European Soccer Part XIII

[ColbyWMHB]

Here are the UK / Ireland clubs and their UEFA draws:

Shelbourne (Ireland) v. Lille (France)
Hearts (Scotland) v. Braga (Portugal)
Newcastle (England) v. Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin (Israel)
Milwall (England) v. Ferencvaros (Hungary)
Middlesborough (England) v. Banik Ostrava (Czech Republic)
Rangers (Scotland) v. Maritimo (Portugal)

Games on Thursdays--the 16th and 30th of September.

The UEFA Cup...Europe's version of the NIT!

[Bob Gray]

Have they changed the UEFA Cup now where the CL group stage losers don't default into the UEFA Cup? I know they talked a lot about doing that, but I don't recall if they ever approved it. I always thought it was unfair the the other UEFA Cup teams when suddenly you have Barcelona or Inter Milan or somebody drop into your lap after they bomb out of the CL.

[FerrisLives]

The UEFA Cup is much better than the NIT. Valencia was arguably one of the 3 best teams in Europe last year with Arsenal and Porto. Since entrance into the CL and UEFA Cup is based on last seasons results it doesn't always have a lot of similarity to actual standings in European leagues. Liverpool is in the CL and they might only be the 7th best team in England this year. Greek club soccer has collapsed over the offseason, yet they have 3 teams in the CL group stages. That would be like the NCAA tournament gauranteeing Conference USA 3 bids in the tournament two years from now, based on the quality of the conference last year.

[Bob Gray]

ManU gets lucky to grab a late point at Blackburn. ManU did have the better of play, but didn't threat as much as you'd expect. Ronaldo took a horrible dive in the first half, looking for a penalty. I thought he was getting better about that the last part of last season, but apparently being back in Portugal for a few months has rubbed off on him again. Rovers were unfortunate to have Amoruso sent off. Not because his challenge didn't warrant it, but because Dickov got manhandled on the other end and Wiley looked the other way, leading to the play where Amoruso was sent off. Again, I wasn't impressed with the ManU midfield, this time featuring Djemba-Djemba and Kleberson. Friedel looked very solid for Blackburn.

[ColbyWMHB]

Have they changed the UEFA Cup now where the CL group stage losers don't default into the UEFA Cup? I know they talked a lot about doing that, but I don't recall if they ever approved it. I always thought it was unfair the the other UEFA Cup teams when suddenly you have Barcelona or Inter Milan or somebody drop into your lap after they bomb out of the CL.

The 3rd place finishers in the CL groups get put into the UEFA Cup. The 4th place group finishers are finished.

[MavrckMngr]

2-0 Man City over Charlton with about 3 minutes and stoppages left in the first half...so far so good...not that I haven't said that before... :p

[Bob Gray]

The 3rd place finishers in the CL groups get put into the UEFA Cup. The 4th place group finishers are finished.
That's the traditional way it's been for a number of years. But I thought they had decided sometime soon that the 3rd place teams wouldn't shift to the UEFA Cup, but would just be done.

[ColbyWMHB]

That's the traditional way it's been for a number of years. But I thought they had decided sometime soon that the 3rd place teams wouldn't shift to the UEFA Cup, but would just be done.

I thought I'd heard the same thing....but it isn't starting this campaign.

[MavrckMngr]

4-0 City over Charlton coming into the home stretch. Two goals by Anelka and an absolutely brilliant strike by Wright-Phillips (how many times have you heard that???) to get the score to it's current state. Attaway, Blues, the season starts today!

Question: Didn't Charlton make it into UEFA Cup on Fair Play? I didn't see them on UEFA's site.

[FerrisLives]

While all the transfer focus is on Wayne Rooney West Brom quietly made a huge transaction. They acquired striker Robert Earnshaw from Cardiff City. I'm a Cardiff City fan, so this is quite surprising. Earnshaw was IMO the best player not in the Premiership. He scored 105 goals in 205 games for Cardiff City and has been with the club since he was a teenager. This seems to be a sign that Cardiff City don't think they can win the League Championship this year, and they can't hold a player as good as Earnshaw back from the top flight any longer. Earnshaw is the pride and joy of the Cardiff City youth system, the best player they've ever brought up. With this move West Brom looks like a solid team, this means somebody like Everton or Portsmouth is getting relegated.

[MavrckMngr]

Everton or Pompey are going to get relegated anyway.

Have I mentioned Man City is now above the Rags in the league table? Oh **** yes, life is good. :D :D :D

[Jon]

Predictions in my weblog. A few are real blind stabs in the dark, so you're welcome to go after me for them.

Thanks for the mention. :)

HAIL HAIL! ;)

[nubobcat]

Gunners up 3-0 on Norwich City

Reyes
Henry
Pires

Henry created the Reyes goal making a great run and Henry's goal was on a perfect header

[Bob Gray]

Gunners win 4-1. Norwich battled hard in the 2nd half, but the outcome was never in doubt. Nice to see a five point difference with ManU already!

[3W]

Villa whack the Toon Army 4-2 in a slightly odd match where Alan Shearer was sat down for no apparent reason and Thomas Sorenson only got a yellow for what was apparently a fairly deliberate hand-ball outside the area.

Meanwhile, Forest had a man sent off at half-time against Coventry and celebrated it by getting rocked 4-1 at the City Ground. I think it's going to be a long year for the Reds, who have four draws and this stinker thus far.

[DBenz]

During the first half, this one looked like it was going to get very ugly. The Canaries were looking completely down and out after the 2nd and 3rd Gunner goals. I took home a lot of positives from the second half. Darren Huckerby has shown that his ability to terrorize defenders is not limited to the First Division. Even though Arsenal let up a bit in the second half, I think Norwich really picked up their game after the break and showed a good fighting spirit. The other positive is that I got to watch my first game live from Carrow Road since I moved back to the US from Norwich in 2002!

[Bob Gray]

Wow, a Norwich fan! Welcome!

Norwich certainly can take some positives away from today's game, despite the scoreline.

My brother is an Ipswich fan, so I have to admit I haven't heard a lot of good things about Norwich over the years! Nice town to visit though.

[Don King]

During the first half, this one looked like it was going to get very ugly. The Canaries were looking completely down and out after the 2nd and 3rd Gunner goals. I took home a lot of positives from the second half. Darren Huckerby has shown that his ability to terrorize defenders is not limited to the First Division. Even though Arsenal let up a bit in the second half, I think Norwich really picked up their game after the break and showed a good fighting spirit. The other positive is that I got to watch my first game live from Carrow Road since I moved back to the US from Norwich in 2002!

I've been impressed with Norwich so far-- they've got a chance at staying up; they'll probably be in the dogfight for 17th.

I'm more and more sure that West Brom will stay up; I haven't seen a lot of them, but they honestly look to me at this point like a club that could finish above fifteenth. Of the three promoted teams, they're the one that actually looks like a Premiership team the most.

Crystal Palace is going right back down, and you can probably go ahead and carve that one on a rock.

[Bob Gray]

I think it's way too early to know how the promoted teams will do this year. Last season Portsmouth looked like gangbusters the first month or two and then went into a major tailspin that almost got them relegated. At this point I generally agree with Don's assessments, but I'd bet they won't come out that way at the end.

Looks like Newcastle are starting out very slow again, with only 4 points so far.

[Craig P.]

...and Thomas Sorenson only got a yellow for what was apparently a fairly deliberate hand-ball outside the area.What do you mean, only? Was there anything (e.g. obvious goal-scoring opportunity) that would have merited more than a caution?