Are You Receiving Me?

ARE YOU RECEIVING ME?

Finished

I have decided to stop this blog and focus on just one blog which invovle all sorts including Sport, Music, Film, Television etc. There will be a link to the new one shortly, once I have designed it all that. Thanks for reading, it's meant a lot and I hope the new one will be more updated and better. Thank you.

Weekend Predictions

Saturday 15th March (All Kick Offs 15:00 Unless Stated)

Arsenal 2 – 1 Middlesbrough (17:15)

Derby 0 – 2 Manchester United

Liverpool 3 – 1 Reading

Portsmouth 1 – 1 Aston Villa

Sunderland 0 – 2 Chelsea

West Ham 1 – 1 Blackburn

Sunday 16th March

Fulham 0 – 1 Everton (13:30)

Man City 1 – 1 Tottenham (16:00)

Wigan 2 – 1 Bolton

Monday 17th March

Birmingham 1 – 1 Newcastle (20:00)

Weekend Predictions

Saturday 1st March (All Kick Offs 15:00 Unless Stated)

Arsenal 2 – 1 Aston Villa

Birmingham 2 – 2 Tottenham

Derby 1 – 2 Sunderland

Fulham 1 – 3 Manchester United

Manchester City 2 – 1 Wigan (17:15)

Middlesbrough 1 – 0 Reading

Newcastle 2 – 3 Blackburn

West Ham 1 – 1 Chelsea

Sunday 2nd March

Bolton 1 – 2 Liverpool (13:30)

Everton 1 – 0 Portsmouth (16:00)

Weekend Predictions

Saturday 23rd of February (All Kicks Off 15:00 Unless Stated)

Birmingham 1 – 1 Arsenal (12:45)

Fulham 1 – 1 West Ham

Liverpool 3 – 1 Middlesbrough

Newcastle 0 – 2 Manchester United (17:15)

Portsmouth 2 – 1 Sunderland

Wigan 2 – 1 Derby

Sunday 24th of February

Blackburn 2 – 1 Bolton

Reading 1 – 1 Aston Villa (12:30)

Carling Cup Final

Tottenham 2 – 1 Chelsea

Champions League Round-Up

This round-up is mainly going to focus on Manchester United performances (if you didn’t already gather, I support them). Many United fans are already concerned by our Champions League chances from this performance; however I am still extremely confident. To get a 1-1 draw away from home against Lyon who has won the French division 6 times in a row is a good result. Considering out of all the teams we could’ve got drawn against Lyon was the hardest this is a good result.

Although I am very sceptical about playing Rooney up front on his own, away from home, it hasn’t worked in years gone by and it won’t work this year. When we won the European Cup back in 99’ we played with two up front every game, and this is something we should do again. We are not great at defending leads or defending at all in Europe so (cliché alert) the best form of defence is attack. I do expect us to win at Old Trafford in a few weeks however this away result will hopefully provide Ferguson will a re-think of how to win at the likes of the Nou Camp, San Siro etc.

Elsewhere across Europe Schalke have a slender lead over Porto by beating them on their own soil 1-0. Liverpool gave themselves a massive chance of going through by beating Inter Milan 2-0 at Anfield. Chelsea only managed a 0-0 draw away from home and Real Madrid suffered a 2-1 defeat to Roma. Wednesday night saw European giants AC Milan battle it out with current Premier League leaders Arsenal in a 0-0 draw. The two games of the week involved two Spanish clubs as Barcelona got a 3-2 victory against Celtic away from home however Sevilla lost 3-2 in Turkey against Fenerbache.

Champions League

Tuesday 19th February

Schalke 1 – 0 Porto

Roma 1 – 2 Real Madrid

Olympiacos 0 – 2 Chelsea

Liverpool 1 – 1 Inter Milan

Wednesday 20th February

Celtic 0 – 0 Barcelona

Lyon 0 – 2 Manchester United

Fenerbache 0 – 1 Sevilla

Arsenal 1 – 1 AC Milan

FA Cup Round-Up

What a great weekend in the FA Cup, Saturday morning at 12.30 saw League One side Bristol Rovers take on Championship side Southampton who weren’t in the final that long ago. Bristol Rovers were worthy winners of the game as the problems continue for the Saints. The biggest shock of the weekend came up at Anfield where Barnsley knocked out five times European Champions Liverpool. A last minute winner and a absolutely magnificent performance from ex Manchester United goalkeeper Luke Steele saw The Tykes into the Quarter Finals.

West Brom thumped manager less Coventry and thanks to a sublime Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink goal Cardiff City beat fellow Championship side Wolverhampton. Sunday saw Sheffield United and Middlesbrough battle out the only draw of the weekend and Preston narrowly lost to Portsmouth thanks to the superb David James. Huddersfield put a good fight at Chelsea, however Avram Grant’s men were too strong and two goals from Frank Lampard sealed the win.

The tie of the weekend was at Old Trafford where Manchester United walloped Arsenal 4-0 with goals from Rooney, Fletcher and Nani. This year’s FA Cup has been one of the best for years thanks to sides like Havant & Waterlooville, Barnsley, Bristol Rovers and Chasetown. Who would’ve thought that potentially there could be JUST one Premiership side left in the Semi-Finals if the shocks continue in the Quarter Finals?

Game of the Weekend: Liverpool v Barnsley
Team of the Weekend: Barnsley
Player of the weekend: Luke Steele

Quarter Final Draw

Sheffield United or Middlesbrough v Cardiff City

Manchester United v Portsmouth

Bristol Rovers v West Brom

Barnsley v Chelsea

F.A Cup Predictions

Saturday 16th February (Kick Offs 15:00 Unless Stated)

Bristol Rovers 2 – 1 Southampton (12:30)

Cardiff 1 – 1 Wolverhampton

Chelsea 3 – 1 Huddersfield

Coventry 2 – 1 West Brom

Liverpool 2 – 0 Barnsley

Manchester United 2 – 1 Arsenal (17:15)

Sunday 17th February

Preston 1 – 2 Portsmouth (16:00)

Sheffield United 2 – 1 Middlesbrough (14:00)

Premiership Round-Up

You may be thinking that rounding up the Premiership action is a little bit early considering the game at the Emirates between Blackburn and Arsenal still hasn’t been played. However whatever happens tomorrow night Arsenal are the biggest winners this weekend. Liverpool and Chelsea played out a bore draw resulting in drop points for both sides and Manchester United dropped all three points in the Manchester derby.

Saturday saw Aston Villa triumph 4-1 over Newcastle, Keegan still to record a win in his second era with the club. Wigan lost to fellow relegation battlers Sunderland 2-0, Fulham still cannot win away losing to Middlesbrough. Spurs heaped more misery on Derby by defeating them 3-0, meanwhile Birmingham and West Ham drew one a piece. Portsmouth kept up their impressive away record by despatching of Bolton by a Diarra goal and Everton also defeated Reading by the same score line dragging Reading right into the bottom three.

Game of the weekend: Man United 1 – 2 Man City
Team of the weekend: Aston Villa
Player of the weekend: John Carew

Weekend Predictions

Saturday 9th February (Kick-Offs 15:00 Unless Stated)

Aston Villa 2 – 1 Newcastle

Bolton 0 – 1 Portsmouth

Derby 0 – 3 Tottenham

Everton 1 – 0 Reading

Middlesbrough 1 – 0 Fulham

Sunderland 2 – 2 Wigan

West Ham 2 – 1 Birmingham

Sunday 10th February

Chelsea 1 – 1 Liverpool (16:00)

Manchester United 2 – 1 Manchester City (13:30)

Monday 11th February

Arsenal 2 – 0 Blackburn (20:00)

Premier League Abroad.

I am a huge fan of American Football, in fact I would go as far as saying the Superbowl last week between New England Patriots and New York Giants was one of the best finals I’ve ever witnessed. Now the NFL this season had a match between the Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants at Wembley, and next season the San Diego Chargers will play the New Orleans Saints at Wembley. These matches are not friendly matches either, they are an official NFL game just outside of North America.

Today all 20 Premiership clubs agreed a proposed 39 game season which would see games being played overseas, similar to the American Football games played at Wembley. This in my opinion would be wrong, everything about it is wrong – the extra game apparently would be picked at random. So imagine if Manchester United pull out Manchester City or Everton pull out Liverpool or Spurs get Arsenal to play in Saudi Arabia. The great thing about those games just mentioned is the rivalry between two halves of one city, derby matches should ALWAYS be played in the town of the teams.

Imagine a scenario where Wigan gets Reading – with the match being played in New York for example. No disrespect to both teams but how many American supporters will want to see the two teams mentioned? Not many I’d imagine. Also, another potentially problematic scenario is if Manchester United get Derby County in this extra game and Arsenal have to play Chelsea in their extra game. How will that be fair? Say Manchester United win (which no disrespect to Derby, they would) and Arsenal and Chelsea draw 0-0 (which is a likely score line) and Manchester United end up winning the title by two points gained over Arsenal in the extra game. Arsenal will claim this to be unfair, just as Manchester United/Liverpool/Chelsea or any other team would do too.

I do not want to see this happen, but inevitably it will happen – and when it does it will be a sad day for English football.

Mid Week Predictions

Tuesday 29th January

Arsenal 1 – 1 Newcastle (19:45)

Bolton 2 – 1 Fulham (20:00)

Middlesbrough 1 – 1 Wigan (20:00)

Sunderland 1 – 1 Birmingham (20:00)

Wednesday 30th January

Chelsea 2 – 0 Reading (19:45)

Derby 0 – 2 Manchester City (19:45)

Everton 1 – 1 Tottenham (20:00)

Manchester United 2 – 1 Portsmouth (20:00)

West Ham 2 – 2 Liverpool (19:45)

FA Cup Round-Up

Obviously the tie of the round was up at Anfield between Liverpool and Havant & Waterlooville, no one expected the Blue Square Premier minnows to get absolutely anything. In the end Liverpool won by three goals, however TWO times Havant were in front and at half time were level. That is some achievement from a side some one hundred odd places below Liverpool.

Preston’s away thumping of Premier League strugglers Derby County was impressive too, Preston who are struggling in the Championship currently were cruising by three goals at half time and ended the game by winning 4-1. The Sunday shock saw Bryan Robson’s Sheffield United side defeated a flying Man City team 2-1 with a freak goal caused by balloons thrown in by Manchester City supporters.

No other big shocks in round four that saw the big four go through along with other Premiership sides Middlesbrough and Portsmouth. However the fifth round draw would also have Cardiff, Bristol Rovers, Coventry, Huddersfield, West Brom, Southampton and Wolverhampton in it.

Game of the weekend: Liverpool 5 – 2 Havant & Waterlooville
Team of the weekend: Havant & Waterlooville
Player of the weekend: Richard Parquette

The fifth round draw is as follows:

Bristol Rovers v Southampton
Cardiff City v Wolves
Sheffield United v Middlesbrough
Liverpool v Barnsley
Manchester United v Arsenal
Preston v Portsmouth
Coventry City v West Brom
Chelsea v Huddersfield Town

The ties are scheduled to take place on 16 and 17 February.

The tie which sticks out is obviously Arsenal’s trip to Old Trafford to face the reigning Champions Manchester United. At least 3 non Premiership sides will be in the next round also, and teams like Sheffield United and Preston will be looking to cause more FA Cup shocks.

F.A Cup Predictions

Saturday 26th January (Kick Offs 15:00 Unless Stated)

Arsenal 2 – 0 Newcastle

Barnet 1 – 1 Bristol Rovers

Coventry 2 – 0 Millwall

Derby 2 – 1 Preston

Liverpool 4 – 1 Havant and Waterlooville

Mansfield 1 – 3 Middlesbrough (12:30)

Oldham 2 – 1 Huddersfield

Peterborough 2 – 1 West Brom

Portsmouth 2 – 0 Plymouth

Southampton 1 – 1 Bury

Watford 2 – 2 Wolverhampton

Wigan 0 – 2 Chelsea (17:15)

Sunday 27th January

Hereford 1 – 1 Cardiff (12:30)

Manchester United 2 – 1 Tottenham (14:00)

Sheffield United 0 – 1 Manchester City (16:00)

Munich Remembered And Never Forgotten.

With February 6th drawing ever closer it means the 50th Anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster is upon us. If you don’t know the story then Munich 58 is the best website to read up on it, however I am sure most people are aware of the horrific event. Many people became United supporters because of this horrible tragedy, and every year on the 6th of February we give time to remember the people killed in this horrible plane crash.

I support Manchester United firstly because my Dad was born in Salford and raised on nothing but United. However, secondly I love the club because of the traditions and history of Manchester United. The Busby Babes are the most important thing about Manchester United to me, and when I read about it from an early age my love for United grew stronger. This blog is really to talk about football from a non bias opinion, however it is hard sometimes when you have hatred for certain football clubs.

This brings me onto the decision to hold a minute silence in the nearest game to the 6th February which happens to be the Manchester derby. Now, I was totally against a minute applause because I think it is wrong for this occasion and the minute silence is more appropriate however will City fans respect the people killed? Even though a former City player was killed I am sure there will be a small minority who ruin it. IF this does happen I am 100% positive it will kick off big side after the game. If United are winning the Munich songs and jokes will come out from the away end, if City are winning then it might be a different story. But either way I hope that City supporters do the right thing and honour those killed 50 years ago.

Although I don’t have much faith in the Blue side of Manchester.

Kevin Keegan.

Tomorrow at quarter past five Kevin Keegan will step back onto the green, green grass of St. James Park once again. A wise move by owner Mike Ashley?

Long term I don’t think Kevin Keegan is the man to take Newcastle to glory, but then again the question remains who is? Short term this works wonderfully for everyone involved with the club. He is the fans favourite “The Messiah” as labelled this week, the excitement caused by his return is great for the town, the club and the players. I’ve never been a big fan of Keegan, he failed with England and he failed at Manchester City and ultimately failed when originally at Newcastle United.

No one can disagree that Newcastle United played some of the best football this League has seen when Keegan was in charge. However, with the current group of players can you see the same style of football back at St. James Park? I am not so sure. Defensively Newcastle are all over the place, and have been for years. Midfield I think they are weak, Nicky Butt is not getting any younger and Joey Barton is a liability. Up front Michael Owen does not look a shadow of his former self, Mark Viduka looks disinterested in many of the games and Alan Smith is NOT a holding midfield player neither a proven goal scorer.

This begs the question, where will the goals come from? Okay, so midweek they stuck four away but the opposition did not turn up and it was Stoke City (nothing against Stoke who are a cracking Championship side).

Bolton will want to spoil the Keegan party tomorrow and they are the perfect side to do it… under Big Sam. I cannot see it with Megson in charge and away from home Bolton are not the side they used to be under Big Sam. I think tomorrow could a high scoring game (just like the old days) but that doesn’t mean every game will be like that.

I am intrigued to see who Keegan brings in during this window and also how he manages to get Newcastle scoring goals. The motto up north back in the Keegan era circa 1995 was you score three, we’ll score four. If he can bring that back to Newcastle every neutral supporter of the Premier league will be singing his praises. Only time will tell…

Weekend Predictions

Saturday 19th January (Kick-Offs 15:00 Unless Stated)

Birmingham 1 – 2 Chelsea

Blackburn 2 – 0 Middlesbrough

Fulham 0 – 2 Arsenal

Newcastle 3 – 2 Bolton (17:15)

Portsmouth 2 – 1 Derby

Reading 0 – 2 Manchester United

Tottenham 3 – 2 Sunderland

Sunday 20th January

Manchester City 1 – 1 West Ham (16:00)

Wigan 0 – 1 Everton (13:30)

Monday 21st January

Liverpool 2 – 1 Aston Villa (20:00)

Game of the weekend: Newcastle v Bolton (Saturday; 17:15)

Hatrick Hero Ronaldo Heaps Misery On Toon Army.

The biggest result of the weekend came from Old Trafford with Manchester United sticking six past manager less Newcastle United. Many Reds will remember that sad day some time ago when Newcastle put five past Peter Schmeichel’s net and left the Red side of Manchester totally embarrassed. United got their revenge yesterday with a stunning second half which included three goals from the man of the moment Cristiano Ronaldo, two from Carloz Tevez and a rare volley from Rio Ferdinand.

Arsenal dropped points at home against relegation battlers Birmingham City, Liverpool also struggled away at Middlesbrough only getting one point from the Riverside. Chelsea maintained their fantastic home record by beating Spurs 2-0, goals coming from Shaun Wright-Phillips and Brazilian Juliano Belletti. The fight to break the top four was at Goodison between Everton and Manchester City; the Blues of Liverpool came out on top with a goal from defender Joleon Lescott. Hot on their heels Aston Villa recorded a home win beating Reading three goals to one, with John Carew (2) and Martin Laursen getting on the score sheet for Villa.

The bottom two sides Derby and Fulham each lost by a goal to Wigan and West Ham respectively. Today’s games saw Sunderland defeat a good travelling Portsmouth side 2-0 with both goals coming from ex Manchester United winger Kieran Richardson. The later game saw a Lancashire derby between Bolton and Blackburn; a late Jason Roberts strike secured all three points for Mark Hughes men.

Player of the weekend: Cristiano Ronaldo
Team of the weekend: Manchester United
Worst player of the weekend: Cacapa (Newcastle United)

Nicolas Anelka.

Today Chelsea have completed the signature of French Forward Nicolas Anelka from Bolton for a fee of £15 million. Over priced you say? Not half. Anelka who is 29 on March 14th has scored 11 goals this season for Bolton has moved to yet another “big” club. Previous notable clubs include Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Real Madrid and PSG. This move to me signals Chelsea’s panic to get a forward as Kalou and Drogba head off to the African Nations Cup.

I suppose they do have Pizarro and Shevchenko, but with only a few goals between them this season not getting their hands on another forward would’ve left them short up top. Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips have even been made into make shift forwards over the last couple of weeks, and anybody who knows football knows the pair of them can not toe the line up front.

To me this move suits Bolton the most, when you consider they’ve had two good years out of Anelka in his time playing 53 games scoring 21 goals. They’ve also managed to sell him for almost double what they paid for him two years ago (£8 million). The only question is can Bolton stay up without Anelka? This will depend on how they spend the money and more importantly who they spend the money on.

The Newcastle United Job.

Newcastle United finds themselves yet again looking for another manager after the departure of Sam Allardyce on Wednesday. This is not a rare thing for the Toon Army who has seen the likes of Glenn Roeder, Ruud Gullit, Graeme Souness and Kenny Dalglish come and go. Since the more successful periods of Kevin Keegan and Sir Bobby Robson Newcastle have not stuck with stability.

Big Sam was given just eight months in the job, a job he and the rest of the country considered a long term plan. When he was appointed the idea was to get Newcastle back up the table and fighting for a European place over two or three years. Eight months is not long enough for a manager who spent eight years building Bolton into a respected Premier League side and recently a UEFA Cup team.

What is Mike Ashley playing at? Rumour has it that Ashley wants his “own” man and that Sam Allardyce was appointed before he took over the club. Fair enough, but why wait so long with Sam in the job? Backing him throughout the start of the season, why not get rid of him straight away if he wasn’t the “right” man? The question remains who is the man for the job? Alan Shearer is the fans favourite, he has distanced himself from the job and too right too. He has no experience and seems more suited to sitting alongside the likes of Hansen, Lawro and Linekar on Match of the Day.

Of course Jose Mourinho was a name on the tip of every Newcastle United fan’s tongue, but why would he want it? With the likes of Madrid, Barcelona and AC Milan after him, why choose Newcastle? The answer is, he won’t. Martin Jol might fancy the job, Tottenham were in a similar position to what Newcastle find themselves in now when Jol took over a few years back. The bookies favourite is Harry Redknapp, but Harry loves life on the coast and Portsmouth are flying high with a strong squad, money to spend and a new stadium on its way.

Sadly the Newcastle United job has now become one of the most unwanted jobs in football. Maybe Steve McClaren fancies it?

Weekend Predictions.

Saturday 12th January (Kick-Offs 15:00 Unless Stated)

Arsenal 2 – 1 Birmingham

Aston Villa 2 – 0 Reading

Chelsea 1 – 1 Tottenham

Derby 0 – 1 Wigan

Everton 1 – 1 Manchester City

Manchester United 2 – 0 Newcastle (17:15)

Middlesbrough 1 – 3 Liverpool

West Ham 2 – 0 Fulham

Sunday 13th January

Bolton 2 – 2 Blackburn (16:00)

Sunderland 1 – 1 Portsmouth (13:30)

Kick-Off.

I felt like it was the right time to set up a blog which was dedicated to Football, which other than music is my main passion. Every couple of days (or more depending on how lazy I feel) I will voice my opinions on the happenings in the world of football. Every Sunday night a round-up of all the weekend’s action in the top flight in England.

Midweek round-up if there are many games being played, for example all next week’s FA Cup replays and once the Champions League starts up again. Just generally rambling about the ‘beautiful game’…