football !!

The FA Cup starts today. It's possibly the greatest Cup knockout competition in the World. I love it simply because there are always teams from lower divisions that have the belief they can beat the Man Utd's, Chelsea's and Liverpool's of this world.

It's a time where you can remind yourself this is what the games is all about. And for a moment it's Roy of the Rovers all over again.

Enjoy.

 

It doesn't start today, actually. I think today is the third round. There is the occasional shocker, but I prefer the Champions League. Teams from all over Europe competing against each other. Some big upsets there too.

The FA Cup officially started in August 07 I believe with preliminary rounds and qualifying rounds. Today marks the 3rd Round of competition, with several games, and continues tomorrow with some more.

I believe Ipswich v. Portsmouth starts in 10 minutes on Fox Soccer Channel.

 

That is true, it is the third round, however many think once the Premier league teams enter the competition it´s only then the true cup begins.And that is today.

Always surprises so here we go....

 

Looks like the Ref will cost Ipswich the game against Portsmouth. 25th minute Red Card to Trotter, who hadn't committed a foul and the one he did commit was maybe, just maybe, deserving of a yellow card. A lot of play-acting my the player fouled too, but Ipswich almost scored a few times despite being short handed. Clearly the better team of the first half.

 

So tomorrow it is the moment of truth for FSA and his Newcastle United. Loose to the Potters and he will have to look for a new job. However there are those hopefuls that think back to Sir Alex's important game against Nottingham Forrest. If he had lost it, he would probably still be Mr.Ferguson.

The Magpies remain split on wether to give Fat/Big Sam the rest of the season to come good, or to cut their losses and move on.

 

Personally I think Big Sam showed us what a great man he is with Bolton so I think he needs time....well, the bad thing is that he does not have much left to prove he can do it with Newcastle...

 

Nope we are a notoriously impatient lot. And very poor at selecting new managers. As for Sam he was Fat Freddie Shepherds appointment. Mort has gone public and said that Sam is safe, but the Toon Army has never been afraid speaking out.

Sam is a good manager, the only fault was appointing him. His approach to the game is not right for the Geordies, and the squad he inherited was not cut out for hoof and hope football.

 

Yep, I read that the Geordie fans were singing a while back something like " We su*#!" which is not usual from fans of any teams.

Personally I think Newcastle has been suffering from some kind of syndrome of making persons underachieve whoever they are. IF Shearer agrees to take Sam´s position , well, at least no pressure at all of doing worse really, I guess.

 

Sheare a Geordie hero would have been given time, but I don't think that it would have been a good first assignment for him. I'm not sure if he would risk his hero status either.

As for the Geordie syndrome. We had King Kev that turned the Magpies into 'The Entertainers' with fast flowing football. The following managers failed to match this until we hired Sir Bobby Robson. Sir Bobby was sacked by Freddie Shepherd early in the season not for poor results, but rather a clash of personality. We have not recovered from this. The next appointment was Graeme Souness, brough in to deal with the troublemakers. Bellamy, Robert, Bowyer and Dyer. This was done swiftly, and resulted in that we lost our flair players. We performed poorly and Souey got the sack. Next up was Glenn Roeder who did sterling work as a caretaker sending us to an european spot. Shepherd managed to grant Roeder a dispensation whilst getting his badges. However the Premiership was going poorly, and we crashed out of the FA cup in the 3rd round. And then Sam was picked for our new manager because he was british. Some of the other candidates were Svennis, Hitzfeld, Juande Ramos.

 

It's true the FA Cup proper started some time ago. The competition allows non-League and lower league teams to compete exclusively until round three.

However, as rightly pointed out above the real attention surrounds the third round where the lower league teams and non-league teams who have made it that far get to have a go at what is commonly referred to a Giant killing.

I guess you can only truly appreciate it if you are British because we truly love an underdog. Of course there's also the opportunity for a big pay day for the lower league clubs, which can in many cases mean finacial security for the rest of the season

The champions league is only about money, TV rights and those rotten bastards who are the true puppet masters of the game we love, European Football Clubs G14.COM .

Personally, I have to say without being disrespectful toward Il Duce, I think there is something infinitely more appealing in witnessing a lad, who's day time occupation is a plumber, enjoying his 3 minutes of fame by scoring the winning goal against the Premiership team.

As for Big Sam, personally, I think it's only a matter of time before City of London Police arrest him and his agent Mark Curtis. Many of you will recall his son Craig " The son of Sam" being exposed for allegedly taking bungs on BBC Panorama programme. What isn't commonly known is that Curtis is Craig's former business partner. Some of you will remember the Jay Jay Okocha deal. Interestling, Curtis is also the agent of Megson.

 

The Champions League has a much higher level of skill, which is why I enjoy it, but don't get me wrong, I grew up in England (Surrey to be precise) and enjoy the FA Cup. Things do get interesting when the lower divisions play the EPL teams, but it really comes down to who the managers start. A lot of the big clubs rest their starters, which in Liverpools case (i believe) cost them the game last year, providing one of those Giant Killer stories.


Burnley gave Arsenal a good run for their money today, loosing 2 - 0 but playing very spirited. Then again, Arsenal rested virtually all of their starters.

 

Sir you are indeed right. It seemed to be a common thread for a number of teams yesterday. Did you see Blackburn 1-4 Coventry game yesterday.

 

The Potters battled out a 0-0 draw at the Brittannia Stadium and could have pulled it off. Needless to say I'm not impresseed with the mastermind Big Sam's miracle work. Thank God he didn't get the England gig eh?

 

Crikey, PM Gordon Brown has fluffed it up again. Get Beckham in to have a chat about soccer, what even next. However, Beckham is no more than a monkey of Philip Anshultz and his company AEG.

The 67-year-old is listed by Forbes magazine as the 28th richest person in the US with a net worth of £3.9bn, while Fortune named him as that year's "greediest executive" .

Interestingly, Anschutz is not only a wealthy tycoon who has built a business empire that encompasses everything from railways and ranches to cinemas and sports teams, he has also used this vast wealth and influence to promote his Ultra conservative Christian views, to campaign against gay marriage and to fund an organisation that questions Darwin's theory of evolution. His money also pays for another group based in Washington to attack and lobby against liberal elements of the US media and to rail about alleged indecency on television, while his film production company, the Anschutz Film Group (AFG), has made Christianity-themed films such as The Chronicles of Narnia, an adaptation of C S Lewis's children's story The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

The company also owns a number of sports teams, including Houston Dynamo, Los Angeles Kings, Eisbären Berlin, Hamburg Freezers, 49% of Hammarby football team, as well as interests in the Los Angeles Lakers and yeap you've guested it Los Angeles Galaxy, the O2 Center (formerly known as the Dome) which happens to be next to Becks Football Academy.

 

Big Sam made nr.8 to get the sack this season.

Obviously I'm glad to see him go, but am terrified about who might replace him. Finally we will see what kind of chairman Ashley is. Freddie Shepherd, our last chairman, was as xenophobic as they come and insisted on having an englishman.

In uncertain times one thing remains certain, it is never dull to support the Toon.

 

Looks like Rednapp. However, I think it would be a mistake. Not for footballing reasons but because he has already been arrested by the City of London Police for bungs. I think Toon Army have suffered everytime Willie Mackay has brought a player to the club.

 

I think Redknapp senior did some "weird" swapping between Portsmouth and Fulham a couple of years back. Wonder if he dare try something of the kind again...

 

Probably not because the City of London Police still have his wifes computer.

What was the name of the horse he was given as a gift by agent Willy Mackay?

 

Footie people should not dabble with horses. The Rock of Gibraltar springs to mind.

My God we got a terrible beating against the Red Devils tonight. A 6-0 loss, and all of the goals came in the second half. A 'Fergie blowdry' at half time did mavels. The Magpies were probably (like myself) checking the internet to figure out who their next boss would be...

 

I really think the Joey Barton affair is a large ingredient to your current problems at the club. Those Toon fans need to turn their attention to the culture of board room corruption. Why do managers at your club seem unable to do a job especially when players that have price tag of £10M and who earns a £3M salary per year seem completely unable to pass the ball.

I find it unfathomable why an agent earns 15% of the deal over the duration of the contract then wants to purchase a race horse for the manager and the fans who loyally watch week in week out have to watch crap.

Come to think about it, I believe Willie Mackay, former bookie and Monaco based agent, brought Barton to the Maggies. I recall the problems Hibs got into when he started to get hold of a number of their first team squad. Telling them to switch to his management agency because he could get them more money. It unsettled the squad completely.