The Round Ball Game

[Lat-Literal]

Big thanks to Teamsaint for picking up the slack

Today -

Crystal Palace 2 West Brom 0 Excellent start continues with comfortable win
Bournemouth 1 Watford 1 Costly goalkeeping blunder and missed penalty
home team 6 Newcastle United 1 All SIX conceded in a 20 mins period
Norwich City 1 Leicester City 2 Back to winning ways,held on from being 2-0 up
Chelsea 1 Southampton 3 Watched this on telly,Saints superior in every department,where's Calum ?
Brighton 1 Cardiff City 1 Dominated the game,unbeaten start continues
Sheffield Wednesday 3 Preston 1 Last minute goal ensured the win
Coventry City 3 Shrewsbury Town 0 Straightforward win,up to 5th place
Hartlepool United 1 Luton Town 4 From 1-1 at the break,fell apart in the 2nd half
Morecambe 3 Bristol Rovers 4 Managed to hang on for the points despite conceding a late 3rd
Wimbledon 2 Barnet 0 Early and very late goals secured the win
York City 2 Cambridge United 2 Points dropped after being 2-0 up
Chester City 3 Wrexham 2 The 2nd goal came too late to make a difference against bitter rivals,where's Ams ?
Gainsborough Trinity 0 Stockport County 1 Smash and grab 3 points,up to 4th
Chelmsford 0 Oxford City 4 Goaless 1st half,floodgates opened after conceding a 2nd half penalty
Truro City 3 Havant & Waterlooville 0 Very comfortable win,up to 13th place
Partick Thistle 3 Dundee United 0 Impressive win takes Jags off the bottom of the league
Ross County 1 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2 Improved form continues,2-0 up at half time
St Mirren 1 Alloa 1 Opened the scoring on 68 mins,couldn't see it through despite lions share of chances
Berwick 2 East Stirlingshire 1 Leading at the break,remain bottom of the table

FA Vase qualifier

Bardon Hill 0 Hereford 1 Penalty in the 2nd half sees the Bulls through to the next round

Liverpool,Man United play tomorrow

Citeh!!!!

(No Aguero)

[EdgeleyRob]

Citeh.

(No Aguero)

Yes but your conscience is clear.

[Lat-Literal]

Yes but your conscience is clear.

[EdgeleyRob]

Everton 1 Liverpool 1 Rodgers out,Mourinho or Klopp in ?
Arsenal 3 Manchester United 0 All over after 20 minutes

[P. G. Tipps]

For a glorious twenty minutes Arsenal demonstrated what professional football should be all about.

We expect professionals in any sphere of work to be 'extraordinary' rather than 'ordinary'

Sadly that is not always the case in today's world of boring, over-rated and over-salaried mediocrity.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Sunderland's manager does the honourable thing and gets no pay-off.

Meanwhile, the Chelsea manager. . .

[johncorrigan]

Everton 1 Liverpool 1 Rodgers out,Mourinho or Klopp in ?

Klopp for the Kop! I'd forgotten about him - that'd be fun!

[gurnemanz]

Eagles still flying high. Someone on the Palace messageboard has gleefully supplied a link to the Baggies board where discontent reigns with Tony Pulis, Palace's erstwhile saviour.

[aeolium]

Thanks Rob for the comprehensive service. Good to see ICT recovering from their poor start to the season with a derby win. Hereford also seem to be doing well though you can tell you're in a lowly league when you have no idea of the geographical location of most of the opposition (a bit like some of the Scottish clubs I suppose).

Elsewhere I'm enjoying the travails of Mourinho and Chelsea - what an unpleasant manager and dreary team they have become. Arsenal definitely playing the most attractive football, if frustratingly inconsistent. North-east forum teams seem to be struggling this season....

[jayne lee wilson]

As the dust of inevitability settles on the diluted drama of departure, if I were to think of one word to describe Liverpool this term, it would be "ordinary". Last season we went from tentative to almost-great to disastrous, whereas 2013-14 will always be remembered for astounding attacking brilliance, 4s and 5s sweeping in every week, scorelines like 6-3 and 6-1 (away!) dizzyingly regular, a Brazilian-Corinthian "if you score 4, we'll score more" exuberance. Rodgers' philosophy uniquely matched by perfectly-suited personnel. Then the final operatic heartbreaks - Chelsea, Gerrard, Crystal Palace...So very, very Liverpool. Chance and Necessity.

A strange three seasons for Rodgers to reflect on, but ultimately it was the poor buying decisions that cost him his job, with Balotelli only the most disastrous. (I do think Lallana has been lumped in with the "failures" unfairly though - given the chance he often did well). Rodgers seemed to think he could switch approaches instantly from fluid pass-and-move to target-man crosses, but it never worked, and even Benteke appeared isolated in a malfunctioning team. Were transfers decided by "committee" at Liverpool? So the rumours go and, as we all should know, a group cannot think.
The game that stands out from Rodgers' tenure? Liverpool 3 Manchester City 2, Easter 2014. An unbearable, rollercoastering thunderstorm of emotion...!

So is it the headline-writers'-dream, devoutly Christian Jurgen Klopp, or the lugubrious, saturnine Ancelotti?
I hope it's Klopp - looking almost like an unhinged Mourinho (not far from the edge himself...), he has the inspiring, maniacal edge that matches a city like this. God Knows this team needs it!

[P. G. Tipps]

So is it the headline-writers'-dream, devoutly Christian Jurgen Klopp, ....

No he's an evangelical Protestant, so he's 'staunchly' ... only timid, mamby-pamby Papists are 'devout'.

Agree with your comments about Klopp though. The best managers are often individualistic oddballs and he appears to have exactly those credentials over and above the essential track-record of success.

I hope he gets/takes the job too as Liverpool should then be exciting to watch if nothing else.

[Lat-Literal]

As the dust of inevitability settles on the diluted drama of departure, if I were to think of one word to describe Liverpool this term, it would be "ordinary". Last season we went from tentative to almost-great to disastrous, whereas 2013-14 will always be remembered for astounding attacking brilliance, 4s and 5s sweeping in every week, scorelines like 6-3 and 6-1 (away!) dizzyingly regular, a Brazilian-Corinthian "if you score 4, we'll score more" exuberance. Rodgers' philosophy uniquely matched by perfectly-suited personnel. Then the final operatic heartbreaks - Chelsea, Gerrard, Crystal Palace...So very, very Liverpool. Chance and Necessity.

A strange three seasons for Rodgers to reflect on, but ultimately it was the poor buying decisions that cost him his job, with Balotelli only the most disastrous. (I do think Lallana has been lumped in with the "failures" unfairly though - given the chance he often did well). Rodgers seemed to think he could switch approaches instantly from fluid pass-and-move to target-man crosses, but it never worked, and even Benteke appeared isolated in a malfunctioning team. Were transfers decided by "committee" at Liverpool? So the rumours go and, as we all should know, a group cannot think.
The game that stands out from Rodgers' tenure? Liverpool 3 Manchester City 2, Easter 2014. An unbearable, rollercoastering thunderstorm of emotion...!

So is it the headline-writers'-dream, devoutly Christian Jurgen Klopp, or the lugubrious, saturnine Ancelotti?
I hope it's Klopp - looking almost like an unhinged Mourinho (not far from the edge himself...), he has the inspiring, maniacal edge that matches a city like this. God Knows this team needs it!

It is very strange how everyone living in Southampton whose name begins with an "L" moved to Liverpool and didn't perform - Lovren, Lambert, to some extent Lallana to name just three. But Suarez was the key issue for Rodgers. Whatever to do - and Sturridge is more dependable than Bentecke. As you will know, he was injured for a very long time. I don't understand the left back matter one jot. Gomez is the answer than he isn't for some reason and is dropped. They have had Jose Enrique, Flanagan and Moreno. I do think Rodgers - not a terrible manager - could be criticised for chop and change. There was a time in the 1970s when Liverpool seemed to be winning everything and it all got boring for the rest of us but that baton was passed to Man Utd. Consequently, it would be of interest if Liverpool had quite a successful season and I do wish the team (reasonably) well.

RE AGUERO'S FIVE:

Does anyone know if a player has scored a double hat trick in the top flight - if so who was it please and when? If it turns out to be Arsenal, I'll look like a clown but what the heck!

[teamsaint]

I'm not sure that Lallana can be said to have not performed.
As for Lambert, well he was a flawed signing. Despite being a good target man, and a decent finisher, the part of his game that might have been best suited to Liverpool , is his passing from a deep lying position, which is really excellent. Clearly they bought him as cover, but the way to have got the best out of him might have been to have him playing as a deep centre forward, feeding Sturridge and Sterling. but this was never the plan, so it can't be said to have failed.

I think your double hat trick man from memory might be Ted Drake?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Drake

yes , it was indeed the Southampton born man, one of several Winchester born England Internationals. ( also from memory Terry Paine and Wayne Bridge).

Strange case Liverpool. Until they get a 60k stadium, or a sugar daddy, there is no logical reason for them to be a top 4 team. ( Sorry Jayne). Liverpool may still be something of a global brand, but you pretty much need £30m players to win leagues these days.
History and being a big city team are all well and good, but ask sheffield Wednesday( or united) or Huddersfield( or Leeds or Villa, or Spurs) if they are enough.

[Lat-Literal]

I'm not sure that Lallana can be said to have not performed.
As for Lambert, well he was a flawed signing. Despite being a good target man, and a decent finisher, the part of his game that might have been best suited to Liverpool , is his passing from a deep lying position, which is really excellent. Clearly they bought him as cover, but the way to have got the best out of him might have been to have him playing as a deep centre forward, feeding Sturridge and Sterling. but this was never the plan, so it can't be said to have failed.

I think your double hat trick man from memory might be Ted Drake?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Drake

yes , it was indeed the Southampton born man, one of several Winchester born England Internationals. ( also from memory Terry Paine and Wayne Bridge).

Strange case Liverpool. Until they get a 60k stadium, or a sugar daddy, there is no logical reason for them to be a top 4 team. ( Sorry Jayne). Liverpool may still be something of a global brand, but you pretty much need £30m players to win leagues these days.
History and being a big city team are all well and good, but ask sheffield Wednesday( or united) or Huddersfield if they are enough.

Hah, it had to be didn't it.

Mind you, that was the Yorkshire/County Durham Arsenal of course.

(Chapman/Allison)

It all links up in a wacky sort of way.

[teamsaint]

sorry, schooolboy error in my post.

i should have said " one of several ex Winchester city England internationals !!" ...which do include Paine and Drake , but not Bridge.

I blame this cold......

( I bet I get in big trouble with JLW.......)