Predictions

[harmless loony]

Ok. Just watched the Liverpool game and I was apalled by the crapness of certain players. Why on God's earth were Biscan and Cheyrou allowed anywhere near the pitch? I swear I honestly used to play better then that when I played for the girl's footy team at my previous college.

Chelsea look strong - rather scary - I think they may be putting up a serious challenge this year.

The Kewell - Diouf combo looked good. Diouf definitely made a huge difference when he appeared on the pitch. Just why did we not start with him in the first place?

As for the retaking of the penalty, anyone know why it was retaken? Was it because the goalie was a foot off his line or cos the players entered the penalty area too early?

I'm off to go and sulk..........

[Guided By Vices]

Well, I only listened to the match on the radio so can't comment with much authority. Not exactly uplifting, although it sounded as if we were doing okay until going behind. I think with Biscan he was almost the only player who could have filled the holding position in midfield. Hamman is injured, Gerrard suspended, Diao injured. Unless someone was played out of position then there was no one else. Actually I heard he'd played okay although nobody was being complementary about Cheyrou. Although it's disappointing it's worth remembering that we are short of two of our best players in midfield at the moment, only lost narrowly (yes it really was just one late goal) and lost to a team that might well win the league. Still annoying though.

With the penalty I heard that refs are being tough on goalkeepers coming off their line now so that's why the penalty was retaken. This is likely to happen quite often this year. I think it's a good thing too as keepers have been getting away with it a lot in recent years. Having said that maybe it's good to give the keepers a chance, what with all the dodgy penalties being given (e.g. Birmingham's and Leicester's yesterday).

[stan]

can yourself lucky as from what i saw liverpool look like they could repeat last years heights, afterall you never were title challengers.

now boro on the other hand is a different story. we started this season as we finished the last, by loosing badly. our goals were the result of soft defending and no goalie should allow himself to be lobbed from that distance. we were outclassed completely on the flanks and were - to quote mclaren - dissapointing.

maybe instead of courting the injured davis and the over priced mendietta he should address the problem that allowed marlet and malbronque to have a good days work.

on the plus side, christie may have missed the penalty but he did actually get it on target.

[mossop]

Chelsea's biggest problem over the last few years has been that they always play well against the big guns, Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal etc, but when they play some of the 'further down the table' clubs, they under-achieve badly. They have been so inconsistent in recent years. Do you think that the money and the new players will change that?

Hopefully!

[hr]Mmmm Beer, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems....

[Rennie]

Ah...

As I sit, after getting back from the Blackburn vs Man City match, I can only say one thing...

We Are Top Of The League

Come on you Blues

[Cain]

[s]Rennie wrote on 00:30, 26th Aug 2003:
Ah...

As I sit, after getting back from the Blackburn vs Man City match, I can only say one thing...

We Are Top Of The League

Come on you Blues


if only the rest of the league were as good as Charlton, Blackburn and Portsmouth.

you can't really tell a lot from how a team will do from their first three games.

attempting to do so can look foolish, like if you had tanked West ham, Charlton and a bunch of other relative nobodies before proclaiming that you could go the entire season unbeaten.

[hr]
I have grown the soul of an enemy

[stan]

[s]Rennie wrote on 00:30, 26th Aug 2003:
Ah...

As I sit, after getting back from the Blackburn vs Man City match, I can only say one thing...

We Are Top Of The League

Come on you Blues


its a marathon not a sprint and the boro will rise again!

[Rennie]

Cain, let us have our moment of glory - we've been waiting since 1982, the last time we were top!

[mossop]

[s]Rennie wrote on 21:50, 26th Aug 2003:
We've been waiting since 1982, the last time we were top!


Doesn't that tell you something?


[hr]
Mmmm Beer, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems....

[Rennie]

Yeah, that we're improving a lot.

And that we used to be shit

[Cain]

[s]Cain wrote on 19:03, 5th Aug 2003:
chelsea will be in with a shout, but i would have said that even before they had a new bajillionaire chairman.

liverpool will not do nearly as well as they think they will, Arsenal may go flat on their face as their defence consists of Lehmann, Campbell, one left back who wants to be a winger and whoever else they can find.

newcastle will challenge man united to the wire, but will not manage to stop fergie's boys from claiming the gold.

leeds (he types, smiling) will flirt with the dropzone before sacking reidy and climbing back up to the giddy heights of 17th under the stewardship of Andy Townsend. well, would anybody this time last year have imagined the mess that they'd be in now?


having seen that Leeds are now stuck to the bottom of the Permiership after being spanked by "newly promoted" Portsmouth, I thought i'd have a look at the rest of my predictions and see how they were doing.

Leeds flirting with the dropzone? More like French kissing it on the doorstep after a date. And Reid's managed to alienate one of his best players (Viduka). Oooh, it looks bleak.

Liverpool not doing as well? it's not the sort of form that they would have been happy with at the start of the season is it? a number of the new players are doing alright, with Diouf doing pretty well on the right wing, but they still haven't "turned the corner" yet.

Newcastle challenging? not as much as we would have thought.

Arsenal having a crap defence? ok - that's turned out wrong. It's not secure, but its not nearly as bad as i would have thought. Toure's doing better than I could have guessed, and Lehmann is being reaonably solid, but hardly inspiring.

Chelsea - ticking over but without too much excitement. Maybe if they kept the same players for more than one match in a row it might be a bit interesting.

[hr]
I hold an element of surprise

[harmless loony]

"but they still haven't "turned the corner" yet."

Someone is a Football365 reader eh?

Liverpool are being so inconsistent, it hurts. We have some mighty good players, but for some reason, it ain't working out like it should. Liverpool v Manchester Utd later, so I think this will be a real test for Liverpool and for Gerard Houllier in particular.

As for the mighty Walsall (No they're not from Poland) - Paul Merson has been shaping up well - he appears to have injected an new found energy into the team and I am very impressed! Colin Lee has done quite well there given that he has next to no money to spend on the team!

[Cain]

[s]harmless loony wrote on 12:16, 9th Nov 2003:
"but they still haven't "turned the corner" yet."

Someone is a Football365 reader eh?


reader and writer! i've got the t-shirt to prove it (for my "I love... Hamilton Ricard" piece that i wrote last year)

as for the Reds, Diego Forlan is going to give Dudek some more nightmares today.

[hr]
I hold an element of surprise

[harmless loony]

LOL!

That piece was by you!

I remember reading it and thinking what the heck!! And now I've discovered I know the writer - small world eh?!

Oh and what are the chances that old horse face (van diverlot) will go flying to the ground in the penalty area today?

And why have we got Heskey as a lone striker? We need someone who can run a lot to act as lone striker!

[Cain]

Can I call them Legia Walsall?

bad luck for the Reds today. it was pretty tense for the last twenty minutes. Most of the chances Heskey had, I would have done better. And i was several hundred miles away at the time. I think that that might be his form completely shot for a long time, as it'll take ages for him to recover his confidence and scoring touch.

[hr]
I hold an element of surprise

[harmless loony]

Recover his scoring touch and form? Please remind me of the time he did possess such a thing cos I don't remember it. I knew we were in for it when I saw Heskey as lone striker - you can't stick a huge bloke who falls over his feet every 2 seconds in a position like that! Ferguson must have a had a right laugh when he saw the Liverpool team sheet.

Having said that though, Pongelle and Le Tallec looked good. It's the first time I've seen them play and I was so impressed. Liverpool needed a player of Pongelle's quality throughout that game and not just for the last 20 mins. I'm so gutted, but strangely enough I'm not surprised - I think I must be getting used to the dismal Liverpool performances now.

But then it could be worse - I could be a Leeds fan!

[harmless loony]

Just to bump this thread back up - how are everyones' predictions coming along? And how are all your teams doing? Are you happy with their performance so far or does someone need to be shot?

I'm pleased with the way Walsall are doing - Paul Merson has made a huge impact - his experience has been extremely valuable.

As for Liverpool....well....I guess results speak for themselves. I cannot understand why Houllier is playing some extremely sub standard players. These guys wouldn't even make it into the Walsall team..so what are they doing wearing the hallowed Liverpool shirt...actually I can answer my own question..they're doing nothing productive with it on..but walking home (or speeding home in their posh cars) with money in the bank...without a real care for the results.