The Round Ball Game

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

Schadenfreude is the temptation with the Gunners losing by two to Borussia, but Schalke are at the Bridge tonight ....

thought the Reds were worth the three points but Ludogorets looked ddangerous; Balotelli scored a typical and skilful goal ... spent half the game googling the maps to find Ludogorets Razgrad - has any one been to Bulgaria?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Herbert Blomstedt, Arsène Wenger .... same person?

You've been reading Private Eye.

[EdgeleyRob]

Schadenfreude is the temptation with the Gunners losing by two to Borussia, but Schalke are at the Bridge tonight ....

thought the Reds were worth the three points but Ludogorets looked ddangerous; Balotelli scored a typical and skilful goal ... spent half the game googling the maps to find Ludogorets Razgrad - has any one been to Bulgaria?

Yes,and played football there (5 a side with the locals in Nessebar).

Latest round up.

Champions League

Liverpool 2 Ludogorets 1. Late late Gerrard pen rescued the reds.
Chelsea 1 Shalke 1. Couldn't find the winner despite late pressure.

Scottish League Cup.

Rangers 1 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0. Does this count as a giant killing ?

League action

Birmingham City 0 Sheffield Wednesday 2. Second half goals sealed the points,8th.
Ipswich Town 2 Brighton 0. Conceded 2 goals in the last 10 minutes.
Scunthorpe United 2 Coventry City 1. Took the lead,then had a man sent off.
Wimbledon 3 Burton Albion 0. Super win against the league leaders.
Northampton Town 5 Hartlepool United 1. Took the lead in the 1st minute,then fell apart.
Bristol Rovers 3 Nuneaton 1. Now starting to find some form,up to 10th.
Barnet 0 Wrexham 1. Good win at the league leaders,6th.
Stockport County 2 Worcester City 0. Now then,something BIG may be happening at EP.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

what is Bulgaria like EdgeleyRob? it was always playing second fiddle to the KGB &c in the spy novels ...

i had an intuition that les bleus would not do it! 1 point at home is an inauspicious start ...

[jayne lee wilson]

Right so this was a typically cagey, cautious, echt-european-first-game-back, whatever-you-do-don't-lose...?

But it was fast, engaging, a bit too open, Ludogorets looked worryingly competent... it seemed that it would never come - then SuperMario got his Super Goal!
I was OUT OF MY CHAIR!... a classic Italian Striker's goal, touch, touch, outside of the right boot low to the corner. Even a touch of espressivo in Mario's usual statuesque I-am-a-goal-god celebration...

So - a typically tight, competitive, hard-fought 1-0....Oh god please, no....
Look guys - if you can't get through a whole game without a defensive giveaway, maybe have it in the 1st minute rather than the 90th? The winner was sheer crazy luck. Good penalty though...

More I see of Lallana the more I love, he's becoming a vital cog, pass, move, shoot, always involved. But is Rogers experimenting a little too much with formations?
Sterling tips the diamond and - suddenly we click again.

***
Bayern - City a fascinating watch, but finally only served to remind me why I dislike, rather than admire, Arjen Robben. He can't give it up, can he? Thank God for a wise ref. City did well - unlucky for the goal..
(Bad Luck Cal - but you're bound to get through with moustachioed gunslinger Costa around).

[Beef Oven!]

After the bigging-up of the Premiership challenge in the Champions League, it ends up pretty disappointing with perversely, the worse performing team being the only winners.

As a united fan, and acknowledging that Bayern could've bagged 5, I thought that City showed that they are capable (at last?) of bringing a proper challenge to Europe. If Roma 'get a result' at Bayern, City could be in with a chance of even topping the group!

I thought Arsenal played well, but were let down by one or two players who seemed to be still in arrivals at Dortmund Airport! The goals they conceded were sickeners and best forgotten. I think they'll progress to the next stage of the competition, though.

Chelsea let themselves down by not having the killer instinct. They (Drogba?) should have wrapped the game up. They'll be fine.

Liverpool were very unconvincing. For a team that should have ensured that they did not concede, the Bulgarians found it too easy to get the ball in behind the defence for the equaliser.

But what a great goal from Balotelli. Anyone who has played the game to county/national pro/semi pro level will have personal experience of how difficult it is to deal with a ball into the box like that, as a defender.

But Balotelli still had a lot to do, and his immense strength, presence (almost 6' 3") and clinical finishing clinched it. A characteristically German/British Centre-forward's goal, but then Balotelli is not your characteristic Italian player! He's going to fit into the Liverpool team, no trouble and they may not even miss Suarez!

Can't wait to next season when Van Gaal gets United back into this competition!

[Beef Oven!]

But is Rogers experimenting a little too much with formations?

Fear not Jayne, your team has the joint best manager in the premiership!

His 'experimenting' comes from the same place as his more than one striker up-front formations, that did you so well last season. Liverpool are lucky to have a manager that seriously knows what he's doing.

I have been a huge fan of Lallana since I first saw him play for Southampton, admittedly only last season.

Totally agree with you about Robben

[johncorrigan]

What's the difference between a safety pin and the Paisley Buddies?
A safety pin has a point...


...oh yes!... and it's safe!

Laughter in the face of adversity; that's what I've been trying since I was 5.

Glad I got that joke in before our mighty late victory this evening at Firhill - I can rest easy for the weekend. Good luck to most of the forum teams this weekend - hope it's a successful one.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

one might make similar reference to Fulham johncorrigan .... hope they can appoint a decent manager [Hoddle? Sherwood?] and get a mighty win under their belt as well!

big time on Sunday for The Blues and Les Bleus! The draw with Schalke has undermined my confidence in the invincibility of JM this season

[EdgeleyRob]

Yes well done St Mirren.
Chelsea simply have to beat citeh to keep the Pellegrini out bandwagon rolling.
I kid you not,I work with umpteen citeh fans,"he's not the man to take us forward,especially in Europe".

Results tomorrow folks,I'm out this evening

BTW Calum,Bulgaria is very nice,and not a secret agent in sight.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

Good to know!

strwwth just seen the Leicester MU score! 5-3 to the Foxes cor!

[antongould]

Good to know!

strwwth just seen the Leicester MU score! 5-3 to the Foxes cor!

Me too Calum Lady Gould has decreed that the garden has to be prepared for Autumn and I come in to see this.........

[teamsaint]

Hmmmm...bad news....looks like the foxes are after our CL berth !!

What an amazing result. Really pleased to see Leicester doing well. forgot to watch, but might stop up for MOTD2.

Nigel Pearson is something of a minor legend round this way, after keeping us in the Championship against the odds, and then getting sacked by rupert lowe for his trouble.

[cloughie]

Hmmmm...bad news....looks like the foxes are after our CL berth !!

What an amazing result. Really pleased to see Leicester doing well. forgot to watch, but might stop up for MOTD2.

Nigel Pearson is something of a minor legend round this way, after keeping us in the Championship against the odds, and then getting sacked by rupert lowe for his trouble.

ts Good to see both Saints and Foxes doing well. Saints have come together well (and quickly!) as a team post- plunder! Didn't RL sack our Stu way back?

[teamsaint]

ts Good to see both Saints and Foxes doing well. Saints have come together well (and quickly!) as a team post- plunder! Didn't RL sack our Stu way back?

think Gray was sacked after giving lowe a funny look or something.

Fans liked him, especially after he scored at Old Trafford in a cup tie. always comes over as a decent bloke, and intelligent too.

Must be a good sight seeing the Owls in the play off spots, after the trials of recent years !

Last I looked, Stockport were in the Playoff spots too, which is good news indeed.