English Premier League and Football in General - 05/06

Cafe Society
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Gangster Octopus’ Week 3 Yank Review:

Games I saw:

Fulham 1 Everton 0 - I always like to see Brian McBride score and I also like to see Fulham do well in general. It can’t make Everonians comfortable, these were the games they won last year. Having said that, up until the goal Everton was the better team, but after the goal, Fulham was the more confident team. Moyes waited to long to put Big Dunc, IMO.

Bolton 2 West Ham 1 - A result that is a bit unfair to West Ham, who seemed to own the better of the play and the better chances, especially in the first half. I am heartened to see a newly promoted club play positive football and if this gameis anyindication I expect West Ham will stay up. Bolotn was, well, Bolton - efficient, scoring on their chances, etc.

Brum 3 WBA 2 - For a five goal game it never seemed that exciting. Certainly City taking a 3-1 lead early made it a bit anti-climactic. But even when the Albion pulled to within one it never felt like they were going to equalize. This WBA team looks very unconvincing to stay up.

Charlton 3 Middlesborough 0 - Boro looked pants. Pathetic. Some early chances for Yakubu but after that it was Charlton playing the classier football. A well-deserved thrashing. Charlton undefeated after three? Well, it is before Christmas…

Saw only the highlights:

Villa 1 Rovers 0 - Villa look like a completely different team with Baros pairing with Phillips. An excellent pickup for Villa. What can you say about Rovers? I still think they struggle to stay up, but they will probably grind out enough ugly points to stay up.

Chelski 2 Spurs 0 - OK, here’s the thing. Part of me wants to say the red card was a farce and how it ruined a potentially fantastic game. But then I think that the red card was not wholly undeserved. If that happens in, say, the Birmingham-WBA match, I doubt it gets more than a passing comment. Styles certainly could have not given the red card without much comment, but I hardly think it was a egregious miscarriage of justice. Also, when criticizing the refs they don’t have the replays, so what he saw was Mido coming from several yards away, jumping into another player with his arm fully outstreched. A bit of a downer though for me, cuz I want to see Chelsea defeated and I though this was a good chance of that.

Citeh 2 Pompey 1 - Nice comeback for City who find themselves second. Another American international scoring in Reyna. Andy Cole looks to be playing really well, he almost had a fantastic backwards kick that took a very good save for the Pompey netminder. Portsmouth, eh, fighting against relegation all season it appears.

Wigan 1 Sunderland 0 - A penalty in the first minute and then…nothing. Sunderland is in last and it seems like they will be taking up permanent residence there. What is that, 19 straight Premier league defeats?

ManU 2 Newcastle 0 - When will Newcastle score? Why is Michael Oewen speaking with Newcastle? Is Graeme Souness on a week-to-week lease? Does Alan Shearer wonder why he came back this season? Has football ever been worse in the Far Corner of England?

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Good Questions, but Souness has got to go. I made some remarks about him earlier in the thread and as an update I’ll say that he has another month, tops, to turn things around, then he’ll be on his way to wreak havoc on some other unlucky club.
Owen is desperate to get back to playing again (with the WC in mind) and if Liverpool and Manure don’t want him then perhaps he’ll end up at Newcastle.
Owen spoke with Benitez for over 2 hours today but he really pissed Benitez off last summer getting a transfer and is now finding out that what goes around comes around. Shame really, he should have stayed at Liverpool and got himself a Champion’s League winners medal.

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I’m not sure Benitez was that sorry to see Owen go. Having said that with Baros gone and it looks as though Cisse is going, the chances are good that Liverpool want Owen back. With Crouch in the line-up perhaps they are trying for something like the Toshack/Keegan partnership they had in the 70s.

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Well, dissapointed with the Everton-Fulham match - I thought Everton played much better than in the Bolton match. Defense was generaly good (except for when Fulham scored), and the midfield play was decent (Arteta did a nice job of controlling play; others were agressive and challenged for the ball). Phil Neville got called for about 6-7 fouls - don’t know whether this was the result of not playing well or just overly aggressive.

Everton did have a few chances to score, but it’s clear that they need another striker. The new players coming in should shore up the squad defensively and provide some additional quality for the mid-field (Ferrari, Valente, Van de Meyde). I know Moyes has been employing a 4-5-1 tactic, but I’ve read that he would prefer going with a 4-4-2. With what Everton’s added so far (with their current squad), an additional striker should allow him to employ a 4-4-2 more frequently.

Rumors are that Everton have made a bid for Nugent of Preston, as well as talk of bringing in Benny McCarthy (Rangers?).

Saw part of the Charlton - Middlesborough match. Charlton looked pretty good. Their defense seems to be a bit better than last year (so far), and Bent appears to have been a classy sign (4 goals in 3 games).

For those more knowledgeable than me - what’s the deal with Souness? I know he’s a disciplinarian, but does his personality realy grate on players? And is his situation somewhat analogous with that in the US - it’s generally perceived that great players do not necessarily become good managers. Example - Ted Williams. Great baseball player - lousy manager. I know Souness was generally considered to be a very good player (don’t know if he was considered to be great). Does the above generality with respect to great players not becoming good managers hold with football (soccer) in UK/Europe/World as well?

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Well I knew we (Newcastle) were screwed. Just got Luque and maybe will get Owen, and perhaps we can turn this thing around. But right now, it’s not looking that good. I just hope Emre isn’t badly hurt again :(.

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As a general rule, yes I agree, a good footballer doesn’t automatically make a good manager. More and more footballers are getting their coaching badges though which can only be a step in the right direction.
I’m not going to bore the pants off everyone by lambasting Souness again, he was a decent footballer, but he did have the benefit of being in one of the most successful English sides of the time (Liverpool) with loads of great footballers round him.
In his time there the team won many honours:
First Division Championship 1978/79, 1979/80, 1981/82, 1982/83 & 1983/84, FA Cup 1992 (manager), League/Milk Cup 1981, 1982, 1983 & 1984, European Cup 1978, 1981 & 1984, Charity Shield 1979, 1980 & 1982. (the First Division Championship was the equivalent of today’s Premiership.)

Charlton are off to their customary great start, it usually lasts until about Christmas when it all slowly begins to unravel :slight_smile: I’ve often wondered if Curbishley could achieve lots more if he was with a “bigger” club. He always seems to be underated.

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WOOOO! We got Owen!!

Now I’m hoping that his addition leads us to great things… maybe even a UEFA spot!

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As the transfer deadline approaches, the latest updates here.

Newcastle have Owen, Jermaine Jenas goes from Newcastle to Spurs, Liverpool look to sign Simao Sabrosa. Interesting that Everton are looking to sign Robbie Keane.

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Newcastle isn’t done yet! They are on the verge of bringing Solano back from Villa for 1.5 mil and a season long loan of James Milner.

Parker, Emre, Moore, Luque, Owen, and now Solano. Who has possessed Fat Freddy’s body?! I like this chairman!

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Hasn’t been an update in a while…

Everton goes against Portsmouth this Saturday at Goodison. Hopefully, they’ll put in a good performance to earn 3 points. Beattie should be back in the lineup, but they will be missing a few players (Neville out due to red card in last match; Carsley and Koldrup still out with injuries; new signing Van der Meyde will be out until October). However, new signings Valente and Ferrari will be available to play.

This past week there were a slate of World Cup qualifying matches. US beat Mexico 2-0 in Columbus, Ohio to earn a spot at the world Cup (they also drew with Guatemala 0-0 in Guatemala City last night).

In a shocker, Northern Ireland beat England 1-0. Looks as if the heat is being turned up on England’s manager Sven Goren Erickson (at least by the press). Tim Cahill of Everton played for Australia against Solomon Islands in qualifying match (Australia winning 2-1 and Cahill scored a goal).

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Everton 0 - Portsmouth 1

Didn’t watch match - read recap at BBC. A Ferguson own goal was the diffrence in allowing Portsmouth to win their first match of the season. By all accounts, a dismal Everton performance.

In other news, James Vaughn (Everton’s promising teenage striker) will have to undergo knee surgery and will be out at least 2 months. He picked up his injury in an U-19 match. It also appears that Valente is injured as well (for how long I am not certain).

It appears that if Everton didn’t have any bad luck they would have no luck at all. Looking more and more like last year was a fluke. If things don’t pick up in a hurry, then they will be looking to keep clear of the relegation zone.

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Results Saturday 10th Semptember.

Birmingham 0 - 1 Charlton
Chelsea 2 - 0 Sunderland
Everton 0 - 1 Portsmouth
Man Utd 1 - 1 Man City
Newcastle 1 - 1 Fulham
Tottenham 0 - 0 Liverpool
West Brom 1 - 2 Wigan
Middlesbrough 2 - 1 Arsenal

Charlton go Second.
Chealsea continue winning.
Everton are 3rd from bottom.
Good result for Man City.
Newcastle are 2nd from bottom.
Liverpool need to find some goals from somewhere.
Good result for Wigan.
Bad result for Arsenal.

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Wooo… we scored a goal!

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And it wasn’t even Owen, what a waste of £17million. :smiley:

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Everton 0, Portsmouth 1

David Moyes must be sacked NOW!!! His incompetence is going to destroy Everton - the garbage we are seeing from them is utterley, utterley unacceptable - Moyes must be sacked NOW!!! Why can no-one see how useless and inept he is?

mm

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Well, it’s official. I have long suggested that Rooney had so few brain cells that they were all huddling together for warmth. After last night the sad truth has been revealed, he doesn’t have two to rub together. What a plank!

Bolton vs Lokomtiv Plovdiv tonight. Gutted I can’t be there (In Birmingham with work) but hopefully will get to see it at the hotel. Come on you White Men!

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Just checked in the UEFA cup scores. Everton 1 Dinamo 4.

Anyone here still think David Moyes is the saviour of Everton?

This “man” is a poisonous incompetent. We are going to be so relegated this season because this vainglorious idiot has spent all summer lapping up his own press instead if trying to rebuild the club. A pox on him!
mm

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Dinamo Bucharest 5 - Everton 1

Unbelievable - I thought Everton might have a chance of AT LEAST a tie after a 1-1 score at the break. The final result is truly an embarassment. There goes European play for the season.

mamboman - you may just get your wish. But I’m wondering if quite a few players need to go as well. It’s one thing to lose while giving it you’re all. It’s quite another to lose in such an embarassing fashion. The Everton spirit that attracted me to them in the first place is now gone. Something needs to happen quick, or the entire season will be lost.

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Arsenal 2 Everton 0

Sigh, time for the now weekly rant about that human car-wreck of a manager, David Moyes. It is clear to me now that God hates Everton, and instead of inflicting boils, hail, plague, murrain, frogs, darkensss and the deaths of our firstborn upon us he has chosen in his terrible, terrible cruelty to curse us with Moyes. He must be sacked NOW!!! If he is not, it is abundantly clear that not only will we be relegated this season, but we will do so with fewer points than Sunderland.

mm

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Dude - I’m as upset at the play of Everton as anyone else. But sacking Moyes now isn’t the solution. Who the heck are we going to get to replace him? And it still wouldn’t address the teams injuries woes, the quality of some of the players (Weir is clearly showing signs that he’s past his prime; Hibbert has often been outclassed by better players; Kilbaine is now roster fodder), and player leadership (who’s going to step up and take charge on the pitch, especialy in the midfield?).

But I will agree that he needs to step up quick and take some kind of drastic action. The Wigan game is key - if Everton plays like crap and loses, then I’ll be running alongside the “fire Moyes” bandwagaon ready to jump on.