The Football Thread - Season 2011/2012 - Part 2

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menthel said:
I was slightly miffed by the sale of Zamora to QPR but with the "super hoops" looking dire and our new russian with the difficult name playing so well with the team I am now rather happy. Just hope that QPR, Zamora and that goit Hughes go down!
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I was surprised when Zamora left but Pogrebnyak really does look like a fantastic signing. I have to confess I'd never heard of him before he joined Fulham but what a start! He looks confident on the ball, has great awareness, good control and is similarly big and powerful like Zamora with a much finer sense of where the goal is.
 
menthel said:
Just hope that QPR, Zamora and that goit Hughes go down!
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:razz:

Our run in is really tough, I think we have 6 of the top 7 in our last 11 games. Bolton away this week - now that is a massive game! The bottom 5 all within 2 points - nervous, nah :gag:
 
i'd like to see qpr relegated too - only because i can't stand joey barton and i'd like to see him miserable :lol:
 
joescrivens said:
i'd like to see qpr relegated too - only because i can't stand joey barton and i'd like to see him miserable :lol:
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I really like Barton and don't think he is as bad as his image (would rather have him than cheat Suarez in my team) but would also be happy if qpr went down as I think they acted shabbily with warnock. Of course they were going to go through a spell of poor results. But like wolves, I believe that they should have stuck with him. So hope that wolves and qpr go down along with Blackburn as kean is a muppet (one time the board should sack the manager) and they should not have got rid of Sam last year.
 
cambsno said:
I really like Barton and don't think he is as bad as his image (would rather have him than cheat Suarez in my team) but would also be happy if qpr went down as I think they acted shabbily with warnock. Of course they were going to go through a spell of poor results. But like wolves, I believe that they should have stuck with him. So hope that wolves and qpr go down along with Blackburn as kean is a muppet (one time the board should sack the manager) and they should not have got rid of Sam last year.
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I've no time for Suarez, but I certainly would not put him above Barton in terms of glowing human beings. Barton's done some pretty horrible things in his past, and so far this season has been average as best as a player.

There is a certain irony with you saying we should be relegated as we sacked Warnock when you've been calling for Wenger to be sacked every other week! ;) . It's like me saying I hope you miss out on Champions League spot because of the way Arsenal fans have treated Wenger!
 
akr said:
I've no time for Suarez, but I certainly would not put him above Barton in terms of glowing human beings. Barton's done some pretty horrible things in his past, and so far this season has been average as best as a player.

There is a certain irony with you saying we should be relegated as we sacked Warnock when you've been calling for Wenger to be sacked every other week! ;) . It's like me saying I hope you miss out on Champions League spot because of the way Arsenal fans have treated Wenger!
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Bartons things are in the past. Since his spell inside he has behaved and actually does quite a lot of good work that goes unreported. Not saying he is a world beater, but certainly the player Arsenal could do with.

There is an irony, but imo QPRs aim was to stay in the Prem, although any promoted club needs to be realistic about the fact they could easily go down. Look in the past at Bolton, and WBA... up and down a few times before becoming established clubs (up till now for Bolton anyway!). I dont think many managers could do any better than Warnock or McCarthy at QPR/Wolves were doing. I do think that Kean at Blackburn is a joke and will take the club down!

Wenger though keeps making repeated mistakes in the transfer market, and is deluded to how good we are. If he came out and said a good cup run and Euopa league was the target then great, but he comes out saying we can challenge for trophies when we cant. Thanks to Chelsea imploding, we have a great chance for 4th place, but next season can you see them or the Manc clubs outside the top 4? No, so thats a fight between Liverpool, us and Spurs. If Arsenal are to compete as a top 4 club we need to have a manager who will develop the team. That is not happening and we are getting worse and worse as each season goes by. This is the first that RVP has been fit for, if he had been true to form and been out for 2 months we would be where Liverpool are!
 
Well we might not have won but what a fight back and what character! Can't ask more from Arsenal than what they gave today!
 
TriggerHappy said:
Well we might not have won but what a fight back and what character! Can't ask more from Arsenal than what they gave today!
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Quite agree. Just paid the price for letting it get away from us at their place. Proud of the boys though!
 
joescrivens said:
Shame, thought van persie played well and deserved to beat Milan.
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Starting to sound a little like a broken record, Joe ;) Also, only one of the goals came from Van Persie today. Rosicky, Song, Sagna, the Ox and Koscielny all had a big part to play in the result.
 
TriggerHappy said:
Starting to sound a little like a broken record, Joe ;) Also, only one of the goals came from Van Persie today. Rosicky, Song, Sagna, the Ox and Koscielny all had a big part to play in the result.
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From now on when I say van persie I'm referring to arsenal. :thumbs:
 
joescrivens said:
From now on when I say van persie I'm referring to arsenal. :thumbs:
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Joe - you just wish Liverpool had somebody to make them a one man team ;)

Barton or Suarez is a tough one :thinking:........

As a player Suarez is better but despite Barton's past thuggery and continued outspoken tweets - I have more respect for him than I do for Suarez, the 'lowest' most vile player to grace our game.

Arsenal tonight - I missed everything (been busy) but I'm guessing some pride restored ?
 
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Was it a draw this week Joe?...my head hurts from being at Focus...
 
Anybody see the Barcelona game tonight - how good was Mr Messi !
 
Glen Johnson has released a statement reigniting the Suarez racism row http://t.co/qXI1zOgF ...when will they learn to let the thing settle an fade away. What a farce!
 
TriggerHappy said:
Glen Johnson has released a statement reigniting the Suarez racism row http://t.co/qXI1zOgF ...when will they learn to let the thing settle an fade away. What a farce!
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did he "release a statement" or did someone interview him and ask him some questions to which he responded?

Not saying he still shouldn't have let it lie - but there is a big difference between "releasing a statement" and speaking in an interview.

I also agree with johnson, I think evra did deliberately hold his hand lower. Why was it so much lower for suarez than for everyone else in the lineup. But I still don't get why its such a big deal - evra probably didn't even want to shake his hand - i don't blame him - he hates him and vice versa.

What evra did wrong was make such a stink about it and grab his arm afterwards like a little baby. He should have just shrugged his shoulders and thought "Your loss"
 
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I am surprised that Suarez didn't fall to the floor, rolling around holding his face when evra grabbed his arm!
 
why not let it lie my thoughts are there is very little chance that suarez would use the word negro in a friendly manner to evra they were at it all game they were never going to be buddies.
 
Found myself in the unfortunate position of having to watch the Europa league tonight. Supposed to meet some friends in the "red lion" but stupidly thought they meant the red lion in my town as opposed to the one in the town over. 2 beers down waiting and there was no chance I could then drive.

It made up by watching united lose at home. I always put a fiver on for united to come back as soon as united go 1 goal behind. I see it as a good investment. If they come back I win. If they lose I'm happy they lost.

Wondering tonight though when Rooney scored his pen and there was £25 in my pocket if I am happier they lost and I lost my £25 purse. Decided that considering how low I rank the Europa league I would have been happier with £25
 
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joescrivens said:
It made up by watching united lose at home. I always put a fiver on for united to come back as soon as united go 1 goal behind. I see it as a good investment. If they come back I win. If they lose I'm happy they lost.

Wondering tonight though when Rooney scored his pen and there was £25 in my pocket if I am happier they lost and I lost my £25 purse. Decided that considering how low I rank the Europa league I would have been happier with £25
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Oh to be a Liverpool fan and a betting man to boot.

Thanks goodness I'm not overly bothered about anybody else - it's hard enough watching my own team.:gag:

As for tonight - I knew it would be an open game and United could have come off a lot worse than they did.

Still, I'm enjoying the 'stress free' feel of Thursday night footy although being a goal ahead rather than a goal behind would make the second leg a bit more interesting. Chances are we'll get knocked out now but I hope we don't go out chasing the tie with a team selection that affects our Premier League games.
 
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dinners said:
Oh to be a Liverpool fan and a betting man to boot.

Thanks goodness I'm not overly bothered about anybody else - it's hard enough watching my own team.:gag:

As for tonight - I knew it would be an open game and United could have come off a lot worse than they did.

Still, I'm enjoying the 'stress free' feel of Thursday night footy although being a goal ahead rather than a goal behind would make the second leg a bit more interesting. Chances are we'll get knocked out now but I hope we don't go out chasing the tie with a team selection that affects our Premier League games.
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At one point during the match the camera spent 10 seconds showing fergusons reaction to the substitution board hitting him on the leg.

That pretty much sums up my disdain of everything in this competition from the night it is on to the tv production and everything inbetween
 
joescrivens said:
At one point during the match the camera spent 10 seconds showing fergusons reaction to the substitution board hitting him on the leg.

That pretty much sums up my disdain of everything in this competition from the night it is on to the tv production and everything inbetween
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For me, the commentary made me chuckle. At one point, they are talking about how many European games Giggs has played (something like 146 or so) and then say he is by some way, the leading ENGLISHMAN for games played in Europe with they thought Carragher next. I know Giggs is possibly in the Team GB side for the Olympics, but didn't realise he had to change his nationality to do that :-)
 
joescrivens said:
At one point during the match the camera spent 10 seconds showing fergusons reaction to the substitution board hitting him on the leg.

That pretty much sums up my disdain of everything in this competition from the night it is on to the tv production and everything inbetween
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I laughed when Stan Collymore was told he had to shut up because SAF was ready to speak then SAF was told to shut up because CH5 time was up :lol:

The production is rank - something I know you've mentioned more than once but I have to own up to noticing it more now I'm watching my own team. That said I'd still love to win it although it will be tough after tonight and it goes without saying that 20th league title is more important. I know I've said City for the league since the season began but the way we've bumbled along, patched up with no real quality all season yet remain within touching distance - I'm not ruling anything out looking at the fixtures .... :shrug:
 
cambsno said:
Bartons things are in the past. Since his spell inside he has behaved and actually does quite a lot of good work that goes unreported. Not saying he is a world beater, but certainly the player Arsenal could do with.

There is an irony, but imo QPRs aim was to stay in the Prem, although any promoted club needs to be realistic about the fact they could easily go down. Look in the past at Bolton, and WBA... up and down a few times before becoming established clubs (up till now for Bolton anyway!). I dont think many managers could do any better than Warnock or McCarthy at QPR/Wolves were doing. I do think that Kean at Blackburn is a joke and will take the club down!

Wenger though keeps making repeated mistakes in the transfer market, and is deluded to how good we are. If he came out and said a good cup run and Euopa league was the target then great, but he comes out saying we can challenge for trophies when we cant. Thanks to Chelsea imploding, we have a great chance for 4th place, but next season can you see them or the Manc clubs outside the top 4? No, so thats a fight between Liverpool, us and Spurs. If Arsenal are to compete as a top 4 club we need to have a manager who will develop the team. That is not happening and we are getting worse and worse as each season goes by. This is the first that RVP has been fit for, if he had been true to form and been out for 2 months we would be where Liverpool are!
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For sure Warnock can consider himself a little unlucky, the flip side of course is look at Norwich and Swansea and how well they are doing having spent less and no doubt on a lower wage bill. I personally wished he'd been allowed spend some money after what he did getting us promoted, but there is no loyalty in football from anyone these days, other than fans to clubs. That said we were not playing well, were changing tactics often and something was not right + plus our best player (Faurlin) got injured and out for the season which I think is really the cause of our decline as our squad is poor.

Personally, I think, and have done all season, that you'll finish in the top 4, and will do so again next season.

Ultimately if Abromovich and the Man City owners had not come along with their millions, you'd still be fighting Man Utd to be Champions. You no longer have the budget to compete, like it or not, so in that sense is Wenger the man for the job? Has he made mistakes? Certainly not signing a decent keeper previously a decent centre half \ def midfielder has been odd to say the least.

Personally I hope you do well, one of the few clubs run like a business, that plays good football and promotes youth.

I won't however begrudge Man City winning the league (if they do) - I remember going to Maine Road many years ago when it was between us and them to be relegated, and Jamie Pollock scored a truly bizarre own goal to send them down to what is now league one - but they've always had a great following.
 
dinners said:
I know I've said City for the league since the season began but the way we've bumbled along, patched up with no real quality all season yet remain within touching distance - I'm not ruling anything out looking at the fixtures .... :shrug:
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I'm calling it a 20th league title for united.

I think the run in is going to trip up city and united will slice through their teams, they'll win by a clear 3 points
 
so tom, what are your predictions? This week the ale will be Hobgoblin, because I had a pint on draught last night and it just reminded me how good it is

10 Mar 12:45 Bolton v QPR - (QPR win)
10 Mar 15:00 Aston Villa v Fulham (Fulham win)
10 Mar 15:00 Chelsea v Stoke City (Chelsea)
10 Mar 15:00 Sunderland v Liverpool (liverpool win)
10 Mar 15:00 Wolves v Blackburn (draw)
10 Mar 17:30 Everton v Tottenham (draw)
11 Mar 14:00 Man Utd v West Brom (Utd win)
11 Mar 14:00 Swansea v Man City (draw)
11 Mar 16:00 Norwich v Wigan (Norwich win)
12 Mar 20:00 Van Persie v Newcastle (Van persie wins)
 
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joescrivens said:
so tom, what are your predictions? This week the ale will be Hobgoblin, because I had a pint on draught last night and it just reminded me how good it is

10 Mar 12:45 Bolton v QPR - (QPR win)
10 Mar 15:00 Aston Villa v Fulham (Fulham win)
10 Mar 15:00 Chelsea v Stoke City (Chelsea)
10 Mar 15:00 Sunderland v Liverpool (liverpool win)
10 Mar 15:00 Wolves v Blackburn (draw)
10 Mar 17:30 Everton v Tottenham (draw)
11 Mar 14:00 Man Utd v West Brom (Utd win)
11 Mar 14:00 Swansea v Man City (draw)
11 Mar 16:00 Norwich v Wigan (Norwich win)
12 Mar 20:00 Van Persie v Newcastle (Van persie wins)
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10 Mar 12:45 Bolton v QPR - Draw
10 Mar 15:00 Aston Villa v Fulham - Draw
10 Mar 15:00 Chelsea v Stoke City - Chelsea
10 Mar 15:00 Sunderland v Liverpool - Sunderland
10 Mar 15:00 Wolves v Blackburn - Wolves
10 Mar 17:30 Everton v Tottenham - Spurs
11 Mar 14:00 Man Utd v West Brom - Utd
11 Mar 14:00 Swansea v Man City - City
11 Mar 16:00 Norwich v Wigan - Norwich win
12 Mar 20:00 Arsenal v Newcastle - Arsenal
 
Ha ha Wolves. Inept performance which serves you right for dumping Mick in the way you did. I really do believe he would have been then best chance of u staying up. For QPR, Unlucky with the goal that never was, but both clubs now in a worse position than when the managers were sacked.
 
I'm more than happy for him to remain in charge but at what point does Kenny get the boot ?

I remember United's first title in 26 years and If you'd told me back then that Liverpool were going to have the same wait I'd have said you were crazy. 22 or 23 years later (where does the time go) and it would seem that it's not beyond the realms of possibility.

Spoke to my mate earlier. Back when it was about Liverpool 18 - United 7 or 8 - we made a £100 bet on the first to 20 titles. I still think city will be Champions this year but I reminded him just in case they cock it up.

As for today - Spurs let me down again on the FF front.

David Moyes - Ten years in charge, can't fault the guy. I'd love to see him at United if they're prepared to appoint and stick with it long term rather than play lip service to a bigger name.
 
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dinners said:
At what point does Kenny get the boot ?
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A reasonable question given results and his dire performance in after-match interviews, but Liverpool aren't in danger and won't punt their manager without having a better alternative in place. The problem is, who might the better alternative be? :thinking:
 
Peter B said:
A reasonable question given results and his dire performance in after-match interviews, but Liverpool aren't in danger and won't punt their manager without having a better alternative in place. The problem is, who might the better alternative be? :thinking:
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Well I guess that's the six million dollar question.

Come the end of the season then who knows.

Results have been dire and as you say - Kenny's post match interviews have been cringeworthy all season. The owners eventually stepped in and thankfully (for PR reasons) undermined Kenny and the whole defence of Suarez that was ultimately embarrassing for all at LFC bar the RAWK.

In terms of who should replace him - I'm all for continuity and the whole 'boot room' thing - Dalglish, Evans, Thompson have all had a stab - at some point Sammy Lee must be worth a punt ?
 
dinners said:
I'm more than happy for him to remain in charge but at what point does Kenny get the boot ?
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This just sums up what's wrong with football these days. A few months where the results haven't been good enough and people start questioning when the manager is going to go.

The fact is as poor as the last few months have been, this is still our most successful season for a number of years. Trophey in the bag and still in the FA cup.

You have to let a manager see what he can do to turn something around. That means waiting for the season to end, reflecting on it as a whole and making adjustments to the team and the training and tactics over the summer, then measure his response in the next year.

That's how it should be done. Naysayers speculating on when the manager will be sacked after less Than 2 months of a dip just make the whole thing worse. It just optimises the "fast food" mentality of people these days.
 
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