All posts by h79snht.top

After Crystal Palace secured their first away victory of the season last Tuesday against high-flying Norwich, is it time Palace can forget about their poor away form and start securing wins?

George Burley’s men went into the game without an away win all season, with the embarrassing record of scoring no goals and conceding 12.

Palace’s not-so-great record was looking to continue at half-time when the Canaries went into the interval with a 1-0 lead after Grant Holt had scored for the hosts against the run-of-play.

But character has never been a problem for Crystal Palace over the years and after two quick-fire goals from on-loan defenders Antony Gardner and Julian Bennett, Palace deservedly secured their first away win of the season.

It hasn’t been a case of the Eagles playing badly and getting out-played for 90 minutes though, with the majority of fans and pundits agreeing to the fact that Palace are playing some of the best football in the championship, they just can’t put those chances away.

Palace possession percentage of 65% shows their authority over Norwich and one can only wonder how the score stayed 2-1.

But this has been a recent problem for Palace; they clearly have the ability to create these chances but they obviously lack the maturity to put these chances away at the moment.

The squad possess great talent in Wilfred Zaha, who again put in an impressive performance that eventually lead to his manager comparing him to Theo Walcott, and Nathaniel Clyne who constantly impresses at right back.

As a Palace fan myself, I think that the most frustrating aspect is that we are playing some of the best football us fans have seen for a while, but the attacking spark we have never usually lacked; with the likes of Victor Moses and Andrew Johnson banging in the goals, missing this season.

However, I don’t think that is Burley’s fault and although my opinion of him is still undecided; I believe he has done extremely well to bring in the players he has and he has retained Palace’s image as a people’s club very well.

To secure the vital loan signings of Antony Gardner and James Vaughan, along with the huge coup of signing influential midfielder Edgar Davids on a pay-as-you-play deal, is extraordinary even for a man with Burley’s track record.

After experiencing the many highs and lows that have come with being a Palace fan, including the play-off final and that nerve-racking draw at Sheffield Wednesday last season that secured our Championship status, I have never lacked enthusiasm and it is finally starting to grow after that win on Tuesday.

Hopefully Palace can start to believe in themselves and with the likes of Ambrose and Danns set to return from injury, things may just start to get better if you’re a Palace fan.

I couldn’t think of supporting any other club apart from Palace and in my opinion the Championship is one of the best leagues in the world.

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It doesn’t attract anywhere near the amount of negative headlines that the Premiership does and the talent on show is sometimes equal to the Premiership.

So before I get involved in this Rooney talk; ‘Will he go city?’, I’d rather focus on my teams performances and the way that the championship is constantly overlooked by these stories that the players themselves seem to enjoy reading.

There’s a good team in the Championship called Crystal Palace who need a striker Wayne?

If you’re interested…

Written By Matt Maltby

I’m feeling depressed today. I’m seriously wondering if I can bring myself to splash out next week to renew my season ticket. I said I wouldn’t engage in public naval contemplation about me and Arsenal this time last year but I just can’t help myself.

Some of my depression and sullen aspect is to do with Arsenal. I’m still very angry about the ticket price rises. We don’t need them and it takes the pressure off the club delivering improved commercial income which is where new money needs to come from. I certainly will struggle to find the additional £130 by next Thursday with all the other calls on my declining income. The board just isn’t justified in imposing the increases in a time of economic hardship. I’ve clearly mistaken them for people who care.

The mega-money struggle for the club’s future is also getting right on my wick. Alisher Usmanov has now upped the ante on Stan Kroenke, offering £14,000 a share to Stan Kroenke’s offer of £11,750 a pop. Sorry, mine’s still not for sale. There is a worrying trickle of the eight percent or so of shares to Usmanov now that can be seen by looking at the PLUS Markets website. Usmanov now has to instantly notify each additional share purchased during the period of Stan Kroenke’s offer which is mandated by City takeover rules. I hope any shareholder who wants or needs to sell offers their share to Arsenal Fanshare first.

I’ll be honest. I wish I’d never heard of either Kroenke or Usmanov. The fact that I have is directly the responsibility of the board and former board members David Dein, Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith and the late Danny Fiszman. I said when the board created 9.9% of new shares in the club and sold them to Granada TV (now ITV plc) that there was a danger that they’d created a Trojan Horse in the ownership structure. I take no pleasure in saying that I turned out to be right.

The board had the opportunity to do something special. Something uniquely Arsenal. Instead they chose to enrich themselves. This hasn’t benefitted the club by one penny. They did what so many others have done at big English clubs. They cashed in. We’re now in the ironic position of relying on an Uzbek naturalised Russian multi-billionaire to keep the club public and stop an American billionaire Stan Kroenke from taking the club down the path already trodden by Manchester United and Liverpool. As long as Usmanov hangs on to his 27.37% and slowly rising stake then Kroenke can’t take the club private and do what he will with it financially.

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There is a chance though that Usmanov’s further purchases may dry up the remaining available shares to such an extent that public trading on the PLUS market is no longer viable due to a lack of shares. That wouldn’t mean that Arsenal Fanshare couldn’t continue. It would mean that this would be by the grace and favour of Messrs Usmanov and/or Kroenke. Not a position I want us to be in.

My preferred option for Arsenal Fanshare was always to buy new equity in the club. This would mean my and every other AFS member’s contributions going directly into the club’s working capital rather than to existing shareholders. That hasn’t come to pass yet. I hope that it does.

In the meanwhile we reliant on billionaires who live in Moscow and Missouri thousands of miles and many time-zones away for the future direction of the club. This is good because? There are those who believe that Usmanov is the man for Arsenal because of his tens of billions. Not me. I want Arsenal to build on strong sustainable financial foundations. Not the whims and caprices of men with no previous connection with Arsenal. Usmanov constantly protests that he loves Arsenal. I suppose it’s conceivable but frankly I doubt it. It strikes me more as an ego-driven trophy purchase, just like many rich men take beautiful trophy wives whom they trust so much they insist on detailed legal pre-nuptial agreements.

Usmanov was given a pardon for alleged offences for which he was imprisoned, serving six years of an eight year sentence on charges of fraud and embezzlement when Uzbekistan was a constituent republic of the old Soviet Union. The pardon was issued by the newly independent Uzbek government which has literally boiled opponents alive. Usmanov may or may not have been guilty of the offences for which he was imprisoned. I wouldn’t take the word of a politically directed Soviet court that he was guilty. Neither would I take the word of the Uzbek government that he was innocent and worthy of pardon however. We’ll likely never know the truth.

My other cause of my agitation is more general. I find the empty, materialistic, self-absorbed, ego-driven lives of so many of the game’s current crop of professionals profoundly depressing. I’m no saint. I enjoy material wealth too. I’m not addicted to empty consumption however. I like to stimulate my mind as well as my bank balance. Driven on by the spivs that leach on all too many top players they constantly circumnavigate the globe in search of ever more lavish financial rewards.

I blame nobody for improving themselves financially but is it really important to be earning £160k a week rather than £100k? Does it make the players happier? I doubt it. It is a short career and players are entitled to do the very best for themselves. I’m just not so sure I want to continue contributing to people who earn millions a year and often put it to no good use for themselves or others.

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Greed has become rampant in football. I hate it. Just look at the recent news at Queen’s Park Rangers. Ticket price rises of forty to sixty percent. The club’s response to protests? Tough. If you don’t want your seat, somebody else will have it. Never mind if you were there when Rangers lost to Vauxhall Motors in the FA Cup in 2002. Never mind if you followed QPR in the old Third Division. We don’t give a monkey’s. Show us the money or piss off!

All in all, I’m tempted to become an armchair Arsenal fan and watch the odd match live when it suits me, and take in some Barnet and AFC Wimbledon games. I’m fed up with my loyalty being ruthlessly exploited for every last penny in my pocket.

Article courtesy of Vic Crescit at Arsenal Insider

Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt has stated that he does not feel Kenny Dalglish will give him a proper run in the team, and that he may well have to leave the club because of this.

The Netherlands international has been largely a fringe player at Anfield this term, and he has vented his frustration at Dalglish’s selection policy.

“Under this manager I don’t have the feeling any more that he will put me in the side every week,” the Dutch attacker is reported as saying by Fox Sports

“I’m under no illusion about playing every week. But I believe I am still good enough to play for Liverpool every week.

“My physical stats are better than ever before.

“Last season I was scoring goals all over the place. But this season the manager bought three players who all played in my position.

“In the rotation system he used, I never found my rhythm again and never felt my old self.

“Deep in my heart I’d love to stay at Liverpool so I could have full revenge on everyone in my final season at the club,” he concluded.

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Kuyt has been linked with a move to Hamburg, Roma and former club Feyenoord.

By Gareth McKnight

Bayer Leverkusen and Hannover will be desperate for a slip-up from runaway Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund this weekend.Dortmund are 12 points clear of second-placed Leverkusen with nine games remaining, while Hannover are 14 points off the pace in third.Juergen Klopp’s Dortmund side seem certainties to win the title, and would surely need a calamitous form slump to miss out on claiming their seventh Bundesliga championship.They travel to the Rhein-Neckar-Arena on Saturday to take on ninth-placed Hoffenheim, who will be keen to atone for their 2-0 defeat at bottom-placed Borussia Monchengladbach last weekend.Hannover begin the weekend’s games on Friday when they travel to Cologne, hoping to build on their 3-1 win over Bayern Munich last Saturday, while Bayern – who announced that coach Louis van Gaal’s contract would not be renewed at season’s end – welcome Hamburg on Saturday.Also on Saturday, 10th-placed Schalke will look to gain some confidence from their 3-1 Champions League win over Valencia on Wednesday when they host Eintracht Frankfurt.Relegation strugglers Wolfsburg host Nuremberg at Volkswagen Arena, with the visitors looking for full points in their bid to secure European football next season, while Kaiserslautern will look to move out of the drop zone when they welcome eighth-placed Freiburg.Werder Bremen are also in trouble after a dismal campaign – sitting just three points clear of the bottom three – and they host Borussia Monchengladbach at the Weserstadion, with three points vital for both teams.On Sunday, Leverkusen have the chance to make up some ground on the leaders when they travel to fourth-placed Mainz and St Pauli will be keen to make amends for Saturday’s 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Nuremberg when they host Stuttgart.

This weekend the FA Cup semi-finals take centre stage, as Manchester United, Man City, Bolton and Stoke make the trip down to Wembley from the north-west to battle it out for a place in the final. The Manchester derby is the tastier of the two ties, but for Owen Coyle and Tony Pulis there is a great opportunity to have a crack at some domestic silverware.

In addition to the FA Cup, there are plenty of Premier League fixtures to enjoy, with lots still to be decided at the bottom of the table. There’s a classic six-pointer between Blackpool and Wigan at Bloomfield Road, while West Ham could do with three points against Aston Villa at Upton Park. The stand-out Premiership fixture of the weekend takes place on Sunday, as Arsenal take on Liverpool at The Emirates Stadium.

The race to get to the Premier League is also hotting up, with Swansea and Reading just two of the promotion contenders in action. Here’s how the country’s newspaper journalists think the matches will pan out…

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Shaun Custis:

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Andy Dunn:

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Steve Bates:

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Continue to the NEXT PAGE for the predictions in full…

Football Writers’ Association Predictions – Week 37

Current April standings

1. Steve Bates – 12

2. Des Kelly – 11

3. Patrick Barclay – 10

4. Martin Lipton – 10

5. Shaun Custis – 8

6. Andy Dunn – 6

7. Glenn Moore – 6

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Overall standings

1. Steve Bates – 174

2. Shaun Custis – 167

3. Martin Lipton – 167

4. Glenn Moore – 164

5. Des Kelly – 160

6. Andy Dunn – 156

7. Patrick Barclay – 155

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Patrick Barclay (The Times)

Home Team

Away Team

Bolton

V

Stoke

H

Man City

V

Man United

A

Birmingham

V

Sunderland

H

Blackpool

V

Wigan

D

Everton

V

Blackburn

H

West Brom

V

Chelsea

D

West Ham

V

Aston Villa

H

Arsenal

V

Liverpool

D

Burnley

V

Swansea

A

Reading

V

Leicester

H

Blackpool v Wigan: Tangerine dream still on.

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Des Kelly (Daily Mail)

Home Team

Away Team

Bolton

V

Stoke

H

Man City

V

Man United

A

Birmingham

V

Sunderland

H

Blackpool

V

Wigan

H

Everton

V

Blackburn

H

West Brom

V

Chelsea

A

West Ham

V

Aston Villa

A

Arsenal

V

Liverpool

A

Burnley

V

Swansea

A

Reading

V

Leicester

H

Man City v Man United: It’s a cup tie, so the cliche is “anything could happen”. It’s a derby, so the next law of cliches states “the form book goes out the window”. In reality, United are playing superb football and City are struggling. Predicting anything other than a United win right now would be a brave gamble.

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Shaun Custis (The Sun)

Home Team

Away Team

Bolton

V

Stoke

H

Man City

V

Man United

A

Birmingham

V

Sunderland

H

Blackpool

V

Wigan

H

Everton

V

Blackburn

H

West Brom

V

Chelsea

A

West Ham

V

Aston Villa

H

Arsenal

V

Liverpool

D

Burnley

V

Swansea

A

Reading

V

Leicester

H

West Ham v Villa: Villa got a morale boosting win over Newcastle but The Hammers just have to win this one. Home win.

Continue to the NEXT PAGE for more predictions…

Andy Dunn (News of the World)

Home Team

Away Team

Bolton

V

Stoke

H

Man City

V

Man United

A

Birmingham

V

Sunderland

H

Blackpool

V

Wigan

A

Everton

V

Blackburn

H

West Brom

V

Chelsea

H

West Ham

V

Aston Villa

H

Arsenal

V

Liverpool

D

Burnley

V

Swansea

H

Reading

V

Leicester

H

Everton v Blackburn: Everton looking for bragging rights in the city and to get beyond Liverpool. I think they’ll be too much for Blackburn. Home win.

Martin Lipton (The Mirror)

Home Team

Away Team

Bolton

V

Stoke

H

Man City

V

Man United

A

Birmingham

V

Sunderland

H

Blackpool

V

Wigan

A

Everton

V

Blackburn

H

West Brom

V

Chelsea

A

West Ham

V

Aston Villa

D

Arsenal

V

Liverpool

H

Burnley

V

Swansea

A

Reading

V

Leicester

H

Bolton v Stoke: Massive game for both clubs, with European football as well as a Cup Final on offer to the winners. Stoke will be the bludgeon, Bolton the rapier. But more goal threat may shade it for the Trotters.

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Steve Bates (The People)

Home Team

Away Team

Bolton

V

Stoke

H

Man City

V

Man United

A

Birmingham

V

Sunderland

H

Blackpool

V

Wigan

D

Everton

V

Blackburn

H

West Brom

V

Chelsea

A

West Ham

V

Aston Villa

D

Arsenal

V

Liverpool

H

Burnley

V

Swansea

A

Reading

V

Leicester

H

West Brom v Chelsea: Carlo Ancelotti’s stars will be smarting from their Euro exit to Manchester United so I expect a backlash at The Hawthorns and a set-back for Albion in their fight for Premier League security.

Glenn Moore (The Independent)

Home Team

Away Team

Bolton

V

Stoke

H

Man City

V

Man United

D

Birmingham

V

Sunderland

H

Blackpool

V

Wigan

H

Everton

V

Blackburn

H

West Brom

V

Chelsea

D

West Ham

V

Aston Villa

H

Arsenal

V

Liverpool

H

Burnley

V

Swansea

A

Reading

V

Leicester

H

Arsenal v Liverpool: Liverpool were excellent against Manchester City but have been less impressive away from home while Arsenal are regaining form.

The FA Cup stirs into life again this weekend with sixteen fourth round ties taking place over Saturday and Sunday. A good blend of fixtures sees five all-top flight affairs – including arguably the tie of the round, Everton versus Chelsea – mixed in amongst several Football League match-ups as well as a game between League Two side Torquay and the side that – by virtue of being the only one remaining from outside the top four divisions – I have an obligation to refer to as flying the flag for Non League football, Crawley Town.

Beginning with the game at Goodison Park on Saturday, Everton can point to a record of only one defeat in six against Chelsea in all competitions as they seek to avenge their 2-1 defeat to the Londoners in the 2009 final. For their part, Carlo Ancelotti’s side scored four without reply at Bolton on Monday night and will be hoping that their ‘moment’ – as the Italian wonderfully kept referring to Chelsea’s prolonged slump – has finally ended.

Everton are 13/5 to beat Chelsea

Elsewhere in all-Premier League land, Aston Villa come into their home tie against Blackburn having rediscovered that winning feeling after back-to-back victories over Manchester City and Wigan in the space of four days. These two sides can’t stop meeting each other in the cups, having already contested a League Cup match in September that Villa won 3-1, as well as three further knockout games last season. Villa were wretched in losing 2-0 to Blackburn at Ewood Park in the league in November though and Rovers’ manager Steve Kean will also be glad that Darren Bent is cup-tied.

Aston Villa are 4/5 to beat Blackburn

A Lancashire derby between Bolton and Wigan and a meeting between two London sides – Fulham and Spurs – provide the draw with some regional rivalries. The Trotters and the Latics have never met in the FA Cup before; whether or not that piece of information will be the most interesting point to come out of the fixture remains to be seen. The game at Craven Cottage suggests glamour and excitement but a total of ten goals in the last seven games between the sides currently managed by Mark Hughes and Harry Redknapp somewhat undermines that image. Meanwhile, Birmingham – fresh from Wednesday night’s League Cup drama against West Ham – host a Coventry side at St Andrews that started the Championship season well but have floundered of late, in what can loosely be called a Midlands derby.

Tottenham are 11/8 to beat Fulham

The fifth and final tie between a pair of Premier League teams sees Stoke travel to Wolves. Although, given that the Potters have a league game against Liverpool next Wednesday and Mick McCarthy probably fancies a cup run as much as Andy Gray fancies an evening with Germaine Greer, the most likely result is that both managers field shadow sides.

The top three teams in the Premier League have all been drawn against League One opposition and each tie has a sub-plot attached to it. Arsenal welcome Huddersfield Town to the Emirates on Sunday, with the clubs linked by Herbert Chapman. The man who invented the “WM” formation that dominated English football for two decades during the first half of the twentieth century spread his four league titles and four FA Cup successes as a manager equally between the London and Yorkshire clubs during the 1920s and 1930s. Meanwhile, Manchester City visit another League One side – Sunderland’s conquerors Notts County – in a match between two teams with a Sven connection. City also have a lot money, while County only thought they did. Any FA Cup game between Manchester United and Southampton inevitably conjures up memories of the 1976 final and Bobby Stokes’ winning goal for the Saints, but United will be hoping to complete a hat-trick of cup victories at St Mary’s over the past seven seasons.

Southampton are 7/1 to upset Manchester United

West Ham are the one remaining Premier League side to discuss. Their opponents are Nottingham Forest and, with Billy Davies’ men hitting form in the Championship and the Hammers coming off a hugely disappointing League Cup defeat on Wednesday, Avram Grant will once again be auditioning for his job.

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West ham are 5/4 to beat Nottingham Forest

Running through the other remaining fixtures, Brighton’s visit to Watford looks like a particularly attractive proposition between two teams picking up plenty of points as well as plaudits in their respective divisions. The third round’s biggest giant-killers – Crawley Town and Stevenage – have been rewarded with matches against, respectively, Torquay United and Reading. Not what either side might have been hoping for, perhaps, but it gives them both a decent chance of making the last 16. Leyton Orient, who saw off Norwich City in the third round, meet Championship opposition again in the shape of Swansea. Finally, Eddie Howe, 33, takes charge of Burnley for the first time in the FA Cup with Burton Albion the opponents, managed by another man under 40, Paul Peschisolido, while a further struggling League Two side – Hereford United – have the chance to forget their lowly league position for one weekend with a trip to Hillsborough to play Sheffield Wednesday.

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Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas has insisted that Florent Malouda won’t be leaving the club according to Sky Sports.

The French wingers future at Stamford Bridge was the subject of speculation after the arrival of Juan Mata from Valencia.

Villas-Boas’ interest in signing Porto’s left sided player Alvaro Pereira further fuelled talk that Malouda would be sold.

However the new Chelsea boss has declared that he has no intention of selling the 31-year-old.

He told Sky Sports: “As we are speaking about the number of goals and assists that Mata has made at Valencia, let’s speak about the number that Malouda has made for Chelsea.”

“We can’t let ourselves sell talent of this quality.”

Juventus have been touted as a possible destination for the former Lyon ace after it was suggested they were set to make a bid.

The Serie A club are in the market for an experienced wide midfielder and the French international is thought to be their top target.

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Malouda may find first team opportunities hard to come by should Villas-Boas brings in the players on his shortlist.

Along with Pereira the Portuguese coach is still chasing Tottenham’s Luka Modric and is mulling over a revised bid of £30 million for the Croatian.

Whilst sat on the sofa recovering from the effects of New Year’s Eve, I set about making some resolutions for myself – which I will not bore you with – and it got me to thinking about which footballers could benefit from a resolution or twenty, and what they might be. I am sure there are a couple that have popped into your head already, and here are the top ten footballers who I think could benefit from making a New Year’s resolution.

You may have noticed I have omitted Mad Mario from this list, but been as though the City striker provided us with the majority of the Champagne moments of the last year, I decided it would be best for him to continue as he started!

Click on Stephen Ireland to unveil the top 10

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Do you agree with my ten chosen footballers or is there someone else you feel could benefit from a resolution? Let me know on twitter @RebeccaKnight01

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Tottenham Hotspur are in talks with Steven Pienaar after agreeing a fee with Everton for the South Africa international.Pienaar, 28, is already negotiating personal terms with Chelsea after the English Premier League title holders met Everton’s asking price, believed to be three million pounds.

The former Ajax and Borussia Dortmund midfielder has been heavily linked with a move away from Goodison Park after failing to sign an extension to his contract, which expires at the end of the season.

While reluctant to sell, Everton have been forced to arrange a transfer to prevent losing Pienaar for nothing when his contract expires.

Pienaar joined Everton on-loan from Dortmund in 2007, before Everton agreed a permanent deal with the Bundesliga club worth approximately two million pounds in 2008.

He was voted the club’s player of the season in 2009/10.

“Everton can confirm they have agreed terms with Tottenham over the possible transfer of Steven Pienaar,” the club said in a statement on Monday.

“Confirmation of the agreement with the north London club comes just days after a bid for the South African international was accepted from Chelsea.”

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“Pienaar, who is out of contract with Everton in the summer, has been given permission to discuss his personal terms over a possible move away from Goodison Park.”

“His current contract expires in the summer and a new deal from Everton has been on the table since early in 2010.”

We have all sat back in shock as rioting and general anarchy continues to sweep across the country’s major cities. It makes you wonder when it is all going to end and how the Government is going to act to bring this nation back in order.

I remember being alerted late on Saturday that Tottenham was apparently ablaze as the first of these riots kicked-off. At the time I hadn’t seen any of the damage or the full extent of the troubles, but my initial thoughts was that Dan Levy and the football club have suddenly found the perfect bargaining tool to get the borough of Haringey and the likes of Boris Johnson to sanction some funds towards the NDP project. If anything the riots merely underlined why the football club have been so keen to not only build a stadium but regenerate what is arguably one, if not the poorest community and area of London.

When the club looked to move to Stratford and take up residence of the new Olympic Stadium it was widely condemned by Haringey council and MP David Lammy in particular. They felt the club were committing some sort of treacherous act, without realising that the likes of Levy had very little option given the finances that were involved in making the NDP project happen. There are only so many times that you can bang your head against a brick wall (and Spurs did a lot of banging trying to get just their plans approved, let alone attempting to get help funding it) therefore without the backing the club rightly looked to cheaper alternatives – you see building a stadium it is the easy part, the real cost lay in the club’s desire to take on the responsibility of the council and regenerate an area in desperate need of investment.

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It is all rather ironic that those who look to defend the actions of the rioters in Tottenham have cited a lack of work and facilities as a potential cause – everything the NDP project would actually provide to the community if it could be funded. Maybe the events in N17 will finally hit home with the powers that be that they can no longer penny pinch around an area of London that needs investment and signs of prosperity the most. The NDP will provide this, so let’s hope the club and the council can now find a financial solution so they can build this better future for the people of Tottenham.