English Premier League 2008-09

[stokiebaz]

i see wenger moaning about stoke being to physical;he,s getting to be as big a moaner as fergie,but i notice they only whinge when they lose..stokiebaz..

[Irish Alan]

The Arsenal v Man Utd match kicks off at 12.45pm lunchtime in the UK.That will be 7.45pm here in Thailand......the Wigan v Stoke match kicks off at the same time,strangely.

Arsenal v Man Utd - PREMIER LEAGUE - Venue: Emirates Stadium Date: Saturday 8 November Kick-off: 1230 GMT

Whaddaya say we get there at 7pm to be sure to be sure...

[beer monkey]

You have to take into account the 15 minute televised time delay that works using the helical friction principle.

[Zidane]

The Arsenal v Man Utd match kicks off at 12.45pm lunchtime in the UK.That will be 7.45pm here in Thailand......the Wigan v Stoke match kicks off at the same time,strangely.

Arsenal v Man Utd - PREMIER LEAGUE - Venue: Emirates Stadium Date: Saturday 8 November Kick-off: 1230 GMT

Whaddaya say we get there at 7pm to be sure to be sure...

Hmmm.....Barclays Premiership official site still says 12.45pm (7.45pm Thai) but,yes,the BBC have got it as 12.30pm (7.30 pm Thai).How strange,I've never seen that before.
In view of that must get in there early to watch it for 7pm just in case.Have to hope that they both havent got it wrong and is actually a 3pm kick off (10.00pm Thai time) or else we wont remember much of the game !

[stokiebaz]

yes it is 12.45 kick off both games..stokiebaz..

[beer monkey]

Arsenal 2-1 Man Utd. pulled 1 back in the 90th minute by sub de-silva.

Wigan 0 - Stoke 0..

[Zidane]

stokiebaz a happy man tonight.....good result at wigan 0-0.
Watched the Arsenal v United game at the outside restaurant at the Charoen Hotel.Never again....its jinxed....I've seen United lose against Man City,Chelsea,Liverpool and now Arsenal at that place this year !
Not a bad game.Could have gone either way,I suppose.But United....something not quite right...missing their fluid passing game of the last two seasons.....the Carlos Queiroz influence,maybe?
Gary Neville,out for a season looks rusty.The only bright spot for United was the substitute for him,Rafael de Silva,who at 19 looks a decent prospect.Rooney and Berbatov had forgettable games.
Also watched the West Ham v Everton game.After 80 minutes West Ham 1-0 up and well in control.
Then Everton,unbelievably,score 3 in 7 minutes ! Saha,ex United,gets two of them !
Two other shocks....Portsmouth win at Sunderland 2-1 and Bolton win at Hull 1-0.
Up to now I've predicted all 5 games wrongly....next up Liverpool v West Brom.Surely I cant get that wrong,a comfortable home win !

[BobHelm]

Am at home Zidane & didn't realise the WH v Everton game was on - till after about 60 minutes. WH were all over Everton from when I started to watch, should have gone 2-0 up (a couple of times).....THEN... well once Everton drew level there was only 1 team in it.
Glad to say I didn't watch the United match

[BKKSTAN]

Yuk,1-2!United looked tired and out of sync.Berbatrov,with exception of a couple of quality moves just doesn't seem to fit yet!Neville attempting to score rather than pass and Rooney looked like the brash youth with his emotion out of control again.

I,too seem to jinx my team by watching them live.I usually watch the replay!

Credit must be given to Arsenal for their determined and quicker game last night!

[Irish Alan]

stokiebaz a happy man tonight.....good result at wigan 0-0.
Watched the Arsenal v United game at the outside restaurant at the Charoen Hotel.Never again....its jinxed....I've seen United lose against Man City,Chelsea,Liverpool and now Arsenal at that place this year !
Not a bad game.Could have gone either way,I suppose.But United....something not quite right...missing their fluid passing game of the last two seasons.....the Carlos Queiroz influence,maybe?
Gary Neville,out for a season looks rusty.The only bright spot for United was the substitute for him,Rafael de Silva,who at 19 looks a decent prospect.Rooney and Berbatov had forgettable games.
Also watched the West Ham v Everton game.After 80 minutes West Ham 1-0 up and well in control.
Then Everton,unbelievably,score 3 in 7 minutes ! Saha,ex United,gets two of them !
Two other shocks....Portsmouth win at Sunderland 2-1 and Bolton win at Hull 1-0.
Up to now I've predicted all 5 games wrongly....next up Liverpool v West Brom.Surely I cant get that wrong,a comfortable home win !

Well you can't go there next week Zidane because of the alcohol ban but if you go every week after that I'll buy your drink for you, ok?

[stokiebaz]

dear zidane can you please go to charoen next week they are playing us and we will need all the luck we can get...stokiebaz.

[Zidane]

dear zidane can you please go to charoen next week they are playing us and we will need all the luck we can get...stokiebaz.

I think next weekend there is an alcohol ban over here,baz,so you could be in for a trouncing,I'm afraid !
On the other hand I've watched Liverpool 3 times this season (United,Everton and Chelsea) so could be the place for you,Alan !
If you do go ask the staff if they know an english guy who arrives all smiles but,quite often,leaves a couple of hours later grimfaced !

[stokiebaz]

i will be spending a night at charoen either 13th or 14th before i move to bamboo garden,fortunately i am t.total..stokiebaz.

[BobHelm]

Strange season I think.
Spurs win again (away to City)- but 3 players sent off in the game, I didn't see it, but will have a read tomorrow.
Middlesbrough beat Villa away.
Fulham up to Newcastle at half time.
Still any one of 14 for the drop!!!!

[westerby]

Fulham 2 - 1 Newcastle.

That's a shame, back into the relegation zone.

[deankham]

Dare I ask if there are any fellow Sunderland supporters on the forum =D>

No abuse please from the Geordies!

[Geordie]

Wiv got nowt ti abuse aboot just noo.or are ye a Mackim just storin it ye bas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Galee]

Rob Styles has got to be the worst referee in the Premiership.
Another disgraceful decision yesterday to go along with many others this season. When is this idiot going to get demoted.

[Galee]

This article made me smile.

Source, Daily Mail.

We're in the grip of recession and Ronaldo just wants more

I want to transport you inside the brain of Cristiano Ronaldo, an expanse of cerebral fluid that roughly equates to that of a male Dicopomorpha echmepterygis, the world's smallest insect (they're blind, wingless, parasitic wasps).

You will recall how this pizzafaced Portugese goon led Manchester United on a merry little dance all summer with his outrageous 'It is my dream, a step forward' flirtation with Real Madrid.

Since he decided to stay, or rather since his boss (I can't reveal the manager's name as he is currently banned from this column) pointed out that he could either honour his contract or rot in the reserves, young Cristiano has behaved with all the petulance you'd imagine from an overly cocky, unusually stupid footballer.

Greedy boy; Can't Ronaldo understand that he must show a bit of remorse for his flirtations with Real Madrid before fans forgive him?

His form has been patchy (freekicks against Stoke don't count), his body language sulky and his general demeanour has consistently screamed: 'I should have gone to Madrid.'

United fans have continued to support him, but not with quite the idolatory fervour they showed last season, when he scored 42 goals and won them the Premiership and Champions League. It's the same at the Emirates with Emmanuel Adebayor, who lost his special bond with Arsenal fans after his own appalling 'Come and get me Barcelona and AC Milan' antics in the close season.

Football fans, the real ones, know when they've been disrespected.

So you might expect Ronaldo's advisers to have a quiet word in his pock-marked, diamond-studded ear, suggesting a few things to help repair the relationship. Some high-profile hospital visits in Manchester, perhaps? Or a large personal donation to a favoured fans' charity? Even a really sincere, honest, self-critical 'I was a greedy, selfish b*****d and I'm sorry' interview with a newspaper might do the trick.

But no. His advisers had a better idea: 'Cristiano, let's go public and demand a ??50,000-a-week pay rise!'

Now, think about the timing of that decision for a moment. Britain is in the grip of the worst recession for a century. Millions of people are facing negative equity in their homes, the threat of losing their jobs and the very real fear of not being able to feed their kids.

And as they wake at 6am, stressed and exhausted from the sheer unrelenting strain of this terrible credit crunch, they turn on the TV for some light relief and hear that Cristiano Ronaldo wants another ??2.6 million a year on top of his existing ??6.2m-a-year, five-year contract. Or he'll pack up his expensive toys and leave.

'It is normal that a footballer wants a deal to go with his status and one that matches his performances on the field,' explained his agent.

Hmm, let's analyse that statement, shall we? Ronaldo has been, by his standards, pretty average all season and his 'status' in most people's eyes is currently residing several miles south of Ashey Cole (a position I never thought it possible to occupy).

This sickening new pay demand confirms everything I suspected about Cristiano Ronaldo. He's a brilliant footballer, but he's also a shallow, grasping, self-obsessed wastrel whose thoughts about fidelity could be written on the back of a grain of rice.

United may be one of my least favourite teams on the planet, but I'll say this about them: they're a fantastically successful club, with a wonderful history and a terrifically loyal, passionate set of fans.

They don't need this arrogant twerp running rings around them any more, however well he runs rings round opposing teams. The manager who can't be named should take Ronaldo's latest request for 50 per cent more credit...and crunch him.

[Zidane]

Thai Cable TV have started showing the Premiership again the last two weekends.....dont know how long it will last !
Last weekend,West Ham v Everton and Blackburn v Chelsea.Last night Arsenal v Aston Villa....dunno about tonight ?
Arsenal certainly came down to earth with a bump and Villa thoroughly deserved their win.Villa even missed a penalty in the first half and spurned several chances in this period.As poor a performance as I've seen from Arsenal in a long time.
Chelsea and Liverpool both had comfortable wins to stay top and Man United thumped Stoke City by five goals to nil.Welcome to Udon,stokie baz.If I'd have watched it at the Charoen,Stoke would probably have nicked it 1-0 but a night in because of the alcohol ban.
Amongst the 15 teams fighting to avoid relegation from the Premiership,Sunderland won at Blackburn and Newcastle v Wigan and West Ham v Portsmouth were drawn.Harry Redknapps excellent start at Spurs faltered as they went down at Fulham 2-1.
Funnily enough Sky Sports had a feature on these 15 teams earlier in the week and they reckoned the three teams to go down would be West Brom,Stoke and West Ham !