[Archived] Premier League Happenings

[Mike E]

Not as bad as the US media declaring Darren Huckerby an 'Legend of sawker' and 'English Legend' haha

[Audax]

Nigeria beat Ivory Coast in the quarterfinals of the African Cup of Nations, those two should be more or less equal but it's a big upset, Ivory Coast has been a team to beat in Africa and the Super Eagles have been a troubled team in recent years,

http://int.soccerway.com/international/africa/africa-cup-of-nations/2014/final-stages/

Mali vs. Nigeria, Burkina Faso vs. Ghana in Wednesday's games.

[DE.]

Ivory Coast have form for losing to teams they shouldn't... didn't they lose to Zambia in the final of a tournament recently?

[neekoy]

well you can call inestia and xavi massively overrated too because i have never seen xavi do anything but pass a ball sideways and yet people talk about them two as two of the all time greats, gerrard is in/has been his whole career a very average livepool team wheras xavi and inestia are in what is probably considered the greatest club side of all time.

hahah, that is classic...Gerrard is overrated (a quality player, just overrated) and needs a strong central defensive midfielder to succeed, Hamann, Alonso, Mascherano, Sissoko, McAllister... you will find Gerrard's worst form when those players have been missing...

Keane, Scholes, Vieria and Makelele were superior and Alonso, Fabregas, Lampard, Essein, Le Tissier and Speed are at least equals

Xavi is a great, done and won everything, comparative to Zidane and Pirlo in the modern era

[Audax]

Ivory Coast have form for losing to teams they shouldn't... didn't they lose to Zambia in the final of a tournament recently?

Yes, looks like that was only played last year too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa_Cup_of_Nations

Looks like they have juggled their schedule around..

In the final, unfancied Zambia, the Southern African regional body's 2009 COSAFA Cup runner-up, defeated third-time finalists Côte d'Ivoire after a dramatic penalty shootout in the final,^[1] giving Zambia their first continental title, becoming the fourteenth nation to win the tournament.^[2]

The Zambian team dedicated their win to the members of the national

team who died near the final's venue in Libreville during the 1993 Zambia national football team air disaster.^[3]

Ivory Coast has had a difficult time in the World Cup and these last few African Cups, maybe they weren't playing at a high level.

This below seems to indicate they rescheduled the African Cup so it would no longer happen during World Cup years:

In May 2010, it was announced that the tournament would be moved to

odd-numbered years from 2013. This will mean the tournament will not

take place in the same year as the World Cup. It also means there will be two tournaments within twelve months in January 2012^[11] (co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea) and January 2013 (hosted by South Africa).^[2]

On 29 January 2011, Morocco won the bid to host the 2015 edition and Libya won the right to host the 2013 tournament. But due to the 2011 Libyan civil war, Libya and South Africa traded years with South Africa hosting in 2013 and Libya hosting in 2017.[

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Edit on: Ghana should beat Burkina Faso, that seems like an easy pick kind of though Burkina Faso did win the African Cup once when they hosted it. No, they didn't...1998, Burkina Faso did host and made the semi-finals.

Mali vs. Nigeria is an interesting matchup,...seeing how Nigeria defeated Ivory Coast while Mali only defeated South Africa in a shootout in their quarterfinals games bodes well for Nigeria to win.

Nigeria Ghana final would work well, those two countries are natural rivals.

[Tom]

Liverpool may have won the award for worst shirts of the decade if these away and third kits are real

[Plastics]

Ugh. Both looked good at the top before I scrolled down slowly.

I say good, I mean they looked like what football shirts look like.

[Plastics]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21381862

Man Utd boss Sir Alex Ferguson unhappy with Stuart Pearce

[adopted scouser]

Newcastle player scratches his leg and is taken off on a stretcher with an oxygen mask. What time's the rugby on ?

[youandwhosearmy]

Hope samba has a good relegation release clause...

And enjoys joining dann with the stigma of being part of a team relegated from the premier league twice in a row...

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Samba left us in February.

I'd love it if they went down though.

[youandwhosearmy]

I am aware of that but he was still part of the team which was relegated having played more than half the season for us.

[LeChuck]

I am aware of that but he was still part of the team which was relegated having played more than half the season for us.

Didn't he get dropped before Christmas? There will be no stigma because nobody thinks he was relegated with us, and nobody will blame him for QPR's relegation.

Watched Sunderland against Arsenal today. I don't recall seeing a 1-0 game have so many chances. Both goalkeepers were immense.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Joe Hart makes so many mistakes for the supposed "best keeper in the world".

If it was De Gea, he'd be crucified.

I hope Southampton stay up. I consider them a Premier League team as opposed to QPR and Reading.

They've got some very good players as well.

[Tom]

Joe Hart was way too overhyped in the first place

His game has always been full of mistakes, he can't deal with crosses and his parrying is terrible

Fantastic instincts though

[LeChuck]

He's still a very good goalkeeper. With him and Butland around for at least the next decade it's not a position England will have any worries in.

[koi]

Would love to see QPR go down but still possible the pull it off. Really think Wigan will go this season and don't think Villa will turn it round. Saying that, Reading are doing their best to get in that bottom three.

[G Somerset Rover]

He's still a very good goalkeeper. With him and Butland around for at least the next decade it's not a position England will have any worries in.

Don't forget our very own Kean .

[Ricky]

I still think Forster will be a top top keeper. Agreed though its a positional we don't have to worry about at international level.

[LeChuck]

Great finish from Barry.

[DE.]

A pathetic season this year for most of the big clubs. Manchester United must be pissing themselves.

[old darwen blue]

Don't forget our very own Kean .

Funnily enough I was just about to post that I hope RFW isn't made aware of our Jacob.

[Plastics]

Personally hoping there's a change in the rules so QPR, West Ham, Newcastle and Aston Villa can go down.

[Guest Norbert]

I want Villa, QPR and Sunderland to go down. I think QPR, Reading and Wigan will go down.

The Southampton result confirms that Mancini is over rated and only got the job because he's Italian. Yes he did win Serie A a couple of times, but Inter were poor in Europe, and are one of the biggest teams there. Mentally, the squad Man City have is weak, especially when Kompany and Yaya Toure are out. Nasri, Barry, Tevez and the recently departed Balotelli are all not up to the task of being Europe's best, and are over priced and over rated. And I still don't know why they got rid of De Jong. That was up there with Benitez forcing out Alonso.

[LeChuck]

Surely we should want clubs to go down that would pose the least threat to potential promotion chances next season?

I think Wigan would really struggle if they went down. Villa have got a core of young players that they could probably hold together, most of them with lower league experience, so I think they would be a threat.