European Soccer 2009-10

[Saintsfan]

I don't think that Real Madrid cares about the Copa Del Rey at this point. For them, it's one of those things where if they win it, great. If they don't, oh well, who do they face next in Champions League? So with that being said, Real probably sent out their bench players (but not the B team since they actually play in the 2nd division of Spain) for this one & whichever starters they felt needed some playing time. So yeah, like Cap said, not surprised to hear that Real Madrid got bounced out of the Copa Del Rey, but definitely a surprise to hear it was by 4-0. That's kinda bad.

Also, Lil' Brad is the :censored:ing man. 4 penalty saves is EPIC.

Some of the players Real Madrid fielded in the CDR: Jerzy Dudek, Arbeloa, Diarra, Van de Vaart, Guti, Benzema, Raul. Van Nistelrooy came on as a substitute. Probably not a full strength team, but good enough to do over a team from the 3rd level of Spanish football.

[dwertman]

Adebayor says Arsenal fans are jealous of him. No really he said it....so how bout it Arsenal fans is he right?

[Viper]

Adebayor says Arsenal fans are jealous of him. No really he said it....so how bout it Arsenal fans is he right?

Hell f k no, especially not after the Gunners get two amazing goals in two minutes in the first half against the hated Spurs. Robin van Persie scored first on a great one-timer at 42', then stole the ball less to set up an unbelievable fast-break goal by Cesc Fabregas less than a minute later.

Now let's not blow it again, guys, like you did last week against West Ham.

[Saintsfan]

****Saintsfans weekly EPL update****

Performance of the week- As much as it pains me to say P h winning 4-0 against Wigan.

Weekly moan about what managers say after the game- Sunderland's Kenwyne Jones was sent off for pushing West Ham's Ilunga. Ilunga made a bit of a fuss falling down, so rather than criticising his own player for his petulant behaviour, Steve Bruce chose to moan about play acting.

Managers in the hot seat- A bit of paper talk about Kenny Dalglish being lined up as temporary replacement for Rafael Benitez at Liverpool. Hull City's new executive Chairman says that Phil Brown will be the Hull manager for the next game at the weekend, but any other job guarantee seems a bit qualified. And with an international break coming, it might be a chance to fire a manager and take a little more time replacing them.

***saintsfan's EPL power rankings****

1 Chelsea

2 Manchester United

3 Arsenal

4 Manchester City

5 Tottenham Hotspur

Bottom 5

20 Hull City

19 West Ham United

18 Blackburn Rovers

17 Bolton Wanderers

16 P h

[Breakwood]

French Ligue 1 Round 12 Round-up

Auxerre 2-1 Montpellier

A 90th minute strike from Nenad Dzodic was too little too late for Montpellier, and they drop their second in a row

Bordeaux 1-0 Monaco

Marc Planus scored in the 62nd minute, and Bordeaux stays atop the table

Boulonge 1-2 Nancy

Youssouf Hadji scored for 10-man Nancy to break a tie in the 82nd minute

Grenoble 0-2 Lille

David Jemmali picked up 2 yellow cards in 2 minutes of the first half, and 10-man Grenoble remains pointless

Lens 1-1 Lorient

Each team scored on opposing sides of half-time, and they split the points

Marseille 1-1 Toulouse

Yohann Pele was sent of in the 9th minute, yet TFC were able to take the lead 20 minutes later, l'OM salvaged a draw in the second half

Saint-Etienne 0-1 Lyon

Former Sainté striker Bafetimi Gomis scored in the 83rd for les Gones. Lyon has not lost to Saint-Etienne in 15 years

Nice 1-0 Le Mans

Ismael Gace gives Nice the edge over 10-man Le Mans

Rennes 0-3 Valenciennes

3 2nd half goals stun the home side, a week after they won 3-0 against Montpellier

Sochaux 1-4 PSG

A nice rebound after being quarantined for 3 days for the Parisians

Week 11 was moved to December, so after week 12, we have 11 games in the book. Bordeaux is still on top with 25 points, followed by Lyon with 23 and Monaco with 21. Grenoble is still on 0 points, trailing Le Mans on 8 points, and Boulonge and Lens both on 9.

[Saintsfan]

Chelsea banned from signing players for the next 2 transfer windows

(How odd a Southern Florida paper is the only one I can find a link to the story with, but its all over Sky Sports News over here!)

Just a quick update. Chelsea's transfer ban has been suspended

Basically the appeal on Chelsea's ban will be heard in the new year sometime, pending that, the ban has been suspended. Be interesting to see what Chelsea do in January.

[NEW.ERA]

Chelsea banned from signing players for the next 2 transfer windows

(How odd a Southern Florida paper is the only one I can find a link to the story with, but its all over Sky Sports News over here!)

Just a quick update. Chelsea's transfer ban has been suspended

Basically the appeal on Chelsea's ban will be heard in the new year sometime, pending that, the ban has been suspended. Be interesting to see what Chelsea do in January.

Pile up enough talent and then give the middle finger to the rest of Europe.

[schtee]

I've written a column on soccer ground naming rights in England that may be of interest. Hate to see venerable venues over there go the same way as legendary stadiums here (Boston Garden, Montreal Forum, Comiskey Park, etc.)

My lihttp://www.epltalk.com/how-stadium-naming-rights-are-getting-out-of-control/12695nk

[Saintsfan]

I've written a column on soccer ground naming rights in England that may be of interest. Hate to see venerable venues over there go the same way as legendary stadiums here (Boston Garden, Montreal Forum, Comiskey Park, etc.)

My lihttp://www.epltalk.com/how-stadium-naming-rights-are-getting-out-of-control/12695nk

Very interesting article.

Two small things, one the reason that Liverpool wore sponsorless shirts against Lyon was because alcohol sponsorship is banned in France. So its not exactly a glorious decision!

On the issue of naming rights. I think that the most of the traditional grounds won't get much in the way of interest for naming rights. But new build grounds do attract big bucks. (The Emirates for instance). The media and fans aren't going to start using sponsors names tacked onto sports venues.

[Red Wolf]

I've written a column on soccer ground naming rights in England that may be of interest. Hate to see venerable venues over there go the same way as legendary stadiums here (Boston Garden, Montreal Forum, Comiskey Park, etc.)

My lihttp://www.epltalk.com/how-stadium-naming-rights-are-getting-out-of-control/12695nk

Very interesting article.

Two small things, one the reason that Liverpool wore sponsorless shirts against Lyon was because alcohol sponsorship is banned in France. So its not exactly a glorious decision!

On the issue of naming rights. I think that the most of the traditional grounds won't get much in the way of interest for naming rights. But new build grounds do attract big bucks. (The Emirates for instance). The media and fans aren't going to start using sponsors names tacked onto sports venues.

I was wondering what the deal was with that. Thanks.

[Saintsfan]

***Saintsfans weekly EPL round up***

Performance of the week- I'm taking Arsenal's whipping of Wolves, 4-1 this week. At ;east against the minnows, Arsenal do look like the real deal this year. Big game against Chelski coming up mind.

Dissappointment of the weekend- P h. Good win last week, bad defeat this, 3-1 against fellow strugglers Blackburn.

The droning on is getting tiresome award for manager speak- Sir Alex Ferguson blames his teams loss to Chelsea on the referee, AGAIN.

Managers in the hot seat at the moment- Struggling in the CL, outside the top 4 in the EPL, Rafa Benitez has to hope the Liverpool owners are patient. Paul Hart at P h finds himself 3 points adrift again. (Perhaps only his clubs financial mess is keeping him employed at the moment.)Phil Brown, Gary Megson and Gianfranco Zola all find there established Premier League teams struggling against promoted teams as well. They have to hope for a change in fortunes.

***Saintsfan's EPL power rankings***

1. Chelsea

2. Manchester United

3. Arsenal

4. Aston Villa

5. Manchester City

bottom 5

20 Hull City

19 Wolverhampton Wanderers

18 Portsmouth

17 West Ham United

16 Bolton Wanderers

Interesting tidbit- Darren Ferguson (son of) has apparently been fired at Peterborough United.

[Breakwood]

Ligue 1 Matchday 13 round-up

Le Mans 0-1 Auxerre

An own-goal from Le Mans defender Joao Paulo is the only scoring in this one

Lorient 5-0 Boulonge

The Bretons smash the newcomers, 2 goals from both Kevin Gameiro and Marama Vahirua

Monaco 0-0 Grenoble

It's happened!!! Grenoble get a point, and against a top 3 club!

Nancy 0-1 Saint-Etienne

Dimitri Payet is the lone scorer in this mid-table clash

PSG 0-1 Nice

Loic Remy scores, and PSG remains in mid-table obscurity

Valenciennes 1-1 Montpellier

The glass slipper may be broken for good. Montpellier continue their winless streak; now at 3 matches

Sochaux 1-2 Lens

An injury minute strike from Sloan Privat is too late for Sochaux, and Lens grab a very important 3 points

Lille 2-0 Bordeaux

Les Dogues stun the champs, with 2 goals in 16 minutes

Toulouse 3-2 Rennes

Andre-Pierre Gignac's 63rd minute strike holds a late charge from the Bretons

Lyon 5-5 Marseille

The game of the year in any league? It has my vote. Lyon climbed back from 4-2 down in the 80th minute, and took the lead in injury time, but an own goal form Jeremy Toulalan gave L'OM the well deserved draw

After 12 games, Bordeaux's slip up goes un-punished and they stay top of the table with 25 points. Lyon sits in second with 24, followed by Auxere on 23. Grenoble's draw gives them 1 point which keeps them rooted at the bottom of the table. Le Mans have 8 and Bolougne has 9 to round out the drop-zone.

Here's the highlights from the Lyon-Marseille thriller

[WJMorris3]

Holy crap. Robert Enke, goalkeeper of Hannover 96 (Bundesliga) is dead after being hit by a train.

[Don]

Barcelona advances to the round of 16 in the Copa Del Rey by beating Cultural Leonesa 7-0 on the aggregate, whereas Real gets dumped 4-1 on the aggregate by Alcocorn, a side that competes in the same division as Reals youth side.

Real = Pathetic.

[Saintsfan]

Barcelona advances to the round of 16 in the Copa Del Rey by beating Cultural Leonesa 7-0 on the aggregate, whereas Real gets dumped 4-1 on the aggregate by Alcocorn, a side that competes in the same division as Reals youth side.

Real = Pathetic.

I think it is more

Real= does not care about the Copa Del Rey.

It should also be pointed out that Robert Enke also had a good chance of being Germany's goalkeeper in South Africa next summer. Germany abandoned their training as a mark of respect this morning, and their weekend friendly against Chile appears certain to be postponed.

[Saintsfan]

Interesting tidbit- Darren Ferguson (son of) has apparently been fired at Peterborough United.

Just as a follow up, Peterborough United are suggesting that the reason that Ferguson has left the club is that he had been approached by a Premier League club. Perhaps we may not be long from our first EPL sacking of the season?

[MattF]

Interesting tidbit- Darren Ferguson (son of) has apparently been fired at Peterborough United.

Just as a follow up, Peterborough United are suggesting that the reason that Ferguson has left the club is that he had been approached by a Premier League club. Perhaps we may not be long from our first EPL sacking of the season?

Bye Bye, Phil Brown

[MattF]

How did Hull and West Ham score 3 each?

Villa were outplayed by Burnley, but salvage a draw, which is fine by me, I thought this game had draw written all over it.

Arsenal lose to Sunderland though

[TFoA]

One good thing did come out of that draw to Burnley: Villa are now 4th (for now, depends on what Tottenham does tomorrow).

Gonna be a pretty big clash next week between Spurs & Villa.

[MattF]

Spurs beat Wigan 9-1