EPL 2015/16

[BobHelm]

Swansea 0-1 Stoke

After a disappointing start to the season, given the quality of the summer signing, Stoke are starting to get their act together.
3 win on the trot sees then slip above Chelsea & into 11th. place.
I suspect that not even Mr. Hughes thought they would be above the Champions 9 games into the season & a far cry from propping up the table with 2 points after 5 games ...

[BobHelm]

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Do not forget....

https://www.gov.uk/when-do-the-clocks-change

So from Sunday until 27th. March 2016 there is a 7 hour time difference between Thailand & the UK...

[GT93]

Oh Buddha, the Anti-Christ team must be a high chance for a blank on the scoreboard this weekend.

[BobHelm]

Some interesting results there as the Gunners rise to the top of the table.
We will see where this set of results leaves Jose & Tim??
It might be an interesting week for both, as Chelsea face another fine for not greeting the media after the game.. Possibly a lesser one than if Jose had though...

[Zidane]

It promises to be an interesting night of football tonight.....
First up at 7pm Thai time is the NE derby between Sunderland and Newcastle.After thrashing Norwich 6-2 in their last game you would think Newcastle should maintain their momentum but its Big Sams first home game in charge of Sunderland,so who knows ?
Two kick offs at 9.05pm Thai time The Spuds should edge out Bournemouth but the big match of the night is the Manchester derby.Citeh are without Aguero,Silva and,possibly,Kompany so,on paper at least,it looks like a big chance for United.Hopefully,they will restore Martial to the middle,bring in Mata and Blind and keep Herrera in the box to box role he thrives on.
A tricky match for Jurgen Klopps men at 11.15pm Thai as Southampton are no mugs and Liverpool have been struggling of late.

[socksy]

Sherwood is out at Villa it has just been announced

[socksy]

Sherwood is out at Villa it has just been announced. McClaren will be on a sticky wicket if 'Toon' are defeated tonight.

[socksy]

Newcastle down to ten men after Coloccini acted like a real ***** and gave away a needless penalty at the end of the first half. Sunderland one nil up.

[botaknh]

Oh dear, how sad, never mind my bonny lads

Only 6 in a row (Mags need 2 hands to count that far) and we are now above you alphabetically again

[BobHelm]

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I watched the early game & thought that there was only going to be one winner.
That all changed with the penalty & sending off.
I thought that Sunderland looked a terrible side & that Newcastle will continue to struggle if they cannot score goals when they are in so much command of a game.
I imagine that Big Sam will be working his new boys to death on the fundamentals. I am not sure what Steve will be doing, or should be doing. Maybe brushing up his cv might be a good option.

I was fortunate in that my attempt to watch the United derby, my supplier let me down. He claimed it was a combination of issues with True plus a deliberate attack on his servers.
Judging from what I did manage to see & reading newspaper reports this morning it appears that they did me a great favour.
I suspect that both managers would have been happy with a point before the game started. In the context of the match I suspect that while Citi might feel that it was 2 points slipping away, drawing away from home while missing your 2 best forward players (Agüero & Silva) is not a bad result.
United continue to frustrate. Some good performances, some poor, but, seemingly, no real 'plan' of how to get the ball from one end of the pitch into the net at the other.

Spurs continue to bemuse. World beaters one game, mediocre the next. Sadly for poor Bournemouth this was one of Tottenham's good days. You have to think that if Bournemouth do survive it will be as much about the inadequacies of 3 other sides as to their own brilliance. It is mighty tough to come up & compete on a limited budget.

Pool are now very much back to 'work in progress'. I don't think that it is really possible to guess how it will turn out until next season when Klopp has managed to get some people in.

[Zidane]

Martial started his first 4 games for United as the main striker playing in the middle.....he scored 4 goals in 4 games,so what does LVG do ? Starts playing him out on the left where he's on the periphery of the game and nowhere near as effective.
This to accomodate Rooney who appears to have had his day as a top player.At 30 he looks like a Championship striker playing for a Premiership team,sadly.
LVG could have played Martial as the main striker last night with two out of Mata,Memphis and Lingard out wide.
Ron Atkinson described the match as the most boring Manchester derby ever......78 minutes before there was a shot on target from either side and that an easy save from Navas by de Gea.
Then Lingard hit the bar on 82 minutes and Hart made a good save from Smalling with a couple of minutes to go and that was it !
United should have had a penalty when Herrera was brought down in the area by Sterling but neither side deserved 3 points from this dour encounter......points deductions might be more appropriate !

[socksy]

The Coloccini sending off turned the game when Newcastle were in control. Fat Sam even wants a change in the rules where in the event of these circumstances only a penalty should be awarded and no dismissal. In the days of real physical football it would not even have been a penalty. Steven Fletcher man of the match FFS.

[socksy]

Sherwood laughing up his sleeve despite being a nonsense manager. A two million quid pay off cant be bad. Maybe that's why the fat bastard at toon perseveres so long with failures to avoid paying compensation.

[BobHelm]

I quite like Tim Sherwood, although I am uncertain as to how good a manager he is.
I thought that he was pretty shoddily treated by Spurs after he got them out of a hole that they had dug for themselves.
I see it pretty much the same at Villa.
He saved them from the drop & so they reward him by selling the only two quality players that he had in the squad. They replace them with £10M players who just can't cut it in the Premiership. As I understand it the manager had no input into these transfers.
A bit like Sunderland, the number & previous reputation of the managers at the club suggests to me that there are issues there that will not be solved just by hiring another one!!

But, as you say Socks, £2M pay off is not to be sniffed at - especially as I understand he is immediately on the short list for the Swindon job..

I am puzzled that you seem to be suggesting that Mr. Ashley's motives might be financially driven though Socks, given that I thought he was universally loved at Newcastle for his humanitarian efforts at the club...

[Zidane]

I was thinking to myself "who the hell would want the Villa job ?" but if you are going to get 2m GBP compensation then maybe quite a few......anyone know how I can download the application form ?
But,as has been said,they sold their best two players (Benteke and Delph) and now definitely have the feel of a Championship side about them.
Newcastle losing 3-0 at Sunderland......well,the only consolation is that Bournemouth and Norwich are going to pot and give the Toon hope of survival.I do feel sorry for Bournemouth....smallest team,smallest squad,smallest gates and a number of players out for the season with long term injuries including their star striker,Wilson.

[socksy]

Nice way to start and brighten up my day by reading your last paragraph Bob.

Meanwhile it may not only be LvG who is a bit deranged at Old Trafford.

Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney rates club and country team-mate Chris Smalling among the best three centre-backs in the world. (Manchester Evening News)

[Zidane]

Ha,Rooney is losing the plot both on and off the field.....he could become a regular poster on Udon Map if he keeps this up !
That said,Smalling has improved one heck of a lot in the last 12 months.He's possibly the best English centre back,at the moment,ahead of Cahill and Stones.
But one of the best 3 centre backs in the world.......yeah,I'm just off on a date with Beyonce !

[BobHelm]

Certainly an interesting one first up....

Luckily no late game with the 7 hour time difference....

[Zidane]

In seasons gone by Chelsea v Liverpool would be a mouthwatering top of the table clash,but not this season !
Chelsea just above the relegation places and Liverpool mid table mediocrity.
I like Klopp and I think he will do well for Liverpool (would have liked him at United,actually) but I think Chelsea will shade it today to lift some of the pressure off their beleagured fans in Udon !
Theres been a lot of focus on Jose Mourinho's behaviour recently....he's seemed like a man possessed,sometimes.....but in fairness to the guy,his father is seriously ill in Portugal which could explain quite a lot.

[GT93]

Everton- Sunderland is the big game for some folks on Sunday. I found this on the internet and it wasn't written by LYM:

"Everton have enjoyed just one victory in their last five Premier League games against Sunderland, drawing one and losing three.

The last five top-tier meetings between these two sides have produced a total of just seven goals (two for Everton, five for Sunderland)."

Still this one is a home game for the Toffees and a biscuit or two would be nice to help silence the doubters.

http://www.skysports.com/football/evert ... and/341289