Even though the Carling Cup is deemed to be of the least importance by the top flight clubs, the matches on show in the quarter finals did not dissapoint. The quarter finals saw Liverpool, Manchester City, Cardiff and Crystal Palace book their places in the semi finals. Man City will play host to Liverpool and Cardiff will play Crystal Palace.
Chelsea hosted Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in the first of the four quarter finals. Another dissapointing display from Andre Villas Boas' side led to the reds running away with a comfortable 2-0 victory. Chelsea's loss also led to the mood around Stamford Bridge becoming ever more pessimistic. Aswell as this it has left a question mark hanging over the blues boss as whether or not he is capable of handling such a big job. Personally i believe that Abromovich saw Villas Boas doing well and thought of him to be a quick fix for a chelsea side still in the shadow of the special one. However, after an early penalty miss from out of form Liverpool striker Andy Carroll, it wasn't looking good for the blues. Coincidentally rumours are buzzing round that the 35 million pound man wants out of Liverpool as he has not settled on Mersyside. However, the penalty miss did not hinder the reds as a Craig Bellamy inspired performance saw Liverpool cruise to yet another victory at Stamford Bridge. With Chelsea's defence still leaking goals and their big players not performing it is inevitable that Boas is a poor performance away from the sack. On the other hand Kenny Dalglish's men are looking harder to beat as the weeks go by and i can see them ending up with some much awaited silverware at the end of the season.
Elsewhere the shock of the tournament came when favourites Man Utd were knocked out on their own turf by Championship side Crystal Palace. Unsuprising as it was that United were gifted the easiest draw of the quarter finals against the lowest ranked side still left in the competition. Nevertheless a 65th minute thunderbolt from Darren Ambrose silenced the Old Trafford faithful and sent the Palace fans into dismay. However, the away fan's jubilation was short lived as just 3 minutes after Ambrose's opener, Man U were awarded a penalty. Federico Macheda cooly slotted away the penalty and supplied normality back to Old Trafford. After the goal, Man U started to get back into a rhythm and created chance after chance. Despite this Palace were able to hold out for extra time. Then against the run of play, Palace's Glenn Murray scored a superb header to give Palace the lead in the 98th minute. Despite their best attempts United could not manage an equaliser; much to the dissapointment of the United fans. My hat goes off to Palace as i have never heard the Old Trafford faithful to be so quiet. A dismal display was summed up when Alex Ferguson publicy apologised about the performance. Hopefully Man Utd's poor run will continue and their ongoing luck will finally run out.
In the other two ties Manchester City ran out 1-0 winners over Arsenal. Although the match was set out to be one of the best ties of the quarter final, the game was dissapointing with only a single goal seperating the two sides. It is no suprise that Aguero popped up on the scoresheet to continue Man City's great run. Personally i cannot see them being able to hold out to win the Premiership due to lack of experience, but i can see them gaining some silverware especially looking at their strength in depth. In the other game Cardiff met Blackburn. Cardiff beat the premiership strugglers 2-0 which put forever more pressure on Steve Kean's shoulders. The Blackburn Rovers manager has defended his team selection for their Carling Cup quarter-final against Cardiff City, and insisted his use of the word "forfeited" has been misinterpreted. Kean said after the quarter-final 2-0 defeat to Championship side Cardiff, that his focus was on their relegation fight, telling reporters: "We are in a position where we have forfeited going through in this competition and having the chance to reach a cup final."
Kean then tried to clarify his comments saying "they were taken out of context". With pressure already on Steve Kean and fans wanting him out, it seems like a stupid decision to make. Especially as their chances of staying in the premiership are slim.
Thanks for reading my post and i hoped you enjoyed it. Leave a comment to tell me what you think of the topic's I bring up.
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Jacob
Friday, 2 December 2011
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
R.I.P Gary Speed 1969-2011
On Sunday 27/11/11 the footballing world came to an abrubt standstill as word spread that Gary Speed aged just 42 had taken his own life. The Welsh manager who had a prestigious footballing career spanning 22 years was found by his wife in thier Cheshire mansion. Gary`s distraught wife Louise found him hung in their family home. She rang an ambulance and was given advice as to what to do. Her efforts were in vain .
Speed who had played for Leeds, Everton, Newcastle, Bolton and Sheffield United had appeared the day before his death on BBC`s Football Focus. He showed no indication that he would take his own life the following day. Speed was talking about his future with Wales and how he was looking forward to the world cup qualifiers. Football Focus host Dan Walker later talked to BBC News and sated how "he couldn`t believe it " and thought it was "a sick twisted joke." Walker expressed how after the show Speed was talking about his two lads and how "good they were at football" and even asked if he could come on the show again sometime before christmas.
Tributes were left by supporters outside several football stadiums - including Everton's Goodison Park, at Leeds United's Elland Road, Newcastle United's St James' Park, The Millennium Stadium and Cardiff City Stadium. Tributes were also left by fellow professionals, Celebrities and even MP`s. Twitter exploded with tweets about the former Wales captain. Michael Owen whose children went to the same school as Gary Speed`s two sons tweeted "He has died aged 42, So sad. He lived local to me and we knew his family. He leaves behind 2 sons. Tragic." Bobby Gould, who appointed Speed as his captain when he took charge of Wales in 1995 spoke about Speed`s death after the game between Swansea and Aston Villa. He said "Gary was a great person, a great player and a great skipper. I will miss him. He was one of my top three people in football." Former Welsh team-mate Robbie Savage writes "My captain, my hero, my mate is gone and I can’t understand why." Savage also said "The last time I saw him was three or four weeks ago when he came down to Strictly with his wife. After I’d completed my routine I high-fived him and I can see him sitting there now, a big smile on his face, so happy and so proud of his mate.That’s how I’ll always think of him. In high spirits with a broad smile, taking pleasure in his life and his friends." Aswell as writing for the Daily Mirror Robbie Savage also spoke about Speed on BBC News. He said how there was no indication of Speed taking his own life. Shortly after he broke down in tears and was unable to finish the interview. Shearer showed his respect too by saying "“Gary was a magnificent person, bright, fun and a wonderful family man. He lit up every room he walked into. I am proud to have been his friend and will miss him dreadfully." Shay Given tried to hold back tears after the minute silence in the game between Swansea and Aston Villa and Craig Bellamy pulled out of the game between Liverpool and Man City. However not every comment was respectful. Joey Barton once again was unable to keep the peace. He took it upon himself to tweet "Suicide is a mix of the most tragic, most selfish, most terrible (and I want to believe preventable) acts out there." However, Joey Barton was in the minority and his thoughts were not the same as most.
Following Gary Speed`s death 10 professional footballers have contacted the sporting chance clinic which helps players beat depression and addiction. This shows the effect that Speed had on his fellow professionals. Speed with 535 premier league appearences and 81 goals will be sorely missed not just by the footballing community but the sporting community as a whole. He was an inspirational player and man and was one of the best professionals football has ever seen. R.I.P Gary Speed.
If you have any thoughts on my blog please comment and follow me so you don`t miss a post.
Jacob
Speed who had played for Leeds, Everton, Newcastle, Bolton and Sheffield United had appeared the day before his death on BBC`s Football Focus. He showed no indication that he would take his own life the following day. Speed was talking about his future with Wales and how he was looking forward to the world cup qualifiers. Football Focus host Dan Walker later talked to BBC News and sated how "he couldn`t believe it " and thought it was "a sick twisted joke." Walker expressed how after the show Speed was talking about his two lads and how "good they were at football" and even asked if he could come on the show again sometime before christmas.
Tributes were left by supporters outside several football stadiums - including Everton's Goodison Park, at Leeds United's Elland Road, Newcastle United's St James' Park, The Millennium Stadium and Cardiff City Stadium. Tributes were also left by fellow professionals, Celebrities and even MP`s. Twitter exploded with tweets about the former Wales captain. Michael Owen whose children went to the same school as Gary Speed`s two sons tweeted "He has died aged 42, So sad. He lived local to me and we knew his family. He leaves behind 2 sons. Tragic." Bobby Gould, who appointed Speed as his captain when he took charge of Wales in 1995 spoke about Speed`s death after the game between Swansea and Aston Villa. He said "Gary was a great person, a great player and a great skipper. I will miss him. He was one of my top three people in football." Former Welsh team-mate Robbie Savage writes "My captain, my hero, my mate is gone and I can’t understand why." Savage also said "The last time I saw him was three or four weeks ago when he came down to Strictly with his wife. After I’d completed my routine I high-fived him and I can see him sitting there now, a big smile on his face, so happy and so proud of his mate.That’s how I’ll always think of him. In high spirits with a broad smile, taking pleasure in his life and his friends." Aswell as writing for the Daily Mirror Robbie Savage also spoke about Speed on BBC News. He said how there was no indication of Speed taking his own life. Shortly after he broke down in tears and was unable to finish the interview. Shearer showed his respect too by saying "“Gary was a magnificent person, bright, fun and a wonderful family man. He lit up every room he walked into. I am proud to have been his friend and will miss him dreadfully." Shay Given tried to hold back tears after the minute silence in the game between Swansea and Aston Villa and Craig Bellamy pulled out of the game between Liverpool and Man City. However not every comment was respectful. Joey Barton once again was unable to keep the peace. He took it upon himself to tweet "Suicide is a mix of the most tragic, most selfish, most terrible (and I want to believe preventable) acts out there." However, Joey Barton was in the minority and his thoughts were not the same as most.
Following Gary Speed`s death 10 professional footballers have contacted the sporting chance clinic which helps players beat depression and addiction. This shows the effect that Speed had on his fellow professionals. Speed with 535 premier league appearences and 81 goals will be sorely missed not just by the footballing community but the sporting community as a whole. He was an inspirational player and man and was one of the best professionals football has ever seen. R.I.P Gary Speed.
If you have any thoughts on my blog please comment and follow me so you don`t miss a post.
Jacob
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