Manchester United v. Newcastle United - Live

Updated below (after the jump) with second half "call" and post-match wrap up.

Neal Thurman: sigh - Rooney and Valencia in, Fabio out (apparently the Evra resting thing was a red herring)
Neal Thurman: O'Shea was the right choice
Jeremy Spitzberg: boo
Jeremy Spitzberg: well, if i had to pick 2 outta 3...
Jeremy Spitzberg: those would be the two
Neal Thurman: grr
Jeremy Spitzberg: espn3?
Neal Thurman: I'm still between internet providers so I don't have an ESPN3 account to use right now :-(
Jeremy Spitzberg: loading
Jeremy Spitzberg: nice
Jeremy Spitzberg: MAX BRETOS?
Jeremy Spitzberg: oh hell no
Neal Thurman: yeah, he went over to ESPN over the summer
Neal Thurman: just when you thought it was safe...
Jeremy Spitzberg: yuck
Jeremy Spitzberg: carroll is a big dude
Jeremy Spitzberg: not pretty either
Jeremy Spitzberg: fabio not even on the bench
Jeremy Spitzberg: sigh
Neal Thurman: oh well - my only non-starter of the weekend which puts me up on lots of people - now I can comfortably root for a ManYoo loss, Rooney RC, etc
Jeremy Spitzberg: comm shield Owen's swan song?
Neal Thurman: could be - nice of SAF to give him a send-off but would have been nice if he'd told any/everybody

Jeremy Spitzberg: nufc just shading it early
Jeremy Spitzberg: actual posession in the attacking 1/2
Jeremy Spitzberg: manu haven't gotten that yet
Jeremy Spitzberg: nani keeps trying to force it in to rooney
Jeremy Spitzberg: nothing doing yet
Neal Thurman: even better - Valencia not touching it and Rooney not being allowed to take possession :-)
Jeremy Spitzberg: so far it's all neal
Jeremy Spitzberg: routledge is fast
Neal Thurman: homeless man's Lennon?
Jeremy Spitzberg: lol
Jeremy Spitzberg: could be a poor man's
Jeremy Spitzberg: depending on both's performances
Jeremy Spitzberg: rooney curls one high and wide from the left corner of the box
Neal Thurman: fair enough - homeless man's Lennon from early Spring 2010; Poor man's Lennon from the rest of his career
Jeremy Spitzberg: carroll wins the first corner of the game
Jeremy Spitzberg: have i mentioned that he's a big dude?
Jeremy Spitzberg: 6'3" according to Wikipedia
Neal Thurman: you had mentioned that - he still have that silly samuri topknot thingy on his head?
Jeremy Spitzberg: barton takes and ooooh carroll just wide
Jeremy Spitzberg: tell me if i'm sharing too much
Jeremy Spitzberg: he does
Jeremy Spitzberg: again, not pretty
Jeremy Spitzberg: but big
Neal Thurman: I'm good with as much info as you can share since I'm not going to go back and watch a replay later
Jeremy Spitzberg: nani shoot wide
Jeremy Spitzberg: but it's a corner to the hosts
Jeremy Spitzberg: carroll clears it
Neal Thurman: go you big punk
Jeremy Spitzberg: Alan Smith sighting
Jeremy Spitzberg: carroll v. vidic
Neal Thurman: did he start? or just watching on the bench?
Jeremy Spitzberg: heavyweight
Jeremy Spitzberg: start
Jeremy Spitzberg: gettting "involved"
Jeremy Spitzberg: he and scholes
Neal Thurman: when does he not get "involved"
Jeremy Spitzberg: middleweight undercard
Neal Thurman: ha
Jeremy Spitzberg: nani taking all manu's kicks
Neal Thurman: The Old and the Reckless
Jeremy Spitzberg: centrally...
Jeremy Spitzberg: 35yds out
Jeremy Spitzberg: into the wall
Jeremy Spitzberg: manu a little all over the place
Jeremy Spitzberg: pressure?
Jeremy Spitzberg: have to win by 6?
Neal Thurman: Chelsea already in their heads?
Jeremy Spitzberg: carroll shoot from outside the box
Jeremy Spitzberg: evds down to save it
Jeremy Spitzberg: started from a poor rooney control
Jeremy Spitzberg: meanwhile barton - sporting a porn moustache - clips nani
Jeremy Spitzberg: yc for barton
Jeremy Spitzberg: tony award for nani
Neal Thurman: Awesome - we'll need to find a pic of Barton with the 'stache
Jeremy Spitzberg: for the archives?
Jeremy Spitzberg: giggs warming up
Jeremy Spitzberg: but just to sell it
Neal Thurman: and for occasional comic relief
Jeremy Spitzberg: rooney trying really hard
Jeremy Spitzberg: but only shoots wide
Jeremy Spitzberg: slow and off target
Neal Thurman: here's hoping trying hard eventually equals YC :-)
Jeremy Spitzberg: valencia FC
Jeremy Spitzberg: -.5
Neal Thurman: woohoo
Neal Thurman: -pts is...
Jeremy Spitzberg: 2nd yc of the night goes to...
Jeremy Spitzberg: james perch, come on down
Jeremy Spitzberg: again on nani
Jeremy Spitzberg: cheap suit is the phrase that comes to mind
Jeremy Spitzberg: 40yds on the left
Neal Thurman: is this just Nani teasing us again? or is he ready to realize some of that promise?
Jeremy Spitzberg: rooney and nani over it
Neal Thurman: come on Nani :-)
Jeremy Spitzberg: into the wall
Jeremy Spitzberg: again
Jeremy Spitzberg: nolan with a cut on the back of his head from vidic
Neal Thurman: ouch
Jeremy Spitzberg: vidic promises to "break him" in his best ivan drago voice
Neal Thurman: HA
Jeremy Spitzberg: evra tangles with routledge and loses!
Jeremy Spitzberg: routledge hacked by berbs
Neal Thurman: speaking of which, who would have guessed that Dolph would get into the Action Hero Superstars movie
Jeremy Spitzberg: #rattled
Neal Thurman: Arnold...Sly...Willis...Jet Li...Statham...Rourke...and...
Neal Thurman: Lundgren?
Jeremy Spitzberg: rocky. punisher. um... ??
Jeremy Spitzberg: red scorpion?
Jeremy Spitzberg: scholes shot on
Jeremy Spitzberg: rooney cursing nani for not passing to him
Jeremy Spitzberg: nani tried the shot which was blocked
Neal Thurman: like to see Rooney agitated like that
Jeremy Spitzberg: both rooney and berbs were open
Neal Thurman: (or at least hear about it)
Jeremy Spitzberg: i'm so descriptive it's like you're seeing it
Neal Thurman: it does feel that way - certainly more so than BBC text cast
Jeremy Spitzberg: manu can't pass for shit
Jeremy Spitzberg: everything right into an NUFC chest
Jeremy Spitzberg: or dibble for that matter...
Neal Thurman: sad since this is their "attacking" line-up
Neal Thurman: honestly, if Rooney doesn't score 25+ you wonder where the goals will come from
Jeremy Spitzberg: chicharito
Neal Thurman: Berbs maybe 8; Nani maybe 6; Valencia 4 or 5; smattering for Giggs, Fletch, defenders
Jeremy Spitzberg: nani cross wins a corner
Jeremy Spitzberg: valencia to take
Neal Thurman: my luck it will be Valencia to Rooney goal
Jeremy Spitzberg: is it successful if manu gets it at the halfway line?
Jeremy Spitzberg: curled, not touched
Neal Thurman: lol, I think not
Jeremy Spitzberg: rooney feeds valencia wide...
Jeremy Spitzberg: cross deep to berbs...
Jeremy Spitzberg: cushions it down but behind rooney
Jeremy Spitzberg: who swivels
Jeremy Spitzberg: and shotts
Jeremy Spitzberg: shoots
Jeremy Spitzberg: over
Neal Thurman: phew
Jeremy Spitzberg: pt for me, maybe
Jeremy Spitzberg: so valencia in the black
Neal Thurman: so you have that going for you...
Jeremy Spitzberg: rooney dribbles it off a back-tracking defender's ankle
Neal Thurman: he he he
Jeremy Spitzberg: this is going to end with nani crossing for fletcher
Jeremy Spitzberg: berba from scholes
Jeremy Spitzberg: so i was close
Jeremy Spitzberg: or not
Neal Thurman: did they score?
Jeremy Spitzberg: y
Neal Thurman: boo
Neal Thurman: but could be worse
Jeremy Spitzberg: scholes pass tips off enrique's toes and berb finishs back across harper
Jeremy Spitzberg: #barndoor
Neal Thurman: lol
Jeremy Spitzberg: carroll abuses o'shea but cross doesn't find anyone
Jeremy Spitzberg: rooney on the ball on the counter
Jeremy Spitzberg: tipped away from him
Neal Thurman: feel the steam starting to build inside Rooney's head, he's getting frustrated :-)
Jeremy Spitzberg: he and I both
Neal Thurman: Barton booked, giving watching world chance to see close-up of comedy moustache. Not shaving until #NUFC win league game
Jeremy Spitzberg: lol
Neal Thurman: FourFourTwo retweeted that from somewhere
Jeremy Spitzberg: fletcher
Jeremy Spitzberg: 2-0
Jeremy Spitzberg: do they have 4 more in them
Jeremy Spitzberg: from rooney
Neal Thurman: boo
Jeremy Spitzberg: well, he killed an evra cross for fletcher to knock home
Neal Thurman: sounds like an assist to me
Jeremy Spitzberg: should be
Neal Thurman: as much as I'd like to avoid that conclusion
Jeremy Spitzberg: a $19 assist so far
Neal Thurman: now if only he'd wipe that out with a YC we'd be in good shape
Jeremy Spitzberg: only a matter of time
Neal Thurman: maybe but with ManYoo scoring he's got to be feeling better about things
Neal Thurman: plus halftime coming up to help him cool down
Neal Thurman: maybe he'll go Joe Cole Crazy as the half comes to a close
Jeremy Spitzberg: lol
Jeremy Spitzberg: JCC. i love it
Jeremy Spitzberg: nani has been shot!
Jeremy Spitzberg: no wait
Jeremy Spitzberg: wasn't even fouled
Neal Thurman: YC?
Jeremy Spitzberg: acted like he'd been shot
Jeremy Spitzberg: nothing
Jeremy Spitzberg: halftime

Jeremy Spitzberg: and we're off for the 2nd half
Neal Thurman: Rooney rested?
Jeremy Spitzberg: have a 1:30 meeting so i better figure out what I want to do...
Jeremy Spitzberg: barn door wise
Neal Thurman: has Berbs done anything other than the goal?
Jeremy Spitzberg: no
Neal Thurman: plus the test gets harder next week on the road at FUL who were excellent at home last season
Jeremy Spitzberg: then home to WHU
Jeremy Spitzberg: valencia can't handle the long switch
Jeremy Spitzberg: goal kick
Neal Thurman: so far so good
Jeremy Spitzberg: scholes wipes out nolan in midfield
Jeremy Spitzberg: yc
Jeremy Spitzberg: so he's back to evens, more or less
Jeremy Spitzberg: YC, assist
Jeremy Spitzberg: it's like Edu never left Arsenal
Neal Thurman: ah, feels like its a season now - Scholes in the book for a bad challenge
Neal Thurman: wonder what we'll do after he retires...
Neal Thurman: will Joe Cole take over the mantle of crap for England, overrated in fantasy, and bad tackling CM "in the hole"?
Jeremy Spitzberg: rooney dawdles, then goes down a la nani
Jeremy Spitzberg: nothing
Jeremy Spitzberg: nufc counter
Jeremy Spitzberg: long shot from carroll pads vds' stats
Jeremy Spitzberg: rooney open..
Jeremy Spitzberg: shoots...
Jeremy Spitzberg: cleared by williamson
Neal Thurman: still living a charmed life
Jeremy Spitzberg: rooney to berbs...
Jeremy Spitzberg: who chips it just wide
Jeremy Spitzberg: should have been a goal
Jeremy Spitzberg: sorry, it was scholes who "did a nani"
Jeremy Spitzberg: fletcher wipes out barton this time
Jeremy Spitzberg: yc
Jeremy Spitzberg: ye olde trailing leg
Jeremy Spitzberg: feed interrupted by a homo-erotic ad for some sort of exercise doo-hickey
Jeremy Spitzberg: crap
Neal Thurman: lol
Jeremy Spitzberg: shake weight
Jeremy Spitzberg: i had shake weight in college
Jeremy Spitzberg: Dairy Queen too close to campus
Neal Thurman: HA
Neal Thurman: that thing is really funny
Neal Thurman: have seen the ads and they look like they're for sex toys
Jeremy Spitzberg: exactly
Jeremy Spitzberg: reloading
Jeremy Spitzberg: there we go
Jeremy Spitzberg: hernandez getting his instructions
Jeremy Spitzberg: please be for berbs
Jeremy Spitzberg: please
Jeremy Spitzberg: please
Neal Thurman: and...
Jeremy Spitzberg: on form, it should be for rooney
Jeremy Spitzberg: ball still in play
Neal Thurman: esp if the hammy is a worry
Jeremy Spitzberg: here it comes...
Jeremy Spitzberg: and rooney
Jeremy Spitzberg: F#CK
Jeremy Spitzberg: sigh
Jeremy Spitzberg: and all those
Neal Thurman: no "grrr" in there :-)
Jeremy Spitzberg: implied
Neal Thurman: of course
Jeremy Spitzberg: i just remembered I have Valencia too
Jeremy Spitzberg: grrrrrrrrr
Neal Thurman: there's the grr
Jeremy Spitzberg: $30 for 5pts at the moment
Neal Thurman: at least Rooney left without a YC :-)
Jeremy Spitzberg: make that $36 (fabio)
Jeremy Spitzberg: rap up later
Jeremy Spitzberg: wrap up
Neal Thurman: sounds good - cioa
Neal Thurman: ciao

And later...

Neal Thurman: any BD material?
Jeremy Spitzberg: cham/faub --> berbs
Jeremy Spitzberg: for no real reason
Jeremy Spitzberg: probably won't last through the door being open
Jeremy Spitzberg: just wanted to do something
Neal Thurman: I went Fabio/DSil to O'Shea/Scholes for the heck of doing it
Neal Thurman: but also unlikely to stick
Jeremy Spitzberg: looked scholes, but didn't have the spot for him
Neal Thurman: I had two options (MPet being the other)
Jeremy Spitzberg: he went up in $ though, albeit a few cents
Neal Thurman: most likely will move O'Shea to Djourou if it looks like he's going to make it back for Blackpool - if it ends up being Song partnering Verm then I'm not sure what I'll do
Neal Thurman: might try to get to Verm
Jeremy Spitzberg: what to do re:ferreira?
Neal Thurman: I sold him for now but his price is low after a bad week so no rush
Jeremy Spitzberg: i like the idea of faubert
Jeremy Spitzberg: but don't have too much faith that he's long for the first team
Neal Thurman: agreed - too many guys as options
Jeremy Spitzberg: will we get work on Cesc this week?
Jeremy Spitzberg: if not mpet to nasri could be on the cards
Jeremy Spitzberg: in the cards?
Neal Thurman: in the cards and could be
Jeremy Spitzberg: even though i like bolton@whu
Neal Thurman: I agree about bol @ whu and not THAT thrilled with Nasri after Sicky made all of ARS's other midfielders look bad by coming in and being much more effective
Jeremy Spitzberg: lol
Jeremy Spitzberg: but liv v. blackpool
Neal Thurman: true
Neal Thurman: but I've witnessed ARS at home frustrated by a modestly talented team that tries real hard and puts 11 behind the ball
Jeremy Spitzberg: but saying that, who to go for on CHE, b/c blackpool v wigan ;-)
Neal Thurman: worked out for them in the last seconds but not nearly the fantasy haul you would have expected from ARS/WOL
Neal Thurman: completely agree there - keeping Drogs/FloMal for sure
Neal Thurman: probably will regret dumping Cech
Neal Thurman: but needed the cash
Jeremy Spitzberg: where did Gerrard get 15pts?
Neal Thurman: took all the kicks
Jeremy Spitzberg: i was thinking he would come down in price
Jeremy Spitzberg: blech
Jeremy Spitzberg: yc too
Jeremy Spitzberg: kirkland will be a buck next week
Neal Thurman: and deservedly so
Jeremy Spitzberg: unless al-habsi gets the call
Neal Thurman: will be interesting to see what Martinez does after that flop
Neal Thurman: needs to do something to shake it up
Neal Thurman: guess the good news is that Kos will be cheap for the rest of the ARS cakewalk after this coming weekend
Jeremy Spitzberg: lol
Neal Thurman: the next 3 or 4 ARS matches are pretty unimpressive
Jeremy Spitzberg: @rovers
Jeremy Spitzberg: yuck
Jeremy Spitzberg: meanwhile stoke@che
Neal Thurman: @BLA, BOL, @SUN, WBA before @CHE
Jeremy Spitzberg: and whu@manu
Jeremy Spitzberg: so kos a BD after @bla ;-)
Neal Thurman: I'd put him in @BLA unless they find themselves a striker (and/or Dunn recovers from his 9th minute injury)
Neal Thurman: must be a new record for him
Jeremy Spitzberg: surely
Neal Thurman: well, not surely
Neal Thurman: but possibly
Jeremy Spitzberg: true. could have missed a season start before
Neal Thurman: that wouldn't count - but wouldn't be shocked to learn he was injured in the 5th minute of a season before ;-)
Neal Thurman: ok, I'm heading home - more tomorrow
Jeremy Spitzberg: g'night
Neal Thurman: 'night