An Almighty Pop

I shure miss this Mourinho fella and his blissful banter. Check out the article below, courtesy of Yahoo Eurosport:

Jose Mourinho has taken an almighty pop at Arsene Wenger, claiming the Frenchman has it easy at Arsenal.

“Arsenal is a unique team,” Mourinho told Gazzetta Dello Sport.

“Their coach hasn’t won anything for years and is still an idol. There is no pressure at Arsenal.

“But do not say he is growing young players into talents. What he does is take young players who are jewels and polishes them. It’s different. He has time to work in a serene atmosphere and get results.”

While the accusation is not new, the previous diatribes occurred when the two mangers were in direct competition and thus interpreted as a ‘mindgame’ ploy by the Special One to ratchet up pressure on Wenger.

That Mourinho felt compelled to put Wenger back in his sights even at a time when he is out of the game indicates that the antipathy between the pair – who fell out spectacularly three years ago when the then Chelsea boss branded Wenger a “voyeur” – still lingers.

Either that or Mourinho genuinely believes the Arsenal manager lives in a comfort zone at the Emirates Stadium.

“Lack of attractive, attacking football” …

… is becoming the latest lame excuse reason a football manager is getting sacked these days. But then again, it’s hard to complain now that the EPL is becoming more akin to a globally televised reality show. Team not entertaining enough? Rewrite the script to add more sex and slapstick humor! Or, sack the manager and hire someone that can bring attractive, attacking football!

Consider the managers who have been dismissed for not turning up the style for the respective teams they have managed:

• Jose Mourinho. Chelsea’s charasmatic Portuguese was dismissed (or quit?) DESPITE helping Chelsea win a trophy every season he’s been in charge.
• Martin Jol. Apparently the owners got Juande Ramos to replace him because he can bring attacking football to an unmotivated Tottenham team.
• Sam Allardyce. Latest manager to be fired because of the apparently ugly football that he crafted so effectively in Bolton did not translate well to Newcastle’s credibility as a top EPL team.

The irony? Hiring Capello as England manager! This is the man known for his boring, defensive football, which recently resulted in his firing from Real Madrid — despite winning La Liga! Will he transform England to a World Cup winning team? If so, will this set a trend for teams to deviate to “dour yet effective” football — resulting in a chain of managerial firings across the Premier League?

Chelsea sign £15m Anelka

Breaking news from BBC: Chelsea sign £15m Nicolas Anelka

Chelski are now officially back on track and are ready to breakup the two horse race for the English Premier League title. 6 points adrift of the leaders Arsenal, they are capable of reducing the deficit if they can win their January games against mediocre opponents Tottenham, Birmingham and Reading.

On the YFF front, Anelka’s the Big Dog is a must-have and he’s not too pricey at 16.09. But with Agbonlahor and Torres already part of a power-packed strikeforce, I may pass him on for a more balanced squad.

Meanwhile, Manchester United has a question at rightback: with Wes Brown suspended against Newcastle, will the eveready benchwarmer John O’Shea make his mark, or will Captain Gary Neville make his first team return (after scoring in the reserves in midweek)?

WHAM-BANGERS AND PAIN-MEISTERS

It was a high-scoring week in the EPL! Check out our wham-bangers (the wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am variety) and pain-meisters (a little S&M, anyone? Kneel, fool!)

Liverpool vs Portsmouth - Final Score: 4-1
The wham-bangers: Benayoun, Distin (own goal), Mrawurari, Torres (2 goals)

Chelsea vs Aston Villa - Final Score: 4-4
The pain-meisters: Shevchenko (2 goals), Ballack, Alex, Maloney (2 goals), Laursen, Barry

Tottenham vs Fulham - Final Score: 5-1
The wham-bangers: Keane (2 goals), Huddlestone (2 goals), Defoe, Dempsey

Sunderland vs Manchester United - Final Score: 0-4
The wham-bangers: Rooney, Saha (2 goals), Ronaldo

Chelsea 1 – West Ham 0

Classic “Your Momma is So Fat” Jokes – Entries #1 & #2:

 Joker 1: Your MOMMA is so FAT, when she wears a Malcolm X T-shirt, helicopters try to land on her back!

Joker 2: Oh Yeah? Your MOMMA is so FAT, when she wears a yellow raincoat people holler, “Taxi!”

Today’s Astro EPL Fixtures

ESPN

01 Dec 2040 Chelsea vs. West Ham United
01 Dec 2255 Blackburn Rovers vs. Newcastle United
02 Dec 0130 Wigan Athletic vs. Manchester City(Delayed)

Starsports

01 Dec 2255 Portsmouth vs. Everton
02 Dec 0110 Aston Villa vs. Arsenal

The EPL Fantasy Football Guide to Week 10

Lotsa craziness in store for this weekend’s EPL games, and we’ve already been served a juicy appetizer of Martin Jol-being-sacked.

Everyone already knew that the Dutchman’s head was on the chopping block. That’s the easy prediction. So who’s next in the firing line? Chris Hutchings? Steve Bruce? Or perhaps that forgettable Derby manager?

I’d first like to indulge on the repercussions of European club football:

3-5-2 or 3-4-3

Welcome to our Late Edition to the EPL Fantasy Football Guide!
Better late than never? I’m Cantona Kickems, here to provide you some vital news to helpcha out with your YFF picks. Most of my tips are based on guestimating which team will win their matchup, and the number of goals scored in the process. Usually I’m biased towards the performing teams, ‘cos let’s face it, Koumas isn’t gonna earn much points if he’s up against a rampaging Red Devils frontline. He was largely absent in my 101.50 point performance on Week 8.

The big impact news are as follows:

Leap of Faith

What a cocky fella this guy is. But we love his dribbles:

Roma begged for mercy – Ronaldo

On the YFF front, a leap of faith sends me to the pinnacle of the Pentagram league!!!! Selecting Cristiano Ronaldo for my starting lineup paid dividends. With the exception of the absent Kasper, the entire team played their role in points contribution, and I now find myself a meager 3.50 ahead of Highgate FC.

And apologies for my flawed prediction of a Chelsea comeback. No comeback, padres. A forgettable performance by the Blues against Fulham leave them struggling for a place in Europe. You might want to stay away from their players for their upcoming away game against Bolton.

Till I shape up my lousy defence, I’m up for a tough challenge this season. And it looks like Yahoo bloggers Neal and Jeremy just aren’t letting up! (664.5 and 656 totals respectively)

The Astro Revamp

WELCOME OCTOBER!!! The Astro Revamp has just set in, and we Astro viewers are now looking at double the number of channels available, and a WHOLE channel dedicated to the Rugby World Cup. THe Taz is gonna be real happy with that.

Not a lotta people are gonna be too happy with having to remember the channel numbers again. It’s wack! Nevermind, I’m here to help you out with the channel numbers that matter the most:

UEFA Champions League 2007/08

3 October 0245
Manchester United vs Roma (LIVE on ESPN CH 812)
VSB Stuttgart vs. Barcelona (LIVE on Astro Starsports CH 813)


4 October 0245
Liverpool vs. Marseille (LIVE on ESPN CH 812)
Valencia Cf vs. Chelsea (LIVE on Astro Starsports CH 813)

Sorry Gunners Fans, looks like the Arsenal game is going down the backburner in favour of the matchup between Spanish Giants Barcelona and Bundesliga Champyons VFB Stuttgart.