*Official* 09/10 EPL Thread
 

OK folks. The EPL is officially underway. Use this thread to keep track of opinions, stories, matches and transfers. This season is going to be an interesting season with lots of twists and turns. So come in, sing your songs, pound your badge and support your lot.


scousers and city scum should be quiet though.. nobody wants to hear that rubbish :lol:

joking of course.

United's flag is deepest red,
It shrouded all our Munich dead,
Before their limbs grew stiff and cold,
Their heart's blood dyed it's every fold.

Then raise United's banner high,
Beneath it's shade we'll live and die,
So keep the faith and never fear,
We'll keep the Red Flag flying here.

We'll never die, we'll never die,
We'll never die, we'll never die,
We'll keep the Red flag flying high,
'Cos Man United will never die

"The famous Man United went to see the Pope in Rome,
the famous Man United went to see the Pope in Rome,
the famous Man United went to see the Pope in Rome,
And this is what he said...
FUCK OFF!"

how are your boys in yellow doing SF? :lol:

Bryan Gunn (Norwich boss) was sacked yesterday - despite a 4-0 win over Yeovil in the cup midweek.

Its the right decision, and he shouldnt have been offered by the job after the end of last season. He is a thoroughly decent, honest, man and an abolute legend at the club... but he wasnt up to the job and he had to go. Its a shame it had to happen that way, a shame we had to go through the 7-1 humiliation last weekend to get there... Gunny will always have a place in the hearts of the fans.

As for City - well, there arent many teams in the third tier of football with 18,000 season ticket holders (who voted not to accept a rebate on their season tickets after relegation so that the club could use the funds to bring in players). But we have to understand that we dont have a God given right to walk this division, we're gonna have to fight our way out. A lot depends on who the new boss is... I'd quite like Aidy Boothroyd, although his teams dont play the "Norwich way" you have to play ugly sometimes to get out of this division.

---------- Post added at 03:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:35 PM ----------

___

And I'll say it right now.

My predictions

For the drop:

Hull
Portsmouth
Burnley

For the title:

Chelsea

Also, dont see Man City breaking into the top 4.

Chelscum will only win if they can get their formation worked out. I'm picking City to be the biggest losers especially with all the money they've spent. That traitor Tevez will find himself on the bench just as much as he did with United and he'll bitch and complain like always. However, I still have this inclination that they could end up in the Top 4 because the Gunners are weak. They have nothing other than Cesc.

United will be weak for the first week or two and then I think they'll start to gel and they should stay on top. With Wazza being able to play a central role he should be back to goal scoring..and Berba looks a lot better already this season. I'm curious to see just how much Ronaldo will be missed. He brought a lot to the team no matter the personal opinion of him.

Liverpool.. eh.. who knows. I don't think they'll be in the mix as they were last season but they will put up a strong showing.. so I'm sticking with United and the Boo Boys to fight for the title.

well the first round is out of the way.. no major surprises..

Hotspurs seem to be Liverpool's kryptonite..

Man city was unimpressive.. but so was United. United have much to improve on if they are to be title hopefuls.

the gooners looked the best out of all the teams but I suspect that will fade quickly as they get into beefier competition. they just don't have much in the way of powerful players.. they can have all the skill and finesse they like, but it will end up just as last year I think.

Chelscum.. eh, they looked vulnerable, but again it's far to early to really tell what's going to happen to any team during the season.

I was just pleasantly pleased to see Liverpool go down. Uninspired play to say the least.

where is highthief and fatboss? figured they'd be in here gloating about the 4-0 win.

Liverpool certainly bounced back nicely on wednesday..

United failed miserably and once again showed that we lack an attacking midfielder. I don't know why Fergie selected the midfield he did.. Valencia should have been on the wings..he's much better at holding.. Park is a player that is better against the likes of the Gooners and the Boo Boys..

the title race is going to be interesting this year.

ARE YOU WATCHING MERSEYSIDE??

Fantastic bounce back by United against Wigan. Wazza gets his 100th goal.. Nani hit a Ronaldo like FK, Berba is showing his class and more importantly, Owen gets his first in a United shirt.

I'm surprised there isn't more activity from the scousers and gooners in here..

well ok I can understand why the scousers are hiding. 'Pool has quite a few issues already.

Shame what happened at West Ham.. looks like there are going to be quite a few life bannings handed out.

why is there so much damn celebration after scoring on a penalty kick? it's a kick that should always be made by the kicker and many of the times it's not even kicked by the guy who caused the penalty. to me, it should just be a damn kick and walk back...you didn't do anything special that deserves the celebration. the pk from rooney against arsenal made me think of this.

Pfft, 2-1 loss to United. United were there for the taking, since they didn't really do anything to win the match. But again, the Old Trafford ambience wins them inches.

-5 points for the pedantic 4th official.

United were very lucky. The gooners should have won the match.. I'll admit it. They dominated the midfield.

---------- Post added at 02:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:24 PM ----------

oh and yes the 4th official was more than pedantic. that was sillyness. WTF was Diaby thinking?

United are clearly still a work in progress..if not for Vidic gooners would have won for sure

Ok, I know Wenger is bitter about losing, but can he shut his mouth already?? Seriously, claiming that Fletcher only goes out to foul and target players and gets special treatment from an official? C'mon.. what a joke. I could see maybe some other players but not Fletcher..he is pure class and a model professional.

the most laughable statement was this one "People come and pay to see football. They do not come to see free-kicks." Umm last I checked that's part of the game.. I bet if RVP's beautiful free kick had hit the back of the net and not the crossbar he wouldn't be complaining about them.. bitterness is unbecoming Mr. Wenger.

He needs to worry about his diving club first. :lol:

Yeah, Wenger went a bit over the top - partially I think to take issue with UEFA about their witch-hunt on Eduardo.

But Fletcher did get away with a lot. Should have been yellowed and a penalty awarded for the tackle on Arshavin. Him on a yellow would have changed the complexion of the match. Also had a terrible high foot on Clichy, that deserved a yellow. on a couple of his tackles, the ref played advantage, but never booked him when play stopped. Dein made some very inconsistent calls, but as I said, its Old Trafford.

see I don't think that it's because of Old Trafford. I mean it's been documented over and over again that if any team gets favored it's Liverpool.

Sure Fletch had some bad challenges, but I hate how Wenger is basically saying he meant to that.. Fletch isn't the kind of player to intentionally do that sort of thing.

Dein has always been inconsistent and over the top on color being shown.

Yeah, I know, but Eduardo isn't the type of player to dive either. All of Wenger's comments this week speaks to inconsistent refereeing. Dein gave quite a few Arsenal players yellows for first/second offences. Van Persie's yellow was most notable. United got a lot more leeway.

Liverpool might get general favour, but United get lots of love at Old Trafford. Just look at how few penalties get awarded against them there - I read a few years ago that the count was 3 - 16 home vs away, over a couple of years on the same amount of games (up to 2006-ish).

Anyway, we lost, I've moved on. The more crucial game for me was always the one against Man City.

yeah the Manchester Derby is coming up.. should be fantastic considering the things Fergie has been saying about the Citeh scum.

I don't think United will win the league this year.. maybe next season, as they are a work in progress right now..but as long as Citeh stay out of the top 4 I'm happy.

4 hours left on the transfer day deadline..

couple of rumors has Anderson going from United to Everton (doubt it highly)

Rodrigues Jadson of Shakhtar and Tom Huddlestone of Spurs are rumored to be in talks with United as well.

I don't forsee any major signings in this window..

Chelsea to win the league by 4 or 5 points me thinks...

Liverpool to finish 4th this season and a major summer upheaval to happen next summer at player, management and board level

I'd love to know what you're basing that on, doug, especially after only a few weeks of action. You must have gotten great advice from the "Ask a psychic" thread. :)

Personally, I'm pretty impressed with the 3 teams that were promoted into the prems this season. All 3 are sitting around the middle of the table, which is pretty good - especially after facing some proper competition. I really hope Wolverhampton stays up.

Chelsea looks the class right now.. but mark it down, they will stumble.

United will be more powerful after the xmas break as they still have a lot of molding together that needs to happen. I think Valencia will be pure class once he settles down.

Citeh.. they will find themselves 5th. Arsenal 3rd and Livershit 4th.

or maybe we can hope that CityScum and LiverScum find themselves in the relegation zone. if there is a god..

United go to second in the table with a good performance against spurs..

I'm pretty disappointed in the gooners though..

Adebayor perhaps to be charged. Eduardo's ban rightly lifted. Champions League starting tonight....interesting week so far.

I was wondering if you were gonna say something about Adebayor. I was horrified with his lack of class. He had no reason to go after gooner fans like that as I think Arsenal showed exceptional faith in the man while he was there.. he's the one to fault for defecting to the moneybaggers (just as Tevez did.. traitor) I have a feeling that if Arshavin was healthy for that match, things would have turned out a bit different..but.. he wasn't so the result is what it is.

I'm hoping United demolish citeh in the derby. I hope Tevez is on the pitch when United run rampant on the scum and show them they aren't top 4.

Yeah well, we knew he had no class and was a disruption in the dressing room. Wenger stood by him all the way though, even after he unsuccesfully tried to prostitute himself after his 30-goal season. But city will reap what they sow. With all the crap he was spouting leading up the match, I wasn't really surprised at his goal celebration, or him trying to injure as many players as he could. I'm hoping he gets a 5-match ban, and that Tevez and Santa Cruz performs in those games. We'll see what Adebayor does when he's no longer 1st pick.

btw, I'm hoping the FA also takes action against those 30-odd Arsenal fans who went on like maniacs. But seeing as nothing came of the Millwall-West Ham riot, i'm not holding my breath.

You're right: Rosicky gave us an idea of what that game would have been like had Arshavin played.

My biggest worry is that lads needed to win to mentally convince themselves that we are fine without Toure and Adebayor. I'm more concerned about the mental effect of the loss than the league leaderboard.

It's highly doubtful the FA will do anything as you said.. they haven't done sweet fuck all in regards to the West Ham incident.. so this is small potatoes in comparison.

What I would like to see is an investigation into the alleged stamp on RVP by Adebayor. It's a shame the ref didn't see it, as it looked like a clear stamp to me. I know Adebayor was fired up for the match, but I can't for the life of me figure out what was going through his head during play as he showed such lack of class and character. I don't think I ever saw him perform like that while at Arsenal...Perhaps this shows that Mark Hughes isn't really the one driving the bus at Citeh..

it's funny how you want to see how Adebayor handles not being first pick.. most of us United fans are wanting the same thing for Tevez. He complains about not getting first team football..yet he defects to a team with a surplus of strikers... not a bright lad to say the least.

I support the free movement of labour, and hold no grudge to players leaving. Toure leaving made sense: He was 28, and was getting a huge sunset contract, plus getting Arsenal a nice 10000% profit on his transfer. He gave 8 years of great service, and I wished him all the best. Adebayor's attitude problem and lack of class after he departed left a sour taste, though. You didn't see Berbatov behave like that against Spurs. So yeah, I wish that Adebayor gets some karma. I hope he rides the pine like Hleb did at Barca (minus Ade winning anything tho, lol).

---------- Post added at 03:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:05 PM ----------

Here we go: Adebayor faces two charges, and the Arsenal fans may face criminal charges.

From Emmanuel Adebayor charged twice by FA over conduct - Barclays Premier League - ESPN Soccernet :

An FA statement read: ''Under the fast-track disciplinary process, Adebayor has been charged with violent conduct following an incident with Robin van Persie, which resulted in the Arsenal player receiving facial injuries.

''Referee Mark Clattenburg has advised The FA that he did not see this incident, but has confirmed that had he done so, he would have sent Adebayor off for violent conduct. The player has until 6pm on Wednesday evening to respond to the charge.''

Adebayor also faces a charge for his goal celebration, which saw Gunners fans explode in anger after the Togo man ran the length of the pitch to goad them, having netted the third goal in City's 4-2 win.

''The Greater Manchester Police have written to The FA with their views on this incident. A separate date will now be arranged for a commission to consider Adebayor's goal celebration,'' the statement continued.

Well I'm certainly glad that he's going to be at least charged with violent conduct. His stamp on RVP was terrible. I would be pleased with a year long ban for such an act. It has no place in the sport of football. The goal celebration was lacking class also, but it pales in comparison to his horrible tackles and the stamping.

I certainly understand and accept the transfer of labour. However, much like you, there is a very sour taste in the mouth's of United supporters with Tevez. United gave his agent everything they asked for, and chanted down his name from the heavens, but in the end, he went to citeh for more money. It wasn't really about first team football, it was about his agent getting the cash. Some of the things Tevez said about Fergie after he left were completely out of character, not to mention wrong. He could have gone anywhere else, with the exception of the KOP and United fans wouldn't have been so bitter. All I know is that if you look at ACTIM indexes and stats, Berba is certainly more class and a better choice over Tevez. Tevez needed to learn how to be a super sub in the way Ole Gunnar was.. but his ego is apparently, too great for that.

---------- Post added at 10:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:16 AM ----------

oh just one more thing, I would hate to see the supporters receive lifetime bannings for their participation in the Adebayor saga, and not see the player himself get any real punishment. Players know that supporters are very passionate and will go to great lengths to "protect" their badge... to goad them is just as bad as the actions of the gooner fans IMO.... and their actions pale in comparison to the West Ham violence..

I agree fully, and said pretty much the same on soccernet's forums.

Apparently, Mark Hughes wants people to cut Adebayor some slack in the stamping incident. I can't wrap my head around why he would want that.. other than he knows he's in trouble Sunday if Ade can't play in the Derby.

I'm really hoping United demolish Citeh on Sunday. I'm looking to Valencia to run rampant with his speed and control, and hopefully Berba will be on the receiving end of some of that magic. It would certainly show Tevez that he wasn't needed after all..and he should have stayed where he was if he was so concerned with winning.

Citeh in the top 4 would just be a tragedy.. it's almost as bad as Leeds being up there.

I've been around bbc and skysports and amazed at all the blinkered Citeh fans who call his act "a heat of the moment act" or "he's not the first". If someone on United had done this, they would be calling for a year long ban. Neville was suspended for a similar incident, why shouldn't Ade be suspended? I'd go so far as saying that if there was indeed violent intent (which I believe there was), a 10 match ban minimum should be in order on the first offense. Maybe Ade should pay for the injured stewards medical bills as well, since it was his stupidity that caused the fans to incense to that level. I can understand if Ade had scored right in front of gooner fans, but I cannot understand running the length of the pitch in order to mock and goad fans of a club that supported an overrated and obviously brain dead player.

Hark now hear, United sing,
The city run away,
And we will fight for evermore,
Because of Derby Day!

Hey, I liked Leeds. After all, Radebe was their captain. But I understand your proclivities.

Leeds=Scum.

Owen in the 96th. minute?

I feel like I've been stabbed in the heart!

At least Fergies 'Play until we score the winner' project has worked on Howard Webb.
Hmm - wasn't he the same referee that gifted Man Ure a 'ghost' penalty last season when they were 2 down against Spurs?

Nothing changes.

Torres - you're a fucking legend!

now now Fatboss... no reason to be bitter about the Manchester Derby..

the rules state that when a number goes up for extra time, that merely means that is the minimum to be played.. ;)

or maybe I guess you wouldn't mind so much if it hadn't been Owen that scored the winner eh?? Not too bad for a free pickup :lol:

The Old Trafford factor wins another ref decision for United, as usual. Nothing changes. But to his credit, Mark Hughes has not bitched about it.

so basically it was all gravy while he was at OT, but now that his moneybaggers lost, it's a problem.

I need to find the article explaining the time breakdown and how it was actually spot on.

while extra time shouldn't go on until a fair outcome is resolved, I don't think anyone can disagree that United clearly should have won and was the better team. Citeh put in a hell of a game and showed resolve, but they weren't good enough.

---------- Post added at 07:55 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:49 AM ----------

and if memory serves me right, since the 4 minutes was already up, and citeh scored on 90 minutes, the celebration and substitution added about 1 minute 26 seconds to that 4 minutes. United scored what.. 1 second past that? C'mon.. we all know that 4 minutes of extra time does not mean exactly 4 minutes of extra time. it's the minimum to be played and fact is teams have to play to the final whistle and city failed to do so. So call it Old Trafford'ish if you want, but the FA rule book clearly states extra time is in discretion and with the goal celebration and the substitution, I don't think anyone can really complain about 1 second over the amount of 4 minutes plus sub and goal celebration.

Fixed.

:rolleyes:

the goal came within allotted time..and I seriously doubt had Citeh scored, that Hughes would be complaining about going over the "4" minutes..and he would happen to forget the rules of time granted to the ref. Wait.. he seems to have forgotten that anyway.. just as most others seem to have forgotten it.

United go top of the table, the boo boys get shocked, liverpool puts up 6 and gooners squeak a win. Was a pretty damn good weekend in the EPL. (except for 'pool scoring so much of course :D )

I see United's injury time winner again ruffled some feathers. If you can't win in injury time, then why play it at all? I think that football should switch to rugby's system, though, to remove the ref's discretion. Give the timekeeping role to the fourth official. Use a hooter. etc.

Berba's goal was class.

Another big win for Arsenal. 6-1; 4-0; 6-2. Under Wenger Mk2 (the french squad) I was always confident we could scalp the top 4, but worried about Borough, Bolton etc. Nowadays it seems we beat lower teams easily, even ones that park the bus. I'm not sure yet what I prefer: big wins, or wins against the top 4. I guess I'll see where we end up after the end of this season.

We're finally seeing the real Berba at United I think. The man has a point to prove this year. Once he and Valencia and Wazza get it together, they will be massive.

I have to admit, I LOVE watching the gooners play as of late. I have this sneaky feeling they'll score a record against someone this season. They would have no problem putting 8 into the net. I think they'll stay in the top 4 and citeh will be on the outside looking in.

Speaking of citeh, I'm wondering if people in pale blue are starting to see why Tevez is overrated. He runs around a lot, but he single handedly wasted any real chances for them yesterday. I think he has about the same striking ratio of Heskey..and Heskey is unselfish. That's pretty sad for a striker that demands first team playing time. Lescott has proven he isn't worth the money they spent as well.

I'm pleased that 'Pool lost, but was hoping for a draw between the booboys and 'pool. Liverpool has some serious issues atm, and while I'm not going to complain, they play without any conviction or passion and it's almost sad to watch.

and Mark Hughes can stuff it. If he can't figure out the reason there was added added time, then he deserves to be the coach of Citeh. dumb fuck.

A Saudi prince is interested in buying a major stake in Liverpool.. he says he won't invest until the debt level is lower..

if this keeps up it will be the Saudi Premier League....

God I hate world cup weekends.

No decent football to watch!


GRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!

Checked this out of curiosity what EPL stood for. I am assuming that is "English Premier League" after a google search.
Nice looking site, and sounds more interesting than the (strictly my opinion) completely unappealing American football.

So Speed - who's your team then?

Don't be shy - share! :D

We could always use another Manc around here :D

Wazza is pulling out of the england squad with a calf strain.. Hopefully nothing serious.

Stevie G still having groin issues. Maybe Rafa needs to be gentler with his boy toy :p

Never thought I would actually contribute to this kind of thread, but I do have some noob-type questions that would take more probing than I have time.
0) Do all of the UK/European countries have their own leagues that play each other as well in some kind of Continental/World Cup thing?
1) Do they all the same standarised rules?
2) How long are these seasons?
enough questions, just curious. For that matter I knew almost nothing about American football until I watched shipmates playing a NFL video game on the Aircraft Carrier and figured it out from that.

There are a ton of individual leagues. For instance, in England, you have the EPL, Championship, League 1 and League 2. The lower league you're in the worse you are. The lowest 3 teams in the EPL are relegated to the lower league, and the highest in the championship league are promoted to the EPL.

Spain has their own leagues, as does Germany, Scotland and spanish countries.

The rules are all pretty standard but the governing body may be a bit different between leagues.

I can't remember off hand when the EPL season ends, but along with the EPL, you have internationals, Carling Cups, FA Cups, UEFA Champions League (where the clubs fight it out to be called Champions of the world) and their League Cups. So footballers are traveled well and have to play in a multitude of other games other than just their league games. It's quite brutal in reality

It was an interesting day in the EPL to say the least..

Did liverpools title chances *POP*? :lol:

Erm, EVERY country has its own league (the only exceptions I can think of are Swansea, Cardiff, Berwick Rangers and Monaco - I expect there might be 1 or 2 more such cases)

I hope it stays that way. Football is part of the life blood of communities... there might be 20 or so teams that have an international fanbase... but the reality of football is the guys playing Sunday morning all across the country (and every country)

Hmmm - beaten by a beach ball!

Sums it up really doesn't it?

Not good enough Rafa - where's your plan B?

theres no way that goal should have been allowed!

I'm surprised that nobody noticed the ball in the penalty area before hand to get rid of it.

Interesting match next week with 'Pool facing United. If 'Pool (ahem WHEN) go down, they'll be 10 points out.

the booboys are starting to show their weaknesses... the title race is wide open at this point.

Dodgy reffing that. Its outside interference - no difference than if someone had run on the pitch and diverted the ball into the net.

I want to know what that (presumably) pool kid that let it go onto the pitch must be going through right now. His whole family prolly pissed at him. " Johnny! You're never getting another frickin ball ever again!". lol.

Worst of all was that it was such a weak shot at goal. Reina had it covered.

boy.. you scousers just can't catch a break can you?? Looks like the only breaks you get are Stevie G's groin muscles.

'Pool is in SERIOUS trouble. If they lose to United this weekend, and they are bounced from CL, they are going to have real problems gaining revenue. A CL bounce would be the death knell to an already weak team in regards to finances.

Rafa is a joke. He won the CL with an inherited team.. and I think any Scouser without rose colored glasses would have to agree that he is horrible at making player decisions. As many players as he's had roll through 'Pool and the amount of money he's spent on wasted talent in the past 5 years is appalling.

Not that this United supporter isn't relishing in the bin dipper's troubles, but, it's almost sad to see our most bitter of rivals in such a state... almost

Yeah like subbing Benayoun for the joke that is Voronin with 6 minutes to go and the game still to play for. :thumbsup: Genius!

If we're out of the European Cup by Christmas I think Mrs. Rafa will be shopping somewhere else for her pressies - NOT Liverpool City Centre.

Jose Mourinho - S.O.S ??????????? :shakehead:

Disgusting display by United today..for all of 'Pool's woes and known lack of creativity, it was United who lacked any form or sense of creativity. I thought Fergie was more than late bringing Scholes off. Scholes and Carrick never seem to play well together and pushing Giggs out wide was just mind boggling. I would rather have seen Anderson on the wing with Giggs tight inside in order to actually get the nonexistent Wazza into the game and use Valencia's speed on the right.

For the moment, all is well in the KOP, but I'll take bitter defeat to the Scouse bastards if it means winning the league again. That seems to be the rule in recent years..

I'm not even going to go into the officiating.. there were absolute rubbish calls on both side of the ball.

Committed performance by Liverpool. No-show by United. You can see just how woeful United's centre midfield was by virtue of the fact that LUCAS absolutely dominated it. Rafa can take the kudos for his tinkered line-up. SAF's failed badly.


Carra's tackle brought back memories of him at his peak. Right decision by the ref in my opinion.

Wazza tried to win, but he was all alone.

Well it's certainly no secret that United have had midfield problems for quite a while. I wasn't concerned with the Carragher tackle in the box, but his hauling down of Owen deserved a bit more punishment.

It pains to say it, but 'Pool certainly the better side today.

oh well.. at least Fulham have just leveled with Citeh. A Citeh defeat would at least salvage some of my mood today.

Ugh, zero desire from Arsenal after conceding. West Ham played well with their thin squad, but even so, Arsenal should have put them down. Dissapointing, especially after the chance to (theoretically) go top after United lost.

This thread has gone quiet. Is that because there's no Chelsea fans here?

Let's see how the Reds get on against Birmingham tomorrow night. Then I'll be back to test the mood!

Arsenal looking good right now. They must be due an injury or two. Maybe a Fabregas or a Van Persie?
Dodgy groins everywhere! :oogle:

Well, the booboys vs. United game was certainly a fun one to watch, but I have to be honest..it was horribly officiated. Evans should have been sent off for his challenge on Drogba, yet Drogba ended up with yellow. That russian back for chelski should have been sent off, yet he only received one caution, and most importantly, that goal by john fatboy terry should never have been allowed. Drogba practically raped Brown and threw him to ground allowing the ball to go in off a deflection through the hole created by Drogba's raping. United for all of their midfield woes, showed great class by competing with perhaps the best midfield in England and to be honest, dominating it for long spells of the game. Fletcher was absolutely splendid.

United should take heart that they looked rather good in the game with the exception of that precious final ball with a make shift squad that is almost as injury riddled as the scousers.

If the booboys keep their form, it appears it's between Arsenal and United for second place.

oh.. and FUCK CHELSKI!!!!!!!!!!

:D :D :D :D :D FUCK CHELSKI!

Yeah, i watched two bad reffing examples this weekend:

Riley in the United/Chelkski game, and Dickenson in the Bok XV vs Leiscester. The latter was just the worst rugby reffing I have ever seen. Damn aussie sheepshagger.

But in both cases, the better team won, i would say.

Er, we have one of the longest injury lists already. Don't jinx us please.

I respectfully disagree with the "better team won" in regards to chelski/United. :D

United had 2 main defenders out, have a horrid midfield and were lacking Berba up front to link with Wazza. Chelski has the best (imo) midfield in England and they were dominated. United is at fault for not finishing, but they deserved the win with those things considered.

oh..and it was Atkinson that reff'd the United game. ;) I would rather have had Dowd or Riley at least for the goal that shouldn't have been allowed.

Oh dear, it's not going very well for the Red Men.
Well played Birmingham. You're still the only team that Rafa hasn't beaten.

Think I'll go to bed now and sulk.

All yours Chelsea / Arsenal / Man Ure!

so did Benitez sink Benitez? :p

and poorly played fatboss, you made fun of United in the name but not Chelski?? C'mon.

---------- Post added at 06:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:58 PM ----------

oh yeah..

hand Ngog an Emmy. That was a brilliant dive.

Guccilyr, what's with all this moaning in the media from United? I'm used to Fergie's prattling, but now Fletcher and Rooney are moaning too? Is the old man losing control? Worst is Fletcher saying Wenger influenced the refs! LoL. He's as cynical a player as Carvalho - its an art being that dirty and not getting away with it, but don't moan when you do get decisions going against you.

Er, if Pool fail to clear the Group stage of the CL, I think its bye-bye Benitez.

I haven't seen the moaning about Wenger influencing the refs. That's just silly talk. I don't think Fergie is losing control, I think he's just extremely frustrated that United fielded a very weak side by their standards and the ref seemed to be out of the game. Granted, Evans should have been sent off for his challenge on Drogba, but the Fletcher free-kick and subsequent goal that only went in because of Drogba's raping of Brown was just the final straw in a game that saw far too many missed calls.

Fletcher may also be frustrated because of his card in the CL that is not able to be appealed and we all know that was a horrid decision, and then the chelski match, he was in the controversial call again.

Wazza just likes to run his mouth. We all know that.. but the FA has warned him, so he needs to be careful. As far as Fergie, I see at least a 3 match sideline ban coming down from the FA in regards to his previous remarks. Let's be honest here though, Fergie is no where near being the only one who is going on about the officiating. Rabid and casual fans alike can see that the level of officiating this year has been suspect, and it's a shame to have the game to a point where every thing is so highly scrutinized because of the seeming lack of professionalism by the refs.

As far as rafa goes, I doubt he'll be sacked even if they don't make the knockout stages of the CL. With Hicks trying to secure funds for the club, the last thing he wants is a manager sacked and a replacement coming in when 'pool are flailing in 7th in the league and are potentially ( I see it happening) out of the CL at this early of a stage.

YAY! Premier League football is back this weekend!
It feels like the guys have been away for so long.

Thierry Henry should stop digging that big hole he's standing in and just shut up and play football. It will all be forgotten in a few weeks.

lol that Henry goal was just awful, but as you said he just keeps digging that hole deeper and deeper.

always knew he was a cheat..

So I was going to come in here and gloat that while United still isn't a polished product, they looked decent yesterday, but then goddamn Tottenham had to go and match United's record of 9 goals in a Prem game. What the fuck? Defoe must have eaten 5 bowls of wheaties this morning.

oh.. and I'd just like to say how WONDERFUL the citeh/scouser game was. :rolleyes: what a rubbish match. At least it ended in a tie.

oh..and sorry gooners. so sorry. :D

buh bye scousers..

see ya next time.. maybe :D

might be time to say buh bye to Rafa too.

looks like it's between United and the booboys.

Hopefully, Chelski will slip up against some of the smaller teams and let United through.

Unfortunately because I don't have a TV I hardly get the time to catch Champions' League Games... that and Serie A is better!

Serie A is better than the EPL??

my man.. please pass whatever it is you are smoking.. that must be some good stuff!!

Premier League? Best in the world right now I'd say - right guccilvr?

The Premier League is far and away the best league in the world. Every great player wants to be a part of it. The only reason they go elsewhere is because of huge money (i.e. Real Madrid) or they just simply want to go home.

the EPL is the highest class.

/can't believe I'm siding with a scouser..

You'd better go for a lie down Gucc!

Our season is slipping away far too quickly. I never thought I would say it's all over before Christmas. Christ, even fourth place is looking shaky. Then it would be bye bye Rafa!

Looking at the last few games, it seems that Chelsea's second team are a lot weaker. I wonder how they'll do during AFCON.

Despite a season of constant injuries, Arsenal were looking good until the bigger players went down. I think its a two-horse race now. I still think we can comfortably take third, with Spuds being the main competition. Somehow I feel Citeh will fade - maybe I'm just hopeful, lol.

I think this is make or break time for Mark Hughes. After Citeh's game against the boo boys, citeh will either use that momentum and win games, or they'll continue to be pretenders and draw against everyone. Hopefully, they will continue to be pretenders.

Interesting week in the EPL though.. I've never seen so many missed penalties in one weekend. Even the mighty Cristiano missed one for Real.

United now only 2 points behind Chelscum. Could a weak and underdeveloped United team really walk away with the title??

Three words............

PILE OF SHIT !!!!!!!!!
or
SEE YOU RAFA !!!!!!!!
or
MAYBE NEXT YEAR !!!!!!!!

Still early days I suppose, but it's so fucking sad that fourth place is the best I can hope for!

All yours Man Ure! Unless Chelski can beat you to the title.


FUCK IT! :(

Shit.. it's not looking to be United's title either.. horrible loss to Villa yesterday. Chelski lost so that was nice, but we could have pulled level. The gooners are too close for comfort.. I know that..

I was torn today, wanted to see a draw to be honest.

At least some of the anfield crowd is seeing what I've said about Rafa to be true now..he's worthless.

I don't know how Arsenal won yesterday to be honest, but hey, I still don't know how we lost to United earlier this season either. Wenger will need to buy a striker this window, since we look lost up front without our true striker (RvP) or our holding-man (Bendtner).

Breathing down United's neck is always a good thing, but its only December.

Well, the table doesn't have any major changes, United still 3 down to the booboys, while Citeh put in another fantastically boring finish..

the real news is in the CL. The draw goes

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LAST 16 DRAW
Stuttgart v Barcelona
Olympiakos v Bordeaux
Inter Milan v CHELSEA
Bayern Munich v Fiorentina
CSKA Moscow v Seville
Lyon v Real Madrid
FC Porto v ARSENAL
AC Milan v MAN UTD


So that means the Great One will return to Chelski, and Becks will be back at Old Trafford. I think Becks will receive a good reception, but the Red Army will secretly hope he chokes. AC Milan seem to have a knack for defeating United in the CL, so I'm hoping it doesn't happen this time.

The gooners seem to have the best draw, but make no mistake, Porto is dangerous.

Of the English teams yes, but I think Bordeaux will cruise past Olympiakos, and I'm watching Getafe dismantle Seville right now, so their tie with CSKA could go either way.

In OTHER news: Rafa might be out, Hughes definitely is, and I hope Arsenal can play United next weekend. That defense looks delicious.

I give up!

That was about as poor a display as you're going to see all season.

Mind you, I haven't watched United on Match of the Day yet!

BWWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

If you don't laugh you'll go fuckin nuts!

Fergie swears he isn't buying anything in the transfer window, but he better buy some defense or United will find themselves 4th in the table. They've had massive injuries this season and that accounts for some of the issues, but the defensive slack is just killer.

We need a new Rio.

all hail United..

FLIP FLOP FLIP FLOP.

Injuries aside.. they just lack any sort of cohesion. I mean.. really.. losing to the fucking scum of Leeds?!?!

I guess the bright spot is that United isn't in as bad of shape as say, Pompey..

sad situation at Portsmouth..

Hmm, thought I'd bump this thread.

Debt piling in front of Old Trafford's gates like snow, Benitez standing up from the dead (yet again), Vieira going to Citeh, and Arsenal going top. Never saw this January coming six weeks ago.

Men against boys..

Not really. Chelsea were men against boys. This was just counterattacking and clinical finishing. Arsenal created enough chances, but what hurts is that we've been without a finisher for most of the season, and are playing with 6 midfielders, 4 of which are the same type of player. It says a lot that Walcott made a difference when he came on, considering he's been poor this season. Still, it hurts that Wenger's lost THE two home games that he would have wanted to win this, both by big margins.

Well considering the massive injuries and suspensions on the back line for United, and the midfield that is still a major issue, I say it was men against boys. Arsenal looked rattled after the first goal.They reverted back to their passing only game that has the fans frustrated for years. United beat them on their own counter game, and while the gooners did create some chances, they didn't do much in the final third with the exception of maybe 10 minutes in the second half.

You have Chelski next, and while I think the gooners are doomed, I'm going to cheer them on only for the sake of the title race.

You do realise that Rooney was the difference, right? Without the work he put in, it was down to an Almunia own goal. Look at the chances Arshavin spurned.

Arsenal have equal if not greater injuries this season. United's have just been concentrated in the backline, whereas Arsenal have had injuries in every position. It says much that they're still in the race, even though the best Arsenal lineup on paper hasn't been put out once this season.

I'm not saying that Arsenal haven't done well despite injuries, and while Rooney had another massive game, I was pleased with the work of the midfield for United. It wasn't classic old guard style midfield, but it was better. If Ferdinand and Vidic had been healthy, we would easily have seen a 5-0 thrashing.

It wasn't an Almunia own goal, he had horrible positioning on the play and Nani (for once) showed some real magic and put it in the corner. The only reason it even looks like an own goal is because Alumnia had no other chance of stopping the ball because of his horrible positioning on the play.

What's with Clichy and the entire team allowing Park to run nearly half a field without even a mark or attempted tackle? That's they type of play that shows there is still a lot of maturity that needs to happen in the Gooner locker room if they are ever going to bring the EPL title home again.

i cant beleive this thread is so dead, and we have probably the most exciting EPL run-in in the last decade.

Chelski and Man United with a healthy lead, but a more demanding remaining fixture list than Arsenal. City equal with Liverpool for fourth, but breathing down Arsenal's neck with 2 games in hand.

Arsenal may have saved their title hopes with the last win.

Stupid Stupid Nani. Had he not have been so STUPID, United probably would have won that game and taken the title race lead.

Big problems for Chelski with Ashley Cole out for 3 months (will he be ready for the WC??) and the drama of John the teamplayer Terry.

Huzzah for Wazza. Valencia showed why Fergie purchased him yesterday. Kid was simply brilliant on the flank. United still have some backline issues, but I'm pleased with the way the game went overall yesterday..with the exception of Carrick being sent off for such a petty crime.

Looking forward to the home leg on March 10th. Should be a cracking atmosphere inside OT.

No one is talking about Portsmouth?

no. we're not. it's too embarrassing to talk about.