Barca Extend Lead on Top; Recreativo-0, Barca-2

FC Barcelona beat Recreativo Heaulva courtesy of two second half goals from Lionnel Messi and Keita. Everyone expected FC Barcelona to ram through the Recreativo defense, but that wasn’t the case to be. It took an exceptional strategy employed by the FC Barcelona players to break through the determined Recreativo defense. Doubts were raised about Barca ability to tame determined and packed defenses; the performance against Recreativo would reduce all those complaints. Lionel Messi scored from a great free kick and Seydou Keita scored in the dying moments to capture vital three points. In a weekend where all of the title contenders went off-colour Barca did well and now have a three point lead opened at the top. With Villareal drawing early on the day and Valencia and Real Madrid losing yesterday FC Barcelona was expected to increase their lead and they exactly did that. Guardiola lined up the strongest eleven available to him in the match. The defenese was formed by the combination of Alves, Marquez, Pique and Puyol playing as left back. In the midfield Busquests joined hands with Toure and Xavi. The front three remained unchanged with the mercurial Messi on the right, Eto on the centre and Henry on the left. With Xavi having being off-colour for the majority of the game; Guardiola choice of Toure and Busquests in the middle made it difficult to generate an attacking move from the middle. All the attack started and was organised by Lionel Messi. I have earlier written about the problem with having Toure and Busquests in the starting eleven. Both of them play similiar kind of role - the defensive midfielder and Guardiola should stop employing them together. With Keita only returning from injury it is understandable to have them together in this match but in the future I expect the midfield would be a choice between Busquests or Toure and Guidjonsen or Keita. This is all till Iniesta returns.

FC Barcelona struggled to find a way past the Recreativo defense early in the first half and on many occasion they were caught out on the counter. It was Recreativo who had the first shot on target with a free kick staright at Valdes in the 8th minute. In the 14th minute Barca was caught out on the counter with a great move which involved multiple Recreativo players but luckily that move only resulted in a corner. In the 20th minute Messi had the first Barca shot on target when he thundered a shot from outside the box straight at Goal Keeper Riesgo. In the 22nd minute Toure found Messi with a great pass in the box but the Recreativo goal keeper produced another brilliant save to deny Messi. In the 23rd minute Eto was denied by great defending by Bouzon after a great interchange between Messi. In the 27th minute Busquets saw his volley go high; the move started with Alves sending a great cross from the right side, Henry put that in Busquets path with a neatly cushioned header. In the 28th minute Eto shows great skill to get past defenders in the box but his shot was agains saved by Riesgo. The compact defense made Eto changing his position constantly from right to left and then center. On the other end Recreativo Player Sisi was diving all over the place getting alves booked in the process. In the 36th minute FC Barcelona was awarded their first corner and we almost conceded goal from that; it was a poorly taken corner which reached Toure at the middle of the pitch; Toure gave away the ball creating real panic but luckily the Recreativo players could not capitalise on that. In the 37th minute Messi produced his trademark run skipping past defenders and laying the ball to Henry but henry shot straight at the keeper. The first half finished with not much fanfare.

In the second half it was clear that it would take a moment of brilliance to break the Recreativo defense. In the 51st minute Barca was awarded a free kick for a foul on Eto on the right side five yards outside the box. Alves and Xavi both lined up to take the free kick; Alves’s theatrics made everyone believe including the camera man that he is going to take the free kick; but instead Xavi laid the ball to Messi who by then have moved to the right behind the wall; that move put Messi one on One with Riesgo; Messi thundered a shot from the tightest of angles into the top left corner of the goal to break Recreativo defense. It is not still clear whether they used to practice something like this in the training or the players came with this tactic at that moment. Either way it was sheer brilliance. Recreativo immediately made double substitution and was rewarded with a double chance in the 62nd minute. First a great move was somehow deflected away from the post; but from the resulting corner Javier Camunas produced a great header which was denied by the bar. In the 64th minute Xavi produced a brilliant pass to Eto who was closed down by the brilliant Bouzon. In the 65th minute Eto saw another of his effort saved by Riesgo after a neat exchange between Busquets. In the 70th minute Sylvinho was brought in place of Puyol. In the 75th minute Eto shot wide after a great run by Xavi. In the 79th minute Guardiola took off Toure and brought Keita in. In the 86th minute Keita scores to make sure that FC Barcelona would lead the table by three points. Henry produced a great cross to Eto whose volley was off target but fell straight to keita who had only the job to tap it into the goal. Guardiola took off Eto and brought in Bojan. In the 2nd minute of injury time Marquez was denied by the post when his header from an Alves free kick beaten the Goal Keeper.

It was necessary for Fc Barcelona to open up some good gap between themselves and others to the build up of the toughest weeks. Now we have to face Getafe next and then Valencia the week after. The players will be leaving for International duties and hope they all return back without getting injured.

Written by Bibin on November 16th, 2008 with no comments.
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Cristiano Ronaldo on Fire

Written by ruzzel on November 16th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on cristiano ronaldo and manchester news.

Cristiano Ronaldo @ 100 goal

Written by ruzzel on November 16th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Add new tag and Goal and cristiano ronaldo and manchester news and manchester united.

Frank Lampard: Why Blue is my colour

Frank Lampard is ‘100 percent’ certain that he made the right decision in committing his future to Chelsea.

The England international plumped for The Blues despite being coveted by his former Stamford Bridge boss Jose Mourinho at Inter and, after seemingly interminable contract negotiations, he put his name to a new five-year contract in the summer.

While admitting that the death of his mother earlier this year did leave him considering the possibility of a change of environment, Lampard revealed that his return to pre-season training with Chelsea helped to make up his mind.

“Inter made a bid for me, and it was a possibility, for sure,” Lampard told the Sunday Times.

“It was a very tough time for me personally after the death of my mum, and my head was in a spin in the summer, he said

“I didn’t really know what to do and I felt it might suit me to get away and change my surroundings and my life.

“But when I came back pre-season, I realised how much I loved this place - and, through speaking to my family, I knew what I had to do.

“I’m sure now 100 percent that I made the right decision.”

Lampard’s decision-making process has been vindicated by the team’s impressive start to the season under Luiz Felipe Scolari and the former West Ham star believes the current league leaders have all the attributes necessary to finish the season as champions.

“I do believe we’re going to win the league this time,” said Lampard.

“Manchester United deserved to win it last time but with the squad we’ve got, the belief running through the players and the quality of the manager, I think we’ll do it.”

And who does Lampard believe to be Chelsea’s biggest threat?

“I would still say Man U.”

Chelsea edge AHEAD of United in race for £15million STAR!

Chelsea Football Club are new favourites to land Axel Witsel.

Following an injury to Owen Hargreaves, Manchester United were last week reported to be lining up an offer of around £15million for the Standard Liege midfield player.

However, Witsel’s agent, Jorge Vidal, has now revealed that whilst the Reds interest appears to have cooled, the youngster could well be heading to Stamford Bridge in January.

“Manchester United came back especially to watch him, but I have not received any news from them. They may be discussing with Standard de Liege directly, I do not know,” Vidal told Setanta Sports.

“The club that seem to be the more interested are Chelsea.”

Written by Jackson Ng Ghim Pheng True Blue Chelsea Fan on November 16th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Football-Player.

Capello Shock Call Up Of Chelsea Youngster Michael Mancienne

GERMANY V ENGLAND
Capello to hand two young stars England chance

Fabio Capello will take a careful look at the youngsters in his new-look England squad before deciding which lucky pair will play against Germany in Berlin on Wednesday.

Including Theo Walcott, Capello has picked five players eligible for under-21 duty in his 23-man squad, plus another couple who are only just making their mark in the Premier League.

Given withdrawals can be anticipated over the next 48 hours, notably captain John Terry who is due to have a scan on the foot he injured during Chelsea’s win at West Brom this evening, Capello needs to choose wisely.

For, after four straight World Cup qualifying wins, he does not want to see confidence drain away by placing his trust in too many rookies.

“It is dangerous to put too many new players into a team that has trained a lot together,” said Capello. “It is best when you put one or maximum two in. I just want to know them better, which I will do during the camp.

“I want to study what they do in training, then I will decide.”

While the inclusion of Gabriel Agbonlahor and Manchester City duo Joe Hart, who has subsequently withdrawn from the squad, and Micah Richards had been anticipated, even before Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney were declared unavailable by Sir Alex Ferguson, the selection of Michael Mancienne is a shock.

Mancienne is still to play for Chelsea and while his appearances for Wolves have caught the eye, it is a surprise Capello has chosen to pluck the 20-year-old from the Coca-Cola Championship to the senior international squad even if he has received rave reviews from England Under-21 boss Stuart Pearce.

Even if Terry misses out, as he did against Kazakhstan and Belarus last month, it is doubtful Mancienne will play a significant role as Richards and Matthew Upson would be favourites to fill the central defensive berths, which Everton’s Joleon Lescott is also capable of doing.

Agbonlahor has more chance of being selected, although there would be little point in picking 38-year-old Portsmouth keeper David James unless he was going to play.

James’ continued presence proves Capello does not believe age is a barrier to selection. Instead, the omissions of David Beckham and Michael Owen are justified on form grounds.

In Beckham’s case it is down to an MLS season that came to an end almost a month ago, since when he has had no competitive football, for Owen, it is due to a lack of match practice after a recent groin injury.

“It is not enough to play one or two games,” said Capello. “You cannot find enough form to play an international match in that time.”

For all Capello’s assertions, there are plenty who feel Owen is condemned to miss out unless the Italian has a major change of policy.

Beckham’s experience at Real Madrid suggests such an about-turn is possible, although Capello tends to stick to his opinions, which in the veteran midfielder’s case is clear enough.

“Beckham is not in the squad because he has not played for three weeks,” said Capello.

That situation has already been addressed with Beckham due to join AC Milan on a loan deal in January that should allow him to join Bobby Moore as England’s most capped outfield player when the Three Lions tackle Spain the following month.

However, Capello stressed he had played no part in the short-term transfer.

“I am a friend of (AC Milan vice-president) Adriano Galliani and he told me about what they were going to do,” he said. “I like the player and I like the man. But they told me after they decided to sign him, not before.”

As they famously exchanged words after a fierce condemnation of the use of Steven Gerrard - who along with Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry is one of the likely captains if Terry misses out - Capello probably did not ask Harry Redknapp about Tottenham striker Darren Bent.

However, as Bent has scored five goals in his last seven matches it is a fair assumption he is benefiting from Redknapp’s arrival at White Hart Lane.

So, with Heskey missing, he could get a shot at partnering Agbonlahor or Jermain Defoe.

“We have followed Bent over the last year and he has scored a lot of goals recently,” said Capello. “We need a player for that role because we don’t have Heskey.

“He is young, fast and has good movement without the ball. He runs into space, which is very important. It is important that Tottenham have won a lot of games because it helps Bent’s confidence. That makes me happy.”

Scott Carson - West Brom
David James - Portsmouth
Wayne Bridge - Chelsea
Curtis Davies - Aston Villa
Glen Johnson - Portsmouth
John Terry - Chelsea
Joleon Lescott - Everton
Michael Mancienne - Chelsea
Micah Richards - Man City
Matthew Upson - West Ham
Gareth Barry - Aston Villa
Michael Carrick - Man Utd
Stewart Downing - Middlesbrough
Jimmy Bullard - Fulham
Scott Parker - West Ham
Shaun Wright-Phillips - Man City
Ashley Young - Aston Villa
Gabriel Agbonlahor - Aston Villa
Darren Bent - Tottenham
Peter Crouch - Portsmouth
Jermain Defoe - Portsmouth
Theo Walcott - Arsenal

Terry backs Mancienne call
Skipper delight at youngsters inclusion

England captain John Terry has backed Michael Mancienne’s inclusion into the senior squad.

Chelsea starlet Mancienne is yet to play to play for The Blues and has only ever experienced senior football at Championship level.

He has spent most of the last two seasons on loan in the Championship mostly with Queens Park Rangers, but currently with top-of-the-table Wolves.

Now having starred for the England Under-21s in recent outings - Mancienne has been called up by Fabio Capello for next week’s friendly in Germany.

And Terry is full behind the decision to include his club mate.

“Fair play to Michael. We have got a lot of players at Chelsea and he has been eager to go out and prove that he is good enough,” said Terry.

“Myself and Lamps (Frank Lampard) spoke to Stuart Pearce and he said Michael has been his best player in the Under-21s.

“He will gain from the experience and his form has been fantastic for Wolves.

“They have had three or four wins since he has been there and he has got a bright future ahead of him.

“I don’t want to put too much pressure on the lad but we all realise he is one for the future.

“He could come back and be in the Chelsea side, quite possibly. He has been eager to break into the squad. It is very unfortunate for all the young players at Chelsea that we have got such a big squad.

“In the Carling Cup, when the manager leaves out the likes of myself and Lamps, there are players who are not playing week in and week out who deserve to play.

“They get paid a lot of money to be part of our squad and it is difficult sometimes to throw the younger lads in but he will get his chance, I am sure.”

Written by Jackson Ng Ghim Pheng True Blue Chelsea Fan on November 16th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Football-Player.

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2008/09 - ROUND 11 RESULTS

SFS has just got back from a weekend in Amsterdam & has´nt
been able to follow all the Round 11 matches. However here is
a brief report for its readers who tune in for a birds eye view of
how things turned out.

Valladolid 1 (Canobbio 48) - Real Madrid 0 . Deep shit here as well!

Sunday matches:

Recreativo lost to Fc Barcelona 0-2 with goals from Messi ( above)
& Keita. FC Barcelona take a 3ºpoint lead in the top of the ladder
ahead of its rivals.

Betis 3 (Garcia x2, Emana) - Racing 1 (Munitis)

Villareal 2 (Rossi, Llorente) - Malaga 2 (Duda, Rosario)
Getafe 0 - Sevilla FC 2 (Fabiano, De Mul)
Almeria 2 (Negredo x2) - Mallorca 1 (Keita)
At.Madrid 4 (Heitinga, Forlan x2, M.Rodriguez) - Deportivo 1
(Filipe Luis)

Written by STRIKER on November 16th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on La Liga and Spanish Football and Spanish Soccer.

Ligue 1 Weekend Review

Lorient get the result of the week in an absolutely stunning 3-2 victory over Marseille. The rest of the weekend’s matches once again saw an abundance of goals, many of them coming from the usual suspects (no, not Keyser Soze). Join me after the jump for the intriguing details.

Saturday, November 15th:

Auxerre 1-0 Sochaux - FC Sochaux-Montbeliard continue to take their lumps in Ligue 1, losing to Auxerre in a lackluster match. Auxerre had Mignot send a free-kick over the bar in the 4th minute, but for the next few minutes it was Sochaux who provided the pressure in the form of Maurice-Belay. In the 31st minute, Niculae began a counter-attack that ended with Lejeune slotting the ball home for the only goal. The only other notable action came in the 47th minute when Lejeune picked upa yellow card to lock up the “Goal-scorer to get carded award” for the week.

Havre 1-3 Paris Saint-Germain - Former Le Havre youngster Hoarau has been having an excellent season as of late, and he made his former club pay today. He started off the match strong with a shot just wide in the 4th minute, and followed that up with a strike that just hit the post in the 11th minute. Just 7 minutes later, Hoarau hit the post again with a header, but this time the ball glanced into the net for the first goal of the match. In the 34th minute Clement sent in a cross that was finished by Giuly to put PSG up 2-0. Le Havre pulled one goal back in the 48th minute when Alassane headed home a corner from Lesage. Hoarau became the Ligue 1 leading scorer in the 90th minute when he converted a PK after Havre GK Revault pulled down Luyindula in the box.

Le Mans 1-0 Valenciennes - Valenciennes has now gone 11 matches in a row without a win, and their play here was a clear illustration of why that is the case. The lone goal of the match came off a corner kick by Coutadeur which bounced directly into the goal without having been touched by anyone else. Le Tallec should have at least doubled the goals, but he put shots over the bar and into the post. Valenciennes GK Grondin was called upon to make several saves on Gervinho and Maiga (including a nasty shot from 20 yards), and he did well to avoid the club a more embarassing result.

Nancy 1-1 Caen - Raineau almost opened the scoring for Caen in the 3rd minute, but his shot was well-saved. Savidan continued to provide pressure for Caen, and he was rewarded in the 51st minute when he slotted home a through-ball from Toudic. Unfortunately for Caen, they also scored the second goal in the match in the 72nd minute when the ball was knocked into his own net by Boucansaud after a quick corner.

Toulouse 2-0 Grenoble - Despite only having 43% of the possession, Toulouse was dominant in this match, mostly thanks to Gignac. In the 2nd minute, Mathieu took a shot on goal that Grenoble GK Wimbee pushed wide, directly to the feet of Gignac. Grenoble was almost able to respond in the 8th minute, but Djadjede had his shot stopped by Carrasso. In the 19th minute, Gignac completed his brace when he received a through-ball from Congre and lobbed the oncoming Wimbee. Toulouse could have added a third goal when Didot beat Wimbee, but the ball was cleared off the line by Jemmali.

Lille 3-0 Saint-Etienne - Alain Perrin took over the beleaguered 10-time champions on Tuesday and quickly discovered that he faces an enormous uphill battle this season. His GK Janot was called into action early, making saves in the 3rd minute on Bastos and in the 9th on an excellent Cabaye free-kick. In the 15th minute Machado almost opened the scoring for Saint-Etienne, but his shot clattered off the bar. 10 minutes later, Hazard dribbled half of the Saint-Etienne defense (literally) and slotted home an easy shot. In the 34th minute Bastos chipped a ball into the box that was headed home by Obraniak (who was played very well in the last 4 matches). The final goal came in the 70th minute when Bastos, involved in his second goal, played a through-ball to Vittek, who had beaten the offside trap to come in alone on the goal.

Marseille 2-3 Lorient - In what can accurately be described as the best match of the season so far in Ligue 1, Lorient pulled off a stunning upset of a club 10 places and 10 points ahead of them in the table. L’OM had 59% of the possession and lead the match 2-0 in the 75th minute, which is when their world collapsed. In the 5th minute Niang hit the post to start things off for Marseille, and the scoring was opened in the 10th minute when Cheyrou sent a cross whistling through the defense for Ziani to finish into the top corner. Lorient got their first chance in the 25th minute, but Abriel blasted an easy chance over the bar. Marseille got their 2nd goal in the 60th minute when Genton was adjudged (wrongly) to have brought down Niang in the box (he was clearly outside), and Niang finished the PK himself. In the 69th minute karma caught up to L’OM and Niang when he had a goal (wrongly) disallowed for being offsides (he was clearly onsides). Perhaps demoralized, Marseille then endured a nightmare scenario. In the 76th minute, Amalfitano opened the scoring for Lorient with an incredible volley, and in the 84th minute Abriel drilled a shot into the goal from 25 yards. The 3 points were snatched by Lorient in the 88th minute when Gameiro was released on a quick counter-attack and made the most of his chance. Interestingly, for all of the pace of the match and contentiousness once the comeback began, there were a total of zero cards handed out to both clubs.

Sunday, November 16th:

Nice 2-1 Nantes - Nice dominated Nantes, getting off 18 shots and holding 63% of the possession, but it was Nantes who scored first when N’Daw sent a low free-kick into the net in the 8th minute. Nice equalized in the 20th minute when Bamogo headed home a Hellebuyck free-kick. Hellebuyck provided more pressure in the 50th minute when he sent another free-kick just wide. In the 80th minute Mouloungui received an early pass from Saada and sent the shot home. Nantes almost equalized near the end of the match when Bagayoko lobbed Nice GK Letizi, but the ball rolled agonizingly along the goal-line for several seconds before being cleared by the defense.

Rennes 2-1 Monaco - Monaco was completely outplayed in this match, with their only shot on goal coming on a PK. Rennes looked sharp early, with good play from Leroy to Briand to Sow in the 10th minute forcing a save from Monaco GK Roma. The ball rebounded to Kembo, but he was unable to capitalize. In the 32nd minute Fanni forced another save from Roma, which he tipped onto post. Rennes finally broke through in the 43rd minute when Briand sent an excellent pass to Sow, whose initial shot was saved. Sow gathered the rebound and lobbed Roma. The second goal came early in the second half when Rennes GK Douchez sent forward a long ball that was gathered by Briand for a clinical finish. Monaco pulled one goal back in the 72nd when Mangane fouled Park in the box and Cufre slotted home the PK. Freddy Adu watch: substituted into the match in the 69th minute, and looked comfortable in the final 20 minutes.

Lyon 2-1 Bordeaux - In a match where Bordeaux looked like they were bossing Lyon all over the pitch, it was the latter club who ended things with two goals in a 5-minute span. Bordeaux took 23 shots and had 65% of the possession, while Lyon were forced to commit 32 fouls due to the pace of their opponents. Early on it looked like Lyon would regret starting the 19 year-old Gassama over defensive stalwart Fabio Grosso. In the 11th minute, Lyon GK Lloris was called upon to make an excellent save on Wendel, and Boumsong managed to clear a shot from Chamakh off the line. Bordeaux GK Valverde made his first save in the 19th minute when Govou struck the ball well, and Lloris was active again minutes later when Gourcuff blasted a shot at the Lyon goal in the 23rd minute. In the 33rd minute, a brilliant 1-2 between Fred (who sent the pass through blindly) and Benzema resulted in the Ligue 1-leading 8th goal (he is tied with Gignac and Hoarau) for the latter. Just 5 minutes later, Kallstrom (given the starting nod over Makoun) had an absolute rocket deflected into the goal. Cavenaghi (who notched his 7th goal of the season) pulled one back for Bordeaux in the 81st minute, but it was not enough.

So, after Matchday 14, the top of the table looks like this: (1) Lyon, with 33 points on a 10-3-1 record and a +12 goal differential; (2) Marseille, with 26 points on a 7-5-2 record and a +11 goal differential; (3) Rennes, with 25 points on a 6-7-1 record and a +9 goal differential; and (4) Nice, with 25 points on a 7-4-3 record and a +5 goal differential.

Some new clubs burst into the Top 4, but Lyon look to be running away with Ligue 1 yet again with 7 point lead at the 1/3 point of the season.

Written by Darkvader on November 16th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Ligue 1 and Results and The NY Kid and le championnat.

Al Ahly Win 6th African Championship

Congratulations to Al Ahly, who won the 2008 African Champions League this morning, defeating Cameroon’s Coton Sport 4-2 on aggregate, drawing 2-2 in today’s match.

The victory gives Egypt’s Ahly their record 6th title, the most of any club in African continental football.

Leading 2-0 from the first leg in Cairo a fortnight ago – where goals from Wael Gomaa and Flavio separated the teams – Manuel Jose’s side were always favorites to win their third Champions League crown in four years. But Ahly weathered a persistent 2nd-half storm from Coton to hold on to the game.

The Egyptians dealt Coton’s slim hopes of a comeback a grievous blow in the 38th minute when, on the counter, Ahmed Hassan flicked home a goal with the outside of his right foot following a short-corner routine between Gilberto and Mohamed Aboutrika.

The Egyptian’s goal stunned Coton and hushed the previously boisterous and optimistic home crowd.

However, Coton drew level on the stroke of half time when Karim Abdoul fired in a low shot from just inside the penalty area after great work from striker Kamilou Daouda.

Just past the hour mark Baba Ousmaila capitalised on the utter dominance of Coton and made it 2-1, heading into an empty net after a great set piece from the hosts.

But Ousmaila and Daouda were guilty of spurning several great chances for Coton, who could have won the game by a landslide and pulled off an almost miraculous comeback had they been more composed in front of goal.

Al Ahly skipper Shady Mohamed sealed the title for his side in the final minute of injury time, scoring from the penalty spot to make it 2-2 after Andre Ndame had pushed over Mohamed Barakat.

The Egyptians will go on to represent Africa at the FIFA Club World Cup at the end of the year.

Congratulations, Al Ahly! Enjoy your championship!

Written by Darkvader on November 16th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on African Champions League and Al Ahly and Cameroon and Coton Sport and Egypt.

Arsene Wenger needs to put Arsenal first, not a players future

Arsene Wenger is the manager of Arsenal Football club and he needs to begin to put the future of Arsenal before any player.

I’ve heard him say many times before that he doesn’t want to make a signing because it puts the future of a player in that position at risk. Its time Mr Wenger changed that philosophy.

Le Boss has put a huge amount of faith and trust into this squad, and how he is being rewarded for doing so!

The squad is full of talent, that cannot be denied but for me there is something else this set of players are lacking.

Its a simple case of attitude. If these players can’t put in the effort for the less glamorous games then I suggest they fuck off. We supporters want to see commitment.

A squad could have all the talent in the world but it doesn’t mean a thing if the attitude is all wrong. We lack the correct attitude and Le Boss needs to rectify it.

The players are not repaying Wenger’s faith in them. It’s time to put the club first and not the players. Arsene, you’ve given them the chance and they are struggling. Do the right thing, for Arsenal’s sake.

Keep it Goonerish……………

Written by Wrighty7 on November 16th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Football-Player.

Monitor Market Manipulation, Not Mickey Mouse #

Football fans are not the bewildered hordes that the betting industry build in to their financial projections.
As Sky and Setanta subscriptions start to mimic the bear market, merchandise and ticket purchases pass their summit, betting turnover has ceased its relentless drive upwards.
Over the last few seasons, global betting liquidity on football betting markets has been showing an annual increase of around 22% year-on-year.
The increase on turnover this season is just 2%.
Although the gambling sector generally holds up well in a recession as they thrive on people’s desperation, if you are offering a compromised product, the punters will eventually start to spot the manipulations against their interest.

It is at this point that the corporate media rushes in to paper over the cracks.

The League Managers Association (LMA) quite logically threatened strike action this week. Managers were threatening to delay the kick offs in order to embarrass the match officials and the PGMOB, infuriate the broadcasters and to demonstrate to the fans that they too are not happy with the standard of the refereeing.

This is an entirely reasonable stance.
And yet the response from the mainstream media has been apoplectic.

Paul Wilson (The Guardian): “Referees should not have to explain themselves to the media after a game.”

Paul Jewell (Derby County manager): “The referees deserve respect but we can’t start respecting them if they get major decisions wrong that effect livelihoods.”

Paul Ince (Blackburn Rovers manager): “We’re trying to respect them [the referees] but they’ve got to start respecting us. It works both ways.”

David Lacey (The Guardian) in response to Ince: “Wrong: officials are not there to please managers.”

We agree.
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In the Mirror, Steve Bennett, one of this elite grouping of referees, claims that managers and players are like “ravenous animals smelling blood”.
Bennett continues “… heavy punishments will hopefully act as a deterrent and gradually eradicate these individuals from our game.”

Whose game, Mr Bennett?

Football does not belong to the bookmakers.
Football does not belong to the private markets where insiders trade inside information that results in match outcomes being pre-determined, whether the teams arrive on the pitch in time for Kick Off or not.
Football does not belong to the Select Group of the PGMOB.
Football does not belong to the hyper-owners who are responsible for much of the insider trading on matches.

Football belongs to you and me, normal people who have played and watched the sport since childhood and who are able to determine a rigged match despite the very best efforts of certain sections of the media.

The corporate media has focused on Joe Kinnear and his “Mickey Mouse” statement about Martin Atkinson rather than the serious points raised by the militant and radical actions of the LMA members.

The referees are asking for the very things that we at Football Is Fixed have been calling for over the last two years.

* Referee Talent Identification.
* Goal-line Technology.
* Video Technology.
* Proper implementation of Offside and Handball Rules.
* Confirmation of Technical Area Dismissal Rules.
* Goalkeeper Dismissal Rules.

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The referees and match officials are at the base of a giant pyramid of free marketry.
When betting turnover is virtually always at the hundreds of millions of pounds liquidity level pre-match, there are considerable fortunes to be made out of the correct outcome being achieved.
Everything must be done to ensure that the PGMOB officials do not become coerced or bribed into this rampant criminality.

Lets return to Fulham, a gambling outfit if ever there were one.
As we have publicised the mechanisms whereby certain individuals associated with the club are trading on a proprietary basis on match outcomes, so the perpetrators attempt to rejig their trading strategies to avoid detection.
This is futile.
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It works like this.
A dodgy insider Mr A controls the match. Mr A isn’t simply interested in three points or, for that matter, any other total of points. Mr A wants psychopathic control of the betting markets on the event.
At some point Mr A has to show his hand.
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But we are top tier Market Analysts.
To the fans, all they see is a match that somehow doesn’t feel quite right.
Anybody who watched Fulham v WBA, Fulham v Wigan, Fulham v Newcastle or Fulham v Tottenham will understand this feeling.

For example, the trail of insider gambling on yesterday’s Fulham match led all the way to our primary broker in Asia.

This midweek, there is an allegedly major International match between two war-mongering nations, one past and one past and present.
The outcome of this high profile Germany versus England game will be determined by the betting activities of certain individuals.
Much of this trading will take place through ##################################
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None of this trading is regulated.
None of the trading winnings are taxed.
This is a private underground market where the outcome of this flagship match will be known possibly days prior to the ball being first kicked in anger.

Not that you are likely to be hearing anything about such shenanigans in the media circus.

The likes of Lacey and Wilson prefer for you to focus on the DisneyWorld fairytales of ScudamoreWorld.

Unfortunately, the blocked out parts of the posts and all posts labelled # are available in full to subscribers only.
Our roster is now full for Football Is Fixed.
But, please enjoy the free snippets that we are posting on this site.

© Football Is Fixed/Dietrological

Written by Football Is Fixed on November 16th, 2008 with no comments.
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