Friday 6 April 2012

Kenny Cannae Go Too Soon


Regular readers will know I’m not one to home in on soft targets. I leave that to other so-called pundits. However in the case of Liverpool I’ll make an exception.

There were many predicting that the magnificent Carling Cup Final victory (when they stumbled past a plucky but average Cardiff side like a drunk stepping over another drunk) would be a tipping point for the club. Well it has been. They’ve been backsliding ever since.

Liverpool have been the worst side in the Premier League since Christmas. That’s right. Worse than Wolves, the team that’s so desperate to have you over that you get two free goals with every visit.

Worse than QPR, an assemblage of hooped misfits whose ground staff get the bath running early otherwise Cisse gets even more pissed off.

Worse than Aston Villa, a team with all the creativity of a sock drawer. Alex McLeish gets short shrift from the Holte End – and he’s probably earned it. Then again McLeish performed very similarly with Birmingham City last year as Dalglish has with Liverpool. Tin-pot victory preceded horrid decline.

The difference with Kenny is that he is of course a legend. There’s not a true fan that doesn’t have a Mount Rushmore of Scouse countenances emblazoned across his or her mind.


Shankly, Paisley, Fagan, Dalglish – and if you’re utterly pathological in your support, Benitez. And let’s not be churlish, the achievements of the first four especially were phenomenal.

Only Dalglish has returned. It looked like a fool’s errand, trying to stabilise a faltering outfit being led into the wilderness by the plodding Hodgson. And yet the Reds finished last season with a team humming with self-belief and capable of playing and winning matches without necessarily relying on a Dirk Kuyt toe-poke.

The Yankee pass-the-parcel saw the music stopped with John W Henry and the Fenway Sports Group. Funds have been made available and by Gawd the boss has spent it. Wisely he sold Fernando Torres, in the belief that he was uncapable of separating the laces that some evil bastard had glued together just before the World Cup in 2010.

That money has gone on: Andy Carroll, who can’t score either but by some accounts often hits the bar; Jordan Henderson, who is something of an all-rounder in that he can’t actually do fuck-all; and Stewart Downing who keeps resembling a decent player without ever really being one.

Oh and Luis Suarez, who mixes brilliance with brainlessness in the best traditions of footballing maverick geniuses.

Dalglish has tried to integrate these expensive wallies and it hasn’t worked. Not one player of a North-Eastern bent has done owt but look a bit shit (though Downing had a good Carling Cup final). Meanwhile Maxi and Kuyt keep popping up off the bench and making the team look better. Does King Kenny adjust accordingly? Nah.

Henderson starts but couldn’t deliver a simple message to the next-door neighbour let alone a telling final ball. Carroll needs some decent service but then again he never gets himself into positions where its absence becomes relevant.

Alan Shearer has said that Dalglish is the right man to take Liverpool forward. But there’s a man who knows that the status of ‘legend’ means that the fans give you a lot more rope. Shearer’s tenure over Newcastle’s drop into the Championship saw such a strong commitment to winning ugly that he hired Iain Dowie as his Number Two.

No one’s blamed Shearer at the Gallowgate. It's illegal. You'd get hanged from the Angel of the North.

But even Koppites must wonder what exactly Dalglish can add to the club nowadays. The man was an utterly brilliant footballer - no one could back his arse into a tightly-marking defender and turn away from him quite like Ken. And he managed one of the most brilliant sides ever to grace English club football.

And it’s clear that it’s as much his love for the club as his sense of vocation that’s seen him return. That sentiment was enough to hoist the Mickey Mouse Cup. Or at least that’s what Scousers called it when Boro won in 2004.

I know... any excuse!

But it’s not going to be enough to lift the club now.

Neither are Kenny’s uppity post-match interviews:
‘Good point today, Kenny?’
‘What d’ye mean?’
‘Draw was a fair result?’
‘Look don’t have a pop at my players. I cannae fault ‘em. Even ths shite ones.’

Kenny deserves the legend status. Let him keep it. And give him a nice way out.
Reality is descending on the Etihad too, which is nice. Balotelli continues to be the focus and just as Dalglish seems incapable of resting poor purchases, so Mancini’s affection for a lad who’s barely acquainted with sanity is baffling.

There’s no doubt that Citeh will lose the title now. I doubt the feeder club Arsenal will be too obliging this Sunday. Game over. Fergie's sitting pretty. Now there's an oxymoron.

In other news, it’s the US Masters golf tournament. That’s right, the old freakily green course in Augusta and bastion of all things backwardly golfish. No women allowed, and for a long time it was the same for blacks unless they were lugging a bag of clubs around for you.

Golf revels in its traditions and in my limited experience that means chubby twats in V-necked sweaters telling you how there are too many immigrants in this country whilst one of them to makes him his gin and tonic.

Why Augusta won’t allow women to be members is beyond me. I mean who the fuck does it think it is, the Church of England? No, wait, they’re way more progressive.

133 comments:

  1. If Kenny goes though who takes over? Steve Bruce? Paul Ince. Roberto Mancini? I think Liverpool have backed themselves into a corner not even King Kenny could get out of.

    I honestly think this could be it for Liverpool unless they get a new stadium they're fucked and bound to be mediocre. Probably until them two pandas in Edinburgh get it on. And to be honest the bullshit all the fans spouted at Hodgson means they deserve it. Fans should never make the decisions. Fact. Except me though, because I'm always right.

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  2. The fate of winners Liverpool and Brum, suggests that, if Carling drop their sponsorship, maybe Ozymandias would be interested...


    "Look on my Cup Ye mighty and Despair"

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  3. At chelsea Di matteo is to my surprise looking the part. He's probably insufficiently high profile to give Roman the ego boost he enjoys so much when he summarily sacks a top manager BUT high profile managers now know that so its getting tougher for czar abramovitch....

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  4. Competent managers at Anfield have been as rare lately as chins in a Tory cabinet, but all I can say about the situation as a Bluenose is hahahahahaha. SAVE KENNY!

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  5. LFC are imploding and it couldn't happen to a nicer club. They could bring back Benitez as at least his press conferences were interesting

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  6. LFC are imploding and it couldn't happen to a nicer club. They could bring back Benitez as at least his press conferences were interesting

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  7. Good stuff Robbo. Well, except the bit about Augusta. Why doesn't the Horwich Womens Knitting Guild open its doors to blokes? Because blokes are mostly crap knitters and they'd ruin the whole dynamic.

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  8. I agree - Liverpool FC would be better placed in the league if they had a few girls in the team. Its totally discriminatory that theres no girls fighting in the heavyweight division although lord knows if youve ever been to Braintree youll see enough of them that will make the weight, and why im not allowed to compete in the ladies doubles at wimbldon is fucking outrageous. They let Billie Jean King play and her testacles weere bigger even than mine. Lets pull down these boundaries. theres no need for men and womens mixed doubles - they should ALL b Mixed! theres no need for the fillies to have separate changing rooms at the swimming baths. theres no need for gender anymore and while were at it, give me an american passport, now, nationality race colour creed these are defunct 20thC concepts. why should i be disciminated against just because im not american or gay or female or clever? Give me a PhD in American Lesbianism. Now!

    Elvis committed suicide by cheeseburger because he felt he was wrongly excluded from the Port Vale team just because he was no good at football (i know i know that didnt count against the rest of the team ) but the great white black man never forgot. ANd never forgave. Turns out his nan lived in Burslem, and if i can just nick H's joke for a minute, documents recently attest that he made one short visit to the uk landing at prestwick but, what was unknown until now, snuck out to see his nan who was working as a cleaner in The George Hotel at the time....

    Original titles of The King's Top 10:

    1 Love Me Burslem(1956)
    2 Burslem George Hotel (1956)
    3 Suspicious Burslem(1969)
    4 A Little Less Burslem(1968)
    5 Jailhouse Burslem(1957)
    6 Burslem (nanny dear) On My Mind (1972)
    7 The Wonder of Burslem(1970)
    8 Burslem Dog (1956)
    9 Blue Suede Burslem(1956)
    10 Burslem Shook Up (1957)

    The Colonel hushed it all up and christ why do i waste my time typing this shit whats wrong with me....

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    1. Ic, so spouting 1970's dogma is progressive? Nest you'll be calling for ITV to remake The Battle of the Sexes.

      The reason the CoE is more 'progressive' is because at the time they embraced the sisterhood and stopped being a boy-child only institution they were on the point of bankrupcy due to ill advised land deals. The Georgia golf club clearly has better management and can therefore set it's own rules.

      Which curiously applies to Liverpool. They need legends because the reality of the present is so awful. Still Carra and Gerrard can't go on forever (which will revive the team spirit) and Suarez will be off soon, so the marketing department can stop the team orders of not allowing Carroll to score more goals than their prized South American product.

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    2. Some may know that Elvis had the initials TCB on his private jet.

      Many thought that it stood for Taking Care of Business, it was in fact meant as a subliminal message promoting his mini cab business- Taxi Central Burslem.

      Delete
  9. A fine read as always Robbo.

    Never go back is the old saying,and yet Dalglish couldn't help it.Still,at least it gives us all something to laugh at.

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  10. morning' all. Nothin' like a bit of Blog's trivia to brighten up the day. Elvis lives. Highly chucklesome.

    Come on Ye Whites!

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  11. Had to look up Burslem, turns out it's one of those places no one should have to visit or drive through.

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  12. Cartagena and Celta de Vigo match suspended:
    http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/1362947/0/cartagena-celta/suspendido/lanzamiento-objetos/

    In serie A lazio beat napoli 3-1, excellent match and second goal by Mauri, very similar to rooneys overhead kick goal v man city.

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  13. Nah mate you're confusing it with tunstall. Burslem is fantastic like a brutal post industrial Disneyland. It has everything you'd ever want in life if you like football beer the industrial revolution and kebabs, and I do.

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  14. So like rooney mauri shinned one and got lucky?

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  15. The Domesday Book shows Burslem (listed as Bacardeslim) as a small farming hamlet; strategically sited above a vital ford (crossing) at Longport, part of the major pack horse track out of the Peak District and Staffordshire Moorlands to the Liverpool/London road. As far back as the late 12th century a thriving pottery industry existed, based on the fine & abundant local clays. After the Black Death, Burslem emerges in the records as a medieval town - the 1536 stone church is still standing and in use. Until the mid-1760s Burslem was relatively cut off from the rest of England; it had no navigable river nearby, and there were no good & reliable roads.

    It sounds lovely!

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  16. Burslem wasn't cut off from england trott. England was cut off from Burslem

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  18. Roses are red
    violets are bluish
    If it wasn't for Easter
    We'd all be Jewish

    Needed a break. Even my cat is looking at me now thinking lazy bastard hasn't moved for a couple of hours.

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  19. I can't stand the oxbridge boat race toffs either but if they'd beaten that Australian prat to death with their oars id have thought fair dos

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  20. yeah and Mark Hughes could be forgiven for taking his oar to that linesman at Old Trafford, fair enough, bottom 5 all stuffed, on we go.

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  21. Mikel Arteta fires Arsenal ahead. Superb result for the entire PL. 3 points to retain the 3rd place. #COYG

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  22. Man United find a new pet ref..

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  23. Woohoo..second child (also girl) born last night. Its an Easter miracle I tell ya. What does it matter how Liverpool do now..not like there's a chance I can watch any footy for a while now.

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  24. Congrats on the new arrival, AH. I hope she isn't named Louise Suarez AnfieldHopeful? Or Andrea Carroll AnfieldHopeful? Or Jordan Henderson AnfieldHopeful? Or Quasimodo Kuyt AnfieldHopeful? I could go on, but I won't.

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  25. Congrats AH! Liverpool Carling Cup win...New home...Second girl child. You've so many reasons to celebrate ;)

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  26. Congrats AH, at least you will be spared having to watch the pool for a while

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  27. congratulations AH. You've done all the hard work, it's time for the wife to take over now. Will you be naming her Bubba in honour of Mr. Watson's victory at Augusta? Maybe her middle name at least?

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  28. ERMMMMMMMMMMM!
    Steve Evans new boss at Millers, not sure about that one. Why would he leave Crawley, 14 places higher for Rotherham, could it be to be the 1st manager at the new New York Stadium

    I heard from my friend in football, that he is an evil bastard, could be a good or a bad thing
    Bit of a history, convicted of tax fraud when at Boston

    The jury is out

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  29. tone,

    sorry for your loss.

    Evans doesnt seem to be a very good choice, does he?

    hope it ends well.

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  30. Fantastic news AH .... congrats! Good luck finding a golf club for her!

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  31. Thanks lads.

    Noel - believe it or not, we actually considered Jamie, but thought better of it.
    -----------------------------
    SSApr 9, 2012 02:24 AM
    Congrats AH! Liverpool Carling Cup win...New home...Second girl child. You've so many reasons to celebrate ;)


    Spot on SS - you probablt even got the priority order correct.

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  32. Congrats AH.

    If anyone has wondered why I haven't posted in a while, it is mainly because it isn't too easy finding a wifi point with a strong enough connection to connect but I am also coming to terms with my new life here in the Philippines.

    I am sitting on the verandah of my Boracay Island cottage enjoying a San Miguel Pilsner and smoking my head off. Why? because I can. Ciggies are 45 ($1) pesos a pack (making it even more difficult to quit) and the beer costs just 30 (75 cents) pesos a bottle.

    Boracay is a genuine paradise island, any of you guys that can afford to get here should pack your bags and leave immediately. The island is full of beautiful Philippino women (I have my own so I just look) I have been here a week and it as cost me around $250 which includes the cost of the cottage.

    Ok, off for my afternoon siesta. Next time the wifi woirks I'll get back to you. In the meantime enjoy your winter evenings in Burslem.

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  33. Drove through Burslem yesterday.It was as charming as ever.

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    1. I just tell them I'm a friend of Blogs.It still carries a certain cache within the old town to get me out alive.

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  34. Congratulations AH.

    Nice to hear from you Bo, sounds great.

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  35. No cache at all I'm afraid jacks. But let me know if you have trouble with the natives and I'll send help. My nan is scarey.

    It's a shithole alright but its MY shithole

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  36. Sounds good Bo. How much is nicotine gum over there?

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  37. Bo - jacks kept us clued into your whereabouts, sounds idyllic - best beaches in the world, apparently? (pity about the dengue fever and the head hunters ; p ). Stay in touch mate.

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    1. I thought they had those in Burslem?

      Come on Liverpool! You'll never walk alone!

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    2. Burslem definitely does not have the best beaches in the world, trott. Are you thinking of blackpool?

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  38. Kenny Dalglish looks younger and less frazzled tonight. He's either put the plug in the jug or the floodlights at Blackburn are very flattering.

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  39. Sad day for football in England.

    The FA have basically told every profesional cheat, diver and hatchet man that you can do as you please and you can get away with it.

    Shawn Derry fron QPR breathed in the direction of an offside Ashley Young and got a red card. Decision upheld. Derry suspended.

    Baotelli makes a challenge that could of ended a career, so bad that even his own manager was shocked at it. No futher action.

    FA statement;

    "Retrospective action was introduced for off-the-ball incidents where there was no contest for possession and could not be deemed to be re-refereeing an incident. In agreement with Fifa, this is how 'not seen' incidents are dealt with retrospectively in England. It is a policy that is agreed with all football stakeholders."

    So if I understand this correctly what they are saying is that the referee and/or assistants saw the incident but deemed it not worthy of a sanction.

    The incompatant covering for the incompetent?

    I suppose you could also see it this way; the ref made a decision and as he had seen the incident and took no action then that was the end of it and it can't be contested due to Fifa rules.

    REALLY? Is that what your trying to tell us you bunch of egg chasing inbreds?

    Aren't you the very same organisation who successfully appealed a ban for Wayne Rooney after he had crearly, with intension of malice, kicked an opponent and been dealt with by the officials who saw the incident?

    What a fucking joke.

    The Easter weekends' games threw up so many contreversial and appaling decisions it was almost unreal, Wigan were not only robbed, they were spat on and kicked in the nuts as they lay bleeding on the floor. At least Riley had the decency to phone up Martinez and apologise, but those missed points could mean the difference between survival and relegation for his team and puts his future as manager of Wigan at risk.

    The referee's job is hard enough even for the few who are good at it, why don't the powers that be give them the tools (that are available) necassary to do their job better? When is enough, enough? Why is our beloved game becoming a laughing stock for those looking in who enjoy sports that have embraced technology and moved forward? Rugby, Tennis and even Cricket, for fucks sake, has became better for it, when will it be our turn?

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    1. Yep it wasn't a good week/e for the refs h. The big teams consistently get the benefit of every doubt and the proof of that truth is midtsble liverpool got nowt.

      It's a scandal that there's no tech. But that won't address the fa turning a blind Nelsons eye to anything that might give the fat twats any trouble. Another g+t, wodney?

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    2. To be honest I wasn't expecting the Derry sending off to be changed. Obviously Young dived, probably because he mis-controlled the ball and realised the keeper was getting it, but you could maybe argue he wasn't going to reach the ball before the keeper because he was slightly impeded by Derry. Defending at the end of the day is subtly fouling your opponent and getting away with it. Most of the time it works.

      There has been a big reaction to this which I fully support cuz I hate it when I see other players diving all over the place but it does happen ALL the time, its not because United or the Big teams get all the decisions. You want players to be honest but until the FA bring in retrospective bans for simulation nothing is going to change.

      On the technology aspect, it won't happen because I think the majority of the football community don't want it, they like the "drama" of refs fucking things up. Or is they appreciate diving as being very clever?

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    3. Sad but true. I am disappointed with Ashley Young for that shameful dive, but the linesman was even worse. How could he not see Young was offside? Oh and for the record, I'm a Man Utd fan.

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  41. Indeed Blogs.

    *Rant starting again;

    A little bit of research will show youi that in the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 the powers that be have handed out lengthy bans after the fact even though the ref had taken action on the pitch.

    The FA cowardly hide behind a so called Fifa rule prohibiting such actions. If that is true then why weren't the players involved bans recinded by Fifa?

    Not only are they incompetant but they are also liars liars with their pants on fire. Gits.

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  42. It's like having murders caught on cctv cameras but the police can't act because they didn't immediately arrest the murderer. Makes no sense, I agree with H fifa and the fa are lazy and stupid.

    I don't want to sound ageist but look at historical gerontocracies...ancient Sparta... "modern" north Korea - it's what happens when you put old men in charge of things, any change becomes an image of their own death. They like to keep things just as they are so inevitably they get left behind as history moves on anyway....we'll all be watching baseball if this goes on too long because it's spoiling too many games and it's bizarre - the flood of money comes from the way matches are consumed by the majority including yours truly ie TV(£80 to take my boys to watch colchester united? Shove it)and it's the self same medium which highlights the. Problem of officiating errors. The ref was never meant to be sole arbiter, in the early days each team had an umpire ensuring fair play And any dispute was referred to the 3rd independent official hence referee. TV replays should in deadball situations. Be used for this umpiring function. As it happens anyway then we get the finger pointing.

    It's such a no brainer its amazing we're still having this debate so fuck yiu fifa and fuck yiu fa the most powerful national family and yet always playing the victim. The rapist Mike tyson plays the same game in interviews

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  43. Rod I hope you're wrong about technology, but you're usually wrong so I'm. Optimistic ;p

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    1. Now come on Blog, you know I'm infallible don't you? Its just not possible for me to be wrong, ever. Goal line tech will come in but that will be it, I bet my life on it.

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  44. Exactly! No justice. FA acts as per their wish. No consistency. This will ruin football eventually. Even ref’s on the pitch do not show consistency… and their performance on pitch is going from bad to worse each season, game after game. And the ones outside who can regulate and control it are also not setting the right example. This happens in EPL only… if u look at other leagues like Milan or La Liga.. the ref’s there are alteast consistent in booking players… controversies are there but still not at larger level like in FA’s case. This is all scandalous.

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  45. FA didn’t think it appropriate to take retrospective action against Balotelly… he also has a similar incident under review where he tackled Scott Parker. I cannot imagine he didn’t get a heavy match ban. If players are not punished they will be more encouraged to go for such tackles. Luckily in this case Song was not injured… what if Song had broken his leg and Mario still got clean chit because FA didn’t take a retrospective action. Where’s the justice???

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  46. And at a time when so many wrong things are happening around - BBC are more interested in highlighting goal keeper crisis in Liverpool team? They also went to the length of getting clarification from FA that Liverpool cannot sign a goal keeper on loan during this emergency period. Stating the bloody obvious.
    --------------
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17675521

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  47. Tsunami expected to hit India soon

    Little Andaman Nicobar Islands - 15:46 PM IST
    Port Blair - 16:02 PM IST
    Chennai -16.57 PM IST
    Trivandrum - 17.38 PM IST
    Goa, Manglore - 19.06 PM IST
    Mumbai - 21.38 PM IST
    Gulf of Kutch - 22.04 PM IST

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  48. Bo, stay off the coast!!!

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  49. Bo get to the coast! Bring a surf board.

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  50. Rod and Anon.

    I don't blame Ashley Young for that incident, he may very well of been clipped, it's hard to see.

    But the fact is that he came from an offsid eposition so even if he was caught it can't be a foul or a penalty or a red card for Derry.

    OK, we can't turn back time and cancel the penalty, but that the FA refuse to overturn the ban on the QPR player is just simply unbelievable, common sense has been thrown out of the window and has been replaced by fuckwittery.

    Rod, I'm afraid you're pretty close to correct on the video tech arguement, it could take a very, very long time to be sanctioned and it will never happen as long as Septic Bladder has his iron grip on the game.

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  51. disgusting, wigan score from a corner that should never have been a corner. Big clubs get all the decisions. Come on Mancs, come on Swansea!

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  52. A comfortably lazy win for Arsenal. Played 3/4ths of the match with hand brake on. #COYG

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  53. On the subject of fairplay and cheating and all that goes with it, in the DBL 2nd last night St PAuli v Union Berlin, score was 1-1, StPs forward Ebbers scored 80th min, ref and assistant signalled goal, Berlin appealed to the ref, who then having made the decision questioned the StP player who said the ball hit his head and hand at the same time(as the replays showed), goal disallowed due to the players honesty. Fortunately StP did later score, but as the Berlin trainer said, Ebbers, should be the player of the year

    Food for thought, would that ever happen in the UK?

    and Dortmund beat Bayern to move 6 pts clear

    and United lost, good night for football

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  54. take your point tone, and the answer to your q is prbably not if they want to be on the tesam sheet the following weekk but i dont think germany is quite there yet with the moral high ground .. ebbers moment of decency doesnt really make up for the Holocaust and 50 milllion dead in two world wars imho

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  55. Really enjoyed my week off doing absolutely nothing except play with my 3 boys wh make me laugh and constantly amaze me theyll be teens soon so thats when i expect it starts to go pear shaped but you never know....

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  56. Hope Bo is OK, massive earth quakes in the region

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  57. Dangerous to ask Brits about the French, but as an uneducated American, I hope you'll humor me... US Quevilly, an amateur side relatively recently promoted to the French third division, have reached the final of the Coupe de France. They made the semi-finals in 2010 and it seems quite a few amateur sides have peppered the later rounds of the tournament. Why no similar story in England? Does the rule about amateur/lower division teams hosting make that much of a difference? And why no similar rule in the FA Cup? (Or at least the Carling Cup, since no one cares about it unless they win.)

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    1. Non league teams can't enter the Carling Cup aka the league cup because, well, they're not in the league.

      League = PL, Championship, League 1 & 2.

      Sometimes you get non league teams in the Third or Fourth Round of the FA cup, Crawley Town didn't do too bad recently (also as non leaguers)
      Tottenham Hotspur won when they were a non-league team, but that was over a hundred years ago, almost as long as they haven't won the league ;)

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  58. There's probably a really interesting answer to that very interesting question stephen. The boring answer though is that most top french clubs are usually not very good. Here's one measure...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_Cup_and_UEFA_Champions_League_winners

    Lower league teams in england have zero chance of winning anything these days the gulf in quality is vast.

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  59. Blog/Stephen

    Not sure I understand what you mean by hosting, but as a comparison in the German Cup in Rds 1 & 2(which would be 3 or 4 in Eng), the draw is the home team in Div3 or lower always(except for the relegation/promoted teams between DBL Div2 and 3

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  60. What a weird game last night was, United completely deserved to lose yet they got robbed by some very strange decisions by the linesmen and ref. I think Fergie's comment last year about having "a fair referee" is mightily apt here.

    There is no way the linesman didn't see the handball, it was obviously ignored to square up the decision to disallow the Wigan goal in the first half. And Wigan's goal came from a corner which should have been the most obvious of goal kicks. And Jones got booked for absolutely nothing, although Evans probably could have been sent off.

    But as I said Wigan deserved the win, even if they were diving all over the place. One of the poorest performances by a ref this season, Phil Dowd you complete and utter fat cunt.

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    1. Im assuming man u influenced dowd to arrange a semblance of balance but he did it as you point out by denying wigan a clear cut goal and im not so sure about the corner, i think it was borderline but jones was clearly lying when he said he didnt touch it {even my lip reading skills can manage that} and 5 X replay couldnt decide which way it was due so a corner seemed fair to me ...
      And evans should have been off. So the clear ref bias to manu continues unabated. Manu. Fans dont like people pointing out how succsful safs mindgames have been in twisting the perception of refs of course

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    2. DeGea was pushed more or less behind the goal line and I've seen plenty of freekicks given for that, so a clear cut goal it is not.

      On Wigan's goal it was 100% a goal kick not a corner. I've seen a couple of replays confirming it. SAF hasn't done mind games for years. Evans was lucky, but if the penalty had been given before I'm almost certain he would have sent him off.

      The linesman saying to Giggs and Jones he didn't see the handball had to be blatantly lying, I don't think its even humanly possible for him to have missed it, unless he closed his eyes for a few seconds.

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  61. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-17677969

    Port Vale showing that at least their footballers are thinking like Premier League players.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Hmm i saw that jacks....its the corruptimg man city conection. He hasnt got a contract for next season as far as i kknow so limited damage to vale's rep, such as it is

    You in touch with Bo jacks? is he ok? He seems to have chosen a climatically dramatic time to relocate. Wheres he going on holiday next year? Darfur?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He's struggling with internet connections at the moment Blogs.

      I believe his next port of call is in fact Homms

      Delete
  63. it's all fucked up, Wigan cheated and QPR must have cheated too. I haven't seen that match nor read any reports but they should have lost and would have lost had they not cheated and if Man U don't win the league and Bolton survive then everybody else must have cheated too. Now, where's that red button. Nurse............

    ReplyDelete
  64. Say Titanic again! I dare you, I double dare you, motherfucker!

    https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/p480x480/398286_3282855744537_1061881882_33092834_1384828576_n.jpg

    ReplyDelete
  65. H2H: Agreed, I didn't write that clearly. In the Carling Cup, it would be, in my opinion, more interesting to let the lower division side host, since there are no non-league teams involved.

    Blog/Tone: 'Tis true that French top division sides aren't very good and the difference in quality isn't as vast in England. That said, allowing a lower-division side to be the home side (what I meant by hosting, which I also didn't make clear, as we Americans have our own brand of not-quite-English), at least when there is a two-division gap, could make things more interesting. I wouldn't expect an amateur side to win, but sending a League 1 side to Europe one year might wake up some of the big boys and make them take the competition more seriously. Or it could devalue the competition further. Whichever.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Finally a good enough version of the bloody song...

    http://youtu.be/i4F3GW-Ximg

    ReplyDelete
  67. North Korean rocket launch fails.

    The milk bottle fell over.

    ReplyDelete
  68. Stephan.

    The luck of the draw adds to the magic of the cup. Which small (with all due respect) team player wouldn't dream of playing at Old Trafford, St James Park, The Emirates etc?
    Not to mention the fact what a draw against a PL club could mean financially to a lower division/non league club. Their share of the gate reciepts plus tv money could very well cover all their costs for a season.

    ReplyDelete
  69. You have been warned!

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R231U4ZG0YDNHD/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R231U4ZG0YDNHD

    ReplyDelete
  70. Great review, wonder if that's what if Pierluigi used

    ReplyDelete
  71. Lee Dixon, BBC Sport
    Three-time FA Cup winner Lee Dixon at Wembley for BBC Radio 5 live: "When I was a kid I always wanted to watch football matches with one team in red and one team in blue! It's just a classic look on a football pitch!"

    I rate lee Dixon but as punditry goes that's on a par with my wife's sole selection criterion when buying a car..... "I want a blue one"

    ReplyDelete
  72. Have you seen that The Incredable Sulk, Anelka, has been made Player Manager of his team in China.

    I hope he never has to sub himself and god forbid if he drops himself to the bench.

    I'd love to see him walk away from himself in a huff, argue against his own tactics or put himself on the transfer list because he couldn't work with himself.

    ReplyDelete
  73. Took my boy to his first football match today v Sheff Wed and got him his first Colchester shirt. Welcome to a lifetime of footballing disappointment son. You're a Colchester fan now.

    ReplyDelete
  74. did they get off to a good start Colch? More importantly, did he have a bet on the National?

    ReplyDelete
  75. Fergie's response to Ashley Young's dive (which I admittedly didn't see) makes me wonder if refs should be allowed to book players for theatrics even if they award a penalty (or other foul?). The penalty call itself is subjective anyway, so why not admit there was a foul while still punishing the attacker for overdoing it?

    ReplyDelete
  76. Redknapp for Engerland!!!!

    --BeeZee

    ReplyDelete
  77. I'd like to formally induct Ashley Young into the Starfire Memorial Pantheon of Cheating Cunts.

    Even SAF was embarrassed by that one Ashley.

    ReplyDelete
  78. I fancy man c to beat man u with tevez back in harness, so all it takes is man u to drop 2 points by drawing somewhere and it could get very very innaresting

    ReplyDelete
  79. Chelsea to beat barca and then lose to real

    Chelsea to win fa cup

    Man c to win league on goal difference

    Port Vale to stay in business.

    ReplyDelete
  80. I don't know if it's the fact that I don't see as much footie as I used to being over here now, or all the cheating, racism, ridiculous reffing decisions, complete ignorance and inbred corruption from FIFA (alledgedly), the fact that some once great clubs are being run into administration, or maybe just sour grapes at the way our season has panned out - but for me, football has lost some of it's magic this year.

    Fair play to Chelsea - they were the better team today. But as always, there's contentious decisions to ruin the day. And Harry, please just fuck off and take the England job. Yes, you've been great for us, and we may end up with a worse manager, but your continued courting of the England job has destroyed our season, whether you admit it or not. Thanks for what you've done, but now you're ruining your legacy. Since Capello left, we're probably 19th in the form table, above only Liverpool. I think we'll finish 6th this year. Chelsea have the bit between their teeth now and Newcastle are playing some great football and will qualify for Europe on merit. At least they'll treat European competition as a priveledge instead of a nuisance.

    ReplyDelete
  81. Chelsea's fans show once again that they're a no class outfit, shame on them.

    Also shame on the FA for allowing the incompetant Martin Atkinson to officiate an important game.

    Last week he saw Balotelli try to snap a fellow profesionals leg in two, but decided not to act on it and today he saw a goal that never was.

    I wonder what his next trick will be?

    ReplyDelete
  82. Noel, 'Arry Potless lost at Wembley today.

    The transformation is complete.

    ps. Can't help but laugh my arse off about the way all the the loyalist fans in the PL, who never leave the stadium before the final whistle (must of been a fire drill against Norwich) have turned on englands greatest manager with the best Narf Lahndan team ever.

    ReplyDelete
  83. Is it end of season prediction time? Chelsea to beat Liverpool with Torres scoring the winner just after red cards and fisticuffs between Stevie G and JT. Chelsea to win Champs League with Torres scoring the winner, following up on his 4 goals against Barca and BlueHells Bells to come back and announce that she's in love with DiMateo and couldn't give a fuck about Mourinho.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would have believed you if you hadn't said that bit about Torres scoring.

      Delete
  84. Great quote from the live text yesterday:


    Newcastle United defender Ryan Taylor has tweeted: "Ashley Young is an absolute DISGRACE. He's the biggest cheat in the league. His antics are a joke."

    But what do you really think, Ryan?

    ReplyDelete
  85. Holloway2HollandApr 15, 2012 05:22 PM
    Noel, 'Arry Potless lost at Wembley today.

    The transformation is complete.

    ----------------
    that is exactly what went through my mind upon seeing him standing clueless and shocked at the touchline, a worthy successor to the umbrella man he will be

    --BeeZee

    ReplyDelete
  86. Ryan Taylor can go suck my balls.

    ReplyDelete
  87. Ashley Young: Fallon D'Floor

    ReplyDelete
  88. Rod,Ashley Young made a meal of it.

    Is it worth looking again and seeing what he did?

    Maybe you'll see what he did.

    ReplyDelete
  89. It's no good,I've tried the polite way.....

    Rod,he cheated.

    ReplyDelete
  90. Problem is, after watching it a few times, there was definitly contact, tne defender brushed his foot with his toe.

    http://www.101greatgoals.com/gvideos/ashley-youngs-dirty-dive-wayne-rooney-puts-manchester-united-1-0-up-v-aston-villa/

    There was also ofcourse a sniper in the stadium that took him out with extreme prejudeuce.

    ReplyDelete
  91. jacksofbuxtonApr 16, 2012 07:23 AM
    It's no good,I've tried the polite way.....

    Rod,he cheated.
    ----------------------
    just saw the replays, and I can only say that you are still being way too polite about it

    --BeeZee

    ReplyDelete
  92. What a fighter, good on him;

    http://www.football365.com/news/21554/7677766/Muamba-Goes-Home...

    ReplyDelete
  93. Well played Wigan, you totally deserved it tonight.

    ReplyDelete
  94. H, quick mate, new Blog's up!

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  95. H - heads up mate, new blogs up

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  96. H - heads up mate, new blogs up

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