“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?

Berbie’s Sound-Off

It seems Dimitar Berbatov’s finally had something to say about the speculations surrounding his inevitable move away from Tottenham.

Here’s a snippet of what he spoke to a Bulgarian TV station …

‘It’s getting absurd, I’m fed up of seeing my name in the papers all the time. I think the papers went too far.

‘It’s obvious that the speculation will continue to the end but I wish the press would leave me alone. I just want to play my game. ‘The worst thing is that I see ‘my’ quotes which I’ve never said and it’s something that makes me feel bad.’

‘Such hysteria seems to me stupid, I’m not worth so much money. I’m happy at the moment, we’ll see what will happen. I know I can win trophies with Spurs.

‘We (Spurs) are working to correct our mistakes and I think (coach) Juande Ramos is the man who can change things.

OK, but why does his agent keep on stating about his desire to move to a more ambitious club? And it is so obvious looking at his body language on the pitch that he ain’t a happy bunny either. Berbatov was so good last season and here’s hoping he at least stays in the EPL.

By the way, Berbie, …. even though you may say you are ‘not worth so much money’ , I know for sure that I cannot afford to buy you for my Fantasy Football team.

Astro FA Cup Schedule

Astro Starsports CH 813 will be giving us an assist for this weekend’s fixtures:

FA Cup 2007/08 (LIVE)
05 Jan 2008 2255 Round 3
06 Jan 2008 0110 Aston Villa vs Manchester United
06 Jan 2008 2155 Burnley vs Arsenal
07 Jan 2008 0000 Luton Town vs Liverpool
07 Jan 2008 0200 Stoke City vs Newcastle United

Astro’s vague schedule leaves me to wonder what game they will be showing for the 5th Jan 11pm slot on ESPN (CH 812) and Starsports (CH 813).

Answer: Tottenham Hotspurs vs. Reading (there’s a 99% chance that this will be the game )

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

Evolution of The Tottenham Hotspur Crest

(L-R) 1967-1983, 1983-2006, 2006 – Present

EPL Results Update – Sunday, 25th September

Draws galore! Here’s last Sunday’s final score update.

Click here to see last Saturday’s scores.

Today’s EPL Fixtures

Sunday, 25th November 2007

West Ham vs Tottenham [Live on ESPN CH 812: 9.25pm Malaysian time]
A resurgent Spurs to register a win – Jenas on form

Fulham vs. Blackburn [Live on ESPN CH 812: 12.00pm Malaysian time]
Blackburn to light up a possible dull game

Prominent Number 7s in the EPL

Presenting the current crop of number 7s in the EPL – and as mentioned in our last post, the number 7s are typically midfielders renowned for their speed and creativity in the flanks.

Well … except maybe for seasoned hit-man Schevchenko, who’s more likely to pull the trigger rather than loading the ammunition!

[Top Left--Bottom Right] Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal), Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd), Harry Kewell (Liverpool), Joey Barton (Newcastle), Andriy Schevchenko (Chelsea), Fredrik Ljungberg (West Ham), Ashley Young (Aston Villa), Andy Van der Meyde (Everton), Brett Emerton (Blackburn), George Boateng (Middlesbrough)

So how did our Week 6 Home Underdog fare?

BOLTON WANDERERS 1 – TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS 1

Home Underdog for EPL Week 6

Our last post on the home underdog demonstrated that the home underdog ain’t a little puppy you can mess around with.

Here’s the unanimous (and only!) home underdog vs big team of the week:

Bolton Wanderers – Tottenham Hotspurs

And our predictions?

Cantona Kickems: 2-3
raZor^r3dz: 2-2
Small Potato: 1-2

Logically, most of us have to go Tottenham’s way … but tell you what, I will buy Reebok merch if Bolton wins.

GO BOLTON! STAND UP TO THE BULLIES.