Official Premier League 2009/10 thread

[Zaz]

And we did alright last year too.

This season has been the exact opposite though.

[alldaws1]

So beating Liverpool yet losing comfortably to Chelsea, Arsenal and Man Utd means we play well in the big matches? Alright. Don't forget us playing shockingly bad in the small games, like only beating Burnley 5-0 and Hull 5-1.

Sarcasm aside, there is no such trend for Spurs.

[IAceI]

I read it as, "since when have Spurs played well in them?" as in.. you play badly in all of them, which isn't the case. Just 3 of them. Whereas you played very well in one of them.

[Crybaby Bunting]

Spurs played brilliantly against Arsenal until the first goal... then fell apart.

Regarding the Manchester United match... I may be thinking about last seasons game where they played good up until a dodgy penalty... but I'm not sure exactly when that match was.

Although yes, the Chelsea match was a complete rout.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Last year Spurs drew and beat Chelsea in the league, drew twice with Arsenal, won and lost against Liverpool and drew and lost against Man U. That's not a bad record. However it's rarely like that - until a few seasons back Spurs hadn't beaten Chelsea in YEAAAAAAARS (then won a few in quick succession!). Tottenham's records against Arsenal and Man Utd suck too.

Generally though performances and results against Everton, Villa, Man City etc are pretty good.

[Hobo]

Jozy is playing for Hull! Wonderful!

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Today should be very interesting. Brown and Evans in defence again, who will both have to be on top form, otherwise we could get completely destroyed today. When the hell is Rafael back as well? The sooner, the better.

I'm thinking we could either sneak a draw or our defence will play terribly and we'll leak about three goals.

[Shelty92]

Atkinson should go back to fuckin' pre-school. That guy has no business refereeing a big match like this. Horrible decisions both ways from him.

What a fucking cunt.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

In all honesty, that is by far the worst refereeing performance of the season and ranks up there with some of the worst I've personally seen. He got barely any single decision correct, must have got at least fucking thirty wrong, including the free kick that led to the goal. Shocked nobody got sent off, it amazed me that Joe Cole got Fletcher in a headlock in front of the referee and nothing was even said about it.

Personally enjoyed the game, but sheer gutted about the result. Away from home and I actually thought we were easily as good, if not better than them. A draw was probably the right result for this game, but that's football for you. Certainly cant criticise the team, other than Giggs, who was horrendous. Hopefully we can pick ourselves up from this defeat and get back to business.

[Crybaby Bunting]

*goes onto facebook*

*sees the following statements*

"Stupid chelsea scumbags and their bent referee"

"the faggot ref blew too early"

"have that you manc twats"

Chelsea won?

Edited November 8, 2009 by The General

[Zaz]

Spurs have only ever beaten one of the Big 4 away in the Premier League era and that was the first of them against Liverpool in 1993. So it's like 65 away games against the Big 4 without a win =/

Though we should have beaten Man Utd at Old Trafford a few years ago :@

Edited November 9, 2009 by Zaz

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Thanks Zaz That got me all angry again.

[HailtotheYo]

Hopefully this garners Jozy more starts

[stokeriño]

Three things in regards to the Chelsea/United game:

1) Should have been a draw.

2) SAF needs to shut up about referees. I don't care if he sometimes (like yesterday) has a point - the manner in which he personally attacks the referee's experience/professionalism/fitness/etc. is becoming increasingly arrogant, and his hypocritcal whinging every time a scoreline is less than perfect for his team (since naturally there's none of the same if it should help United win) has reached ridiculous levels and it's about time he served another suspension for it.

3) Anelka ought to have claimed that goal! Damn you Terry for stealing my Fantasy league points!

[Crybaby Bunting]

Every time SAF does something stupid we all joke about the idea of a Grandfather clause being in effect (where he can get away with it because he's been there since the times when he could)

But more importantly, why is Manchester United's cheif executive David Gill on the FAs board of directors as a national game representative?

Surely that would be more important than the idea that it's just SAF... or has that been already discussed enough round these parts?

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

More importantly, it's pathetic that a manager cant say anything bad about an official, even if they get every call wrong in a game and cost one of the teams the game. It's ridiculous if you ask me. A player or manager makes a mistake, we're all allowed to criticise the hell out of them and call for them to lose their jobs. An official makes a mistake and apparently no player or manager is allowed to say a bad word about them and as a reward they get to officiate an even bigger game the following week.

[Crybaby Bunting]

Even if a manager loses their job they will find themselves a new one easily enough, the same can't be said about a referee if they were to be sacked.

[Szumi]

Okay, SAF is a douche. Settled? Moving on to depressing news that only a few people will care about:

Ashton expected to retire

West Ham striker Dean Ashton is expected to officially announce his retirement from professional football by the end of this week.

Ashton has not played a first-team game for 14 months and the Hammers have resigned themselves to losing the 25-year-old, who has struggled to fully recover from an ankle injury suffered at England training in August 2006.

It is believed West Ham are likely to seek compensation in the form of a £7 million insurance claim against the Football Association after medical experts revealed the striker has little chance of competing at the highest level again.

The player may also take action, though it is not certain whether it would be against the FA or Shaun Wright-Phillips - whose tackle caused the initial ankle injury.

Ashton was a product of the famous Crewe Alexandra youth system, which saw manager Dario Gradi bring through the likes of Daviud Platt Danny Murphy, Robbie Savage and Neil Lennon. After playing more then 200 games for the Railwaymen, he became Norwich City's record signing when he joined the Canaries for £3 million in 2005. A string of impressive performances and 17 goals in 44 league appearances earned him a move to West Ham in January 2006 for £7.25 million, where he became a first-team regular.

He has scored 19 goals for the Hammers in 43 games, but for the past three-and-a-half years, the striker has found fitness hard to come by. The ankle break at England training ruled him out for the whole 2006-07 campaign and though he did return, scoring 11 goals in 35 appearances in the 2007-08 campaign, he broke down in new manager Gianfranco Zola's first training session in September 2008.

England boss Fabio Capello rated Ashton highly and tipped him to make a big impact on the international stage, handing him his Three Lions' debut in a friendly against Trinidad and Tobago last summer.

Zola has persistently refused to write-off Ashton but it is understood that the striker has had to admit defeat because of chronic degeneration in the ankle. It is believed he cannot twist or turn or take any impact on the joint and is also in constant discomfort. He has also been given a grave warning that he may be unable to walk properly if he continues to try and play football and may require further surgery in any case.

Just last Friday, Zola reiterated the view that he still hoped Ashton would recover but after taking advice from specialists including Dutch surgeon Niek van Dyke, who originally operated on Ashton, West Ham have reluctantly accepted that the striker's career is over.

The FA beefed up its insurance cover after a dispute with Newcastle United following Michael Owen's injury in the last World Cup but the Ashton claim will have to be dealt with by the previous company.

The announcement is a big blow to West Ham, who have become heavily reliant on Carlton Cole to provide their firepower, though the club will be hoping to recoup some money through its compensation claim, which would likely be used to bolster Zola's attacking options.

Source - Soccernet

As one of the few Hammers fans on the boards, I'm gutted by this. I mean, I knew the chances of him coming back were slim, but to hear it finalized hurts. Dean-O was a class act, and had such potential to be fan-dabi-dozi. Zola and Capello both praised him highly, and for good reason.

Edited November 9, 2009 by Szumi

[Dynamite]

That is really sad news about Ashton. I was always a big fan of his and in between injuries, he did show genuine moments of brilliance. Could have and would have achieved a lot more with his talent had it not been for his horrendous luck with injuries.

[ONO]

More importantly, it's pathetic that a manager cant say anything bad about an official, even if they get every call wrong in a game and cost one of the teams the game. It's ridiculous if you ask me. A player or manager makes a mistake, we're all allowed to criticise the hell out of them and call for them to lose their jobs. An official makes a mistake and apparently no player or manager is allowed to say a bad word about them and as a reward they get to officiate an even bigger game the following week.

:lmao:

Aye, it is ridiculous. It isn't ridiculous when one single manager ALWAYS comes out and blames officials, when his team either draws or loses. Unbelievable.