Archive for October, 2006

Today’s news… Scott Parker, Nicky Weaver, Theirry Henry

It’s all doom and gloom for bottom half of the table teams at the moment. Newcastle’s Scott Parker said his team’s situation “isn’t looking good” at the moment, and concedes they are in the relegation battle. Despite believing Newcastle are putting on good performances, he acknowledges they’re not getting the points, and that’s what really matters. Meanwhile, Manchester City goalkeeper Nicky Weaver has said that his club aren’t doing well enough this season, and have a squad that are capable of being much higher placed than they are at present.

In other news, Henry has told his fans to stop shouting “shoot!” when he has the ball. Despite having 72% possession at home to Everton at the weekend, Arsenal only managed a 1-1 draw. In the dying moments, the fans were pleading for Henry to shoot and score, however he says that is not the kind of football his club play.

Today’s news… West Ham, Jason Roberts, Kalou, Sir Alex Ferguson

West Ham fans finally have a reason to cheer. Their team beat Blackburn 2-1, with their oppositions goal only coming in the last minute of the game. Teddy Sheringham scored a header on twelve minutes, and Mullins sealed the three points with ten minutes to go, with his first ever Premiership goal. Under pressure Pardew will be very relieved with the result.

In other news, Jason Roberts is the latest player to suffer from a broken metatarsal, which occurred in today’s game with West Ham. Mourinho is forced in to playing new boy Kalou in his side’s clash with Barcelona this week, following the injuries to Drogba and Shevchenko. Sir Alex Ferguson has said that he believes that he will win another European Cup with Manchester United before he leaves.

The future of Steven Gerrard?

At the end of the 2003/2004 season, Liverpool finished the season empty handed and fourth place in the league, thirty points behind winners Arsenal. Chelsea were highly interested in the Liverpool man, creating some uncertainty about his future. “I haven’t been happy with the progression of the club in the last three or four years, as I’ve made clear in the media, and, for the first time in my career, I thought about the possibility of moving on to a different club,” he said. “A lot of things have been going through my head, and I will admit the possibility of leaving was one of these.” However, he insisted, “I am 100 percent committed to this football club.”

Will history repeat itself again? Click below to read more.

Today’s news… Premiership roundup

Chelsea vs Sheffield United was the first game of this Premiership weekend, in a game Chelsea had to win to pile the pressure on league leaders Manchester United. It was Sheffield United who came closest to scoring first, after being awarded a penalty for a Drogba foul in the area. Webber took a poor penalty though, and Hilario, who is currently filling in for Cudicini and Cech, saved it with ease. Just before half time, Lampard put the blues in front, and early in the second half, Ballack headed goal wrapped up Chelsea’s three points.

With this result in mind, Manchester United had to go to the Reebok, where no team has scored this season. Things were to be different today, with on fire United winning 4-0, through a Rooney hatrick and goal by Ronaldo, putting United back to top of the table. Arsenal, who put on a cracking display last weekend, were held at home to Everton. Liverpool have crept in to the top half of the table after getting a well needed 3-1 win against Aston Villa, who were previously unbeaten this season. Wigan beat Fulham 1-0 away after missing a penalty and having a goal wrongly ruled out. Portsmouth continued their surprising good form, with a 3-1 win against Reading which puts them in fourth. Watford drew 0-0 with Tottenham Hotspur, whilst Saturday’s action finished with another 0-0 draw between Newcastle and Charlton.

Hatrick Hero - Wayne Rooney - El Blanco Pele

Wayne Rooney is England footballs brightest prospect. It’s been a while since the country has had someone as talented as him, let alone so talented at such a young age. It is for this reason that he is constantly in the limelight, with every performance picked apart. Recently, he has been given an unfairly hard time, so how does he go about answering his critics?

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Today’s news… Gerrard, Cech, Rossi, Dunne

Gerrard has announced today that he’s happy to take one for the team, and play wherever his manager thinks is best. Rafa has received plenty of criticism for his rotation, but regardless, are going to play a different first eleven for the 99th game in a row at the weekend. Gerrard says he understands he has to do what benefits the team, and will play where he is needed.

In other news, Petr Cech has commented on his injury, saying he has no memory of the incident with Hunt. The last thing he remembers is the coin toss at the start of the match. After scoring the first goal in the Carling Cup for Newcastle, Rossi, who is on loan from Manchester United, has been promised an extended run in the side. Manchester City captain, Richard Dunne, defends under fire manager, Stuard Pearce. The player was quick to criticise his side’s performance against Wigan last weekend, but insists that the recent slump is not the fault of the manager.

Today’s news… Defoe, Carling Cup Draw, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool

Great news for footballers. Jermaine Defoe has announced today that he has learnt his lesson and will never bite a player again. This statement follows the weekend game where he bit West Ham midfielder Mascherano after a bad tackle. Surely though, not biting your opposition is not a lesson that should be learnt?

In other news, in last night’s Carling Cup, a weak United side struggled to beat Crewe, with Ole and debut eighteen year old Kieran Lee bagging the goals for the reds. Chelsea beat Blackburn, with Joe Cole making a come back and scoring the first goal. Charlton beat Bolton 1-0 at home after poor Premiership form. Liverpool beat Reading 4-3, whilst Spurs thrashed MK Dons 5-0. Finally, Newcastle beat Portsmouth 3-0.

The draw for the fourth round is as follows:
Notts County v Wycombe
Tottenham v Port Vale
Birmingham v Liverpool
Chelsea v Aston Villa
Watford v Newcastle
Chesterfield v Charlton
Southend v Man Utd
Everton v Arsenal

Is it game over for Pardew?

Alan Pardew was the man who led West Ham to promotion, and a solid finish in the top half of the table, something they had only achieved once since 2000. He also got West Ham to the FA Cup final, and some might say they were robbed, after putting on a good performance, going 2-0 up, in a game they would have won had it not been for the inspiration of Steven Gerrard. This meant West Ham had a place in the UEFA Cup, and by the summer of 2006, things looked rosy for West Ham and Pardew. They won their first game of the season with a convincing 3-1 over Charlton, and signed two Argentinean wonderkids, Mascherano and Tevez, and the prospects looked good.

However, things have gone downhill since then. West Ham were knocked out of the UEFA Cup without putting up much of a fight, and haven’t won a game since August. The situation went from bad to worse last night when they were knocked out of the Carling Cup against League 1 side Chesterfield, their eighth loss in a row.

Pardew accepted full responsibility for his team’s sorry state, who only have five points from a possible twenty seven this season. Is accepting responsibility enough though? How long does he have in charge at West Ham? Watch this space.

Today’s news… Carling Cup

The first third round Carling Cup games were played last night, and the biggest shock of the night was West Ham being beaten by Chesterfield. Despite taking an early lead through a Harewood strike, Chesterfield battled on, equalising after half time, and getting the winner three minutes from the end, the final score 2-1. Although the winner was late, Chesterfield dominated the play in the second half, and fully deserved to go through to the next round. O’Neil returned to his old club Leicester with his new team Aston Villa. Villa got the first goal which was cancelled out after forty two minutes, only for Villa to take the lead just before half time with a penalty. Leicester pulled one back five minutes from the end, leading the game in to extra time. Agbonlahor got Aston Villa’s winner ten minutes from time, final score 3-2. Elsewhere, Southend beat Leeds 3-1, Watford beat Hull 2-1, Birmingham beat Sheffield United 4-2 away, Everton thrashed Luton 4-0, and Watford lost 2-0 to Arsenal.

Tonight, Blackburn take on Chelsea, Charlton play Bolton, Crewe take on the current holders Manchester United, Liverpool play Reading, MK Dons face Tottenham, and Newcastle play Portsmouth.

David Beckham Misses Manchester United

David Beckham was first approached by Manchester United scouts when he was just eleven years old, and had always been a United fan. He put his name on the map after scoring this goal. Eleven years after his first game for United, six Premiership titles, two FA Cups and one European Cup to his name, he left the club for Real Madrid. He’d had a great career so far, and it seemed he could only go on to achieve greater things with the Spanish club, who were the reigning La Liga champions at the time…

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