World Cup and European leagues

[Hoosier Titan]

So I'm guessing if your a manager who's say...struggling a little bit and you need a good deep run in the FA Cup to appease the masses.......the last thing you want to see is a road trip to Man Utd on the schedule in the 3rd round.

No sympathy for that manager from this quarter.  He is where he is through his own efforts and managerial skill.

The FA Cup holds little chance for appeasement, especially as long as the tactics employed leave the side vulnerable to, say, a draw with League Two bottom-dwellers Northampton.  Man U or no Man U, there's very little joy in Hodgson's style of football.

[Hoosier Titan]

Another take on Roy Hodgson's tenure at Liverpool so far:

http://invinciblebastion.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/to-lie-or-not-to-lie/

The only change I would make would be to eliminate the word "likable" from the last paragraph.

[sac]

The world gets Qatar.  The USA gets Air Qatar.

This is a victory for diversity.  This will be the first World Cup to be hosted in the Middle East and in a Islamic country!

Ralph, I sort of agree.  BUT ... if a Qatari visited Texas in June, they'd wear a jacket!

Unless Qatar really can air condition outdoor stadia with no roofs, there WILL be deaths (either players or spectators).

And the stadia will be built by laborers without the benefit of air-conditioning.

...and those laborers will likely come from other countries.

[Hoosier Titan]

The world gets Qatar.  The USA gets Air Qatar.

This is a victory for diversity.  This will be the first World Cup to be hosted in the Middle East and in a Islamic country!

Ralph, I sort of agree.  BUT ... if a Qatari visited Texas in June, they'd wear a jacket!

Unless Qatar really can air condition outdoor stadia with no roofs, there WILL be deaths (either players or spectators).

And the stadia will be built by laborers without the benefit of air-conditioning.

...and those laborers will likely come from other countries.

From a poster on The Tomkins Times who lives in Qatar:

"What Qatar may not be prepared for is the media coverage – remember that report on worker's conditions in Dubai – its exactly the same in Qatar. Population may be 1.7 m but nearly half of that are from abroad and not Qatari.

There is a huge Asian population in Qatar from India, Nepal, Phllipines etc and these are going to be the ones building these stadia, and in the blistering heat too. They wont be air conditioned when they are building them. I think there are going to be some high profile reporting on Qatar in the next 12 years which they are going to have to deal with – and that could be a good thing for Qatar."

[Hoosier Titan]

"Mayor of London Boris Johnson cancels Fifa hotel stay".  Go Boris! 

Is Sepp Blatter scheduled to visit the US any time soon?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-11921692

[Mr. Ypsi]

"Mayor of London Boris Johnson cancels Fifa hotel stay".  Go Boris! 

Is Sepp Blatter scheduled to visit the US any time soon?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-11921692

Now can David Cameron rescind their visas to even ENTER GB for the Olympics?!

[Hoosier Titan]

Now that the owners of the Boston Red Sox own Liverpool Football Club, a Red Sox blog site has put forth this primer on LFC and the EPL.  It's well done.  The rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone is first rate!

I especially like the comments on end-of-season playoffs. 

http://redsoxbeacon.com/2010/12/liverpool-fc-get-on-board/

[sac]

Here's a version of You'll Never Walk Alone from the Last night of the Proms.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sda3Dbu1AE4&feature=related

Song starts at 4:20

[sac]

I've finally caught up to last weeks midweek games on my packed DVR.  Some good stuff from England.  I'm really enjoying watching Tottenham play, Gareth Bale and VanderVaart are joys to watch.  Actually I've really enjoyed most of the games, very few completely boring games.....Blackpool is pretty remarkable.

FoxSoccer is airing FA Cup games this weekend, including the Liverpool/ManU match early Sunday morning (7:30 I think, but don't take that to heart)



lose to Wolves?  Seriously, what does a guy have to do to get canned.

[ScotsFan]

I've finally caught up to last weeks midweek games on my packed DVR.  Some good stuff from England.  I'm really enjoying watching Tottenham play, Gareth Bale and VanderVaart are joys to watch.  Actually I've really enjoyed most of the games, very few completely boring games.....Blackpool is pretty remarkable.

FoxSoccer is airing FA Cup games this weekend, including the Liverpool/ManU match early Sunday morning (7:30 I think, but don't take that to heart)

Thanks for the heads up on the FA Cup matches this weekend.  I will have to set up my DVR!

As for the Totties, have you heard the rumors of Beckham joining Spurs on loan from the Galaxy?  That would be sweet to see Becks back in the EPL! And it would be a nice pickup for Spurs as well!

[Hoosier Titan]

lose to Wolves?  Seriously, what does a guy have to do to get canned.

Lose to Blackburn maybe? 

Pretty please???

[ScotsFan]

lose to Wolves?  Seriously, what does a guy have to do to get canned.

You watch, Liverpool will probably come out and beat United this weekend at Old Trafford in the FA Cup... 

Also, I think the same question is now being asked about Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea after their 1-0 loss to Wolves yesterday! 

I can't believe how the tables have turned in the matter of a few weeks!  The Blues looked absolutely unstoppable in the first two months of the season and looked to make it a runaway.  Now, they are 9 points adrift of ManU after winning just 2 of their last 11 league matches and they have fallen to 5th in the table!    And to make matters worse for Chelsea, ManU still has a game in hand on them!

ManU appears to be the ones on the verge of making the race a runaway now.  Yes, City is only 2 points behind, but ManU has TWO games in hand on City.  Arsenal is also now 4 points down and ManU has a game in hand on them as well.  Things are looking pretty good for the Red Devils right now. 

[Hoosier Titan]

lose to Wolves?  Seriously, what does a guy have to do to get canned.

You watch, Liverpool will probably come out and beat United this weekend at Old Trafford in the FA Cup... 

I'm away on a trip this weekend, but the Tivo is on.  If that happens, I'll be watching five days later. 

Can't believe Hodgson still hasn't been sacked after losing to Blackburn (after losing to Wolves).  Must be some shenanigans with the lawyers. 

[ScotsFan]

I'm away on a trip this weekend, but the Tivo is on.  If that happens, I'll be watching five days later.

Can't believe Hodgson still hasn't been sacked after losing to Blackburn (after losing to Wolves).  Must be some shenanigans with the lawyers. 

Well, I have been neglecting to check in on this friendly little corner of the D3 forums due to a little coaching search up in Ann Arbor that has been keeping me preoccupied on other forums...   

Hoosier, when you return, I'm sure you will have lots to share on the whole Hodgson sacking.  I actually didn't even hear about it until I turned on the match this morning?!  Kenny Dalglish seems to me to be a good choice.  His boys played a pretty inspired match today despite being put behind the proverbial 8 ball not once but twice before the match even really got going.  Not that I'm complaining mind you, but the PK that Berbatov was awarded was questionable at best.  And I wasn't sure if Gerrard's foul warranted red, but if you go by the letter of the law, he did go in with both boots and it was pretty reckless.

But given the circumstances, I thought it could be argued that the Reds played one of their better matches of the season even in a losing effort. 

[Hoosier Titan]

Hoosier, when you return, I'm sure you will have lots to share on the whole Hodgson sacking.  I actually didn't even hear about it until I turned on the match this morning?!  Kenny Dalglish seems to me to be a good choice.  His boys played a pretty inspired match today despite being put behind the proverbial 8 ball not once but twice before the match even really got going.  Not that I'm complaining mind you, but the PK that Berbatov was awarded was questionable at best.  And I wasn't sure if Gerrard's foul warranted red, but if you go by the letter of the law, he did go in with both boots and it was pretty reckless.

But given the circumstances, I thought it could be argued that the Reds played one of their better matches of the season even in a losing effort. 

That's what I heard from all my Red friends.  After sleeping with the phone next to the bed so I could check Twitter whenever I got up, I almost missed the news right before takeoff on Saturday.  King Kenny was the only choice.

I heard that Stevie G's red was maybe not fully warrented, but stupid nonetheless.  And the current joke about the penalty is "Howard Webb MBE" stands for "Howard Webb--Manchester's Best Employee"!  After all, what color card did Nigel de Jong see from Webb after putting his cleats into Xabi Alonso's chest (and nearly his neck) at the World Cup?  (Answer:  no card at all).

The season can only go up from here.