Football | Live matchcasts - Yahoo! Sport UK
For what it is worth, Yahoo! has the Brm/Bol match listed in their Matchcasts for the week so they are aware of it. Does that mean we'll get the points? Well, that's not as clear, but I expect that we will.
Glandular Fever...Catch It...
So, first it was Lee Hendrie, then James Milner, and now Scott Parker have all come down with "glandular fever." This has very little to do with fantasy epl but having grown up with a physician as a father, I've heard about a lot of illnesses. Never heard of "glandular fever" or at least not by that name - and how is it that I've never heard of this wiping out 4 to 6 week stretches of a player's season like this before? Just thought I'd ask before I got down to the business of the column. If anyone has any thoughts, please share with the group.
The second bit of business that is much more important to fantasy players is the worry that Yahoo hasn't seemed to notice that Bolton and Birmingham are scheduled for two matches this week. This happens from time-to-time but it is a little disconcerting since Bolton's only current match is with ManYoo and given that the Wanderers as a group aren't exactly fantasy studs, we here at Blog Central have been a bit skittish about putting Big Sam's men in our respective line-ups. That said, sources everywhere insist that this match is happening on Tuesday evening at St. Andrews so we're going with it.
In non-two-gamer news, Everton host Sunderland, Fulham host Pompey and Chelsea travel to Birmingham (not good times in the midlands) - seems likely that all three of those teams will do well based on their match-ups. Other notes, Robben is back from suspension while Gerrard checks out due to his. Samaras is back early from injury but Birmingham's entire team seems to be out (again, not good times in the midlands).
Chelsea - It appears that it will be Jermaine Pennant and Maik Taylor against the entire Chelsea squad this weekend - did I mention that times are not good in the midlands? If you could bet on things like Taylor will concede (yet another) own goal - I'd take that action in a second. I'm inclined to recommend Robben because he's well-rested and I'm generally a fan of his but it isn't a strong recommendation - I'd take Kevin Nolan and his two matches first. Huth may well play again and seems reasonably assured of a clean sheet if he does. The rest of the crew at Chelsea are more expensive than they're worth. The big question for the week is whether you go with Pennant or Stelios in the premium midfield category - I'm leaning toward Stelios because I think Bolton will score more goals in their two games than Brum but it's sort of a toss-up.
The Former "Big Two" - Arsenal, flying high after their 7th straight Champions League clean sheet, host an Aston Villa side that are missing their central defense and their only player capable of supplying them with width (Milner). Seems like a good weekend to have Henry and maybe Fabregas who has quietly become a very good fantasy player in the second half of the season. Eboue is another Gunner who is worth inclusion after you figure out which two-gamers you're going to have in your line-up. He's relatively cheap and gets forward a lot on the right side of the field - sooner or later he's going to have a monster game and this may well be it. The biggest dilema related to Arsenal is at striker where fantasy managers must be unsure if the fit-again Robin van Persie will supplant Adebayor in the Starting XI. Stay away from Villa - Baros and Milner are both out and there isn't much else there.
In contrast to Arsenal's seemingly easy weekend of things, ManYoo have the unenviable task of traveling to the Reebok for the first of Bolton's two matches this week. The Neviller is questionable leaving the right side of the United defense a fantasy black hole (Pique is listed as a Midfielder). One would have to assume that Ruud will supplant Saha after his game-winning performance in mid-week and eliminate a great cheap striker from the mix. In fact, the only Devil I'm sticking with is Ronaldo because I've got him exceptionally cheap. The rest I'm discounting due to the difficulty of their match this week...which turns the focus to Bolton. One of those weeks you hate - I want to see them lose (good for Arsenal) but I'll have a lot of their guys in my line-up. Davies and Nolan are relatively cheap so it makes sense to include both of them. Stelios, as mentioned above, is pretty expensive but probably worth stretching for if you can make it happen. Jussi isn't my favorite keeper ever but the promise of a match vs. Birmingham plus whatever he managed from the ManYoo match seems like a good reason to make the investment. In defense, I'm currently going with Ben Haim who seems certain to play and isn't too over-priced. There may be a case for Okocha because he's cheap too but he hasn't done much this year and there may be better one-game options out there. Speaking of which...
Against the Relegation Zone - Everton v. Sunderland is pretty enticing. Despite losing the Liverpool derby last weekend, Everton have been pretty hot over the last few months with Beattie and (blog favorite) McFadden in particularly good form. Cahill always seems to be near the ball and while he's uncertain for this weekend, Arteta is another in-form player (although one I'm staying away from this week due to the injury). Another great name from fantasy seasons past is Gary Naysmith - he's cheap, he gets into the offense, and he's been starting.
We mentioned Birmingham a few times above and the only interesting player there is Pennant - I'm pretty sure Jarosik won't play vs. Chelsea due to his loan terms and he's been one of the few other Brum players who has even created a blip among fantasy managers this year.
That leaves us with Pompey traveling to Craven Cottage to face a Fulham side who seem to have lost some of the offensive momentum that they had going in February. Wayne Bridge is back to present fantasy managers with another cheap, offensive-minded, defender who is a decent bet for a clean sheet. Not too much else exciting about Fulham's offense right now. Jeremy's boy D'Allesandro had a nice weekend two weeks ago but his price went up accordingly so I'm not sure how much of a bargain he should be considered at this point (plus, I'm bitter about the rainout last weekend so I'm sort of down on him).
Random Fantasy EPL Notes - Spurs travel to St. James' Park to face a Newcastle squad that has been up and down in recent weeks - the Toon hot streak seems to be over and Spurs look likely to continue that trend in what promises to be a difficult match to stay awake for...Mido looks likely to displace Defoe, so there's that, but probably not your best option...Liverpool travel to West Brom without Stevie G to trounce Albion...Luis Garcia will be the popular pick here but he generally disappoints at exactly the moment everyone thinks he'll do well...Harry Kewell is a relatively inexpensive one-gamer who is poised to do well while Crouch is the only striker guaranteed to start...Man Citeh looks like they're in a good position to do well at home against Boro...Boro are coming off a long trip to Basle where they were beaten down and lost Pogotetz to injury which leaves them very inexperienced in the back...throw in that Boro aren't very good following European competition and Samaras and Barton are good bets if you're in the market for one-gamers...the Hammers and blog fave Dean Ashton are set to rebound from their disappointing loss to ManYoo in midweek as Charlton comes to Upton Park...Ashton is criminally cheap but he's probably the only one I'd go out of my way to acquire in a week where there are two-gamers to be had...Finally, Rovers host Wigan with blog faves MGP and Bellamy still the only particularly attractive targets (and, again, in a week of two-gamers, they're probably not a great value for the money as both are pretty expensive).
Happy Shopping Kids...
The second bit of business that is much more important to fantasy players is the worry that Yahoo hasn't seemed to notice that Bolton and Birmingham are scheduled for two matches this week. This happens from time-to-time but it is a little disconcerting since Bolton's only current match is with ManYoo and given that the Wanderers as a group aren't exactly fantasy studs, we here at Blog Central have been a bit skittish about putting Big Sam's men in our respective line-ups. That said, sources everywhere insist that this match is happening on Tuesday evening at St. Andrews so we're going with it.
In non-two-gamer news, Everton host Sunderland, Fulham host Pompey and Chelsea travel to Birmingham (not good times in the midlands) - seems likely that all three of those teams will do well based on their match-ups. Other notes, Robben is back from suspension while Gerrard checks out due to his. Samaras is back early from injury but Birmingham's entire team seems to be out (again, not good times in the midlands).
Chelsea - It appears that it will be Jermaine Pennant and Maik Taylor against the entire Chelsea squad this weekend - did I mention that times are not good in the midlands? If you could bet on things like Taylor will concede (yet another) own goal - I'd take that action in a second. I'm inclined to recommend Robben because he's well-rested and I'm generally a fan of his but it isn't a strong recommendation - I'd take Kevin Nolan and his two matches first. Huth may well play again and seems reasonably assured of a clean sheet if he does. The rest of the crew at Chelsea are more expensive than they're worth. The big question for the week is whether you go with Pennant or Stelios in the premium midfield category - I'm leaning toward Stelios because I think Bolton will score more goals in their two games than Brum but it's sort of a toss-up.
The Former "Big Two" - Arsenal, flying high after their 7th straight Champions League clean sheet, host an Aston Villa side that are missing their central defense and their only player capable of supplying them with width (Milner). Seems like a good weekend to have Henry and maybe Fabregas who has quietly become a very good fantasy player in the second half of the season. Eboue is another Gunner who is worth inclusion after you figure out which two-gamers you're going to have in your line-up. He's relatively cheap and gets forward a lot on the right side of the field - sooner or later he's going to have a monster game and this may well be it. The biggest dilema related to Arsenal is at striker where fantasy managers must be unsure if the fit-again Robin van Persie will supplant Adebayor in the Starting XI. Stay away from Villa - Baros and Milner are both out and there isn't much else there.
In contrast to Arsenal's seemingly easy weekend of things, ManYoo have the unenviable task of traveling to the Reebok for the first of Bolton's two matches this week. The Neviller is questionable leaving the right side of the United defense a fantasy black hole (Pique is listed as a Midfielder). One would have to assume that Ruud will supplant Saha after his game-winning performance in mid-week and eliminate a great cheap striker from the mix. In fact, the only Devil I'm sticking with is Ronaldo because I've got him exceptionally cheap. The rest I'm discounting due to the difficulty of their match this week...which turns the focus to Bolton. One of those weeks you hate - I want to see them lose (good for Arsenal) but I'll have a lot of their guys in my line-up. Davies and Nolan are relatively cheap so it makes sense to include both of them. Stelios, as mentioned above, is pretty expensive but probably worth stretching for if you can make it happen. Jussi isn't my favorite keeper ever but the promise of a match vs. Birmingham plus whatever he managed from the ManYoo match seems like a good reason to make the investment. In defense, I'm currently going with Ben Haim who seems certain to play and isn't too over-priced. There may be a case for Okocha because he's cheap too but he hasn't done much this year and there may be better one-game options out there. Speaking of which...
Against the Relegation Zone - Everton v. Sunderland is pretty enticing. Despite losing the Liverpool derby last weekend, Everton have been pretty hot over the last few months with Beattie and (blog favorite) McFadden in particularly good form. Cahill always seems to be near the ball and while he's uncertain for this weekend, Arteta is another in-form player (although one I'm staying away from this week due to the injury). Another great name from fantasy seasons past is Gary Naysmith - he's cheap, he gets into the offense, and he's been starting.
We mentioned Birmingham a few times above and the only interesting player there is Pennant - I'm pretty sure Jarosik won't play vs. Chelsea due to his loan terms and he's been one of the few other Brum players who has even created a blip among fantasy managers this year.
That leaves us with Pompey traveling to Craven Cottage to face a Fulham side who seem to have lost some of the offensive momentum that they had going in February. Wayne Bridge is back to present fantasy managers with another cheap, offensive-minded, defender who is a decent bet for a clean sheet. Not too much else exciting about Fulham's offense right now. Jeremy's boy D'Allesandro had a nice weekend two weeks ago but his price went up accordingly so I'm not sure how much of a bargain he should be considered at this point (plus, I'm bitter about the rainout last weekend so I'm sort of down on him).
Random Fantasy EPL Notes - Spurs travel to St. James' Park to face a Newcastle squad that has been up and down in recent weeks - the Toon hot streak seems to be over and Spurs look likely to continue that trend in what promises to be a difficult match to stay awake for...Mido looks likely to displace Defoe, so there's that, but probably not your best option...Liverpool travel to West Brom without Stevie G to trounce Albion...Luis Garcia will be the popular pick here but he generally disappoints at exactly the moment everyone thinks he'll do well...Harry Kewell is a relatively inexpensive one-gamer who is poised to do well while Crouch is the only striker guaranteed to start...Man Citeh looks like they're in a good position to do well at home against Boro...Boro are coming off a long trip to Basle where they were beaten down and lost Pogotetz to injury which leaves them very inexperienced in the back...throw in that Boro aren't very good following European competition and Samaras and Barton are good bets if you're in the market for one-gamers...the Hammers and blog fave Dean Ashton are set to rebound from their disappointing loss to ManYoo in midweek as Charlton comes to Upton Park...Ashton is criminally cheap but he's probably the only one I'd go out of my way to acquire in a week where there are two-gamers to be had...Finally, Rovers host Wigan with blog faves MGP and Bellamy still the only particularly attractive targets (and, again, in a week of two-gamers, they're probably not a great value for the money as both are pretty expensive).
Happy Shopping Kids...
Pop quiz, hotshot
[12:16] JSpitzberg: pop quiz, hot shot...[12:16] JSpitzberg: it's the first leg of a european tie...
[12:16] JSpitzberg: 70th minute...
[12:17] JSpitzberg: you're away from home...
[12:17] JSpitzberg: and down by 2 goals to nil.
[12:17] JSpitzberg: you've already made 1 sub due to an injury.
[12:17] JSpitzberg: do you bring on attackers and go for the away goal?
[12:17] JSpitzberg: or sit back and hope it doesn't get worse?
[12:17] buttonmoulder: away goal
[12:18] buttonmoulder: 2-1 is a draw
[12:18] JSpitzberg: now assume you're mclaren ;-)
[12:18] JSpitzberg: 73:23
Goal kick taken long by Pascal Zuberbuhler (Basle). Middlesbrough substitution: Gaizka Mendieta replaced by Fabio Rochemback (tactical). Middlesbrough substitution: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink replaced by Aiyegbeni Yakubu (tactical).
[12:18] JSpitzberg: like for like
[12:18] buttonmoulder: pretty much
[12:19] buttonmoulder: howabout JFH for mendieta
[12:19] buttonmoulder: i mean yak for mendieta
[12:19] JSpitzberg: yeah... bring in the yak for a middie
[12:19] buttonmoulder: with jfh dropping into the rooney role
[12:19] JSpitzberg: and get morrison in the game on the right
[12:19] JSpitzberg: run at them for 20 mins
[12:19] buttonmoulder: i would have started morrison
[12:19] JSpitzberg: or take off fat viduka
[12:19] buttonmoulder: it's not january!
[12:20] buttonmoulder: viduka will never score
[12:20] JSpitzberg: lol
[12:20] JSpitzberg: it's no where NEAR the transfer window
[12:20] buttonmoulder: what happened to maccaroni
[12:20] JSpitzberg: 3rd choice right-wing these days
[12:21] buttonmoulder: but better than viduka in a non-January month
[12:21] buttonmoulder: just put on all the speed you have
[12:22] JSpitzberg: right
[12:22] JSpitzberg: yak
[12:22] JSpitzberg: downing
[12:22] JSpitzberg: morrison
[12:22] JSpitzberg: speed and width
[12:22] buttonmoulder: i agree with you. a like for like substitution is useless when your original like managed to get you a 2-0 hole
Friday's Team News Today
for all of you smacking your lips at the prospect of a home match to Sunderland...
Valente blow for Toffees
Valente blow for Toffees
Gary Naysmith will continue at left back with Valente out, but Italian stopper Alessandro Pistone is continuing his comeback from a cruciate injury after a run-out in the reserves.
'There has been no reaction,' said Moyes after Pistone played 45 minutes in the reserves.
'He is ahead of schedule. Sandro is just finding it a bit of a struggle to get up to speed with the rest of the lads in training at the minute.
'He won't be back in the team next week or anything like that, it will be further down the line when that happens. But I would hope that Sandro would be available for the first team before the end of the season and that's his goal as well.'
Moyes has also missed out on the services of Mikel Arteta in recent games, and he could also miss the weekend clash with Sunderland after returning home for treatment.
'We will wait and see how he is,' said Moyes.
'He went to see his back specialist in Spain and we will know more when he gets back whether he will be available or not.'
Priorities
If he spent less time at the beauty shop and more time on the training pitch, he might be a half-decent player.
Yes, but...
Fergie Delighted With Dilemma
Now you have three players who expect to start and one who is probably not ready for prime time.
And no amount of "glory days" talk is going to change the fact that this is a different situation and will kill fantasy managers over the remaining months of the season.
"When we were at our very best, we had four great strikers," said Ferguson.But in '99 you had a first-choice pairing, and two players who knew their role was to come off the bench and win games when needed.
"It was one of the factors in us winning the Treble. We had great players at the time and everyone did their job.
"If we can do that again and get four strikers competing for the position, and we can rotate them at the right moments, that has to be good for the club.
Now you have three players who expect to start and one who is probably not ready for prime time.
And no amount of "glory days" talk is going to change the fact that this is a different situation and will kill fantasy managers over the remaining months of the season.
Kissing James Milner?
Glandular fever set to end Parker's season
The 25-year-old was today awaiting the results of tests which will determine whether or not he is suffering from glandular fever.
If they prove positive, he will sit out the rest of the campaign and his hopes of winning a late call-up to Sven-Goran Eriksson's England World Cup squad will be at an end.
Two Game Confusion
FA Premiership Fixtures | 2006 April
I may have rushed to sell Giggs & Van der Sar, etc too quickly.
Manchester United - Sunderland 14 April 2006That's a Friday. Does that mean that ManU are 2-gamers next week (Ars, Sun) after playing @Bolton this week, and then 1 gamers over Easter weekend (@Tot) when everyone else will have 2 games (save Sunderland... please!)?
I may have rushed to sell Giggs & Van der Sar, etc too quickly.
Ruud to return, Giggs to be rested?
FERGUSON AMAZED BY SHERINGHAM
Kieran Richardson has already been ruled out with slight damage to an ankle joint but, with an arduous trip to Bolton looming on Saturday, Ryan Giggs may be rested if he is not fully fit.
Giggs' eye-catching performances in central midfield have been one of the major reasons behind United's run of five straight league wins but the Welshman did limp out of one tackle on Sunday and in any case, Ferguson is not expecting the veteran to push his body through three matches a week on a regular basis.
If Giggs is missing, Darren Fletcher is most likely to return, with at least one untested youngster being drafted onto the bench.
Richardson's replacement is more obvious, with Park Ji-sung an automatic inclusion on the left-hand side.
Lazy Monday Blogging
The blogger is lazy, not the day.
[09:43] JSpitzberg: what if they held an epl game on monday and no one cared?
[09:44] Neal J Thurman: lol - I sense a tree in the woods analogy coming on
[09:44] JSpitzberg: something like that
[09:46] Neal J Thurman: Mido might do something crazy - that's always reason to pay a little attention - or WBA could give up a Birmingham-like 7
[09:48] Neal J Thurman: and apparently, there's a Mssr. Wenger on line 2 for you and a Mr. Hughes on line 1, they both wanted to let you know they will be watching very intently
[09:43] JSpitzberg: what if they held an epl game on monday and no one cared?
[09:44] Neal J Thurman: lol - I sense a tree in the woods analogy coming on
[09:44] JSpitzberg: something like that
[09:46] Neal J Thurman: Mido might do something crazy - that's always reason to pay a little attention - or WBA could give up a Birmingham-like 7
[09:48] Neal J Thurman: and apparently, there's a Mssr. Wenger on line 2 for you and a Mr. Hughes on line 1, they both wanted to let you know they will be watching very intently
Ruud may start against Hammers
Ruud may start against Hammers - Football365.com
I also wouldn't be surprised to see Evra for Silvestre. Fletcher in the midfield would be the other change, but would SAF sacrifice an attacker in Park or risk disrupting the still-new O'Shea/Giggs partnership?
Ruud van Nistelrooy is set to be thrust back into the first-team spotlight on Wednesday with Sir Alex Ferguson promising to make changes for the Barclays Premiership encounter with West Ham.Rooney to make way?
I also wouldn't be surprised to see Evra for Silvestre. Fletcher in the midfield would be the other change, but would SAF sacrifice an attacker in Park or risk disrupting the still-new O'Shea/Giggs partnership?
Small victories
BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | West Ham Utd | Live Text
Just kidding. Put Newton in the team as he was cheap and allowed me to buy "the premium choice" ManU players, as Neal called them. Could have stayed with Dailly, but figured maybe, just maybe Newton would get in the game. And sure enough. ;-)
Glad that Wigan was able to score and that Collins had a quiet day (though he should do alright even without a clean sheet). Congrats to all of you (Mike) with NR-C in the team. That game winning goal will be big in an otherwise quiet week (okay, only 1/2 the games have been played so far).
As for those of you with D'Alessandro and/or Eboue (Neal, again) all I can say is I'm sorry, and maybe they'll be 2-gamers soon. Oh, and in the immortal words of Nelson Muntz, "ha HA!"
Now let's hope that Birmingham don't attack or defend any better than they did on Wednesday.
90:00 (2:37)Woo hoo!
West Ham substitution: Yossi Benayoun replaced by Shaun Newton (tactical).
Just kidding. Put Newton in the team as he was cheap and allowed me to buy "the premium choice" ManU players, as Neal called them. Could have stayed with Dailly, but figured maybe, just maybe Newton would get in the game. And sure enough. ;-)
Glad that Wigan was able to score and that Collins had a quiet day (though he should do alright even without a clean sheet). Congrats to all of you (Mike) with NR-C in the team. That game winning goal will be big in an otherwise quiet week (okay, only 1/2 the games have been played so far).
As for those of you with D'Alessandro and/or Eboue (Neal, again) all I can say is I'm sorry, and maybe they'll be 2-gamers soon. Oh, and in the immortal words of Nelson Muntz, "ha HA!"
Now let's hope that Birmingham don't attack or defend any better than they did on Wednesday.
A Quickie...
Sorry kids but this is going to be a quick one because I'm headed out of town. Fortunately, it's a pretty easy week to discuss. Before we get to that, I'm going to tempt fate and brag on myself a little bit after a pretty good weekend last weekend.
Let's recap - Chelsea terrible, Adebayor - goal; Saha - brace; Nolan - goal; Sheringham - goal; McFadden - goal and two; MGP - Goal; Bellamy - brace; Apparently, Collins John was too much of a stretch but at least you didn't waste much money if you chose him.
OK, on to the two-gamers you need to have. At striker, there are a bunch of options between Rooney, Saha, Ashton, and Harewood. My preference is for the first three. In midfield Etherington, Ronaldo, Giggs and Park are all likely to get two matches. In defense, James Collins is cheap and likely to get two games given the injury situation in the West Ham defense. Wes Brown is also out so Vidic is another good cheap option (although his quality - or lack thereof - makes it less likely that ManYoo will get two clean sheets this week). O'Shea and Gary Neville - in that order - are the premium choices. Hayden Mullins is also an interesting choice in defense as he isn't too expensive and generally plays in midfield despite being listed as a defender. In net, if you're switching to a two-gamer, van der Saar is really the only choice. Hislop will get two matches but he has two tough away matches - a good one-gamer would probably make more sense.
If you're looking for a few cheap one-gamers to supplement the two-gamers D'Allesandro in the Pompey midfield is still cheap as is Adebayor from Arsenal is still inexpensive as well. Huth is still cheap and despite his less-than-stellar performance last week, he's likely to play again in the absence of William Gallas.
Let's recap - Chelsea terrible, Adebayor - goal; Saha - brace; Nolan - goal; Sheringham - goal; McFadden - goal and two; MGP - Goal; Bellamy - brace; Apparently, Collins John was too much of a stretch but at least you didn't waste much money if you chose him.
OK, on to the two-gamers you need to have. At striker, there are a bunch of options between Rooney, Saha, Ashton, and Harewood. My preference is for the first three. In midfield Etherington, Ronaldo, Giggs and Park are all likely to get two matches. In defense, James Collins is cheap and likely to get two games given the injury situation in the West Ham defense. Wes Brown is also out so Vidic is another good cheap option (although his quality - or lack thereof - makes it less likely that ManYoo will get two clean sheets this week). O'Shea and Gary Neville - in that order - are the premium choices. Hayden Mullins is also an interesting choice in defense as he isn't too expensive and generally plays in midfield despite being listed as a defender. In net, if you're switching to a two-gamer, van der Saar is really the only choice. Hislop will get two matches but he has two tough away matches - a good one-gamer would probably make more sense.
If you're looking for a few cheap one-gamers to supplement the two-gamers D'Allesandro in the Pompey midfield is still cheap as is Adebayor from Arsenal is still inexpensive as well. Huth is still cheap and despite his less-than-stellar performance last week, he's likely to play again in the absence of William Gallas.
WTF?
McFadden's assist gone again!
Anyone else missing points (again!) from Saturday's Everton/Villa match? Other than, you know, Villa.
Anyone else missing points (again!) from Saturday's Everton/Villa match? Other than, you know, Villa.
Early Speculation on the Two-Gamers...
Rooney, Giggs, Ronaldo, and Saha are the ManYoo guys you should find a way to get in your line-up. Ashton and Etherington are the best two prospects from the Hammers with Harewood and Benayoun in the consideration set as well. O'Shea is expensive but also worth it. I'm sticking with Vidic until I see the injury reports at the end of the week. The other two guys to keep an eye out for on defense are Mullins and Collins from West Ham. Mullins has been getting PT in midfield but is listed as a defender which is always a good thing. Collins subbed in for Anton Ferdinand in the FA Cup match against City and was singled out for praise by Pardew in his post-game interview. If Ferdinand can't go, Collins becomes a no-brainer given his cheap price.
Unfortunately, all of the above has me missing out on van der Saar in net but, of course, that would be a great pick-up as well. Hislop is slightly less valuable since the Hammers have two tough matches but his is much more affordable (12.87 vs. 15.79).
More to come at the end of the week.
Unfortunately, all of the above has me missing out on van der Saar in net but, of course, that would be a great pick-up as well. Hislop is slightly less valuable since the Hammers have two tough matches but his is much more affordable (12.87 vs. 15.79).
More to come at the end of the week.
Friday's Team News Today
West Ham United FC's progress to the FA Cup semi-finals after a 2-1 win at Manchester City FC last night has been tempered by the news that Scotland defender Christian Dailly will be out for a month with a torn hamstring. The 32-year-old has made 21 appearances but only five starts in the Premiership this season.
Blog-favorite, James Milner
Lose The Monkey And The Organ-Grinder...
James Milner has come in and performed admirably for Villa, but if anything, that just makes the bitter pill of O'Leary's transfer market bumbling even harder to swallow. Milner's career was going nowhere this time a year ago. If O'Leary had offered Newcastle Solano and £1million for the youngster they would have accepted it. Instead, O'Leary has either pushed up Milner's value when Villa do try and make the deal permanent or - more likely - turned a player going nowhere into a valuable member of a rival Premiership squad.
From the home office in Tampa, FL
United fans face ticket quandary
New Manchester United season ticket holders will be forced to join the Red Devils 'Cup scheme', which could cost them an extra £250 a year...... and watch them win! ;-)
However, it could also work against the American with some supporters who may have wanted to guarantee a seat at Premier League games, being put off at the prospect of having to pay over 33% extra to watch the likes of Lille, Barnet and Burton.
Assisted Living on Merseyside
We got our points... I guess. McFadden only credited with one assist. Maybe his "shot" off the post went off a defender before Cahill crashed it home. Regardless, I guess I'll be happy with it.
Now, do I keep him through this week? At Liv in the Merseyside derby. Bad news. But he's a striker listed as a middie, and next week he'll be playing Sunderland. Or do I gut him for a 2 gamers and hope to be able to buy him back next week? Somthing tells me that our readers will recommend the latter course. But I'm already sitting on Dailly on the D... that's how tight the money is. And I may want the cash to move from Adebayor to Ashton. Guess we have all week to figure it out.
Now, do I keep him through this week? At Liv in the Merseyside derby. Bad news. But he's a striker listed as a middie, and next week he'll be playing Sunderland. Or do I gut him for a 2 gamers and hope to be able to buy him back next week? Somthing tells me that our readers will recommend the latter course. But I'm already sitting on Dailly on the D... that's how tight the money is. And I may want the cash to move from Adebayor to Ashton. Guess we have all week to figure it out.
Rock the vote!
Please contact Yahoo! and enquire about McFadden's missing assists. There should be two of them.
Be pleasant, but firm.
http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/uk/uksoc/cgi_feedback
Thank you.
Jeremy "Screwed on Merseyside... again!"
Be pleasant, but firm.
http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/uk/uksoc/cgi_feedback
Thank you.
Jeremy "Screwed on Merseyside... again!"
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