Well this is just a quick little posting to say how disappointed I was to see Wigan lose last night and get relegated. I won’t get into all that Spurs v Arsenal stuff because I have several mates on both sides of the N London divide. But I don’t think Wigan were anywhere near the 3rd worst side in the Premiership as their win in the Cup proved. Continue reading
Well after my earlier posting saying how bored I was with the whole footie scene, suddenly it all kicks off. What a last 24 hours! And I have to say that several of my predictions have already kicked in:
– Utd land Berbatov at last but what a frigging protracted saga. I got a call from my good mate Shay from the States a couple of hours before the transfer deadline, who’d just heard that Man City had made an audacious bid for the player. He’s a big Spurs fan (London boy) and was pissed that the club were considering selling a key player to a top 4 team. I think he could have lived with selling him to Bayern or Barca but Man U (or City) was too much after Keeno left for Liverpool. Fact is money spoke and once the bidding got beyond £30M, all those issues at board level at Spurs got forgotten (including the tapping up accusations against Man U). All very cynical. But I think the loan deal with F Campbell is inspired – how did Gill/Ferguson pull that off?
– Wenger makes a last minute bid for Alonso. I said he was a great buy for Arsenal. But why did AW wait till the last minute to make the bid – by all accounts he had a £30M transfer kitty so why delay? I suspect AW wants to be viewed as the Prince of Parsimony because he feels the financial structure of the major clubs isn’t ethical. So was he looking for a last day bargain? I suspect yes, but he’s short in midfield and I would have signed Alonso weeks ago. But despite having the money, AW missed out. Bad call in my view sorry PGOB but this was a player you absolutely needed in my view and could have had for less than £10M.
– I said Curbishley would go soon but he has left within frigging hours. Bilic must be in the frame.
– I also said Thaksin would sell up his interests at City but I didn’t figure he’d do it within 24 hours….So City are now owned by the Abu Dhabi bunch. Total fun. I cannot believe that they tried to high-jack the Berbastov deal but I am absolutely delighted that they stole Robinhio from Kenyon’s grasp. Such fun. I can’t believe that Man City are backed by impossible wealth but bring it on. Roman Ab are you watching?–
– Newcastle. I said it could implode and it looks like it’s about to happen wih Keegan’s apparent departure. Surely all they are discussing now is KK’s severance pay – it’ll no doubt be millions. Ah well Kev back to the football circus eh. They could go down. Sorry Lol.
Now that’s what I call a new season 08!!!!
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Well the new season’s started and it’s a long time since I did a footie posting. Prompted by Charlie Cranium’s recent comments I thought I should offer up some thoughts on the season ahead which you’re all welcome to challenge. Let me know what you think.
I managed to catch some of yesterday’s match between Man U and Arsenal at our local supermarket here in Italy. It was being shown on a large screen in the food piazza and there was a large interested crowd. Cool eh! I couldn’t stop there long and listened to the rest of the match (or at least highlights) at home via Talksport online. It sounded like a great game and by all accounts Arsenal were unlucky not to get a draw at least. But yet again they seem to have been let down by a thin squad and near-exhausted players. As I said in a recent posting I reckon that’s not just bad luck which has caught up with them but also a lack of foresight and boldness in the transfer market. They say Wenger never buys class players at their peak, preferring to buy promising uncut stones and turning them into polished gems. Well I believe he need not shed that policy but surely the time has come for him to use that cash reserve to supplement the squad with some top class players too, otherwise it could be a few more seasons of lovely football, without any silverware. Even Fergie seems to be getting all sympathetic and I’m sure I saw him offering to help by letting Wenger have Saha for just the £15M….. go on Arsene, he even speaks French.
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Well I hear tonight that Tom Hicks one of the co-owners of Liverpool FC has today asked his CE Rick Parry to resign. It’s getting to be almost Newcastle like up there. Blimey I watched the Champs League match v Arsenal the other night and it was a tremendous game and fantastic win for Liverpool. Today the party celebrations are over eh… Continue reading
Well I was saying that Arsenal might suffer a reaction after that disinterested performance they put in against Man U in the FA Cup on the basis that once momentum is lost it is hard to turn on great performances just like that. Their overall game against AC Milan in mid-week actually looked alright but they ended up with a goalless draw and the away match will be difficult for them. Yesterday they had one of those games against Birmingham City and again came away with a draw. But they lost more than 2 points of course. That dreadful tackle, which was more clumsy than malicious I think, has robbed them of an in-form player for the rest of the season. That was bad enough but they seemed to lose their cool too yesterday – understandably upset at the injury to Eduardo and increasingly frustrated by some of the decisions that went against them yesterday. Although they remain 3 points clear at the top of the table, they had a resigned, losing look about them. That said I was pleased to hear that Wenger had modified his immediate post-match comments about Taylor. That was appropriate.
Well the Gods of good fortune have failed to smile kindly on Man U again in the FA Cup 6th round draw. We could have drawn Barnsley or Bristol Rovers or the Blades (or Boro) or Cardiff or West Brom but those old goats at the FA pulled another really tough tie (albeit at home) v Portsmouth after having had to overcome Villa, Spurs and Arsenal in earlier rounds. That’ll be 11 Cup ties on the trot against Premiership opposition. Surely it’s an FA conspiracy to let a London side win it again!
Well what a result in the FA Cup 5th round match yesterday at Old Trafford; Man U not just beating traditional rivals Arsenal but actually making them look no better than the Holloway Tavern Sunday league team. 4-0 was a tremendous anti-dote to that awful performance against the Blue Mooners and a fantastic way to celebrate SAF’s 100th Cup tie at the club.
Pasta Paulie 