Liverpool survival kit !

Another one bites the dust!

Gary Megson has become the latest manager to be booted out. Bolton Wanderers were struggling in third position from bottom. It was Megson who had saved Bolton from relegation in 2007, taking over from Sammy Lee. But off late, Megson was jeered by the fans who couldnt take him any longer and wanted him out.
Paul Jewell is said to be the favourite to take over the club , and his presence at Bolton's latest match against Hull has more or less confirmed it. Can Paul Jewell save the club , as he did with Wigan few years ago ? Only time will tell ...

Weekend review : He came, he saw, he conquered, he left !

It was all about Cesc Fabregas !
Arsenal 3-0 Villa , what a result !
The super sub came after 60 minutes , looked charged up from the moment he came on, scored thru a sexy free kick on 65 mins, rounded off a beautiful counter attack few mins later, then left the field injured.
Though the match was cagy in first half, chances slowly started coming Arsenal's way in second half .
The highly tense game exploded when Cesc scored the first goal. Villa who were just defending and waiting for a counter attack till that moment, started coming out in search of goal and got punished again. And in the end, Diaby scored a nice one from outside the box.
Villa, who had previously beaten Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool got undone by Arseanl. Thru this win, Arsenal have a sentout a strong message to whoever doubted, that they are not fighting for the 4th place this season, they are fighting for the title.
In the other matches, most of them went as per my predictions, Chelsea failing to win , again ; Liverpool  and Utd winning their matches.
That was a nice weekend indeed !

Here are the highlights and the goal :

Weekend preview

Here is a quick preview of the upcoming matches this weeked :
Birmingham V Chelsea : I quite fancy Birmingham to atleast nick a point against Chelsea. Birmingham have won 5 and drawn 1 of their last 6 matchesand given Chelsea's poor away form, an upset is not too unlikely.
Fulham V Tottenham : This promises to be an entertaining game with Fulham in excellent home form beating the champions Utd 3-0 and Spurs have to toil hard to earn anything at Craven Cottage.
Liverpool V Wolves : Liverpool should put this one away though being in poor form.
Hull V Man Utd : Though Hull stand an outside chance against the weakened back 4 of Utd, Utd are huge favourites to win this one.
Arsenal V Aston Villa : The biggest game this weekend. Both the teams are in good shape and it promises to be an entertaining one. It is really tough to call this one, it is quite equally poised. Return of Fabregas would make a huge difference.

Finishing off with a quote by Sir Alex :
Told that Mancini is City’s 14th manager in his two-and-a-half decades at Old Trafford, Ferguson said: "14th? Is that all? I will see off 20 Man City bosses !"

Quotes of the year 2009

"Even Jesus Christ wasn't liked by everyone. What hope is there for me?" - We miss Jose Mourinho.

"If I had it in my power to introduce a ban on women driving cars and to withdraw all of their licences, I would do it without thinking twice. In my opinion a woman and a man are two absolutely different creatures" - Arshavin. Not metrosexual.

"My missus would have scored that" - Harry Redknapp puts Sandra's finishing skills above Darren Bent's.

"I'm human at the end of the day, and it is difficult keeping your head down when you're 6ft 7in" - Peter Crouch after THAT night out.

"Sometimes you have a noisy neighbour and have to live with it" - Sir Alex Ferguson has a glance across the road at Manchester City.

"Ferguson is a very complicated man. He's tough. If things are all right, then they are all right. But when he thinks something is wrong, everything is screwed. He can go from complimenting you to just plain trashing you in a matter of minutes. Has it happened to me? Hell, yes! He'll say 'Nani, how could you miss this or this?' He shouts at players in front of everyone. No one escapes, everybody is the same. Giggs and (Gary) Neville suffer most, because they have more experience. It is 'F**k' here and 'F**k' there" - Nani writes his own transfer request.

"He almost caught it and ran into the net with it" - Robbie Keane on Henry's handball.

"They are all probably clapping hands - Michel Platini sitting up there on the phone to Sepp Blatter, probably texting each other, delighted with the result - Keane wasn't finished.

"The replay? I'll do it when you want on a PlayStation" - The wonderful Patrice Evra

"No matter how much you're expecting it, it's still unexpected when it comes" - Jason 'Trigger' McAteer on getting the sack along with John Barnes at Tranmere.

"Some good has come out of it, though. I received a lovely letter which read: "Dear Mick, thank you for taking the pressure off me. I've really had a tough time of late, all the best, Tiger." I've heard he's driving around Florida in an open-top singing: "Super Mick McCarthy."" - Mick Mac himself, on Mick grabbing headlines sidelining Tiger Woods.

"At Middlesbrough the beer used to flow in the dressing-room the moment matches were over. The following day the players were supposed to work on their recovery but instead they'd just have a coffee and then get back on the booze once more. They used to eat Mars bars and chocolates, and when I said something about it they'd fire back, claiming it was to give them energy" - Gaizka Mendieta on life at Middlesbrough.

"I'm going to ask you 'Do you fancy it? Do you like getting kicked? Do you like the fact I am going to be at you for the whole 90 minutes?' As soon as you get the ball I am going to be in your face. You are not going to like it one bit. Are you ready for that because that's what's going to happen. That's what's going to happen..." - Darren Fletcher, no wonder Arsene Wenger didnt like you .

"No one is ever going to be as good as I was" - Paul Gascoigne.

"He was a lion of a man - no, make that three lions" - We leave the last word to Gary Lineker on Sir Bobby Robson.

Sheep in Wolves clothing

Mick McCarthy's choice a few days ago of resting his key players and playing his reserve Wolverhampton team against Manchester United, thus virtually losing the match before it even started, has become a hot topic.
I will try to bring out both sides of the story. Here's Mick's side :
1. Wolves had to play Burnley at the weekend  following their midweek trip to Old Trafford. Mick saw it more important to play his rested and energized best players against fellow relegation strugglers Burnley rather than the champions Man United. His decision was thoroughly justified as Wolverhampton beat Burnley the following week 2-0.
2. This has happened before, Ferguson resting his key players in the final day to keep them fresh for Champions League final last season and a season before that, Liverpool did the same and lost to Fulham , with Fulham virtually saved from relegation by their win against Liverpool.
Here's the other side of the story :
1. By playing a reserve team and gifting 3 points to Utd, Mick has invited the wrath of fellow title contenders Arsenal, chelsea who had to struggle for points against their lower opponents.
2. Wolves have affected  the credibility of the Premier League by deliberately bringing their quality down.
3. Fans were furious , chanting "We want our £42 back !" . What abt the fans who had made a trip to Old Trafford just to see their team give a tough fight to Utd ,though knowing they were least favourites to do so ?
4. What about the players who had the dream of playing against the champions Manchester United, on the big stage, at Old Trafford ?
5. Utd were in poor form, losing previous game to Villa and had a very weak defense. Was it not an opportunity to have a go at them ? Imagine what difference a draw / win against the champions would have made to the confidence and belief of the team ?!

It is not about winning or losing Mick, it is about keeping the honor of Premier League and you have failed your players, fans, and the league. Your team doesnt deserve to be playing here.

Dedicated to the 'glory hunters' !

Remembering Leeds United : The rags-riches-rags story

The rise and fall of Leeds United is nothing short of a Hollywood script. The Once Premier league high fliers are now fighting it out for survival in the third tier of english football.The story of Leeds United from rags to riches and then back to rags reminds us the consequences of improper handling of funds and what happens if u bite more than u can chew. Wonder if anything similar can happen to the likes of Chelsea,Manchester Utd,Liverpool,Man City who are signing and paying millions to players, even though having huge debts looming over their heads.
Ok, back to Leeds United. This is a short account of their time in the 90's and early 00's.
1990 : Leeds win promotion to first division (now Premier League).
1992 : Win the league.
1993 : Finish 17th in the league,narrowly avoiding relegation.
1998 : Finish 3 rd in the league.
2000 : Leeds broke their transfer record by signing Rio Ferdinand for £18 million. Leeds reach the semi-final of the Champions League.Leeds were regarded as one of the best teams in Europe.
2001 : Fail to qualify for Champions League and that signals the beginning of the end for Leeds. They struggle to repay the large loan taken against the prospect of TV rights and sponsorship from Champions League.
2004: Leeds get RELEGATED to the second tier (championship) after 14 years in top flight. They start selling players to save the club. The Club gets sold to a meagre 10 million.
2007: Leeds get RELEGATED to the third tier (League 1).
2009: After 17 league games gone, Leeds find themselves at the top of League 1 on 50 points

The stadium of Leeds United is currently the 10th largest football stadium in England. Alex Ferguson once said that Elland Road has one of the most intimidating atmospheres in European Football. Leeds are 10th in the all time average attendance figures for the Football League and Premier League.

Peter Reid commented after being relieved of his managerial duties at Elland Road that "In 30 years I've never seen support like I did at the Arsenal game [at Elland Road] a couple of weeks ago. The fans at Leeds are fantastic."

With such a huge fan base and history, hope Leeds can make it to the Premier league once again...

4 Reasons why John Terry has lost it !

John Terry, captain fantastic, Chelsea and England just cant get free from the newspapers headlines these days. He is getting more and more involved in controversies much to the ire of England boss Capello and Chelsea owner Abramovich.
Terry earns around £170,000 per week playing for Chelsea.
1. Terry is involved in an illegal deal by offering people unknown to him to visit the training facilities of Chelsea posing as his guests,for £10,000.
2. Terry goes on to say his team are invincibles and can win everything this season and what happens next ? - Chelsea lose to blackburn,Manchester City, draw against Everton and West ham.
3. He votes his teammate Ballack for FIFA world player of the year award, yes for Ballack for scoring 5 goals all season. Then after Messi wins the award, says he doesnt remember who he voted for !
4. He puts his England Captain armband up for sale.

With England bidding aggressively for hosting 2018 world cup, looks like the England captain has some serious damage control to do !

Arshavin is a family man

This is what Andrei Arshavin does when he is not scoring great goals :)
Show a couple of ur goals to ur son Andrei, he will stop crying !

Goal of the year

Christiano Ronaldo,the £80million player who mesmerized the Premier League till last season, has won the 'Puskas Goal of the Year award' by FIFA for his 40-yard missile against Porto on the way to Champions League semifinal.
Here's a lookback :

The Wonder Kid !

Lionel Messi has deservingly won the 'FIFA player of the year' award. In his journey thru the season, he has helped his club win 6 trophies by playing a key role in the mesmerising football that only Barcelona can play. He was long ago termed as his successor by the great Maradona, and he is living upto the reputation. To the extent that Messi has even scored a goal with his hand like Maradona's 'hand of god' goal against England ! Well, he also beat 6 players to score in the La Liga a couple of seasons ago, emulating his mentor's 'goal of the century' against England.
Great going Messi, will be expecting the same magic from you at the world cup !
Flashback :

Hangover !

Harry papa has fined his children for partying after he had restricted them from doing so. Robbie 'We want a rematch against France' Keane had sneaked his fellow teammates to his party in Dublin. Harry papa came to know of this and the fact that Spurs lost the following match to Mickey's Wolves at home infuriated him enough to fine each of his players 20k pounds.
Sources at the club claimed it will go down as one of football’s most expensive festive celebrations of the year.
The 16 players were reported to have already paid £2,000 each for their night out and centre back Jonathan Woodgate was among those who spent thousands of pounds more to hire a private plane to cross the Irish Sea.
It is not the first time Tottenham’s players have been caught partying this season. Striker Peter Crouch and Woodgate were among those photographed drinking in a London nightclub as they celebrated a win against Portsmouth in the Premier League.
Crouch was later pictured with his head sticking out of the sunroof of a taxi and was called an idiot by Harry Redknapp.
Well Spurs, u gotto cut down on all these if u have to still 'compete' for the fourth champions league spot, though it s inevitable that u r not gonna make it in another 10 years !

Welcome to Hell !!!

As the dust is still settling down at the Eastlands, Manchester City have unveiled their new manager, Roberto Mancini in a rather hostile press conference yesterday. Though it was the chief executive Garry Cook who took the body blows, Mancini saw through the press conference in a typical 'been there, done that' attitude , even choosing to answer in his limited English.
Well, whether if he can do an 'Italian Job' in the premier league is yet to be seen, I wish him the very best, with much like Arsene Wenger's words to Tony Adams - "Welcome to Hell !!!"