My good god we're shit at dealing with the white stuff!!!!!!!
Only two games survived the 'big freeze' this weekend, Blackburn took on West Ham and Sunderland faced Bolton.
They would forgive me if I was to say that they are not the most mouthwatering of offerings i'm sure, but the early saturday kick off at the stadium of light was a good battle between two of the leagues in-form sides.
It was not the most pleasing on the eye but in the freezing conditions blood was running freely here as they set about the game producing good defending from both sides.
The deadlock was broken on 32mins as Welbeck's diving header after a mistake from the bolton keeper found the net and put the home side ahead.
Bolton rallied and there were chances galore late on as they looked to spoil the party for Steve Bruces' side.
The win pushed Sunderland above thier opponents into sixth as their run of good form continued into the christmas period......
The other game didn't offer much more for the fans either but a little rest-bite for under fire manager of the moment Avram Grant aka Baron Greenback (for those who remember Dangermouse)
The home side under caretaker management after the disgraceful sacking of big Sam on monday, were looking for their fourth win on the trot against the leagues bottom club, themselves yet to win on their travels this season.
Blackburn took the lead on 51 mins as the fourth choice hammers keeper saved well from Nelson but the defender stuck out a boot and poked it home for the opener.
West Ham had gone close just before half time and they pushed on in the second half and levelled through Stanislas on 78 mins who latched onto the inspirational Parker's deflected pass and he dispatched a cool finish to level up the match.
Half chances followed for both sides but neither could find the finishing touch to earn all three points.
Tonight the spotlight falls over the City of Manchester Stadium as Manchester City host Everton.
The home side could top the league at christmas with a win, something not managed by a city side since 1929.
This obviously wouldn't go down well with any of the fans across the country as the blue half of manchester are rapidly replacing their red rivals as one of the most hated teams in the division, due to the influx of cash from the sheik.
Everton arrive with a good record at the home of city but without their star player, Mikel Arteta i can only see one outcome in this one and it will end up with city sitting top of the tree this christmas day......
Monday, 20 December 2010
Monday, 13 December 2010
Should liverpool follow Newcastle??????
Last week newcastle sacked their manager chris hughton, crazy as it was/is, the timing was right in respect to getting pardew in, give him time to assess the shit from the smooth within his squad before the transfer merry-go-round starts in january.
This leads me to ask the question.....should liverpool follow suit with Roy Hodgson?????
Liverpool fans world wide only wish one thing from their illustrious club.....league triumph.....obviuosly european and domestic cups do keep the fans going but what they all essentially crave, and rightly so for such a historic club is winning the domestic league.
A tally of 18 titles is immense to say the least but the fact they havent won one since 1989-1990 season will still burn deeply in any of the red faithful.
this tally as impressive as it is was finally equalled by their fiercest rivals two seasons ago when manchester united took the crown and put themselves on 18.
This is as impressive from the men from old trafford but what will hurt the liverpool fans is that this season their rivals are looking more likely to overtake their own record, something that liverpool fans wont swallow easily i can tell you.
the defeat against newcastle on saturday was the latest disappointing away day for the reds, newcastle showed the spirit that their now departed manager hughton had instilled in his squad, and no doubt dedicated this victory to him in the wake of him taking the long walk alone.
in all honesty they rarely struggled against a recently rejuvinated liverpool side, but for a dirk kuyt equaliser which the visitors barely deserved the reds didnt threaten to much as their stars looked lost and truly inept against the magpies bubbling team ethics, of which liverpool have none for comparison.
this leads me back to my initial question.....should the new reds owners take the plunge and show Roy the door?
I am beginning to side with the view of yes, the statistics do not lie, only two wins in 24 away games, fair enough not all 24 were conducted by Hodgson but they have showed no improvement on this record since his arrival in the summer.
an improvement from the opening six games is evident which buoyed liverpool supporters until now, with the promise of gaining momentum from the wins they had inflicted on chelsea and villa, but the answers simply are not there when the serious questions are being asked.
Torres looks like a man who cannot decide what his own future holds, and maybe he is regretting his decision to stay? i am not sure?
If liverpool were to sell their prize asset, they would not re-coup the £50 million he was worth at the end of last season, as he is still struggling for form, yes he shows flashes but the all round game isnt there due to lack of belief and through no fault of his own but also lack of service.
The return of their captain fantastic could well be a blessing for Hodgson as i think anymore poor showings will result in his departure, sooner rather than later.
I think now would be a good time to let Roy go if this is in the thinking, with managers such as Martin O'Neil and Frank Rijkaard currently out of work there are options for the NESV group for appointing his successor.
the same as the newcastle post, it would give the new man chance to decide between the true dross and the undoubted quality that the liverpool squad possesses in near equal amounts, and this is one of the reasons they are in the form and predicament they find themselves in.
But in a season such as the one we have this year, they are not as adrift as they should and surely would be if this had been another year.
I still believe they are capable of reaching the top four, due to the bizarre season it has been with more teams taking points off of each other up there but they will have to sort out their away day blues if they want to finish anywhere near there, because if they do not and the yo-yo form continues then we may see them finishing out of the top 8......
This leads me to ask the question.....should liverpool follow suit with Roy Hodgson?????
Liverpool fans world wide only wish one thing from their illustrious club.....league triumph.....obviuosly european and domestic cups do keep the fans going but what they all essentially crave, and rightly so for such a historic club is winning the domestic league.
A tally of 18 titles is immense to say the least but the fact they havent won one since 1989-1990 season will still burn deeply in any of the red faithful.
this tally as impressive as it is was finally equalled by their fiercest rivals two seasons ago when manchester united took the crown and put themselves on 18.
This is as impressive from the men from old trafford but what will hurt the liverpool fans is that this season their rivals are looking more likely to overtake their own record, something that liverpool fans wont swallow easily i can tell you.
the defeat against newcastle on saturday was the latest disappointing away day for the reds, newcastle showed the spirit that their now departed manager hughton had instilled in his squad, and no doubt dedicated this victory to him in the wake of him taking the long walk alone.
in all honesty they rarely struggled against a recently rejuvinated liverpool side, but for a dirk kuyt equaliser which the visitors barely deserved the reds didnt threaten to much as their stars looked lost and truly inept against the magpies bubbling team ethics, of which liverpool have none for comparison.
this leads me back to my initial question.....should the new reds owners take the plunge and show Roy the door?
I am beginning to side with the view of yes, the statistics do not lie, only two wins in 24 away games, fair enough not all 24 were conducted by Hodgson but they have showed no improvement on this record since his arrival in the summer.
an improvement from the opening six games is evident which buoyed liverpool supporters until now, with the promise of gaining momentum from the wins they had inflicted on chelsea and villa, but the answers simply are not there when the serious questions are being asked.
Torres looks like a man who cannot decide what his own future holds, and maybe he is regretting his decision to stay? i am not sure?
If liverpool were to sell their prize asset, they would not re-coup the £50 million he was worth at the end of last season, as he is still struggling for form, yes he shows flashes but the all round game isnt there due to lack of belief and through no fault of his own but also lack of service.
The return of their captain fantastic could well be a blessing for Hodgson as i think anymore poor showings will result in his departure, sooner rather than later.
I think now would be a good time to let Roy go if this is in the thinking, with managers such as Martin O'Neil and Frank Rijkaard currently out of work there are options for the NESV group for appointing his successor.
the same as the newcastle post, it would give the new man chance to decide between the true dross and the undoubted quality that the liverpool squad possesses in near equal amounts, and this is one of the reasons they are in the form and predicament they find themselves in.
But in a season such as the one we have this year, they are not as adrift as they should and surely would be if this had been another year.
I still believe they are capable of reaching the top four, due to the bizarre season it has been with more teams taking points off of each other up there but they will have to sort out their away day blues if they want to finish anywhere near there, because if they do not and the yo-yo form continues then we may see them finishing out of the top 8......
Friday, 10 December 2010
Alan Pardew......you brave brave man......
Is he crazy or what???!!!
managers galore have openly told him he is, but you cant blame him for taking the job, a way to get back into management at the top level, but none the less he's got a huge task ahead of him.
how will the game pan out tom? home to liverpool, as i said in a previous post, the enigma of mike ashley was nowhere to be seen when pardew was unveiled to the public yesterday, and i cant blame him because there would've been scenes mirroring the student protests had he bothered to turn up.
pardew tried to put on a brave front, answering the inevitable questions about the club, the previous manager and his untimely departure, but it was to me so transparent that it is quite clear pardews relationship with the members of ashleys board had a huge bearing on the situation.
a staggering five and a half year deal was agreed, when ashley wouldnt even give hughton an extension till the end of the season!!
this may show that the club is severely unstable and pardew may well have insisted on the lenght in case of the club being sold in the near future, and therefore giving him a bit of a fall back by having the contract in place, if the new owners were to think he wasnt the right man in charge??
or am i being a bit harsh on the man? i dont know but he has always seemed to have a pretty hefty pay off from all of his previous clubs, but this could also be seen as very clever from his side i suppose....
he has already admitted the players have voiced their opinions about the sacking of hughton, and it doesnt take a genius to work out it wasnt a welcomed decision, so this is the start of the huge task that lies ahead for him.
to make things worse they welcome a re-juvinated liverpool to st james' park, their away form not being the best but recent games they seem to be getting it nearer to being right, will the newcastle players galvanise and put up a fight, maybe in support of hughton, and maybe to stamp their claim for a position under the new manager, or will they revolt and roll over?????
we will all find out late tomorrow evening......
i predict a liverpool victory 1-3........we shall see.....
can go without a couple of predictions for the two big games this weekend though.....
tottenham vs chelsea........3-1 spurs in this one, if ivanovic plays in the middle with terry, gareth bale will murder ferriera down the left and consequently spurs will find the gaps to put them to the sword.
and last game of the weekend is manchester united against arseanl, as it stands before any kick off this is a top of the table clash, united putting the only unbeaten record in the country on the line against arsene wengers boys, ill go for a 3-1 to the home side, old trafford is a fortress and i cant see it changing on monday.....
managers galore have openly told him he is, but you cant blame him for taking the job, a way to get back into management at the top level, but none the less he's got a huge task ahead of him.
how will the game pan out tom? home to liverpool, as i said in a previous post, the enigma of mike ashley was nowhere to be seen when pardew was unveiled to the public yesterday, and i cant blame him because there would've been scenes mirroring the student protests had he bothered to turn up.
pardew tried to put on a brave front, answering the inevitable questions about the club, the previous manager and his untimely departure, but it was to me so transparent that it is quite clear pardews relationship with the members of ashleys board had a huge bearing on the situation.
a staggering five and a half year deal was agreed, when ashley wouldnt even give hughton an extension till the end of the season!!
this may show that the club is severely unstable and pardew may well have insisted on the lenght in case of the club being sold in the near future, and therefore giving him a bit of a fall back by having the contract in place, if the new owners were to think he wasnt the right man in charge??
or am i being a bit harsh on the man? i dont know but he has always seemed to have a pretty hefty pay off from all of his previous clubs, but this could also be seen as very clever from his side i suppose....
he has already admitted the players have voiced their opinions about the sacking of hughton, and it doesnt take a genius to work out it wasnt a welcomed decision, so this is the start of the huge task that lies ahead for him.
to make things worse they welcome a re-juvinated liverpool to st james' park, their away form not being the best but recent games they seem to be getting it nearer to being right, will the newcastle players galvanise and put up a fight, maybe in support of hughton, and maybe to stamp their claim for a position under the new manager, or will they revolt and roll over?????
we will all find out late tomorrow evening......
i predict a liverpool victory 1-3........we shall see.....
can go without a couple of predictions for the two big games this weekend though.....
tottenham vs chelsea........3-1 spurs in this one, if ivanovic plays in the middle with terry, gareth bale will murder ferriera down the left and consequently spurs will find the gaps to put them to the sword.
and last game of the weekend is manchester united against arseanl, as it stands before any kick off this is a top of the table clash, united putting the only unbeaten record in the country on the line against arsene wengers boys, ill go for a 3-1 to the home side, old trafford is a fortress and i cant see it changing on monday.....
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
am i completely missing something?????????
now i would like to think im fairly inteligent, up with whats going on, honest but fair in views etc but correct me if i am wrong here, newcastle sacked chris hughton, for a manager with more experience, someone who will take them to the next level, a more established man at the helm............i know he was in the shortlist created by the bookies almost immediately after the news about hughton, but i think i speak for every geordie here, and i am not one myself, but seriously, has ashley lost the fucking plot???!!!!
now im not gonna start a angry mob styled attack on the soon to be new appointment, but surely everyone is in some kind of agreement that alan pardew is not the man newcastle were hoping to have in charge???!!!!
being listed next to such names as martin o'neil, martin jol, and even frank rijkaard at times as laughable as that last name is, i think even the most optimistic magpie couldnt see the great barcelona manager arriving in the north east.
but even out of that list, last night it emerged that jol had left ajax and i for one expected to see him brandishing a black and white scarf in acceptance of the job, but this morning showed that ALAN PARDEW yes you read that right, out of the choices on 'offer' i dont think he would've picked himself out of the short list!!!!!!
now, i think pardew is a great manager, he laid the foundations at reading, which steve coppell has taken most of the credit for, yes he obviously deserves some of it but no-one remembers what pardew did beforehand, then onto west ham, he got them back into the top flight, under extreme pressure from the loyal hammers fans, i think unfairly dismissed, and he popped up at southampton, a club given 15pts deduction for the administration saga, and without the deduction they would have been promoted, a great achievement none the less.
ask any of the fans of these three clubs and they'kl tell you how good he is, and what good he created at their clubs, but given the situation at newcastle, what will newcastle gain from his appointment????
tha fans are angry as shit at the sacking of hughton, their anger will of course be aimed at mike ashley......when he chooses to show his face again, i can assure you it wont be against liverpool saturday!!!!!!!!!
alan pardew will do a good job, but he'll get a luke warm reception when he is unveiled and it'll be no fault of his own, he is obviously confident enough or he wouldn't be taking the job, but with games coming up against liverpool, birmingham, man city, spurs, wigan, and west ham, pardew is gonna have a baptism of fire in the piping hot seat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
there are rumours of a complete walk out at the game saturday to which in my opinion would be so disrespectful to the new man, it simply cant happen but with the appointment on the verge of being made it will be an interesting event on saturday.....................
now im not gonna start a angry mob styled attack on the soon to be new appointment, but surely everyone is in some kind of agreement that alan pardew is not the man newcastle were hoping to have in charge???!!!!
being listed next to such names as martin o'neil, martin jol, and even frank rijkaard at times as laughable as that last name is, i think even the most optimistic magpie couldnt see the great barcelona manager arriving in the north east.
but even out of that list, last night it emerged that jol had left ajax and i for one expected to see him brandishing a black and white scarf in acceptance of the job, but this morning showed that ALAN PARDEW yes you read that right, out of the choices on 'offer' i dont think he would've picked himself out of the short list!!!!!!
now, i think pardew is a great manager, he laid the foundations at reading, which steve coppell has taken most of the credit for, yes he obviously deserves some of it but no-one remembers what pardew did beforehand, then onto west ham, he got them back into the top flight, under extreme pressure from the loyal hammers fans, i think unfairly dismissed, and he popped up at southampton, a club given 15pts deduction for the administration saga, and without the deduction they would have been promoted, a great achievement none the less.
ask any of the fans of these three clubs and they'kl tell you how good he is, and what good he created at their clubs, but given the situation at newcastle, what will newcastle gain from his appointment????
tha fans are angry as shit at the sacking of hughton, their anger will of course be aimed at mike ashley......when he chooses to show his face again, i can assure you it wont be against liverpool saturday!!!!!!!!!
alan pardew will do a good job, but he'll get a luke warm reception when he is unveiled and it'll be no fault of his own, he is obviously confident enough or he wouldn't be taking the job, but with games coming up against liverpool, birmingham, man city, spurs, wigan, and west ham, pardew is gonna have a baptism of fire in the piping hot seat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
there are rumours of a complete walk out at the game saturday to which in my opinion would be so disrespectful to the new man, it simply cant happen but with the appointment on the verge of being made it will be an interesting event on saturday.....................
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
sad day for newcastle.......again
yesterday saw the unforseeable sacking of chris hughton as newcastle manager, now i am not a magpies fan but surely the world has gone mad tis time? and by mad i mean mike ashley.
hughton, took over at st james' in the aftermath of the team falling into the second stage of english football, he stepped in and steadied the ship to begin with, and then took the team back into the premier league at the first attempt, which is rarely done and a huge task i can tell ya.
so enter the top flight, given no money to spend by the owner, hughton battled on and got his team to produce some outstanding results given the resources he had at his disposal.
they beat arsenal at the emirites, they drew away at chelsea, they hammered their local rivals sunderland 5-1 in the derby, not enough? clearly not.
obviously i dont know the ins and outs of it all but sitting 11th in the league with 19 points on the board,im assuming most geordies would be more than happy to finish 17th this season, their goal must have been at the start of the season just to survive and then push on next season once consolidated in the league they do deserve to be in.
sometimes they have been guilty of thinking they are a bigger club than they are, at times living on the past glories and ignoring the present problems, but then what club doesnt do that??
11 more points and the magical '40' for safety in the top league would have been in the bag, something they are capable of achieving by the end of feb im sure of it, possibly not now?
the only way i can see it panning out is that ashley must have someone lined up, give the new guy (probably martin jol) a month to assess the squad he has, and then approach the owner in january with his shopping list, i can see these being good reasons for doing it now, if that is the case of course.
jol last night resigned as ajax boss after claiming the pressure put on the team was to great and the team were not able to live up to expectations........so what does he expect to get from the newcastle fans?????
i really do rate him as a manager, did brilliantly at spurs, proven in germany, done ok in the dutch league all of a more recent time, and now probably into the premier league again, sure, given time and money he'll do a good job but he isnt fucking god, he isnt going to be able to deliver the league like newcastle teams of old, simply not going to happen, so what will????? who fucking knows, this departure was a shock but nothing is deemed shocking in football so the script is written, and good chuffing luck to the next manager whoever it may be, because their gonna need it thats for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hughton, took over at st james' in the aftermath of the team falling into the second stage of english football, he stepped in and steadied the ship to begin with, and then took the team back into the premier league at the first attempt, which is rarely done and a huge task i can tell ya.
so enter the top flight, given no money to spend by the owner, hughton battled on and got his team to produce some outstanding results given the resources he had at his disposal.
they beat arsenal at the emirites, they drew away at chelsea, they hammered their local rivals sunderland 5-1 in the derby, not enough? clearly not.
obviously i dont know the ins and outs of it all but sitting 11th in the league with 19 points on the board,im assuming most geordies would be more than happy to finish 17th this season, their goal must have been at the start of the season just to survive and then push on next season once consolidated in the league they do deserve to be in.
sometimes they have been guilty of thinking they are a bigger club than they are, at times living on the past glories and ignoring the present problems, but then what club doesnt do that??
11 more points and the magical '40' for safety in the top league would have been in the bag, something they are capable of achieving by the end of feb im sure of it, possibly not now?
the only way i can see it panning out is that ashley must have someone lined up, give the new guy (probably martin jol) a month to assess the squad he has, and then approach the owner in january with his shopping list, i can see these being good reasons for doing it now, if that is the case of course.
jol last night resigned as ajax boss after claiming the pressure put on the team was to great and the team were not able to live up to expectations........so what does he expect to get from the newcastle fans?????
i really do rate him as a manager, did brilliantly at spurs, proven in germany, done ok in the dutch league all of a more recent time, and now probably into the premier league again, sure, given time and money he'll do a good job but he isnt fucking god, he isnt going to be able to deliver the league like newcastle teams of old, simply not going to happen, so what will????? who fucking knows, this departure was a shock but nothing is deemed shocking in football so the script is written, and good chuffing luck to the next manager whoever it may be, because their gonna need it thats for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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