I think you need to give him time. He obviously made the right move making Joe Hart the number 1 keeper, he benched David Silva which to me made sense because Silva didn't have a clue where he was supposed to be playing.
I thought the 11 he put out this week certainly played like a team unlike in week 1. Too much talent on the bench though some transfers/loans seem to be definitely in the future.

Any thoughts on the Prem season so far? Liverpool on self-destruct? Can Hodgeson survive under the new owners? Rooney rumoured to be leaving Man U? None of the 'big' teams looking particularly convincing? Allardyce claiming he's better suited to manage Barcelona? Weird times indeed.

rooney's off to man city and liverpool will be ok but not even close to what they should be, i give hodgeson until saturday, if that and then its dalgleish back probably. leeds are doing ok, in touch with the play-off places and waiting on a few players coming back from injury. best team in the world.

I believe at this point that Man City looks like they'll crack the top 4 this year.
Rooney's an idiot. He's been playing like shit for the past 8 or 9 months and now he pops off like this. I think he's going to find his value isn't what he thinks it is. Man City already has Tevez who works twice as hard on the pitch.
Also Man City can't pay him from what I read because they're already close to the UEFA's salary limits. If I was running a club I wouldn't take a chance on him.

Absolutely agree. On paper Rooney's a better player but I'd definitely take Tevez over him right now. I actually think Ferguson letting Tevez go in the first place was one of the silliest decisions of his career. I also think you're right about Man City being likely to break into the top four. I think there's a real danger that Man U might drop out of it. They've not come even close to replacing Ronaldo and last season basically had to rely on Rooney who, as we know, isn't doing it now. Good point about Man City's spending restrictions. I think that might ultimately be the only thing that keeps him at Man U.

Unless Hodgeson really turns things around in the next few games I think he's a dead man walking. The change in ownership may have bought him some time but equally, I think this new owner will be keen to bring in a new face, as always seems to happen weith new owners. I agree with Jon Boy that Dalglish may replace him. He's already said he wants the job and the fans definitely do.

In the meantime, I think it's likely West Ham won't be playing in Europe next year.

but then if they sell Adebyeor and Santa Cruz they will....
I read somewhere Liverpool are lining up a bid for Santa Cruz which i think will help them alot (i really rated Santa Cruz at Blackburn)

Liverpool will be ok. Mid table this season but certainly not relegation. I think they'll stick with Roy Hodgeson unless the new owners have got someone else in mind

Saw Palace against Milwall on Saturday. Fucking shite. But a good win tonight and when Darren Ambrose comes back and Neil Danns (ish) we should be ok.

Zilina is doing fuckall in Champions League. 3 games, 3 losses, 1 goal shot.

Rooney's fate seems more down to whether Fergie will forgive his last few 'transgressions'. There's mixed messages. Some say Man City, some say Real Madrid, others say it's brinksmanship from his agents while they try and work out a new contract.

I'm not sure how much Man U would get for him. His value has to have dropped since last season. I'd not be surprised if the Glazers want to sell him simply to help pay off their debt but that'd just cause even more fan unrest if the money they got didn't go towards buying a top quality replacement. It certainly never happened with the money made from selling Ronaldo. While Rooney's out of form, I don't think they have much on offer without him. Berbatov is too inconsistent, Scholes and Giggs are way too old to build a team around. Without Rooney, Nani's about their only really top draw player. I'd definitely not be surprised if this is the season they end up dropping behind Man City, even with Rooney still onboard.

Like you, I don't think Liverpool will go down. But then I'm reminded of that West Ham team that, with Defoe, DiCanio, Carrick and Joe Cole were considered too good to go down and that's exactly what happened. I'll be surprised if they go down, but not that surprised. Be interesting if Joe Cole ends up playing for two relegated teams that get were considered to good to.

which kind is the west ham?



ok, stupid joke, but who'd name a team that way?

i think rooney's off to either man city, arsenal or chelsea. i just cant see him going to real madrid or anyone else for that matter. i doubt anyone else will be able to afford him.

jesus H Christ tonight.

We were taken to school over the course of the game, its just that Bale is so much better than everyone that allowed us to have the comeback. It was just amazing to watch as a Yiddo, and thats why id never support Chelsea and their big money

These mad games happen if ur a Spurs fan, the problem is we got no points from the game, and every big club is gonna be in for him at Xmas. I really really hope we keep him cos i was blasting him 2 years ago when he got sent off and played like a donkey, he's better than anyone at Man U and if we're gonna challenge them we need him.

BAAAAALE
BAAAAALE
BAAAAALE
BAAAAALE!

That's something I feel really strongly about. Big teams poaching players from smaller ones the moment they begin to shine or when the club they play for has a wobble is killing league football. West Ham's Academy is now little more than a finishing school for the uber rich clubs. You say how Spurs need Bale to challenge teams like Man U, and I agree. But then how much more successful would West Ham be had they managed to keep Lampard, Defoe, Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Glen Johnson and Michael Carrick - to name players from just one generation of its academy? That's not a pro West Ham comment or an anti-Spurs one so much as saying that, right now, unless you're Real Madrid, Chelsea, Man City or Barcelona, you're in the same boat.

we've not got a bad academy either and i get a sinking when i see players like Natahaniel Clyne and Wilfred Zahar play. You know they'll be gone over the summer. Same as Victor Moses.
The frustrating thing is they'll go to a club and sit on the bench for a few years! Wayne Routledge went to spurs and didn't play. Moses went to Wigan and rarely gets a game, Ben Watson did ok but hasn't really set the premiership alight.

If those kind of players stay where they are, their team will have more chance of success. (sulk)

Precisely. Academies used to be a great way to nurture home grown talent in a way that reflects the ethos of the club, but now they're little more than factories to grow talent to sell to richer clubs for a profit. All clubs do it to some degree, poaching players from the lower divisions. I'm not sure what can be done about it on a legal level, but the system just seems designed to favour clubs that're already at the top of the pile. Bale originally came from Southampton, after all, so, to a Southampton fan, Spurs losing him to say Man City is no different than them losing him to Spurs.

It's a culture thing more than it is a legal one. I remember growing up (cue violins) at a time when West Ham were able to keep a top international player like Trevor Brooking for the entire length of his playing career, even at times when the club was firmly established in the then second division. No way would something like that happen now.

fuck sake Rooney just signed a 5 year deal at utd!

Alan Hanson's gonna have a field day with this!

Yeah, I heard that too. i'm genuinely surprised. More significant news, from a fan's perspective, is that it now looks like Portsmouth will be shut down for good. Even sadder than that is that it'll probably make no difference at all to the way other clubs go about their business. A good day for Man U fans but a bad day for football more generally.

the bbc had a story today saying that it looks like pompey will be safe.

but your right, clubs wont learn

It could be worse, we could be Feyenoord fans:

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archive..._feyenoord.php

Poor old Pokkeherrie

Paul the Octopus is dead!

(i should wright headlines for the Sun)

Yeah, that was terrible... and a thankful topic for jokes with 010 also being the area code for Rotterdam.
I was actually in London when that happened and only found out a day later via a text message from a friend, while I was on my way of catching a tube train that never came because someone was pushed under it. Of course at first I couldn't believe it... the 10-0 beating I mean, not that someone got pushed under the tube train.

But there's good news too. As of this week, thanks to a financial injection Feyenoord's debt got reduced from €43 million to just €26 million. Of course a debt like that is peanuts compared to Real Madrid's, etc, but it's an awful lot of money for a team competing in the Dutch league. Still no money for new signings sadly.

Doesn't Ian Write wright for the Sun?

(sorry)

*oops*

Yeah, I heard about that. Alot of clubs in the UK are other on the brink or just brought back from it. Looks like it's not just a British problem.

When all else seems lost

Theres always Benoit Assou Ekotto

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...ute-shaer.html

i've just seen the Nani goal on youtube. Absolute nonsense!
there's no way it should stand. I've seen various arguments from utd fans saying Gomes was atfault for trying to take the free kick 10 yards up the pitch from the handball but thats bollocks.
the linesman should have clarified to the ref that Nani handled the ball and the free kick should have been given. End of story.
Nani should then have been bokked for being a cunt

although i agree you should play to the whistle, the linesman could/should have sorted it when he spoke to the ref

It seems to be a weird one. Clattenburg is saying he let Spurs play the advantage and that he'd indicated to Gomes that it was his ball to play, expecting him to hoof it upfield for a Spurs attack. By the letter of the law I don't think Clattenburg did anything wrong but it does seem a bit hard on Spurs to have conceded as a result of it. It's a tall ask but the thing would've been for Nani to pass the ball back to Gomes rather than shoot, as a sporting gesture. But then he'd have been crucified by his own fans - and Nani doesn't strike me as being a particularly sportsman-like player, anyway.

that might be what's winding most people up.
He dives, handles the ball, then scores and celebrates like that...

he is a git and by the letter of the law he he didn't do anything wrong by playing to the whistle, but he is a git and yeah, Gomes didn't play to the whiste and all that but he's a git!

To quote Richard LittleJohn; "YOU COULDNT MAKE IT U!!!!P!!!!"

Clattenberg is the one who did the legendary Pedro Mendes incident from 5 odd years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WevC_zuu2n4



By the sound of it we werent gonna get back into it anyway, but ive got tonight to look forward to, i hope we arent tired out by the mad schedule of the last 2 weeks, and as long as we dont get found out like the first leg we might get something against Inter.
Being a Spurs fan is all about hoping for the best and expecting the worst.

i am avoiding the clattenburg incident on this thread by saying typical of the man....... shrugg the spurs players away and invite rio the ferdinand over for a chat with him and the linesman! when is a hand ball not a handball???? when its at old trafford....

damn..i did say id avoid it..

oh well

INTER!!! YES! GO ON THE SPURS! best game ive ever seen the spurs play..incredible game, incredible match and gareth bale is a fucking legend!!!

 

yeah, Clattenburg fucked up the other day just like the Pedro Mendes Goal

But lets celebrate the fact we beat the EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS! Ive been waiting for this since i was 8 years old, ive been forced to endure Arsenal fans lording it over me that entire time, I remember when they won the league by beating us at The Lane. I think we've earned the celebration tht this performance deserves.

every time the french have the ball around our box there's 4 or 5 of them.

every (!) time we get the ball near their box there's 1 or maybe 2

Even though it's a non-competition match, Portugal is pretty much owning Spain. 2-0 at 60', with total domination. This would be unthinkable, a few months ago. And the referee invalidated a clean Ronaldo goal, which would probably be one of the best of his career.

EDIT: 3-0, haha, what the fuck!

EDIT 2: And here's the best almost-goal of 2010: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-2nNoyfn-Y

EDIT 3: Make it 4-0, rotfl.

good result for newcastle today, great start for Pardew. Still can't get over Hughton getting sacked (and replaced by Pardew?!?!?)

how long before Avram Grant gets shown the door?

Pardew can't take any credit for the result. They were Hughton's players.

Grant should already be gone but Gold and Sullivan don't want to buy out his contract. The way things are, West Ham are definitely gonna get relegated. Even if they did sack Avram, who would they get to replace him who'd a) be an improvement and b) willing to work under the owners?

Metrodome collapsed yo!

Did you see the footage? Quite the sight! Much like the end of Brett Farve's career unfortunately (I mean shit, he is still nailing passes like a sniper and playing with injuries like the damned Terminator but without a team to match it what is it worth?)

maradona to manage blackburn!!! oh how i laugh!

The scariest rumour I've heard is him being linked to West Ham. Honestly, I'd rsather we got relegated than adopt Allardyce's brand of anti-football.

ac milan!!!!! mildy and cautiously optimistic for the cl knockout stages!!!

Im happier with that than most, we will definitely do better against a big name than we would have done against a plucky team that plays like Bolton.
As long as we have RVDV and Modric fit we look good.