It is now time to switch to a new Money AM football blog as the world cup is now over and we all look to the future.....World cup 2010 is over, Bravo Espana, and Forlan, once again and bring on the new season !.....I never expected the last thread to be such a success...thanks all.... so this new one might go on for years without the need to edit the title...we shall see...

Thanks for that, a very good result at Coventry then?

The reason I ask is because I'm eyeing up a possible anti-post/handicap double with my lot and yours.

Wouldn't Cardiff be a rubbish handicap bet as they are already favourites with most bookies to win the league ?

I'd be looking at someone like Bournemouth or maybe Brentford who both seem capable of doing better than the bookies reckon.

Morrison a centre half from Reading is in Cardiff with his agent having talks about a possible move along with another un named player , should have enough for a third team if this carries on :)

Well you've certainly got numbers.. but you need the quality of course?

Yeah your right about other teams as a better bet, I'll think about that cheers.

The quality is there Stan that's part of the problem. Me and my mate who I'm going to game with tomorrow were discussing it last night and came to the conclusion that if every fan had to hand his own team sheet in at the gate tomorrow as they went in then it would be possible that the estimated 23,000 crowd could each come up with a unique combination and highly likely that there would be at least 5000 diffrerent combinations even after assuming that Marshall is chosen by everyone as our goalkeeper.

To me and a lot of others that is a problem and not an advantage unless Ole can settle on a core team and sooner rather than later.

I think no matter how many players a manager has it ultimately comes down to the managers ability, it must be better to have a smaller then a large squad I would have thought.

He can then always prune and then get his own men in as the wage level will be less with fewer players on the staff to begin with.

If Ole has a load of inherited players who he doesn't rate then a fair bit of culling sounds on the cards.

I am amazed at the improvement in Northampton this season.

Out went tons of dross from last season and we just managed to stay up. We have also had a mini-revolution behind the scenes with the Chairman putting in an investment of £7m of his own money. Obviously, the fans love this guy whose name is Cardoza.

Anyhow, things have worked and we seem to be getting good results and are now in joint 4th spot in League 2.

Our last match was an 'away' and we beat Wolves 2-3.

Up go the gate receipts and the atmosphere. Everyone is now behind the club and really willing them on.

I might even take wifey along so we can see what's happening for ourselves. Gulp. %-q

What absoluley brilliant news for all Burnley and other supporters who's clubs are favourites to be in a relegation fight to stay up next season: http://http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28797071

Chris C breaking news, sorry to post.............

Get Football News ‏@GetFootballNews 9m
BREAKING: Ross Barkley is out for 6-8 weeks through injury.

Thanks gf, bad news. :0(

Thank you Parrish.. so very very much -):

Ole has now brought in about 12 of the current squad Stan but then picks a team v Blackburn that has 7 of our Championship squad from 2013 in it and only 4 of the 12 players he has bought.

Ole is our weakest link.

Oh dear not good then Dil, wonder how long it will take your owners to suss Ole out?

On another subject, what did you think of Blackburn the other night as a team.. any good?

The premier Welsh team have just stunned MU.

The Welsh side's fans are now singing "you're getting sacked in the morning" at the United boss.

You've got to laugh.

From the corner Rooney performed an utterly brilliant overhead kick to level it to 1-1.

MU made defensive mistakes to let Swansea get near enough to score the winner and the goalie just had to let it in because he hardly saw it.

Final score: MU 1 Swansea 2

So......Louis van Gaal's first competitive game at Manchester United ends with them being beaten at home to Swansea on the opening day of the league season for the first time since 1972.

Bummer!

I watched Fellaini intently when he came on in the 2nd half and he didn't do too much wrong. And then he let himself stupidly get caught offside right at the end of the game and when the last few minutes were vital. Aaaargh!

Van Gaal has some good players but needs to get rid of quite a few players for sure. MU's goal keeper would be on my list because he doesn't catch and keep the ball. He just tries to be a 'reactive stopper' and so there is always going to be a danger from the resultant loose ball. Opposition will have this type of opportunity targeted for sure.

Rooney needs some passing practice. One free kick was so very accurate he hit the post/cross bar. He missed by, say 6". He gave 100% of what he had to give. However, he cannot pass the ball for toffee and loses possession with his passes far too may times for comfort.

Burnley are 12th at this moment in time.. Man U are bottom -):

16/08/2014 Comments (10) jump




Roberto Martinez fears he could be without Ross Barkley for up to five months.
The England midfielder damaged the medial ligament in his right knee in training one day before their opening Premier League match against Leicester, which ended in a 2-2 draw.

Everton will have to wait to find out the full extent of the damage but Martinez knows he could be without one of his key players for a large chunk of the season.

The Toffees boss said: "He had a scan but it was a bit difficult to determine the extent. With the swelling we don't really know how bad the injury is.

"We know it's a partial tear but that could be anything between seven weeks and I've seen injuries like that that take four or five months.

"Ross Barkley is a phenomenal footballer and we're going to miss him, there's no doubt about it. He was so sharp in pre-season, I thought he came back with a different approach.

"He was very unfortunate to (sustain the injury) through an innocuous challenge in training and now he's going to be out for a long, long time.

"The squad should be big enough to be able to cope with losing a player and be able to perform well, but it's a disappointing moment when Ross Barkley was going to have a really big start to the season.

"Now it's coping with the frustration and allowing him to come back when he's fully fit and ready for whatever's left in the season."

The injury is also a blow to England, with Barkley looking certain to miss the Euro 2016 qualifiers against Switzerland, San Marino and Estonia at the very least.

Barkley is no stranger to serious injury having broken his leg in three places on England Under-19 duty in 2010.

Martinez backed the 20-year-old to cope with his latest setback, saying: "He's a very mature boy.

"He was very disappointed because he was looking forward to the start of the season and he put a lot of extra work in because he came back from the World Cup with a real desire to start the season well.

"He's been through periods of bad adversity before and he knows how to cope with that.

"As a football club we're going to be with him and make sure that he's not suffering too much while he's away. I think the ones that are going to suffer is us."

Quotes sourced from ITV


Reader Comments

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Joseph Terrence
1 Posted 16/08/2014 at 18:36:21

Utter shite considering the comments from bobby suggest Billy boy won't open up that pocket book. .
.

Dean Adams
2 Posted 16/08/2014 at 18:36:37

Is there ever any good news when it comes to EFC and injuries to our better players. Five months, I hope RM is joking. .
.

Kevin Rowlands
3 Posted 16/08/2014 at 18:36:40

This is now starting to sound like it could be a season ending injury with surgery and a long rehab ahead, à la Gibson/Kone.
Desperately disappointing, surely were going to have go into the transfer market again to find a replacement.
..

Blues squander a fine lead at the death

By Michael Kenrick 16/08/2014 Comments (48) jump


Record signing Romelu Lukaku leads the line at Leicester


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Everton kicked off Roberto Martinez's second season iat Leicester with Ross Barkley ruled out but Romelu Lukaku named to lead the line, with Mirallas, Besic, Atsu, Coleman and Osman on the bench. Everton fan David Nugent starting for Leicester.

Pienaar was bright as Everton retained possession from the kick-off and with a free-kick that came to nothing. The good possession continued until the forward third where passes didn't hold up so well but it was all Everton, although with no penetration in the first 5 mins.

Leicester saw more of the ball in the next 5 mins, Everton's passing less accurate than might be desired, Naismith bursting into the Leicester area, but his cutback not reaching Lukaku. Everton were starting to build more effectively, using the flanks well, ad Pienaar seemed to have a chance for a shot that he spurned.

Leicester got a free-kick down by the corner flag and won a corner as Howard tipped the ball behind, Knockaert firing well wide from the corner. Some better play from Everton won their first corner, Delap challenged Pienaar. The ball pinged around, out to Baines, who fired in back to Distin off Schmiechel, and McGeady composed himself, then clipped a fantastic shot over everyone and in off the far post. less than a foot below the angle, for a brilliant opening goal.

But less than a minute later, Leicester were level, scoring from a corner, Ulloa lashing home as Distin failed to make any ground, his clearance hitting a player in the 6-yard box.

Everton were having to work hard after the goal struggled to create much until after the half-hour, when a couple of corners resulted from better play, McGeady's shot blocked away by Morgan in the crowded Leicester area.

Better build-up play from Everton saw McGeady have another pop from a more central position but this one flew over the bar. Naismith was the next to fire one in but it was just a few inches wide. Some lovely movement, starting with Lukaku coming back to collect the ball on the half-way line, and getting the ball out to Pienaar who then found Baines, a nice cross to the penalty spot was swept home off the underside of the bar by Steven Naismith.

Leicester came out the stronger after the break but it was fairly competitive stuff as Everton looked to hold on to and, if possible, build on their lead. They were starting to stroke the ball around with confidence, with Leicester refusing to lie down.

McCarthy went don heavily on a challenge and seemed to have seriously damaged his knee ligaments. McCarthy slowly hobbled off after a lengthy spell of treatment, but hobbled back on as Leicester sub Schlupp beat Jones hands down but smacked his shoot wildly high, miles over the Everton bar with Howard to beat.

Lukaku's first touch was still poor at times, as Everton lacked the fluidity that they threatened to impose on the home side at times in the first half. Lukaku looked to take the ball past Moore, who handled it, but it was too far form goal for a red card.

McCarthy had to foul Mahrez, whose free-kick was deflected wide, the corner well overhit. Going the other way, Lukaku looked pretty rusty at times, as he made poor use of good balls played in to him, the Blues looking tired while Martinez delayed any changes into the last 15 mins, as McGeady made a horrible giveaway to a player 3 yards in front of him and Barry had to cynically block Mahrez.

Pienaar replaced by Mirallas. Then Jagileka went down after being caught by a high boot and Coleman then replaced McGeady. But some really soft defending gifted an equalizer to Leicester after Stones and Jagielka could not clear the ball which fell nicely to Wood, Everton playing a massive price for increasing laxity as they failed to carry through their first-half superiority.

Everton got a corner but Mirallas put his attempt in the side netting. Then Mirallas tried to play in Naismith as Everton finally woke up, pressing much better. More spirited attacking that had been absent for much of the half say Baines cross well but Lukaku seemed unable to lift his body, the ball hitting his head an bouncing off high over the bar.

A poor result because Everton squandered two points here against a limited Leicester City side, and very disappointing loss of two vital points.

Leicester City: Schmeichel; De Laet, Moore (Y:69'), Morgan, Konchesky; Mahrez, King, Drinkwater (39' Hammond); Knockaert (64' Schlupp), Nugent, Ulloa (78' Wood).
Subs: Hamer, Hopper, Taylor-Fletcher, Wasilewski.

Everton: Howard; Stones, Jagielka, Distin, Baines; Barry, McCarthy; McGeady (85' Coleman), Naismith, Pienaar (81' Mirallas); Lukaku.
Subs: Robles, Besic, Atsu, Osman, Alcaraz.

Scorers: Ulloa (22'), Wood (87'); McGeady (20'), Naismith (45').
Referee: Mike Jones

Hey Exec and gf even David Moyes won the first game of the season against Swansea!

Did Van Gaal? No he EDAM well didn't! LOL LOL!!!!!!

It is worrying.

Another worrying thing, is that van Gaal did not look at all comfortable throughout the game. Indeed, I thought he looked tense and nervous.

When Rooney scored his magnificent goal, VG didn't even rise off his seat to applaud.

Hmmm?

Blackburn looked solid last week Stan and I would expect them to be up there in the mix end of season.

Don't know what's happened to Kenwynne Jones during the close season but he's come back a different player. Bloody awful last season and now he can't stop scoring , wins every ball in the air and looks the real deal. Hats off to him cos at least 90% of fans would have welcomed him going on a free transfer just to get his wages off the books (35k a week). The 90% of us now look foolish so well done Kenwynne.

Nice to be back where we belong :)