First Touch !

Three 6-0 wins in one week !

2010-08-26T20:24:00.001+05:30

In 6 years of watching football, I have never come across something like this.
3 6-0 wins in one week !
A 6-0 win itself is a rarity , let alone 3 games ...
A total of 41 goals were scored last weekend from 10 matches, that must be a record too !
The matches were :
Arsenal 6-0 Blackpool (Theo Walcott hat-trick)
Wigan 0-6 Chelsea
Newcastle Utd 6-0 A Villa (Andy Carroll hat-trick)

The highlights can be found here :
http://armchairexpertt.blogspot.com/2010/08/arsenal-6-0-blackpool-full-highlights.html
http://armchairexpertt.blogspot.com/2010/08/newcastle-united-6-0-aston-villa-full.html

The Toon Army is singing again !

2010-08-26T14:33:00.010+05:30

[22.08.2010] Newcastle United 6-0 Aston Villa

You can be excused for thinking this was just another high scoring match in the Premier league. But the real Geordies know the pain they have gone through before their spectacular comeback into the Premier league.

Newcastle united has always been special for me. I cannot forget the scene whenever I used to pick Newcastle as my team in FIFA 05 (06-10) game, and they show the stadium from the goalkeeper's view. Its just breathtaking ! Or whenever I watch the movie 'Goal' , it gives me goosebumps when they show the stadium !
It has one of the best fan bases in the world, an amazing stadium which is filled no matter who they are playing.

This is the story of Newcastle United, who were down in the dumps, making news for all the wrong reasons on and off the pitch 2 years ago, how after being written off by everyone revived and fought back their way into the Premier League.

2008-09 season - The Doom
----------------------------------------

Kevin Keegan, the legendary manager of Newcastle had just resigned from the club after a month into the new season, over the disagreement with the owner on the players he was forced to buy. This resulted in a big protest of fans outside the club asking for Keegan to return and the owner Mike Ashley to leave the club.Mike Ashley put the club on sale.

In a surprise move former Wimbledon manager Joe Kinnear took charge of Newcastle on 26 September 2008 initially on a 10 week contract. The intention was that he would manage the club until the owner Mike Ashley had sold it. Kinnear's contract was extended and he was then confirmed to manage the club until the end of the season. But Kinnear had to undergo a heart surgery in February and had to be relieved of his managerial duties.

This allowed Alan Shearer, the most loved player of Newcastle to take charge as manager. Still the top scorer for Newcastle and in the Premier League, Shearer was looked upon by the fans as the man to lead them in the right direction.

But the damage was already done and Newcastle Utd got Relegated to the Championship on the final day of the season after losing to Aston Villa. It was a heart breaking moment for Newcastle fans. Shearer resigned from the job.Following their relegation, the club was put up for sale again for a price of £100 million by owner Mike Ashley and this was put up on the club's official website.

Then came the lowest point in Newcastle Utd's recent history. They were beaten 6-1 by Leyton Orient in a friendly, before the Championship season began. The club was up for sale, manager-less and were from top to bottom in complete disarray as no one knew who was going to be in charge in time for the start of the season.

Also, a number of the first team squad players did not want to stay at St James’ Park, this led to a players’ meeting in the away dressing room immediately after that match where the unmotivated were told in certain terms that they were not wanted at the club anymore.
Many experts predicted that the club was on a death spiral and it was not a surprise if they got relegated again to lower divisions.

2009-10 Season - The Revival begins
---------------------------------------------------
The Assistant manager Chris Hughton was appointed as the care taking manager.
Star players like Sebastian Bassong, Oba Martins, Mark Viduka, Habib Beye and Michael Owen who seemed to be happy to pick up their massive wages whilst they sat on the sidelines nursing their latest injury, were offloaded. What was left was an admittedly less talented squad, but a squad nonetheless who were willing to fight for the club.
The team slowly started to gel and started winning games. In October, Chris Hughton was appointed as the full time manager and Mike Ashley announced that the club was no longer for sale, reporting that he had been unsuccessful in finding a buyer who could produce proof of funds, despite reducing his asking price to £80 million.
The start of the 2009-10 season in the Championship saw the club placed top of the table at Christmas with an 8 point lead and a defensive record of only 12 goals conceded in 22 games. Manager Chris Hughton was named Manager of the Month for August, September and November 2009.

On the 5th April 2010 the club secured automatic promotion with 5 games remaining . Newcastle were promoted back to the Premier League after just one season away, 316 Days after being relegated on the final day of the 2008/2009 season against Aston Villa. Newcastle secured the league title . The club finished the season with a 1-0 victory at QPR on 2 May, completing a total of 102 points earned during the season which is a club record and the first time the Magpies had achieved 100 or more points in any league campaign.

2010-11 season - The new beginning
-------------------------------------------------

Newcastle began their new Premier League season with a tough away match against Man Utd which they lost. But they erased whatever bad memories of relegation they had by beating the same Aston Villa 6-0, to whom they had lost and got relegated one year ago.

The new striker Andy Caroll scored a hat trick, already showing signs of becoming a great player.
Is he the new No.9 ,after Alan Shearer to bring back the glory days at Newcastle ?
Time will tell.

Newcastle United will not win the Premier league.
They will not qualify for the Champions League.
Yet, they are a special club and hope we see them play in the Premier League for many more seasons to come......

The new 25/8 rule in Premier League

2010-08-14T18:27:00.002+05:30

Premier league has introduced a new rule this season. There has been a fair amount of discussion on this with the experts divided in their opinions.
Lets have a look at what is .

The letter of the law states this :

From the 2010/11 campaign, the 20 Premier League clubs have voted to introduce measures which will see all teams required to have 8 home-grown players out of a squad of 25.
As of next season clubs will be required to have a squad named of up to 25 players, of which no more than 17 can be over the age of 21 and not home grown.
The definition of home grown is trained for 3 years under the age of 21 by somebody in the English and Welsh professional system.
Clubs will have to declare their 25 at the end of August when the window shuts and then again at the end of January.
Players who are aged under 21 are eligible over and above the limit of 25 players per squad.

Many experts have come down hardly against this rule with Arsene Wenger saying this :

"The rules they decide are a disaster for this country. Ridiculous. They are all artificial and have nothing to do with top-level sport.' Wenger, who has introduced the likes of Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Cesc Fabregas to the Premier League during his 14-year spell with Arsenal, continued: 'You have as many foreign players in Spain as in England. You can sign players from all over the world in Spain. Why do they still produce players and we do not? It's down to the coaching."

The premier league chief Scudamore replied
"In some ways I agree. For 12 years I argued for an open system. But there is a point at which you have to do something for the greater good. What we're trying to do is get young players through."

The effect of these rules still remains to be seen ...

It's back !

2010-08-13T14:09:00.005+05:30

The Premier league is back !
It's that time of the season , when you cant control your excitement, eager to see your team in action after a break of 3 boring months. I watched the world cup this time, but to be honest, it was nowhere exciting as the league. Some might say passion for playing for the country and all that, but it can no where come close to the 100+ years of history and rivalries of the club. You can nowhere find an atmosphere like in a 60,000 capacity packed stadium with everyone singing the club anthem !
As always, its hard to make predictions as the premier league never fails to surprise you - who would have thought Liverpool would finish 7th last season ? or that Spurs would qualify for Champions League ? or it would be a 3 - horse race for the title with 2 months left ?
So, I would just play safe and just give a brief look on how the teams shape up at the start of the season.

ARSENAL :
Positives : Arsenal look the most refreshing side this season, with all the creative players they've got and adding Chamakh to the strike force might just be the missing piece of the puzzle ! There has been never been a problem scoring goals for Arsenal, and it is enough if they just keep playing the way they play but just tightening up the defence.
Negatives : If Arsene Wenger is at his stubborn best and fails to sign a decent GK and Centreback, that can severly affect Arsenal's title chances.

CHELSEA:
Positives : Quality players, quality squad, experience of winning titles. Just about everything right apart from their style of football. Defending champions Chelsea begin the race as the team to beat.
Negatives: Aging squad. Though full of quality players, everyone is above the 30 age mark and this might affect their performance in mid season. There are times in the season where they lose the motivation and start dropping points.

LIVERPOOL:
Positives: Roy Hodgson. Frankly, I was expecting Liverpool to collapse after last season's 7th place finish but they have surprisingly recovered by signing Roy Hodgson, a great manager and holding on to their want away players - Gerrard and Torres. If Gerrard and Torres can manage top form for most of the season, Liverpool will be back in Champions League.

MANCHESTER UNITED :
Positives: They are Manchester United. It happens every season. However mediocre the squad may look, one or two players step up,like Ronaldo or Rooney, have an exceptional season and challenge for the title.
Alex Ferguson's teams always have a good defence and they are the masters of grinding out wins from ordinary performances. And they have the new boy Javier Hernandez, who looks sharp !
Negatives : The squad looked too jaded last season, and with Rooney out of form this season, it is a possibility that finally the frailties of Man Utd get exposed.

The Premier League kicks off on August 14, 5:15 PM IST with the match between Spurs and Manchester City.
And we have the big match coming up on Sunday 8:30 PM , it's
LIVERPOOL VS ARSENAL !
Come on Gunners !!!
Have a great season !!!

Phil Brown : The rise and fall

2010-03-20T08:26:00.001+05:30

I am not a great fan of Phil Brown but thought his career with Hull city is something that does not deserve to be forgotten. Football is a cruel game, also off the pitch. Hull city sacked Phil Brown, after a string of poor results.
Here is a little glimpse of Phil's time with Hull city.

Brown was appointed as first-team coach at Hull City on 27 October 2006 under Phil Parkinson, and took over as joint caretaker manager alongside Colin Murphy on 4 December 2006 after Parkinson's sacking, with Hull in 22nd place in the Football League Championship. After taking Hull out of the relegation zone with three wins and a draw in the six matches as caretaker manager, he was appointed as the permanent manager of the club on 4 January 2007. Then Brown went on to lead 'The Tigers' to Championship safety and the following season Hull City won promotion to the top level of English football for the first time in the club's 104-year history.
Hull city continued their fairy tale run in the Premier league with six wins in first nine games and they occupied Third place, only next to Arsenal and Liverpool on goal difference. In this run, Hull beat Arsenal in the Emirates stadium which is still regarded as their greatest victory in club history.

Gradually the fuzz settled down at Hull city, and they were able to win matches here and there just languishing in the mid-table.
Then came the dreaded day on 26 December 2008. Hull were playing Manchester City in the city of Manchester stadium. Hull were 4-0 down at half time. This infuriated Brown, who just couldnt take the fact that his team were playing so poorly in front of Hull fans, who had made a trip all the way to Manchester sacrificing their festival celebrations. He didnt let the players go off the pitch, he made them sit down near the touchline and gave them the first half team talk in full view of public. This was the moment Hull players lost it.
Their morale went down the pits after this humiliation, and they won only ONE match in the remaining half of the season.

But thanks to their amazing run in the beginning of the season, they managed just about enough to survive in the Premier League, finishing 17th, in a battle which went to the final day of the season. Brown was overjoyed and he even did sing after the match !

2009-10 season was much tougher for Hull and Brown couldnt inspire them to win games. Hull were playing like typical relegation strugglers. Brown managed to hang on to his job early in the season when he was on the verge of getting sacked. But on 14th March, defeat to Arsenal by the Nicklas Bendtner's injury time winner proved to be the final nail in the coffin ,the board had seen enough and finally parted company with Brown.

The return of 'The Special one' !

2010-03-14T23:27:00.010+05:30

2004.

Chelsea had just parted company with Ranieri and signed Jose Mourinho , the champions league winning manager of Porto. An unknown figure for the English press, the first words in the press conference by Jose were these -" Please don’t call me arrogant, but I’m European champion and I think I’m a special one.” He has lived up to his words since then,with his achievements, ofcourse with a touch of his trademark arrogance. He took control of a club which had not won the Premier league in 50 years, and won back to back Premier League titles in 2004 and 2005, FA cup in 2006-07 and Two league cups.

He didnt build just a team in Chelsea, he built a family. Mourinho was a father figure to everyone and even 2 years after his departure from Chelsea, players like Lampard, Terry, Drogba, Cole consult him regularly.He built a team with character who simply hated to lose and for 2 years dominated the premier league such that the race was over half way thru the season.
He has this incredible record of NOT losing even a single league game at home during his four and half years reign, which can never be matched by anyone !
Just the fact that - Sir Alex Ferguson, the most successful manager in English football, played 11 matches against Jose and won only 1 (yes, only ONE !) speaks about Jose Mourinho.

As every fairytale has its end, Jose's reign too was slowly coming towards an end. Jose, a man with big egos was growing more and more agitated by the interference in club matters by the Chelsea owner Roman Abrahamovich and eventually Jose got booted out of Chelsea on 20th Sept 2007, well he liked to call it 'leaving Chelsea by mutual consent'.

March 16,2010.
Jose is returning to Stamford Bridge to play against Chelsea with his team,the Italian Champions - Inter Milan. It will be deja vu for Mourinho, entering the Stamford bridge , amidst the cheers of the Chelsea fans, only this time,as the opposition manager, playing against the same players who he nurtured and developed into champions. He already has a 2-1 advantage from the first leg which should make his job easier, only if he doesnt get carried away by the occassion. Anyway, he certainly knows how to keep emotions in check and win games, he is 'The Special one' !

David Beckham's green and gold Manchester United stunt was a load of tosh - the only cause he truly supports is himself

2010-03-14T09:35:00.004+05:30

[This whole post is a part of Piers Morgan's article from Dailymail. Cant stop admiring this guy !]

Touching, wasn’t it? Watching that loyal, diehard United hero David Beckham getting the roaring welcome so thoroughly deserved of Manchester’s prodigal son brought tears to the uncynical eye.But not, I’m afraid, to the cynical like mine.

Beckham keeps telling us United is, and always has been, the only club for him. And the inhabitants of Old Trafford seem to happily go along with this tosh. When the reality is that he walked out on United at the peak of his powers for the riches of Real Madrid, then walked out on Madrid for the even greater riches of Hollywood, and now cheats on LA Galaxy whenever he can with AC Milan, purely to keep himself in the World Cup frame, where England glory could bring the greatest riches of all.

Compared with genuinely loyal United heroes like Giggs, Scholes and Neville, Beckham’s been a treacherous, money-grabbing, club-hopping, fame-hungry, egotistical little weasel who likes nothing better than making everything all about HIM.

And nothing personified this more than when he swooped to pick up the green-and-gold anti-Glazer protest scarf and wrapped it round his tattooed neck. The crowd roared. There he was, the most loyal man in football, their Becksy, showing the world he was united with United fans in their fury at foreign ownership.

Because the very last thing David Beckham would ever want to associate himself with is rich, fatcat Americans exploiting soccer for pure commercial gain. Which is why he currently resides in Los Angeles, choosing to play pub football over proper football because rich, fat-cat Americans line his Armani pockets with millions of dollars to exploit soccer for pure commercial gain.

Of course, as David explained afterwards, he wasn’t actually supporting the protest, nor trying to interfere in the running of Manchester United.

Nothing could be further from his massively cerebral mind. He just liked the colours of the scarf because they used to be United’s original colours.

What a load of old Goldenballs. Let’s face some harsh facts here, Becksy old son. You’re not the best footballer in the world. In fact, given you can’t actually get into the AC Milan starting line-up, you’re not even the 11th-best player in a shockingly mediocre side.

But you ARE the greatest self-publicist the game has seen and you knew exactly what you were doing when you swooped on that glinting symbol of disloyalty to the Glazers. For weeks, you’ll have been monitoring the mounting furore and planning exactly the image you would communicate to the world. It’s what you do best.

And you seized the moment in typically self-adulatory Beckham style. Waiting until the pitch was empty, standing like Emperor Nero, alone in the amphitheatre, milking the applause in the eager way a farmer milks a particularly well-uddered Friesian cow, then dramatically pausing to pick up the scarf. Thus quite deliberately pushing the much more deserving Wayne Rooney off the headlines (I was only surprised he didn’t leap on Rooney’s back when he scored, to share the photographic credit — a crafty move that has served Beckham well over the years).

It was the most perfectly choreographed stunt since Sacha Baron Cohen parascended, as his Austrian fashion reporter character Bruno, on to Eminem’s lap during last year’s MTV awards. And just as fake.

The Glazers are big boys and I don’t have much truck with the way they’ve allowed United to build up such potentially ruinous debt. But the hypocrisy of David ‘United ’til I die’ Beckham definitely moved me.

To extreme nausea.

The Football Oscars !!

2010-03-12T15:34:00.004+05:30

After the Oscars on Sunday, I just kept thinking how it would be if footballers were given Oscars.
[This whole post is an excerpt of Pires Morgan's article in the Dailymail]

Best Picture :
No contest here. Pepe Reina’s dumbstruck face as Darren Bent’s shot ballooned, quite literally off a balloon, into the net at Sunderland was hysterical. Only matched by rumours that Manchester City promptly put in a bid of £40 million for the balloon.

BEST ACTOR : John Terry - For his brilliant performance in the movie " Bridging the gap "

BEST ACTRESS I don’t condone violence, obviously. But that infamous YouTube footage of New Mexico female soccer star Elizabeth Lambert punching, tripping and pulling the hair of her opponents was quite the sexiest thing in world sport all year.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS John Terry flew to Dubai to his betrayed wife Toni’s side, with the world expecting him to receive his marching orders. Instead, Mrs Terry sported a T-shirt saying ‘I love the chaos’ and forgave him in the 20 seconds it took for Terry to hand her his credit card to go ‘comfort shopping’ all afternoon.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE Emmanuel Adebayor sprinting 80 yards to taunt Arsenal fans after scoring for Manchester City, screaming his head off and beating his chest. He never showed either that speed or passion when he was with us.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE John Terry with Wayne Bridge’s girlfriend. To outrage even your own greedy, amoral, sex-crazed, selfish Premier League colleagues is really impressive. Well done, JT, you Inglourious B*****d.

BEST FILM EDITING Ashley Cole, for those delightful underpants photos that he sent on his phone to any Page 3 bint who asked for them, while assuming they’d never show anyone. Duh!

BEST COSTUME DESIGN El Hadji Diouf — anytime, anywhere, he is 100 per cent certain to look ridiculous.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM I’ve no idea what Carlos Tevez was saying after he scored for City against United this season because I don’t speak Spanish. But I bet it wasn’t ‘I dedicate this to my mentor and father figure, the great Sir Alex.’

BEST DIRECTOR Sir Alex Ferguson’s response to the new ‘Show respect to referees’ guidelines was to claim, falsely, that referee Alan Wiley was too ‘unfit’ to officiate in a game. Like those other tyrannical directing greats, Tarantino, Coppola, Winner, Fergie will never change and I’m not sure I want him to.

Look who's beck in town !

2010-03-10T20:41:00.002+05:30

He first arrived as a 13-year-old , a boy who won a Bobby Charlton competition and spent a summer in Salford on trial. He departed in 2003 as David Beckham, Manchester United superstar, England captain and global icon.
Time has come for Beckham to play against his old club again in an emotional Champions league enocunter tonight ,with a club that has given him a lifeline to his falling career to play in the world cup this summer.
Its Manchester United Vs AC Milan at the Theatre of dreams, tonight for a place in the quarter finals.
Utd look favourites with a comfortable 3-2 lead from the first leg, which means Milan have to win by 2 goals margin atleast.

Whichever team wins, it wont be a happy night for Beckham. However professional he might sound, dumping out his beloved club with whom he had a love affair for so long will not make him proud. On the other hand, defeat at the hands of Utd virtually ends his final chances of showing his quality on the european stage , which puts his world cup chances into question.

Whatever the result may be, Beckam is sure to get a rising ovation from the fans who will never forget his curling free-kicks and pin point crosses that played a major part in so many trophies they won.

Even Alex Ferguson, who flung a boot at him, which eventually resulted in Becks leaving the club, will be looking to have some wine with him later ,ofcourse after making sure Utd are through to the next round !

A tribute to centurion Scholes !

2010-03-08T00:48:00.014+05:30

Paul Scholes scored his 100 th goal for Manchester United yesterday. Here is my little tribute to him, as I thought great players need to be admired, beyond the boundaries of the clubs. Though I am a fan of Arsenal and havent watched him as much as a Utd fan, I will try my best !

I always remember him as a school boy faced player ! Scholesy made his debut with Utd in 94-95 season and 16 years on, is still playing . That speaks volumes of this guy. He was one of the golden generation of Utd,and the midfield of Giggs- Keane -Scholes- Beckham ruled English football for years.
These are some things that will always be remebered about Scholes :

His fighting spirit: Here is a guy who retired from playing for England to concentrate on his career at Man Utd. He is still an inspiration for the youngsters ,still making those wonderful passes at the age of 36, when most of the players are well off their peak and cant get into the first team. Even the likes of Pires, Ljunberg, Vieira from Arsenal's solid midfield, who played in the same era , couldnt take the toll of age and had to move out of Arsenal.

Trophies :Scholes won almost every trophy with ManUtd - The Premier League, Champions League, FA cup, Carling cup,World club championship and the most memorable being the treble of 1999.

Poor tackles : Well,we've seen it so often - Scholes is a poor tackler . I myself have had the pleasure of seeing him sent off after making some really stupid tackles and I cant forget his face after that - like that of a shamed school kid sent off the classroom, chin down and slowly walking off :)

His love for volleyball : Scholesy sometimes confuses football pitch for volleyball. He will always be remembered for the two red cards he has received for stretching his hand and reaching for the ball. Once he scored a goal and the other time he stopped a goal, but got red-carded on both occassions. Its beyond anyone's imagination why he did that !!!

Thunderous volleys : Alex Ferguson once said that Scholes is the best striker of the ball he had ever seen. This is time and again shown by the goals he scores from outside the box.Here is one of them- the volley is so spectacular that even the commentator is stunned !

Scholes, who prefers to stay away from spotlight and rarely gives interviews, once described his ideal day as "Train in the morning, pick up the kids from school, play with them, have tea, get them to bed and then watch a bit of TV."
What a character !

sdc

P.S: I couldnt resist ending this with an Arsenal touch :) . This is my favourite moment of Paul Scholes. It is the2005 FA cup final ,the game is 0-0 after 120 mins and we get to the penalty shootout. Everyone scores and Scholes misses it. Vieira scores with final kick and wins the FA cup for Arsenal. Thank you Scholesy !!!

Shawcross - He s not that type of player ??!!!

2010-03-04T23:53:00.010+05:30

Even before Shawcross left the pitch after making that horror tackle on Ramsey which broke his leg into pieces, Testimonials were already being written on the lines of 'How good a person he is' , 'He is not that type of player',' It was an honest tackle'.
As one section of the media, tried to highlight the injury and the graphical pictures/ videos to analyze the tackle frame by frame, a larger section of the media had already started to search for interviews and stories to tell people "How nice a lad Ryan Shawcross is". The media was by large worried about ' What Ryan was going thru, how hard it is for him' than Ramsey, lying on a hospital bed, having not seen his leg, facing a lengthy and lonely layoff for months if not an year .
I mean, relate it to a real life situation - Is the judge going to spare you by reading 'how good a person u are' testimonials after u recklessly drove and caused a grievious injury to someone ? NO.
This video shows why Ryan " is that type of player". It just amazes me how the commentators are biased - Ryan makes a clumsy tackle on Ade after the ball had gone out , and instead of telling it is a bad tackle , he is praised saying he doesnt care for big reputations !!!
Well, All i m gonna ask is We are least bothered about how good a person he is or whether it was his mistake or how many matches ban he is gonna get. Because none of it changes the fact that a 19 year old promising teenager is out of the game for an year , and it will take months for him to just start walking, and he has to make a recovery all by himself, going thru a very lengthy , lonely spell. And in the meanwhile atleast please dont irritate us with "Ryan is not that type of player" crap.

Get well soon Aaron ...

2010-03-04T13:47:00.004+05:30

Shocking. I still remember the moment Aaron Ramsey broke his leg. He and Shawcross went in hard for the ball, honestly, I felt Ramsey was committing a foul on Shawcross it was Ramsey who fell in a heap crying in pain. Only when the players started getting wild and started gesturing at the medical staff, I realized the magnitude of the injury and I had one look at Ramsey's leg and I couldnt look at it the second time. Everyone was shell shocked. I just couldnt care about the result of the game, even when it was at 1-1 till 90 th minute, I wasnt much bothered. Anyway, it was great to see the team and esp, the captain showing unbelievable character and winning it so late.
There has been a wide debate on Ramsey's injury. I dont want to get too deep into it. It is just obvious that teams want to roughen up Arsenal , it s been going since 4-5 years, with lower teams , not being able to compete with Arsenal in football and adopting the physical approach. (Why just the lower teams, even Chelsea and Man Utd 'muscled out' Arsenal and won rather than by playing better football). How else can you explain 3 such incidents in 4 years ? - Diaby, Eduardo and now Ramsey.

I just want to end it saying one thing - Its time Arsene Wenger toughened up the players , teach them to give as good as they get. Its easier to bully a schoolkid than some guy who would break ur jaws. Why do Utd and Chelsea not get such treatment from other teams ? its only because for every tackle they get, they gonna give one right back from a Fletcher or Essien, Just to remind them they are not there to get bullied.
Its a pity though to see a player , 19 years old, as talented as ramsey in sidelines for months due to one bad tackle.

How was the whipping, shameless Chelsea fans ?!!

2010-02-27T22:12:00.001+05:30

It was disgusting. It was shame for football to see a footballer, getting booed with every touch of the ball, for no fault of his. Wayne Bridge, after being betrayed by his ex chelsea and england teammate John Terry, had already been thru an emotional turmoil. Here he was today,in Manchester city Vs Chelsea game, facing the same Terry, who had no remorse for sleeping with his teammate's wife, and stripped of his England captaincy for the same. Bridge had just announced yesterday that he was not going to take part in the world cup as he couldnt play with Terry in the side. After all this, u couldnt be excused if u didnt feel for this guy, who had just been thru a rough patch, betrayed by his wife, best friend-teammate, pulling out of his dream- playing in world cup for England.

Not the Chelsea fans ! they just booed and booed whenever he touched the ball and cheered whenever Terry touched the ball. It was disgusting to see the football fans reduced to moral bankruptcy.
But what a response it was from Manchester City ! After going a goal down in the 40th minute, they came back strongly to finish the match 4-2 .
Yes, the same Manchester City, who had not scored at Stamford Bridge since 2000 and not done a DOUBLE against Chelsea since 1958 !!!
What a way to make it memorable day for Wayne Bridge and all the neutrals watching !!!

Ronaldo wishes u a Happy new year !!!

2010-01-06T19:13:00.003+05:30

The way football should be watched !

2010-01-06T16:28:00.004+05:30

Came across this while reading an article and thought of sharing it.

Ask pretty much anybody to describe England's third goal against Holland in Euro 96, and they will speak of Teddy Sheringham dummying to shoot, then opening his body and laying the ball off for Alan Shearer to smash a controlled slice past Edwin van der Sar and into the top corner. Which is fine, in as much as Sheringham's lay-off demonstrated a fine awareness of his surroundings, great unselfishness and a deft touch, but the move began far earlier, and was glorious in its entirety.

Tony Adams won possession, anticipating and intercepting after Ronald de Boer had miscontrolled a Michael Reiziger clearance. He strode forward, before letting Paul Gascoigne take over 10 yards inside the Dutch half. He switched the ball left for Darren Anderton, and then received the return just in from the left touchline. As Clarence Seedorf closed him down, he rolled the ball back with the sole of his boot, creating room for a jabbed ball inside to Steve McManaman, who played an exquisite chipped return, arcing the ball over Reiziger and into Gascoigne's path as he made a forward charge. Gascoigne showed great strength to hold off Aron Winter, barrelling into the box and drawing Danny Blind before stabbing the ball back with the outside of his right foot to Sheringham, who sensed Johan De Kock closing in and pushed the ball right to Shearer.

The point is that every bit of the move was brilliant, and McManaman's chip to Gascoigne was a technically harder thing to do and displayed greater vision and imagination even than Sheringham's lay-off. But it is forgotten because of television's habit of focusing on the money shot."

Watch the goal from 3:55 in the video :

Beckford Nightmare at the 'Theatre of Dreams' !!!

2010-01-04T00:18:00.004+05:30

The unthinkable has just happened. Third tier strugglers Leeds United have just beaten Premier League champions Manchester United in their own backyard in the third round of the FA cup. While everyone is still coming to terms with the result, this has to go down as one of the greatest shocks in the FA cup's 128 year illustrious history.
The Leeds United manager had just said before coming to Old Trafford that his team will play with 'no fear' despite being 40 positions down in the league table compared to Man Utd. And thats what they did, their early momentum resulting in a goal by Breckford, what pleasure it might have given him, being a born Leeds United fan and now a player, to score against their greatest rivals in the 'theatre of dreams' ! well, he just ended the FA cup dream for Man United this season !
The romance of the cup is still very much on !!!

The next big thing - Aaron Ramsey

2010-01-01T17:41:00.001+05:30

I just cant stop admiring this guy.
Mark my words- He is gonna be the next big thing in premier league, with the likes of Cesc Fabregas, in another 2 seasons or earlier.
It is a treat to watch him play with such confidence and silky touches and passes and he can shoot from distance too !
I think he has an important role to play during the current season for Arsenal and he is just 19 years old !
Come on Aaron !

Best moments of 2009

2010-01-01T10:15:00.002+05:30

Happy New Year guys !!!

Remembering the 2 best moments from the Premier League from 2009 :

Liverpool survival kit !

2009-12-31T11:48:00.000+05:30

Another one bites the dust!

2009-12-30T22:23:00.002+05:30

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 !

2009-12-27T23:05:00.011+05:30

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

2009-12-26T11:00:00.001+05:30

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

2009-12-25T12:25:00.001+05:30

"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

2009-12-25T11:02:00.001+05:30

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' !

2009-12-25T00:25:00.003+05:30

Remembering Leeds United : The rags-riches-rags story

2009-12-24T11:45:00.006+05:30

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 !

2009-12-23T21:04:00.001+05:30

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

2009-12-23T20:12:00.000+05:30

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

2009-12-22T20:53:00.000+05:30

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 !

2009-12-22T17:15:00.001+05:30

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 !

2009-12-22T16:16:00.000+05:30

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 !!!

2009-12-22T16:08:00.000+05:30

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 !!!"