Joel

Good player. He grew on me and he left with me genuinely liking him. Although Lyon really aren't being challenged at all in Ligue 1, I think he's continued to blossom there. Best of luck to him with this move.

It was an entertaining game, albeit a fairly predictable outcome. However, if Varela had tucked away that fine chance early in the second half....it would have been some finish.

Alessandro Pistone, surely someone would have named him by now. Lorenzo Amoruso very briefly: Dino Baggio Nicola Berti

First thing I thought upon seeing this news was "Scott Parker mk II"....i.e., not comparing him as a player directly with Parker, but the idea that he'll be here, not get into the team on a consistent basis, and then shuffle off somewhere else. *shrug*

It's OURS!!! Mikel man of the match, absolutely massive. Great goal, thank CHRIST we didn't have to endure penalties

OMFG YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Huge letoff there on the Giggs chance........

Indeed. Great by inference, stemming from the (probably unsubstantiated) rumors that Real and some Italian clubs had sniffed around at him.

Don't forget the American lummox Oguchi Onyewu.

Norton/Symantec products are the digital devil incarnate.

Agreeeeeeee

Excellent, glad I'm not alone. High five! [/borat]

I feel bad for Sheffield Utd today, from what I saw of them this season they were INFINITELY more entertaining than Wigan. And for reasons I can't explain I just loathe Paul Jewell. Wet Spam sure got out of jail in the last month or so...

Everyone's pretty much covered my sentiments, but I had to add... In real time the Eagles tackle on SWP looked horrid. In slow motion, SWP is a lucky, lucky boy to have hopped off his standing leg at the last instant, otherwise he could well have endured a compound fracture--it was that X-rated. Any other referee not named Poll and that's an instant sending off.

I heard them singing it, and I adjusted the sound on the TV to make sure there wasn't something wrong with my set.

Absolutely outstanding second half effort. I really thought we would win it, to be honest. I love Drogba, don't get me wrong...but the style we played with, particularly Kalou and Joe Cole being so active--it's just a night and day difference from the tactics on view in recent times. And it was brilliant to watch, and dammit if it didn't almost get us a victory (with 10 men). Just thrilled with the desire in the team today, roll on Wembley!

Yep, awful penalty, if you must kick it straight up the middle at least put some height on it to avoid the legs! Expect Michael Ball will get some sort of ban after the fact for his stamp on Ronaldo once the league sees the video.

Ha. An absolute caning tonight. Bumping this back to the top because I enjoyed watching it. And Tivo is so wonderful, zip right through the slow parts and HT.

Great post G4, you and others have pretty much covered it all in other threads. I just finished watching on Tivo and had the premonition all the while of how it would turn out. It's uncomfortable watching the club you love play like that. We walked around like zombies for the first 20 minutes. From then on it was an advertisement for the ultimate in anti-football. Soak up pressure, hoof forward, almost like we were hoping we would catch Agger or Carragher slipping on a wet spot and allowing Drogba in. On the defensive side of the ball we are often a marvel to watch, and I for one have tipped my cap to JM for drilling the ethic into everyone. But somewhere in all that the freedom of expression with the ball at one's feet--"the beautiful game"--has largely disappeared. What I wouldn't give to see the ball zipping back and forth across the park, players moving fluidly off the ball and leading the kind of sweeping moves forward that make you salivate. Would we win as much that way, I have no idea. I'm not trying to set up a choice between "play stylishly with less success" and "grind/bore your way to CL semifinals". We have some incredibly talented players at the club...but has this system beaten the brilliance out of them? Can it be recovered? If JM stays, is he going to change anything? So many questions for the summer. Part of me wants him to stay, but part of me fears he's stubbornly wedded to the stark, brutal, machine-like football we've developed.

That's correct, ESPN has never sent anyone to Champions League games. In fact they did a lot of WC 2006 commentary from the comfort of the Bristol, Connecticut studios.

I have to think that's a lot more difficult than it looks....he's running for one thing, not hitting it like a set piece. Then you have to judge power...too short and the defender who had scrambled back might have kept it out. Too long and well, you can see it would have bounced over! Then you can't put too much curl on it or it goes wide. I'd stop short of the announcer's hysteria but it's somewhere between the greatest goal ever seen and a pedestrian, run-of-the-mill goal.

If it hasn't happened already, you will soon have to forget about even getting Windows XP pre-installed on PCs from Dell or similar providers. For good or ill (mostly ill in my view) it's Vista from here on out. I don't see myself installing it in the next year or two at a minimum, my home-built PC is perfectly adequate and happily running XP.

Superstition is for the weak! never mind my post in the thread during the Pompey game....

Rio Ferdinand tweaks his groin again and Viduka nabs an equaliser in 1st half stoppage time! Cmon Boro....

I'm sorry but that is just a brilliant goal.