Moneyball won't win the Premiership 2012-13

Moronic challenge from Parker, he should get panned for that.

Partic as he's the player should be out stoppin that cross

walker's lost a yard of pace the past while, whats with that

how's Adebayor missed that

Spurs deserve this

Fuckin adebayor fuckin vertonghen fuckin dawson fuckin parker

This is getting silly. They're not miraculous saves, but there're about 5,000 of them.

oh man

actual shouting going on here

That last 15 mins is the best we've played in weeks, carroll and livermore in!

what a winner, felt for jussi

And yeah my neighbours are gonna be writin letters

AVB is so damn likeable

He was like a tiger purring when they cut to him there

yeah his media persona during his time at spurs anyway (didnt catch a lot of him at chelsea) has always been v open and relaxed.

Can someone post a GIF of that Bale winner? I am out and missed the whole game.

http://i.minus.com/idZxnlXZwOjad.gif

otm

inevitability, thy name is bale winding one up

Premier League clubs who need a new manager, take note! Schhteeeve McClaren is available again! He quit at Twente having not won a single match in 2013 and playing the most terrible football imaginable.

Some nice moments to remember:
- He's been the subject of mockery so much for his cliché heavy post-match talks. "Eh, that'sch football," would be his response to virtual any question, result or criticism. It's become a meme here.
- Whenever they'd draw 0-0 against relegation candidates, Schteve would praise his team for keeping a "clean sheet", much to dismay of the fans. Two weeks ago the fans were so fed up it, they came into the stadium ten minutes after kick off, so we could all see this as their protest:

http://static0.ad.nl/static/photo/2013/13/12/12/20130226093143/media_xll_1543782.jpg

RIP Schteve you will be missched for your sheer trolling. As you were.

Valuable info imo

Terry insisted as recently as last weekend that there was no rift between him and the manager, comments which helped to shore up Benítez’s position in the eyes of more moderate supporters.

I'm all for mutiny at the Bridge, but the gravitas implicit in this genre of reporting is pretty ridiculous. It's like the Brownites and the Blairites grappling, only this time the constituency is even more cowed and inconsequential.

Meanwhile in the eyes of the Stamford Bridge extremists the Rafa jihad continues.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2013/feb/26/universally-popular-footballers-team-likable-players?CMP=twt_gu&CMP=EMCFTBEML853
Some odd selections there. I don't think Spurs fans would agree with the description of Berbatov, the manner in which he left Tottenham has been conveniently ignored. Equally, I'm not convinved by the logic of the BAE inclusion.

Everyone loves berbatov swap him for adebayor we'd win the world cup

BAE has nestled into 'cult hero' status fairly comfortably over the past couple of seasons. The afro helped.

I've not met a Spurs fan who doesn't still love Berbatov, we'd have had him back in a shot. He's still more popular among Spurs fans than United fans.

Not including Iniesta, the most likeable footballer of all time, is st8 challops though. Although maybe not if you're a Madrid fan.

Here’s a bit about me - I love Little Britain and Only Fools & Horses. Del Boy is a legend. I spend as much time as I can riding around the streets of Fulham on my folding bike. The folding bike should be an Olympic competition by the way – I’m going to win gold in 2012. I managed to get my maths A-Level at the third time of asking last summer. It only took seven years.

fuck a Madrid fan btw

Iniesta's mentioned in the also rans list at the bottom. The got the wrong Baggio tho. a bunch of those picks are questionable, and i swear there's some serious omissions

Herr Volz
I am from Germany. I like the game of football. I think you play with great efficiency. I would like you to send me your autograph. It should be signed on to 119 gsm matt A4 paper using only a felt-tipped pen. The signature should occupy a space no greater than 4cm x 8cm. Please write only your name. No message or humorous salutation is required. I look forward to receiving this by return of post.

Thank you in advance.

Herman German

I think Utd fans are more fond of Berbatov now that he's not at the club

is iniesta really the most likeable or rather the least dislikeable

4) Vincent Kompany

He's basically Clarke Carlisle but better at football.

never realised dude was a pisshead with a dubious grasp of british geography

Does anyone dislike Michael Essien?

Dietmar Hamann's knee does.

Not Premiership here, but this is I believe the first instance I've seen of league action regarding racist abuse of players in the US. Unfortunately, the league punishes the player receiving the abuse, not the fan or club.

http://www.daily-chronicle.com/2013/02/26/racist-taunts-too-much/avxlvqo/?page=1

Rafa delivering big time this evening

yeah, having listened to a couple of Chelsea fans i find myself warming to him

"If we cannot achieve what we expect to achieve, that is to be in the top four and be in the Champions League for next year, I will leave; they will stay in the Europa League."

I fucking knew it, he is doing his utmost to bring it down from the inside after all!

Can't help but admire Rafa's stones for this, the fans will be fucking SEETHING. I mean, imagine if the manager of your team came out and said "As if I give a fuck, I've hated all of you the whole time anyway, so we're gonna drop out the top four, give a shit". He's barmy

He's the best.

idk if that's an odd misquote or if he returns to the theme later on but if u listen to the beeb interview he actually says "everyone has to stick together and we can achieve what we want to achieve, that is the champions league, simple. if not next year they can carry on singing but it will be in the europa league"

West Brom up next too - the traditional gallows match for Chelsea managers

i know he's got his reputation to try and maintain by delivering whatever constitutes success this season but showing exasperation and getting bullish is kinda dumb for someone on a hiding to nothing tbh

the line to take is to subtly draw parallel with his bizarro situation and lampard's contract so the chelsea fans feel the full crushing weight of their utter inessential voicelessness in roman's empire

eh, that second quote makes far more sense and is way more believable. it did seem like a suicidally self-destructive message to be sending out at this stage in the season. i'm just too primed for any sign that rafa might be about ditch the quiet suit before ripping open his shirt hulk-style, buttons flying in all directions, revealing the hidden troll-face t-shirt beneath that he's undoubtedly been wearing to work every day for the past 4 months

is there even a possible gallows for rafa before the end of the season idk

i guess bolo and steve holland can take over

we can all dream of jt getting his day in the sun but it'll never happen

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce settled a bar bill for nearly £1,200 at a hotel where the club were staying the night before a Barclays Premier League clash, as a Christmas treat to his backroom staff.

The squad were taking up 33 rooms at the Hilton Hotel – part of the new National Football Centre near Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire - on the Saturday night in December before they faced West Brom on Sunday.

But none of the first-team had an alcoholic drink on the eve of the Barclays Premier League match and Allardyce picked up the tab at around midnight as a thank you to his backroom staff in the build-up to the festive period, with the receipts signed off by his assistant, Neil McDonald.

'This was a private Christmas get together, after the players had gone to bed, arranged for 15 people from West Ham's backroom staff and others associated with the club,' a West Ham insider told MailOnline today.

'With a busy programme of festive fixtures ahead, it was opportune time for the manager [Sam Allardyce] to say thank you.

'The bill for food and drinks, after the players had gone to bed, was settled entirely by the manager just after midnight.

'An additional receipt for two Jack Daniel's whiskies, at around 3am, was a nightcap for someone who couldn't sleep. This tab was sent to West Ham and also paid for by the manager.'

Hours later, West Ham went on to record one of their best performances away from Upton Park this season, holding Steve Clarke's in-form West Brom to a 0-0 draw at The Hawthorns.

The point put the Hammers in 11th in the table at the time, with West Brom above them in sixth place.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2285197/West-Ham-bar-Sam-Allardyce-paid-backroom-staff-drinks-Christmas-thank-you.html

Suarez has been heavily linked with Bayern, following the news that Pep Guardiola will take over as manager at the end of the season.

It is thought that Guardiola could use his football agent brother Pere, who represents Suarez, to help make the Uruguayan striker his first signing in Germany, and the player himself is doing little to discourage the talk, admitting he would like to talk to the Germans if an offer arrives.

‘If Bayern Munich makes an offer I would certainly be willing to listen and think about it,’ said Suarez.

Seems perfectly logical. Why waste an already perfect team of golden behaviour when you can buy a player who will inject venom into it and cause disruption?

it just wouldnt be a pep side without an ill-considered £40m misfit

Gómez isn't the right type of striker for a Guardiola side and Mandzukic probably isn't good enough so I think this makes sense. Wouldn't have been surprised to see Suárez join Barcelona this past summer either.

God knows Chelsea are a joke club run by idiots and an impossible job for any manager, but serious lol at Rafa blaming everyone but himself here.

typical Rafa Rant tbh