On the Eve of the new Season...

Oy Mank. I agree with your thoughts on the squad Fergie put out there. I thought Slyvestre over Heinze was nearly as shocking as Giggs. Rooney looked lost on the left and Ronaldo just as lost on the right. Made no sense. I did think O'Shea was unusually strong defensively, but was useless going forward (save for set pieces).

After watching Larsson for the last three weeks, I wasn't thinking his departure was going to be as bad as everybody says it is (recent injuries notwithstanding) because he opened with a bang, but has been quiet lately, but after seeing his run on the goal, it makes sense. How many other strikers would have kept running and been too close to the net? I'm guessing every other United striker at least. Nonetheless, we're into the last 8, and I'm looking forward to a Smith Rooney pairing up front soon in the FA Cup and Premiereship (two animals on the loose ball), but I'm not sure they will be what United needs to win in Europe. Does Fergie ask Larsson to stay now with Saha out 4 weeks and Ole out 3?

Arseholes, arseholes, arseholes….they did little to help their cause. Good for PSV. I've always been a fan. That placed emptied out after Alex's (second) goal. That was fun to watch.

Real looked just as distracted as Barca did the night before, but that didn't stop the Bayern fans from enjoying themselves - what a crowd. The early goal made the next 50 minutes tough to watch, but the last 15-20 were some really exciting football. The penalty was a ridiculously bad call and made Ronaldo's booking in the United game look like a high school play compared to the academy award performance by Robinho. I did enjoy the ref sending off Van Bommel and Dairra for being girls. Only in Europe do you see something that pathetic… I also enjoyed the announcers noting after the game the symbolism between the old United player (Ruud) exchanging kits with the future United player (Hargreaves). Hmmm….

I didn't get the chance to watch the AC Milan-Celtic match yet, but I do feel for The Bhoys. Valliant effort.

I really couldn't give a toss about Celtic…there's no place for sectarianism in sports and that's what Scottish football is all about. If Celtic were in the premiership they'd be lower to mid-table anyway.

Rooney definately looked lost on the left. He's at his best in the middle just behind the striker running head on at the defence. I thought Scholsey was our best player on the night. And what's with all this passing back to the goalie?? That was totally against United's usual style of play. I thought overall it was a disapointing display from United, but they're in the last eight and that's all that matters at the end of the day.

I think Larson is going home to be with his family, which is fair enough.

We should have three animals on the field on Saturday, Rooney, Smith and Heinze…put Ronaldo and Park on the wings and Boro won't be able to handle that speed. Why Heinze has been on the bench for so long is baffling anyway, he's probably the best back in the premiership, and puts the fear of God in any striker..BTW, I would've given Heinze the number 57, but that's just me.

Well, we're still on for the treble and arseholes are on for NOT A BLOODY THING!!! :D

Quarter-final draw
AC Milan v Bayern Munich
PSV Eindhoven v LIVERPOOL
Roma v MANCHESTER UNITED
CHELSEA v Valencia

(First legs to be played on 3/4 April and second legs on 10/11 April)

Semi-final draw
CHELSEA or Valencia v PSV Eindhoven or LIVERPOOL
Roma or MANCHESTER UNITED v AC Milan or Bayern Munich

(First legs to be played on 24/25 April and second legs on 1/2 May)

Interesting draw…..PSV are the darkhorse imho. I'd like to see Rooney/Ronaldo/Smith to get some match time before the next round. Can you imagine being a back and having to look at Rooney and Smith coming at you??? :eek:

hopefully we'll get the roma match here ;)

FA CUP QUARTERFINALS

Saturday, March 10

10:00am Man United vv Middlesbrough (PPV)

Sunday, March 11

9:00am Chelsea v Tottenham (PPV)
12:00pm Blackburn v Manchester City (FSC)
2:00pm Plymouth Argyle v Watford (FSC)

Reminder: Daylight Time starts this Sunday

United, Spurs, Blackburn and Watford to go through…what do you think?

Originally posted by Roadbike Mankie:
United, Spurs, Blackburn and Watford to go through…what do you think?

Tottenham going through without Robbie Keane? Bold statement.

Wednesday, March 14

4:00 Aston Villa v Arsenal (Setanta)
4:00 Man City v Chelsea (FSC)

i was planning on hitting a bar today to catch the euro qualifying matches until someone in my group found out:

> Bad news: Lucky Bar (and all the other bars in the area that are
> showing the games via Setanta Sports <- hated money-grabbing
> broadcaster) are charging a $20 cover to see the England game and the
> Ireland game. This is mandated by Setanta unfortunately - doesn't seem
> to be a way out of it. Also, the bars' schedules do not include Greece
> v Turkey! (which, given the Turkish support in our ranks, is clearly
> unacceptable)
>
> I've exchanged voicemails with Lucky's owner to see if he might be
> persuaded to change his mind for a large group. I also tried Summers,
> Fado, Solly's and Duffy's in NW DC - all either have the cover or
> aren't showing any football.

so in the end we've pooled our money and bought a subscription to Setenta so we can watch it at a friend's place… what a crock. $20?!? for a soccer game?!?

Originally posted by sweetcell:
i was planning on hitting a bar today to catch the euro qualifying matches until someone in my group found out:
so in the end we've pooled our money and bought a subscription to Setenta so we can watch it at a friend's place… what a crock. $20?!? for a soccer game?!?

this unfortunately is SOP for most rugby and soccer internationals…

Correct me if I'm mistaken, but Setanta 'force' bars to charge a $20 cover to watch the game in the bar if said bar is using Setanta? Who gets the $20, and is that even legal?

yup, according to my friend who spoke with the owner/manager of lucky bar, the money does indeed all go to setenta… in fact they were threatening to send their own person to work the door and collect $$$.

in honour of england's stellar performance against the power-house of international soccer that is israel:

<img src="http://www.toilette-humor.com/images/funny_cat_problem.jpg" alt=" - " />

Originally posted by sweetcell:

in honour of england's stellar performance against the power-house of international soccer that is israel:

&lt;img src="http://www.toilette-humor.com/images/funny_cat_problem.jpg" alt=" - " /&gt;

It's England…what were you expecting? An England team to play up to it's full potential!!!

who cares? fox soccer channel had ESTONIA vs RUSSIA

Originally posted by sweetcell:
yup, according to my friend who spoke with the owner/manager of lucky bar, the money does indeed all go to setenta… in fact they were threatening to send their own person to work the door and collect $$$.

They used to send their own person to Lucky Bar all the time. After becoming a regular and not having to pay at the bar, when the Setanta guy was there, I'd have to go in the back door.

Here's how it works: Setanta doesn't charge the bar for the games, they charge $20 a head and the bar makes money on the food and beverage service.

But for $15 a month with D*TV, I now just have interested folks come to my place to watch the matches. This week, however, England was PPV for $25, making the bar trip cheaper. Fortunately, I know England are now crap and saved the $20, downloaded the match using Bit Torrent when it was over and was quite glad about my decision.

So if I have Setanta at home and having some mates round to watch the match…how many can I have before the Setanta bloke comes round collecting $20 from everyone?

Originally posted by Roadbike Mankie:
So if I have Setanta at home and having some mates round to watch the match…how many can I have before the Setanta bloke comes round collecting $20 from everyone?

No more than 5.

Vice captain Rosicky earns £25,000 fineDale Johnson

Arsenal star Tomas Rosicky and five of his Czech Republic team-mates landed the whole squad a £25,000 fine from the Czech FA after spending a night in a hotel with six prostitutes.

It was revealed on Monday that the players had been fined after indulging in a wild party following the team's 2-1 defeat to Germany in a Euro 2008 qualifier. But the full extent of the revelry has only just emerged.

A female Czech journalist broke the story after she had visited the hotel room herself as an autograph hunter. Players 'drank and hugged prostitutes' while she spoke to Jan Polak at the room door.

Rosicky, along with Martin Jiranek, Tomas Ujfalusi, Polak and Marek Cech, managed to get the girls into their hotel by telling team officials that the girls were 'autograph hunters'. They also claimed they had been celebrating Ujfalusi's birthday.

Rosicky apologised for his actions at a press conference. He said: 'We have been correctly punished. We are very sorry.' However, he said he had a 'clear conscience' when asked about the presence of the prostitutes.

His girlfriend, Radka Kocurova, may have a few additional questions. She said: said: 'I have read what was in the papers. All I will say is no comment.' Ujfalusi, Cech and Polak are actually married.

'Because the celebration was conducted in an inappropriate way, which does not fall in line with the behaviour of Czech Republic national team members, the whole team was punished by a one-million-crown fine,' the Czech FA said in a statement.

Coach Karel Brueckner was quoted by news agency CTK as saying it was the worst disciplinary offence he had experienced and that it briefly made him consider resigning.

Tabloid daily Sip reported on Monday that the six players had held a party in a room at the Praha hotel until at least 5.30am. The players, who will share the cost of the fine among the whole team, admitted having a late party.

The Czechs lost 2-1 to Germany on Saturday after a weak performance that sparked wide criticism of the team and Brueckner.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=417390&amp;cc=%

Saturday, Mar 31

07:45 Liverpool v Arsenal (Setanta)
10:00 Fulham v Pompey (FSC)
10:00 Newcastle v Man City (SetantaX/Replay on SET at 5:15)
10:00 Man United v Blackburn (Setanta)
12:00 Watford v Chelsea (FSC)
2:15 West Ham v Boro (FSC)

Sunday, Apr 1

11:00 Spurs v Reading (FSC)

Mon, Apr 2

3:00 Aston Villa v Everton (FSC)