The Premiership

Mezz · The Premiership

Has anyone else noticed that the pitch at Fratton Park seems to have been built on top of a house?

It's only really visible in either of the penalty boxes, but there's a definite anomoly in the surface in the shape of ridge that runs from left to right all the way along the centre of the field which is noticably higher than the rest of the pitch.

Surely this can't be legal?

diatribe

I think it's more from camera side going down towards the far stand. Other teams have sloped pitches too (though maybe not as much at that level), Welling in the Conference South have a one goal higher than the other.

Typical that as soon as we go down Portsmouth go and put a roof on the away stand. I've been there 3 times and we've won 3 times though, so can't complain too much

Mezz

This thread has dropped quicker than Paris Hilton's kecks in front of a camcorder.

Does anyone really give a shite about the Premiership anymore?

Mezz

I'm guessing the answer to the above is "No", but in an attempt to light the fuse...

Who should the next England manager be?

Personally, I would be very interested to see Capello take charge.

He could come in to the job without having any ties to an English team and therefore have an objective view of who the best English players really are rather than picking mainstay deadwood or players he managed at club level.

Also, Capello plays for results as his numerous titles points towards. We all want to be entertained when watching a game, but surely the time has come for England supporters to be assured of a solid three points and potential glory rather than high scoring epics where they lose to teams they should beating and demolish the 123rd best team in the world according to FIFA?

Liam

Capello would be the perfect choice. Fans will moan about his defensive football, but he gets results, and the reality is that this present England side isn't going to win by playing nice football, as it isn't good enough. Capello will utilise the defensive strength of the side (apart from the goalkeeper), and will get more out of the players than McClaren was capable of. He's by far the best option, well apart from Alan Shearer of course.

Dave

Gabriel Marcotti suggests that Capello isn't normally the sort of person to say 'please, giz a job', and suspects that the FA intend to engage his services in some form, either as manager or the experienced eminence gise for a younger coach (Coppell?).

If Capello really wants the job, then why not? Given a choice of Capello or 'Appy 'Arry Redknapp - you can guarantee that if he's appointed, he'll promptly lose his libel action against the BBC, even if all the evidence shows that the Panorama team made the entire thing up after a particularly heavy session in the Slug and Newsreader - I think Don Fabio would win. To be frank, if England start winning with dull, defensively oriented football, would England fans really care? And on top of that, the ITV punditry team would be thrown into a quandry (assuming they know what one of those is) as to what to say when Italian teams played.

'Dull and boring these, Italians. Play just like our wonderful England tea... Doh!'

Jay

Dave

Based on today's performances, Allardyce may have been wrong to rule himself out; he could be looking for a job shortly.

My only fear is that the FA will assume that as he was able to outwit Siralex, they should now go for Gary Megson....

While the short bits of Radio 5 I've heard obvioulsy aren't representative, there would seem to be quite a few people out there who've phoned in to suggest that as a manager who
(a) has even less tolerance for players with large egos that Sir Alex
(b) a record of winning things
(c) some idea of how to get players utilising something other than 4-4-2
(d) frankly doesn't give a hoot what the press think of him

is not only available but has said he'd like the job, the FA should get him.

ForzaFiori

Don't suppose Capello wants the Scotland job??? As Big Eck has buggered off to Brum.

Dave

Unhappy 'Arry

Harry Redknapp has been arrested as part of the ongoing investigations into football corruption, according to Portsmouth FC.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7116823.stm

I suppose I ought to put my admin's sensible trousers on and remind posters that 'Arry is innocent until proven guilty and hasn't even been charged - so we'll have to remove any references along the lines of 'I know a bloke down the pub who knows someone who saw 'Arry being given a large bung in the form of a lorryload of Frosties at the Watford Gap services' to protect Myles' bank account...

Edit - and the same applies to any references to Milan Mandric, Amdy Faye who have also been named as amongst those chatting to Inspector Knacker

Myles

My bank account is always empty anyway, so you can say what you like!

Mezz

You cheap c**t.

Myles

It's not because i'm cheap, it's down to splashing the cash, drinks are on me!, except for Mezz, you can buy your own

Bracey

Community service for 'Arry. His plea bargain is that he will accept a two-year contract as England manager.

Mezz

I've now seen Everton's Andy Johnson, Wigan's Marcus Bent and a few other Premiership players do the action that Titus Bramble is doing in this picture after scoring a goal:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7163897.stm

What the fook's it all about?

Dave

They're demonstrating their pride at being part of 'The Footballers' Education Programme: The Alphabet' programme. A 26 week course which most of them manage to pass... Bramble has completed week 1 with flying colours.

Now if some bu&&er could teach him to defend, and that 'roasting' is something you do to a joint of beef....

Moot point thanks to Titus, but is 'Liverpool's Title Hopes' a legitimate entry for Totodeath?

Mezz

Um... that's not true, is it Dave?

Tuten K

http://www.astar-global.com/

answers!

Dave

Tuten K

Giovanni Lavafiume

He's a scream in real life.

Dave

More accurately, in real life, I make any poor s*d who has to listen to me for more than 5 minutes scream.

Gio's too polite to say, but my sense of humour is currently banned under the European Convention for Human Rights...

Mezz

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/f...ms/n/newcastle_united/7179847.stm

Once again the Newcastle fan's belief that the world owes them a trophy has cost a good manager his job.

F**king Geordie-Tubbies.

"Eh-oh, divven't ya kna"

delpiero

tell what intrigues me, the betting patterns on the next manager.

Arry Redknapp was backed into even money at one stage with Alan shearer moving out to almost 42/1 and bigger - then at some stage last night, Shearer was backed into almost 3/1 and arry drifted - it flip flopped a bit, and this morning arry declares himself out of race ?!

all a bit wierd if you ask me....

Mezz

That screaming beached whale Jonathan Pearce mentioned something about the betting pattern and how it should investigated when he was yelping away on Football Focus this afternoon

Yesterday, I was certain that Redknapp would be sipping from the poisoned chalice that is the Newcastle job by lunchtime today and from what I heard him say this afternoon it seemed that he was pretty certain too, up until something behind the scenes changed his mind.

All rather strange.

delpiero

Dodgy as feck Mezz - especially if you look at the volume traded on BF for arry and co. I'm suprised BF haven't suspended their market in some way, as they have done in the past when similar things have taken place.

If you have a look at this:

http://sports.betfair.com/

and check the link on the top left (next NC manager) - have a click on the volume traded on Redknapp. At last check, £4,558,792 by my reading

feel a bit gutted for the people that put tonnes on when the speculation mounted - they have been done

Dave

Wasn't there some unusual betting activity when 'Arry was appointed at Portsmouth?

I notice that getting rid of Allardyce led to an instant improvement in Newcastle's fortunes....

Sir George

You have to be either a special kind of mug or have insider knowledge to bet on such markets. Of course people know who will be manager before he's appointed. If I knew somebody who was going to be appointed to a job and a mug on Betfair offered me odds, I'd jump at it of course. It's the only form of legal insider trading there is.

zeds

That Ronaldo is scarily good.

delpiero

Remembering your shrewd take on gambling on the previous forum, i;m thinking you must be tidying up via BF, George ?

Given the odds on Arry , it seemed value to lay:

1.27 £161,697
1.28 £153,334
1.29 £137,520
1.30 £149,767

This was the kind of money being matched by the guessers - Arry has now drifted to 19/1

Thinking this will go down in BF history along with Kieron Fallons 'alleged' race-chucking and Davydenko's match against Vassallo

delpiero

Slightly premiership related, i found this old link whilst cleaning out old emails (couldnlt help but chuckle):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC54A2PFwqw

Apologies in advance if anyone finds it offensive

Mawang

Newcastle United and their supporters would be scattered haphazardly across the Solar System if it were up to me. Funny how the passionate Geordies - football's a religion up there, Brian, etc etc - produced an average attendance of 16,879 in 1990/91. I assume finishing 11th in the old Division 2 isn't mere coincidence. All of a sudden, when Newcastle played in the top flight in 93/94, having spent four seasons in the division below (in two of which they finished 20th and 11th) their average attendance jumped into the 30,000s for the first time since 76/77.

Giovanni Lavafiume

Hello George. Welcome to the dark side! I presume as no one else turned up I won the Foro Italia Christmas Golf Tournament yet again? BTW me and Ed are on Facebook if you want to join and chat up some pre-teens.

Dave

"He's had 15 minutes and hasn't turned the club around", complain Newcastle supporters...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/f...ms/n/newcastle_united/7192457.stm

So, general consensus is that Newcastle's main problem is an inability to defend, yes? Logic therefore suggests that you appoint.... Kevin Keegan?

Liam

I think Newcastle have taken the opinion that they're going to lose anyway, so they might as well lose playing attacking football, and with the fans a bit happier.

Mezz

That seems to be what the Geordie-Tubbies want: 'We might lose 7-6, but at least we scored 6'.

That particular notion will wear off within about a month and 'King Kev' will do a bunk when the going gets tough, just like he did last time.

Those cocks and that fanny are made for each other...

zeds

What is so funny with this whole 'Keegan is God' business is that even at their peak in the mid 90's the greatest era for the club with 'King Kevin' Newcastle were still ultimately losers.

He's a bit of a basket case with his tendency to leave jobs unfinished for the next poor sod to fix, and of course Newcastle United are the biggest basket in the Premiership sponsored by Northern Rock the biggest basket case in the banking sector...so you see it all fits nicely.

Mezz

Like cocks and fannies.

Curva Fiesole

I expect to see Shearer in the mix somewhere, with Keegan as the guru to eventually handover to Shearer - whether Keegan hangs around long enough must be questionnable.

Sir Bobby would have been a better option IMO to guide Shearer but, as he's in my Totodeath squad, he'll be dead within the year!

GramercyRiffs

Apparently Keegan is going to return Newcastle to the 'glory years'. I'm not exactly sure what that means.

Warren Barton cites the opening of new nightclubs and the development of new housing projects in Newcastle in the mid-nineties as a result of the positive vibe that Keegan brought to the city through football. Stop, please.

In the mid-nineties 'glory years' Newcastle probably had the second or third biggest spending budget (after Man Utd and Liverpool) and Keegan still failed to win an egg-cup. In 2008 the landscape of the English top-flight is very different since their budget is now also eclipsed by both Arsenal and Chelsea.

The only way Newcastle (or any club outside the top four) will challenge for title glory is a huge influx of money from sponsorship / tycoon. A truly sad indictment of top-flight English football.

Mezz

Curva Fiesole

ForzaFiori

The "Messiah" indeed! lol.

Liam

Gavin Peacock says: "The game may have changed in certain ways but the characteristics that make up a winner never do, and he has them in abundance."

I might be missing something here, but since when was Kevin Keegan a winner?

zeds

The Premiership is becoming an utter joke.

There's talk of a £3m fee for some League 1 player from Leeds.
£5m each for Marlon King and James Mcfadden

How dare Wenger et al shop abroad

Mezz

I was with you up until you mocked the (rumoured) £5M fee for McFadden.

He's a player with great technical ability, two good feet and an eye for goal but he needs a run of starts in order to get the best out of him which is something he's never had at Everton.

Give him a full season as a starter for Birmingham and £5M could easily look like an absolute steal.

Dave

Curva Fiesole

He didn't actually win that much at Liverpool, a couple of leagues, an FA Cup and a European Cup - then he fooked off to Hamburg.

His major success at Newcastle last time was to finish second in a two horse race after the most spectacular collapse since Devon Loch.

On this basis, at United we can look forward to Dave Sexton replacing Fergoe when he finally goes.

Dave

3 League titles, 2 UEFA Cups, 1 FA Cup and 1 European Cup in six years isn't bad going, though...

Curva Fiesole

And the handbags with Billy Bremner in 1974.

And falling off his bike on Superstars.

Quite the star really

Sir George

Winning European Football of the Year twice hardly makes him a loser either. And the twaddle about coming second in a two horse race ignores the fact that Keegan got them into the race in the first place. When he took over Newcastle they were on the brink of the 3rd tier. Their rise over the next 4 years was remarkable and achieved without the huge spending people usually assume. The huge fees (on Shearer and lumps like Darren Peacock and Ferdinand) came after he'd already done the hard work of establishing Newcastle as a major European force.

What I like most about Keegan is that he's sufficiently confident in himself to talk utter twaddle in public. Everybody who talks about football talks rubbish, but few are brave enough to talk anything but dismal cliche when you put them on telly. Even people actually paid to talk about football (Shearer, Hansen, Lineker etc) make sure their every utterance is predictable, cliche-ridden and dull, dull, dull.

3 Cheers for the 3rd Coming I say.

Curva Fiesole

Sir George

You're struggling a little with context Curva. To decry Keegan's achievements as a manager on the grounds that "he won nothing" is just a little bit silly. Very common of course, but silly. Had he taken over Man Utd, Real Madrid or Rangers and been manager for 5 years without winning anyhing, the jibe would have meaning, but he took over a club near the foot of the second tier and totally transformed that club by sheer force of his personality. He did it in a unique style and his team played fantastic football. He also played major roles in getting Fulham and Man City into the Premiership.

That Keegan will walk out within a year isn't a "fact" Curva. It's a pointless prediction dressed up as argument. He may walk out and he may not.

Curva Fiesole

As a manager at Fulham and, to a lesser extent, at Man City, Keegan succeded because he met, or in the case of Fulham exceeded, expectations - get them into the Premiership and stay there.

Newcastle is different - they expect to win trophies and getting them into, and staying in, the Premiership isn't enough - if it were then they wouldn't have gone through the number of managers they have in the recent past.

In his biggest two jobs as a manager, at Newcastle and at England, where he is expected to succeed, he failed to deliver and walked.

As a manager with the ability to get teams into the Premiership, then he is a success - it's just that he has never managed to take teams onto that next level and win anything that matters, and I don't believe he ever will.

And the European force you mentioned? When he was manager at Newcastle, the best they managed (pre-Shearer et al) was the second round of the UEFA Cup in 1994!

diatribe

This whole Keegan thing is pissing me off, he should just do the right thing and resign.

The idea of the Geordie soul makes me laugh, and how each and everyone of them pours their hearts into the club they love. 15 years ago they were barely getting 13'000 at home. Ha.

Plus the one time I've been their fans made no noise at all, despite winning 3-1.

Mawang

Batigol

All i can muster on the matter is that Im glad Harry had the common sense to turn down what is a poisoned challis of a job.

Makes me wonder if Keegan was the only person that was actually keen on taking the rains?

saviola

What a completely sh*t game Chelsea v Liverpool is every season. Shame on me for watching it.

Sir George

Well at least the Manchester derby provided marvellous entertainment and restored one's faith in human nature. Congratulations to AIG for the achievement of getting their names on the mascots' shirts as well as replacing the names of the Munich dead on the advertising boards after kick off and also to the Man City fans for taking seriously the threat of 3 year bans for farting during the minute's silence. Most of all congrats to Carlos Quieroz for the excllent comedy moment in blaming Buc's wee wee poor performance on Fabio Capello.

Anyway, it's a good job there isn't a global recession on the way, otherwise I'd be worried about the £42 million interest payment the Bucs have to pay each year......

Mezz

Still bitter about Ridsdale pinning Leeds United to the floor and f**king the very soul out of you, eh George?

Sir George

Yes, extremely bitter actually. My emotional life is very much tied up with the fortunes of my favourite football team.

Giovanni Lavafiume

Leeds Utd's season does seem to be "doing a Wolves" at the moment.

Sir George

I've lost interest a tad to be honest. I was pleased to see Gary McAllister return, but I expect he'll succeed only in steering the team to mid-table before being shown the door.

Van Basten

It looks like fourth place will be Liverpool’s after Everton’s loss to Fulham today. I suppose it was wishful thinking on my behalf to believe that Everton could actually upset the ‘ever increasing’ trend of the ‘big four’ topping the table.

What I find quite refreshing about Serie A is that the top four – come the end of the season – usually doesn’t consist of the same four teams.

saviola

True Van Basten, but Serie A is one big pile of turd at the moment. I can't deny I'm far more hooked on the Premier League, and that hasn't been the case for many years.

Dels

Why is Mascherano "stunned by sending off"? The guy ran 20 yards to confront the ref, being on a yellow already, he should have known better, just because someone who gets paid by Roman's millions can turn his back and act like a spolit child after a henious challenge can go unpunished doesn't mean they can all do it. Don't they know its one rule for one and one for another?

Anyway, totally disappointed at the Arsenal result yesterday, I thought just when they were getting written off as challengers, they would go and show the naysayers, alas its Manure's title to lose now, better them than Chelski though.

Dave

Ah, you see, he'd watched the England captain get away with it on a weekly basis; seen Paul Scholes mouth a variety of two-word phrases ending in 'off' at the ref every time a decision went against him, observed Ashley Cole deliver a possible leg-breaking tackle and then behave like a spoilt 3-year old towards Mike Riley, and thought that he was perfectly safe in joining the club.

Some sources suggest that the FA are contemplating issuing him with a longer ban for showing disrespect to the referee, which would be entirely in keeping with the shut stable door after horse has defecated and departed approach they favour. If they want to make an example, Cole's petulant little display should be given a yellow card, making two reds, while the next time Paul Scholes mouths off at the ref and doesn't pick up a yellow card, the FA should impose one retrospectively.

There's more than enough TV evidence available to illustrate players swearing at referees, and retrospective punishment with a yellow card would soon make a change. However, since Sepp Blatter is likely to find this an unacceptable step in the right direction, it won't happen.

I wonder, by the by, if it had been Rooney or another Man Utd player whether the second yellow would've been issued, or if the card would've been awarded had the game been at Anfield? I wish I could say 'of course it would've been', but...

Michael La Viola

I hope Capello saw John Terry's antics yesterday - after Arsenal put the ball out just inside the Chelsea half because of an injury, Terry gave the ball back to Arsenal....by thumping the ball out for a throw-in deep into the Arsenal half, next to the corner flag, in fact. Prick.

Dave

To be fair, Michael, I think that the incident you describe was more a case of Terry failing miserably to pass it back to the goalkeeper, which does seem to be the norm these days when a side 'sportingly' (or stupidly, depending upon your point of view) puts the ball out in their opponent's half, only for the ball to come whizzing back to the goalie when it's returned.

However, it would appear that Don Fabio has been less than impressed with Terry's antics of late, since the widely expected appointment of 'JT' to the post for the France game hasn't gone quite as Terry seems to have anticipated...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/7312855.stm

Mexico86

Curva Fiesole

Mexico86

Michael La Viola

Mexico86

poochiem

Ya rio thumped the ball away after the ref had the audacity to give a free kick against them (after the mascherano and torres yellows); mind you he plays for england so you can imagine how the ref dealt with him...

Michael La Viola