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Post by Earl Purple on Sept 2, 2011 9:25:23 GMT 1
We would be top of ours if we hadn't let that lead slip against Scunthorpe, still we are 2nd and joint top on points, this is way better than I had expected, and we bounced back from that aberration very quickly, which is the most important thing really as you are always going to have averse results and poor performances in a season but you mustn't let that affect you.
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Post by o on Sept 2, 2011 10:00:31 GMT 1
Glad to see that the Stags are finally getting some good results and climbing the table, Darlo away next, I'd love another clean sheet.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Sept 10, 2011 17:20:25 GMT 1
I was always going to reassess my prediction at the end of Aug depending on whether Long was still at the club and our start to the season. Long has gone of course and we may have strengthened the 3 areas that needed to be, left-back, centre-back and striker, which was a bit of a bonus as i only expected 1 or 2 signings, but we're not stronger without Long even with those players and with the August we had its going to be a long old season.. Today's 0-2 home defeat to Watford only emphasised that. At this rate I may not be back before Christmas, it was already unlikely i'd be going in Oct.
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Post by Earl Purple on Apr 14, 2012 22:16:18 GMT 1
Team:Southampton Greatest hope this season:Beat Portsmouth twice and finish above them in the table. Where will you finish?Mid-table. Hopefully comfortable mid-table, as opposed to late season surge to mid-table. You didn't manage to beat Portsmouth twice but I guess you'd swap that for what you did actually achieve.
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Post by Earl Purple on Apr 14, 2012 22:22:28 GMT 1
Team: Charlton Athletic
Greatest hope this season: Promotion, of course. A lot of new signings in the summer, we need to see what they can do
Biggest fear: Either that the players take too long to gel or that Chris Powell is simply not cut out to be first team manager and gets all the tactics wrong.
Most important player: Bradley Wright-Philiips will probably need to score large numbers of goals.
Terrace favourite: Scott Wagstaff is home-grown and has been at the club a long time and it would be nice if he could fit in and have a good season.
Young player to watch: Yado Mambo has made it into the full squad at the age of 19. He is a defender and not sure how much first-team action he will get.
Player you'd happily drive to his next club: Paul Benson, never really rated him.
One change you'd make at your club: Ok we'll give the manager a chance and I wouldn't want him to have to leave the club but maybe someone more experienced at first-team managing for now with him as assistant.
Have you got the right manager? No, I don't think so.
What advice would you give him? Ensure the confidence of the team remains even after a defeat.
Which team do you most want to beat this season? Huddersfield
Best away ground to visit: Possibly Hillsborough, but unlikely to go there.
Opposition player you despise: None
Opposition player you secretly admire: Also none.
Where will you finish? Unfortunately probably 9th after a bad start, firing the manager, then a run too late.
I underestimated Chris Powell who did a great job. We did have back-to-back defeats once, both at home against Colchester and Notts County. We have now achieved promotion with 94 points and a few games still to play. We did beat Huddersfield and ended their run. Unfortunately we lost to them away but we got 10 points out of a possible 12 from the Sheffield clubs, albeit we got only 2 against each of Tranmere and Scunthorpe were draws in our games against those clubs so you never know where you are going to drop points even in a very successful season. Paul Benson didn't play for the club and went on loan to Swindon, the team who beat us in the playoffs 2 years ago then got relegated albeit getting Parkinson sacked first. Now they seem to be back in League One but won't be bothering us next season even there as we enjoy games against Millwall, Crystal Palace and possibly West Ham if they fail to go up.
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Elmer
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Post by Elmer on Apr 15, 2012 11:42:36 GMT 1
I was always going to reassess my prediction at the end of Aug depending on whether Long was still at the club and our start to the season. Long has gone of course and we may have strengthened the 3 areas that needed to be, left-back, centre-back and striker, which was a bit of a bonus as i only expected 1 or 2 signings, but we're not stronger without Long even with those players and with the August we had its going to be a long old season.. Today's 0-2 home defeat to Watford only emphasised that. At this rate I may not be back before Christmas, it was already unlikely i'd be going in Oct. What's your assessment now Tom ? ;-)
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Tom
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*Of Royal Blood*
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Post by Tom on Apr 15, 2012 16:25:58 GMT 1
I was always going to reassess my prediction at the end of Aug depending on whether Long was still at the club and our start to the season. Long has gone of course and we may have strengthened the 3 areas that needed to be, left-back, centre-back and striker, which was a bit of a bonus as i only expected 1 or 2 signings, but we're not stronger without Long even with those players and with the August we had its going to be a long old season.. Today's 0-2 home defeat to Watford only emphasised that. At this rate I may not be back before Christmas, it was already unlikely i'd be going in Oct. What's your assessment now Tom ? ;-) At the end of Jan I reassessed things again taking that view quoted as a starting point. After the signings we made I thought mid-table prob top-half, didn't want to get too carried away, and also didn't think Roberts would have the impact he's had, though he showed promising signs on his debut. We may have achieved a record number of points when winning promotion in 2006 (with a 33-match unbeaten streak along the way), and then finished 8th in the Prem the following year, but if we win the title this season I would regard this season as our best ever season. It really would be that staggering an achievement imo (finishing 2nd would equal 2006 and 2007). We didn't win a single away game against a Top 6 side in 2006 as I recall but we've already won 2 this season (3 if Boro make the playoffs). I've actually noticed a few things that are similar to 2006 in the last few months or so, but i'll save those for another time if promotion is clinched!
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Post by Earl Purple on Apr 16, 2012 22:47:25 GMT 1
Reading winning the championship was one of my predictions this season. I didn't predict great things for Charlton though. I guess one goes into a season pessimistic (unless you're a Man U fan).
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Post by o on Apr 17, 2012 9:55:20 GMT 1
Speaking of pessimism, I hoped our new manager would make the playoffs, but never believed it would happen after 3 previous finishes of 12th 9th and 12th! So pleased to be in with a shout this season. I'm not sure we're strong enough to beat Kiddy, York, Luton, Wrexham or whoever, but we shall see, we are unbeaten against York, and have beaten Wrexham 3-1 at thier place this season.
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Tom
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*Of Royal Blood*
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Post by Tom on Apr 20, 2012 17:09:33 GMT 1
What's your assessment now Tom ? ;-) At the end of Jan I reassessed things again taking that view quoted as a starting point. After the signings we made I thought mid-table prob top-half, didn't want to get too carried away, and also didn't think Roberts would have the impact he's had, though he showed promising signs on his debut. We may have achieved a record number of points when winning promotion in 2006 (with a 33-match unbeaten streak along the way), and then finished 8th in the Prem the following year, but if we win the title this season I would regard this season as our best ever season. It really would be that staggering an achievement imo (finishing 2nd would equal 2006 and 2007). We didn't win a single away game against a Top 6 side in 2006 as I recall but we've already won 2 this season (3 if Boro make the playoffs). I've actually noticed a few things that are similar to 2006 in the last few months or so, but i'll save those for another time if promotion is clinched! Those similarities to 2006 - Gorkss and Pearce not missing a game, or being sent off, a la Ingi and Sonko. Also a midweek away game on Valentines Day and then a Sky game on the Friday the same week – an exact repeat of 2006. Didn't think too much about the former - when i noticed that around Jan time there was still a long way to go and I always feared that one might miss game(s) before the season was over anyway. The latter was the moment when I started to think promotion was possible (though not automatically). I was struck by what a possible good omen it was. There was an interesting discussion about 2006 v 2012 on the fans forum this week. It was a close run thing but 2012 just edged it.
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Post by raliverpool on May 4, 2012 21:22:37 GMT 1
I'm doing this now prior to the most important game of the season which will define everything in terms of an end of season review. Team:Liverpool FC Greatest hope this season:King Kenny delivers the elusive 19th title Biggest fear:We'll go backwards with a near permanently injured Stevie G; waste of money purchases Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing, etc; and a lack of quality in defence The phrase "a pessimist is never disappointed" comes to mind. It's been a F***in disaster in the Premiership. If we fail to beat Chelski at home in the League then it will be the clubs worst ever season in term of home wins in the League since the 1903-4 season (when there were only 17 home games); if we finish lower than 8th it will be the worst ever season since regaining a place in the top flight of football at the end of 1961–62.
On a hidden part of a well known independent Liverpool FC internet forum (for posters who have posted over a certain level of posts who have not been weeded out as WUMS), there is a thread where you post doctored images of Carroll; Downing; Henderson & Adam in various images of a certain 1960s pop combo. Hence they are known as "the Flop Four" rather than the Fab Four. (Think of classic Harry Enfield "The Three Scousers" sketches where they are squabbling amongst themselves, but the minute an outsider comes along and makes a similar critical point they unite to defend themselves (in this case the team, player, manager, etc)). Personally, Henderson has potential to become worth the money LFC paid for him, Adam was a gamble at the price which was worth paying, Carroll has played like a £15m player carrying £20m in £1 coins on the pitch; and I always thought Downing was a small team player lacking a big team mentality who was overrated at Middlesborough, overrated by Aston Villa & overrated by England. Most important player:Luis Suárez Right now he is the only world class player we have left in the squad.
You've got to tip your hat off to Fergie, he waited 25 years to get revenge after his greatest career humiliation and boy oh boy did he pull it off with interest. (As the ever "neutral" tabloids portrayed the whole unsavoury Evra v Suarez business in a balanced manner ..... NOT!!! )
For those of you not aware after the death of Scotland's manager Jock Stein at the final World cup qualifier versus Wales in September 1985, his assistant & Aberdeen manager Alex Ferguson (who incidentally got sent off a then European record of six times in his playing career before retiring in 1974) took over as the national manager on a part-time basis including leading the side in the 1986 World Cup. Despite Liverpool FC doing the League & Cup double that season Ferguson omitted from the squad Liverpool club captain Alan Hansen, much to the media's considerable surprise. Alan Hansen's team-mate & good friend Liverpool player manager Kenny Dalglish (who was Scotland's record capped player (102), equal top goalscorer (30), set to play in his 4th World Cup (which would have been a Scottish record) then pulled out of the squad at the 11th hour due to a knee injury on the advice of a specialist surgeon that required an operation so he would be ready to play at the start of the following season. (By all accounts the then & current Liverpool manager had a very colourful language, opinionated, contentious phone conversation with the future Manchester United manager).
The much fancied Scottish team under Fergie lost their opening two group fixtures, before playing Uruguay in the final match (for which Fergie dropped Liverpool legend Graeme Souness), where a win would have still meant they qualified for a place in the last sixteen knock out phase. Scotland got off to the perfect start when Uruguay were reduced to 10 men in the first minute. But a lack lustre Scotland failed to score in the remaining 89 minutes resulting in Uruguay qualifying to the Knockout stages at Scotland's expense. Annoyed by Uruguay's cynical play acting, time wasting and gamesmanship, the Scottish FA's chairman labelled Uruguay "Animals" (an echo of the aftermath to the 1966 WC fixture between England & Argentina). But Alex Ferguson went a bit further and labelled then "Cannibals" - which for those of you not aware is as big a national insult as you could give to a Uruguayan due to the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 (Andes flight disaster from 1972) which saw the eventual death of 29 University Rugby playing personnel, leaving 16 survivors who only survived the 72 days in the Andes mountain by resorting to cannibalism. The world's Spanish speaking media (& especially Uruguay went ballistic, with Alex Ferguson's comments being discussed in their Parliament) went ballistic, not least as the Western World's press and especially the British tabloids exploited the more lurid aspects of this plane crash 14 years previously. FIFA charged Alex Ferguson with bringing the game into disrepute, but as he resigned as Scotland's manager after the 1986 World Cup debacle, then his case did not go to tribunal. A few months later he became manager of Manchester United after first being approached about the idea in March 1986 by Sir Bobby Charlton (according to Patrick Barclay's biography on the Manchester United manager). Whilst he has always had a history of making captains in a similar image to himself. Such as Man Utd's highly intelligent current captain whom was "let go" by Paris St. Germain as a youth player after an altercation where his head made contact with the head of PSG's Youth Team manager; allegations in the French media that he deliberately played poorly at the start of the 2005-6 season after Monaco's manager (and close friend of Eric Cantona ... not) Didier Deschamps refused to sell him to Man Utd during the pre-season (resulting in him being sold to ..... Manchester United); in 2008 being charged with improper conduct an altercation with a Chelsea groundsman during a cool-down following a match, for which he was handed a four-match ban; was caught on camera in a 2004 French documentary on Monaco insulting Chelsea players passing the hotel where Monaco were staying including calling Frank Lampard a "honky"; was captain of the 2010 disastrous French World Cup team, who lead a player revolt against their coach (& Paul O'Grady lookalike) Raymond Domenech for which several former French footballing legends called for him to be banned from the National team for life. He was banned by the national team by the French FA for 5 matches.
Add to the mix Liverpool's only immediately successful signing under Kenny Dalglish, a Uruguayan national who has classic Latin-American temperament issues including at Ajax receiving a 7 match ban when he bit PSV's Otman Bakkal on the shoulder after the PSV player called him a "cannibal" (and received a 4 match ban, but the UK tabloids never mentions that); and is also responsible for arguably second most famous handball in world cup history ..... and you are about as likely to find a Liverpool fan who believe Patrice Evra was an innocent victim as you'll find LibDem MPs after the next UK General Election.
Roy Keane describing Patrice Evra as "a conniving creep" on ITV's coverage of this season's FA Cup tie between Man Utd & Liverpool was not missed.
Terrace favourite:Steven Gerrard & Jamie Carragher Young player to watch:Thanks to Rafa's efforts in the Youth set up we are not short of options but Conor Coady (is a future Liverpool & England midfield legend) Player you'd happily drive to his next club:Christian Poulsen (cheers Roy Hodgson) Stevie G's has become increasingly injury prone, his engine/work rate is not what it was, and he is increasingly reliant on poor man Beckham "Hollywood passes"; Carra is sadly a near total liability, and a hell of a lot of LFC fans are worried he will be selected for tomorrow's match and cost us the trophy.
Our youth team are second in the league behind Man City, (Man Utd's kids are currently bottom). They also reached the Semi Finals of the European Youth Club Cup, where Ajax predictably beat them. Conor Coady has played every single reserve game, but apart from a couple of squad appearances, he has yet to get off the bench. Raheem Sterling is now the player to look out for (whispers & crosses fingers a future new John Barnes in the making).
Poulsen has gone to French side Evian on a Full transfer; I'd say Stewart Downing would get close to 50% in a poll to be the next player most LFC fans would be glad to see the back of.One change you'd make at your club:None, after the Muppet Show nearly destroyed Liverpool, and destroyed Rafa (a must read: www.amazon.co.uk/Epic-Swindle-Months-Pair-Cowboys/dp/0857385992/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top ), we're in as good a place we could realistically wish for off the field. .... but a new 65,000 seater, and signing someone like Scott Dann in defence would be nice. Have you got the right manager?Is the Pope Catholic? What advice would you give him?Our manager knows what he is doing especially as he is ably assisted by Steve Clarke & Kevin Keen. Just try and get a Top 4 finish. Which team do you most want to beat this season?Manchester United (of course) Best away ground to visit:Goodison Park (for the atmosphere) Opposition player you despise:Dimitar Berbatov (the cheating diver always seems to have the hex over us, having taken over from Didier Drogba) Opposition player you secretly admire:Wayne Rooney Where will you finish? Anywhere between 3rd & 6th. I fear the two Manchester clubs will run away with the battle for the title. I've already written a long enough post, but this link with key quotes, graphs and stuff covers most of the rest:
swissramble.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/liverpool-keep-car-running.html
Kenny Dalglish wont be manager of LFC next season (indeed inside rumourmongering have suggested that he has handed in his notice in April when the day of the long knives occurred when all the PR team & lawyers were sacked for their cringeworthy handling of the Suarez case. By all accounts LFC should have called the Police in, they would have looked at the case, and it would have been chucked out due to lack of evidence, and is seeing out the season, so a new manager can be picked up in the managerial money go-round for minimal contract expense), like U2 & Madonna something that was truly special in the 1980s, was pretty good in the 1990s, is now tarnishing their legacy as time has moved on, and things have evolved (for better or worse). According to Rafa Benitez's good friend Guillem Balague, Damien Comolli was responsible for the price tag, but Kenny was responsible for deciding to go for Carroll instead of Huntelaar; and Downing instead of Mata. The bottom line for any manager is if new signings don't work (irrespective of the transfer fee paid) then the manager has to take some responsibility for it (not gelling).
I think it is fair to say most LFC fans appreciate how Wayne Rooney stayed neutral unlike some his team-mates in supporting his club captain's allegations, and was quality in condemning Arsenal moron and so called comedian Alan Davies' rant against Liverpool, and his condemnation of those Chelsea neanderthals who chanted during the minutes silence on the Anniversary of Hillsborough.
And it should take 0.0001 of a second to work out who has replaced Dimitar Berbatov in our disaffections.
Rumours are the next manager will be Spanish, but not necessarily the one who has been living in Merseyside for the past 18 months doing media work on ECL for Eurosport, Premier League for Spanish TV, and La Liga for Sky Sports. Whilst they look to persuade Luis Suarez to stay at the club (by all accounts PSG are after him as a priority for next season having had their 42.5 euros bid turned down during the transfer window), as he is understandably not happy as to how he has been treated in the UK. But LFC's American owners have seen our popularity worldwide & especially amongst the Spanish speaking world shoot upwards as a result of the perceived injustice of the Suarez case makes the trial of the former Ukraine leader Yulia Tymoshenko seem fair in comparison due to the British xenophobic colonialism and how the Spanish speaking media have noticed how John Terry is still regarded as a national hero in stark contrast to Luis Suarez, and are looking at avenues to maximise that potential.
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on May 4, 2012 22:07:43 GMT 1
did you hate berbatov cos he scored the best hatrick you have ever seen in a liverpool game. pretty much agree with liverpools signings. bellamy and enrique for a combined 4-5m have saved liverpool from a relegation battle, take 3 wins away over the season liverpool would be struggling to get to the magic 40 points. an fa cup for 100m of signings and a 35m failed new stadium project is a disaster.
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vastar iner
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I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,578
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Post by vastar iner on May 4, 2012 22:31:16 GMT 1
Just shows you how bad airline food is.
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Post by suedehead on May 5, 2012 15:28:54 GMT 1
Alan Davies was making a perfectly valid point but in a very clumsy way. Even if you don't agree with the point he was making you cannot defend the imbeciles who sent death threats.
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on May 5, 2012 16:17:36 GMT 1
bet he would try
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Post by Shireblogger on May 5, 2012 18:29:29 GMT 1
Team:Southampton Greatest hope this season:Beat Portsmouth twice and finish above them in the table. Biggest fear:Club gets put up for sale. Most important player:Rickie Lambert - can he perform as well (and as consistently) in the Championship as he did in League One ? Young player to watch:Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Not just Saints fans who are watching him. Scouts from Chelsea and Arsenal, amongst others, apparently. Player you'd happily drive to his next club:None. We'll need the deep squad this year, and all the obnoxious mercenaries left when the club went into administration a few years ago. Have you got the right manager?Absolutely. Nigel Adkins ticks all of the right boxes for me. Best away ground to visit:For me, Derby. My employer has a corporate box, so I get to join the prawn sandwich brigade for once. And it's only 20 minutes from home. [ Where will you finish?Mid-table. Hopefully comfortable mid-table, as opposed to late season surge to mid-table. As the season was drawing to a close I stopped posting for fear of tempting fate. But all's well that ends well, to borrow a quote. Needless to say, I've thoroughly enjoyed this season. Saints played really entertaining, attacking, passing football, and have definitely over achieved. For all of this, the credit goes to Nigel Adkins, who is the most down to earth, calm, reasonable, and confidence inspiring manager the Saints have had since Lawrie McMenemy. I think we'll struggle next year, but I don't really care. The club won't do anything stupid, is on a firm footing again, continues to develop exciting young talent, and will invest the Premiership money (and parachute payments, perhaps) wisely. Personally it's been a great season for me. I visited 4 new grounds - Doncaster, Blackpool, Peterborough and Middlesbrough. Loved the Riverside. Most enjoyable match was our 1-0 win at Leeds, where we were completely over-run, but held on thanks to a string of magnificent saves by Kelvin Davies. Glad Pompey were relegated. Hope they don't go out of existence though. For next year, the Lambert-Sharp combination up front is taking shape, and will surprise some. And Adam Lallana in the Premiership is a mouth watering prospect.
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Post by Shireblogger on May 5, 2012 18:31:54 GMT 1
Team:Southampton Greatest hope this season:Beat Portsmouth twice and finish above them in the table. Where will you finish?Mid-table. Hopefully comfortable mid-table, as opposed to late season surge to mid-table. You didn't manage to beat Portsmouth twice but I guess you'd swap that for what you did actually achieve. You guess right EP.
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on May 5, 2012 19:49:22 GMT 1
try getting out of boros car park when the grounds at full capacity, won't be so enjoyable then...
however i went to see boro v west ham with a boro fan and it was an great evening
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Post by Earl Purple on May 6, 2012 16:41:27 GMT 1
101 points. Sheffield United finished 3rd with 90 points. The only team I think to do that previously were Sunderland in 1998 when they didn't get promoted in the playoffs thanks to a certain penalty shoot out after a 4-4 draw.
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