2008-09 Football Thread - The Second Half

[Lord Blackadder]

That was never a red card...let's nip that in the bud right now.

Credit to Chelsea for what I thought was an outstanding defensive performance after the sending off, with a couple decent counterattacks to boot. Alex and Terry were huge.

An exciting game all round - thrill chills, controversy, and (finally) goals... I thought Kuyt, Alonso and Gerrard had good performances (except for Gerrard's embarrassing dive at the edge of the Chelsea box, for which he was rightly carded). Riera looked looked less sharp, he had quite a few bad touches. Mike Riley a bit too free with the cards though.

Torres looked good all game but Benayoun was excellent, I think he really made a difference immediately. Riera looked poor. Does anyone else think he looks like Father Ted with brown hair?

What about Bosingwa turning into Eric Cantona and delivering a karate kick to Benayoun's back? How on earth was he not sent off for that? The official was four feet away.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

That was never a red card...let's nip that in the bud right now.

Agreed. You didn't even need to see a replay on it, Lampard got the ball. Still, no complaints from me as he'll be suspended for our trip to Stamford Bridge next Saturday. I strongly suspect Chelsea may appeal, however.

What about Bosingwa turning into Eric Cantona and delivering a karate kick to Benayoun's back? How on earth was he not sent off for that? The official was four feet away.

Ah, but the official was the startlingly inept Mr M Riley (West Yorks) who is barely fit to referee Sunday League football. I suspect though that Bosingwa realised that a sending off would mean that he – like Lampard – would miss the match against the Tigers, and decided to push his luck as far as he could. Clearly he fears us.

Anyway, a deserved win for Liverpool I thought.

 

[woolyback]

Ah, but the official was the startlingly inept Mr M Riley (West Yorks) who is barely fit to referee Sunday League football.

I would have thought the lino who was probably less than 4 feet away would have said/done something though - poor officiating all the way through really as Gerrard could have had no complaints for a yellow for his tackle about 2 minutes before Lampard's.

Still, anything that upsets Terry is alright with me

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Still, anything that upsets Terry is alright with me

Then you would have been happy early in the match when Gerrard kicked Terry in the head as they both went for a ball.

In Riley's defense, he was directly behind Lampard when the tackle was made, which was the worst possible angle. Still, Lampard got all ball and it's a shocking call, though not as shocking as the no-call on Bosingwa's martial arts demonstration. If the linesman was any closer he would have gotten the boot in his own arse.

Doesn't Riley award more cards than any other ref in the Prem? I think I heard that on a podcast somewhere...I actually thought he was doing a great job for most of the first half, keeping his card in his pocket during some intense play. The he lost his nerve or something.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

I would have thought the lino who was probably less than 4 feet away would have said/done something though...

In fairness, if memory serves the linesman did flag for a foul – Mr M Riley (West Yorks) chose to ignore it though and ultimately it's his call. I was startled that it wasn't even given as a free kick, never mind a card not being shown...

 

[numbersyx]

In fairness, if memory serves the linesman did flag for a foul – Mr M Riley (West Yorks) chose to ignore it though and ultimately it's his call. I was startled that it wasn't even given as a free kick, never mind a card not being shown...

One of the few times I've felt sorry for Lampard - he really grates on me with that badge kissing nonsense - but Bosingwa should've been off with his kick on Benayoun...

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Doesn't Riley award more cards than any other ref in the Prem?

He has a tendency to wave them about a bit – for one thing, he's sent off three of our players in the past two games of ours he's officiated – Sammy Ricketts in our recent tussle against Sunderland, and Caleb Folan and Jay Jay Okocha when he reffed our match against Burnley last season. To be fair, he also sent off two Burnley players that night.

So, that's two games of ours in the past year and five red cards shown. I suspect Mr M Riley (West Yorks) prefers five-a-side football and is trying to get the number of players down accordingly.

Suffice to say, he's not very popular in the East Riding.



I didn't touch him, ref!

 

[Lord Blackadder]

So, that's two games of ours in the past year and five red cards shown. I suspect Mr M Riley (West Yorks) prefers five-a-side football and is trying to get the number of players down accordingly.

Now there's a theory!

When will Man U's schedule catch up with the rest of the league? Having that game in hand seems a big advantage, though I'm sure Fergie would rather have three more points...

Keane to be sold tomorrow? Seems likely and probably the best move for everyone at this point. I had high hopes when he signed, but...

 

[Jaffa Cake]

When will Man U's schedule catch up with the rest of the league?

They play their game in hand – at home to Fulham – on 18th February.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Ah, thanks.

 

[BoyBach]

On tonight's Match of the Day 2, Adrian Wotshisname produced another example of why he's one of my favourite TV presenters. After announcing that Shay Given has signed for Man City he declared the transfer fee as "lots, I reckon."

That's punditry at its finest!

 

[Fuzzy14]

Rangers are only two points behind Celtic at the top of the SPL, so here is what they are doing to secure the league.

Ins:

Outs: Jean-Claude Darcheville, forward (Valenciennes); Lee Robinson, goalkeeper (Queen of the South, loan), Chris Burke, winger (Cardiff); Jordan McMillan, defender (Hamilton, loan), Alan Gow, forward (Norwich City, loan)

And with all that snow dumped on the country, and with the Inverurie Locos v Motherwell Scottish Cup tie being posponed on four previous occasions, what are the chances of it going ahead tonight? Quite good apparantly!

 

[garybUK]

That was a important win for Liverpool in terms of the league and mentally. Probably one of the harder games you had. Your away to pompey - shouldn't be too hard for you but here's hoping for a Draw Were away at West Ham, again shouldn't be a problem for us.... i hope

 

[Fuzzy14]

A friend took delivery of a year old BMW 5 series at the weekend. According to the sat nav and bluetooth settings, previous owner was a L Boa Morte. Surely not the West Ham player and previous Tigers target?

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Looks like the Liverpool - Robbie Keane experiment is over...Spurs get one of their key players from last season back and make 5 million in the bargain.

Back to a Torres-only front line I suppose, unless N'Gog gets more starts?

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Mark Hughes has gone!

That's right, the young Northern Irish midfielder has left Chester City for Barnet.



Anyway, given how cold it is here at the moment it's a good job my socks weren't blown off or I'd be risking frostbite. Apparently we were close to signing veteran Italian centre back Christian Panucci but it fell through this afternoon.

Now, the window isn't actually shut – an extension has been granted to deals that have been affected by the adverse weather. It really doesn't look like we'll be making any more signings, though.

 

[Markleshark]

A friend took delivery of a year old BMW 5 series at the weekend. According to the sat nav and bluetooth settings, previous owner was a L Boa Morte. Surely not the West Ham player and previous Tigers target?

Could be. Not a popular name, really.

 

[és:]

Looks like the Liverpool - Robbie Keane experiment is over...Spurs get one of their key players from last season back and make 5 million in the bargain.

Back to a Torres-only front line I suppose, unless N'Gog gets more starts?

It's a £3m loss. We got him for 19m (which would have risen to 20.3m with add ons - not the case any more) and we've sold him for 16m (according to the echo writer Tony Barrett).

We have Kuyt, Babel, N'Gog and Torres all for one striking space. We'll be going back to the 4-2-3-1 formation, which suits us much better and puts Gerrard and Torres back as a pairing.

It'll be hard to miss Keane. Other than his misses, that is.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

We have Kuyt, Babel, N'Gog and Torres all for one striking space. We'll be going back to the 4-2-3-1 formation, which suits us much better and puts Gerrard and Torres back as a pairing.

It'll be hard to miss Keane. Other than his misses, that is.

BBC are now saying the deal was for 12 million plus more to be tacked on later...

I shouldn't be a problem as long as Torres stays healthy. To me, Kuyt seems very effective as an attacking winger but I'm not sold on him as a lone striker.

I expected a lot out of Keane and he didn't produce, which still baffles me somewhat since he was scoring lots of goals for Spurs. If the rumors are to be believed, he wasn't Benitez's signing at all and Benitez didn't want him, so that could be a pretty big factor in the whole affair.

On the subject of unproductive strikers, it will be interesting to see if Jo fares better at Everton than Man City.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Looking ahead, Liverpool entertain Spurs in their last League game of the season.

What price Keane popping up with a vital goal there, denying his former teammates the title or a Champions League place in the process?

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Very naughty, Jaffa.

What chance of him scoring an own goal to hand the title to the Reds? Then I could say he was worth the money we paid for him.

 

[Loge]

Looking ahead, Liverpool entertain Spurs in their last League game of the season.

What price Keane popping up with a vital goal there, denying his former teammates the title or a Champions League place in the process?

Or a late Torres strike relegates Tottenham

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Or a late Torres strike relegates Tottenham

Yes, but that doesn't have the poetic irony of Keane leaving Spurs for Liverpool, failing spectacularly on Merseyside, returning to North London and then causing his old team grief in the dying minutes of the campaign.

Or Gerrard could score a dodgy penalty or something. I don't know.

 

[pivo6]

Yes, but that doesn't have the poetic irony of Keane leaving Spurs for Liverpool, failing spectacularly on Merseyside, returning to North London and then causing his old team grief in the dying minutes of the campaign.

Or Gerrard could score a dodgy penalty or something. I don't know.

I read someplace today that Keane could qualify for a Champions Medal (since he played 10 games) if Liverpool win the title, and be relegated with Spurs, all in the same year.

 

[woolyback]

The whole Liverpool - Keane saga is a little embarrassing/confusing, I just hope Rafa knows what he's doing as the next time Torres goes away with Spain he'll be out with more hamstring problems, leaving us without a serious replacement, though to be fair Keane hasn't really shown any consistent form when he has played.

Keep seeing rumours that Rafa offloaded him to spite Parry who apparently was the one who did the deal against Rafa's wishes.

Does make one wonder how they baulked at paying £18m for Barry - the supposed No1 target - then go and spend £20m on someone who hadn't really been on the radar much.

Still, all this will be forgotten should Rafa bring home No 19 in May