Chelsea fans full of Christmas cheer
Chelsea fans provide seasonal greetings for Reading’s Stephen Hunt during yesterday’s 2-2 draw.
They look like Orcs from the Lord of the Rings films. Except uglier.
Merry Christmas
To both our readers.
Sue, Sue, Barney Magrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Mourinho.
It’s an interesting thought that Everton may sue Mourinho but it would soon end up with every manager in the country either bankrupt or in prison. Will referees be able to sue managers for saying that they made a wrong decision if, as happens most of the time, the ref turns out to have been right. Could players sue pundits who say they dive, or aren’t trying? I’d like to sue Alan Shearer for not trying to be interesting as a pundit, and for diving into cliche after cliche without thought for the insult and injury to my intelligence.
Big-spending Rafa gets his sums wrong
We know there is a big difference with Arsenal who can pay millions for Denilson and also spend big on Theo Walcott and Abou Diaby. We monitored Denilson, Walcott and Diaby but we cannot compete with the big money spent on them. We are trying to do the same things on a lot less money, so we have to work twice as hard.
Rafa Benitez says that Liverpool don’t have the finances to compete with Arsenal on youth players.
Liverpool have spent more on transfers in this season and last than Arsenal. Just to use one example, Sissoko (21) cost more than Denilson (18) and Diaby (20) combined. Diaby cost as much as Gabriel Paletta (20).
The rest of his comments make a lot of sense, but the comparison with Arsenal doesn’t hold water.
If you go moaning to the press about money, you probably want to check your sums first - otherwise you could end up looking stupid.
Old folks home beckons for Beckham?
This is the most hilarious thing I’ve read today. The idea that Beckham would go to Bolton and play for presumably somewhat less than £150,000 per week is even more far-fetched than the idea of him going to Spurs, and that was funny enough. I’m not aware of him having set up Beckham-branded football academies in Bolton in preparation for a move there like he has in L.A., but maybe I’m wrong.
Arsenal ban national flags
It seems the football world has gone PC mad. Some weeks ago a man flew a Turkish Cypriot flag at Ashburton Grove. A large number of people, Greek Cypriot Arsenal fans in particular, complained to the club.
In the light of that they have now decided to ban all national flags from the ground. This is a real shame. Part of the tradition of groups of Arsenal fans that travel from all over Europe to support their club was to bring a flag from their country. It has always been part of the atmosphere and a sign that Arsenal had fans from all over the world.
Obviously there’s a political issue if someone flies a Turkish Cypriot flag so given that Turkey aside, all foreign governments and the United Nations recognise the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus over the whole island of Cyprus, why couldn’t Arsenal simply have banned that particular flag from the ground?
It seems a massive overreaction and opens the floodgates for more PC nonsense to take over the game. There will always be something to offend somebody. Do we just need to complain now to have it taken away or can’t we cope with anything at all.
As well as that the decision to ban flags has been seriously questioned when Arsenal run advertisements for the state of Israel all over the hoardings each match day and in the programme. See here for more.
Team Of The Season… So Far
Right, we’re about half-way (ish) through the season, coming up to the critical Christmas period, I can’t be arsed to do any work so here we go. It’s a 4-4-2, but I may shift it to a 4-5-1 if it’s an away game.
Keeper - David James. He’s been excellent all season, but I can’t believe he’ll get back in the Engerland team.
Defence - Leighton Baines/ Kolo Toure/ Vidic/ Matty Taylor. Baines has been vital for Wigan this season. Toure has been the CB of the season for the Arsenal by far and is usually their Man Of the Match. I wasn’t sure about Vidic when he joined Man U, but his “no nonsense” approach to defending is better than Rio’s occasional attempts at playing footy. Taylor’s just great, plus he scores really top goals.
Midfield - Ronaldo/ Fabregas/ Essien/ Ashley Young. Ronaldo may be a diving cunt with a neck that’s too long and girly hair but he is a very good player when he can cut out the theatrics. Essien’s a dirty cunt, but you want that in the middle. Ashley Young has been the shining light in Watford’s season and I expect him to move on in the summer. Fabregas is just fucking brilliant, he’s not Vieira but he’s only 12 and still growing. It’s a danger he’ll get burnt out but he’s so instrumental in Arsenal’s team he can’t be left out.
Strikers - Kanu/ Rooney. Kanu can be a frustrating player, preferring to beat three extra players as opposed to shooting, but this season he has found his (enormous, canoe-like) shooting boots. Rooney was almost written off earlier this season but has shown how perseverance, hard work and swearing at the ref yields results.
I couldn’t give a shit if you disagree to be honest, football’s all about opinions.
Pardew sacking leaves West Ham players gutted
The jibe at Pardew came as the club DJ grabbed the microphone from defender Anton Ferdinand and proposed a toast to the departed Upton Park boss.
Ferdinand, Reo-Coker, Carlton Cole, and old team-mate Elliot Ward all responded by booing and jeering loudly, then rolling around laughing.
While English players offer something in terms of their spirit and fight on the pitch it’s no wonder some managers are reluctant to buy them when they’re so obviously unprofessional off it.