[Archived] Premier League Happenings

[Salgado Is A Hero]

I read a few Moyes quotes this morning. He was on about mental softness. That surely gets erased with effective management doesn't it?

I know, a team that just won the league haven't got the mental fortitude to be winners......compelling stuff.

Part of me thinks Moyes believes he is doing an alright job, which makes it even more amusing.

He has players like Mata, Rooney, Van Persie and Carrick in his team and can't even to get them to pass the ball in the middle to each other.

Rooney passed the ball twice to Van Persie yesterday, one of them being from the kick-off. Absolutely shocking.

But people keep trotting out the "he needs time" nonsense that people always use with out-of-depth managers.

As a Man Utd fan so eloquently put it the other other day - "You know,sometimes if it looks like a sh*t and smells like a sh*t, then it is a f**king sh*t!"

[M-K]

Dan Burn, Fulham's giant rookie central defender who got on the end of 22 of Man Utd's crosses:

"I've never headed that many balls since the Conference. We knew that was going to happen and I was happy for them to play like that."

Man Utd comfortably handled at Old Trafford by a guy playing his fourth Premier League game.

[thenodrog]

I watched Spurs-Everton. Although Spurs won, it looked to me like they pisssd the Bale money up against a wall. Lukaku needs to get back quickly for Everton as I can see them dropping.

Quite likely they need him. BUT on another day they would have been out of sight of Spurs by HT. In fact if

the early chances they had had gone in Merseyside would have been celebrating an amazing double hammering of the North London glamour pusses. As it was Everton reminded me of when we were in the Prem and dominated some matches but couldn't score... we nearly always got beaten!

[DE.]

Fulham has never been the same club since their bald headed assistant kit man left. After all, what club could cope with such a bastion leaving?

Ha

Al-Fayed got fed up andsold out to an American (Shahid Khan - he also owns the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL team). I don't follow their fortunes enough to know if he tightened the purse strings but for me they always got by on signing older players who had been around and had enough nous to sneak by every year. Berbatov was a bad buy though as he never scored enough. I think they and Cardiff are down, with the 3rd coming from any team lower than 10th.

I read a few Moyes quotes this morning. He was on about mental softness. That surely gets erased with effective management doesn't it?

I watched Spurs-Everton. Although Spurs won, it looked to me like they pisssd the Bale money up against a wall. Lukaku needs to get back quickly for Everton as I can see them dropping.

I knew Al-Fayed had sold the club, but haven't read or seen anything to suggest the new guy was an exceptionally bad owner. They just seem to have taken a massive turn for the worse recently.

As for Moyes, he's lost it imo. As soon as you start criticising the players for things that are really not their fault you're setting yourself up for a fall. They know he shouldn't be there, and it's clear as day that they don't have any confidence in him. It's reflected in their performances and comments from certain players. I get the feeling United are going to stick with him though, despite his appointment being arguably the biggest mistake ever made by a club of such stature. Personally hope he fulfills the entire duration of his six year deal...

[neekoy]

I don't think Moyes will get the sack, maybe middle of next year depending where they are but this will be put down to first year jitters, changing of the guard etc.

[FGS5635]

I don't think Moyes will get the sack, maybe middle of next year depending where they are but this will be put down to first year jitters, changing of the guard etc.

Rumour has it the GB bobsleigh team are lining Moyes up as their coach. They have never seen a coach make a team go downhill so fast

[broadsword]

They shouldn't have let Ferguson hang around the place, he shouldn't have been given a directorship and he shouldn't have had a say in who his successor should be.

Given that Moyes has a 6 year contract, it will take a lot of dough to pay him off.

[M-K]

Given that Moyes has a 6 year contract, it will take a lot of dough to pay him off.

Probably about as much as his dithering meant they overpaid on Fellaini...

[broadsword]

he's just buying for its own sake at the minute.

Making a right mess.

They needed someone with a track record to come in, not a mid-table time-server who's never won anything.

[Audax]

At times, I think "what if they had hired Martinez?", Everton's present manager doing fairly well.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Ha

I knew Al-Fayed had sold the club, but haven't read or seen anything to suggest the new guy was an exceptionally bad owner. They just seem to have taken a massive turn for the worse recently.

As for Moyes, he's lost it imo. As soon as you start criticising the players for things that are really not their fault you're setting yourself up for a fall. They know he shouldn't be there, and it's clear as day that they don't have any confidence in him. It's reflected in their performances and comments from certain players. I get the feeling United are going to stick with him though, despite his appointment being arguably the biggest mistake ever made by a club of such stature. Personally hope he fulfills the entire duration of his six year deal...

I agree with you about Moyes, he's losing the plot more each day. He's doing all the things that Fergie would never have done. I'll be surprised if he's still there at the start of next season.

[West Yorks Rover]

I agree with you about Moyes, he's losing the plot more each day. He's doing all the things that Fergie would never have done. I'll be surprised if he's still there at the start of next season.

If they brought back Fergie now, I would wager they would finish in the top 4, probably start with a win and then go on

a long unbeaten run, such would his influence be !

[Guest Norbert]

Moyes' future will depend on his contract, and if he can scrape into the top 4, and if not, his contract. If it is a straight 6 years with no clauses to release him if he's awful I think they may stick with him for a season or two after this. By that time Man Utd may have sunk even lower though and the Glazers might be in financial poop without the Champions League money to prop them up.

[West Yorks Rover]

West Ham 1-0 up 84 mins

other results going for BS too, up to 10th.

[Tom]

They don't even look in danger now

Says something for owners not being trigger happy everyone knew Sam would get them out of it

[K-Hod]

It's mental just how tight it is from 10th down......

[Guest Norbert]

If it stays like it is until the final day, I think Jeff Stelling will rupture something and need to go to hospital.

[DE.]

Arsenal Vs United will be interesting tonight. If United get hammered, will Moyes be out on his arse? I personally don't think so, but a heavy defeat would tear apart the already weak morale in their squad.

This is the type of game Arsenal are pros at bottling though, so I expect a United win.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

TalkSport (that beacon of sensible knowledge) burst a blood vessel about how tight it is at the bottom on the very odd occasion they prise their attention away from the big clubs. But I really don't see what the fuss is about, its like this every year. Its set up to be like this because you've got 7 clubs who blow the rest out of the water every season in terms of resources. So those 7 are always in and around the top 7, along with 1-2 of the rest who are having a good season, and then everyone else is lumped together. Always happens, can't see what the big deal is. I suppose its more exciting to say there's an insane relegation battle looming than to say the league has split into its predictable, usual pattern.

[DE.]

Well, after that I'm confident in saying Arsenal have no chance of winning the title. Still a group of absolute cowards. The fact they were booed off at the end suggests their fans are well aware of it, too.

United meanwhile are pathetic. Truly awful to watch, they won't get close to the top 4 this season.

[K-Hod]

Arsenal look tired and devoid of ideas. United (imo) looked better than they have recently in parts, and defended better but Carrick and Cleverley in CM isn't going to scare anyone any time soon.

[Amo]

No wonder it's been almost 9 years since Arsenal last won a trophy. Bunch of cheese-eating surrender monkeys.

[Guest Norbert]

I was only listening to Radio 5, and Danny Mills and the other man at the match were saying how short of pace both teams were. There was no-one making a run to support or get past Van Persie or Giroud. Rooney was too busy being a defensive midfielder because everyone else in the Man Utd midfield were being over run. And Mata was stuck out on the left as a winger.

Moyes had to rebuild the team, but he patently is not up to it. In these money (and debt) soaked times, no-one can have the luxary of having a few seasons to get it together.

[thenodrog]

Fulham v Liverpool .. Richardson and Gerrard both booked for taking their shirts off after scoring. Pathetic isn't it? The FA's decision to make it a yellow card offence doesn't seem to have had the desired effect so it's obviously time to step up a gear and make it a red card offence.

[DE.]

The way United have treated Mata since he's arrived is beyond ridiculous. Spunk £37M on a player and then play him completely out of position, rendering him almost totally ineffective sums up the Moyes era at United. Not a clue. Ferguson's football was often pretty dire but Moyes is managing to make last season's Man Utd look like 1970's Brazil. Incredible how far backwards he's taken them, and I get the feeling there's more to come

As for Arsenal, I hate the fact they're considered a top team. I won't deny they have some talented players but they are so spineless, I can't help but despise them for being so gutless. I had no problem with them when the likes of Viera, Henry, Campbell, Dixon, Bergkamp, etc, were playing for them... they could be cynical @#/?s but the team had balls. The current Arsenal team don't have a single testicle between them. They'll need to do a lot more than throw away £42M on a non-entity like Ozil to challenge for anything meaningful. Claiming to be a team challenging for the title and then naming Giroud and Bendtner as your two main strikers, as an aside, is also pathetic. @#/? Arsenal, I hope they keep losing and based on tonight it's fairly certain they will. I'd love it if the bottling keaners fell out of the top 4 entirely, and with Spurs and Liverpool picking up steam it could well happen.

Rant over... for now