Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

How have Barca not scored yet?

I checked after 20 minutes, they had 75% possesion and 9 shots to Arsenals 1, away from home thats incredible. They're giving the gooners a masterclass in football.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

1-0 now.
On this form the cup is theirs to lose.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

2-0 now, they might as well give them the trophy, Messi has hardly been in the game and they're still walking it.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Kinda knew it would be a cause too far if Barcelona brought their A game.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Fair play to Arsenal getting back into it, but that was never a penalty.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

WOW! :D

Why couldn't Arsenal play like they did in the last 20mins all the way though!

---------- Post added at 21:39 ---------- Previous post was at 21:37 ----------

I don't think it's that clear, Puyol seemed block his leg? The ref was poor though, Fabagas shouldn't have got a yellow either.

---------- Post added at 21:48 ---------- Previous post was at 21:39 ----------

Yeah, That was a Pen.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

No, for me that was never a penalty, nearly as bad as Fletchers sending off last season.

At least this shows for all their dominance Barca can still throw games away, maybe it could happen in the final.

Hopefully Arsenal get an early goal in the second leg, that would make a great match.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

A breathtaking match, and one of the few which has actually lived up to the hype. I'm honestly amazed that we managed to draw, once Barcelona scored their second i thought we were in for a beating.

It was definitely a penalty and the ovation for Henry was great.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Yup agree with all of that. Really pleased Arsenal showed such spirit to come back!

---------- Post added at 22:11 ---------- Previous post was at 22:08 ----------

I not sure about the Red card but it was a penalty. The problem is the same as Vermaelen sending off against West Ham, he prevented a goal scoring opportunity though clumsiness but there was no intent.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Walcott made the difference, Barcelona didn't know what had hit them after he came on.
Well done Arsenal.

Although I have a feeling the final result will have a different ending in the next leg. :p:

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Just how good at Barca though! We couldn't cope in the first 20 mins (though somehow made it). They did us over, they did United over and those are not bad teams.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

If you needed another reason to want to see West Ham go down, here it is...

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,195...068339,00.html

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

I am going to lodge a complaint against West Ham for resting key players in the Arsenal game.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

not a pen for me and the reason it was given is why we see so much diving and cheating going on all the time. Fabregas pulled went for a shot and by some quirk of fate his leg was caught between both of Puyols. At np point whatsoever did Puyol kick out or try to impeed Fabregas in any way. He didn't even alter his run. At worse it was obstructio, which IIRC, is just in indirect free kick like a pass bass would be even in the box

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

I think this game in particular showed how easy the players in the Spanish league go down. The referee had an absolute stinker (and at least one linesman) one minute there would be a foul for nothing, then when it should of been it wasn`t.

Barcelona were awesome at the start but IMO Arsenal made them look so good by playing right into there hands. Most of the times iv`e seen Barcelona struggle is when you let them have the ball up to a point then counter them. Just flying at them allows them to play it back then utilize the full-backs who are constantly bombing down the wings. This is also why i think Walcott had a big impact on the game as he stoped Maxwell going forward as much.

As for the second leg, reckon Barcelona will crush Arsenal...

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Hopefully the way Arsenal played in the last 20 minutes will carry over to the next leg, it's obviously going to be a long shot, but coming back from 2 - 0 down should give them confidence as would the way they managed to get possession back in those last 20.

The first 20 mins were horrible though. It looked like we would be crushed, we hardly got out of our half, it was complete domination.

---------- Post added at 17:04 ---------- Previous post was at 17:02 ----------

Fabagas is out for the reason of the season though. Gutted. Gallas as well and Arshavin for 3 weeks. Stupid Injuries.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

This gives further proof that he kicked Puyol, not the other way round and that it was never a penalty let alone a red card. Wenger may have just eneded Arsenals season through his team selection last night.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

He went for the ball, Puyol legs got tangled with Fabagas. Exact same as the penalty West Ham had at Arsenal. Penalty as it unfairly stopped Fabagas from wacking the ball, not a red card because it was unintentional. Same as both cases. You can't argue it wasn't a goal scoring chance because Fabagas was unmarked right next to goal. Puyol was on the wrong side of him.

Fabagas wanted to play, and he wouldn't come off after the Injury. He is pretty obsessed with playing at the moment. Hopefully he isn't trying to put in one last shift before leaving though.

As for the season. Well, we're not playing any of the big four in the league. We managed against Porto fine, We have been without him for a lot this season as well (Including our good performance against United at the start of the season). Nasri plays well in that position. Walcott will start a lot. So will Eboue. It's upfront and at the back where Arsenal lack depth, midfield isn't so bad. Gallas injury may be worse but Campbell has done ok and Song can play there so.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

And another vintage performance from that useless pile of horse manure Berbatov. That idiot couldn't score with an open goal from 2 feet out.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Fixed that for you Russ :)

Think Man U are seriously going to miss what Rooney gives them.

Good result for Man City, although i was a bit nervy about it being called off, Brian Laws sure wanted the match abandoned :rolleyes:

It ended up like one gigantic muddy puddle, heaven help whoever plays there next!

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Burnley are awful, easily going down. It's why I don't think West Ham have a snowball in hells chance of going down because they should win more points than Hull easily.

Arsenal left it late, again, I am liking the spirt and grit they lacked in other seasons but can we please go back to hammering teams like there is no tomorrow please. 7 - 0 to the Arsenal at Spurs will do me nicely thank you.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Absolutely. Donkey is a waste of time and space, even more he's a liability. You think there's 11 men on the field when his utter ineffectiveness in front of goal makes him totally redundant.

Surely SAF's patience has run out with him, he'll go down in history as Fergie's worst ever signing. Bomb him out this summer PLEASE....

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

My 7th time at Old Trafford and have yet to see Man Utd win :) although usually they have been draws. Man Utd were absolutely shocking today.

Any Chelsea/Arsenal supporters want me to attend on your behalf (sorry tickets and expenses required).

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

United lost?!

Why am I not surprised at our team's reliability on Rooney. We need another 2 strikers and a decent midfielder, otherwise with a couple of injuries we become lacklustre.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

They did - I don't support Man Utd :D or Chelsea :confused:

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

I will say this again, and again the officals are poor in the PL, the game yesterday with Man Utd and Chelsea should have been a draw the winning goal by Drogba was well offside, anyone could see that.

It is about time the officials took a long hard look at themself and admit there mistakes, and go back to training school and learn about the laws of football.
Like the game Sunderland V Spurs, Bent should have been booked for crowd encitement, when he went to the Spurs fans each time he scored.

The biggest trouble these days is that the officials are poor compared to the officials of Clive Thomas days, He was asked to do a Leeds game, via the Tv and he said, the game lacked authority from the officials, and that is what is needed today, more consistency from them.:mad:

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Yes, Bad Decision. However United's goal shouldn't have stood either. So the result was ultimately fair.

It wasn't really incitement...
Much easier to get the correct decision when you have the benefit of TV Cameras and slow motion replays.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

From today's Brum vs Liverpool match, this is quite funny: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTbN1ksDTds

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

It really does look like he is prioritising the UEFA cup of all things over the Champions League spot!? Either that or it was a gamble that didn't pay off.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

For those of you that missed the superb Chris Kamara reporting on the sending off at Portsmouth:-

Enjoy This :D

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Alex Dimitri Song Billong is out of tomorrow's Barcelona match.

No Arshavin, Fabregas, Van Persie or Gallas either. My hopes were low already, now i'll be surprised if we don't get humiliated.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Really does suck. Persie has been out all season, not great to be missing your top strikers but there you go. Then Fabagas has been off and on all season. Just make to make do. But Gallas, Arshavin and Now Song. 5 first team players missing ffs.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Congratulations to Newcastle on their immediate return to the Premier League.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Wonder if SAF will finally admit that saying the squad was strong enough without Ronnie and that a new striker was not needed was a big mistake? Rooney on his own is not enough. I knew he'd get injured at some point and this is what happens. Get rid of that useless liability Donkey and bring in a proven and reliable striker.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Who though? United spent £30 million on the transfer fee alone for Berbatov, heaven knows how much that came too once you factor in the total price of his contract + bonuses. When you consider United made £40 million profit including the sale of Ronaldo for £80 million then it's clear SAF needs to operate on more restrictive financial terms than he, or United fans, are used too.

They don't have a rich owner to pay out for a established world class striker, and those owners of Real Madrid, City and Chelsea have artificially pushed up the asking price of those kinds of players.

So United will need too find a cheaper player. Easier said than done.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

I've felt all season the squad has been poorer than last year and the main problem we have had is that squad players who only played against Wigan and Burnley now need to play 30 plus games.

The back four is solid and so is Rooney apart from that there are very few in the team at the world class never we need. Fletcher has really improved and had a great season but everyone else just seems to plod along at the same level.

Evans, Park, Nani and Valencia are all just squad players who run around and don't put in the effort of an Evra, Vidic or Rooney. Add in an ageing Giggs, Scholes and a rubbish keeper and I am amazed we are second in the league.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

I think Nani is underrated. In the Fulham game he and Berbatov where controlling the game and influencing it far more than Rooney who did ultimately get the goals.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

still not a fan of Nani. He's had three years to show he's a proper winger and failed. Ok he does the odd cross and beats a player now and again but he still can't do it every time he plays and is happy to trot about not doing a lot far too often. He still seems to be missing the effort needed to beat players time after time in a game and i'm amazed he got a 4 year contract, especiall after Fergie tried to offload him in the past

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

A new keeper is certainly needed as well as a decent striker. If they still feel donkey should see out his contract then dump him in to a central attacking midfield role so he can't be a complete let-down. We can't keep relying on Giggs and Scoles anymore. To be honest getting rid of the yanks will be a big step in the right direction. Give us someone who can invest in the team properly.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

I also think you have quite a good keeper. Goalkeeper is probably the hardest position to find as well.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Aye it's great news and we deserved it but I am really going to miss the championship :(

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

well i've stated my feelings on VDS before. Playing in front of a world class defence and not having to make many saves he is ok. Did he really look world class at Fulham ?

He never speaks to the defence, has poor command of the 6 yard box, punches and flaps at the ball all the time and after most of his saves the ball is still in the danger zone

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Remember I am an Arsenal fan and our keeper is not very good. Despite his great performance in the first half of the Barca game.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

So who are the top 3 premiership keepers?

I`d say

1. Shay Given
2. Petr Cech
3. Pepe Reina/Brad Friedel

Best young keeper Joe Hart...

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

I would agree with that. Although I find it impossible to put them in any order, Keepers are very much dependent of form. At the start of the season Given was amazing and Cech had 'lost it'. Now Cech is probably the best. It changes a lot.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Talking worldwide, I'd be happy with Buffon or Lloris, not sure if they'd be persuaded to come to Old Trafford though.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

I want Arsenal to buy Lioris, already a world class keeper and young! He is many, many years off his peak :D

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

What's the score going to be tonight Damien ?

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

No idea ;)

---------- Post added at 20:16 ---------- Previous post was at 20:14 ----------

This ref is terrible.

---------- Post added at 20:33 ---------- Previous post was at 20:16 ----------

What can you do against Messi :(

---------- Post added at 21:35 ---------- Previous post was at 20:33 ----------

What can you say, Masterclass from Barca..Well Messi :D. This is the way I want Arsenal to go out of the Champions League, to a team where I can only smile when the final blow is administered.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

My feeling too. It was pretty much Messi 4 - Arsenal 1. Not much you can do. UEFA might as well engrave that trophy straightaway ;)

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Yup:

2008 - Manchester United
2009 - Barcelona
2010 - Lionel Messi :D

It is unfair on Barcelona though who are amazing throughout the squad. Though. It's an amazing team with an even more amazing player. When you consider the quality in that team, for Messi to stand out the way he does is even more amazing.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

I didn't see the game, but i pretty much expected something along those lines. Bad luck Arsenal :(

I'm so excited though, i'm off to see Messi for real at the end of the month (got tickets to a Barca home game whilst there).

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

So, what bets on Barcelona retaining ol' big ears? Or can the mighty United stop them in their wake?

Hardly. Toothless without Rooney we are.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Well they need to get to the Semis first. I don't see United doing it, This team are better than the ones who outplayed them last season and United are worst. Although in one game anything can happen!

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Messi could get injured and what with Rooney back after a break you never know!

Plus the final being at The Bernabeu could have an influence........who am i kidding in that form Barcelona would tatter anyone :p:

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

not seen the game but the reports I heard on TV said it wasn't Barca in great form but one player and the rest of the team didn't really do a lot.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Well without Messi it would have been closer but the whole team were great! It just speaks volumes that Messi was so good he made excellent players look ordinary!

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

I think a lot of that was to do with them not having Puyol and Pique in the centre of defence. From watching Barcelona those two seem to have a big influence in the play, the way they spread across the back and feed the full-backs is superb.
We didn`t see this anywhere near as much last night as in the first leg, and Barca where trying to play through the centre. Whether this contributed to Messi seeing a lot more of the ball in dangerous positions i don`t know, some of the touches the guy makes though are frightening.

When he chipped the ball over Allmumia, from where i was sat in the pub it looked like as he wen`t by he gave him a cheeky pinch on the cheek, as if to say "i did you with that mate :p:"
I know he didn`t, would have been funny if had :)

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Indeed. As per Opta Sports stats:

Xavi made 244 passes over the 2 legs, with an accuracy of 93.3%. Those 229 successful passes was more than Diaby, Denilson, Nasri and Fabregas combined (203).

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Grrr. Although United will get though I am getting sick of the "United are the last team left in Europe" line the press is peddling. They are only so because their game is a day after!

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

I don't have a good feeling about tonight. I can see bayern scoring which will mean we have to score 3. Even though rooneys starting I don't think it will happen.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Can you post before every game ;)

---------- Post added at 20:32 ---------- Previous post was at 20:27 ----------

ah bollox

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

It's a Football fans duty to worry about their team :)

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

It's all cool so far, they need to score 2 clear goals for us to lose.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Well No. They need one more goal to go though. As long as they are 1 goal behind United they will now go though on away goals.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Hang on I think I've misunderstood this (think my painkillers have kicked in...). I thought United's away goal will see them through if the match aggregate ends up 4-4 or similar?

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

If the aggregate is 4-4 Bayern will have 2 away goals. Man U just the one.

Get some sleep or something :)

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

And United go out. No English teams in the Semi-Finals. Kind of a shock if you ask me, I thought United had an easy path to the final and to be honest they should have done so. They are a better team than Bayern by quite a way.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

How many more losses do we need to go through before SAF admits he was wrong to not strengthen the squad?

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

He didn't really have the money. The Glazers are too busy hording it all.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Putting aside my Arsenal allegiance for a moment; good. The arrogance and hyperbole surrounding the Premier League over the last few years has been sickening.

I'll be happy seeing any of the remaining teams win, but order of preference would be Lyon, Inter, Bayern, Barcelona. Basically, in order of longest time since last Champions League trophy.

Oh, and Arsenal need Chamakh and Llrois immediately.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

I really want Loris, not to keen on Chamakh.

I want Barcelona to win, they are just too good not too.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Actually, i'd prefer Edin Dzeko to Chamakh, but the latter will be available on a free and Dzeko would likely cost at least 15 million.

The downside to no more English teams is the inevitable and incessant mentioning of it from now on.

A note to ITV's dimwitted commentators; this isn't revenge for "that night in Barcelona", they already knocked out Man United on their way to winning the trophy 2 years later.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Yes they are pretty dim :D

There is still quite a bit of Xenophobia in the British Sporting Press, you look at the way Bentiez (a.k.a The Fat Spanish Waiter) has been treated this season, or the contrast between the way Sir Alex Ferguson's and Wenger's rants at officials are covered, and you'll see what I mean. Meanwhile English managers get a much easier time.

O'Neill would be in for at least a little more security over this inability for his team to progress despite the investment and their 7-1 trashing by Chelsea if he came from mainland Europe.

That's why they are covering this as a tragedy. Arsenal got drawn against the best team in Europe. Inter Milan are good and United were unlucky. It's a freak occurrence and not indicative of British teams.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

It's not SAF Russ, it is the American owners.

I read somewhere today that United have £100 million in the bank available for new players, that is quite small if you take away the £80 million United received for Ronaldo.

I also read somewhere that the Glazers dip into United's "pot" fairly regularly to boost their income, so maybe SAF can't touch it.
At some point when United struggle to win anything (like tonight), and money becomes less available to the Glazers, they may consider selling. (Hooray, then we can start again maybe)

The rot will set in when Fergie steps down or retires, some players will certainly leave, success & gates will diminish, etc etc.

I believe that at the moment SAF & Gill are just puppets for the Glazers, and are more or less told what to say about anything to do with the club. Gill would certainly be sacked if he stepped out of line, I am not sure what they would do if SAF did the same.

I have been urged to sign up for this http://action.joinmust.org/index.php/content/splash which I did, but I am not sure that collecting 150,000 email addresses would do the club any good, but we will see.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

I remember something about £20m per window floating about so Fergie would have had £100m to spend. Problem was, clubs saw we had just got £80m for one player and so prices for any decent player jumped up - quick example was Bayern slapping £60m+ on Ribery's head. We know Fergie isn't like Wenger in terms of spending large amounts of money but he does refuse to pay inflated prices for players.

You go on about the potential of Fergie being a puppet but he doesn't seem the kind of manager who would take it, and let's face it, if he wasn't happy with the way things were going, announcing his retirement at the end of X season wouldn't be a total shock considering his age, how long he's been the manager and what he's done so I doubt the Glazers would have much ammo to try and stop him leaving.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

I was quite surprised at how much the game changed when Rooney got injured. I`m not saying Man U are a one man team, they have players like Evra, Vidic, Fletcher, etc who would walk into most teams but it looked like the whole team/stadium was more concerned about how Rooney was than finding a way through it.
Then for Bayern to score when they did, which i still can`t understand, why was it Carrick who was challenging him not Ferdinand or Vidic plus not great keeping from Van de Saar.

Still an absolute belter of finish from Robben, a worthy winner to any game, but in reality United should have allready had the game sewn up. Nani looks like a world beater at times, but at others he looks average, these guys are meant to be super fit footballers and should be able to last 90 minutes without having dizzy spells.

Hopefully this will keep our old friends Platini and Blatter quiet for a bit!

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

SSN: Manchester United have agreed a deal to sign Mexican striker Javier Hernandez from Chivas for an Undisclosed fee

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Barcelona have beaten Madrid 2 - 0, probably meaning they will win La Liga again this year.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

:rofl:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...ps/8609777.stm

An excellent season all round for celtic, splashing out huge amounts on a manager who didn't last the season, a hugely expensive loan deal for a 4th choice striker that only seems to score from the penalty spot and a distinct possibility of not even finishing 2nd in the league. :D

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Two aggro chants from me, For the last couple of years Celtic have been poor in the SPL and Europe, and a total shock that they got beaten by a team, that should have been slaughtered. In the FA Cup John Terry should have had a straight red for that ugly tackle, but there again Referees have been very poor in the league, and that is why Chelsea win go onto win the Cup - by cheating, and conning the ref.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Congratulations Chelsea, the title's yours. We'll get Donkey to hand it over this week. After all, the way the useless sack of horse manure plays he's been doing that all season.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

So gutted Villa didn't win they deserved it after the awful refree

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Amazing. Wonderfully Amazing. Portsmouth are going to the FA Cup Final! After their horrible season they have managed to get themselves to the final, finishing 20th in the league. Brushing close to ceasing to exist. They are in the FA Cup final.

Amazing. Well done to Avaram Grant, their fans, and the players which remain.

Wow. Football eh?

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

:clap:

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

In the very unlikely event that Portsmouth win the FA Cup, that'll mean for the whole of next season the Cup holders will be a second-tier side.

Anyone have any ideas when that last happened?

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

I don't know but I do wonder if this means Portsmouth get a UEFA cup spot? Don't the winners get a place and if they are already in the final to goes to the runners up?

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

i thought that too - its a strange one isn't it, but good on them! :D

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Being a Spurs fan, I want Pompey to beat Chelsea.

How may Pompey players will play for free to play in a FA Cup final?

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Portsmouth didn't register for European football in time so they cannot play in Europe next season.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Pompey won't get one for 2 reasons:

1. They're not registered for europe so can't get a place even if they win the FA Cup.
2. The rules were changed a few seasons ago - only the winners of the cups can have the place otherwise its the league position.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

You can bet your life that most of the cup final team will play no more PL games before the final.

They are making the FA look like a sick joke with a team in admin in their flagship final.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Well, I hope that this isn't true, as it seems...wrong...

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

They could wave their bonuses if they want to play.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Alan Wiley + Wembley = absolute disgrace.

Is any of it going to change? No. Players at Wembley will continue slipping over or getting cramp and Wiley will continue to make disgraceful descisions.

Its enough to make me a fan of cricket, it really is.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

...and what about Steve Finnan? What should he do?

What about their fans? Not using players because they are not playing well is one thing, but not using them because they will receive a bonus or an extension to their contract is harming the team selection and possibly stopping Pompey putting out their best possible team.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Oh I'm sure there will be all sorts of excuses trotted out as to why players can't play in PL fixtures..... but miraculously they will be available for a cup final. ;)

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Being a disapointed Villa fan I am wondering if seventh would now quallify for Europe...

[Looking for positives :) ]

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Don't quote me on this, but as far as i'm aware, it will.

5th - Standard Europa League place.
6th - League Cup as Man United will be in the CL.
7th - FA Cup as Chelsea will be in the CL and Pompey don't have a UEFA license to play in Europe next season.

Then there's possibly a fair play table place. Currently Arsenal are leading, Tottenham are 2nd, and Fulham are 3rd. The first 2 will almost certainly be in Europe anyway, so Fulham would qualify that way. Unless Fulham win the Europa League then........................Burnley are the next highest club who haven't already qualified for Europe.

To be honest though, why would a Villa fan care about qualifying for the Europa League? Your manager doesn't care about the competition and puts out weakened teams in order to concentrate on the league. 7th spot would be wasted on Villa.

Re: Football : Season 2009/2010
 

Totally agree and some would say that fourth spot was always out of reach.

However, two good (and exciting) cup runs (Reading and Crystal Palace to name two games) and every possibility of improving on last seasons 62 points (9 from the last 18 available?).

The problem being is that the squad seems to get to around mid March and then fizzles out.

It's going to be interesting to see how the summer pans out.