Managerial Merry Go Round

Arne Slot the latest managerial sacking? I thought with a League title and Champions League qualification he might have got more time.
They have been poor this season by the high standards of his first season, but losing players like Diaz, Jota, Nunes, Arnold would make any team struggle. I don't know if he was the driving force behind the players brought in for an eye watering £460m last summer but apart from a few bright moments none of them have lived up to the price tags.
Star player Salah doesn't seem to have shown any form since signing his mega money deal last year. Maybe Isak should have been avoided after going on strike at Newcastle showing he has a dubious character.
With Jabby Alonso now signing for Chelsea I thought he would get more time.
Iraola seems to be favourite but got the impression he was leaving Bournemouth because he wanted to go back home to Spain, but money talks.
So many managers who have done great things at smaller clubs with limited budgets have failed when they've gone to big clubs, thinking of Frank, Amorim, Potter and many others.
Iraola had a terrible start at Bournemouth but they held their nerve and he turned them around, would he get the same treatment at Liverpool where one bad result usually turns the fans against their managers.

Premier Predictions (Week 02)

Games on Saturday, Sunday and Monday this week.
Man City v Tottenham on Saturday night could be a classic after last season's Champions league matches.
West Ham have never beaten Brighton in the Premier league, so it would be a good time to start?
So here is week 2.

Arsenal v Burnley
Aston Villa v Bournemouth
Brighton v West Ham
Everton v Watford
Norwich v Newcastle
Southampton v Liverpool
Man City v Tottenham
Sheff Utd v Crystal Palace
Chelsea v Leicester
Wolves v Man Utd

Good Luck All :)

Super Cup (watching as I type)
What a great game, hard to believe Chelsea have had 2 fewer days to prepare and came off the back of a thrashing on Sunday when Liverpool won well on Friday.
Mason Mount looks a player and a future England star.
Liverpool lucky to get it to penalties, but came through at the end.
Not sure why Pedro didn't take the last one as Tammy Abraham looked petrified, great for Adrian though (top keeper) :)

Dilemma

Wow!!!
Tottenham and Liverpool both coming back from 3 goals down to win.
Totally mixed emotions, the 2 teams I dislike the most for personal historical reasons have just given us 2 unbelievable games, and I cheered them both on ????
No idea who I'll go for in the final?

You've gotta love Football 😁

Hopefully Arsenal and Chelsea will make it a clean sweep for English teams tomorrow?

The Big Match(es)

The Big One: Fulham 1 Aston Villa 0
Congratulations to Fulham getting back into the Premier league after 4 years away.
Villa used to be one of my favourite teams, but I can't cheer for any team managed by Steve Bruce so was hoping Fulham took their deserved 3rd place.
Nervous end after the sending off but held on.
Shahid Khan is going to have to put his hand in his pocket to buy some players as Fulham had 6 loanees in their squad today, but he has big pockets as he plans to buy Wembley Stadium for about a Billion.

Euro League Final: Real Madrid 3 Liverpool 1
Great start from Liverpool who looked the most likely to score, until Ramos did a job on Salah forcing him off with a dislocated shoulder after dragging him to the floor with Salah's arm locked.
The first goal was a complete fluke, clever by Benzema but disastrous by Karius.
Liverpool equalised with a terrific Mane goal from Lovren's towering header, but then Gareth Bale came on for Isco and a couple of minutes later scored one of the best goals you'll ever see.
Then Bale hit a shot from about 30 yards straight at Karius who fluffed it into the net.
Real probably deserved the win but it might have been different if Salah hadn't been injured, or maybe if Simon Mignolet had played?

I reckon Joe Hart should get himself to Anfield, Karius made even calamity Joe look good :)

Rip Off

Not sure why anyone would want to pay money to watch Liverpool :), 
but I must give some rare praise to Liverpool fans after last weeks protest which seems to be raising the right questions about the money grabbing owners of football teams.



Don't think much will change unless everyone says "enough is enough" and boycott complete matches or fans refuse to buy season tickets.
With the amount of money being given to Premier league clubs by the new TV deal the least they could do would be to freeze the prices, or preferably drop them?

I've been to a few lower league games watching Southend where the home teams have large stadiums way too big for the couple of thousand fans who turn up and it's a weird experience.
Much as you try to improve the mood by singing and making noise, it still feels wrong.

If the owners feel that they don't need the real supporters anymore and are only catering for "the prawn sandwich brigade" (as Roy Keane once put it so well), they will be in for a nasty shock down the line.
Good TV entertainment requires a great atmosphere to be generated by the crowd as in "real" fans who will keep cheering even when their team is in the relegation spots and are 2-0 down at home.
I feel TV companies will think twice about coughing up billions to show "soulless" matches played in near silence in half empty stadiums.

Would be nice if British clubs took a leaf out of
Uli Hoeness's book :)
Here (right) he explains why the season ticket price is so low at Bayern Munich.
The likes of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund get full houses of 80,000 every game and yet a season ticket costs less than going to 2 games in this country, but you still get to see some of the best players in the world.

Transfer Rumours

Daniel Sturridge to West Ham for £18m ??
When he's fit I rate him as the best striker in the Premiership, trouble is ... he's never fit.
After paying them £15m for one injury prone striker, would we be willing to blow the January budget on a player who most likely would be very lucky to play 10 games before the end of the season?
With the money available in the Premier league and possible European competition, maybe this deal isn't a totally made up story like most "exclusives", but I really can't see it happening.

That Was Quick

Had just finished my sack race post and turned on the telly to hear that Rodgers won.

Think it's a shame as I thought he was doing a brilliant job .. hehe :)
I wonder who'll be next through the revolving door of unreal expectation?
Probably too early to get Gerrard back, which means either going for one of the many failed English managers available or going foreign.
I guess Jurgen Klopp will be top of the list?
Dortmund had a poor season under Klopp last season, but up until today they were flying without him in the German league.
Maybe Big Fat Sam, he should keep them up :)

Sack Race

So Dick Advocaat walks before he was pushed, who will be the first Premier manager to get the bullet?
Obvious candidates are McClaren, Sherwood, Mourinho and Rodgers.
I think Steve McClaren will be given till Christmas although it seems the players don't want to play for him.
Sherwood hasn't really improved Villa, reaching the Cup Final probably bought him some time but I reckon his days are numbered.
Mourinho seems to be bored with Chelsea and is probably trying to engineer a move out of the door? the mainstays of the Chelsea team have either gone or got too old and most of his signings just haven't worked.
Brendan Rodgers still seems out of his depth at Liverpool, I'm sure he would be brilliant at a smaller club with less expectation but most Liverpool fans still believe they are a top 4 side?

Probably doesn't help Chelsea that they have to play a disabled player at the back?

Finally

It's no lie to say I've been waiting for this result since the first time I ever said West Ham were my team at 4 years old, I'm an old git now and was wondering if it would happen in my lifetime?
Today is the day, fucking awesome :)

The Good Old Days

Just found this on You Tube, a compilation of full episodes of ITV's the Big Match and BBC's Match of the Day from nearly 30 years ago.
Back in the days when I was a regular on the terraces, so good memories :)

The Big Match features Chelsea v West Ham from Stamford Bridge back in the days when Chelsea couldn't afford grass and had to supplement their income from the half empty ground by using the ends as a car park and storage area for building supplies.
A good game with West Ham having Paul Hilton in defence (a defender we signed from a team we put 10 goals past in the cup?), Chelsea had left Hazard on the bench.
The other game is Everton v Newcastle with Sky's Martin Tyler commentating.

Match of the Day from the next week features 2 Manc v Scouse games first Man Utd v Everton again, followed by Liverpool v Man City.
Also the 2nd Division game Brighton v Portsmouth.
They also have Cricket with England getting hammered by the West Indies.

FA Cup 2015

I suppose we should be careful what we wish for?
It's been great having all the giant killings but the danger is you get left with a whole bunch of teams you wouldn't even bother watching on telly for free :(
The draw for the quarter finals hasn't helped as the only game I planned to watch was the United v Arsenal game, although I did catch the second half of Villa v Baggies which wasn't too bad.
It's a shame Liverpool weren't away to one of the lower teams as they should have enough to beat Blackburn at Anfield which draw permitting we will end up with Liverpool v Utd or Arsenal in the final in May ... yawn.

You have to wonder about Villa fans?
Team leading 2-0 cruising into the semi's and they invade the pitch risking an abandonment or possible expulsion from the tournament if something serious had happened.
I know wins and goals have been a rarity at Villa park but surely they should keep it under control a bit?

Liverpool v Hammers

That was a sickener,
I had built my hopes up and thought we had a chance before the game, even though we were missing a load of players through injury, no Tomkins, Sakho, Jenkinson or Kouyate.
Liverpool had left out Gerrard, and Sturridge was only on the bench.
Great to see Liverpool's other star turn Clattenburg wasn't in the middle :)
But come kick off every Hammers fan must have wondered why Noble was on the bench and Downing was stuck out on the wing, just so the anonymous Nolan could be on the pitch (I won't say play because I'm not sure he actually touched the ball).
The game itself was a bore, Coutinho and Sterling were the star turns everyone else was just average.
Sturridge will get the headlines after scoring on his comeback but the rest was a disappointment.
West ham lost another 3 players to injury Collins, Carroll and Reid and had a perfectly good goal disallowed at the end but really didn't deserve anything :(

Headlines

I've been clearing out my e-mails from work due to my imminent redundancy :(
I get the feed from BBC Football, and these are the only ones I have bothered saving because I liked the headlines :)

Well Mourinho is always good for a quote :)

Lucky Luis

Chomping At The Bit

I'm starting to like Luis Suarez? yes he's a diving, cheating, racist, horse faced cannibal but his actions give us all a chance to take the piss, and have a go at the untouchable scouses in the process.

Here's the best I've seen of this weeks :)

Say what you like about Luis Suarez but you can't question the lad's hunger, He's shown he still has a great appetite for the game

Liverpool accept £35m bid for Suarez from Borussia Munchonacentreback

Luis Suarez putting the eat into cheat

Liverpool have confirmed they will warm up for their next game in McDonalds uniforms to show support for Luis Suarez

Steven Gerrard says he feels a bit guilty for saying to Luis Suarez in the tunnel "Watch that Ivanovic he's a bit tasty"

It's a good job Luis Suarez didn't play in the Premier League 10 years ago for his own sake.He might of ended up with a mouthful of Seaman

If you'd have offered Luis Suarez a point before that game he'd have bitten your arm off

He cheats, he dives, he'll eat your arms and thighs

Luis Suarez will miss the rest of the season with a ban imposed by the FA, Branislav Ivanovic will miss the rest of the season with rabies

Luis Suarez Great footballer, but sometimes he really makes a meal of things

Luis Suarez has revealed that sinking his teeth into Ivanovic is an affectionate term for mate back home

He was only getting revenge on the Eastern Europeans for making his friends and family into value beef burgers

  What's Luis Suarez's favourite day of the week?
  Chewsday.

  Luis Suarez hopes to play against Bayern Munich one day,
  because he would like to try a shoulder of Lahm.

Easy Target

Torres and Chelsea are just too easy to poke fun at so let's piss off some scousers instead :)

 When Brendan Rodgers said he thought Liverpool could finish second I didn't realise he meant in every game.

Don't worry Liverpool fans, I'm sure that when Brendan Rodgers gets the sack Rafa will be available again.


Stewart Downing has said that he has been told by Liverpool that he can leave the club if he wants to, surely a more suitable punishment for his bad form is to let him stay.

Things are finally looking up for Liverpool, a new TV deal has left Brendan Rogers with money to spend in January, live games will now be shown on Comedy Central.

The Scouse Derby

Brenda Rogers says Liverpool haven't had any luck with referees this season "We haven't got anything this year, I have got to be honest that is incredible".
David Moyes cleverly reacted by saying "Divers will turn fans away" :)

Speaking as a footy fan for over 40 years I would say Liverpool have had more dodgy decisions go their way than any team I can think of, and Everton seem to have been shafted by officials more than most.
Hopefully the ref won't be swayed by the comments and will ref fairly, but I have my doubts.

England v Ukraine

Game 2 kicks off in a few hours as England hope to build on last weeks great start.
Terry and Walcott are injured and have been replaced by Livermore, Lallana and Sterling.
Adam Lallana was a bit of a surprise but the other two proved the old adage that if you're English and play for Liverpool or Tottenham you will play for England.
That said Raheem Sterling does look like he has the makings of a star, he looked the biz last year when he scored 5 goals against my local club Southend in the Youth cup.


Not yet 18 he has 2 kids, plays in the Premier league and has an England call up. Could be a great story or a tragic one, we shall find out soon?

Europa League Draw

Group A - Liverpool, Udinese, Young Boys, Anzhi Makhachkala
Group B - Athletico Madrid, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Plzen, Académica
Group C - Marseille, Fenerbahce, Borussia Monchengladbach, AEL Limassol
Group D - Newcastle, Bordeaux, Club Bruges, Maritimo
Group E - VFB Stuttgart, FC Copenhagen, Steaua Bucharest, Molde
Group F - PSV Eindhoven, Napoli, Dnipro, AIK Solna
Group G - Sporting Lisbon, FC Basel, Genk, Videoton Fehervar
Group H - Inter Milan, Rubin Kazan, Partizan Belgrade, Neftchi
Group I - Lyon, Athletic Bilbao, Sparta Prague, Hapoel Kiryat Shmona
Group J - Tottenham, Panathinaikos, Lazio, NK Maribor
Group K - Bayer Leverkusen, Metalist Kharkiv, Rosenborg, Rapid Vienna
Group L - FC Twente, Hannover 96, Levante, Helsingborgs

Season 2012/13

Less than 2 hours to go till another Premier league season kicks off :)
The title race should be between the big 3 of Man City, Man United and Chelsea with Van Persie's transfer probably meaning Arsenal drop into the second group chasing the 4th place with Tottenham, Everton and maybe Newcastle.
AVB has the chance to show what all the fuss was about when he went to Chelsea last season, although he will probably have to do it without Modric, but the money will come in useful.
If Liverpool have the quality and can embrace the Rogers way they could have a decent season, but if they lose a couple he could be under pressure from the unrealistic ambitions of their fans and owners.

At the bottom it's a complete lottery, the poll currently has Wigan and Reading for the drop but I'm not so sure? Brian McDermott is a very likeable manager who will get the best out of a good Reading team and Martinez's Wigan looked very good at the end of last season.
Chris Hughton is a really good manager and might keep Norwich from suffering "2nd season syndrome", Brian Laudrup is highly rated and could lessen the blow of Brenda Rogers departure.
Martin Jol of Fulham has signed a few good players which might lessen the blow of probably losing their star player Dempsey.
Stoke should have a better season without having the European games which cost them last year.
I think West Brom could struggle without Roy Hodgson and I really don't rate Steve Clarke, QPR despite a number of good signings still don't have a settled team and I reckon they will have another season of fighting for their lives.
I really hate to say that the Hammers will be fighting relegation but unless we take advantage of the reasonably easy start to the season and manage to pick up at least 2-3 quality players before the end of the transfer window it could be a tough season.
Looking at this years teams any 3 of around 12 could be in the relegation places at the end of the season?

My predictions for the season -
1st Man Utd,  2nd Man City, 3rd  Chelsea, 4th Arsenal
Relegated - West Brom, QPR, Southampton