*Official* English Football Season 2011-12

[BoyBrumby]

The only thing more painful than watching Liverpool these days is watching Kenny's post-match interviews.

He's always been like it, tbf. Makes Ferguson seem as garrulous as Graham Norton by comparison. Just that even twelve years (?) or however long ago it was he was failing with the Geordies we didn't quite have the level of saturation coverage we do now & the passing of time has leant a rose tint to the memories.

 

[Furball]

It's uncanny:

 

[Furball]

Premier League Table 2012:

                         P  W  D  L  Pts

Manchester United       11  9  1  1   28
Manchester City         13  8  2  3   26
Newcastle United        12  7  2  3   23
Sunderland              13  7  2  4   23
----------------------------------------
Arsenal                 12  7  1  4   22
----------------------------------------
Everton                 14  6  4  4   22
Tottenham Hotspur       13  5  4  4   19
Chelsea                 12  5  4  3   19
Fulham                  12  6  1  5   19
Swansea City            12  6  1  5   19
Norwich City            12  5  2  5   17
Bolton Wanderers        11  5  1  5   16
West Bromwich Albion    13  4  2  7   14
Blackburn Rovers        11  4  2  5   14
Wigan Athletic          12  3  4  5   13
Stoke City              12  3  3  6   12
Queens Park Rangers     12  3  2  7   11
----------------------------------------
Aston Villa             11  2  4  5   10
Liverpool               12  2  2  8    8
Wolverhampton Wanderers 12  1  2  9    5

 

[Nate]

EDIT: I expect to be eating bad-half-of-Mersey pie this time tomorrow. 24 hours of bliss.

IT TASTES AWFUL z

 

[Scaly piscine]

Premier League Table 2012:

                         P  W  D  L  Pts

Manchester United       11  9  1  1   28
Manchester City         13  8  2  3   26
Newcastle United        12  7  2  3   23
Sunderland              13  7  2  4   23
----------------------------------------
Arsenal                 12  7  1  4   22
----------------------------------------
Everton                 14  6  4  4   22
Tottenham Hotspur       13  5  4  4   19
Chelsea                 12  5  4  3   19
Fulham                  12  6  1  5   19
Swansea City            12  6  1  5   19
Norwich City            12  5  2  5   17
Bolton Wanderers        11  5  1  5   16
West Bromwich Albion    13  4  2  7   14
Blackburn Rovers        11  4  2  5   14
Wigan Athletic          12  3  4  5   13
Stoke City              12  3  3  6   12
Queens Park Rangers     12  3  2  7   11
----------------------------------------
Aston Villa             11  2  4  5   10
Liverpool               12  2  2  8    8
Wolverhampton Wanderers 12  1  2  9    5

Incredible how few draws there have been really.

 

[sledger]

Probably a sign of how competitive the league is to be honest. For a lot of teams (particularly those with ambitions of finishing 6th and above) there's probably very little value in a draw any more, with so many teams capable of challenging for these places I imagine the ethos at most clubs is that it's better to go for a maximum and come away with nothing rather than end up with 1 point.

 

[Cabinet96]

GF I was dissapointed I didn't see this:


Newcastle 2 - 0 Liverpool

Carroll's dive was disgraceful and Raina's head but at the end optimised the shambles the club are in at the moment.

 

[GIMH]

I thought Carroll tripped over his own feet rather than diving1 but then I heard Dalglish say the same and worried

 

[cpr]

Nah, a trip over your own feet tends to be a stumble then a dodgy roll as you try and naturally keep your balance.

Carroll goes down amazingly smoothly, the left foot lands nice on the floor, but magically buckles (in fact, the moment his leg mysteriously buckles, he's still controlling the ball perfectly with his right)

 

[Ausage]

What I find amazing is that if he stays on his feet he almost certainly scores. Diving is often a stupid thing to do from a purely practical pov but that's got to be the worst example of it. I don't care how much he cost, if I was coaching that team he'd be in the reserves for that.

 

[Furball]

Nah, a trip over your own feet tends to be a stumble then a dodgy roll as you try and naturally keep your balance.

Carroll goes down amazingly smoothly, the left foot lands nice on the floor, but magically buckles (in fact, the moment his leg mysteriously buckles, he's still controlling the ball perfectly with his right)

Are you sure about that? This is Andy Carroll we're talking about.

 

[Nate]

Definitely a dive, no question.

 

[roseboy64]

 

[Uppercut]

I thought Carroll tripped over his own feet rather than diving1 but then I heard Dalglish say the same and worried

I thought it was at least possible that he expected to be fouled and lost his balance even when the touch didn't come. That would just make it even funnier though, Carroll falling over an imaginary foul instead of scoring an open net..

 

[wpdavid]

Gerrard's response to Dalglish in that clip could euphemistically be described as 'interesting'. I can think of some managers who'd have put him on unpaid leave for a week or two for that particular stunt.

 

[Uppercut]

Apparently Carroll shouted '****ing joke, ****ing ****, **** off' at him on the way off when he was subbed.

 

[Pothas]

Apparently Carroll shouted '****ing joke, ****ing ****, **** off' at him on the way off when he was subbed.

What a guy.

 

[wpdavid]

Apparently Carroll shouted '****ing joke, ****ing ****, **** off' at him on the way off when he was subbed.

Hopefully Kenny will invite him to keep walking all the way to whichever Championship side fancies the useless lump next season.

Maybe it's my age, but I find this hard to take. However badly he's managed the club this season - and at times he's been an absolute disgrace imho - he's entitled to respect from his players simply because of who he is. They're probably too myopic & pig-ignorant to view it this way, but 3 European Cup wins and 6 league titles as a player plus another couple of league wins as a manager is more than this lot of under-achievers will ever see. Beyond that, given the way he's publicly defended them in spite of everything this season, he's entitled to far, far better than this.

 

[sledger]

Hopefully Kenny will invite him to keep walking all the way to whichever Championship side fancies the useless lump next season.

Maybe it's my age, but I find this hard to take. However badly he's managed the club this season - and at times he's been an absolute disgrace imho - he's entitled to respect from his players simply because of who he is. They're probably too myopic & pig-ignorant to view it this way, but 3 European Cup wins and 6 league titles as a player plus another couple of league wins as a manager is more than this lot of under-achievers will ever see. Beyond that, given the way he's publicly defended them in spite of everything this season, he's entitled to far, far better than this.

The long and short of it though, irrespective of whether he deserves it or not, is that if the players are behaving in this way, then they're doing so because they know they will be able to get away with it, and the finger of blame has to be pointed at Kenny for this. I agree, he shouldn't have to put up with this sort of behaviour, I don't think anyone should quite honestly. But the players are behaving like this, because they know they can. You never see Man Utd players (as an example) behaving like this, and there's a very good reason for that. As soon as you let players run the show like this it's curtains, no wonder Liverpool are up **** creek.

 

[Eds]

Gerrard was right to do what he did though. The decision had been made as to who was going in goal, a manager on the pitch is never going to end well.

Carroll on the other hand...