Which Club Is Going To Win The Premiership This Season?

[Sam_UK]

DAMN IT!!! well guess it was a good game for a neutral lol we dont need any extra games man, and now more injuries not good.

well least we didnt loose, and plus the replay is back at home so we should do ok. We've been gettin results away from home lately even though we havent been playing very well so im quite pleased with that.

 

[greaves]

Well Jacobim, Boro have won all the previous replays... And they played well last night against a full-strength - except for Scholes - ManU.

Southgate said the penalty decision was "honest". It was. But it was also wrong. Handball in the area has got to be intentional according to the rules of the game. Boateng's handball was in no way intended.

Not only that: the ref has also to consider if Boateng's reactions denied Utd a goal scoring opportunity. Quite obviously they didn't.

Somewhere on this site: http://footballreferee.org/ is the proud boast that the referee's role has changed little in 140 years!!! Mind you, the site seems to have been written by a 16 year old nerd who has yet to experiance the reality and joys of puberty.

 

[greaves]

What a game at Stamford Bridge this afternoon. One of the great FACup
matches.

Morinhno and the Chelsea supporters greeted the 3-3 result as if they had won the FACup. Why? Because Spurs should have won.

But Spurs only have themselves to blame. Or rather their manager. Jol substituted the best 2 Spurs' players - Berbatov and Lennon - and by doing so allowed Chelsea back into the game. Mido - one of the substitutes - was rubbish. Don't think he will be playing for Spurs again.

Interesting that Jol, unlike Morinhno, has not, so far, given a post-match interview.

OK, we take Chelsea back to WHL on 19/03. But Makelele and Terry will be back for that game.

 

[Jeimuzu]

Well Jacobim, Boro have won all the previous replays... And they played well last night against a full-strength - except for Scholes - ManU.

Southgate said the penalty decision was "honest". It was. But it was also wrong. Handball in the area has got to be intentional according to the rules of the game. Boateng's handball was in no way intended.

Not only that: the ref has also to consider if Boateng's reactions denied Utd a goal scoring opportunity. Quite obviously they didn't.

Somewhere on this site: http://footballreferee.org/ is the proud boast that the referee's role has changed little in 140 years!!! Mind you, the site seems to have been written by a 16 year old nerd who has yet to experiance the reality and joys of puberty.

My brother and my dad both thought it was a penalty, which I just can't make sense of. No argument whatsoever from them... I mean, if it didn't hit his hand, it'd have hit his face, and there'd have been no difference. It gained us no advantage, besides our man having a less painful face...

Well, we have, but against Hull, Bristol City, and WBA. Not quite the same teams... and the replay is at OT, too... the only real aid we have is the fact that Man Utd are having serious injury troubles, and a lot of games - meaning that Sir Alex may have to rest players, and play some reserves/kids. With any luck, we'll put in a decent performance, and beat them out. Van Der Sar might still be injured, Saha, Solskjaer, et al. That's what I'm hoping.

Hey, y'know Scholes has a domestic suspension? Does that last long enough to put him out of the replay?

Maybe in the replay, Boro will unleash Yak and Vid, and hopefully Downing will be on form. They only really snapped at goal, especially Viduka. If those three are on form... just remember what we did to Bolton.
Three of the most effective players in the premiership on their day, definitely.

As for the Chelsea-Spurs game...
Sounds like bad planning by Jol. Never sit back, and especially not against Chelsea. They really can punish it. When you're winning against reigning champions, leave the team as it is. It's working, it's settled into the routine, and frankly these people are professional athletes - they can't be that tired.

 

[Sam_UK]

Defoe was the best player on the pitch by far imo, and if only he scored near the end so unlucky to hit the crossbar, what a goal that wud have been.

So Blackburn and Watford are the two teams that go through, with Boro/Utd and Chelsea/Spurs to replay. The Semi-final draw is gna be made tommorow at 1:30. Hopefully if we beat Boro we get a home tie.

yea it does Jacob, hes got 2 more games to go, so that means he will miss the Bolton(prem) and Boro(FA Replay) games. To be fair, im kinda glad he does, so that he gets some rest an will be fresh when he does come back.

In the space of a week or so we had about 5players injured:
- Solskjaer had a small operation on his knee,
- Saha pulled his hamstring, both were thought to be out for a month but should be back in a few weeks.
- Fletcher is out til the end of the month aswell.
- Silvestre is out for abit longer as hes dislocated his shoulder
- Van Der Sar is also out with a calf injury, although we dont know how long he will be out for yet.

So thats 5 players, Larrson has now gone back to Sweden after his loan spell, and Scholes is still missing for 2 games, so it is abit nervy at the mo. Thankfully there is the International break after the fa cup replay for jus under 2 weeks, so that gives enough time to get players back fit.

 

[Sam_UK]

FA Cup Semi-final draw results:

Blackburn v Chelsea/Tottenham Hotspurs
Watford v Middlesborough/Manchester United

Ties to be played weekend of 14th/15th April

 

[greaves]

The semi-finals of the FACup are always played at neutral venues, which poses a problem for the FA.

Whatever the results of the quarter-final replays are, the subsequent semis will be south v north affairs. Aston Villa is always the chosen venue in these circumstances, so Villa Park could be chosen to stage both games on consecutive days. But that's an unlikely scenario.

I suspect, even as I type this, The FA are thinking about staging both semi-final games at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff.

 

[Jeimuzu]

I suspect, even as I type this, The FA are thinking about staging both semi-final games at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff.

I would like that. The stadium is way better than the old Wembley... I've been there once, I love it! (I went to Wembley twice) I don't even think Wembley was all that necessary, but I guess it boosts our bid for the World Cup, and such things.

The Millenium Stadium... well, I'd still use it, Wembley or no. It certainly would make a cracking neutral venue.

 

[Sam_UK]

Heres the Prem fixtures for 2mrw:

12:45 Man Utd v Bolton
15:00 Chelsea v Sheff Utd
15:00 Middlesbro v Man City
15:00 Reading v Portsmouth
15:00 Tottenham v Watford
15:00 Wigan v Fulham
17:15 Blackburn v West Ham

Any predictions?

At the top of the table, Man U shud beat Bolton, Chelsea know they need to win an will do so comfortably. At the bottom, Watford and West Ham both have difficult away games at Tottenham and Blackburn respectivley, although i think the home teams in both games will win.

 

[greaves]

Sam: 4 of these sides have FACup quarter-final replays on Monday, so it's gonna be interesting to see what players they use today. All 4 today are at home to teams they would, on present form, be expected the beat.

ManUtd and Chelsea have the depth in their squads to deal with this fixture congestion. But Spurs and 'Boro do not. And they play Watford and ManCity respectively, both of whom are desperate for points to ensure their Premiership survival.

Anyway, an exciting afternoon ahead...

 

[Jeimuzu]

Oh dear lord that was horrific.

I don't ever in my life want to watch a game quite that horrendous again.

 

[Sam_UK]

an heres the results:

12:45 Man Utd 4 - 1 Bolton
15:00 Chelsea 3 - 0 Sheff Utd
15:00 Middlesboro 0 - 2 Man City
15:00 Reading 0 - 0 Portsmouth
15:00 Tottenham 3 - 1 Watford
15:00 Wigan 0 - 0 Fulham
17:15 Blackburn 1 - 2 West Ham

well i guess 3 out of 4 aint too bad, wot a suprise with West Ham eh, although i dont think they desereved to win coz both goals were from incorrect decisions in my book but hey im not the referee.

I really did not see Man City beating Boro at the Riverside of all places, although i still think West Ham have made the biggest upset of the day.

 

[olides74]

And to think I woke up early sat morning as they were actually showing the reading-pompey game live here and all they gave was a damn boring game. There actually didn't seem to be too much excitement this weekend with three 0-0 games - a couple surprising results (sorry jacobim about boro) and one bit of controversy (west ham's second goal was a travesty).

But I'm glad that at least Charlton and West Ham have a heartbeat left - if one of them can catch Sheffield united and put them back in the championship i'll be a very happy man.

 

[Sam_UK]

YEAAAAAAAAAA Man U won 1-0 hehehe

so were through to the next round to face Watford at Villa Park.
Chelsea beat Tottenham 2-1 so that means they're through to face Blackburn, i dont know where that game is going to be held though.

this means that the Man U v Chelsea premiership game will have to be rescheduled to a later date. this will defo be effecting the title race.

 

[Sam_UK]

oh, just found out that the Blackburn v Chelsea semi final fa cup game will be held at Old Trafford on the 15th.

Man Utd will play Watford on the 14th at Villa Park

 

[greaves]

The Chelsea v ManUtd game has - according the Chelsea website - been re-scheduled for May 9th, which is lucky for Utd, as the Premiership could have been won by then.

As to last night's FACup games I have only two observations:

(1) Cristiano Ronaldo is talented, but he's still a cheat.

(2) Carvalho should have got a red card for his foul on Berbatov, which led to the Spurs' penalty. It was a clear goal-scoring opportunity, and the rules state a red card should be shown to the offending player. The referee did not even show Carvalho a yellow card!

Not surprising that the two most hated clubs in the Premiership are ManUtd and Chelsea. They might attract support from ignorant fans abroad - and in the UK - but real football supporters despise them. And quite rightly.

 

[Jeimuzu]

The Chelsea v ManUtd game has - according the Chelsea website - been re-scheduled for May 9th, which is lucky for Utd, as the Premiership could have been won by then.

As to last night's FACup games I have only two observations:

(1) Cristiano Ronaldo is talented, but he's still a cheat.

(2) Carvalho should have got a red card for his foul on Berbatov, which led to the Spurs' penalty. It was a clear goal-scoring opportunity, and the rules state a red card should be shown to the offending player. The referee did not even show Carvalho a yellow card!

Not surprising that the two most hated clubs in the Premiership are ManUtd and Chelsea. They might attract support from ignorant fans abroad - and in the UK - but real football supporters despise them. And quite rightly.

I'm not going to say that real fans despise them - I think frankly, it's very easy to despise a team you don't support. Both of them are easy to dislike because a lot of decisions seem to go their way. What I don't understand is why again and again, the known divers get awarded penalties?? Surely, if it's Ronaldo going down in the box you'd at least ask your damn linesman!

However, I still have to say that Ronaldo's talent is wasted on him. An arrogant, prissy cheat.

 

[Sam_UK]

Not surprising that the two most hated clubs in the Premiership are ManUtd and Chelsea. They might attract support from ignorant fans abroad - and in the UK - but real football supporters despise them. And quite rightly.

So by that statement greaves, ur saying that im "ignorant" and not a "real" football supporter?

well i dont understand how i cannot be a "real" football supporter just because i support Man Utd.

Heres a quote from the Man Utd v Boro match report from the SkySports website:

"The decisive moment of the match came on 75 minutes and somewhat surprisingly United were handed the initiative by a poor decision from Woodgate.

The defender found himself the wrong side of Ronaldo and in an attempt to rectify his initial mistake committed a rash tackle which resulted in a penalty for the home side."

Thats an independent person saying what happened, they have no reason to hide the fact that Ronaldo dived, if ofcourse he did that is. So as u can see, it was Woodgate who made a mistake and gave away a penalty.

But here we have it again, Ronaldo is fouled in the box and awarded a penalty but ur not bothered if it was a foul or not, just that it was on Ronaldo. why is it that when its that one player that the media and other clubs supporters seem to brand him a cheat and make a huge fuss about it. yet the same response isnt given when other players from other clubs "cheat" and dive week in week out.

i didnt see anyone say anything or make a big deal about West Ham beating Blackburn, Tevez cleary slipped himself and was not fouled yet was awarded a penalty, and then Tevez himself cleared his team mates shot of the line, an yet the goal was allowed to stand. my point is no1 made a big deal about that, calling West Ham or Tevez a cheat, they just got on with it, its part of the game, after the 90min whistle u cant do anything about the result.

Unfortunately its all part of the game these days, it happens we all know it happens and i for one hope that the governing bodies will do something about tryin 2 remove it from the game.

so greaves, do u still think im and "ignorant" supporter? and in your opinion, what would u consider a "real" football supporter to be?

 

[Sam_UK]

And wot exactly would be the reason to hate Man Utd? i really dont understand it, i mean of all things "real" football fans should be respecting us for wot we've done this season, its not like we spent aload of money on buying players, we bought one player, Michael Carrick and actually sold one of the best strikers in the world, Van Nistelrooy, and look where we are, top of the premiership with a 6pt gap between us and chelsea, semi-final of the fa cup with a good chance to go to the final, and quater-finals of the Champions League. The football we've played this season has been amazing, we've come a long way from where we were in the past few seasons, and i think we deserve to be where we are.

it seems to me that people hate Man Utd, just because they are Man Utd, and dont necessarily have a valid reason for it. Those are the people who know nothing about football and are ignorant in my book.

Sorry, rant over lol

 

[olides74]

it seems to me that people hate Man Utd, just because they are Man Utd, and dont necessarily have a valid reason for it. Those are the people who know nothing about football and are ignorant in my book.

Wary to wade into the "hated" team argument, but what the hell...

Maybe I come from a different perspective as someone who has only this season watched the premiership, started out non-biased of every team save Reading, and also little influenced by the UK punidts or press.

Given that, I see a big difference between Man United and Chelsea. Basically, I really respect Manchester United, and loathe Chelsea. Here's why:

United coach - calm, respectful, humble
Chelsea coach - whining, disrespectful, full of himself "the special one" (some of my opinion has to do with the Petr Cech situation at Reading, but really the guy is an self-absorbed asshole)

United players - focused, pretty clean, just play the game
Chelsea players - whiners and divers with a belief they are entitled to any referee decision (except for Drogba)

United team - a team
Chelsea team - a bunch of individuals

Now you can argue any of these points, and you guys in the UK have a lot more awareness of the teams and their histories, but it's how I see it.