August 31, 2006 at 9:17 pm
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Mention Malcolm Glazer and his takeover of Man U, and it will get most Mancusian’s gritting their teeth in disgust and despair. Vituperative is a mild description of the average Mancs reaction to the greedy overlords across the pond. More gallingly, is that the Glazers took a club that was doing well financially, with solid albeit modest gains, and more importantly, no outstanding dues. With his takeover, Man U became an Argentinian bail out situation with massive debt borrowing. Even the World Bank would have been chagrined at this deal and washed their hands off the whole thing. Man U now has to rake in gate recepits at a clip that will just about make it solvent with the hope that wealthier donors will write off their debt in a Paris Club like situation.
Mention Chelsea and you will find out that many Premiership fans get their knickers in a twist. In their eyes, the Blues have bought their way to the Premiership titles twice in a row, and when you hear that the total amount in players fees is larger than the New York Yankees roster, it is hard to argue against such a perception. When you have someone like Roman Abramovich willing to underwrite every folly that Chelsea commits, some of which would have landed other successful clubs on the financial ropes, we are seeing nothing but soccer as a commodity.
It is easy to see why these two clubs engender such strongly negative reactions to most in the soccer world unless of course you are a debt collector or a Blues fan who suffered the comatose teams of the 70's, 80's, and the 90's. The last time the Blues won a league title before they won in 2005 was in 1955, a full half century ago. To put this in context, this was before Ghana got its independence. Chelsea was before Abramovich and Mourinho, in every sense a middling club. The takeover of Manchester United is even more inexplicable. Clearly, it was a club that did not really need any financial help and was doing swimmingly well in almost every facet of the soccer world. Glazer's takeover also does not seem to have brought any tangible success in soccer performance but that maybe because Man U had already set the bar so high.
So why is it that Portsmouth's takeover by another whimsical Russian businessman, Alexandre Gaydamak, this season, bring out the feel good vibes? Who can explain the relief felt by Aston Villa fans, when their club was bought out by Randy Lerner, an American businessman, and the CEO of a credit card company, that makes millions of dollars in atrociously high late fees. His takeover was greeted by grateful Villa fans, who see him as a saviour.
The reason is simple. In these clubs there is an element of control that is retained with the fans, the real patrons of the game of soccer. They are the ones that give soccer its canvas, so that the players and managers can play the game with bold strokes, Portsmouth is a small club, that never made it to the Premiership till the year 2004, a dozen years after the EPL's inception. The story of how it got there is the big story, because Portsmouth is a twice bought over club. The club was in financial ruin and was at best a first division club constantly battling relegation. In 1999, Milan Mandaric, a self made Serbian American millionaire bought out the club and saved it from bankruptcy. The climb back in league ranking was fairly rapid but it still took them 4 years to get to the Premiership stage, in 2003 with Harry Redknapp at the helm, a year that saw them finish a very respectable 13th with an excellent home record. However, Harry Redknapp, resigned the next year because of differences with Mandarich, but Portsmouth still made it to the Premiership, under interim coach, Velimir Zajec and then Alan Perrin. On May 15, 2005, the last day of the Premiership, West Bromwich Albion’s 2-0 win in their final game over Portsmouth meant WBA and Portsmouth escaped relegation at the expense of arch rival, Southampton. Redknapp was installed again in late 2005 after a stint as manager of arch rivals Southampton, when Portsmouth went into a mid season swoon before pulling out of relegation under him. This transfer season was busy with many rumours, from Gianluca Zambrotta to David Trezeguet, joining Pompey with the tabloids agog that under Gaydamak, Portsmouth was going to become another globalization venture, like Chelsea. Instead, Pompey hired the services of time tested veterans David James, Andy Cole, Sol Campbell, and Nwankwo Kanu. English soccer fans are familiar with these players, many who have played for their clubs. Portsmouth also played their nucleus of players that had got them thus far to the Premiership. Pablo Mendes and Svetoslav Todorov, without jettisoning them as has beens. The result is that Portsmouth, although very early in the season, is sitting in 5th place after pasting, Blackburn Rovers and their tough defence, 3-0 in their opening game. They managed to draw Manchester City, 0-0 inspite Ben Thatcher's hit job on Pablo Mendes.
The Pompey fans loved Mike Mandarich and they see him as the architect of their recent fortunes. When he stepped down, they kept him on as a co-owner of Portsmouth. What is equally important is that Portsmouth has gone about rebuilding their team with talented players, who have been top of the rung, but not neccessarily superstars. Unlike Chelsea, if Alexandre Gaydamak, can quietly build Portsmouth with quality players without the pressure of a price tag, and an emphasis on English players, with a necessary amount of faith in their skills, even through indifferent spells, a different sort of takeover model could be created, more acceptable to larger group of English fans, perhaps feeling rightly cynical about the way English clubs seem to be taken over by merchants expert at commodification, with no clue and very little knowledge about soccer.
Aston Villa was a club that was undergoing severe financial stress, under an unpopular owner, Doug Ellis, and an even more unpopular manager, David O'Leary. When buy out talks began, there were four consortiums mentioned including the bid of Athole Still, who represented Sven Goran Erickson. In an infamous set up Erickson was caught on tape relishing the prospect of managing Aston Villa, after its reported buyout by oil rich Arab sheikhs. He went onto suggest that he could do this while also managing England. Even the bid by a bonafide longtime supporter of Aston Villa, Michael Neville, was supported somewhat lukewarmly by Villa fans. That is because Neville had to come up with the money through a consortium of other interested parties. Villa fans had probably seen enough damage done to Manchester United, with an owner who had to mortagage everything and anything to own the club leaving it to happenstance for its future development, because the interest itself eats away into any profit that the club makes. When Randy Lerner came knocking the second time around to acquire Villa with his own money, Villa fans knew it was the real deal. Lerner did not have to go to the World Bank, to any bank, or to any money lender, to borrow to buyout Villa. Equally important was that his bid was very closely tied to Martin O'Neill, Villa's new coach continuing on in his new job. Ask any soccer pundit and he is most likely to say that O'Neill is probably the best coach in England today. O'Neill's forte is that he can take emerging talent and make them play to their potential. In that, Villa can transfer untested players who have great talent and come relatively cheap, but in the process develop under O'Neill's tutelage, to make stellar contributions to the club. Randy Lerner, unlike many of the new overseas owners (read Yanks) knows his soccer and unlike Malcolm Glazer, has already become a familiar figure to Villa fans, who hail him boisterously, when he visits. Aston Villa is already reaping the rewards and is currently second in the league. Is anyone grinding their teeth and cussing out Villa? No. Maybe it is too early, but even if Villa finishes as strong as it started the season, it would be difficult to begrudge them their success. Unlike the Mancs, whose opposition to the Glazer takeover was voted down by the governing board, and led to thousands disenchanted by the new club, the Villa fans see this change as neccessary to revive the fortunes of their long suffering club. The enchantment is that the fans themselves have been responsible for the change in their club.
"Gaydamak may now be the sole owner of Pompey, but the name of Milan Mandaric will go down in history. He had his tantrums, he had his ego, but where would Portsmouth Football Club be without Milan Mandaric.
Milan - I salute you. Thank you for putting us where we are today - the Pompey spirit lives on, in the Premiership."
Aston Villa's checklist with Randy Lerner and they like what they are getting.
Will our history be honoured? Yes.
Will we be taken forward? Yes.
Will the team of 82 be included? Yes.
Will people who need honouring be embraced? Yes.
Will money be spent on the team? Yes.
Will Bodymoor Heath be made state of the art? Yes.
Will they plan to re-establish us as a global brand? Yes.
Will they sign Martin O'Neill up long term? Yes.
Will the fans be brought back into the fold? Yes.
Will the fans have representatives? Yes
Update: Corrections made. Thanks David Kavanagh for drawing my attention to those goof ups. I hope you agree with the spirit of the post, though.
August 31, 2006 at 5:16 pm
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There are reports today that former German defender Juergen Kohler has turned down the Ivory Coast coaching gig after initially agreeing to the position because his wife was concerned about the safety of living and working in a country that has seen its share of violence in recent years. All of this is old [...]
August 31, 2006 at 8:15 am
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Neville is due to play his first competitive international since the Euro 2004 finals in the opening qualifier for the 2008 tournament, against Andorra at Old Trafford on Saturday.
So amidst all the confusion of the last day of transfer madness he said he had never given up hope of getting an England recall and encourages Beckham to do the same.
However getting replaced by Robinho after 76 goal less minutes in the Real Madrid game against Villareal wouldn't have helped Beckham's cause with Steve McClaren very much .
Calderon has said that Real Madrid, which has not won a trophy in three years,were keeping Beckham mainly for his athletic value, not his marketing allure.
August 30, 2006 at 1:44 am
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Italy will parade the World Cup Trophy around Naples' San Paolo stadium on Saturday before its first competitive match since winning the title last month.
The Azzurri also will unveil a fourth star on their jerseys to honor their latest World Cup victory when they play Lithuania to open 2008 European Championship qualifying.
Italy haven't won the European Championship in quite a while - the last vicory was in 1968
"After a World Cup victory it's understandable for a bit of a letdown, but we're already thinking about our next objective," captain Fabio Cannavaro said. "We want to win the 2008 European Championship. We haven't won it in a long time."
More on their preparations here
August 29, 2006 at 8:36 pm
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Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is none too pleased with FIFA’s decision to hand teammate Marco Materazzi a two-game ban for his role in the infamous World Cup final Zidane head butt.
“The two-match ban given to Marco was a scandalous compromise,” Buffon said as he prepared for the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Lithuania and France. [...]
FRANCE
Wendel..MF..from..Santos..to..Bordeaux..u/d
Bisevac..DF..from..Red Star..to..Lens..u/d
Diarra..MF..from..Lens..to..Lyon..7.00
Le Tallec..FW..from..Liverpool..to..Sochaux..Loan
August 29, 2006 at 8:35 pm
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ENGLAND
Gallas..DF..from..Chelsea..to..Arsenal
Mascherano..MF..from..Corinthians..to..Arsenal
Haested..MF..from..IK Start..to..Blackburn
Haested..MF..from..IK Start..to..Manchester United
Woodgate..DF..from..Real Madrid..to..Middlesbrough
Woodgate..DF..from..Real Madrid..to..Newcastle
Baptista..MF..from..Real Madrid..to..Tottenham
Ben Arfa..MF..from..Lyon..to..Tottenham
Malbranque..MF..from..Fulham..to..West Ham
SPAIN
Guti..MF..from..Real Madrid..to..Atletico Madrid
Maniche..MF..from..Dynamo Moscow..to..Atletico Madrid
August 29, 2006 at 8:35 pm
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20 August 2006
Chelsea 3 (Terry 11, Lampard 26, Drogba 78)
Manchester City 0
Champions Chelsea got their Premiership campaign off to a winning start
as Man City were swept aside at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea took an early
lead in simply fashion when Arjen Robben fizzed in a free kick from the
right and John Terry met it first to head home from close range. The lead was doubled when great skill from Michael Essien set up Frank Lampard and his shot from the edge of the area found the net with the help of a deflection. In the second half, City struggled to make any impact and the frustration got the better of debutant Bernardo Corradi who hacked at Essien to earn a second yellow card of the game, although Essien was lucky not to follow him off when he decided to drab Corradi up by his hair! Chelsea took advantage of their numerical supremacy and added a third goal when Wayne Bridge fired a cross in from the left and Didier Drogba dispatched the ball into the net with a stunning near post diving header.
Manchester United 5 (Saha 7, Pearce 15 og, Rooney 16, Ronaldo 19, Rooney 64)
Fulham 1 (Ferdinand 40 og)
Man United started the season with a bang as they walloped Fulham 5-1 at Old Trafford with both Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo on the
scoresheet. If anyone had doubts about their title credentials, they were swept aside after the opening twenty minutes by which time United had scored four! Ex-Fulham striker Louis Saha netted the opener with a header from a Ryan Giggs cross and Saha had a hand in the second as his cross was prodded into his own net by Ian Pearce. A minute later, Saha's firm shot was parried by Antti Niemi and Rooney fired in the rebound and then Rooney's deep cross found Ronaldo whose controlled volley at the far post made it 4-0. Paul Scholes then smashed a shot against the post, the ball rebounding back goalwards off of Niemi's head only for the keeper to get up in time to stop a second own goal. Fulham pulled a consolation back before half time when Jimmy Bullard set up Heidar Helguson whose shot took a deflection off of Rio Ferdinand, sporting a new streamlined haircut, and looped over Edwin Van Der Sar into the net. Early in the second half, Michael Brown was lucky to remain on the pitch for a studs first challenge on Ryan Giggs for which he was booked, however within a minute Giggs received the same punishment for a revenge tackle on the same man. Both were subbed by the time Rooney added a fifth, sweeping in Wes Brown's cross. Ronaldo should have added a sixth but shot wide whilst through, however United succeeded in sending out a challenging message to Chelsea.
Attendance : 75,115
Assists : Giggs, n/a, n/a, Rooney, Brown
19 August 2006
Here we go again....
Sheffield United (0) 1 (Hulse 46)
Liverpool (0) 1 (Fowler (pen) 70)
Title hopefuls Liverpool needed a dodgy penalty to come from behind to
snatch a point against newly promoted Sheffield United at Bramhall Lane as the 2006-07 Premiership season kicked off today. The first half was fast paced but chances were at a premium as Rob Hulse had a goal disallowed for United for offside whilst Liverpool debutant Fabio Aurelio had a free kick tipped over by Paddy Kenny. Liverpool's cause wasn't helped by ankle injuries to John Arne Riise and Jamie Carragher that saw both limped off before the interval. Within a minute of the restart, the shock was on as the home side went ahead. David Unsworth swung a free kick to the far post where Hulse lost his marker to send a diving header into the net. Sami Hyypia almost equalised straight away when his header hit the post, however it needed a controversial penalty to get Liverpool level as Steven Gerrard burst through the middle and despite being sent off balance by a tackle from Chris Morgan, still got a shot in that Kenny saved, however the official ruled that contact was made by Morgan, something that replays didn't exactly prove, and Robbie Fowler slotted in the resulting penalty. Morgan stayed on the pitch even though he was last man, making an already odd decision all the more strange, especially as he'd previously been booked in the first half! Liverpool failed to make any impact despite that equaliser and rarely looked like grabbing a win as United held on for a well deserved draw.
Arsenal (0) 1 (Gilberto 84)
Aston Villa (0) 1 (Mellberg 53)
Arsenal kicked off their new era at the Emirates Stadium and came very close to slumping to defeat against Aston Villa who began well for new boss Martin O'Neill. Villa took the lead early in the second half when an inswinging corner from Steve Davis tempted keeper Jens Jehmann off his line only to be beaten at the near post by Olof Mellberg whose header flew in. Enter 'super-duper wonder-kid who didn't have the chance to set the World Cup alight' Theo Walcott whose appearance seemed to galvanise the Gunners and it was his cross, nodded on by Robin Van Persie, that set up Gilberto Silva at the far post to volley in and save a point for Arsenal.
Attendance : 60,023
Assists : Davis (ck), Van Persie
Watford's Premiership return ended in narrow defeat as another controversial penalty gifted Everton all three points. The hosts were already ahead after an excellent build up involving James Beattie and Andy Johnson ended with the latter finding the net via a deflection. With eight minutes to go, Everton clinched the win as the officials came up with a dreadful penalty award as a cross from Tim Cahill was blocked by the head of Chris Powell who had slid in to attempt to block the ball. Remarkably the linesman felt that he'd handled it and flagged for a penalty, converted clinically by Mikael Arteta. Watford grabbed a late consolation when Tamas Priskin crossed for Damien Francis to score via the post and one of the most outrageous deflections you'll see all season.
The post-Shearer era began with a win for Newcastle as last season's surprise package Wigan were beaten at St James. They went ahead just before half time when Shola Ameobi crossed for Scott Parker to send a diving header past the keeper, however Wigan clawed back an equaliser when Emile Heskey's header found Lee McCulloch who controlled the ball well and curled inside the far post. The lead was regained shortly afterwards as Ameobi turned scorer with a tap in after Charles N'Zogbia's stinging shot was fumbled by keeper Chris Kirkland.
Biggest win of the opening day came for Portsmouth who crushed nine-man Blackburn at Fratton Park. They went ahead through Svetoslav Todorov with a tap in after Benjani had crossed, however it was the arrival of sub Kanu that sparked all the second half excitement. Firstly he doubled the lead with a superb far post header from Sean Davis's cross and then was fouled by Lucas Neill as the Rovers defender saw a second yellow card and subsequent red. The Nigerian then added his second with another far post header, this time after Gary O'Neil turned provider and in stoppage time, he burst through and past keeper Brad Friedel only for Andy Todd to bring him down as he prepared to shoot. Todd was shown a red card for his actions, however Kanu then blew the chance of a hat trick as his penalty was well saved by Friedel.
Reading's first ever Premiership game saw them come from two goals down to beat Middlesbrough in a remarkable game at the Madejski. Boro started with purpose and quickly went into a two goal lead as Stuart Downing converted Yakubu's cross and then provider turned scorer with a tap in after Fabio Rochemback's crisp free kick was fumbled by Marcus Hahnemann. It stung the hosts into action and they pulled level with two in as many minutes before the break. Dave Kitson started the revival, bundling the ball in after Seol Ki-Hyeon caused panic with a near post cross and before Boro could recover, Ivar Ingimarsson crossed for Steve Sidwell to sweep in the equaliser. Another scramble brought the winning goal as Seol again crossed and after Kevin Doyle failed to find the net, sub Leroy Lita crashed the ball in. Boro were unlucky not to earn a point though when Mark Viduka found the net only to be denied by the offside flag, a decision which replays later proved to be wrong.
West Ham (0) 3 (Zamora 52, 66, Cole 90)
Charlton (1) 1 (Bent (D) (pen) 15)
SENT OFF: Traore (Charlton) 26
West Ham are off and running again as they came from behind to beat East London rivals Charlton. The visitors went ahead thanks to a Darren Bent penalty after Danny Gabbidon had handled in the area, however they then shot themselves in the foot as Djimi Traore, having already been booked, stretched out a leg to stop a quick free kick from being taken and was promptly sent off. After the break, the Hammers took control with Lee Bowyer and Bobby Zamora unstoppable! Bowyer set up the equaliser for Zamora to tap in at the far post and the same pair combined again as Zamora netted with a hooked effort which seemed to take an age to
bobble in off the post. In stoppage time, Bowyer sent sub Carlton Cole through to drill in a decisive third.
Two clubs with high expectations of the new season met at the Reebok with Bolton coming out on top against Spurs. After a dismal pre-season, Bolton's Prmiership campaign could hardly have started better as they tore into an early two goal lead. The first came from a Gary Speed corner that was nodded in at the near post, amid shirt pulling in the area from both sets of players, by an unmarked Kevin Davies. If that goal was due to poor defending, the second was down to pure opportunism as a back-heeled clearance by Jermaine Jenas bobbled out, seemingly harmlessly, to Ivan Campo who struck a first time shot from fully 40 yards that arrowed into the bottom corner of the net, the swerve deceiving keeper Paul Robinson. Spurs had plenty of possession but only a shot from Jermain Defoe called opposing keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen into action. The second half saw odd chances for both clubs with Bolton coming the closest when both Kevin Nolan and the El Hadji Diouf shooting narrowly wide, although one of the
biggest cheers of the half came when referee Phil Dowd went sprawling as he ran to point for a goal kick!
Attendance : 22,899
Assists : Speed (ck), n/a
Gary Dowden - Joint Admin Topica Premier-L list
http://www.topica.com/lists/premier-L/
Leeds United and Scotland and proud of it
http://footiemad.fortunecity.com
http://www.peanutsfan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/footiemad
The Unofficial Premiership Site
August 29, 2006 at 8:35 pm
· Filed under Uncategorized
23 August 2006
Aston Villa (1) 2 (Angel (pen) 34, Barry 61)
Reading (1) 1 (Doyle 4)
SENT OFF : Sonko (Reading) 33
Villa's decent start continued as they came from behind to beat ten man Reading at Villa Park. Reading, in their first ever top flight game on the road, started superbly and scored the quickest Prem goal so far this season when Seol Ki-Hyeon's cross was nodded in at the far post by Kevin Doyle. The game turned when Ibrahima Sonko was ruled to have brought down Luke Moore in the area and was promptly sent off. Juan Pablo Angel converted the spot kick and Villa never looked back. They won it just after the hour mark when Peter Whittingham's cross was glanced in at the near post by Gareth Barry.
Attendance : 37,329
Assists : K-Hyeon, Moore (won pen), Whittingham
Honours even at Ewood Park as Blackburn won their first point of the season against Everton who remain unbeaten. Rovers went ahead thanks to a first goal for new signing Benni McCarthy who slotted into the bottom corner from the edge of the area after David Bentley was tackled in the area. They couldn't hold on though and Everton rescued a late point when James McFadden chased a long ball and having lobbed it over the keeper could only hit the post under pressure, however Tim Cahill was following up and smashed the loose ball home.
Attendance : 22,015
Assists : n/a, n/a
Charlton (0) 0
Manchester United (0) 3 (Fletcher 49, Saha 80, Solskjaer 90)
Man United recorded their annual Premiership win at The Valley as Charlton were beaten 1-0. Both clubs had good spells in the first half, however United came closest to scoring when Ryan Giggs hit the post and Cristiano Ronaldo rattled the bar with a sensational first time effort from the edge of the area. Within 14 seconds of the restart, Charlton's Darren Ambrose hit the outside of the post with a looping shot but it only spurred United on to break the deadlock shortly afterwards. A routine cross was fluffed horribly by Jonathon Fortune, allowing Darren Fletcher to jink past him, make room and drill the ball in from close range. United were totally dominant and almost doubled the lead when Ronaldo crossed for Ji-Sung Park to hit the woodwork for the third time for United as he volley hammered against the post. Charlton felt that they should have had a penalty when Wes Brown handled a free kick in the area, however the officials saw nothing and play continued as within a minute, Louis Saha had a header cleared off the line at the other end. United's latest big money signing, Michael Carrick, came on for the last 14 minutes and it took just four of those for the lead to be doubled as Brown's cross was chested down by Saha, however his control took him away from goal only to be allowed to turn and drive a shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the area. Carrick then set up fellow sub Ole Gunnar Solksjaer on a breakaway only to be denied by a superb save by Scott Carson, however he didn't have to wait long for his first goal in three injury ravaged years as he was gifted a tap in from Saha's drilled cross to kill the game off.
A tale of two penalties at Craven Cottage as Fulham left it late to earn a point against Bolton. The visitors took the lead through El Hadji Diouf's spot kick was dispatched into the top corner after Luis Boa Morte tangled with Gary Speed, however in stoppage time, Abdoulaye Faye handled in the area and new arrival Jimmy Bullard just fired his penalty past keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.
No goals at The City of Manchester Stadium, however Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp was left fuming after Man City defender Ben Thatcher left Pedro Mendes hospitalised after they clashed early in the secon half. The incident happened near the touchline as Thatcher caughter Mendes with a forearm as he slid in for a tackle, leaving Mendes to slide into the hoardings around the pitch resulting in him needing oxygen and staying overnight in hospital. Matt Taylor, one of Mendes' team-mates, summed it up after the game when he said, "How can that not be a sending-off? What do you have to do, kill someone?"
Middlesbrough stunned Champions Chelsea with two goals in the final ten minutesas they came from behind to send Jose Mourinho's side to their first defeat of the season. All was going to plan for the visitors after megabucks signing Andrei Shevchenko netted his first league goal for his new club, scuffing the ball in after Wayne Bridge had crossed, however with ten minutes to go, Emanuel Pogatetz headed in a superb cross from Fabio Rochemback and with time almost up, Chelsea failed to clear a Stuart Dowing cross and Yakubu found Mark Viduka who fired in the winner from the edge of the six yard box. Mourinho slated his players after the game, questioning their attitude to the match.
Tottenham (2) 2 (Berbatov 7, Jenas 17)
Sheffield United (0) 0
Spurs won their first points of the season and balanced out their goal
difference after a comfortable win against Sheffield United at White Hart Lane. Both goals came in the opening seventeen minutes, starting with Aaron Lennon - my tip for best young player this season - twisting and turning down the right and crossing low for Dimitar Berbatov to tap in one of the easiest goals of his career and easing any fears that he could be another expensive Rebrov-style flop. He set up the second as well as he nodded on Robbie Keane's high ball for Jermaine Jenas to clip the ball over the keeper and then tap into the empty net. Spurs could have added more but ultimately had to settle for those two early efforts.
Attendance : 35,287
Assists : Lennon, Berbatov
Watford (0) 1 (King 63)
West Ham (0) 1 (Zamora 65)
Honours even at Vicarage Road as West Ham go top for 24 hours at least. New boys Watford went ahead just after the hour thanks to a stunning strike from Marlon King. He received the ball from Ashley Young 25 yards from goal and unleashed a beauty that tore into the top corner. Whether they were still recovering from the quality of the strike remains to be seen, however Watford's lead lasted under two minutes as Paul Konchesky crossed for Bobby Zamora to find the net via his knee and the underside of the bar.
Attendance : 18,344
Assists : Young, Konchesky
Gary Dowden - Joint Admin Topica Premier-L list
http://www.topica.com/lists/premier-L/
Leeds United and Scotland and proud of it
http://footiemad.fortunecity.com
http://www.peanutsfan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/footiemad
The Unofficial Premiership Site
Portsmouth move into second place after a thumping away at the Riverside as Middlesbrough were put to the proverbial sword. Portsmouth began well and went ahead after the hosts failed to deal with an inswinging corner and after Benjani got a touch at the far post, it fell nicely for Nwankwo Kanu who swivelled and shot home from close range. They'd almost scored seconds earlier only for keeper Mark Schwarzer to just keep out a curling free kick from Dejan Stefanovic. Pompey began the second half as they began the first, with a goal and again it was from a corner. This time it was played short to David Thompson whose deep cross was nodded firmly into the ground and inside the post by Benjani. Boro battled back with David James saving in quick succession from Stuart Downing's free kick and Chris Riggot's header, however astonishly as they surged forward, they were caught quite brilliantly on the break as a clearance bounced toward Kanu in midfield and having hooked the ball over his marker, he ran from just inside his own half, cut across the chasing George Boateng and lifted the ball over Schwarzer to bobble it in from the edge of the area. With twenty minutes to go, Boro made a triple
substitution and one of them, Malcolm Christie blazed over from the edge
of the area ten minutes later, an incident which largely summed up their
night as did another incident in stoppage time as deflected effort from
Sean Davis fell neatly for Svetoslav Todorov who was just onside and he
looped the fourth goal over the keeper. As well as their lofty league position, it's worth mentioning that Pompey remain the only club yet to
concede a goal this season!
Aston Villa (2) 2 (Moore 3, Angel 38)
Newcastle (0) 0
Aston Villa move into second after a comfortable win over Newcastle. New
Villa boss Martin O'Neill has yet to see his side lose and there was little chance of it happening against Newcastle after the first half by which time the hosts were two up. Luke Moore opened the scoring inside three minutes as he fired in after Newcastle failed to clear a free kick. The win was secured when Juan Pablo Angel gathered a deft pass from Gabriel Agbonlahor to round the keeper and slot calmly home from a tight angle. The second half was notable for an injury to Newcastle debutant Obafemi Martins who joined for £10m three days ago and was carried off after an hour. Although the early signs looked bad, the injury seems to be nothing more than a dead leg.
Chelsea returned to winning ways after two second half goals gave them
victory against Blackburn at Ewood Park. Blackburn had the better of a
first half devoid of clear cut chances and they came closest when Morten
Gamst Pedersen's free kick took a fierce deflection and looped just over
the bar. Chelsea were not at their all-conquering best that we've been
used to in recent seasons and only Andriy Shevchenko had any serious
efforts on goal, one of which was well off target and the other comfortably saved by Brad Friedel. The second half was better as a spectacle, aided by an early penalty after debutant Andre Ooijer had his arms wrapped around the waist of John Terry as a free kick was clipped in. It's the sort of thing you see defenders do week in, week out and get away with so maybe officials are doing what is right and calling it as a foul. Frank Lampard drilled in the spot kick, although Friedel was close to keeping it out. Benni McCarthy almost equalised when he controlled a cross on his chest and blasted an effort goalwards only for Petr Cech to produce a fine reaction save. Ricardo Carvalho then got away with pulling the shirt of Blackburn's Jason Roberts in the area, largely due to the referee's line of sight being obstructed and late on, Chelsea clinched the win when Michael Essien found Didier Drogba who held off Ooijer, again with hands around the waist of his opponent, and fired the second high into the net.
Attendance : 19,398
Assists : Terry (won pen), Essien
Fun and games at the Valley as Charlton and Bolton gave us two goals,
two penalties and two red cards! It all began well before Hermann
Hreidarsson was sent off for elbowing Kevin Davies as he jumped for a
high ball, indeed twice before Davies had caught a Charlton player in
similar fashion and been let off. In the second half, Amdy Faye tripped
El Hadji Diouf as he burst through and was lucky only to get a yellow
card, however Diouf's low penalty was well saved by Scott Carson.
Minutes later at the other end, Tal Ben Haim pulled the shirt of Darren
Bent in the area and another penalty was awared. Bent showed Diouf how
to do it and sent the keeper the wrong way to put Charlton ahead. It was
all downhill then for Bolton as Davies finally threw one elbow too many
as he caught Faye in the face and was shown the second red of the game
and with time running out, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink nodded on a long ball
for Bent to slot in despite being off balance.
Attendance : 23,638
Assists : Bent (won pen), Hasselbaink
Liverpool (2) 2 (Agger 42, Crouch 45)
West Ham (1) 1 (Zamora 12)
Liverpool repeated their Cup Final feat by coming from behind to beat
West Ham at Anfield. The visitors took a surprise early lead thanks to
the Prem's leading scorer Bobby Zamora who found the near post of the
net from the right edge of the area after being found by Nigel Reo-Coker, although it's debatable whether it was meant as a cross or shot but either way, it embarrassed keeper Jose Reina totally. It looked as though they'd hold on until half time, however a Cup Final style recovery turned the game on it's head, firstly when Xabi Alonso's pass found Daniel Agger and after a surging run toward the area, he found a superb finish from long range as the Hammers defence backed off. Minutes later, Luis Garcia found a neat through ball to Peter Crouch who rounded the keeper and finished from close range. Midway through the second half, the lead looked to have been doubled when a touch from Dirk Kuyt sent Craig Bellamy clear and although his clipped finish was excellent, the offside flag was up. Replays suggested that the decision was correct but only just! With ten minutes to go, Lee Bowyer should have equalised for the Hammers but mis-hit a shot wide from six yards and with it went the visitors hopes of a point.
New signing Jimmy Bullard scored for the second game in a row to clinch
Fulham's first win of the season against Sheffield United. The goal came
just before half time as he curled a 25-yard free kick into the top
corner, leaving United keeper Paddy Kelly standing and admiring.
Attendance : 18,362
Assist : McBride (won fk)
Tottenham (0) 0
Everton (0) 2 (Davenport (og) 54, Johnson 66)
SENT OFF : Kilbane (Everton) 33
Everton go second after a superb win at Spurs, earned despite being down to ten men for an hour. Kevin Kilbane was the man dismissed for a second booking, a late tackle from behind on Lee Young-Pyo in full flow. In the second half Everton took control when Mikael Arteta's free kick was helped on by Joleon Lescott and turned past his own keeper by Callum Davenport under pressure from Joseph Yobo. The lead was doubled when Phil Neville's cross was brilliantly turned in by Andy Johnson with a stunning first time effort.
Attendance : 35,540
Assists : n/a, Neville
Watford (1) 1 (Francis 34)
Manchester United (1) 2 (Silvestre 12, Giggs 52)
Man United remain 100% after narrowly seeing off Watford at Vicarage
Road. United dominated the first half and went ahead when Louis Saha
found Mikael Silvestre on the overlap and his firm cross-shot arrowed into the bottom corner. Watford grabbed an equalised when Ashley Young
beat Silvestre on the right and crossed for Damien Francis to tap in at
the far post, however United clinched all three points when Matthew Spring scuffed a back pass, allowing Ryan Giggs to nip in, round the keeper and fire in the winner.
Attendance : 19,453
Assists : Saha, Young, n/a
Wigan (1) 1 (Heskey 38)
Reading (0) 0
Last season's surprise package took on this season's potential surprise
package and it was Wigan who just overcame Reading at the JJB. The only goal came from Lee McCulloch's neat flick on the edge of the area which sent Emile Heskey clear to volley in. Useless piece of trivia info now :
Since the Football League was formed in 1888, Reading are the only club
beginning with the letter R to play in the top flight! I said it was useless!
Attendance : 14,636
Assists : McCulloch
Manchester City (1) 1 (Barton (pen) 41)
Arsenal (0) 0
Arsenal are without a league win from the first week of the season after
missing a number of good chances as Man City beat them 1-0 at the City
of Manchester Stadium. City went ahead before half time when Justin Hoyte clattered into Trevor Sinclair in the area and conceded a penalty,
converted by Joey Barton whose shot bulleting in off the bar, leaving
Arsenal doubly annoyed as they felt that Cesc Fabregas was fouled just
moments earlier in the opposing area. Prior to that, Arsenal had stacks
of chances with Thierry Henry denied twice by keeper Nicky Weaver whilst
clean through and Robin Van Persie hammering a shot against the inside
of the near post just minutes before the penalty. At the other end, Barton had earlier shot inches wide whilst Bernardo Corradi had a header well saved by Jens Lehman. In stoppage time, Kolo Toure's header hit the
bar as another chance went begging for th Gunners. The high pace continued after the break as did the Arsenal misses as Van Persie shot
just wide of the far post whilst through and it was the cue for Theo Walcott to make his appearance from the bench to replace Tomas Rosicky. It sparked a heavy spell of pressure for Arsenal, culminating in blocked
shots, last ditch tackles and just about everything but an equaliser.
Attendance : 40,699
Assist : Sinclair (won pen)
Gary Dowden - Joint Admin Topica Premier-L list
http://www.topica.com/lists/premier-L/
Leeds United and Scotland and proud of it
http://footiemad.fortunecity.com
http://www.peanutsfan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/footiemad
The Unofficial Premiership Site
August 29, 2006 at 12:04 am
· Filed under Uncategorized
If there was any doubt whether being a national team coach is a better gig than being president of a nation, we think that answer has been made clear with the announcement that new South Africa manager Carlos Alberto Parreira will earn more for one month’s work than his new country’s president Thabo Mbeki earns [...]
August 28, 2006 at 7:32 pm
· Filed under Uncategorized
In addition to unveiling a new star on their uniforms on Saturday, Italy will have a new compliment of players when they take on Lithuania in Euro 2008 qualifying. Italy Coach Roberto Donadoni has dropped nine players from the World Cup winning team ahead of the qualifier. Gone are goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi, defender [...]
August 28, 2006 at 6:33 pm
· Filed under Uncategorized
Ballack's debut with Chelsea was anything but impressive. He kept crowding Lampard and vice-versa. Maybe Chelsea isn't going to win it all this time around.
Here's a glimpse at the first half - watch Ballack get hammered:
August 28, 2006 at 5:25 pm
· Filed under Uncategorized
Stop the presses. I think we are witnessing some last minute negotiations before the transfer window closes, but the bottom line is this: Hargreaves is going to ManU!
Mark van Bommel is the key. Now that Bayern has him signed, they're going to make some money. And the money man (cash-cow) is Hargreaves.
They're making sure they get the highest price- £17million, £20 million, £25 million?!
Meanwhile, Hargreaves sits on the bench at Bayern...
August 28, 2006 at 3:41 am
· Filed under Uncategorized
X-rays seem to have revealed yesterday that Rio Ferdinand had not broken any of his toes after all in Saturday's 2-1 win against Watford.Despite what Ferguson said the injury does not seem to be more severe than a badly bruised little toe.
August 26, 2006 at 1:55 pm
· Filed under Uncategorized
Will England never get lucky?
Rio Ferdinand is likely to miss England's opening two Euro 2008 qualifiers after suffering a suspected broken toe... Apparently he sustained the injury in the closing stages of United's 2-1 win at Watford.
August 26, 2006 at 1:00 pm
· Filed under Uncategorized
The Guardian's Rob Smyth blogs on about Keano at Sunderland: "Roy Keane could well become the most intriguing manager in English football since Brian Clough..."
The part that got to me was this:
Keane likes his footballers cool and clinical. This devil is obsessed with the detail, the minutiae of football matches. "They say God is in the detail; in football that's true," he wrote in his autobiography. "Sometimes games are won by a magical goal - that's what people remember. But the essence of the game is more mundane. Detail. Wearing down the opposition. Winning the psychological battles - man on man - from the moment the ref blows the whistle for the first time." To many Keane is a law unto himself, but to him all that matters is what he calls the Law Of Cumulation. "First tackle, first pass, first touch, everything counts. A lot of little things add up to the thing that matters: breaking the opposition's hearts - but first their minds, their collective mind."
It was Clough who taught Keane these principles. "If you weren't doing your stuff, Clough would spot it," he said. "A seemingly innocuous mistake that resulted in a goal conceded three or four minutes later, a tackle missed, or a failure to make the right run, or pass, would be correctly identified as the cause of the goal. It was no use pointing the finger at someone else - which is second nature to most players. He knew; you knew he knew. Every football match consists of a thousand little things which, added together, amount the final score. The game is full of bluffers, banging on about 'rolling your sleeves up', 'having the right attitude' and 'taking some pride in the shirt'. Brian Clough dealt in facts, specific incidents, and invariably he got it right."
It is all in the details. And if Keano is going to focus on the little things, big things will happen. Can't wait!
