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' !