Another deal for city that has netted us a reported 200 million quid !!

 

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/football/view/221671/Manchester-City-s-200m-kit-deal/

 

That might come in handy when you go down to the Europa League :P

Just watched the Newcastle v Man Utd highlights on MOTD. Well deserved draw for Newcastle. Penalty wasn't a 'travesty' as Slur Alex protests. I've seen much worse decisions given to the Mancs every single week on that ground.

 

And Tim Krul looked fantastic. That save from Giggs was brilliant.

When I first saw it I didn't even know why they weren't just getting ready for the corner, insane decision. But you are right, at least Alan Pardew admitted it wasn't a penalty, if it went to United then would just ignore the question completely.

 

We didn't deserve to win but you could argue that's what Tim Krul is there to do, they outplayed us overall and I'm delighted we got something out of it. From these three tough games (City away last weekend, United away this weekend and Chelsea at home next weekend) I just wanted one point for the teams confidence, and to be honest I was only hoping it could happen with Chelsea, we may just pick up another one next weekend.

Liverpool 1-1 Man City

 

Another Balotelli sending off, at least it gives him a head start to the bath and then some evening fireworks with his mates

Another Balotelli sending off, at least it gives him a head start to the bath and then some evening fireworks with his mates

 

Do I sense a bit of 'the other side of manchester' malicious glee! :P

1-1 seems a decent result on paper. But when you've drawn your last 4 games at home I'm not happy so I'm not satisfied with this result. Had to get 6 points against Chelsea and Man City to repay the careless points dropped against Norwich and Swansea a few weeks back. We haven't done that so in my mind we're behind where we should be at the moment. Still 6 months of the season to go though but the home form has to get going now. No excuses at all.

I wonder if Huddersfield can overtake Arsenals 49 unbeaten run, currently on 43 league games without a loss.

We have another Semi..

 

Manchester City fans have now becoming acustomed to their TOTAL DOMINATION/OWNERSHIP of their domestic game....

We have another Semi..

 

Manchester City fans have now becoming acustomed to their TOTAL DOMINATION/OWNERSHIP of their domestic game....

 

Not too fast bart! King Kenny and his lads may have something to say about that!

 

Sunderland sack Steve Bruce as manager

 

Sunderland have sacked boss Steve Bruce following a torrid run of results.

 

Bruce becomes the first Premier League manager to lose his job this season after two wins in the first 13 games. "It is my job to act in the best interests of our football club and I can assure everyone that this is not a decision that I have taken lightly," chairman Ellis Short said. "Sadly results this season have simply not been good enough and I feel the time is right to make a change."

 

Assistant manager Eric Black will take charge of first team duties as the club searches for a new manager.

 

Bookmakers have installed former Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill as the early favourite to replace the ex-Manchester United defender, with Mark Hughes, Rafa Benitez and Guus Hiddink also figuring prominently in the betting.

 

Bruce joined the Black Cats from Wigan Athletic in the summer of 2009 and led the club to a 10th place finish in the Premier League last season.

 

However, the Stadium of Light side were sixth at the end of January after opening the year with three wins and one draw.

 

They then sold striker Darren Bent to Aston Villa in a deal which could rise to £24m and results took a turn for the worse.

 

The team struggled to score goals and matters were compounded when £13m signing Asamoah Gyan left the club in September - Bruce claiming "parasites" turned Gyan's head after his goal in the 1-1 draw with England at Wembley in March.

 

Bruce brought in a raft of new signings over the summer, but the Black Cats have slumped to within two points of the relegation zone this season, and Short acted quickly to stop the rot.

 

"Steve has acted with honesty and integrity throughout, which is testament to the character and commitment he has shown during his time at Sunderland," Short added.

 

"I would like to personally place on record my thanks to him for his significant contribution to our football club over the past two and a half years and everyone here at Sunderland naturally wishes him the very best for the future.

 

"I would also like to thank our fans, who have endured a trying start to the season. Their support continues to be the driving force behind our club and is vital as we now look to the future."

 

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, former Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips believes the players should take some of the blame for Bruce's dismissal.

 

"At the end of the day the players need to look at themselves," he said. "Steve has brought in a lot of players for a lot of money and they haven't responded for him.

 

"The fans have got frustrated and taken that out on Steve and ultimately it is the manager who always pays the price."

 

Bruce started his managerial career at Sheffield United in 1998 before spells with Huddersfield Town, Wigan Athletic (twice), Crystal Palace and Birmingham City.

 

In 98 games in charge of Sunderland, he won 29 matches, drew 28 and lost 41.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15975008.stm

Mand Utd knocked off the League Cup by Crystal Palace at home!

Mand Utd knocked off the League Cup by Crystal Palace at home!

 

Hilarious and sweet! Fergie's face will be bubbling lava!

 

Oh and Tottenham lost!

 

Perfect night!

Man City v Liverpool

Crystal Palace v Cardiff

 

juicy semi finals! w/b:

Jan 9

Jan 23

Oh and Tottenham lost!

Who cares about Europa League? Redknapp certainly doesn't. Can't say I'm happy, but it doesn't bother me to know we won't get to the knockout stage.

 

Perfect night!

You'll play Man City away for the League Cup semi-finals. Are you absolutely sure about that?

You'll play Man City away for the League Cup semi-finals. Are you absolutely sure about that?

:lol:

 

they do have a 2nd leg at home to make up for it though :p

:lol:

 

they do have a 2nd leg at home to make up for it though :p

I forgot the semi-finals were two-legged. But still...

Who cares about Europa League? Redknapp certainly doesn't. Can't say I'm happy, but it doesn't bother me to know we won't get to the knockout stage.

 

 

You'll play Man City away for the League Cup semi-finals. Are you absolutely sure about that?

 

Absolutely sure! Why not try and beat them over two legs rather than a one off in a final? Man City are probably easier to beat over two legs than one.....and the second leg is at Anfield!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_1347&feature=iv&v=WHTeJJl7HRQ&src_vid=NzvYTQWQJLQ

 

What a hit.

 

And did anyone see the disallowed Spurs goal? Basically, Defoe slid into the 6 yard box to try and poke into an empty net but a PAOK defended slid into clear and took a knock on the head from Defoes tackle. The defender stayed down injured, the ball was played back towards the box, Defoe had eventually gotten up (This has taken 10 or 15 seconds) and as he was being played onside by the goalkeeper/injured defender he just poked the ball in.

 

Without a doubt it was the longest amount of time I've ever seen for a goal to be disallowed, the score in the corner changed twice, they treated the injured player while Spurs celebrated for a good minute before getting concerned it may not be a goal. The ref consulted with one of those EXTRA EXTRA linesmen (The ones who stand right beside the goal) and eventually disallowed it and gave PAOK a free kick, it wasnt clear whether it was for Defoe being offside (Which would make no sense- harsh but true regardless of a player being injured it is a basic rule of the game) or if it was a free kick given against Defoes foul, but it took them 15 seconds to realise it.

 

So yeah, basically.

Are Cr*pdiff by any chance sponsored by the Malaysia tourist board, or are they just having the country printed on their shirts just to advertise it because of their owners?.

 

Being a supporter of the mighty, mighty Swans I couldn't care less really, it's just something that's made me wonder.

Europa League is sh*t, just get rid of it and put all the winners of the top 32 Euro leagues into the Champions League. To rank all top division European teams for the co-efficient, use the ISSHF ranking methology, but still keep the past five season ranking points scored average.

 

Swansea won't take the plastic Mickey Mouse European competition seriously (they can qualify if they win the fair play league), they'll see it as a distraction to the league, just like they used to see the Welsh Cup as a distraction when they played in the Football League.

 

League Cup can be seen as a black and white trophy, but winning it makes a lot of money for the team.

The League cup is a good try out for the kids/fringe players of the big teams. The Europa League is a waste of time, you can be playing in Russia on the Thursday to get back and playing again on the Sunday against Liverpool

I agree that the Europa league is a waste of time, for starters the prize money isn't even in the best interest of developing football leagues in Europe. The quality of football is careless, last season in particular I watched probably a few dozen matches, and when I say watched, I mean watching while doing something else like reading or on the laptop. Very little happens in that competition.

 

Go back to the old format of the Champions League consisting of actual Champions, it would make the remaining format of European football after that a lot more competitive, as it used to be. It used to actually mean something.

Cant see Liverpool beating us in the LC over two legs for us this was the perfect draw. As when the LC final is on YAya Toure will be at the African Nations...

Cant see Liverpool beating us in the LC over two legs for us this was the perfect draw. As when the LC final is on YAya Toure will be at the African Nations...

 

The perfect draw eh?

already another contentious issue 4 mins into this weekend's fixtures

 

check the Newc v Chelsea highlights whether you agree with a yellow card for David Luiz on Ba