3 results right and no perfect scores, dammit

Mark Lawrenson got 5 right and 1 perfect score.Bastard.

Still my Manchester prediction was a good one. Although im not too happy about it, my dads a Man U fan so I'm always half up for them. And I want Man U to win the champs league. Ferguson has dominated the premiership for so long bringing out team after team, he deserves at least 2 more champions leagues titles.

Why the hell didnt I back Newcastle(my team) to win.
Delighted we are playing 4-3-3 and the 3 strikers scored. Hopefully we can keep Martins in the summer, I doubt it.


And no LB, not in the Pub:( Im in Israel for now working, and weekday starts on a sunday. Shit Buzz. Managed to have all the champion league matches off.
GFs not too appreciative off my days off being co-orindinated around football

4 results right for me, 1 perfect score.


Out of 9 results, where there are only 3 possible results... I guess that's pretty average.

Ewww, you lost to Lawro, minus 20 cool points.

Prediction time again.

Birmingham 1- 0 Everton

Bolton 2 - 1 West Ham

Derby 0- 2 Aston Villa

Reading 1-0 Fulham

Sunderland 2-1 Man City

Tottenham 3-1 Middlesborough

Portsmouth 1-2 Newcastle ( I want to pick a draw but I'll let my loyalties blind me)

Liverpool 2- Blackburn 0

Man U 1 - 1 Arsenal (2 red cards)

Chelsea 4 - 1 Wigan

Stop doing that! Goddamn you!


I'll disagree with you again, and say United win 3-1.

Apparently Ferdinand is playing - no Vidic though, and Ferdinand can't be 100% fit with 3 stiches in his foot, but hey, at least he's playing.

I can't even begin to describe (again.. sorry guys) how important they both are to us, especially at this late stage of the season. Would be a huge shame if we lost out on a trophy because of that. Although, I'll have no complaints against Barca, as they are without Puyol, so fair's fair. Just to illustrate their importance with stats though...

Recent results:

Fulham 0-3 Man Utd
01 Mar 08 | Premier League

Man Utd 2-0 Bolton
19 Mar 08 | Premier League

Man Utd 3-0 Liverpool
23 Mar 08 | Premier League

Man Utd 4-0 Aston Villa
29 Mar 08 | Premier League

Derby 0-1 Man Utd
15 Mar 08 | Premier League

Middlesbrough 2-2 Man Utd <<<------ No coinidence we concede our first League goals for ages - Vidic out and Rio limps off
06 Apr 08 | Premier League



I'll be back to do predictions in a bit, going for a chinese, then back to watch the golf. Friday night heaven, imo.

lol, can't help it, I'm just basing my prediction on all the previous matches. Once the match kicks off, it never seems to matter all the surrounding events, its always tight, usually involving a late goal.

The defense is a big deal, definitely, at least Chelsea are having keeper troubles. Avram Grants head is on the chopping block so I can't help but be a bit up for the underdog even though I pretty much hate chelsea.

He took over a team of "mourihno" players. He needs the chance to bring in his own players, he never even got a pre-season chance to insert his will. Chelsea are doing a lot better now than when he took over.
Whenever Chelsea got in trouble it was always going to fall on him. And his personality was never going to win people over.
Honestly I don't consider him anywhere near as good as the other top managers but he still deserves some time.
Which he has no chance in hell of getting.

And your friday sounds a hell of a lot better than mine even though I don't like golf, I'm in work in 5 hours.

Its not looking for me. out of 6 results, 2 correct and no perfect score

I like this. Any idea the odds/payout of correct score and red card predictions?

12/1

if you bet 10 you get 120. I could only find it as two single bets. It works out as 12/1 combined. On BlueSquare.com
Could be better odds, I could not find the bet anywhere else. Everyone just had over and under style bets. So a yellow could ruin your bet. Not the one above though

Im working at starting up a sports betting site for a company, so I was actually working figuring this out. Working on a sunday, shittest buzz ever though

Crucial equalizer there.

3 games left... all Utd have to do is win 2, lose 1 and we're champions. Draw against Chelsea would seal it though.

Ja-hammy bastards!

um if we got the handball decision that was blatant i think it would have been a win i feel unlucky just having the 1-1 after that decision if thats jammy then i think i have been misusing the word.

Come on United.

BBC is great for when you are in work.
Half time chelsea are all over them and 1-0 up.

2 matches in a row Man United are not playing positive football. They could easily be playing great attacking football but I won't try second guess Fergie

Even if Chelsea win, Man United just have to beat Wigan and West Ham to win the title

Yeah, it's a deserved lead.

I hate how United are playing. It's all long ball, defend, long ball, defend.

Yea I was pretty disappointed with the Barca match.Same long ball approach. I always want the English clubs to prove they are the best in Europe by playing great football.


Yes I realise tactics are necessary etc for whoevers about to remind about it

Weeeeee

1-1.

Huge mistake from Chelsea, good finish from Rooney.

lol that he couldnt even celebrate because of his hip.

Thats unforgivable from Chelsea, this type of game.

Of course no one will remember it while they are waving Grant out the door

FFS Penalty.

****.

****.

Chelsea deserved the win. Man United were shite. Nani and Anderson aren't fit to wear the strip. Silvestre was excellent given this was his first start since the Titanic went down, losing Vidic was a blow obviously but they offered nothing in an attacking sense and were lucky that Ferriera/Carvalho's mess-up lead to a goal.

I still think they'll win the league but West Ham are something of a bogey team...

Nani and Anderson are good players, I just think it was a mistake to play them in this match.

I don't get it tbh. Biggest match of the season so we take out Hargreaves, Scholes and Ronaldo and bring in Nani, Anderson and Fletcher. Why?

We played defensive football and set out to get a draw. Why then, did we not go with defensive players?

Im guessing the master plan, is rest for Barca, on Tuesday. Beat with full attacking team Barc, then full animal team for west ham and wigan. Champs final and title wrapped up

Go on Newcastle!!btw

Nani and Anderson, while young, are vastly overrated imo. Today, in a big game, they could have shown that they are the next generation of Manchester Utd. But they didn't. Nani is a winger who couldn't outpace Mikel or Carvalho and did not chose ONE correct pass the whole game. Anderson, with Carrick and Fletcher the holding midfielders, had to be the creative spark in attack, he wasn't, he was completely outmatched by Ballack and Essien (though they are obviously great players) but again he picked the wrong pass everytime and made no effort to run at players. Still has 0 goals for the season.

Rafa Benitez is constantly criticised when Gerrard/Torres/Carragher doesn't play, but the fact is he plays his best players in the games that matter. This one mattered and as much as I hate to disagree with SAF, he got his team selection very wrong. You Mancs better hope that he's proven correct come Tuesday.

Manchesters games West Ham Wigan
Chelsea games Newcastle Bolton

Chelsea definitely have a tougher job, Newcastle are in form and at home, Bolton have started playing and are fighting to stay up. Even if they win both Man U can still easily beat the two

I'm honestly not so sure, Uniteds recent record against West Ham is sketchy to say the least and im actually not feeling too confident about the end of this season for us. What a time to hit bad form eh?

Fergie knows what he's doing.

It's easy to criticize the selections... If they hadn't equalized with 5 mins to go we'd be saying what a masterstroke he played by changing the team. Stamford Bridge is a tough place to go. And there's nothing you can do about injuries, we're just getting a little unlucky right now with them.


United will win the League, I guarantee it, but at least it makes it a little more interesting now.

Hmmm, not so sure people would call it a master stroke. It is similar to the 1st leg vs Barca. Man Utd get praise for a great defensive performance after offering nothing in attack. Had Barca scored it would have been a different story. Chelsea got their winner and Man Utd get criticised for their poor attacking play which this time couldn't be masked by good defending.

Granted the Bridge is a very difficult place to visit but do you honestly believe Man Utd deserved anything other than 0 points? If it hadn't been for Carvalho's error United wouldn't have scored. Fact. They were very poor and Chelsea, so often criticised for anti-football, outplayed them in every area of the pitch.

We've set such high standards all season, playing great football, we're top of the league and we're very clearly the best team in the Premiership. One sub-par performance doesn't change that.

All this does is give Chelsea fans false hope, which is fine. I hope everyone realizes that Fergie will be shoving a rocket up all their arses after this... they will NOT lose another game this season. 4 wins... Guaranteed.

Also, I'm sorry, but this is a ridiculous thing to say. This is their FIRST season at United (and the Premiership). You could hardly ask for a better first season from the pair of them. Anderson has established himself as one of the best midfielders in the Prem and Nani, who has not been first choice and hasn't started too many games, has been a fantastic option for us, scored and set-up some very important goals for us too. Remember Ronaldo's first season? He was a long long way off the finished article, was called a 'one trick pony' and was far from a team player.

Come on LBJ, stop kicking us when we're down! One result... sheesh.

Are you freaking kidding me!? Anderson has not established himself at all! Name me one game where he has looked a cut above the other 21 players on the pitch. He hasn't looked dynamic, can't tackle, doesn't seem to be able to pick a pass and hasn't scored.

Nani, I'm willing to give a bit more time to, based on what you pointed out about Ronaldo. If Nani can concentrate more on playing good football rather than trying to get on Soccer AM's showboat he might prove to be worthwhile. But right now I'm putting them in Kleberson, Djemba quality signings.

And one result it may be. But it will be the result that comes back to haunt you if this season goes tits up.

James was a little over the top, but Anderson has looked great in a lot of matches. You can't have been watching closely if you haven't seen quality in his game.

Nani has been more hit and miss, but has still shown glimpses of real class and potential. He's still very raw and thinks he's better than he is, but when he calms down a bit he will be a good player.

Now you really are joking here?? You must be!? How can you put them in the same breath as those two?

Anderson has seriously impressed this season. As has Nani... I think you're forgetting most of United's performances this season, and looking at one game against Chelsea. I'm almost speechless that you've said that actually.

There's been many many games that Anderson has excelled in. One that I remember most clearly immediately was the 4-0 hammering of Arsenal in the FA Cup. He completely ran that game.

Anyway, of course if we lose the league, we'll look at that game as the decider. BUT, what a position we got ourselves into... the privelege of being able to lose against our main rivals, and still have the league in our own hands.

The double is ours now. I can sense it.

Right OK, the Djemba, Kleberson comment was just to wind you up. But I really don't see what you guys see in Anderson. He seems to ride through games on everyone else's coat-tails. And being young/raw shouldn't be a an excuse. Look at Messi, he's looked the real deal ever sice he first came on the scene.

And so what if these boys can do the job against Wigan, Bolton, Fulham? It's the big games where these players should be judged. Against Arsenal (and not Arsenal Jr in the cups) Chelsea, Liverpool and in Europe. And the fact of the matter is Manchester Utd's young players haven't done that. I'm not saying they never will but this season they haven't impressed me. Hell, even Ronaldo doesn't show it against the biggest teams. And by biggest I mean AC Milan last season. Kaka won that duel and Barca last week. Posted missing after his penalty miss and Messi was the worldclass talent on display.

Anderson is quality.
He has faded in some crucial matches, but is definitely one for the future.

I seen him send a 30 yard pass without looking in a busy midfield.

Anyway, I'm happy with the season, Newcastle were going 14 games with only 1 point and now we look like we can atleast regain our familiar old position of 13th. Our manager can't get sacked cos its King Kev, so finally some stability. Of course he will walk out on us in a year or two.

the premiership title is still up for grabs with two games left
Arsenal were amazing for most of the season after being predicted they would fall apart.
Man U had one of the worst starts to the premiership ever, and are close to champions.
Mourihno left, and got replaced by some guy. Who I love.
Tottenham were up and down entertaining.
Portsmouth are in the FA cup Final.
The relegation battle has been great.

2 games to go with not one important position decided bottom or top of the league. And 3 more champions league matches.

Amazing season

To be fair, I can't ever remember an attacking player having a great game when his teammates weren't helping. You put Messi, Ronaldo, Kaka, Henry, Drogba, van Nistelrooy or any of the great attacking players in that United team against Chelsea/Milan, and they are very rarely going to shine.

If you switch it so Barca were as defensive and United were adventurous, Messi would have been lost. As it was, United sat back and allowed him to pass it around. He had space to move into, and he had teammates dragging defenders around. He had outlets, and he had players passing to him.

The only times Ronaldo got the ball he was on his own against several players with no support. Even so, he should have won a second penalty. When your team is attacking constantly and have 2/3 of the possession it's easier to get on the ball and create things. That said, Messi didn't really do too much. He had some nice flicks, but never anything special imo.

One other thing - comparing Anderson/Nani to Messi is hardly fair, because the English league is much tougher to adapt to than the Spanish league. Messi has learnt his trade playing in Barca's reserves for 2-3 years. Nani/Anderson have been thrown in at the deep end and have done surprisingly well.

So, it's coming down to the last game of the season...

To be fair to Chelsea, they've done well to keep up with us and will certainly be worthy runners up.

Wigan 0-3 Man Utd - Then on to Moscow!

LJ if you are considering a bet, at least get some sort of odds or something

Could I face going 0-3? How could I look at my friends and family again?

I'm always game for a gambool. I'd like to see what James comes up with?

Odds from Hills for Champions League: Man Utd 13/10 Chelsea 9/5. Too close to call.

For Premiership: Man Utd 1/7 Chelsea 4/1

Well yea the champions league is a fair bet. But you would need some insurance for the premiership.

Drogba will score the winner in the champs league btw

chelsea have been on fire in 08 in spite of grant, still, I would be utterly shocked if we lost to wigan and that will propel us forward to taking home our third european cup/champions league trophy

Weeeeeee!

Ok, Premiership bet first (last of the season )... I bet Man Utd beat Wigan by 2 or more clear goals. I reckon that's kinda like giving odds (rather than just saying we'll win), so it's pretty fair.

We can have another one for the Champs League later.


But, if you take the bet and Utd win by 2 or more, you have to change your avatar to this for a week:



... and update your sig scoreline along with the sentence 'I'd go gay for Gary Neville'



I'll leave it up to you for what happens if I lose the bet.

wow. sorry but thats such a stupid comment

Hes taken over a side that were struggling, none of his players, a huge amount of pressure and now they are actually on the same points as Man United and in the champions league final. If you looked at the league from when Grant took over, they would be first.

Its an absolute joke that he might not get a chance for a proper season, with pre-season training and a chance to bring in his own players

um, no, it's not a stupid comment. Pretty much any chelsea fan would say that Grant's tactics are about as good as Keegan's. Chelsea are just performing how they should considering the talent on that squad

So when Chelsea were doing well under Mourinho, "The Special One" was a genius?

Chelsea do well under Grant and it's all down to the players?

Gotta be fair KDawg, the man has done very well. I don't expect to see him on the bench next season but he's put forward a very strong case.

Dear sweet Jesus. You sir, are a twisted, yet brilliant individual. How about 3 clear goals?

And I'll have to get back to you on your forfeit. I'm still laughing at my potential sig!

I can't go 3 clear goals... tell you what though, I'll go 2 clear goals, but also that Man Utd won't concede. So, essentially, I'm betting on 2-0 +

If Wigan score, you win whatever the scoreline. Actually, I think that's a very good bet for you and I've given you the edge in this one but hey, it's the last game of the season, and if Utd win, I won't mind too much if I lose that!

You're a fair man. I still don't know why I'm taking this. Maybe there is part of me that wants Gary Neville!

Booked. Man Utd will not beat Wigan by 2 goals and without Wigan scoring. Emile Heskey one time!

And your punishment shall be a sig of "Manchester United did not deserve the Premiership in 2008". Kind of annoying whether or not you lot win the league. And this homo-erotic avatar:

it's a season of ups and downs and backroom squabbles have generally effected a club's performance on the pitch. There was never a reason to get a rid of Mourinho and Grant's lack of tactics prevented a win in the League Cup and quite frankly added a few draws when they should've gotten 3 pts.

I mean seriously, we're talking about the man of these genius tactics: