The midweek/weekend games thread

[Jordinho]

It's the same as two years ago:

We'll never make top 4
We'll won't get through the qualifiers
We'll never make it out of our group
etc.

 

[The Moonlit Knight]

Even if Chelsea lose we can still be knocked out in the play-off round

And if we get through the play-off round we can still be knocked out at the group stage. If we get through the group stage we can still be knocked out before the final and even if we reach the final we may well lose it anyway! fudge it, may as well not enter.

 

[Klinsmania]

Pardew certainly deserves it on the basis of this season. It will be interesting to see how Saudi Sportswashing Machine do next season now that expectations are higher.

 

[ArcspacE]

And if we get through the play-off round we can still be knocked out at the group stage. If we get through the group stage we can still be knocked out before the final and even if we reach the final we may well lose it anyway! fudge it, may as well not enter.

Thanks for that insightful analysis but the comment was related to the significant financial income which only begins from the groups stages

 

[chancer]

so scraping the league with the most talented and expensive squad makes you the best performing manager of the season ?

Well, yes. You still need to do it. You still need to train the team properly and put them out with a solid shape. You still need to control the ego's and things like the Tevez situation and Mad Mario. Mancini did them all, and out mind-gamed SAF in the final weeks. I think he kept his head quite brilliantly Mancini.

I think Mancini, Redknapp, Rodgers, Lambert, Moyes and maybe even Jol and Woy all did at least as good a job as Pardew, who benefitted from the hottest of hot streaks from two of his strikers and really had a dream run which his team bottled at the end pretty badly.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Is it just me or does Roberto Di Matteo have the sort of face you wanna punch?

 

[Cotswold]

Luiz and Cahill training again, which is a disappointment.
I don't think they'll miss Terry - he's been brick recently.

We just have to hope the Germans score first. Chelsea score first, crowd get on the back of the Bayern players, not good.

 

[DanishWhite]

If we get to the qualification stages, we'll be seeded.

Just like we beat YB's, any team we are likely to meet will be from that bracket.

 

[Jordinho]

If we get to the qualification stages, we'll be seeded.

Just like we beat YB's, any team we are likely to meet will be from that bracket.

Four of those teams already confirmed as Lille, Udinese, Borussia M?Ânchengladbach and Malaga. None of them with much experience from Europe, therefore low coefficients.

 

[tommysvr]

Is it just me or does Roberto Di Matteo have the sort of face you wanna punch?

Definitely not just you. I say this a lot. He just always looks smug.

 

[southstand1882]

[h=1]Sam Allardyce to sue Blackburn manager Steve Kean over YouTube video slur[/h][h=2]Exclusive: Sam Allardyce is suing Steve Kean and considering the prospect of taking legal action against Blackburn after the Rovers manager's astonishing attack on YouTube, Telegraph Sport can reveal.[/h]
Allardyce, the current West Ham United manager, has instructed his lawyers to initiate proceedings against Kean, his successor at Ewood Park, following allegations that have created an internet storm.

Allardyce is furious about the inflammatory remarks made by Kean doubting his integrity, his operating methods and ability as a manager, that were filmed by Blackburn fans during the club's pre-season tour of the Far East last summer.

He is also ready to sue his former club in a move that will only increase the pressure on both Kean and the Indian owners, Venky's.

Kean was set to meet his bosses for talks in Pune today, following Blackburn's relegation from the Premier League.

Allardyce was controversially dismissed at Ewood Park in Dec 2010 and is determined to take the matter to court.

Talks were held with his solicitors on Tuesday lunchtime after several viewings of the footage on YouTube.
Kean could be in further hot water with the game's authorities after his four-minute rant in a Hong Kong bar.
He has maintained that his position is safe with Venky's but this latest episode will only increase the pressure on his shoulders.

 

[JellySpur]

Wow... How can Allardyce sue because of that, it's not like Kean said it on public television or wrote an article about it on one of the tabloids. Poor old Steve Kean, he's like ol' Gil from the Simpsons (before it went downhill). Although, it seems likely that Kean had a part to play in Allardyce's sacking.

 

[southstand1882]

I guess its because millions of people have been told that Allardyce is a crook

 

[JellySpur]

I guess its because millions of people have been told that Allardyce is a crook

However, Kean wasn't responsible for the mass production of the video and I'm sure you tube would take the video down if asked and Allardyce could just refute the claims, the media have always been on his side anyway.

 

[Spursalot]

Oh, well, that is an absolute joke.

There has to be a compelling reason not to give these awards to the title-winning manager. There is no such compelling reason this season, and most certainly not in the shape of Pardew.

Mancini is manager of the season, and it seems graceless not to give it to him. Do not like.

Because having Unlimited funds makes the premiership really really difficult now, doesn't it?

 

[JellySpur]

Well, yes. You still need to do it. You still need to train the team properly and put them out with a solid shape. You still need to control the ego's and things like the Tevez situation and Mad Mario. Mancini did them all, and out mind-gamed SAF in the final weeks. I think he kept his head quite brilliantly Mancini.

I think Mancini, Redknapp, Rodgers, Lambert, Moyes and maybe even Jol and Woy all did at least as good a job as Pardew, who benefitted from the hottest of hot streaks from two of his strikers and really had a dream run which his team bottled at the end pretty badly.

I'm sorry but, I don't think he handled either situation well at all, he engaged in a very public slanging match with Tevez over the incident which SAF would not have done, the lack of discipline that Mancini has failed to implement within the squad is shown by that event and also numerous fights on the training fields that we've seen i.e toure and richards. Which shows his failure to control his players and he made far too many concessions to Balotelli which lead to a fall out between them and once again Mancini brought the feuds public, Which is unprofessional for me.

 

[chancer]

I'm sorry but, I don't think he handled either situation well at all, he engaged in a very public slanging match with Tevez over the incident which SAF would not have done, the lack of discipline that Mancini has failed to implement within the squad is shown by that event and also numerous fights on the training fields that we've seen i.e toure and richards. Which shows his failure to control his players and he made far too many concessions to Balotelli which lead to a fall out between them and once again Mancini brought the feuds public, Which is unprofessional for me.

I do see your point, but the other way of looking at it is that Mancini told Tevez to fudge right off rather than accepting poor behaviour (which put principle before profit) and in handling Mario, he eventually got a few really important goals out of him. And meanwhile, he did all that without upsetting the general harmony of the squad which in the end held together pretty well.

 

[Enter the Pitbull]

Emirates Marketing Project midfielder Samir Nasri has mocked Arsenal fans, after seeing the north London side finish third in the Premier League as his new club won the title.

GettyImagesSamir Nasri celebrates claiming the Premier League title last weekend


Nasri departed the Gunners for the Etihad Stadium at the start of the season in a multi-million pound deal that led many Arsenal fans to accuse the Frenchman of leaving for the money.
Nasri has now hit back at those same critics - goading Arsenal fans that he is celebrating winning the title while they are left to mull over another trophyless campaign.
"People at Arsenal tried to make out that I came here for the money," Nasri said. "I hope they are watching me now, collecting my Premier League winner's medal. I believe they have not won a trophy for many years now.
"I made the hard choice to come and fight for my place at a big club, where they never settle for second best, and I have proved it correct.
"I now hope the Arsenal fans can get on with their lives and forget me, they should celebrate their third-place achievement and I will focus on winning titles."
Nasri also suggested that some players at Arsenal are not giving their all to the cause, but are happy to take their wages and settle for third place in the table.
"If all that I was interested in was money, the easiest decision would have been to stay at Arsenal, picking up my money every week and walking into the team," he said.
"There are many people doing this right now at Arsenal."

 

[Jurgen the German]

Emirates Marketing Project midfielder Samir Nasri has mocked Arsenal fans, after seeing the north London side finish third in the Premier League as his new club won the title.

GettyImagesSamir Nasri celebrates claiming the Premier League title last weekend


Nasri departed the Gunners for the Etihad Stadium at the start of the season in a multi-million pound deal that led many Arsenal fans to accuse the Frenchman of leaving for the money.
Nasri has now hit back at those same critics - goading Arsenal fans that he is celebrating winning the title while they are left to mull over another trophyless campaign.
"People at Arsenal tried to make out that I came here for the money," Nasri said. "I hope they are watching me now, collecting my Premier League winner's medal. I believe they have not won a trophy for many years now.
"I made the hard choice to come and fight for my place at a big club, where they never settle for second best, and I have proved it correct.
"I now hope the Arsenal fans can get on with their lives and forget me, they should celebrate their third-place achievement and I will focus on winning titles."
Nasri also suggested that some players at Arsenal are not giving their all to the cause, but are happy to take their wages and settle for third place in the table.
"If all that I was interested in was money, the easiest decision would have been to stay at Arsenal, picking up my money every week and walking into the team," he said.
"There are many people doing this right now at Arsenal."

Wow! Didn't mince his words did he? Reminds me of some of the things Campbell said after he left Spurs.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Manicni did the bare minimum a squad of that much quality was expected to do, imv - he simply met is objectives

Pardew on the other hand over-achieved considerably ahead of teams such as Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton and Fulham.

Exactly.

The fact that City needed two injury time goals in the last game of the season to win the league over a vastly inferior United squad shows that it's not a great achievement. They have the best squad. They should have won the league by at least 8 or 9 points with the team they have. Plus they crashed out embarassingly in the group stages of the CL.