borussia dortmund has been a joy to watch this season as well. some really great passing and combination play, great on the break.

First he makes his Churchill-style speech to rouse his team to life and back from a 0-3 deficit. And then he scores after appearing unable to play 3 hours before the game. Scott Parker has been an amazing force in an otherwise unfortunate club.
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/West-Ham-goal-hero-Scott-Parker-made-a-miraculous-recovery-from-injury-three-hours-before-the-3-1-win-over-Liverpool-reveals-Avram-Grant-article708501.html

The reason why I want West Ham to stay up is that Parker would almost invariably end up at Spurs otherwise.

Oh, hadn't realised he'd spoken. I assume he's seen the highlights by now. It's absolute cowardice that he has not admitted a mistake. It was an opportunity for people to believe that referees and the FA were serious about stamping out thuggery

It's only because it's Rooney and United.

If it was us then it would have been red carded at the time and rightly so.

I thought people were probably over egging what Rooney had done, and then I saw the incident on MOTD last night. He was banged to rights, it was a 3 game ban all day, every day.

So Clattenberg feels he dealt with the elbow incident appropriately and therefore the FA say Rooney has no case to answer?
That can't be right, pure nonsense.
FA endorsed incompetence.

I wait to see what will happen next time one of United's players gets an elbow.

Clattenberg's such a big poof. you're losing your hair mate, deal with it like a man

This Milan - Napoli game is really good. One wonders why Milan couldn't muster up half this energy against Spurs.

Ballotelli's haircut. 😆

Great goal from him today.

i loved the way ever banega played today against barca.

Seriously, can someone give me a good reason why the Premier League has not stepped in to suspend Cole for playing Rambo at the training ground the other day? It sends a bad message about player discipline and respect for safety in the workplace. If I'd pulled that stunt in my office...

'Celtic coach Alan Thompson says El Hadji Diouf is to blame for a stormy Old Firm Scottish Cup tie, claiming that the Rangers striker "threw a shoulder" on Celtic's physio.' (Various)

How the hell do you throw a shoulder? Shoulder barge?

Neymar has been called up to the brazil squad for the scotland game at our place. Going to book my tickets now, have been dying to see this kid properly.

Caligula wrote:

Seriously, can someone give me a good reason why the Premier League has not stepped in to suspend Cole for playing Rambo at the training ground the other day? It sends a bad message about player discipline and respect for safety in the workplace. If I'd pulled that stunt in my office...

The Premier League has no business sanctioning players for off the field safety incidents.

I'm not sure if it makes a difference that sports teams in the USA are franchises, but American sports leagues come down hard on this type of nonsense. The National Basketball Association suspended Gilbert Arenas indefinitely after he brought a gun to the team training facility and showed no remorse. Ben Roethlisberger, one of the NFL's very best players, was suspended for being in violation of the NFL's personal conduct policy after he was accused of sexual assault even though he had not been found guilty of said assault.
American leagues are very serious about making sure that players are well-behaved on and off the field. I think the Premier League would have done its image a world of good with a quick, short suspension just to let Cole know it's there.

I think it does make a difference (the franchise / salary cap / draft thing that does not apply in the PL or other UEFA leagues).

I don't see how this is very different from a football player crashing his car with a passenger, except that it occurred on Chelsea's grounds. I also don't see the benefit that accrues from the FA intervening to homogenise each club's distinctive internal culture.

Know it's not exactly the same thing, but Fergie's being charged for his comments against Mr. Atkinson during the week. Comments he made to an "in-house" audience.

I think the FA is rather arbitrary in deciding what issues it addresses and which it turns a blind eye to. Generally, they can be counted on to defend their referees. However, clubs, managers and players alike also operate under the aegis of the FA, and when issues arise, especially as regards professional and disciplinary conduct and carriage, a knowledge that the clubs aren't the sole policing unit would serve as a deterrent to some of the idiotic practices of some of these players. From incidents such as player tapping up, to drugs/doping issues, to post-game reviews/retrospective extended punishment- whether or not the ref took what he (or Siam Massey) deemed sufficient action at the time, to John Terry's getting paid to give a personal tour of Chelsea's facilities, to Ashley's sniper/ vigilante activities, to Adebayor stealing our kits- these all reflect badly not only on the players and clubs, but also the league's disciplinary standards as well.

;D
Those were some of the longest sentences in Tolly history I think...

It's a question of natural authority vs. imposed authority.

The Cole incident took place on Chelsea property, and Chelsea pay the wages of Cole and the kid who got shot. Chelsea pay Ancelotti's wages and Ancelotti decides if Cole takes the field.

In this case sanctions would be intended almost entirely as a deterrent. Chelsea will accomplish far more than the FA could if they "handle" the matter internally, because while the FA can suspend Cole for three or four matches, Chelsea can hang him out to dry for a season - all they have to do is decide they don't like the cut of his jib.

An issue arises when a player's quality means his club are loath to discipline him, or when the club simply does not handle issues of discipline overall.

The other issue is that there's no clear relationship between a club's success and its internal harmony. In fact if anything clubs with an internal culture characterised by punitive aggression tend to be the most successful.

A system in which the club decided on an internal sanction but maintained open communication with the Association would be preferable.

The only reason Ferguson made those comments to MUTV rather than BBC is because he's boycotting the latter ones. He's getting exactly what he deserves.

Just wanted to comment on the whole ruckus that's come out of this week's Old Firm match.

The reaction from the media, Strathclyde police, and the Scottish Government is an overreaction of the highest order. Were there any calls for West Ham-Arsenal matches to be banned when Pardew and Wenger got at it? Do people call for Eboue to be banned when he throws his shirt into the away section? I'm sure a lot of people think, "Old Firm matches should be held to a higher standard because of its history, the sectarian nature of the derby, etc." At the end of the day, what happens on the pitch means very little. When all those arrests were made at Celtic Park earlier this season, I don't recall anything overly controversial happening on the pitch. Conversely, the media would like us to believe all hell broke loose earlier this week, and there were a fraction of arrests in comparison to what went down several weeks ago.

At the end of the day, the paranoia that has surrounded the aftermath of this match can only be bad for football in both Scotland and England. It probably won't happen, but let's say Old Firm matches are in fact banned, or at least away fans are prohibited from attending. Where do you draw the line? Do you ban North London Derbies because it's kicked off in the past? Do you play any match where violence has occurred in the past, regardless of whether or not they're local derbies, behind closed doors? The gentrification that's occurred in stadia across Britain has taken part of the soul out of the game, and this hyper-paranoid mentality expressed by those in power is only making things worse. If those in positions of power have their way, an English football match wouldn't be too much different than your average NFL game, both on and off the pitch.

Interesting stuffs Xcdude. Insightful.

I see Flamini has defended his 'tackle' on Corluka, saying he went for the ball and did nothing wrong. Moron. That transfer to Birmingham that never happened would have been a match made in heaven.

5 days later

Just watching Barcelona, Sevilla are ripping them apart second half. They've scored to make it 1-1, and should have had at least 2 other goals. Messi took a really bad knock on the knee first half, too, but has somehow come out for the second half.

Valdes, Alves, Pique and Busquets are hilarious to watch when Barcelona are on the back foot. 😆

You've just got to laugh at how good Messi is sometimes.

Watched the last half hour, first bit of la liga i've seen in a while. It was a really good game. The quality of football in Spain is excellent to watch - its just a shame the gap between 2nd and the rest is so big because its hard to enjoy a league when you know how it will end up before a ball has been kicked.

Over the last few weeks 1 thing that really has stuck out for me is the difference between Barca's front 3 and ours. They have 3 players constantly moving, constantly linking up, running at defenders. Such a contrast from our boys yesterday. Wasn't too bothered about signing a winger until recently but now i'm certain we need to replace Arshavin and bring in somebody like Hazard, it could make a huge difference.

What struck me tonight was how different their intensity without the ball was against us. It was like they were in slow motion tonight by comparison. They really do bring their A-game against us, everyone seems to, we should take it as a compliment I suppose.

The speed of their forwards and the penetration that gives them, as well as their superior chance conversion, puts ours to shame.

Yep they definitely pick their moments. They know they need to be at 100% to beat us because we will try and attack them whereas other teams will simply try and contain them so they don't need to press relentlessly.

Juninho still has it:

Absolutely stunning, but routine from him

That really is an unbelievable technique.

13 days later

it'll never happen for the simple reason that it's not worth anyone sticking their neck out to effect the change. politically, it's a decision that can only hurt you.