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2009-10 Football Thread – The Second Half

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smwatson said:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/8489127.stm

Unbelievable.
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Ridiculous? Yes. Disgraceful? Certainly. But unbelievable? Not really.

The game's governing bodies are useless, completely without a clue between the lot of them. We're well used to the FA, UEFA and FIFA coming out with all kinds of rubbish, it looks like CAF are happy to follow on with the standards their fellow federations have set and they've really excelled themselves with this.

Absolutely disgraceful.
 
Jaffa Cake said:
Ridiculous? Yes. Disgraceful? Certainly. But unbelievable? Not really.

The game's governing bodies are useless, completely without a clue between the lot of them. We're well used to the FA, UEFA and FIFA coming out with all kinds of rubbish, it looks like CAF are happy to follow on with the standards their fellow federations have set and they've really excelled themselves with this.

Absolutely disgraceful.
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Sadly, I agree with Jaffa, it IS believable. I'm hoping due to everyone's outrage they go back on their decision, but it still doesn't detract from what is a shocking and disgraceful decision to come to in the first place
 
Is that now the end of Arsenal's title hopes?...seems like all the good they've done since that chelsea defeat is now all but wiped out!
 
Arsenal are five points off the top now, which isn't an insurmountable difference in any way, shape or form. However, how it affects their confidence remains to be seen – and I know I've said this before so I'm sorry to keep harping on about it, but they looked really wobbly at the back.

There's still a long way to go, for every club. Nothing's decided yet.
 
I think Arsenal's next two (three if you count CL) games will go a long way to deciding how they get on for the rest of the season. Didn't see the game today, but listened to it on R5, the Gunners sounded very poor. Also, let's hope that Rooney's excellent form lasts for about 6 more months...!

Apologies for last night's mini-rant, I was annoyed as I was stuck to the laptop working on a presentation for next week, whilst my flatmates left on a huge night out... Still I did get to half watch MOTD. Jaffa, I did see Hull's highlights and whilst you looked alright going forward (Altidore especially), at the back, oh dear oh dear. Was Stephen Hunt trying to backheel it against the Wolves player to gain a throw in for the first goal? If he was, plonker.
 
I too missed the Arsenal / Utd match. I have the flu and couldn't get out of bed at 8am local time, alas.

Looked like a combination of United playing very well and Arsenal playing poorly. Arshavin looks like he blew a few good chances, and Cesc was shut down by Carrick (!?!). Maybe Arsene should put in a bid for Park, he seems to love scoring at Emirates.

After all this time, I can't believe that Nani is finally playing like the world-beater he was touted as being. I guess playing on the right and being healthy makes the difference for him. His contributions over the last three matches have been immense. Good stuff from a guy we thought was on his way out the door.

The season's still a long ways from over, and Arsenal still has a decent shot at the title. I'm not writing them off yet.
 
capoeirista said:
Jaffa, I did see Hull's highlights and whilst you looked alright going forward (Altidore especially), at the back, oh dear oh dear.
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We seem to have the problem that either we play very well defensively or in attack – but we can't combine the two. So either we score a couple of goals but concede heavily, or we manage to keep the opposition out but can't capitalise on this to get all three points. Frustrating.

The two Wolves goals weren't just gifted to them, we listed carefully to what they were hinting for, hired personal shoppers to get the right stuff, and wrapped them up quite exquisitely before presenting them after an intimate meal at their favourite restaurant. Pah.

Jozy looked very good yesterday – playing a big part in our opening goal and winning the penalty for the second – and I'm looking forward to seeing what Zaki can do. A big thumbs up to young Tom Cairney too, who made his Premier League debut yesterday and rewarded the manager's faith with a very good performance.

We're still in that bottom three, but as I said in my last post – there's still a long way to go, nothing's decided yet.
 
I've been reading about Togo's punishment and it seems that the CAF have badly mismanaged the whole affair. They've managed to observe the letter of the law while cruelly violating it in spirit...it just makes the CAF look incredibly ineffective and pointless. I hope someone with more common sense within the CAF steps in and reverses the ban and fine. They had two people killed by rebels/terrorists - could you possible make a worse PR move than punishing the team for pulling out? <smacks forehead>

Jaffa Cake said:
Jozy looked very good yesterday – playing a big part in our opening goal and winning the penalty for the second...
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That's what I like to hear!...from what I've read he has settled in, is making real contributions - and maintaining match fitness ahead of the World Cup.

Jaffa Cake said:
We're still in that bottom three, but as I said in my last post – there's still a long way to go, nothing's decided yet.
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I think Portsmouth and Burnley are going down, but to be honest 13th though 20th on the table is turning out to be one huge relegation dogfight. A couple wins against fellow relegation-battlers could catapult Hull up the table to safety, so while the fight is by no means over you're still very much in the running to survive another season in the top flight. Especially if you can patch Bullard back together, and if Zaki makes an impact.

XIII said:
United really weren't that great - we were ****. That's my summary!
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Agreed. Arsenal played well below their standard, and really made Man U look better than they are. Rooney is in deadly form, but the rest of the team is really not all that great, especially when comparing them to the last couple seasons...but Fergie has the devil's own luck.

Liverpool won, and Dirk Kuyt scored. That's such a rare double occurrence it needs to be mentioned. 3 points is 3 points. 'nuff said...so many other teams are under-performing at the moment that Liverpool may just sneak into fourth by the end of the season - which really doesn't say much about Spurs, Villa and especially Man City when it comes to top four pretensions.
 
Meanwhile, it's transfer deadline day. Points will be awarded for the most ridiculous and tenuous transfer rumour you come across, so if you know a guy who's going out with the sister of the best mate who knows someone who works in the ticket office of a football club, ask them if they've heard anything. They're a gold mine for this sort of information.
 
Well as it happens I've now got a contact on the inside! As of today, my brother started his new job as facilities manager (janitor?), Firhill Stadium (Partick Thisle FC). He's now in charge of all non-grass areas. And if he brings a pair of boots, he might get a game too!

I watched the CAF final yesterday, thought the Egyptian keeper was a pillock (JC: buffoon), and that was before the celebrations on top of the goal posts. Enjoyed it though, end to end stuff. The only downside was I watched it on Eurosport and listened to their dire commentary, before realising it was on BBC2.
 
Jaffa Cake said:
Apparently Wolves have come back to the table with an improved bid for Stephen Hunt, this time £5m is what they're offering. And apparently we've once again turned them down...
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It's a pity, he had a fine 'assist' in our first goal on Saturday. Not as good as Anthony Gardner's crafty slice though. :D
 
OllyW said:
It's a pity, he had a fine 'assist' in our first goal on Saturday. Not as good as Anthony Gardner's crafty slice though. :D
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Oi! Hands off him, you! :p

That back heel was right in front of us, as was his tumble over the advertising hoarding that followed. Oh dear, we thought.

Anyway, I'm awaiting transfer gossip from Firhill's mild-mannered janitor Hong Kong Phuzzy. :)
 
Working at home today, so I get to follow along. Fulham's picked up two on loan, Stefano Okaka from Roma, and Nickey Shorey from Villa.
 
Blatently ripped from the BBC website, but a sports consultant at Deloitte has estimated that only £21m has been spent in the January transfer window so far, compared to £170m last year and £150m in January 2008. There haven't been any £10m signings this year and only one for £5m, which Spurs paid Portsmouth for Younes Kaboul. There were seven £10m signings last January - three were made by Manchester City (Nigel de Jong, Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bridge), three by Spurs (Wilson Palacios, Jermain Defoe and Robbie Keane) and one by Arsenal (Andrey Arshavin).

A sign of the times perhaps?
 
Seems like the biggest potential move is going to be Pavlyuchenko's move to Birmingham, if it happens. That would be a great bit of business for Birmingham, they are very strong defensively but need a striker, and it would give the Russian plenty of playing time.

In stateside news, negotiations continue on the new MLS collective bargaining agreement, and the biggest issues like guaranteed contracts, free agency and putting contract negotiations in the hands of the teams rather than the league remain unresolved. Fingers crossed things get hammered out before the season begins.
 
Just saw that...Harry seems to favor Crouch and Defoe though, perhaps he'd let Pavlyuchenko go as well? The boy want to play, and Harry doesn't really seem to rate him.
 
He can only afford to let one go though, otherwise he'll have no cover. Keane has been out of form since coming back from Liverpool.
 
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