Eye on the Accy
by Jamie Douglas on Mar 26, 2010 9:14 AM PDT
4 comments
Forget that Kebab on the way back from the boozer tonight, and stick a couple of quid on these punts, which I in no way guarantee to be correct. Also, after last week, Aston Villa got added to the list after their draw against Wolves cost me £300...
4 comments | 0 recs
Random Thought of the Day
by Jamie Douglas on Mar 25, 2010 2:59 AM PDT
9 comments
Everton now find themselves just 3 points behind Liverpool, and in an absolute purple patch of form. It's a long shot, but has the race for 4th spot just got even wider?
Sam's Additional Thought: With Mikael Arteta now available to play for England, should he?
9 comments | 0 recs
State of the Premiership - the Title Race
by AliLaw on Mar 23, 2010 9:30 AM PDT
9 comments
‘Squeaky-bum time’ is apparently in the Collins English Dictionary. I always thought it was a bit of duff phrase myself, showing only that Sir Alex Ferguson is to lexicology what Dr Samuel Johnson was to a robust tactical analysis, but there you go. To me it conjures up the image of someone straining and cocking themselves slightly to the side, trying to break wind in a particularly high-pitched manner. But I digress*. It’s almost seven years to the day since Fergie coined the idiom, and what he actually meant was that March is the business end of the season and it’s time to get serious. And so here at OTBAO, we’re going to draw breath over the next few days before the final assault, assessing the title race, the relegation battle and the collective clusterfuck for fourth, as well as the European competitions. It’s shaping up to be a simply monumental season, so join us as we preview the runners and riders…
9 comments | 1 recs
Strange Thoughts On This Nervous Night
by SamFels on Mar 22, 2010 7:44 PM PDT
6 comments
So much happened this weekend, I think I have to do a random thought thing...
-Why is Michael Essien not considered as important to Chelsea and Rooney is to United or Torres to Liverpool or Fabregas to Arsenal? They're helpless without him. He shields the paceless John Terry, and provides Frank Lampard a platform. He could probably fill in at left back now (he was only the best right back in the league when he had to fill in there). Chelsea's rot could be attributed to his absence. Would Wesley Sneijder have found all that space at Stamford Bridge with Essien around? He also keeps the hilariously bad Obi Mikel squarely stapled to the bench.
I was always skeptical of the Carlo Ancelotti hiring, and Milan's current challenge for Serie A is an even bigger indictment (and they're doing it without Kaka). When Chelsea needed something on Saturday, he turned to Deco, which is a lot like trying to fix your car with bunt cake.
-I'm sure Ally wouldn't even claim that Man United were that good on Sunday, but they were good enough. What United have that Chelsea certainly doesn't right now and Arsenal might not is a swagger. They never look like they've even considered losing a game. It might be enough.
I'm actually inclined to not be angry at Liverpool. There are few tougher assignments to have to pass for your 3rd game in six days. They had chances to equalize and they fell to the right guy, and he just didn't bury them. But Ally has mentioned this before, and Rafa seems to know it too. Liverpool can't afford to fire him, especially if they fail to qualify for fourth. So he can manage like it. It's why a $30 million midfielder can only make the bench, even though the team looks much more fluid with him, and his free transfer Maxi Rodriguez gets chance after chance even though he....what's the word.....sucks. So either Rafa gets to collect his check as Liverpool manager, or he waits for Juventus or Madrid to cut him an even bigger one.
Lots been made that Steven Gerrard is off form, and no one wants to mention he's about to turn 30. The words "past it" might not be so ridiculous.
-I find it funny how many people in England are ready to declare them World Cup winners, when Shaun Wright-Phillips or Theo Walcott or Adam Johnson or Matthew Upson and others will be in their squad. Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta doesn't have a prayer of making the Spanish one. Compare that.
-Charlie Davies is clearly Weapon X
-Finally, cheers to MLS for averting what would have been a disastrous strike. I'm glad you'll be around, and I can go about not really paying any attention to you.
6 comments | 0 recs
Messi +10
by tijuanakid on Mar 22, 2010 1:19 PM PDT
5 comments
8 goals in one week. 25 goals through 27 weeks. 35 goals in all competitions this year. Regurgitating these stats add nothing new to the conversation, it merely reinforces the general premise that Lionel Messi is mind-boggling, improbably good. His greatness cannot be encapsulated by statistics, but is better measured by the fact that whenever he gets the ball in the opponents' half of the field, there is not one person who doesn't hold his or her breath, completely consumed by the moment. Truly anything is possible when he has the ball at his feet. Ronaldinho conjured up moments of rare genius from absolutely nothing, Zidane was grace and artistry personified, and (real) Ronaldo was an irrepressible scorer of goals. However, they were all the types of player who made you gasp or shout involuntarily after producing a sublime piece of skill. Lionel Messi is the only player I've seen in my lifetime who when he gets the ball, all physical movements both voluntary and involuntary come to a swift halt. If a player (particularly an Argentine one) produced one run displaying the speed, strength, balance, and ruthlessness the caliber of which Messi showed during his 2nd goal, he'd instantly be heralded as the new Maradona. Messi, however, has displayed this kind of skill so many times over (he did it again in the same game yesterday and let his bumbling colleague take the resulting penalty) that comparisons to Maradona just need to stop. Immediately. There is and only has been one player this good, and it's Lionel Messi. Messi's skill is sui generis. Messi should only be compared to Messi. If Barcelona end up winning La Liga and/or the Champions League it will be because Messi has single-handedly carried them through a rough patch that would have conquered lesser men. He has taken matters completely into his own hands and has ensured that Barca have come out unscathed, and, arguably, stronger than ever. Some are saying that Barcelona are too dependent on Messi to succeed, I say just sit back and watch how far he takes them.
Other thoughts about this weekend:
-David Silva probably won't be at Valencia after this year and he's going to make some Premier League club very, very happy. Silva has been in brilliant form all year and Valencia's most consistent player. It will be very hard for Vicente Del Bosque to leave him out of the starting XI come June, especially given Del Bosque's penchant for including him during the qualifiers.
-Valladolid got their first win in 12 games! Congratulations to you, but you're still going down.
-Mallorca tonked Atletico and Hyde in San Moix meaning that the Balaeric club are 12-0-1 at home this season and sit 4th in the table 2 points ahead of Sevilla. This fact also highlights that apart from the top 2, La Liga is a bit, um, terrible? Or maybe that it's just that La Liga is so good and so evenly balanced that no team apart from the top two can put together a string of consistent results to separate themselves from the pack. There are after all at least 6 teams battling for the final 2 champions league spots. I'll let you guys decide.
5 comments | 0 recs
Eye on the Accy
by Jamie Douglas on Mar 19, 2010 4:15 AM PDT
1 comment
This weeks round up of which matches could give you a tidy profit this week ...
1 comment | 0 recs
Life Keeps Getting Better in the Wonderful World of Woy
by Jamie Douglas on Mar 19, 2010 3:21 AM PDT
3 comments
I've noted several times in this blog that Fulham are fast becoming everyones second favourite team. They're well organised, play attractive football and the players there seem to really enjoy their football. Woy Hodgson has done, simply, a magnificent job there. Moulding a team that was quickly sliding to relegation after the clueless leadership of Lawrie Sanchez, Hodgson has created one of the most stable clubs in the upper-mid Premier League. For those of you who are familiar with Hodgsons record in management, which has seen league titles in two different countries as well as international experience, perhaps it shouldn't be such a surprise. Hodgson also has unfinished business in the Europa League, where his Inter Milan team were beaten finalists in 1997.
The Europa League, successor to the UEFA Cup, rightly comes in for some stick at times. It's essentially a sidekick competition to the Champions League, a Robin to it's Batman, and since it possesses a fraction of the prestige and more importantly the prize-money of it's bigger brother, it's often taken extremely lightly by those teams involved (see the way Tottenham, Everton, Aston Villa and Bolton have so limply crashed out in recent years).
But last night at Craven Cottage, on the banks of the Thames, Fulham brought this competition to life in the most dramatic way possible. Already trailing 3-1 to the old Lady of Turin from the first leg, the one thing Fulham didn't want to do was concede early. Juventus scored within 3 minutes of the kick-off. Oops. Juve now led 4-1 in the tie, and Fulham would need to score 4 goals without reply to go through in 90 minutes. Few, if anyone, would have given them any hope. But, like Lazarus, Fulham rose from the dead. They were helped on their way by a red card to Fabio Cannavaro, Italys world cup winning captain, just before half time, but this victory was built on all the good things Woy Hodgson has achieved during his time at the Cottage. They basically denyed Juventus a kick for the remainder of the game, reducing one of European footballs all time greats to the role of supporting cast to Fulhams masterclass performance. With 10 minutes left, Fulham had already scored 3 of the 4 goals they would require, and Juventus were pinned in their own half. Fulhams winner had an inevitability about it, and when it came, Juventus could do nothing except lose another player, Zebina, to a another red card shortly after. In 90 minutes Fulham had brought Juventus to their knees, winning 4-1 on the night and 5-4 on aggregate. There could not have been a more exciting way to restore the credibility of the Europa League than this incredible match.
Fulham have now knocked out the Europa League holders, Shaktar Donesk, in addition to their scalp of Juventus, and must be considered contenders to go on and win the thing. And who would hold it against them?
3 comments | 0 recs |
Random Thought of the Day
by Jamie Douglas on Mar 17, 2010 9:12 AM PDT
3 comments
Did anyone else sit there last night with an ever widening grin as it became more and more apparent that Chelsea were never going to score?
3 comments | 0 recs
Secondary Sidebar
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
FanShots
Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.
Recent FanShots
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
