The 2012-2013 Football Thread

[Happybunny]

Well, you'll get a chance to boo him when your boys pummel the snot out of poor Fulham on the 26th.



It's a lie anyway, we won the League Cup!!

I did it seems forget the League Cup, bad bunny.😱

Are you impressed by how I didn't bite by the way? 😛

I must say I impressed that you stuck to the cord of the argument and did not rant.😀

Hook, line & sinker 😉

I had to look that one up, good retort.😛

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Hook, line & sinker 😉

You didn't see my sarcasm face, but I was making it. 😉

 

[Happybunny]

Well this man does not make it easy for himself. Luis Suarez admits diving.


:http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jan/17/luis-suarez-liverpool-admitting-diving

The curse of the international press coverage in todays world.😎

I am not targeting Liverpool I promise, I just noticed it an hour ago.😀

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Well this man does not make it easy for himself. Luis Suarez admits diving.


:http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jan/17/luis-suarez-liverpool-admitting-diving

The curse of the international press coverage in todays world.😎

I am not targeting Liverpool I promise, I just noticed it an hour ago.😀

Gary Neville, of all people, wrote an article in the Daily Fail that actually sticks up for him somewhat.

Its a curious scenario - does admitting to diving make him more of a villain than, say, Didier Drogba or Ashley Young?

 

[Happybunny]

Gary Neville, of all people, wrote an article in the Daily Fail that actually sticks up for him somewhat.

Its a curious scenario - does admitting to diving make him more of a villain than, say, Didier Drogba or Ashley Young?

No of course not.
Where as both Drogba and Young can always cling to the silly idea of prove it, the referee didn't see therefore it didn't happen. 🙁

But if you admit it there is no going back. He has become a marked man, I think.
I cannot see him getting another penalty again, unless somebody cuts him in half, and breaks both his legs.😱

 

[Lord Blackadder]

No of course not.
Where as both Drogba and Young can always cling to the silly idea of prove it, the referee didn't see therefore it didn't happen. 🙁

But if you admit it there is no going back. He has become a marked man, I think.
I cannot see him getting another penalty again, unless somebody cuts him in half, and breaks both his legs.😱

Well, if that's the case, it will reflect badly on referees as well as Suarez. He's a bit of a diver, but he gets fouled a lot as well. Even if he was the most honest player on earth, the way he turns players and dribbles in tight spaces means he will get hacked. Especially in England.

 

[daneoni]

Wenger wants to buy Cavani but i'll believe it when i see it. Based on previous evidence i fully expect City or Spurs to swoop in with extra money.

Interesting anecdote, the club's banker apparently currently lives near him just in case. Probably to remind him not to go overboard by citing how much we've been saving thus far 🙄

Speaking of footy mony, Liverpool look set to refresh their wage structure. Having learnt lessons from Aquilani and co.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Speaking of footy mony, Liverpool look set to refresh their wage structure. Having learnt lessons from Aquilani and co.

I wonder how much that will hurt us in negotiations with players who may be offered guaranteed salaries elsewhere.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Wenger wants to buy Cavani but i'll believe it when i see it.

Wenger's also been saying today that he's 99% certain that Walcott will be signing a new deal.

Who would you like to see Arsenal sign to replace him? 😉

 

[daneoni]

I wonder how much that will hurt us in negotiations with players who may be offered guaranteed salaries elsewhere.

A valid question. Are Liverpool now going to be spending like Newcastle and Arsenal versus United and...QPR.

Speaking of QPR, Loic Remy says it wasn't about the money guys 🙄

Wenger's also been saying today that he's 99% certain that Walcott will be signing a new deal.

Who would you like to see Arsenal sign to replace him? 😉

Nani or Navas...but of course there's only 99% chance of that happening. So...fingers crossed.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Speaking of QPR, Loic Remy says it wasn't about the money guys

Alan Shearer has questioned Remy's motives, and reckons he may have been swayed by the money on offer.

It's insight like this that makes him one of the BBC's top pundits, you know.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

A valid question. Are Liverpool now going to be spending like Newcastle and Arsenal versus United and...QPR.

I don't expect it to happen, but if the FFP regulations do lead to a deflation in transfer fees and wages, these decisions may be very good for the club. If, on the other hand, FSG are simply tuned to turning a profit, there will be trouble.

It's insight like this that makes him one of the BBC's top pundits, you know.

Now that's analysis.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Meanwhile, Southampton have taken the madcap step of sacking Nigel Adkins.

Bonkers.

 

[daneoni]

He dragged them from League 1 to the EPL and they're currently out of the drop zone and their latest result is a draw away at Chelsea. He can more than hold his head high up, dust off his shoulders and walk away.

Its almost guaranteed their board will regret this decision.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

I'd like to see some statistical data on the efficacy of sacking managers. In other words, statistically speaking, what happens to your club's record and league position in the short and long terms when you sack your manager?

 

[Happybunny]

The saga continues.

It's getting near decision time, and Wesley has always said it's not about the money, well time to put your money where your mouth is.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepag...verpool-if-he-agrees-100k-a-week-pay-cut.html

Looks like Liverpool's manager also wasn't a happybunny about this news story.😱

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...admits-to-diving-calling-it-unacceptable.html

Chelsea is becoming a place that managers just don't want to go to, I wonder why?😕

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...id-Moyes-and-Michael-Laudrup-as-a-plan-B.html

I forgot to mention this piece of news.
UEFA fined Ajax €10,000 for banner
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/soccer...t-against-modern-football-111000732--sow.html

 

[daneoni]

Walcott signs a new 3.5yr deal worth £100k/week + a 3m bonus. Not that it was ever about the money mind...

 

[Confuzzzed]

How much??? So that's effectively £120k per week, just they gave him the £20k PW up front so they don't break their wage structure. I guess also some of that up front (say £500k). Or is that on top

 

[daneoni]

Im not sure of the specific breakdown but the basic gist is he pockets £3m up front right now and gets £100k a week once the new deal begins.

Its daylight robbery for someone who time has proven to be inconsistent. But Wenger and the Board only have themselves to blame.

 

[fiddlestyx]

Im not sure of the specific breakdown but the basic gist is he pockets £3m up front right now and gets £100k a week once the new deal begins.

Its daylight robbery for someone who time has proven to be inconsistent. But Wenger and the Board only have themselves to blame.

Wenger and the Board didn't have any other choice but to pay him. Arsenal put themselves in the position by not putting up the money for key players. They couldn't do any more damage control if they let another player leave.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Liverpool find their shooting boots today. Sturridge is scoring goals, which is exactly what he was brought in to do. He also got an assist on Suarez's goal. So far, so good...

Stoke looking very un-Stoke-like these days.

The saga continues.

It's getting near decision time, and Wesley has always said it's not about the money, well time to put your money where your mouth is.

I just don't see him taking that big of a pay cut, and I'm not sure Liverpool need him (though he would be a boost to any team anywhere). He was on huge money.

Im not sure of the specific breakdown but the basic gist is he pockets £3m up front right now and gets £100k a week once the new deal begins.

Its daylight robbery for someone who time has proven to be inconsistent. But Wenger and the Board only have themselves to blame.

Speaking of huge money, wow. I imagine a lot of that is the "English Tax", but when it comes to transfer dealings, Arsenal are beginning to look like total pushovers. I suppose part of this is due to the fact that the board/Wenger probably considered it PR suicide to lose Walcott after the furor over RVP. It would have been one defection too many perhaps? But in the end the money he is on now should have been able to buy a better player than him (Sneijder, for example?)

 

[daneoni]

But in the end the money he is on now should have been able to buy a better player than him (Sneijder, for example?)

Common sense dictates this, but alas, it seems that is lacking in the AFC top brass nowadays.

 

[pachyderm]

Meanwhile, Southampton have taken the madcap step of sacking Nigel Adkins.

Bonkers.

gets them promoted in back to back seasons and then gets the axe!

 

[Confuzzzed]

gets them promoted in back to back seasons and then gets the axe!

I know, that is the oddest of the most odd managerial sackings. Almost as odd as Notts Forest a couple of weeks ago.

In other news, Michael Owen scores a goal, alleluia!!

 

[Happybunny]

Well back to real Football after all the rumours.

The winter stop ended on Friday, and we got our first really big surprise.
(No offense met Jaffa Cake but nobody saw this one coming)😛

PSV 1 vs PEC Zwolle 3

PSV league leaders were not just beaten they were humiliated, it was like only one team had turned up to play and it wasn't PSV. OK they are missing two players Ola Toivonen and Luciano Narsingh, but still.
They were very lucky Marcelo handled the ball in his own 16 meter area, but the referee didn't see it, every body else and his dog did though.😱
In the second half PSV's Erik Peters who has been sidelined for 9 months, was given a straight Red card for a really dangerous tackle. On his way to the dressing room he broke a large window with his fist and had to be taken to the hospital.🙁
The home crowd began to jeer and shout that the players should start earning their pay.

Dick Advocaat's face during the after match interview was something to see.😉

PEC moves up the table out of the danger zone, and PSV lose top position.

Saturday

FC Twente 0 vs RKC Waalwijk

Twente couldn't win but the one point puts them back on top.

Sunday

It's all about Ajax vs Feyenoord this is always one of the major games in Dutch football since the the very start of football in the Netherlands. This time it also matters in the league they are 3rd and 4th.