The Beautiful Game Thread, 11/12

[toonarmy]

Newcastle has been crap and lost again today to West Brom. On the positive side, Ba continues to amaze, as he had 2 goals today. His goal on the free kick was awesome. Check it out around the 2:13 mark



They better bring in some defensive help or else this season is going to get worse before it gets better.

[pk500]

Newcastle's new theme song:



You're right, Toon: Krul needs help. The dude is one of the best keepers in the Premier League, and he's getting no help now that S. Taylor, R. Taylor and Guthrie are hurt. Shades of Shay Given a few years back.

[toonarmy]

Even when healthy, the Magpies defense was suspect IMO and was too reliant on Krul making great saves. The club needs to spend some money and bring in a couple solid defenders. Newcastle has one of the best goalies in the business and one of the best young strikers in Ba, so it is frustrating to see the potential of this team not realized due to a shoddy back four.

[davet010]

Liverpool and their fans rally to Suarez's defence...well their fans will as soon as they have finished robbing Crouch's house again.

[Macca00]

Even when healthy, the Magpies defense was suspect IMO and was too reliant on Krul making great saves. The club needs to spend some money and bring in a couple solid defenders. Newcastle has one of the best goalies in the business and one of the best young strikers in Ba, so it is frustrating to see the potential of this team not realized due to a shoddy back four.

Fat Mike needs to use some of the THIRTY FIVE MILLION F'ING POUNDS you got for flogging Lorenzo Lamas to us.

Demba Ba is amazing.

[toonarmy]

Even when healthy, the Magpies defense was suspect IMO and was too reliant on Krul making great saves. The club needs to spend some money and bring in a couple solid defenders. Newcastle has one of the best goalies in the business and one of the best young strikers in Ba, so it is frustrating to see the potential of this team not realized due to a shoddy back four.

Fat Mike needs to use some of the THIRTY FIVE MILLION F'ING POUNDS you got for flogging Lorenzo Lamas to us.

Demba Ba is amazing.

So true on both counts! I just hope we can keep Ba for a while. He has more than replaced Carroll.

[toonarmy]

Now this is some wild crap. Perhaps that idiot fan will think twice before running onto the field next time against AZ Alkmaar, lol. Alvarado gave him the business.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... pitch.html

Video:

[Macca00]

[toonarmy]

Ba with yet another goal today, as Newcastle beat Bolton 2-0. Thank goodness the boys won one for a change!

[RobVarak]

Season in a nutshell:

[EZSnappin]

Season in a nutshot:

[davet010]

In the words of one of the best football pundits, Gabriele Marcotti..

"The way his teams play, it's like he hates Football."

And having sat through parts of tonight's Stoke v Villa game, I can quite agree.

[RobVarak]

Congrats to the Magpies for somehow miraculously finishing today's tilt with 11 men on the pitch despite no less than two red card-worthy challenges. It really is your season.

[Jimmydeicide]

Impressed with Spearing and Gerrard today, Gerrard looked real sharp lets hope its good things to come.
Oh and the 2 center halves which have been brilliant all season.

Carroll needs to just work harder, if he did his job with the other parts of his game the scoring issue wouldnt be so bad but when you come deep for the ball make a 2 yard pass and just stand there not making an effort to get into the box, well your gonna get what you get from the English fans.

[Macca00]

Yakubu is the most popular man in Manchester today. Surrey...not so much.


About yesterday - agree with Jimmy, thought Spearing played well.

[RobVarak]

Wow, the FA really botched this Suarez thing. The full report:

http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/Disciplinary ... ssion.ashx

After bending over backwards to argue that the decision wasn't based principally on conflicting evidence, they then admit that basically there is little more than conflicting, uncorroborated evidence. They use the "expert testimony" to justify the severity of the ban, ignoring the fact that the testimony wasn't remotely probative regarding the only important factual dispute.

In essence, they said that Suarez wasn't a credible witness so they accepted Evra's account lock, stock and barrel. To double down on this shoddy fact finding by imposing such a harsh penalty says more about the FA and the "independent" commission than anything. They are clearly looking at outside factors, as in cases where a finder of fact has ruled on such heavily disputed evidence, penalties are usually lighter (or suspended altogether).

What a complete farce.

[Jimmydeicide]

Ill just take your trusted word Rob rather than read that. Thanks anyway

[JRod]

115 pages on that. Wow.

[Macca00]

115 pages because they're trying to make it appeal-proof but instead it turns out to be 115 pages of of hilarity. Some of the highlites are fantastic such as the FA relativising Spanish terms/phrases when Evra says them (i.e. he didn't actually mean Suarez's sister's c@nt, he was instead saying something to the effect of 'bloody hell') but not Suarez.

It is all supposition, no witnesses, no proof. Their findings are what they think 'probably happened'.

Whatever. It doesn`t matter. Liverpool will appeal and the FA will throw it out and give Suarez a 10-12 match ban. Meanwhile the media will print Evra's testimony (which was also inconsistent as he told the ref Suarez said one thing but told the panel he said something different - and THIS IS IN THE FA'S REPORT!) as fact and Suarez will be labelled a racist by the upstanding English media from here on in.

Meanwhile the same outlets post pictures of England's 'Brave' John Terry holding a black baby (not making that up, by the way - it was in the Daily Mail) when there's f***in VIDEO evidence of what he said not one person's word against his.


Blah.

[Macca00]

Thanks a lot Sunderland and thanks a lot to that idiot linesman - now Liverpool get to play a pissed off Man City team on Tuesday. Nice.

Nice finish by Ji though.

[Jimmydeicide]

Anyone watching the Liverpool city game live on xbox? Lets get on and start a party.

[10spro]

Anyone watching the Liverpool city game live on xbox? Lets get on and start a party.

I don't think Macca & Rob want to be part of that now.

[EZSnappin]

That game was a stinker as a neutral.

[RobVarak]

Fair play to City. Scoreline was oddly flattering, but their class told in the end. Downing taking his 1v1 with Hart would've changed the game, but in the end I'm not surprised. I'm beginning to wonder if Dirk Kuyt and Downing have a bet where the first to score must sharpen Danial Agger's shiv collection all summer.

Ref really had a howler for that 10 min stretch where he booked Barry twice (the second was a farce as Agger had already lost possession) and gave the penalty. But in the end LFC will never produce as long as they're doing nothing but lofting poor crosses in to a terribly isolated Carroll. Every team in the EPL has a CB who can handle him in the air, so unless you're getting him help in the 18 it's going to be a poor choice of tactics.

Apparently nobody read the Guardian on the trip to Manchester, as the always excellent Jonathon Wilson broke down their problems this very morning.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog ... -home-form

[Macca00]

Thought that was a Champions performance by City - just sat back let Liverpool sideways pass themselves to death and then City took their chances. Yaya was immense but I really wish we still had Lucas fit because I thought he absolutely shut him down earlier this season.

As for Liverpool....I haven't seen this much useless sideways passing since Jamie Redknapp was playing.