURED

ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS / WINGERS
Scholes
Ronaldo
Giggs
Nani
Anderson
Park - INJURED
Gibson - INJURED
Eagles
Martin - LOANED OUT AS OF YESTERDAY.

FORWARDS
Saha - INJURED
Rooney
Tevez
Dong
Campbell

What the hell. :( To add to that, Pique and Evra have suffered knocks in this game and may be rested later. If there's the ability to rest them, that is - with only five defenders left...

EDIT: Fantastic goal.

[I Don't Need A Name]

United must be the most unlucky team in England :(
Hopefully some will be back soon!

[Loony BoB]

Goal-wise, at least, it looks good. :D I'm happy enough - although I'm just thanking the football Gods that it's the international break now, as we really do need some players coming back to fitness.

[charliepanayi]

Unless more get injured over the international break... XD

[Loony BoB]

Unless more get injured over the international break... XD
I don't think half of our players will even be playing over the international period at this rate.

[Psychotic]

Yeah, well we've got Harry Kewell injured but you don't see me complaining.

Also the triple A billing of Alonso, Aurelio and Agger, but that's just not as funny as Harry Kewell, is it?

[Loony BoB]

Not really, no.

If we don't win the Premiership, I for one will not say "Oh, we didn't have ____ and ____ during that period and that's the only reason we lost" though. I still want to slap anyone who thinks that's why Chelsea lost last season. It's part of the game! We have more players injured now than they did then and we're still winning. They could have kept winning but they just didn't play well enough.

[Rocket Edge]

An incredable display from the force that I now call Tevenaldooney!!!


Great, that gets the ball rolling.

[Cz]

Yeah, well we've got Harry Kewell injured but you don't see me complaining.

Also the triple A billing of Alonso, Aurelio and Agger, but that's just not as funny as Harry Kewell, is it?Nothing is as funny as Harry Kewell.

I can only hope that the international break kills United's buzz a bit, and they don't carry over the momentum from this game. If they've been able to keep up a pretty decent record while being entirely unremarkable, they'll be a a real force if they start playing well.

[blim]

An incredable display from the force that I now call Tevenaldooney!!!


Great, that gets the ball rolling.


What a horrendous combination, ugly, smug and fat.

Granted a bit talented though.

[Croyles]

Hello there people.
I am invading this thread again!
YouTube - 0-2 Schalke 04 vs. Karlsruher SC | DFL round 9 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZhZqasxK0w)
2nd spot after 9 games baby.

[Cz]

Nearly had a heart attack. Giving away a two goal lead against Sunderland could've killed our momentum. Thank goodness for Robin Van Persie.

[Jimsour]

We are City, super City.

[charliepanayi]

That was a tricky one today, but at least we got the victory. We almost wound up doing an All Blacks against France though in going ahead early on and putting our feet up.

We're still top which is good, and I'm pleased to see Man City continuing to win. Elano is terrific. And nice to see Spurs and Liverpool taking points off each other ;)

[Psychotic]

We're not doing terribly, what with being undefeated and all, but it could be a heck of a lot better, too. Meh.

Oh, and
Torres isn't going to boost your goal tally
Torres will add to our goal count. He's Bellamy's replacement, and he can hardly score less goals than Bellamy did!Fyi, Torres scored his seventh of the season today. Bellamy's total was six.

Doop, and indeed doop. :greenie:

[Jess]

I never thought that Emre would be producing Turkish Delight ever again. :jess:

[Heath]

Everton beaten by Newcastle?

Suicide or UEFA Cup related excuse?

[Jimsour]

We are City, super City.

SUPER CITTTTTTTYYYY
FROM MAINE ROAD

[Resha]

Everton beaten by Newcastle?

Suicide or UEFA Cup related excuse?
I don't even know.

Arsenal = yay but wha- on the loss of a 2-0 lead. At Emirates. Skerry stuff, boys.
Liverpool = guh, granted, it was spurs, but still. Can't do a job right, ay.

[Heath]

Group A
AZ Alkmaar
Zenit St Petersburg
EVERTON
Nuremburg
Larissa

Group B
Panathinaikos
Lokomotiv Moscow
Atletico Madrid
Copenhagen
ABERDEEN

Group C
Villarreal
AEK Athens
Fiorentina
Mlada Boleslav
Elfsborg

Group D
Basle
Hamburg
Stade Rennais
Dinamo Zagreb
Brann

Group E
Bayer Leverkusen
Sparta Prague
Spartak Moscow
Toulouse
FC Zurich

Group F
Bayern Munich
BOLTON
Braga
Red Star Belgrade
Aris Thessaloniki

Group G
Anderlecht
TOTTENHAM
Getafe
Hapoel Tel-Aviv
Aalborg

Group H
Bordeaux
Austria Vienna
Galatasaray
Panionios
Helsingsborgs

Spurs got quite possibly one of the easiest groups they could've gotten. The gits. Everton got a better draw than I expected. I worried about getting Bayern Munich or Villarreal, so quite naturally avoiding those two was quite nice. lol @ Bolton though.

[Psychotic]

See you in the next round, Neverton. :)

(I have every confidence that we'll finish ahead of Besiktas!)

[Heath]

See you in the next round, Neverton. :)

(I have every confidence that we'll finish ahead of Besiktas!)

Don't be silly, Paul! Everton don't play in Netherton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherton%2C_Merseyside)!

I think we should manage to get through that group. Hope we don't fall down at Larissa like Blackburn did. We play Nuremburg and AK Alkmaar away, both of whom haven't had the best of starts to their respective leagues.

[Jimsour]

Time for the international break.

Life gets boring during this period, and players get injured.

[Psychotic]

Am I the only person who got an orgasm at the sight of Frank Lampard sulking on the bench? Fantastic. And as soon as he comes on, England go to :skull::skull::skull::skull:. Ah Frank. Frank, Frank, Frank.
Life gets boring during this period, and players get injured.If you were watching the England game, I think you might've been worried about Micah Richards after that nasty clash of heads early on. Oh well, at least it's just Chelsea players who are getting crocked. :D

[Jimsour]

Aye. International games are like running the gauntlet these days anyway. Petrovs been injured too.

Didnt actually watch the match I was still in bed, but the Ireland match is on tonight anyway. Gonna kick the arse of the Germans!

[charliepanayi]

Well done to Scotland, they're even closer now to making it to Euro 2008.

And good to see Cyprus beating Wales, we don't get to win too often :)

[Burtsplurt]

I went to the match on Saturday. Decent game. Tried to talk to the players after the match when they were getting on the coach, but most of them just ignored us. Joe Cole, however, is a top bloke. He talked to my brother and I for ages. He even let us take a few snaps with my mum's camera.

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l111/borored/joecole.jpg

I'm the good looking one in the middle.

[Psychotic]

Hahahaha. :lol:

Did you actually go to the match or was that all a part of your elaborate ruse?

[Burtsplurt]

I didn't go. I didn't want to miss John Barnes on Strictly Come Dancing.

[DK]

The Anfield Rap was on one of the random music channels today, I nearly died

[Heath]

Sammy Lee has left Bolton by 'mutual consent', apparently. Reckon he was sacked?

[Rocket Edge]

Wow, really? I wonder who will take over. Probably Chris Coleman, or Paul Jewell.

[Cz]

Oh crap, does this mean Bolton are going to stay up now? :(

[Jess]

I doubt that.

[Psychotic]

It won't be Chris Coleman. He looks like he's having fun managing Real Sociedad in Spain.

[Jess]

Jesus fucking christ England. :mad2:

[Heath]

Jesus smurfing christ England. :mad2:

Agreed.

But it's alright because if England don't qualify a lot of Welsh people will be happy, hooray for England not qualifying but still doing better than Wales! And then we can not support Scotland when they qualify to be really bitter and petty!

[cloud21zidane16]

Oh god i dont believe it:eek: i wonder if England will even get in euro 08 now:(

[Jess]

Okay, Let's sack McClaren now.

[Heath]

Yes. Bring Sven back :(

[charliepanayi]

England are in a pretty precarious spot now. But then Russia couldn't beat Israel at home so it's no guarantee they'll beat them away (England could not beat Israel away after all). And if Russia did slip up then it's back in England's hands. So will just have to wait and see.

And Scotland, oh dear! Talk about possibly blowing it!

[DK]

Yes. Bring Sven back :(

No, screw you, he's found a loving caring home now and he's not leaving. :mad2:

[Jings]

Crap results for England and Scotland tonight it seems. England's destiny are in other countries hands now, just need to hope someone slips up. As for Scotland, what an awful performance that was, didn't even look like scoring. Still, seeing as we've won every single game at home for this qualifying campaign I don't see why we can't go and beat Italy.

And no, I'm not drunk.

[charliepanayi]

Hooray, Greece qualify with two games to spare!

Hopefully they can defend their title for more than three games next summer :D

And argh, Cyprus almost beat Ireland, lucky Irish gits with a last minute equaliser! We never get many away wins... :(

EDIT: I see now that Scotland probably need to beat Italy in their last game. Pretty tough task. But doable. Just about anyway.

[Heath]

Yes. Bring Sven back :(

No, screw you, he's found a loving caring home now and he's not leaving. :mad2:

I'm sure David O'Leary or even, dare I say it, Graeme Sounness would be willing to look after Man City for you!

[charliepanayi]

Just to say, these are the teams that are now definitely through, or nearly there barring big accidents:
Austria (definite)
Switzerland (definite)
Germany (definite)
Czech Republic (definite)
Greece (definite)
Romania (definite)
Croatia (probable)
Sweden (probable)
Spain (probable)
Holland (probable)

And that leaves (in rough order of likelihood):
2 of Poland/Portugal/Finland/Serbia
2 of Italy/France/Scotland
Norway or Turkey
Russia or England

[Resha]

Maybe England could take Jose Mourinho and spite the Russians (he's already fought one Roman!) xD unless he's got another home already, which...well, I'm out of it. Out of the LOOP.

[Jimsour]

Yes. Bring Sven back :(

No, screw you, he's found a loving caring home now and he's not leaving. :mad2:

In Sven we trust!:cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool:


I refuse to acknowledge the Republic of Ireland team as the team of my country anymore, we are fucking :skull::skull::skull::skull:e.

Only hope now is Northern Ireland next month maybe doing a bit better.

[Rocket Edge]

Yes! Saunton's on the way out. Quite possibly the worst manager Ireland ever apointed. No wait, just quite possibly the worst manager ever. Dave O'Leary to lead us to the promised land.

[Psychotic]

You know, I always wondered what Everton fans saw in Tony Hibbert. And now I know.

[Heath]

You know, I always wondered what Everton fans saw in Tony Hibbert. And now I know.

Funnily enough, it was our two weakest players that got sent off. Or at least, in my mind, two players that I'd like to replace. Nice of Gerrard to speak to Mr. Clattenberg to get that yellow he had in his hand bumped up to a red though. We started playing better after Hibbert went off and, in my opinion, would've been worthy winners had we won.

[Psychotic]

Yeah Liverpool were lucky to win, f'sure. But at the same time, we were robbed against Chelsea, so I guess these things really do even themselves out. Maybe you'll fluke your way past United later this season.

[demondude]

Phil neville should be a goalkeeper.

[Heath]

I have to say, the game was open as hell. How you managed to miss all those blatant goal opportunities in the second half is beyond me. I was in a pub surrounded by Liverpudlians (damn swear filter! :p) and they were mystified a) Why Benitez didn't bring on Crouch for one of either Mascharano or Sissoko and b) Why they were missing such open chances. I feel that Carragher should've been booked for all that mouthing off to the referee and that Lescott also earned a penalty. But I'm bound to. Disappointed with the result, but eh.

[charliepanayi]

Another win earned, now for two big tests in the next two weeks for us. I'll be happy if we get a draw at Anfield anyway.

[Psychotic]

I had a dream that Arsenal win that game 7-2.

[DK]

God damn please let Elano never get an injury.

[charliepanayi]

I had a dream that Arsenal win that game 7-2.

On Yellow Card count most likely :D

[Jimsour]

Elano you are god. Bring on Chelski.

Was surprised that Liverpool won cuz I was keeping up to date with it on my phone (soft spot for everton) and it was looking good.

[Hazzard]

Alright, that proves it, Arsenal are the best team to scrape the earth!

7 - 0 battering, hammering and complete annihilation of Slavia Prague:

Fabregas (2)
Hleb (2)
Theo Walcott (2)
Bendtler (1)

We were outstanding today and showing signs of a prosperous Arsenal team, our attack was flawless and fluent with the motion, we commanded possession and used it greatly. Cesc is definitely our main maestro and key link to goals, along with Hleb's finishing touches!

[charliepanayi]

Yeah it was great to see but it was just Slavia Prague, let's not get carried away.

Playing Liverpool and Man Utd in the next two weeks will tell us a lot more, and we have a lot of away games coming up in what is traditionally our worst time of year. For now let's aim to be in the mix in the League come Christmas and take the CL knock-out stages as they come (it's a long way until February after all)

[Cz]

I know it was only Slavia Prague, but damn winning 7-0 makes you feel great. Qualification's practically secure now, so it looks like we won't need to worry about getting a result from Sevilla or anything like that. That ought to allow us to rest players in the last couple of CL games, too, which will help us in the league.

[demondude]

Apparently rumours are spreading about that martin Jol will take charge of chelsea.
I hope he doesn't thats for sure. :(

[Hazzard]

I like to get carried away, but that match shows the confidence we once failed to exploit, I heard rumors of how Henry negatively influenced the players in the team, even to the extent of bullying. I like the way we have versatility and considerably class options in our main squad, things are on the up with us sailing 1st place in the Premiership...

I think we'll do alright against Liverpool, depends on the tactics and team we set up.

[Psychotic]

I think Rafa's had enough of people accusing Liverpool of being a Europe-only team. :lol: Hope we come bottom, or if we come third, that we play the kids in the UEFA Cup. That way we can really make a go at the league.

[Jess]

Oh, Liverpool. You make me sad. What are you playing at? You're the only English team in the CL that I like. xD

On the other hand, hahaha tottenham.

[Loony BoB]

Oh, Liverpool. You make me sad. What are you playing at? You're the only English team in the CL that I like. xD
Psy hacking your account again?

[Heath]

Oh, Liverpool. You make me sad. What are you playing at? You're the only English team in the CL that I like. xD
Psy hacking your account again?

Must be. No one but a Liverpudlian could like Liverpoool :p

[Cz]

There goes Jol. Does this mean Spurs are going to stay up now? :(

[charliepanayi]

I never thought I'd ever find myself feeling sorry for a Spurs manager....

But I can laugh at Spurs though, keep up the form lads XD

[Psychotic]

Must be. No one but a Liverpudlian could like Liverpoool :pActually, according to some poll, Liverpool are the most popular "second" team. It's not our fault we're the forces of good in the world of football!

[Heath]

Must be. No one but a Liverpudlian could like Liverpoool :pActually, according to some poll, Liverpool are the most popular "second" team. It's not our fault we're the forces of good in the world of football!

Really? I find that quite surprising given that supporters of teams like Chelsea, Manchester United and Everton among others tend to dislike Liverpool a fair bit. Ah well.

Looks like Jol made a pretty penny out of leaving Spurs as well, apparently.