Dancing in the streets of Curzon Ashton: The FA Cup, 2008

Blyth! Curzon Ashton! Histon! Leiston! Telford!

The world's greatest cup competition is back, back, back!

I'm disappointed to see Harlow lost to Macclesfield, but relieved I didn't bother to go to the match.

The world's greatest cup competition is back, back, back!

What's up with the ILX formatting? Apostrophes in the first post seen to change to nonsense.

A bug that only affects Internet Explorer, I think.

Dunno where to put this, but it appears that there's a team in the Welsh Cup this season called "Techno Welshpool".

Think "techno" is Welsh for "shithole" or something.

Woah. Curzon Ashton is my home team, felt very weird to see it appear in a thread title for some reason.

Yup - Technogroup Welshpool, formerly Welshpool Town. The Welsh are terrible men for remaining their teams after sponsors.

renaming, even.

Curzon bowed out to Kidderminster, but we got new heroes - Unibond Premier side Eastwood Town became only the third side to defeat League Two leaders Wycombe Wanderers this season, 2-0, and they're through to round three. Only other shock thus far saw Forest Green take out Rochdale 2-0, though Droylsden were leading Chesterfield at half-time when the match was abandonded due to fog, and Blyth Spartans are holding out against Bournemouth at the moment.

Portsmouth v Bristol City
Sheffield Wed v Fulham
Preston v Liverpool
Birmingham v Wolves
West Ham v Barnsley
Middlesbrough v Barrow
Hull City v Newcastle
Hartlepool v Stoke
Chelsea v Southend
Manchester City v Nottingham Forest
Cardiff v Reading
Ipswich v Chesterfield or Droylesden
Charlton v Norwich
West Brom v Peterborough or Tranmere
Torquay v Blackpool
Leyton Orient v Sheffield United
Southampton v Manchester United
Millwall v Carlisle or Crewe
Histon v Swansea
Forest Green Rovers v Derby
QPR v Burnley
Leicester v Crystal Palace
Tottenham v Wigan
Morecambe or Cheltenham v Doncaster
Arsenal v Plymouth
Notts County or Kettering v Eastwood Town
Bournemouth or Blyth v Blackburn
Macclesfield v Everton
Watford v Scunthorpe
Sunderland v Bolton
Coventry v Kidderminster
Gillingham or Stockport v Aston Villa

I'm calling that quite tasty.

Histon disposed of Leeds 1-0, btw.

Histon disposed of Leeds 1-0, btw.

:-)

Barrow to nick a 1-0 win at the Riverside, then? Southampton will get to take Man United back to Old Trafford as well. And Barnsley beating the Hammers looks a good bet as well.

Southampton will get to take Man United back to Old Trafford as well.

Don't go putting the mortgage on that, now.

I can see Brizzle Siddy taking out Pompey. The way the Brom are playing at the moment, Peterborough or Tranmere could take them. And Stoke away at Atletico Stelling could very easily be an upset.

I'll stick my neck out and say upset of the round will be Kidderminster over Cov.

Barrow to nick a 1-0 win at the Riverside, then?
That would be nice, but I imagine 'Boro will play only half a reserve side, in which case we'll probably restrict them to four or five rather than nine or ten.

I could see Kiddy doing Cov too. Pity about the draw for Eastwood. Kettering to beat Notts County in the replay, and I can't really see Eastwood progressing any further to meet the huge team they'd like.

Anyone got any idea why the Droylsden-Chesterfield tie looks to have been abandoned again?

Floodlight failure. This was the replay, following on from a 2-2 draw in the rescheduled original fixture which was initially abandoned due to fog, so they get to meet up for a fourth time at some point in the future.

Blyth have just dumped out Bournemouth... and get to host crisis club Blackburn in round three!

I saw the first leg of that. I must admit I'm a little shocked.

Are there people on ILX that livin aston and droylsden?

sorry ashton.

And so Droylsden won said replay 2-1, which ought to have put the matter to bed and sent them through to face Ipswich in the third round.

But you're a fool if you think it's over...

charlton versus norwich is literally the worst fa cup 3rd round draw ever

and i'm missing it to see hereford united vs. leeds united in the league. that's right. once-titanic leeds. in a league game. at edgar street. this is the only time this fixture will ever happen, probably. wow.

Justice for Chesterfield.

Gillingham defenders Barry Fuller and Garry Richards are suspended, so midfielder Mark Bentley is set to play at centre-back.

Midfielder Nicky Southall will miss out as he is cup-tied.

:(

Nicky Southall, scorer of one of the great cup-upset goals of recent years, a 30-yard stunner against then-Premiership Wednesday

(I have a fairly aspie-honed memory for these things)

yeah no-one remembers 30 yard cup upset goals.

Here we go kids.

Midlands derby called off, as have Cheltenham v Doncaster and Histon/Swindon.

Looking at the Stoke line-up, they appear to be 4-5-1. And the 1 is Vincent Pericard, with Dave Kitson on the bench. Hartlepool might well have a shot here...

Dave Kitson man... nobody fell off harder after ILx approval since Basement Jaxx.

I hope Hartlepool give the Premiership fancy dans a good kicking, show them what it's like in the lower leagues.

charlton versus norwich is literally the worst fa cup 3rd round draw ever

and i'm missing it to see hereford united vs. leeds united in the league. that's right. once-titanic leeds. in a league game. at edgar street. this is the only time this fixture will ever happen, probably. wow.

― baby got bahn (country matters), Monday, 29 December 2008 09:24 (5 days ago) Bookmark

really wanna damage things, primarily the referee who saw fit to heed a bit of frost, and the idiots who made the game all-ticket thus leaving us with vain expenditure

lol Dom :-/ poor guy, whiteboard story for all-time

Was in the Midlands yesterday so I knew it was cold but can't see how St Andrews being frozen would affect Birmingham's style of play or postpone the meaningless formality of a cup tie neither side really gives a fuck about.

And apparently Orient-Stoke has also been frozen off.

Orient-Sheffield United, rather. Cripes. is it really that nippy all over the south?

-4 in London

Big jessies, the lot of you :-)

It looks quite nice outside, I was going to go for a walk. Should I not bother?

I just went out to get a lightbulb and some horseradish, and I didn't feel cold at all. Maybe the meteorologists are lying?

This said, though, you'd think most of these places would have undersoil heating - maybe not Edgar Street and Glassworld Stadium, perhaps, but Orient and Cheltenham have been League sides for a while, and as for St Andrew's... dear dear.

Atletico Stelling 1 Old Grey Whistle Theft 0!

Full list of cancelled games at http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7809492.stm

2-0 to the "Monkey Hangers"

Just think what they'd do to Arsenal

Forest Green bringin it

lol derby

Hughes out

Whoah Hughes out, and OUT!

City should probably table a £9million bid for Robert Earnshaw, just to shore up the attack.

http://www.evertonpoland.com/img/three_nil.jpg

Scolari out

£20 up thanks to that Derby penalty

Clive T: "It's The old Invincibles vs ... the new ... would-be ... invincibles".

Considering I don't support their team, I do love Alonso and Stevie G as a midfield pair.

0-1 btw with a scorching strike.

I have realized during this game that I would really like Liverpool to win the league.

^^^ Typical pinefox contrarianism.

I've generally thought that reaction vs Robbie Keane's Anfield form must have been exaggerated - they've done OK since he arrived, after all - but crikey, his finishing in this game might as well have been by Bobby Mimms.

lol preston had a goal chopped off because one of their players rugby tackled carragher to stop him getting up while another guy scored. donkey chant of the season for that one. What a prat.

Liverpool looking dodgy though

proper cup tie now though, exciting stuff.

Always love it when someone dives to ensure a free-kicj against Clagger

i know it's already been said but LOL GARETH

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45343000/jpg/_45343713_live226.jpg

riera=gareth...it really does bear repeating!

btw riera really was a bloody good signing given the limited funds available.

Especially considering how poor he was at Citeh. Must be something in the water over there.

Apart from that video above, people haven't said much about Southend - here or on TV's coverage. But isn't it a staggering result? Imagine if it happened at Old Trafford, or even Liverpool or Arsenal - a big deal would be made of Southend's achievement and, in particular, the hosts' humiliation. Yet this Chelsea result hasn't really been hailed. Partly cos of other scores like Forest's thumping of City, I suppose; and I suppose Chelsea will still advance. But maybe it's also cos people at the moment actually don't expect great things from Chelsea?

ONLY SIXTY MILLION MORE POUNDS? THAT WON'T FIX *ANYTHING*!

We've got fkn Forest at home next Saturday, and like the schmuck I am, I'm going.

has Martian been ringing up Defoe?

Rateyourmusic has listed the following 50 ways I'm going to torture your children

Bam.

oh the romance of fa cup

lolmance

simeon mobile disco

Shots of him standing next to Zat Knight = lollage

lollalty

Ah, the unpredictability of the Cup

on his birthday

Ah the shininess of the FA Cup

Its sheer cupitude a joy for all

Ah the depth of the FA Cup

For when you want just that bit more tea than a large novelty mug

The very substance of the thing!

To all who say the cup has lost its lustre, I urge you to tell that to someone who doesn't believe the cup has lost its lustre and see what their response is. Come off it mate!

So many upsets! A day of upsets! Truly a day when everyone goes home happy.

We're all about the upsets here!

For serious, Steve Rider beaming at the camera all "A DAY OF UPSETS! What an amazing day!" when Man City got turned over and Chelsea drew = urge to kill passing red

James Millner, a part-time ironsmith by trade, has put his team ahead in the third round of the greatest competition on earth.

Birmingham, a small village with a population of just 250, has a team in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

For Gillingham the sheer magic of the cup has been quenched by Milner's fiery strike.

All the more impressive given that Villa have only used seven outfield players this season, of whom three are out injured today.

Incidentally, have Villa's shirts always been quite so... fitting?

Just a little treat for the laydeez.

srsly how is Steve Ryder still going. He makes everything feel like a Head and Shoulders ad from 1988.

It's the draw! Fingers crossed for Man Utd oh wait

ROSENTHAL IN THE HOUSE

accompanied by wiley and pamela anderson for the draw.

LOL fixed draw

yeah seriously, man u and pool out as first two teams!

Hartlepool to take Hammers surely?

They heat up the 'interesting' balls, and these two weren't subtle about their timing. Fact.

lol Exodus Geohaghan vs. Brede Hangeland

hahaha

MASSIVE EAST MIDLANDS 'DERBY' INNIT, shame about the teams involved

BRIAN CLOUGH'S MEMORY BRAGGING RIGHTS

Liverpool v Everton
Southampton/Man Utd v Tottenham
Hull/Newcastle v Millwall/Crewe
Sunderland v Blyth/Blackburn
Hartlepool v West Ham
Leyton Orient/Sheff Utd v Charlton/Norwich
Cardiff v Arsenal
Portsmouth/Bristol City v Histon/Swansea
Chelsea/Southend v Ipswich
Cheltenham/Doncaster v Aston Villa
West Brom/Peterborough v QPR/Burnley
Torquay v Coventry
Kettering Town v Fulham
Watford v Leicester/Crystal Palace
Derby County v Nottingham Forest
Birmingham City/Wolves v Middlesbrough

Bollocks.

Cardiff v Arsenal

Cardiff win, I'm calling it.

Everton!

United have rested their mascots...

That song just then sounded like "City's going down with a billion in the bank"

As the FA Cup is Arsenal's only realistic chance of winning a trophy, I think we might take Cardiff seriously enough to beat them. It would be great to see them make the final two years in a row though.

Watching the draw with Porkpie..."You'll get us, y'know", "I was just about to say that". Voila, first two names out of the bag.

First Cup meeting since the Dalglish-exit-inducing '91 tie, I think.

(Oh, and one week after the Anfield league derby, which was precisely the schedule in '91 too - EFC lost that 1-3, drew the Cup tie 0-0 and after that it all went a bit mad).

I can remember my Dad waking me up to tell me the score of all those draws in 91. Each time he was sort of astounded himself. Then one night we lost 1-0.

A little grumble - Shortly before the goal, the away end singing the United Calypso, the camera zooms in one of them waving a red flag, his lips clearly matching the words which we could hear: "Manchester, Manchester United...", cue mystifying commentary on Setanta: "It's good to see the Saints singing again". I mean, it was a difficult mistake for a TV viewer to make, but *he's actually there*.

Time for the surviving members of Lush to release a ... de-luxe edition of Gala.

Still, Davis is having a good game.

This is how it feels to be City, this is how it feels to be small, this is how it feels when your team wins nothing at all' (to the tune of the old Inspiral Carpets number)."
BBC Sport's Chris Bevan at St Mary's

^^not as good as Blackburn's "This is how it feels to be Burnley/This is how it feels to be sad/This is how it feels when your sister's fucking your dad"

Give us a couple of seasons and we might be as good as Burnley...

Also, 606 contains a poster with arguably the worst message board log-in in history: "What Kuyt-e Did"

I don't know if it's worse if he's named after the Babyshambles song or the burlesque lingerie company.

Just the original Susan Coolidge children's book, surely?

The 1991 4-4 will surely get a lot of airtime these next few weeks, notable for the quality of the Liverpool goals and the Komic Kapers aspect of Everton's - at least two were back passes intercepted by Cottee or Sharp, I think. I paced the carpet fabric bare in my Lufbra student box that night.

Drama down by the water as Swans break careless Pompey arm

In other Magic Of The FA Cup news, Kettering v Fulham is the big one today, although Chelsea v Ipswich will probably shamble towards an unconvincing Chelsea victory.

Get in there Nathan Dyer!

First you rob their nightclubs, then you kick 'em out of the cup!

No way is there a footballer called Exodus Geohaghan.

Exodus Geohaghan!

Kettering penalty!

Kettering goal!

Millwall fans going apeshit apparently.

laaaaaaaame.

Chelsea home and dry now too

Swansea beating Pompey (fingers crossed) only upset, then.

Doncaster still 0-0 against Villa, though.

http://blogs.tampabay.com/juice/images/2007/11/07/fabio.jpg

Pretty pleased with Spurs so far obv but ^^^dude looks pretty destructive, I'll be extremely surprised if we're still leading at half time

Good goal by Berbatov. It must be a silver lining for Spurs fans that the Bulgarian who they still adore has got his new on the scoresheet.

Goddamnit. His name, not his new. Must avoid typos in sarcasm.

ILX's favourite pundit Pleat there, deciding on reflection that he would spend £30 million on Tevez, just not his *last* £30 million

United 2-1 Tottenham: second half of that game felt like all the players had a vast collective bet on that scoreline, which had already been achieved by half time.

Can I make the 'Exodus puts Kettering back in the wilderness' joke now?

This Cardiff v Arse game is fairly good value for the neutral who likes seeing big teams being unconvincing against littler teams, and seeing littler teams arsing up loads of decent pressure by failing to actually score any goals.

I've been impressed by Cardiff's triumvirate (© Stan Collymore) of Rangers rejects.

Holyshit!!! Jamie Carragher just skinned an Everton defender!!!!

literally? that i *would* pay good money to watch.

As long as he's ineffectively skinning defenders rather than being caught ball-watching at the goal, eh...oh, hang on a minute.

I would blame Skrtel more for that to be fair. Tho the defender skinning incident was actually astonishing, he did a sort of step over and danced past him.

Liverpool have no idea what to do with the ball. Torres still not fit either.

They might want to have a look at Celtic's last couple of seasons matches to show what a really fucking stupid idea zonal marking is if no-one has the faintest idea what they're doing.

lol dodgy keeper.
Ailsa otm re zonal marking

Oh Howardpaws.

genius assist tho

yeah great from Torres. desperate keeping esp clear when you see it from the cam behind the goal

This game is sooooooooooooooooooooo boring

^ this

Anybody else suddenly got adverts appearing on their TV????

And they've missed the fucking goal after three fucking hours of shite!!!!

(I'm refusing to post on the Prem thread)
That was the exact opposite of a highlights package: showing hour after hour of niggly little fouls and misplaced passes, but missing out the solitary incident of the match.

post on the prem thread

Aye, for some reason everyone wound up on the Premiership thread. One less ting for Liverpool to be on though, eh?

As I said on the Prem thread, that right there is why ITV should never get near football coverage ever.

so how long until the conspiracy starts about a convinient ad break?

to think i sat through that boring as fuck 120 minutes for the only exciting thing not to be shown. fuck itv with an aids shark.

I heard that the FA Cup was back, this weekend.

Aye, so I believe. Setanta 2 are showing coverage in Scotland only, which is good because it means I don't have to watch ITV. I believe they were doing the same for the Liverpool v Everton game, but I didn't know it at the time.

"Burnley have shown an example this season by putting... Spurs out of the Carling Cup"

Start as you mean to go on ITV

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

haha did they really say that?

okay how do you miss that

this swansea game is good telly

Pleat: "anyone who loves football will have enjoyed this morning's game' - as the final whistle blew at 2:30 pm.

Best channel in the world

Good game that - I doubt Swansea will go up this year but if they did I could see them getting excitedly talked about for at least three weeks in August before getting repeatedly obliterated and finishing with about 15 points

Are there people on ILX that livin aston and droylsden?

― not_goodwin, Tuesday, 16 December 2008 21:56 Bookmark

Not any more, but I was born in Ashton...exactly 33 years before not-goodwin made that post, strangely enough.

CMON

http://www.bannerblog.com.au/news/picts/thumbs_up.jpg

never
mind

scored too early

gotta be some reds in this game

Alan Green is very bad this afternoon.

fucking crap stream, missed that goal

ITV ?

setanta

0-2 in Derby

1-3

did utd actually break a sweat in that game?

so, Jim Rosenthal.

O'Neill concedes both Heskey and Davies are now doubts for Wednesday's Uefa Cup game against CSKA Moscow.

"I really don't know whether Heskey or Davies will be fit for the Uefa Cup tie on Wednesday against CSKA Moscow."

Sky Sports using the Fiver's style guide

EDUARDO!!!

Even Spurs fans gotta smile seeing that, right?

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/2082/1000xmi2.jpg

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45546000/jpg/_45546646_eduardo_getty466.jpg

And again! Amazing, amazing finish by Eduardo. Frankly I'm pleased to see Arsenal scoring any goals at the moment, but especially that they were all great, great goals.

And Eboue! Eboue! He had a massive smile on for the rest of the game after that. He's been playing well lately, too. Almost as happy for him as I am Eduardo (although seriously, that guy is the best finisher... except for that terrible header, obvs.)

So, van Persie to hit the post seven times in one minute against Roma then?

I def. will be putting a cheeky pound on Eduardo top goalscorer next season soon.

also, does vela only score beautiful chips? because i'm cool with that.

Balsa Boy Strikes!

not much chance of an Everton v Hull final i suppose

United can give up their five trophy hunt now :-)

it was a very good finish by eduardo but cmon he was 10 yards out, unmarked, with only a goalkeeper to beat, he could have done so in several different ways, and chose the most showboat-y

(the perennial "no your goals aren't blessed with arsene wenger magic dust" campaign rolls on)

actually, vela's goal was the best imo

no

Friend of mine on gchat...

I4n: did you see eduardo scored with his prosthetic ankle?
shd hav been disallowed

he he he

there's no way that arsenal won't score

Yeah, there really is.

lol it's looking like one of those days eh

you'll still score.

scrappy fuckers amirite

I read somewhere that van Persie has hit the woodwork more times this season than scored. Glad he doesn't cock up every shot though :)

if he'd cocked that one up he would have had to be shot on the spot

ok worst goal ever

or greatest?

i still cant tell if that was offside or not because i dont know who got the last touch before it landed at gallas, all i know is the keeper fucked up.

^^^makes you think xp

also yes it was very very offside well done everyone pretty football wins the day again

Wonder how much time will be added for Hull's timewasting earlier.

which is ironic considering wenger wasnt happy at only 2 mins 1st half and he wanted 5

I reckon he will explode if 5 are added this half lol

lol!

one day we are going to learn to play like we do in the second half in the first 45 and forever be unstoppable. i hope anyway.

a goal in 94 mins you think?

wenger straight down the tunnel without shaking hands

Some inspired refereeing there

lol football

lol ref

lol hull

lol arsenal

That about sums it up

mufc-chelsea final again, good times

phil brown says cesc fabregas spat at the hull assistant manager after the final whistle

he probably missed mind you

Brown also says the ref/asst ref gave the goal because of arsene wenger which is a bit wtf

good old cesc.

Unsurprising, Arsene Wenger claims not to have seen the incident.

lol Setanta news rolling ticker "will Hull knock Arsenal out of the FA Cup, vote now" YEP, FINGER ON THE PULSE THERE, SETANTA DUDES. No wonder everyone hates your channel.

arsenal are the fr sean fortune of football

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45577000/jpg/_45577072_cesc466credit.jpg

This photo.

On his issues regarding Fabregas, Brown said: "One, being on the pitch after the game - whether there is a ruling against that I have no idea but he had no right to be there.

"Two, dressed in the manner in which he was dressed.

"Three, the pictures in the national papers verify the aggression he was showing towards players and staff after the game.

How dare he be aggressive with that squinty zip!

That comment about "dressed in the manner in which he was dressed" is a bit rich coming from Phil Brown, surely.

I was all for Hull earlier in the season, but I think I now love it whenever they get beat. Esp. in the way Arsenal did them last night.

i think cesc looks good but yes the emirates pitch is NO FASHION SHOW

Cesc Fabregas' Taxi Driver

phil brown seems to have a sack of tatties on his shoulder

I think the more Phil Brown talks about this the more he seems like an absolute tool.

Y'know, if that wasnt apparent before. Team talk on the pitch, lads!

any good gifs of that team talk around?

all during that game last night Horton was mouthing off to the arsenal bench, he looked like he would go postal any minute so I wonder what happened in the tunnel.

Asked on Wednesday whether he stood by his comments after the match, Brown told BBC Radio 5 Live: "Absolutely, 100%."

On his issues regarding Fabregas, Brown added: "One, being on the pitch after the game - whether there is a ruling against that I have no idea but he had no right to be there.

"Two, dressed in the manner in which he was dressed.

"Three, the pictures in the national papers verify the aggression he was showing towards players and staff after the game. I could go on but I'm not one for crying over spilt milk.

"I then witnessed him going down the tunnel and turning round and spitting at my assistant manager's feet.

"Whichever way you want to look at it, he addressed that spitting incident at my assistant manager who has managed probably 1200 games in his career. Disgraceful act.

"I'm not going to report it, I'm not going tittle-tattling to the FA - if they want to investigate that's their decision, if Brian Horton wants to take it further he'll get the full support of Hull City."

Brown revealed: "The referee can't report, the referee and the linesmen and the officials had gone down the tunnel and were probably well inside their rooms, same as Mr Wenger, same as the majority of the Arsenal staff and players."

And speaking about his frosty relationship with Wenger, Brown said: "It just shows how we've got up the noses of the Arsenal hierarchy.

"He wouldn't shake my hand when we beat them fairly 2-1 at the Emirates, he wouldn't shake my hand when they beat us, fairly, 3-1 at the KC Stadium."

Wenger said he looked for the management to shake their hands but none of them came near him, and you can see on the tv pictures that he did look up a few times to see if anyone was coming.
Brown and co just seem to have sour grapes and a real hatred towards arsenal.

Well, Phil Brown is a bit of a preening showman, but he really looks like he's losing it. Listening to that bit on five live he gets all weird and defensive at perfectly acceptable questions, instead seeing them as some slight and that everyone is against him and his team.

Also all this overlooks how Bendtner completely turned the game round! Far more purposeful with him on.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45578000/jpg/_45578406_hortonfabregasoffside_282.jpg

^ image name _45578406_hortonfabregasoffside_282.jpg

fabragas: call me

Brown doing his best to replace Warnock as biggest cunt to ever manage in the Premier League

mmmmm

one nil to the arse, in case you don't know.

Ashley Cole own goal, fantastic.

is it on tv?

not terrestrial tv no

Setanta

Tum-ti-tum.

So is Fabianski's mistake as UNFORGIVABLE as Setanta repeatedly keep saying it is?

Also why the hell isn't Song playing?

Fabianski made a few mistakes, encouraging Malouda and Anelka to start taking potshots as if they were Cristiano Ronaldo.

Fabianski getting beat at his near post was bad but it's not on the same scale as the Chelsea-Liverpool game keeping. More than anything Eboue shouldn't have backed down so easily to let in Malouda.

Song most probably not playing because a) he's our last leftover defender, b) may need a rest, he's started many games in a row while Diaby/Denilson have been rested, c) other than one time they were cocking about in our box too long, Diaby/Denilson have been pretty good.

Only things that needs sorting is: put van Injury up front, bring on Arshavin or Nasri to open up the left and try and build Fabianski's confidence somehow at halftime.

Gibbs and Theo looking very good.

I dunno, I noticed Diaby, and Denilson esp giving it away a few times and doing that special dithering they do when they look for a pass, then look for a less obvious pass and getting closed down easily - I like both players but it's been worrying me!

Fair point about Song. I just think he's been playing so well recently it's not not having him in the team, and I feel more confident about him than Diaby/Densilson.

The Setanta commentators were hammering home Fabianski's grave UNFORGIVABLE errors so hard you'd think he had been spitting and kicking at kids in the crowd or something. Feel like when it's a more unknown untried capacity of a player people will really jump on it and seems unnecessary, especially considering the majestic wonder of all the goalkeeping errors in the Chelsea-Liverpool match.

200 empty seats at the half way line

Considering the form he's been in lately, I'd also much prefer Song. But quite frankly, when we aren't playing the top 4 or in the cups this season - and considering we're now a lock for 4th - I'd love to see us try no DM and play Nasri and Cesc as natural playmakers. Both are quite defensive anyway so it shouldn't sacrifice too much when we play, say, Boro.

this is getting good

ILX's interest in this game shoots up.

for big men, terry and ballack don't half hit the deck easily amirite

Dere's Drogba

go on, arsenal kroo, gnash and wail like you've just hit League One

No Arshavin or Nasri in that midfield and playing van Injury at left wing was stupid, stupid tactical decisions. Fabianski was shit, gotta wonder if he'd had a couple birthday drinks before hand.

Commentator can't pronounce Midas touch.

what an awful match. All down to the keeper - no way Drogba could've scored from there without that blunder

UNFORGIVABLE

Nah, Chelsea deserved to win that, although could have done without Ballack and Terry diving all the time - more than the delicate little Arsenals!

Strange decisions from Wenger, seemed a bit like he'd given this one up bringing on Bendtner for Ade just before the Drog scored, never going for two up front etc etc

Maybe it's all just invaluable big game experience for Diaby and Denilson and "the future".

Also a hoy hoy, wd still not underestimate Boro and their penchant for turning up crazy results.

When is Almunia back, or do Arsenal have to rely on a Fabianski with absolutely no confidence from here on in?

Considering the form he's been in lately, I'd also much prefer Song. But quite frankly, when we aren't playing the top 4 or in the cups this season - and considering we're now a lock for 4th - I'd love to see us try no DM and play Nasri and Cesc as natural playmakers. Both are quite defensive anyway so it shouldn't sacrifice too much when we play, say, Boro.

In fact, I have to ask - from where do you get this strange confidence? I worry more about playing teams not in the top 4, frankly. Also I worry, generally. I worried all through beating Villareal 3-0, it wasn't boring!

Suedey: I was just using Boro as an example; we have nothing to play for in the league, we might aswell experiment tactically and figure out our best XI considering it's the first time everyone been fit together. (At the back it doesn't matter considering I think we'll sell Gallas and promote Djourou to first choice or sell Gallas and replace him properly. The only thing we'll find out about the defense in the league is how good Gibbs actually is, and if 1 more player gets knackered- are there any other decent kids in the reserves?)

I get this confidence because Villa drew today (and are in horrid form), making us 7 points up with a game in hand and only 6 left to go.

I think I heard/read somewhere that Almunia should be back for the weekend. Fabianski would have played today anyway, being the 'cup keeper'.

I still wouldnt say we had nothing to play for in the league until losing fourth is mathematically impossible, natch

Like it's not without question an Arsenal side without a defence and with a mournful, drunken Fabianski lose a few games, like at Liverpool maybe

Also Everton

I wouldn't say without a defence. Sagna will be back for Liverpool and Djourou and Clichy are back soon. Even so, bar Eboue being a bit slow to close down Malouda, our back 4 were pretty good considering the opposition. It's certainly the best I've seen Silvestre play in years.

Then going forward, if Wenger learns that his ridiculous love affair with 4-2-3-1 doesn't work and we play any 2 of our 3 v. v. good strikers, or even the chippy mexican, Cesc in his proper role, Theo and Nasri scaring full backs we can always outscore teams. It's a back if though, Wenger's never been a master tactician.

wasn't the big hoof over the top for didier's goal something silvestre should have dealt with. awful game I thought, was annoyed I missed 2 hours of sunshine for it.

united - pool semi wd be more fitting and intriguing, i concede, altho maybe not because that fixture's kinda been exhausted of all interest this season, it's been ridden hard

i'd be exhausted if i'd been riding hard with a semi too tbh

ooh matron!

ah come on lads, that's no way to be carrying on.

stop this, right now

that's pure pub talk

From the BBC: we understand that Edwin van der Sar, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo have not travelled with the Manchester United squad and will play no part at Wembley today.

Oh dear. Everton win today?

Thought that said Sir Wayne Rooney for minute.

Come on Everton! I can't bear the thought of another Chelsea-Man U final.

++ whole country wants Everton to win

but what about the unprecedented historic quintuple?

No O'Shea, Carrick and Fletcher either, apparently

Well, who the fuck *is* playing?

Just Macheda.

And 10 right backs.

FA cup is for the kids.

my god that utd team

Man Utd: Foster, Rafael Da Silva, Ferdinand, Vidic, Fabio Da Silva, Welbeck, Gibson, Anderson, Park, Tevez, Macheda.
Subs: Kuszczak, Neville, Evra, Berbatov, Nani, Scholes, Evans.
Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Lescott, Baines, Osman, Neville, Fellaini, Pienaar, Cahill, Saha.
Subs: Nash, Yobo, Castillo, Vaughan, Jacobsen, Rodwell, Gosling

Kinda wonder what team he would have put out had had he drawn Chelsea or Arsenal...

Also, whats that, not treating Everton like a big club?

Smacks of arrogance, dunnit

^^^very true lolz

The "brazen hypocrisy" mindgame, love it

Fergie's confidence in Riley must be high

I don't think it's arrogance (because I don't think he assumes that the reserves can beat Everton, seeing as the first team weren't able to earlier this season), more fear of Liverpool winning the league. He's obviously decided he needs to keep everyone fit and free of injury for the league match against Portsmouth, even if that means getting knocked out of the cup.

Holy Christ this is gonna be a bad game

^ true so far
Boring first half. This United side don't look great, but Everton haven't done *anything*.

It's absurd that no-one really says anything about this 'reserve' side being worth about £100m (ok, Tevez, Ferdinand + Anderson make up the brunt of that but Nani can't even make this reserve team!).

I opened up itv online and everything but I got bored and started looking up jazz on spotify. What's the score?

And now I think about it, what happened to those Serbians they spent a few bob on in January?

Blimey, I hope there's no extra time.

Everton 'haven't got balls in the box', haha, Joe Royle.

Alan Green thoroughly enjoying this game.

this game doesn't seem very good

I'm quite annoyed by this. The FA Cup deserves better.

no worse than last year's semis (or final)

Phil Jagielka is of Polish heritage, I didn't know this, I always assumed his surname was Finnish.

I think we need a burst of unscheduled ads.

Yes, possibly going on for the next 35 minutes or so.

ANDY TOWNSEND thinks United should have been awarded a PENALTY KICK.

He probably just wanted to get home earlier.

A lot of players walking red card tightropes out there

They probably just want to get home earlier.

Only a supremely nonchalant Dimitar Berbatov penalty can save this game now.

So, so, so desperately bored....

I wanna go home

Phil Neville has a very high pitched shout.

I've been through various agonies in the last 2 hours but I haven't been bored.

Didn't want this though.

I gambled on the second half of extra-time being goal-less, and went and put the rubbish/recycling out. So, I guess I win.

one rubbish penalty.

Oh god Cahill.

two rubbish penalties.

DC OTM.

Oh lol Berba.

Berbatov to Spurs - £5m.

Putting the nonce into nonchalant there.

it wasn't the MOST boring game because there was the tension of parity throughout...but in terms of exciting developments, nul

Captain's innings.

2 captains' inningses.

PHIL COOL

CHEAT

ban shots of topless scallies

well done Everton

It'll be a long drive back to Sussex for the losing fans.

GET IN

Mrs Vague going a bit mental here.

WHERE'S YER QUINTUPLE GONE?

Congrats Michael.

Congratulations to Everton and all their supporters on a tremendous achievement.

srsly berbatov is a hero

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45679000/jpg/_45679713_fergie466getty.jpg

there's someone missing

http://www.blogwaybaby.com/uploaded_images/WestSideStory-719190.jpg

Stay cool, Dimi.

http://asapblogs.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/06/11/nick_611_2.jpg

do i smell photoshoppery and russians

oh wait, that's what blueski was intimating

some magnificent picture posts!

I didn't know who I wanted to win, because I don't want Chelsea to win the final; but by the time of the PENNOS I decided it was Everton. I remembered my deep hatred of disgusting Ferdinand, and my hatred of the vile things "Fergie" has said this week, and I was glad to see them beaten.

im happy that stuart murdoch's team's won and i hope they win the cup

Paul Draper of Mansun is also a big Everton fan fwiw

best semi-finals ever remain

APRIL 1990

MARCH 1880 for me. Lack of forethought led to only three teams reaching the semi-finals, so Clapham Rovers got a bye into the final. The semis consisted of Forest losing 1-0 to Oxford University

"Arrogance is one thing. You cannot forgive contempt."

"The game is hard enough without a fellow manager making an undermining gesture."

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45680000/jpg/_45680073_ferguson.jpg

"ah needeh puhss leyt meh uff"
"nyooo"

The delight of Liverpool fans at this result has really taken the shine off it for me.

Joking.

Sort of.

I think half of it is the whole Slur alex going into meltdown and half the good feelings generated by the solidarity after the 20 year anniversary. Opinion seems more anti-Everton for the final.......but that would mean Mongo lifting another trophy.....

http://c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000oxdn5gC930s/t/200
Nice display of solidarity from the Huyton Blues.

Does ANYONE, except Chelsea fans, want to see a Chelsea Cup win? It's the most offensively boring and boringly offensive idea since Paul Davis made a cup of tea for Perry Groves.

haha I was delighted at this result, as was practically everyone I know, and I was wondering this morning what Michael would think about Everton being a vehicle for the joy of Liverpool fans.

berbatov's penalty is the moment of the season.

i'd have him back in an instant btw, and i don't care what type of slapper that makes me.

http://www.fansfc.com/UploadedImages/Players/berbatov_633570897166093750.jpg

Spurs may as well give it a go. Yous made a few quid from loaning out Defoe and Keane. I can't see Berbatov costing more than £15M for the return journey, if he can be arsed moving.

xpost

Just out of shot: TR

buying keane back for so much was a dumb move, i'm sure we could have got him back for <10m

i think we paid more for defoe again!

how gutted would defoe be though?

i think it may be r-----s, actually

I thought you had a 25% sell on clause for Defoe that meant you effectively got money off of what the published "price" was.

so:

bought him for 7m

sold him for 9m

bought him back for 12m

received 3m of that back

talk about putting money in his pocket though, what's he getting of the fee each time? 10%

that's 4m in signing on fees. don't want to think about robbie's at this stage.

and to think he could have stayed at charlton

lol bent defoe strike force as if

I don't want Berbatov back. I never thought he was as good as Keane. I sympathize with him, though, as a Bulgarian.

as good at what? football?

I sympathize with him, though, as a Bulgarian.

truly he is a stranger in a strange land

i'm bulgarian btw

we are all bulgarians.

we are all beautiful, with sly eyes like devil