On the Eve of the new Season...

Originally posted by vansmack:
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.

Well that blows my theory….I guess Arseholes aren't a bunch of homo's after all.

(no offense intended to gay guys, it's just a figure of speech)

Originally posted by vansmack:

10:00 Newcastle v Man City (SetantaX/Replay on SET at 5:15)

see you all at the bar

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:

Originally posted by vansmack:

10:00 Newcastle v Man City (SetantaX/Replay on SET at 5:15)

see you all at the bar

Be sure to take a good book with you…

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:

Originally posted by vansmack:

10:00 Newcastle v Man City (SetantaX/Replay on SET at 5:15)

see you all at the bar

You just gotta move out west - I'd watch that with you!

well, i havent left the house to watch newcastle in awhile, should be interesting. i'd much rather watch it on a couch. it might make me feel less self concious about yelling at a tv

i guess mankie only finds interest in american owned teams

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:

i guess mankie only finds interest in winning teams that play exciting attacking football, and that have actually won some silverware since WW2

True, very true!

No more FSC FA Cup startin 08/09.

Updated: March 30, 2007

ITV and Setanta link-up lands £425m FA deal

Football Association chief executive Brian Barwick has confirmed the television rights for England and FA Cup matches have been awarded to ITV and Setanta Sports starting in the 2008-09 season.

The new deal comes after the FA's partners since 2001 BBC and Sky were outbid for the package, which takes effect from August next year and will run until July 2012.

It will generate £425million for the FA over the four-year term - a 30% increase from the current £300million agreement with BBC and Sky.

FA chief executive Brian Barwick said: 'We are delighted to have concluded a four-year deal with the two companies. It is a deal that starts from August 1 2008 and is worth in the region of £425million. It is an increase on our current deal of £125m and a 42% increase on that previous deal.

'It means a £31m increase for the FA which gives us chance to invest in the game again in a bigger way

'We will have in excess of £100m a year to put back into football.'

Barwick added: 'It gives us the chance to extend the message of football as wide as possible and give everyone a chance to enjoy the game.

'For viewers we have ensured key FA Cup and England games get free-to-air coverage. That was essential to us and we have delivered on it.

'We have been able to extend coverage - we have asked both broadcasters to look at the amateur game and make sure there is coverage of that.

'ITV are proven deliverers of good football products. They were there at the inception of the Champions League in 1992 and Setanta are new kids on the block.'

goddamn it. really have to get the dish now

Today

AC Milan - Bayern Munich
PSV Eindhoven - Liverpool

Wednesday

Chelsea - Valencia
Roma - Manchester United

Thought it was going to be difficult to follow it after the upset against Liverpool, but such a great competition that I am already looking forward to the games this week. I hope Mourinho is out of the Champions League in a couple of weeks.

Liverpool 3 - PSV 0
AC Milan 2 - Bayern Munich 2

Originally posted by ChampionshipVinyl:
Liverpool 3 - PSV 0
AC Milan 2 - Bayern Munich 2

Looks like scum are through to the semis. In all fairness they're probably the team to beat.

The penalty awarded to Milan only further confirms that Italian squads buy off the refs. the most blatantly bad call I've seen in the Champions League.

I don't doubt it still goes on in Italy…that's why I'm concerned about the Roma draw. The irony of it all though is the world's greatest and only totally un-biased ref is Italian.

<img src="http://www.thefa.com/NR/rdonlyres/7ECCA8C6-ACBE-4533-B46F-B5188C8E0A65/0/Collina_med.jpg" alt=" - " />

Originally posted by vansmack:
The penalty awarded to Milan only further confirms that Italian squads buy off the refs. the most blatantly bad call I've seen in the Champions League.

wasn't there a clear penalty to Kaka in the first half that the referee didn't see and a goal anulled for an offisde that didn't exist, also for Milan? That's what I recall from seeing a summary of the game last night. I think the referee's mistakes ended up helping more Bayern Munich than Milan.

Originally posted by Barcelona:
wasn't there a clear penalty to Kaka in the first half that the referee didn't see and a goal anulled for an offisde that didn't exist, also for Milan?

A clear penalty? I certainly don't think so. If anything, there was slight touch, but nothing I would call clear. Milan scored on the resulting corner kick anyway.

I also thought the offside was close enough to call offsides.

But my point is this, even if you screw up in the first half (which he didn't), you don't make something up in the 84th minute to make amends unless you're paid to do so. You just don't. Kaka didn't even think it was a penalty. He was heading to the corner to take the corner kick before somebody told him that he was awarded a penalty!

Originally posted by vansmack:

Originally posted by Barcelona:
wasn't there a clear penalty to Kaka in the first half that the referee didn't see and a goal anulled for an offisde that didn't exist, also for Milan?

A clear penalty? I certainly don't think so. If anything, there was slight touch, but nothing I would call clear. Milan scored on the resulting corner kick anyway.

I also thought the offside was close enough to call offsides.

But my point is this, even if you screw up in the first half (which he didn't), you don't make something up in the 84th minute to make amends unless you're paid to do so. You just don't. Kaka didn't even think it was a penalty. He was heading to the corner to take the corner kick before somebody told him that he was awarded a penalty!

You said that Italian teams buy referees. I think that if this was the case in this game, he wouldn't have doubted about the first penalty (it doesn't matter at all whether the goal came after that corner) and he would have awarded the offside goal and avoided the yellow card to the Milan player, whom I believe will miss the game in Germany (I think the same thing happened with Lucio in Bayern). I just saw the video in youtube and I have changed my mind, the referee didn't help either team, the offside goal was good, if he had been bought by the Italians, the score would have been 2-0 in the early second half.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRgwsycOJ4k

Chelsea 1 - Valencia 1
Roma 2 - ManU 1

Evidently the ref was totally biased in Roma's favor…although Scholsey's sending off was legit. I didn't see the game but a scouse mate did and told me this….and a scouse would not make excuses for United I can guarantee you. 2-1 down and a second leg at O.T. I would've taken that before the game so quite happy with the result. An away goal was vital.

I pity the Roma fans on the return leg when my Salford boys get hold of them. Actually, that's not true, I hope they get a good old mancunian welcome! ;) Do they not realize it's Man Utd they're fucking with???

clearly the only reason manusa would EVER lose is because of paid off refs