Meanwhile west ham have won again. can someone please wake me up once normal transmission has resumed. On the other hand, please don't

**spills cold water on face** there ya go

Yeah, oh well, although losing to Chelsea was hardly unexpected. Still, the fact we could finish this season in the top half is all I could realistically ask for. Actually prefer it if we finish just below the Europa qualification spots.

^^ didn't know the prem still played this weekend!

did any of you guys see the barcelona / psg game from the last CL round? i finally got to it.

it wasn't exactly a display of tactical fireworks, but seeing goals from everyone you would expect was nice. neymar's shot, particularly-- beautiful.

Didn't catch the PSG/Barca game but yeah, there's loads of football over the christmas period in England. Full league fixtures on Boxing Day, today/tomorrow, and on New Years Day.

is because its meaningless competition that will take away energy from next year's domestic campaign?

still i thought west ham played pretty well against chelsea. hit the post there at the end. I was certainly pulling for them!

i had visitors the past couple of days and missed out!

i'll keep an eye out. any games coming up you'd recommend?

It's such a drain on resources. Teams with bigger squads can handle it but smaller ones like West Ham can't afford to split their interests. And yeah, they were a bit unlucky against Chelsea, and yesterday against Arsenal, but realistically those aren't the games that will define our season. It's more important that we keep on beating the teams at our level than stealing upsets against the more heavyweight sides.


In terms of New Years Day, nothing really leaps out. Arsenal v Southampton could be interesting but nothing to get that excited about. You'll have to wait till 31st Jan for the next really unmissable game, when Chelsea play Man City.

man city now in 2nd place and have been getting better lately, haven't they? (judging by the CL, they have).

if so then-- what is this "burnley" i see they just tied with? :eek:

Man City were building up some momentum and capitalising on a few slips by Chelsea but, in true Prem style, they were sucker-punched by no-hopers Burnley. Still think the title is a straight fight between them, with MU and Arsenal being the other CL qualifiers. But besides the actual title race, and the regular upsets, this could end up being a fairly predictable season. No big names falling into the relegation zone and the usual suspects gravitating to the top places. Interesting enough from week to week but I get the feeling the big picture will end up being business as usual.

Crazy that Dortmund are still in crisis. I really thought they'd turn it around by now. All the reviews are saying they're getting plenty of shots off but no goals. Lots of statos scratching their heads. You could compare their situation with Liverpool's. They lose a couple of key players and they're struggling in the league but even they're not that bad. Even with Balotelli on board. Dortmund's decline might end up being the football equivalent of a crop circle. Everyone has a theory but none of them really add up.

Yay! Geek time!

http://www.theguardian.com/football/...shion-football

bundesliga played their last match on the season around the 20th if i recall and won't meet again until the last days january so they will be encased in amber in crisis mode for a bit of a spell. dont know what will happen during the transfer window. good news is that reus is due back after the winter break and with proper medical care so will most everyone else--it's not just the key players but everyone else who was meant to replace them.

i think it boils down to the fact that besides injuries their target men have been such failures. i'd recommend an exorcism. don't know what else could work.



many many many thank yous. since zonalmarking sold his soul to the gambling industry i've been utterly deprived.

Oh is that where he buggered off too? Fair play for making something that was essentially a hobby, but the gambling world? Lame.

While there are no games that leap out at me as having the potential to be classic game of football, I can't believe that you're coming close to marking the FA Cup 3rd round down as missable - just for tradition's sake, Yeovil v Man U and AFC Wimbledon v Liverpool have to go down as unmissable events in English football! And who wouldn't love to see Crystal Palace knocked out by Dover, or West Brom by Gateshead?

Wow, is that true? I know he writes for The Guardian sometimes but nothing about gambling. Maybe he gives odds on whether managers will play certain formations.

You're right, but I was assuming el symbols was more interested in key games between the big clubs.

Meanwhile, the mystery of all mysteries: Pardew to Palace?

And probably on some ludicrous 16 year contract this time.

I can understand him wanting out of Newcastle but Palace??

probably a good assumption-- wanna see an epic battle. but if the fa cup has mighty battles too then why not.



zonalmarking is just a bunch of tweets these days but here's where you'll find his long form writing--and he's quite prolific

https://betting.betfair.com/authors/michael-cox/

I suspect he has some romantic notion of going back there and saving the team in a wave of glory. Kind of like what Warnock wanted and failed. How the fans must be wishing for the days of Tony Pulis again.

finally finished watching the atm/juve recording from the last CL round. really fun game but no goals.

Problem is it throws up the odd amazing battle but it's impossible to predict which ones they'll be. Although if you want to watch a game from that round just to imagine H8Kurdt and myself squirming for 90 minutes, Everton v West Ham might be fun. Should actually be quite an interesting game, too. Two very contrasting styles/managers. 1 up to Everton so far this season.


Sure, but as a career move it's not gonna help him. He'll probably have even less of a budget there than he had under Ashley. What can he really do with Palace? Keep them up? Pulis left cos of their lack of ambition and Pardew's an ambitious manager. It just doesn't add up. Don't like him but I do rate him, and wouldn't mind if he came back to West Ham once we're in the Olympic Stadium. So long as he keeps his mouth shut, his head away from other players heads and his cock away from their wives ... allegedly.

oh, hell yeah! i'll look it up...

Well a lot has changed since Everton beat West Ham last time. :(




I totally agree that it's an odd move especially for his career. Especially as you've already said it#s a harder team in terms of budget etc to manage. Personally I've never been a big fan of him and tbh I can't see why you'd want him back at West Ham. You might as well be asking for Steve Bruce whilst you're at it.



It could actually be a good game, albeit incredibly frustrating. More for Everton fans I suspect.

There's obviously no reason to look for a replacement for Allardyce right now, but I can't see him being a long term appointment. The moment things start to go wrong the fans will be straight on him again. Right now they're shutting up because the results are good but deep down he's still not liked by a large bulk of the supporters. Most fans have good memories of the Pardew era and I do think he's a very good manager - definitely better than someone like Bruce. Not saying we should bring him back (I tend not to like bringing managers back after they've gone) but I wouldn't be too upset if we did. Although lots of rumours we're going in for Moyes next season.

Either way, some managers will never gel with a club, no matter how well they do. Pardew never gelled with Newcastle fans just as Allardyce has never really gelled with West Ham's. (Or Newcastle's, for that matter.)

A quote from a member of a West Ham board I post on ...

"I don't like him, If I had excruciatingly painful diarrhoea, was touching cloth and stood next to a toilet I would still waddle across the road to shit on Allardyce."

More interestingly, how are you starting to feel about Martinez now? You're beginning to show worrying similarities with his Wigan side: nice to watch going forward but flimsy as fuck at the back. Any credibility to rumours the board are lining up a certain exEngland manager to replace him?

Bit harsh!


Ramble warning

Whilst it sucks, and I mean really sucks to see this I'm refusing to get hysterical about it. A friend of mine who is also an Everton fan is saying he should be sacked etc. I don't believe he should. This is why I refuse to go onto my Everton forum at the moment cos it'll be that x10.

Firstly, people who should know better forget that when Moyes joined the first season Everton finished 7th, second season Everton finished 1 place above the relegation zone, third season they finished 4th. It's too easy to do what most teams seem to do and start baying for blood when things are going wrong and sack their manager after a rough few games. And for all the chairman Kenwright's faults (and there are many) he not a reactionary, so I think the rumours of Steve bloody McClaren coming in are a load of crap. At least I hope they are!

Now for the shocking defence. Last season Everton finished the season in the, if memory serves right, top 4 teams of least goals conceded. This season they're only behind QPR for most goals conceded and we're only half way through the season. Why the massive drop? Well you've Distin who's 37 and Jagielka who's 32. Hardly spring chickens now. It also doesn't help the Jagielka has had a shocker since the World Cup and hasn't really gotten back onto form. Ignoring the wing backs for now, there's also John Stones. A great defender but still green at 20 and prone to mistakes. Basically Martinez went mad on spending players up front and ignored the inevitable problems in the back. A total mistake and one I hope he'll rectify in January.

The single worst problem is that Everton have been 'found out' when it comes to scoring, and with that teams can defend quite easily (I say making it seem like a doddle, but you get my gist) against Everton and hold them quite well. Stop Baines and Coleman getting easy crosses in, tighten up defensively so Barkley, Mirallas and co. can't get the runs into thh box and you've pretty much got it (btw I'm no tactical genius in any shape or form, but that's pretty much what's happening now). Surely Martinez should have/is going to have some other ideas? From what I've spoken to with my uncle who's a Wigan supporter, Martinez is incredibly stubborn to a fault when it comes to using a plan b etc. That's the biggest worry for me. He changed things a little bit in the last game, but they ended up losing 3-1 so....

I want Martinez to stay and see what he will do, cos there can't be many positives in being reactionary and sacking him. The biggest thing right now for me is the January transfer market. Fingers crossed he gets a coupla players in.

To be honest there's a whole host more I could say. The lack of speed all of a sudden. Nobody feeding the ball to Lukaku as he wants. The idea of having Barkley, Mirallas, Eto'o and Lukakau all playing together and tripping over each other baffles and so on and so on.

More stating the obvious coming up on the next episode.

They do seem a bit one dimensional. I actually think, when you beat us, that you benefitted from having Baines out, forcing you to try something different. Obviously not suggesting Baines is a problem for you but your reliance on him might well be.

I've never been a Martinez fan but I had to eat humble pie last season, and I agree with you that you should stick with him, ever though I wonder about his long term potential with any club. But he's still young and will hopefully recognise his weaknesses and address them.

Yeah he tried shifting Baines into midfield and as Martinez has wanted to for a while and make him play more like Lahm. They've got a great LB replacement with Garbutt so who knows what'll happen.

More tactics porn ...

http://www.theguardian.com/football/...-counterattack

Ethiopia and Germany's loss is USMNT gain as Gideon Zelalem declared US citizenship makimg him eligible for the US Team

My Palace fan pal is delighted, I am less so give ive agreed to go to a game at Selhurst Park this season and I was praying for Sherwood

If you get a chance to see a rerun of todays Chelsea-Spurs game, do. Incredible match.

Bloody missed it didn't I. Watching the Everton game left me in a bad mood so I watched The Magnificent Ambersons and sulked.

Look forward to MOTD for that game.

Oh man. I thought of you as the scores were coming through. West Ham didn't have the best day but, I dunno, Everton. WTF?

Yup and to bloody Hull of all teams. Next up Man. City. Glory days indeed.

A part of me is starting to feel apathetic about it all which is less stressful. Well till Saturday that is.

Saw the highlights. How is Alcaraz a Prem player? I only hope is sending off doesn't mean he'll be suspended for the West Ham game? If ever a player was a gift to opposition forwards it's him.

that's through his dad, but will he really play though? "eligible" is a long way from the real thing. e.g., freddy adu, or giuseppe rossi.


thanks! do they have torrents of those? maybe i should find out...

I don't know of a torrent (don't watch them) but I'm sure there is one.