"
Hows your Carling (Capital One) campaign going?

Oh wait....

Definately no apologies... we made 8 changes to the team that beat Sunderland, our starting striker hadnt played proper football in 2 months and we started three teenagers not named "Sterling"...

The Cup is a pitfall (see Newcastle) so despite the inglorious goal, Im happy to progress while United have a replay with West Ham to cope with in succession to our match. its not pretty, but done.

Again though, i must say, really impressed with Mansfield. Played the second half with determination, and despite a poor miss by the ref, moved on. Their manager showed a ton of class in the post match interview, congratulating Liverpool and Suarez, and despite the tapping up of the announcers admitted that Suarez was world class and "England is lucky to have him"... ive been on the wrong side of poor officiating, and with far less on the line, and have a hard time turning it. Very impressed.

Are you ISWT? Last I checked you aren't. And oh yeah, yours went so much better than Arsenal's.

Gate, these things happen. Maradonna's most famous goal came in the World cup off a deliberate handball. Was it Sunderland against us where the ball went in off a beach ball that was thrown onto the pitch and was allowed to stand? I'm sure Arsenal have benefitted from their fair share of controversial or dubious goals.

_________________
FrankerZ FrankerZ FrankerZ FrankerZ FrankerZ FrankerZ FrankerZ FrankerZ

PM him them...

Who did you lose to again?

Proud? Not really. Happy that we get to keep playing in the FA cup? Definitely.

You know every team gets screwed eventually, so you might as well celebrate when it benefits you because it won't be long until you're on the other end. It isn't footballers jobs to call fouls on themselves.

Dont even bite... noone should question Suarez on this. the fact that others do shows a sense of the inherent racism that permeates the FA, or an unrealized sense of hypocrisy.

Now, i feel Gate's real question is more in regards to the poor second half performance and getting bailed out by the referee. In that, it was a slop fest last 45 and we were very fortunate. Brad Jones showed himself a PL level keeper, but others really struggled. The back 4 looked poor. Carragher is a coach not a 90 minute Cback. Coates needs more minutes. Great to see Jack Robinson again, and he truly understands how to join the attack. But another player who needs more minutes.

Im excited to see Sturridge and Suarez together. Was hoping BR would have let them run for atleast 10 minutes together

I've moved on from that, what's the point in moving forward when you dwell in the past? You guys seem to want me to dwell in something that can't be changed, but it ain't happening. Besides Bradford does deserve to be where they are at, especially with the fact that they didn't back down from a near impossible challenge that they had, and Liverpool came 2 handballs short of being even more embarrassed.

Theo Walcott is now expected to resign with Arsenal on a 5 year, £90,000 a week deal. Numerous outlets are reporting this, from The Sun, Daily Mail, Mirror, The Guardian, Goal.com to name a couple.

And it also appears that Wesley Sneijder will be turning down the opportunity to play in the EPL and sign with Galatasaray instead.

Aston Villa has joined Wigan and Arsenal as EPL sides to lose to League 2 club Bradford City, the 3-1 result means the Villains have a tough hill to climb if they want to make the Capital One Cup finals when they host The Bantams in the second semifinal leg later this month.

90K for Walcott? but they couldnt keep Fabregas, Nasri or RvP? ... i like Walcott, would have him on Liverpool. but if Im an Arsenal fan Im still scratching my head as to why they felt obligated to meeting Walcott's demands, but were more than happy to see off better players (Nasri being questionable). Weve opined rather poetically the choices of players to seek trophies over cash, but tbf Fabregas and RvP would still be in North London if Arsenal paid them what they wanted. Oh well, better to have him on squad than not.

Speaking of, interesting articles up on ESPN regarding Ferguson's loss of his futures of late, and Wenger's string of players out on loan and still on the books.

Peaches, ISWT.... Next Gen Liverpool beat up on holders Inter yesterday. Apparently outstanding performances from McLaughlin (heir apparent to Glen Johnson), Ibe (another Sterling), and Yesil (very much a Sturridge type player). Strong games from 16 and 17 year olds like Sinclair, California product Pelosi and debutante Rossiter (Fowler tweeted him the "next Gerrard"). Adorjan struggled a bit, and Conor Coady was his usual self (all according to LFCtv... i didnt watch).

Always interesting to hear our Academy progress (recently hailed as second best in the world to Barcelona's). Love that about our club.

Heard about the nextgen game. Apparently Yesil was a beast. Ibe was very highly rated, and it was considered quite a coup for us to get him ahead of United, Spurs and Arsenal at the time. Future does look bright, HOWEVER, similar things were said about Adjarevic, Nemeth and Pacheco, and they didn't exactly pan out, so you never know.

_________________
FrankerZ FrankerZ FrankerZ FrankerZ FrankerZ FrankerZ FrankerZ FrankerZ

Two things come to mind about this deal. Either it is true about the financial restrictions Arsenal's board had being lifted, or Arsenal are finally standing up and keeping their best players. Now 90k does seem a bit steep for someone who has a ton of inconsistent moments like Walcott, so if he does sign it, then he better keep up the form he's been in since Wenger started using him as the up-front striker a bit more and not go back to his showing up for 3 out of every 15 games kind of form. As for the other players Arsenal let go of, we all know that Nasri and RvP obviously are being paid well over 100k, so they wanted more money than what Walcott is asking for, and Fabregas, I feel the main factor was him wanting to play for his boyhood club again and Arsenal were not exactly in a favorable position to convince him to stay cause of that. Walcott is obviously not demanding an absurd amount of money, but it's still a bit much for a player with his playing history.

What was your favorite Nuri Sahin moment? After a drawn out loan race with Arsenal the Madrid midfielder has been optioned off back to Dortmund in a permanent move with Liverpools blessing.

Such a strange and disappointing term. I was hoping he would help Allen in the 4231 and let Gerrard roam. But one goal, 4 appearances, an apparent injury and questions of effort and ethic in training have led to his departure. Overall not too bothered by it. 90k a week off the books. And for sahin he is back where he started (and probably wishes he never left)

Odd situation all around. Henderson and Lucas preferred over him, so there wasn't much 1st team time to be had. Hopefully we can use some of the freed up funds to bring in some more goal inspiration.

Do you hear that? It's the sound of West Brom and Swansea dropping like a rock. We all kinda knew it was going to happen, but still painful to watch.

You know fellas I wouldn't bet my house on it, but if City beats Arsenal, and Liverpool pull the upset at Old Trafford mighty Arsenal and Liverpool will be tied on points.

It's a proud day for Stoke's Jonathan Walters: 2 own goals and a missed penalty. It's just a shame that it all happened against Chelsea.

The good and bad of Daniel Sturridge....

After 60 minutes of giving the ball away like it was infested with an STD the Reds finally settled in. The adding of Sturridge changed the attacking ideas of Liverpool. They midfield played with more confidence and began winning the ball easier and finding gaps through the middle zone.

Adding Borini dropped Suarez underneath into a CAM role and the group really looked threatening. I like this option going forward (unless Sneidjer really does come)

Still, wasteful in front cost them a point

I didn't watch the Arsenal match due to having to work, and somewhat glad I didn't. I'm seriously starting to think about cutting off any and all Arsenal news feeds I'm on cause it's become one of two things, empty promises and "Wenger Out" pricks. It's becoming more and more irritating, more so than Arsenal themselves. And it's no longer reasonable, or sane, to blame a single person for Arsenal's problems because it's really everyone at the club as well as the bastards who turned their backs on Arsenal and left for more money and "to win trophies".

not sure where to post it, didnt warrant a new thread, but I was just given the top h.s. soccer program in the state yesterday. Very excited.

and now commence twisting Gate's myriad emotions into a nicely wound rubber ball and bouncing them off the pavement....

Congrats!