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Jennifer1984 On July 20, 2022
Returner and proud





Penzance, United Kingdom
#1891New Post! Dec 18, 2018 @ 12:32:25
Jose Maurinho sacked by Manchester United.

I always said they should have kept Louis van Gaal in the job.

United panicked when they found out that City had acquired Pep Guardiola. They needed a big name to counter City's acquisition and Maurinho ticked several boxes.

a. He wanted the job. He'd wanted it for years.
b. He had a proven track record when it came to winning the Premier League
c. He'd won the Champions League with two different clubs.
d. Some speculated that Maurinho would be able to get into Guardiola's head and psyche him out when it came to the big matches.

And so United threw a shedload of Chevrolet's money at Maurinho and told him to go and spend it on players.

He bought Paul Pogba..!!! A player who had previously left United on a Bosman to join Juventus. He wasn't exactly wished well on his way. Sralex said at the time: "It is disappointing. I don't think he showed us any respect at all, to be honest. I'm quite happy that if they [footballers] carry on that way, they're probably better doing it away from us."

Ooooooo,miaow.

Juve must have been laughing their heads off when they asked for £89 million and United only went and paid it..!! I wonder what the Hogfather thinks of that every time he sits in the stand, glowering down at the pitch and watching Pogba NOT perform.

Other moderate signings haven't exactly worked out either Mikhail Mkitarian joined, flopped and buggered off to Arsenal. Lukaku can't buy a goal but gets picked every week while Marcus Rashford warms the bench.

United currently sit 6th in the Premier League, which wouldn't be an irretrievable situation at this point in any other season. But the lowly (by their standards) position is exacerbated by them being 19 points behind Liverpool and out of the League Cup, having to face PSG in the knockout stages of the Champions League and probably having only the FA Cup to play for

Meanwhile at Eastlands.... City are just one point off top spot with Liverpool to still come to theirs. Injured players such as de Bruyne and Aguero are close to a return to fitness, and the Champions League draw has given them a much less difficult task of reaching the Quarter Finals by pairing them with Shalke 04.

If I were a gambling girl I know who I would put my money on.

Early favourite for the United job is Mauricio Pochettino at Spurs. He must be frustrated at not being able to put something shiny in the Spurs trophy cabinet, despite having built the best team Spurs have had since the early-mid 1980's.

I'm sure that, if offered the Old Trafford job, he would be tempted. Most would be.

But I'd hope that he'd be a man of more integrity than that. Spurs have been good to him, the players bust a gut for him on the field and the fans worship him. It would be a shame if he were to just up and leave without ever having given the Tottenham faithful something to remember him by other than a lot of "nearly's"..

His position at Spurs is secure whereas at Old Trafford his role will probably be that of being appointed as Manchester United's next former manager. He might find himself asking which of the two he favours more.

Time will tell.
Jennifer1984 On July 20, 2022
Returner and proud





Penzance, United Kingdom
#1892New Post! Dec 20, 2018 @ 06:30:50
League Cup Quarter Finals Roundup

So... we're now down to the last four in the competition. Manchester City, Spurs, Chelsea and..... er..... Burton Albion.

The Brewers did brilliantly to beat Middlesbrough at the Riverside and have been rewarded with a semi final tie with Manchester City. Surely a bridge too far for them, but hey, haven't they done well...!!

City played several youngsters, including two debutants at Leicester but more tellingly, gave a start to Kevin de Bruyne and Sergio Aguero, both slowly recovering from injuries. KdB took all of 20 minutes to completely flat foot the Leicester goalie with a shot from 18 yards that hit the net before he even realised it was coming.

Mark Albrighton hit an equaliser as Leicester came back into the game when KdB and Aguero were replaced in the second half. The game went to penalties and City saw that out 3-1.

Chelsea struggled to overcome a resolute Bournemouth but Hazard's wickedly deflected shot somehow found the far corner of the goal six minutes from time to see Blues over the line. This was the first match at the Bridge since the Raheem Stirling incident and their fans were on best behaviour, which made for a somewhat subdued atmosphere.

In the North London dust-up at the Highbury Library, Spurs eased it. Arsenal were nothing like the pumped-up war machine they were in the second half at Wembley two weeks ago. Spurs were always in control and goals by Son, a clinical finish after he broke the offside trap, and Ali, who totally wrong-footed Cech with an "I'll-look-one-way-and-put-the-ball-in-the-other-side" chip to make it 2-0. Game over.

Shame on the moron who threw a plastic bottle at Ali that bounced off his head harmlessly, but all the same, there will be repercussions. It would take more than an empty plastic bottle to hurt something as thick as Dele Alli's head but it's the act that counts, not the object.

The FA have to get a grip on this. Identify and ban the idiot. And ban him for life. If they don't, it will encourage the idiots and today it might be a plastic bottle, but tomorrow it will be a brick.

I think Spurs should beat Chelsea in the semi. Just. It will be close and both teams are well matched when they have their 1st XI's out. But I think Spurs want it more. Pochettino needs that trophy and the players really want to give it to him and their long-suffering supporters.

Spurs have just that little more 'desire', I reckon and that could be the difference.

Getting back to Burton Albion who are managed by Nigel Clough, son of the old Derby County and Nott'm Forest warhorse, Brian. It would be quite poignant if he could get the team to Wembley in this of all competitions. Old Man Cloughie won the League Cup 4 times and, when some managers were dismissing the competition as an unwelcome distraction (some still do), he used to say it was worth winning because by March, Forest would have a trophy on the table and would be qualified for next season's UEFA Cup (now Europa League). Tangible reward for the effort. I can see where he was coming from.

Son Nigel played in the last two of Clough Senior's wins, in 1989 (scored twice in the 3-1 win over Luton) and in 1990 against Oldham.

Wouldn't it be one for the old man if his son - who he would always refer to as "Our number 9" in his Forest days, rather than call him by name, - got his team to a major cup final at Wembley, just like dad did. I think old Cloughie would be looking down from his cloud and saying "Well done, young man."

I can't see Burton getting past City. Not over two legs. If the match were a one-off tie then there would be the hope that Brewers could hang on for 90 minutes, take it to pens and perhaps get through. But in a two-leg tie, I think City will unpick forest like a loosely made pullover. Sad, but that's professional sport these days.

Still.... Burton are in the Semis. Kinda gives you faith in the Gods of sport, doesn't it..?
Jennifer1984 On July 20, 2022
Returner and proud





Penzance, United Kingdom
#1893New Post! Jan 03, 2019 @ 23:45:17
Manchester City 2 Liverpool 1.

The Premier League title race is back on.

Liverpool have had their lead at the top of the Premier League reduced to 4 points and lost their unbeaten league record this season after going down at Eastlands.

Aguerooooooooooooooooo in the first half and Leroy Sane, with an "in-off-both-posts" winner about 10 minutes after Firminho equalised with a diving header from two yards out - just his kinda range..!!

Liverpool nearly scored first when a dreadful mix up between Stones and goalkeeper Ederson resulted in the ball first hitting the post, then Stones' attempted clearance cannoned back off Ederson's head and rolled towards the goal. Stones recovered in time to hack the ball off the goal line, through Salah's legs, as he tried to sweep the ball into the net.

Hawkeye later revealed that the ball failed to cross the goal line by 11mm.

City boss Pep Guardiola was lucky not to be sent to the stand after going berserk at the fourth official in the second half when two clear Liverpool fouls were missed by the referee and the resultant move nearly led to a second Liverpool equaliser. Pep eventually calmed down and kept his temper in check for the rest of the match.

City deserved this win. They were the better team throughout except for ten minutes or so in the second half when Liverpool scored their goal. Aguero was a livewire up front and his goal was a sublime control-spin-and-rifle the ball into the roof of the net from a sharp angle.

Van Dijk is turning out to be an inspired signing for Klopp Of The Kop and if Liverpool do win the title I think Van Dijk will be one of the main reasons for it.

So..... City have taken four points from six off Liverpool this season. It would have been all six if Mahrez had scored that last gasp penalty at Anfield in October. He should never have taken the kick, but he ripped the ball out of Gabriel Jesus' hands so he could take it himself.... and then belted it wildly over the bar.

He'd never have taken that ball off Aguero. Sergio would have decked him first. And Sergio would have scored.

Notably, Mahrez wasn't in the City line up tonight.

So... Liverpool are on 54 points, City on 50 and Spurs on 49. This is shaping up into one heck of a title race.
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#1894New Post! Jan 24, 2019 @ 05:54:43
Top win for Killie over the zombie hun.
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#1895New Post! Jan 25, 2019 @ 02:18:24
In a really strange move Monaco have suspended their manager Thierry Henry whilst they decide his future at the club.
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#1896New Post! Jan 25, 2019 @ 02:20:22
Just 3 pts btw 1st and 4th in the SP.
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#1897New Post! Jan 25, 2019 @ 03:09:48
Anyone who watched the last world cup would know that Pogba is a quality player, and under Solskjaer he is having a real impact in the EPL.
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#1898New Post! Jan 28, 2019 @ 08:41:41
Well done Monaco. In October they sacked Leonardo Jardim and replaced him with Thierry Henry, and now in January they have sacked Henry and replaced him with Jardim (who should never have been sacked in the first place).
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#1899New Post! Feb 03, 2019 @ 17:42:56
Bayern's surprise loss to Leverkusen in the Bundesliga means that they have slipped to 7 pts off the pace.
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#1900New Post! Feb 03, 2019 @ 17:45:17
Meanwhile Monaco welcomed back Jardim with a 2-1 victory over Toulouse.
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#1901New Post! Feb 05, 2019 @ 14:16:10
Was great to see PSG finally lose a match.
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#1902New Post! Feb 09, 2019 @ 16:33:29
Dortmund have blown a 3-0 lead at home against Hoffenheim. Final score was 3-3. That's 2 very valuable points dropped. Bayern now have the chance to close the gap as they host Schalke.
Jennifer1984 On July 20, 2022
Returner and proud





Penzance, United Kingdom
#1903New Post! Feb 10, 2019 @ 22:12:05
Manchester City 6 Chelsea 0

Yep, you read that right. City have completely mullah'd Chelsea at Eastlands with Aguero equalling Alan Shearer's record of 11 Premier League hat tricks. It's likely, on his current form, that he'll go beyond that record before the season is out. Go Sergio..!!

City were 4-0 up in 20 minutes. Chelsea were in danger of being blown away.

Sterling fired home from an acute angle after 3 minutes and then a Sterling cross from the right left Aguero with a wide open goal from two yards..... and he put it wide..!! Shock Horror..!! Eastlands was stunned into silence.

Brief respite though. Three minutes later he picked up the ball 20 yards out and belted into the top right hand corner. All the keeper could do was wave to it as it flew past him into the net.

Aguero picked up a second goal, loitering with intent in the six yard box, miles offside, but the ball was headed back by a Chelsea defender and he hooked the ball into the net.

Ilkay Gundowan fired City's fourth from the edge of the penalty area and it was game over in effect.

Chelsea rallied and played keep-ball for most of the rest of the first half. They didn't get anywhere near scoring themselves, but they prevented City from getting any more.

After half time, Sterling teased Rudiger into a rash tackle and Aguero completed his hat trick with the resultant penalty.

Sterling completed the rout when the brilliant Kevin De Bruyne played one of his laser-precision passes to Bernado Silva to cross for a five yard tap-in.

Gary Neville speculated during the commentary about Sarri's future at Chelsea. Roman Abramovic is never scared to sack a failing manager.

Sarri himself stormed away from the dug out at the final whistle, walking straight past Pep Guardiola who came to him for the traditional post-match handshake. Zola stepped in to do the honours on his boss's behalf and I'm sure Pep won't make an issue of it.

City go top again on goal difference but Liverpool have a game in hand. They're going to have to keep winning to stay ahead with City in this form. They've got their mojo back and they want to retain that title.

City play Chelsea at Wembley in the League Cup final in two weeks time. Quite how this mauling will affect the Chelsea players.... and whether or not they've got a boss by then.... is anybody's guess.

Manchester City have never retained a trophy before. They are the current League Cup holders and will start the final as red hot favourites to break that particular duck.
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#1904New Post! Feb 17, 2019 @ 08:21:15
Another win for Jardim and Monaco. The club are now out of the relegation zone.
Jennifer1984 On July 20, 2022
Returner and proud





Penzance, United Kingdom
#1905New Post! Feb 17, 2019 @ 18:43:11
FA Cup Round 5.... er.... roundup.

A very open cup competition this season with only three of the top six left in the tournament, and two of those have to play each other in Round 5 meaning there will be six teams from outside the top 6 in Round 6.

Newport County put up a spirited display at Rodney Parade. Newport RFC beat a full strength All Blacks XV there in a tour match in 1963. It was going to take a performance of similar magnitude by their round ball counterparts to overcome Manchester City last night in the cup.

Newport have already beaten Leicester City and Middlesbrough to reach Round 5 and Pep Guardiola paid them the compliment of fielding a strong team. He did not intend there to be a similar humiliation at the Round 5 stage as last season's defeat at Wigan.

It took City until around the 60th minute to break down Newport's stubborn resistance when Leroy Sane's powerful shot hit Newport goalkeeper Day full in his face and bounced into the net, leaving Newport 1-0 down and Day with a bloody nose.

Exciting young prospect Phil Foden, just turned 18 hit a powerful second and it looked like game over, although Padraig Amond stuck out a boot, bamboozled the hapless Otamendi (what does Guardiola see in him..?) and lobbed Ederson on 89 minute to give the game what might have been a grandstand finish.... that is, if Foden hadn't gone downfield straight from the restart and smashed his second goal. 61 seconds between Amond's and Foden's goals. So much for grandstand finishes. Mahrez rifled the fourth past Day just to rub the salt in.

So, Newport's gutsy cup run is over. They've made a few quid out of it, given themselves some glory and their fans have had something to relieve the gloom of being 15th in League Two. But Manchester City on this form don't take prisoners.


Earlier in the day Brighton had beaten the club now known as Frank Lampard's Derby County. They used to be simply Derby Country but since Lamps took over as manager DCFC are now FLDCFC.

No matter. Brighton scored two first half goals in a strong performance just to remind his lordship what he might look forward to if he achieves promotion to the Prem next season.

A more cynical edge is being noticed in the FLDCFC team this season. Jersey pulling, cynical fouling and elbows to opponents heads when the referees back is turned have become prevalent. Watch out, Frank. VAR will be in place next season in the EPL. Your boys will get caught. Final score: 2-1 to Brighton.

Millwall managed to squeak past AFC Wimbledon in probably the most hard fought tie of the round. A 5th minute goal was enough to put the Spanners through but as usual the CBL disgraced themselves with reports of fighting and mayhem outside the ground after the game. When will the FA do something about this club..? Nobody knows, but it's long overdue.

Having said that, the action on the pitch was frenetic and the Dons can count themselves unlucky. They twice hit the post and once the crossbar. The pace of the match was relentless and the tackling so fierce the ball had to be taken off on a stretcher after the game. 0-1 to the Spanners.

QPR and Watford scrapped their way through a tight confrontation at the Shepherds Bush matchbox (Loftus Road). Veteran goalkeeper Auerlio Gomez announced his retirement at the end of the season at the age of 38. Shame. He's been very popular since arriving in England seven seasons ago. The Hornets may have a hard job finding a replacement of similar quality for the money.

Capoue's first half stoppage time strike was enough to win the tie although the Hoops were unlucky with several shots that required all of Gomez's experience to deal with. Watford were glad to hear the final whistle. 0-1 Watford.

Sunday's matches were pretty much routine as far as the scorelines went.

Crystal Palace cruised through almost unopposed by Doncaster Rovers. A steady, competent performance by the Eagles and Donny never really threatened. 0-2 Palace

Dull as dishwater at Ashton Gate between Bristol City and Wolves. City appearing in round 5 for the first time in nearly 40 years were confident going into the game. They had won every match they've played in all competitions so far in 2019. Until this afternoon.

But once Cavaleiro fired Wolves ahead after slick play down the right on the half hour, the game died a death. City had nothing to offer and Wolves were able to see the game out without too much effort. 0-1 Wolves. Yawn.

The only really interesting confrontation came at the Liberty Stadium. Swansea trailed Brentford 0-1 at half time but roared back after the interval, battering the Bees with wave after wave of attacks. An og by Daniels (49 mins), and goals by James (53), Celina (66) and Byers (90) wrapped up a comfortable 4-1 win for the Swans.

So.......

Only one tie left in the round. Chelsea take on Manchester United at the Bridge tomorrow night. Chelsea need to find their mojo again after their mauling at Eastlands last Sunday and United have to recover from the midweek Champions League lesson handed out to them by PSG at Old Trafford.

Chelsea still have the League Cup to play for, but they face.... guess who... Yep, Manchester City at Wembley next Sunday in the final. And with the mood that Pep's boys are in right now, good luck with that Chelsea.

And so it is likely that the FA Cup will be both clubs only chance of getting something shiny on the sideboard this season. One of them will go through and for the other, their season could be as good as over.... with all the repercussions that that entails.

And for whoever goes through, the sky blue menace of Manchester City lurks shark-like in the draw which takes place tomorrow evening.

The competition is as wide open as it has been since 2008 when Portsmouth and Cardiff City played out the final. The lesser teams will fancy picking up one of the final places if the two remaining big boys get drawn against each other.

It's all to play for.
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