That push on Smalling is imo a 50/50... but it's 10 times the penalty than the one Hull got... 

Hull have scored 

Worst performance since you smashed us... luckily we had 2-0 from the first leg

United are garbage

They'll win the final I reckon 

Yeah reckon they'll win it too  

Thing is though, Mourinho wasn't hired to the win the league cup. He was hired for CL and League. 

 

Just now, JM7 said:

Yeah reckon they'll win it too  

Thing is though, Mourinho wasn't hired to the win the league cup. He was hired for CL and League. 

 

A trophy is a trophy though. If he adds the Europa League to that it will have been a very successful season. Also we know better than most what a league cup can lead to. 

Would be a mistake to underestimate Southampton's chances...not even conceded a goal in the competition, beating Arsenal and Liverpool along the way..as Utd showed again tonight, they're very mediocre

Edited January 26, 20179 yr by The Brit

I dunno. I have a feeling the saints will win that one. 

Jose has won 7 of 10 finals apparently. I don't even remember him losing any finals. Must have been at Madrid against Barca or something. I think United have got this but as has been pointed out, Southampton can't be underestimated. They just may win it.

Marco Silva looks a good manager.

59 minutes ago, stevo said:

I dunno. I have a feeling the saints will win that one. 

Fingers crossed. Comeonsaints

33 minutes ago, Kinkladze1871 said:

Marco Silva looks a good manager.

He is making certain pundits look stupid.

3 hours ago, PloKoon13 said:

Some absolute hero on Reddit has taken the time to translate this brilliantly funny interview with Brede Hangeland into English.

Includes 'Hangeland's laziest XI', as well as various anecdotes from his playing days. One of the funniest things I've read for a while.

Very interesting stuff. No surprise Berbatov and Adebayor were lazy

 

"During the handshakes before the game Bellamy took my hand, he was a head lower than me and he looked me straight in the eye and said "you f**king w**ker". I was thinking what the hell, I've never even met you" Long story short he clattered him a few times during the game."

I actually LOLed at this part

Edited January 26, 20179 yr by TheChelseaBlues

6 hours ago, Barrettinator said:

Jose has won 7 of 10 finals apparently. I don't even remember him losing any finals. Must have been at Madrid against Barca or something. I think United have got this but as has been pointed out, Southampton can't be underestimated. They just may win it.

I know he lost a final with Porto and the Copa del Ray with Madrid but I can't think what the other one is. Are they including the Super Cup with us cause if so it wasn't really a final imo as I don't think those one off games are counted as finals such as Community Shields etc.

Football is clearly in a hilarious mood today:

http://www.football-italia.net/97463/napoli-greet-higuain-raspberry

Napoli fans have launched an appeal to greet Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain with a flashmob of “a single giant synchronised raspberry.”

The forward infuriated his former supporters when he pushed for a €90m transfer to rivals Juve over the summer.

He will return to the Stadio San Paolo in April, as Napoli host the Bianconeri on April 2.

A fan has launched a flashmob appeal to greet Higuain not with the usual jeers or insults, but something altogether more Neapolitan - blowing a raspberry at him.

“Leave at home all violent intent. The Neapolitan people, civilised as we are, resolve issues not with violence, but in a peaceful manner to even the most deadly of wrongs…

“A single giant raspberry synchronised throughout the entire stadium and then leave it all behind us, goodbye to rancour, because life goes on.”

Neapolitan movie legend Toto was the master of the raspberry when it came to taking down authority figures and his picture is included in the flashmob appeal.

It’s also true that a co-ordinated raspberry would be somewhat difficult to penalise for the Disciplinary Commission.

Bellamy was always a twat.

Tell you what, that's twice in a week I've watched that Maguire guy play for Hull.  He is a likely type!

Also Tom Huddlestones pen was the best I've seen in a long time

Ignore and forgive that this lad is a scouser and a Liverpool fan and just listen to the empassioned point he makes about top level football in England right now. Personally agree with everything he says. 

 

So there were gaps in the stadium for the second leg of a semi-final that they had a good chance of winning?  Bloody hell, that's awful.  And yes I agree with everything he said.

2 hours ago, Beerqueen said:

So there were gaps in the stadium for the second leg of a semi-final that they had a good chance of winning?  Bloody hell, that's awful.  And yes I agree with everything he said.

This is the problem with corporate seating. Chances are those empty seats had been paid for but whichever company or whoever just didn't fancy going to a cold, windy midweek game. 

An uncle of mine did the tour of the Emirates Stadium and they said the 10% of executive seats made as much money per per match day as the other 90% of stadium seats. That's why clubs building new grounds, ourselves included, are increasing the hospitality seating so much.

But the expense of this is definitely a loss of atmosphere. Coupled with the cost of regular seats which has driven away younger supporters who just can't afford it and suddenly yes, it is day trippers going who are there to take in the atmosphere/experience but don't really contribute to it.

Trouble is, it's so far gone now that I think this is what we have to live with as top level English fans. 

If the 10% rich seats make as mcuh as the 90% standard seats, can't they just make a small (comparatively speaking) increase to the price of the 10%, which can then be filtered down to a larger decrease in standard seats, and still get the same amount of money? Seems like the logical thing to do.

 

E.g., let's say the 90% of our seats (about 37800) cost about £75 per seat, that's £2,835,000 per game

So if the 10% of rich seats make about the same, they must be about £675 per seat/package, roughly.

Meaning a total across the board of about £5,670,000 per game

 

You could take the average price of the rich packages up to 750 per seat, which would bring in £3,150,000 per game.

Then to get the same amount in total (£5,670,000) by lowering the standard seats to £66

 

And so on.

 

Of course they are more likely to just increase everything and decrease nothing.

 

Edited January 27, 20179 yr by Zeta

He nailed it. Lots of people I know have started following their local lower league teams. Or just packed in football altogether. The more the clubs become like a business the more sanitised the support will become. It's not an accessible sport for everyone anymore. With that you loose the atmosphere and passion of the support. I'm fortunate enough to have experienced what I call the 'proper Chelsea support'. If my friends didn't still attend matches I would knock it on the head. 

Wenger given 4 game touchline ban. 

18 minutes ago, Huttsey said:

Wenger given 4 game touchline ban. 

That's it? That really is a disgrace by the FA, very soft.