can't believe I'm siding with a chicken badge'r :p I honestly don't think English national players get as much leniency as people think. The problem is that the ref's just simply are either too harsh or too quiet in most cases. The United Liverpool game was the only game I've seen this season where the calls were perfect.

As for the FA's, of course we all know who I think will win. Everton are playing decent, but at the end of the day, if United even halfway shows up, they'll go through. Chelsea is the only team I'm worried about, and that's a half worry. Chelsea are getting wins but they aren't quality wins. United hasn't had that many quality wins in a few weeks, but the loss to the scousers will certainly give them a wake up call. We'll just see if it turns into results.

As for the league, the only two matches that I can see being a downturn for United is possibly Arsenal, and the Sunderland match. Don't see them losing, but a draw is certainly possible. Just like the Blackburn and Newcastle games for Liverpool..I think those are the most dangerous for them. (not that I really mind if liverpool screws up) ;)

So Rafa signs a new contract through 2014. What a twist and turn his road has taken .. if this new contract is only because of his wins against United this year.. he'll be sacked the middle of next year. Although I guess he'll have more say so in the transfer market, but I don't see that helping much.

Despite all the ragging on Rafa for looking like Manuel the fat waiter and his general inane prattle, it is quite a testament to his managerial skills that he's accomplished so much with so little control. Fergie, Wenger and lately Moyes and O'Neill are proof that that full managerial control (under a competent manger) contributes a lot to club stability and progress - not only in terms of results, but also in terms of the club as a business entity. Rafa has managed to keep on-the-field results on an improving trend, even though he is hamstrung. The lack of control is what caused Mourinho to be driven out. Rafa played the same gamble with Keane that Mourinho took with Sheva, and Rafa got an improved contract. He's got skills.

Who saw the article where Owen claims he is NOT injury prone on Soccernet. Classic. Owen, by the way, should have never left L'pool, but then again, L'pool would probably not have got Torres if Owen was around.

Yeah, I saw that too and rofled. I scheme he's marketing himself for a transfer and trying to say that he'll be good for the money. Citeh, perhaps?

I suppose he somewhat fits what the owners of City wants. To be honest though, I think Man City should buy young talent (like Aston Villa), and build a team around a solid foundation. Buying a bunch of unwanted/aging/injury-prone/gold-digging strikers wont get you into the top four very soon...but that would be too straight forward for city, they thrive on inconsistency and drama.

City has never been keen on developing young talent like they should. Now that they have hoardes of cash, they are just content trying to sign anyone and everyone. It might help them a few times, but in the long run, I think it's going to be the same old same old for City.

Edit: forgot to mention there is a rumor that Valencia will transfer from Wigan to United. I'm trying to wrap my head around that one as I don't see any space for him, especially with Tosic more than likely coming into the first XI next season. Maybe it's a backup in case the Real rumors with Ronaldo are true this time. :shrug:

To be fair, before Thaskin arrived they had several of their youth players doing a decent job, such as ireland, johnson, richards, onouha, jordan, wright-phillips (shaun and bradley) and bought young players with some potential like hart and samaras. The problem is only richards, ireland and swp have any top quality.

you're right, I guess maybe I'm thinking that they seem more interested in buying than developing. I've been wrong before ;) As a city fan, I'm sure you still loathe the fact that City let United get Giggsy

Ok folks the CL draw is in.

Liversh!t against Chelsea (AGAIN)
United against Porto
Arsenal against Villa
Bayern against Barca.

I'm taking Chelsea over Liverpool, United over Porto Villa over Asenal and Barca over Bayern. :D

Bayern may suffer without Klose, but I rate them as the dark horse this year. They look seriously efficient. They could very well go all the way.

Liverpool fans probably wish they could face united instead of Chelsea. 6 out of 7 wins under Hiddink and Essien back - Chelsea look the goods.

Gunners ftw!

Yeah I picked Chelski because Essien is playing well. Bayern is the favorite to win right now. I don't know if Liverpool would really want to play United .. after that defeat, you know the players are chomping to get back at Liverpool. :shrug:

Chelsea will not win the whole thing because of JT and Ballack. Ballack has been shocking this season.

The gooners don't have the goods to win it either IMO, but in this competition anything is possible.

On another note, Mourinho is back to his old self again.. he's looking to buy a lot of players. One of those is Vidic, who has already said he wouldn't go. Inter is willing to offer $25 million for him. Supposedly, quaresma, figo, vieira, crespo, cruz, toldo, samuel, and mancini are leaving the club. So inter could gather some money for their new acqusitions. moratti will give 100 million for those 6 players ...and they will probably gather 30-50 million from selling players...

He's interested in Vidic, Drogba, Carvalho, Mikel, Diaby and Jenes. I can see Drogba, Mikel and Jenes leaving. He'll never get Vidic or Diaby though.

yeah, I saw it too. I'm not so sure - thing about Italy and Spain is that it holds a lifestyle allure that Britain could never offer. Players could go for that as much as for the football. Diaby leaving will depend on whether Wenger buys Veloso or Yaya, methinks.

That's true, and is one reason why nobody will be shocked if Ronaldo leaves for Real Madrid. He's said before that he would leave and play football there because of the women. :rolleyes:

I think however, that most people who are concerned with playing at the highest level will still stay in the EPL, as it is regarded as the most competitive in the world.

as far as Arsene goes.. how much longer is he going to stay at arsenal? I've been hearing alot of grumblings from his side and the fans side about his being there lately.

Two Words - FUCKING.........and..........FIX

Thanks Mr. Platini and your warmed up balls you killjoy French Cock!

We'll do it the hard way - Chelski / Barca / Man Ure in the Final, on penalties of course! Liverpool are unbeaten in penalty shoot outs in all cup competitons!

Bring on the Blue Shite! :thumbsup:

I'll admit Platini is a dick. Don't know if it's fixed, but United certainly got the easier draw on paper. Porto shouldn't be underestimated by any stretch though.

Drogba has received a 3 match ban for throwing a coin into the burnley stands. This is a blow for Hiddink as Drogba and Essien are the only two who have been giving results for chelski lately. I must say I'm not at all saddened by this news ;)

Drogba served his ban back in the fall.

Surely even the colonies have received the news by now?

BOOM!!! United implosion. 2-0 loss at the Cottage. 2 red cards.

I had thought so too, but the sky sports link made it sound like it was effective now. :shrug:


another shocking performance by United. 3 suspended players now. Still think they can win the league..

I was shocked that Fergie started with one striker. The first red was a no-brainer.. the second yellow/red on Rooney is questionable. That boy just can't keep his emotions in check.

If Chelsea loses to the Spurs, we'll all be watching the scousers to see if they can produce.

I'm watching the Southern Blue Shite go down 1 - 0 at Spurs. :thumbsup:

Like I said before, let's see which Liverpool turns up tomorrow.
It would be bloody typical if we draw, or worse still lose tomorrow. But hey, I've seen it happen before, I don't know what to expect.

I just heard Fergie has booked Rooney in for some anger management! :rolleyes:

Yeah, Rooney really lost the plot there.

As for Villa - it'll be a tougher game than the Mancs or Real, I have no doubt. Villa have been in a poor run of form but you know that can't continue indefinitely and it'll be tough for us to match the genius of the last two games.

Still, feeling good going into the match (hopefully feeling the same way at the end!)

:hyper:

Wazza always has anger issues. However, his anger didn't show until after the card was shown. I have a feeling the card will be lifted after a review. Some United fans are claiming Dowd did it on purpose since he's a scouser :rolleyes: The second yellow was more than harsh though.

I think right now the team I'd hate to face more than any other in the EPL is Arsenal. They are getting stronger every match.

As far as Villa and 'Pool go, I see 'Pool winning 1-0 and then drawing at Newcastle and Blackburn ;)

The league has certainly become a lot more interesting in the past week that's for damn sure.

If "United fans are claiming Dowd did it on purpose since he's a Scouser" they are pretty dim bulbs. Dowd is from Staffordshire.

As for rescinding the card, United cannot appeal - there is no appeal process for yellows no matter that it led to a dismissal. Only Dowd can rescind it of his own volition. And I doubt he will. If it were a tackle that he misjudged and then later saw a video replay that showed him he was wrong, he'd call it back. But in this case, it's not really that sort of judgement call.

Unless someone slips a few bills into his mailbox on Monday morning, that is ...

yeah only a few are claiming he did it on purpose.. they have been scolded.

hmm no appeal on the second yellow that results in a red? I could've sworn there was a process. Oh well. I'm sure Dowd won't rescind it. At least United still have Berba and Tevez. I think United's main problems this year is the makeshift back line. The backline isn't giving wing support like they did last year and it's been a noticeble change in their play.

No Berba for a few weeks, apparently.



All of the top four have had periods of mediocritiy this season. Its what's given Villa and Everton the opportunity to close the gap. You can hardly pull out this excuse now - United's main reason for being top is season is their squad depth.

Yeah I'm not convinced that Berba is going to be out that long. He's had a knock since Inter and has managed.

I'm not pulling excuses out now. I've noticed it all season. Last season, Wes Brown gave alot of support off the wings which allowed Ronaldo a little more freedom down the line to get his shots in. Now with O'Shea on the right, the support just isn't there. Add to the fact that Ronaldo has become the biggest crybaby the numbers are down.

Alot of people are slating on Berba because he's lazy, but they are idiots. His style of play is just different than what United is used to. His ball control is superb, and he has enough goals and assists to justify his purchase. Don't think he's the next Cantona as some think to imagine.. but in the long run I think he's a better fit than a Tevez is.

Squad depth doesn't mean shit when half of them are injured and/or suspended ;)

---------- Post added at 11:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:33 AM ----------

well.. game over for Villa.

Ok you scouse bastards.. looks like we're in for one hell of a race :)

Somebody pinch me! I'm dreaming! 5-0 and Torres doesn't score? What's going on?

I nearly threw summat at the TV! After the match the first question that Geoff 'I'm a cock sucker' Shreeves asked Rafa was;
"Rafa, your team scored 5 goals and we didn't see you smile once"
WHAT THE FUCK ??????
We outplayed a poor Villa side and that's the best he can come up with?
Go and crawl back up Andy Grays arse you dickhead!

On another note altogether...let's see who comes back injured from the International Break.
My money is on Torres, that would be just our luck!
International friendlies? MY ARSE!

Come on you Red Men! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Yeah, I'm flabbergasted. I figured we'd win - Villa's small squad is their undoing late in the season, they always seem to falter as they are playing tired and hurt - but 5-0! Haven't seen the match yet as I was at Disney on Ice with my 4 year old but will be watching the replay tonight. As soon as I got out of the Roger's Centre, I checked the Internet and let out a big whoop when I saw the score.

Yeah, fatboss, I'm a little concerned with the Internationals - other than Carra virtually everyone else will be playing. But at least it gives Villa a chance to recover before facing the Mancs as I think Agbonlahor and Young got left out by Capello!

Torres does have a knack for getting injured doesn't he?

As for Villa. I'm not worried, especially since Friedel is suspended. United may have peaked at the wrong time, but I can't see them losing 3 consecutive. If they do, then they have no business winning the league anyway.

A week after I go on about how Rooney gets away with mouthing off, he gets carded for it. LoL. Glad to be proved wrong. :p

Re: Pool v Villa - I figured it was gonna be a mauling. Pool just have too much industry and firepower.

I take it we're all waiting to see who comes back injured?

He didn't get carded for mouthing off. He got carded because that idiot Dowd thought Rooney was throwing the ball at him. If he looks at it on video it's clear that it went to where the kick was supposed to be taken. Wazza didn't mouth off until after the booking and send off.

so yes you're still wrong :D

The freekick was meant to be taken 50 yards past where Dowd was standing? Because that's where the ball ended up. Unless Dowd made like Pepe Reina and dove hard to his right to get fingertips on it, that's where the ball was always going to end up.

Rooney is lucky - if Dowd had included Rooney's subsequent foul mouthed rant, his tardiness in leaving the pitch and his swing at the corner flag, he could have gotten more punishment, but Dowd let it go.

He deserved to go, as does anyone who behaves in that fashion.

Yeah, I know he the the ball. Did Dowd's report actualy state that he thought Rooney threw it at him? I thought Rooney was frustrated and just threw it at his team in general, to get them to hurry the fuck up.

Rooney was in a hurry. Look, I'm not even going to attempt to say that Rooney doesn't act like a child on the pitch sometimes. His anger is an issue that always pops up. You would think by now he would have learned a thing or two.

However, there is history with Dowd and United and it's not so pretty. Dowd didn't include any of the mouthing off or corner flag slap in his report so there will be no further action taken. There may be action against Fergie for his little comments..who knows. Anyway, Wazza threw the ball back with force to his teammates. I don't see how that is a yellow. How is it unsportsmanlike if the player is simply trying to get the ball played again in a hurried fashion??

Dowd showed plenty of restraint with the ever increasingly cry-baby that is Ronaldo, but I think he was wrong in his second yellow on Rooney. I guess now this might give nani or welbeck a chance to play some minutes. :shrug:

I'm really not too wrapped up in the sending off, I just think that as a whole (and yes this includes you scousers) that the referee's have lost quite a bit of quality. Then again, Liverpool shouldn't be worried, they have drawn more penalties than anyone this year ;)

Friedel has his red rescinded so he'll be free for the United match.

Not that it'll make any difference. Villa to lose 3-1.

Eh, Friedel usually plays well against United. Add to the fact that Wazza and Berba are out as well as Scholes.. and I see it more like 2-0 or 2-1. Neville should be back for this fixture. Maybe if Carrick is in midfield then United can attack like they should. Some people are calling for Nani, Welbeck and Tosic to play and I think that's stupid. I can see Nani but not Welbeck or Tosic.. not until next year. They just simply aren't ready yet.

I agree. At Arsenal we went through the same thing when we had injuries and were underperforming. People calling for Wilshere and Ramsey to play instead of Eboue, Denilson and Diaby, but those lads simply aren't ready. Potential does not substitute for experience.

so what's up with those youngsters from Arsenal? I hear that they are good, but someone mentioned that they've been around for 2-3 seasons now and they aren't really youngsters anymore. (I tend to ignore the gooner fans in my family) Someone told me that Arsene said they would be youngsters until they win something.. :confused:

United has a wealth of talent, so I can see United not winning the league a couple of years because of that young talent, but I'm glad they are building like that.

Not having senior players around is hurting - takes the youngsters a lot longer to learn. That's why (I believe) Wenger bought Silvestre - more for training ground impact than anything else. And as you know, some players develop more slowly than others. Walcott is a good example of a player who is senior in playing years, but still has a lot to learn.

Most of the youngsters are also only getting gametime this season - due to injuries etc. I expect Arsenal will be much stronger for it in the long term - provided we can avoid being a selling club.

I'll agree that it's important to have experience. I like how United likes to mix youth and experience. The youth squad that they have will be deadly in a couple of years.

I see Arsenal getting better already this season, and expect them to be in the top 3 next year. I actually think United will miss the league for a year or two because of their youth, but after that they will return to dominance.

which btw, if United pulls off the league this year.. they will be the first team in history to win the league 3 straight times more than once iirc.