*Official* 09/10 EPL Thread

[Glory's Sun]

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

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

[Strange Famous]

"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!"

[Glory's Sun]

how are your boys in yellow doing SF?

[Strange Famous]

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.

[Glory's Sun]

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.

[Glory's Sun]

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.

[Glory's Sun]

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.

[Glory's Sun]

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.

[Glory's Sun]

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.

[radioguy]

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.

[Vaultboy]

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.

[Glory's Sun]

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

[Glory's Sun]

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.

[Vaultboy]

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.

[Glory's Sun]

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.

[Vaultboy]

Originally Posted by guccilvr

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.

[Glory's Sun]

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.

[Glory's Sun]

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..

[dougalputt]

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

[healer]

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.

[Glory's Sun]

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..

[Glory's Sun]

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

I'm pretty disappointed in the gooners though..

[Vaultboy]

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

[Glory's Sun]

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.

[Vaultboy]

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.

[Glory's Sun]

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.

[Vaultboy]

Originally Posted by guccilvr

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.

[Glory's Sun]

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..

[Vaultboy]

Originally Posted by guccilvr

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.

[Glory's Sun]

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!

[Vaultboy]

Originally Posted by guccilvr

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

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

[Glory's Sun]

Leeds=Scum.

[fatboss]

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!

[Glory's Sun]

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

[Vaultboy]

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.

[Glory's Sun]

Originally Posted by Mark Hughes

We need an explanation because I don't know why the referee has added that amount of time on. We just feel a little bit aggrieved that they were given that time. I have not had a word with the referee yet but the the fourth official (Alan Wiley) tried to give me an explanation of sorts as I was questioning the amount of time added on even before the game finished.

His explanation did not sit comfortably with me. He said a minute plus had been added because of our celebration. We scored on 90 minutes, the board was already up for four minutes, so Mr Wiley said he was going to add that minute on. The amount of time from when we scored to when we kicked off was something like 45 seconds. He has got that wrong as well. It was 95 minutes, 26 seconds.

Obviously, he has played too much time and we ended up playing 97 minutes. I just needed an explanation as to why so much time was needed. United were given a little more time than they should have been given to get the goal.

Historically it has happened before. I was in teams here where we always had a little bit of benefit. I never felt it was an issue when we played here.

But since I have left maybe I have changed my view on that. I am not going to question anyone's integrity but I do not know where has got seven minutes from.

It would be nice to get an explanation but I don't think I will.

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.

[Vaultboy]

Originally Posted by mark hughes

We need an explanation because I don't know why the referee has added that amount of time on. We just feel a little bit aggrieved that they were given that time. I have not had a word with the referee yet but the the fourth official (Alan Wiley) tried to give me an explanation of sorts as I was questioning the amount of time added on even before the game finished.

His explanation did not sit comfortably with me. He said that its Old Trafford and I should just accept it and move on.

Fixed.

[Glory's Sun]

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.

[Glory's Sun]

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 )

[Vaultboy]

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.