Official Premiership 2008/09 thread

[IAceI]

At the end of his day it's his choice how he runs the team. There's loads of different styles, and Blackburn will just have to learn to live with his style for now. If it means they perform well, then fine. If not then we'll have to see how it's adjusted but it's a bit early for this kind of talk I reckon.

And David Bentley being a bit petulant is hardly breaking news or anything. If there was one player going to walk off in disgust for being told to do 20 press ups then it would have been him

All this says to me is Blackburn are a bunch of racists who don't want to work for a black guy. It's blatantly obvious.

Edited August 5, 2008 by IAceI

[R.W.]

Where was the report from?

[ONO]

Daily Mail. >_>

I feel so bad just for typing that.

[9 to 5]

Three points:

1. It's the Daily fucking Mail.

2. All the report says of any meaning is one line from one 'senior player'.

3. No one likes change.

4. The only player to kick up a fuss accroding to the 'paper' is David Bentley, who was unhappy before Hughes left and knew he was leaving anyway.

Whist Rovers might be having some problems, it's more than likely that all this storm in a tea cup is that Ince has a quite differant training system and the players aren't used to it and moaning a bit. Nothing more, nothing less. With pre-season always being a tough time and Ince's desire to have a very fit side (MK Dons and Macclesfield were rated as the fittest teams in the league under Ince), the players will be knackered and still adjusting to the changes.

Plus Tugay must be gasping for his fags.

[Thrilla]

The Daily Mail seem to be pretty negative in their reporting of Blackburn recently (A team which they barely ever reported on last season), I wonder why that is...

Edited August 5, 2008 by El Hijo Del NashWorkrateConundrum

[9 to 5]

True, I can't figure out why Paul Ince is not favoured by the Mail.

Also, I said three points and listed four.

[Crybaby Bunting]

Newcastle just beat Valencia 2-1 just now in a friendly.

The last ten minutes were magical.

And it's pretty much the exact same team as last year (apart from Jonas, Bassong and Guthrie)

Now watch us still manage to get through most of the season in the relegation zone

[therockbox]

Is Guthrie likely to play much this season, do you think?

[Crybaby Bunting]

Not so sure, I first thought he'd be a fringe player that would be coming on whenever Butt inevitably gets injured . But lately in the pre-season matches he's really started to show potential: he's scored 2 in 4 already and delivered a brilliant corner in the Valencia match for Milner to head the goal in.

Looks like he could be starting a good few matches this season.

[King Ellis]

So er...Charity Shield anyone?

Man U should be winning this, easily. Fletcher's had chances, James made a brilliant save from Tevez and Man U should have had a pen when Hriedessan (sic) basically grabbed Tevez's leg and pulled him down.

Edited August 10, 2008 by King eLLis

[Pesci]

I stopped watching after the first half but I'll go downstairs to watch the penalties now. The commentator was pissing me off though, with his talk about respect every other minute. "HE KICKED THE BALL AWAY, AND NOW THERE IS A RESPECT PROGRAMME!"

Fuck off, he would've always been booked for kicking the ball away. As much as I dislike Craig Burley he did a good job of shutting him up.

[The Future]

I've lost coverage on my television...can anyone please keep me up to date on the penalties?

Edited August 10, 2008 by The Future

[9 to 5]

Diarra gets Pompey off to a good start!

[King Ellis]

Pretty woeful set of penalties by Pompey, I wasn't expecting much else, Man U take it 3-1.

Tevez, Giggs, Carrick for Man U

Defoe scored Pompey's only pen, Diarra, Mvuemba and Johnson all missed.

I liked Neville and Giggs trying to sort out who lifted the shield. "Come on." "No, you." "Come on." "No, it's yours."

Edited August 10, 2008 by King eLLis

[Crybaby Bunting]

shite match although most of the time the Community sheild is a complete load of piss*, it's just a glorified training session and no-one ever wants to push forward too much (esp if there's a big game the week after)

Is this the third time in a row it's gone to penalties after a 0-0 game?

*barring that Chelsea Vs Arsenal (i think) match where they kicked the shit out of each other

[therockbox]

Portsmouth looked shit, their only plan seemed to be to whack it long to Crouch and look for a flick on.

Diarra looked good though, I'm still surprised Wenger let him go. Would fit right in at Arsenal.

[9 to 5]

Yeah Pompey played like shit. Just knocking it long hoping for Crocuh to flick on for Defoe won't do them much favours this season.

[Baddar]

Portsmouth looked shit, their only plan seemed to be to whack it long to Crouch and look for a flick on.

Diarra looked good though, I'm still surprised Wenger let him go. Would fit right in at Arsenal.

Diarra always seems to look good. I rate him Highly. And yes, Portsmouth were absolutely shit. That's all I'll say.

Tevez was awesome, and for the first time in ages, I was impressed by Nani. Maybe I was harsh on him last season, but all he ever wanted to do was play for himself and not the team. There were signs of that today I suppose, but at least he knew when to stop showboating and just pass it.

Would've liked to see Fabio Da Silva, considering I didn't get to watch the Peterboro' game. Both Fabio and Rafael apparently played well that night. Oh well, we'll probably next see them in the Carling Cup.

[Lord Nibbler]

Is this the third time in a row it's gone to penalties after a 0-0 game?

No, it's the first time in a row. Last year it was 1-1, United won on penalties. The year before, Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-1.

Would've liked to see Fabio Da Silva, considering I didn't get to watch the Peterboro' game. Both Fabio and Rafael apparently played well that night. Oh well, we'll probably next see them in the Carling Cup.

Fabio wasn't in the squad. Rafael's the better player, I was hoping to see him and Possebon come on, but I guess it makes more sense to give Brown and Carrick a few minutes.

[Whisper]

Rafael was superb against Peterboro and, more impressively, when he came on against Juve. I was hoping to see him get a run out today but it always made more sense for Brown to replace Neville. The game itself was meh, we should've won it comfortably... more due to how bad Pompey were than anything we did. Tevez was awesome again, he's had a great pre-season... Got a feeling he's gonna be our best player this season.

I'd still like to see us bring a forward in... I like Fraizer Campbell and I know he did well at Hull, but I don't see him as being "United quality"... not any time soon anyway.

Edited August 10, 2008 by Whisper in the Wind