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Sport
Jun 21, 2007 16:19:37 GMT
Post by OJ on Jun 21, 2007 16:19:37 GMT
Bolton vs. Newcastle could be an interesting match. A big coinsidence that Mr Allerdyce's first game is against his former team.
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Sport
Jun 28, 2007 7:36:01 GMT
Post by trainzfan on Jun 28, 2007 7:36:01 GMT
I predict this for next season. This is with yesterday's transfer (Henry to Barca for £16m) taken into account. August: Chelsea, Man United and Liverpool (who else? ) set the pace early on in the league, as all three start out well. After victory in the Community Shield, Chelsea break Liverpool's record with a 3-0 win over Birmingham on the first day, followed by a narrow 2-1 win at the Madjeski. Liverpool and Utd win their first two games without much hassle, but it's Utd who top the table after winning their third game whilst Liverpool and Chelsea draw 2-2 at Anfield. Without Henry, Arsenal are down to eighth. Newcastle occupy fifth, Tottenham fourth, Bolton sixth and Man City seventh. Reading aren't as good without Sidwell but are still holding their own in thirteenth. Fulham , meanwhile, are having a nightmare as they lie bottom without a single point. Derby are second bottom, Sunderland eighteenth, Birmingham sixteenth and Wigan fifteenth. Outside the Premiership, the two Sheffield teams are neck and neck at the top. September: Liverpool fall behind Chelsea and Man Utd by being held to a surprise draw by Derby and suffer a shock defeat at the hands of twelth-placed Portsmouth. The game at Old Trafford finishes all square between the top two, who are still level on points. Chelsea sneak ahead on goal difference one week later with a 6-0 demolition of low-lying Fulham at Stamford Bridge. Tottenham have been overtaken by Newcastle and are fifth in the league, whilst Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool all top their CL groups. Derby climb above Sunderland. Reading climb into the top ten. Wigan drop a place to sixteenth. Man City are down to eighth. The Craven Cottage Crisis gathers pace after the said 6-0 mauling at Stamford Bridge. Fulham look doomed after taking just 5 points from a possible 24. October: Chelsea win 3-1 at the Reebok while Utd are held at home by Wigan. The following week, Chelsea lose 3-2 at Boro but Man Utd fail to capitalise and can only draw at seventh-placed Villa, and lie a point behind the Blues. Liverpool scrape a draw against eleventh-placed Everton in the Merseyside Derby in a thrilling 3-3 encounter. Meanwhile, Wigan are sitting in twelth and West Ham are up to thirteenth. November: The gap between the top two widens to four points as Chelsea win at the JJB and Man Utd lose at Arsenal. Liverpool get back on track and are now just six points behind United. Aston Villa go up to sixth by winning the Birmingham Derby, Newcastle win the Tyneside Derby 4-1 and stay in fourth. Birmingham and Sunderland are trapped in the bottom two. Derby are seventeenth, above Fulham. The gap widens to six points as Chelsea beat Derby 2-0 at Pride Park whilst Bolton hold Man Utd to a 0-0 draw at the Reebok. Liverpool lose 1-0 at St James' and suffer a setback. Arsenal move up to fifth following three wins in a row: 2-1 against Man Utd, 3-0 against Reading and 1-0 at Aston Villa. December: Both Chelsea and Man Utd start the month with two easy wins, but tthe gap widens by another point as Chelsea draw 0-0 against Arsenal and Man Utd lose 2-1 at Anfield. Both teams pick up nine points over Christmas. Spurs start to gain hope as Newcastle are beaten 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the last round of 2007. January: New year starts badly for Fulham who lose 3-1 at home to Chelsea. Man Utd keep hot on The Blues' heels seven points behind. The third round of the FA Cup sees Chelsea dispatch Southend United 5-1 at Stamford Bridge, whilst Man Utd win at Leeds. Liverpool beat Nottingham Forest at Anfield. Arsenal suffer gloom and doom however, as they suffer a shock 2-1 defeat at the KC stadium. Fulham, back in the bottom two, lose 3-0 at Hillsborough. Chelsea are denied the chance to go nine points clear as United secure a last-gasp 1-0 win against Newcastle. Reading slip to tenth, Spurs move within a point of Newcastle. February: The gap widens to nine points, before Man Utd claim victory in the Manchester Derby. Both teams drop points in tricky away ties at Newcastle and Spurs. Fulham climb out of the bottom three, but for how long? In the FA Cup, Chelsea and Man Utd march on. Giantkillers Hull City & Sheffield Wednesday are beaten by Liverpool and Newcastle. March: Not very, as it would transpire, as they are dumped back in by Man Utd. The two teams are not looking like dropping points anytime soon. Liverpool beat Newcastle 3-1 at Anfield and Spurs move back into fourth. Arsenal drop below sixth as they lose 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. Man City are stuck in mid-table with Wigan & Reading. Chelsea finally knock Liverpool out of the Champions League, in the quarter finals. Newcastle beat Man City in the Carling Cup Final. April: Chelsea drop four points but are still undefeated since October. However, the gap is just five points and Fergie & Mourinho start playing mind games. The game at Stamford Bridge is a heart in mouth experience for all 42,500 fans there, and many more watching a unique live league game on BBC1. Man Utd must avoid defeat to stay in the title race. John Terry opens the scoring, but Rooney equalises. It will be Chelsea's day and title, however, as Pizarro scores with three minutes left. Wigan have suffered Disastrous form and are in the bottom six. May: Ironically, Chelsea mark their league success with a 2-1 defeat at St James' Park, their first since October. Fulham and Sunderland go down, but Derby, Birmingham and Wigan, level on points, tough it out through the last day. Chelsea win the FA Cup Final, beating Tottenham 2-1. This is followed up by victory over Barcelona in the Champions League. Last Day Results: Birmingham 1-3 Blackburn Chelsea 3-0 Bolton Wanderers Derby 1-0 Reading Everton 1-0 M'boro Man City 1-2 Newcastle Portsmouth 2-0 Fulham Sunderland 0-3 Arsenal Tottenham 1-1 Liverpool West Ham 1-1 Aston Villa Wigan 0-0 Man Utd Final Table: C. Chelsea 2. Man Utd CL 3. Liverpool CL 4. Newcastle CL 5. Tottenham UEFA 6. Arsenal UEFA 7. Bolton UEFA 8. Blackburn 9. Man City 10. Everton 11. Aston Villa 12. West Ham 13. Portsmouth 14. Reading 15. Middlesborough 16. Derby 17. Wigan 18. Birmingham Relegated 19. Fulham Relegated 20. Sunderland Relegated What are your predictions for the season ahead? BTW, this is absolutely hilarious-the Sports personality government www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A24238983
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Sport
Jun 28, 2007 22:08:28 GMT
Post by OJ on Jun 28, 2007 22:08:28 GMT
I like those predicitions trainzfan. I hope Sunderland do finish bottom and success for us. ;D. A trophy for us would be nice too.
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Jul 5, 2007 11:44:21 GMT
Post by trainzfan on Jul 5, 2007 11:44:21 GMT
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Sport
Jul 14, 2007 2:05:15 GMT
Post by Blue Comet on Jul 14, 2007 2:05:15 GMT
Today David Beckham was officially introduced as a member of the Los Angeles Galaxy. A lot of writers, sports talk show hosts, etc. are expected his presence to lift North American soccer out of the sport doldrums that it lies in now.
In my opinion, for this season at least, Becks will have a major impact on MLS. I was reading some stats regarding ticket sales, and there were tremendous increases in some cities (such as in NJ and Columbus). I hope Beckham coming over here could lure other major stars and *maybe* soccer can become one of the major sports.
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JimBobDunnie
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Jul 26, 2007 16:25:22 GMT
Post by JimBobDunnie on Jul 26, 2007 16:25:22 GMT
Trainzfans Prem Predictions: Detailed, isn't it? I can more or less agree with clubs in the top four, but I don't think Sunderland will go down. I think the bottom three will be Middlesborough, Fulham and possibly Wigan. (However, I say Fulham in part despite for their treatment for Cookie Coleman ). Torres Transfer: Brilliant swoop by Rafa. Lets hope he can do well . Beck's LA Move: Its good for American Football, yes, but I feel it won't make as big a impact as everyone thinks. I mean, if Best, Pele and Cryuff couldn't suceed in making it a top sport, I feel it will be the same for Beck's... ------- Hey, seeing that the new season is nearly upon us...how does anyone with the game Football Manger 2007 feel about... The Official SiFootball Premier League 2007/2008? I've been thinking about this today Basically, we do a Network game and see who can come up tops. Yeahs its technically 06/07 but we don't have to wait for FM 08 and plus Davey can have his Watford in the same league . Anyone up for this?
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Davey
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Aug 14, 2007 17:42:19 GMT
Post by Davey on Aug 14, 2007 17:42:19 GMT
The season has officially started. And here comes the burning question: What did ya think? New signings done well? Did you win? Lose? Were you lucky, unlucky, or just plain jammy *cough*Reading*cough*. For Watford... well, our game was on Sky Sports. Away to Wolves. If I'm honest, we were by far the better team in the first half, but they were 1-0 up at half time. Yet they were miles better than us in the second half and yet we won 2-1. Funny old game, eh? ;D There was definetely some good passing moves from us, and it was good to see Jordan Stewart finally get a goal (Regardless of the deflection ), but some of our set pieces were simply shocking! A lot of corners just went straight to the goalie, and that's not what you should aim for when you've got massive players like Henderson, Shittu and DeMerit in the centre. However, star of the show was Marlon King. Scoring a 93rd minute penalty, talk about composure. I'm really hoping August ends soon and we don't sell him. Because if we still have him, and get some more players in, we can definetely challenge for the title. And with Marlon in our side, I truly believe we have the best player in the Championship. Anyhoo, that's enough of my rambling. How did your team do? Tell us!
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JimBobDunnie
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Aug 15, 2007 10:31:10 GMT
Post by JimBobDunnie on Aug 15, 2007 10:31:10 GMT
Watford won it 2-1!!! Blimey, I was watching most of that game too...purely for the fact me and my Dad couldn't find a pub with Setenta on....well, one pub did have it, but continued to play the England vs. France rugby game. They eventually started to show the last bit of it, when the rugby ended. They got far more punters for that mind than they did for the England rugby, but anyway... Liverpool 2-1 Aston Villa. I'm pleased with that. Ok, I should take into account that Torres didn't score, Gerrard possibly dived yadda, yadda, yadda but then again a win's a win and its a good start . One player that stood out for me is Dirk Kuyt. I think the whole 'Player needs a season to settle' rule is coming in for him cos' from what I saw on MOTD (as I caught the last 4 minutes of the match on Setenta...) he was definately a better player than he was last season. If he can score regularly for Liverpool it would take ton's of pressure of Torres too. Carragher stood out to me as one of our strongest players on that field. Tackling, heading, clearing. All of those three key things a defender needs to do he was doing all day. And did Gerrard dive? Yeah, I admit grudingly to me it was, but hey. He did in last seasons opener . As for SiF's other followed teams...Newcastle by far the best preformance I have ever seen them play in a long time. Full out attacking pressence and Bolton were left wondering what on earth hit them. Brilliant stuff there, but I felt Boltons apparently 'on-demand' keeper Jussi J was terrible. Wether it was a bad day or if its going to keep on happening, I don't know, but its going to cost them either way. I didn't see the Chelsea game, but what I've seen already, Malouda is possibly by far the best signing Chelsea have made in a long while. Has a great 'never say die' attitude in that box, as shown by his two goals he's scored so far. One question remains from me: Despite him being French, why on Earth could Houllier ever buy a Frenchman that could play football? Watford, for what I saw of it, was trailing 1-0 and I didn't catch the good bit . Great courage mind to come back from a goal down as late as you did mind. Could make a difference for the upcoming season. Davey said the main jist of it really. I think your defensive is still your strong point. Shittu, DeMeritt, Stewart (if you play him left-back, not sure mind) are just exellent. Good see Watford doing a Birmingham and coming straight up TBH . As for United...by far the most exciting draw I've ever witnessed . Brilliant match, but flukey? Maybe, but hats off to Reading they did play well. I think we're starting to see the end for the likes of Scholes and Giggs mind. Maybe Giggsy more than Scholes, but they definately weren't as sharp as they used to. Hence possibly the reason why Ferguson is buying the likes of Nani and Anderson? We don't know yet, but its a good thing you bought Tevez with Rooney out I say . And with what Mash' has done for us, Tevez should do as equally as well there.
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Aug 15, 2007 17:58:41 GMT
Post by OJ on Aug 15, 2007 17:58:41 GMT
Well we beat Bolton 3-1. We usually do have bad starts to the season but I'm glad we won. Martins played well. He did score 2 goals. Hope Owen plays on Saturday and I really hope he scores.
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Aug 26, 2007 12:47:05 GMT
Post by trainzfan on Aug 26, 2007 12:47:05 GMT
Well, Chelsea are top again. First time in 11 months. Can Man Utd win and put their bad start behind them? Find out in four hours' time.
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Davey
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Sept 2, 2007 13:35:58 GMT
Post by Davey on Sept 2, 2007 13:35:58 GMT
Whoa dude, we were top of the league for like.... two hours Beat Ipswich 2-0, and we've made a good start. Hopefully the Leicester result can be forgotten soon enough, and Henderson will continue working hard despite the transfer request. Very pleased that he got on the scoresheet. Also, have Nathan Ellington to look forward to Not gonna get my hopes up too much (I'm a cynical football fan after last season ) but this has been a good start so far, and hopefully we can build on it. And I am very pleased we've got a big name player to bolster our options up front. Gutted I haven't been to any of our matches yet. Seeing as I'm back, hopefully I'll be able to go to the next home game.
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JimBobDunnie
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Sept 2, 2007 13:53:27 GMT
Post by JimBobDunnie on Sept 2, 2007 13:53:27 GMT
Ellington could potienally be a crucial buy for you I reckon. He had a terrific scoring record in the Championship when he was with Wigan, I think he just had a bad spell with West Brom and struggled to fit in the Prem'. Plus Bryan Robson was his manager at the time... . Suprised no-one in the Championship wanted Hartson (whilst on the subject of West Brom). He's a brilliant striker when he's on form...I mean we were pining for him to come back to the international side at one point. And if the rumours were right he was avaliable for a free too...
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Davey
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Sept 2, 2007 14:26:32 GMT
Post by Davey on Sept 2, 2007 14:26:32 GMT
Yeah, I agree about Hartson, he can be an excellent player, and he has experience in spades. He would do well in any Championship side. Although I've heard he's off on loan to Forest. But don't quote me on that.... cos I'm most likely wrong. One thing I will always remember Hartson for though, is when he kicked Eyal Berkovic in the face in front of a camera... Ouch! Oh yes, and I forgot... Liverpool really kicked the hell out of Derby and now top the table. Pleased for ya JimBob Although I wouldn't be if I was a Derby fan....
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JimBobDunnie
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Sept 2, 2007 14:33:14 GMT
Post by JimBobDunnie on Sept 2, 2007 14:33:14 GMT
Haha, I was only gutted with that result because I thought it was 7-0 on Final Score only to find it was 6 on Match of the Day . Great result yeah, if Rafa' can keep the rotation going fairly and keep everyone happy it should be all good for a title win . And how Heskey's got a England call and not Pennant I do not know. He's playing brilliant for us, along with Monster Masch ( ;D). And yes, it wouldn't be good reading for Derby fans neither . EDIT: And what about that Totenham game? 3-1 to them at one point and the other team clawed back to 3-3. Did I mention the other team was Fulham?
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Sept 3, 2007 16:22:43 GMT
Post by OJ on Sept 3, 2007 16:22:43 GMT
We're doing Ok at the moment. it's good that Owen's scoring again. Hope there's more to come.
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Sept 3, 2007 17:27:20 GMT
Post by trainzfan on Sept 3, 2007 17:27:20 GMT
There's only eight goals between the top four. As sure as my "Dirty objects" parody will feature a returning character from "James the Red Engine", Chelsea will get back on top. As for Spurs, well, Robinson AND James look like fools now. England are officially doomed. Oh well... While I'm here, Here's the draw for the third round of the Carling Cup. Plucky little Man utd against those giants Coventry. Blackburn v Birmingham Reading v LiverpoolManchester United v Coventry Tottenham v Middlesbrough Hull v ChelseaBlackpool v Southend West Ham v Plymouth Arsenal v NewcastleLuton v CharltonManchester City v Norwich Sheffield United v Morecambe Sheffield Wednesday v Everton Fulham v Bolton Burnley v Portsmouth Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest or Leicester West Brom v Cardiff Teams supported by SiF Members are in bold.
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JimBobDunnie
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Sept 3, 2007 20:09:48 GMT
Post by JimBobDunnie on Sept 3, 2007 20:09:48 GMT
As for Spurs, well, Robinson AND James look like fools now. England are officially doomed. Oh well... I don't know wether McClaren is either very daft at picking good talent that can actually play, in both in skill and fitness wise . I mean, out of all the England keepers, surely Carson or Green would be the better choice for Russia and Israel? I mean look at the facts: Robinson had a rubbish game against Tottenham. If I were a fan I'd be kicking my head in lamenting the fact that another keeper wasn't brought in the transfer market. Surely with the run he's having and the cruciallity of these two games for England it wouldn't be wise? As for Jamo...I have great respect for the man but do I think he's right for the England keeper? I'm not sure. I mean he was exellent for Portsmouth last season, truely marvellous. As for this season, its hard to tell. The goal at Arsenal by Rosicky was partly due to rubbish defending, yes, but I felt James had just a good chance at saving it. And with the pressure that would be placed on him it would be cruel to say the least. To leads to my point, what on Earth is wrong with the likes of Carson and Green? Green was one of the few England keepers to keep a clean sheet against Reading. Ok, Reading aren't the Madrid a'la Prem, but still he looked sharp. Another keeper who I think who should get the bigger mention here is Carson. Nothing to do with the fact he's contracted to Liverpool, but any keeper who keeps a clean sheet against Chelsea has to be special. I mean, he's played against the likes of Juventus (pre-Match scandal ban) too, so he's had big match experience. And Russia and Israel aren't exactly the goal machine maniacs. Although, the need to win of these games are a lot of pressure to put on someone whose not a real regular, so I don't know. But hey, I'm Welsh. I knew we weren't going to qualify when the groups were drawn .
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Sept 5, 2007 20:50:32 GMT
Post by number1 on Sept 5, 2007 20:50:32 GMT
Whoa dude, we were top of the league for like.... two hours Beat Ipswich 2-0, congratulations, you deserved it, I'm an Ipswich fan. We were joint top with coventry before that point. I'm pleased with our good start though, especially after last season's disasterous one. On the subject of England, sadly when it comes to who plays in goal its not so much a case of who is best for the job as who is least unreliable. I'd go for Kirkland as firstly he was an excelent young prospect before joining liverpool, and also playing for a wigan team with bramble in defence and expecting to be at the wrong end of the table, he will probably get the most first team match experience.
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Sept 13, 2007 7:24:28 GMT
Post by trainzfan on Sept 13, 2007 7:24:28 GMT
Well, the games are through! England have done well (So ignore that parody I wrote until they fail again) and what about Scotland! What do our members and Admin living North of the border have to ay on Scotland's magnifique win over an overpaid, complacent French team?
As for Wales...they still have a chance. Four games to make up, like...ten points.
Northern Ireland-From what I've seen of David Healy he's a pretty good striker, but they are now, sadly, doomed. Spain are not going to blow it now. Or maybe they are. They're Spain, so I don't know. Usually Spain save the disasters for the finals.
Ireland-No hope whatsoever.
And back to the league!
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Sept 13, 2007 15:59:21 GMT
Post by number1 on Sept 13, 2007 15:59:21 GMT
I think it was always going to be a problem for northern ireland, i always felt that early loss to iceland would count against them, hardly seems to matter now.
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