il grouppo senza il nomo -The European Tour Version

[Jambo4eva]

January Round Up

The new years party's were over and time to get serious and play some football. The first game of the new year was a home game against Spurs. With the transfer window open it was a perfect oppertunity to showcase Craig Bellamy in the hope that someone was watching and pick him up. the game was a tight affair with both teams having chances but both failing to score in the first half. In the second half Gerrard rallied the team and drove forward and created a goal which Bellamy slotted away past Paul Robinson. A new years win for Pettigrew and Liverpool.

The FA Cup came calling with an away trip to the tricky tree's Nottingham Forest. an easy game for Liverpool as they put out a strong team with a couple of fringe players. Liverpool scored 3 goals in the first half with Bellamy getting two of them and then Stevie Gerrard struck a free kick into the top corner just before half time. In the second half Higuain came on for Bellamy as he came back from a minor injury. Liverpool knew the game was won and were taking it easy but Anres Guardado obviously fighting for his place in the first team went past two players then into the box and scored for Liverpool to make it 4-0. The game was all but finished when Higuain went down int he box and a penalty was given. Higuain took it and scored. The chants after the game from the Liverpool fans were " EASY EASY EASY "

The reebok stadium was the next destination for Liverpool and they were there high in confidence after their 5-0 win in the cup. The game started off well with Bellamy scoring the opener and then minutes later Meite for Bolton equalized. In the second half Anelka scored for Bolton to take the lead and that led to Liverpool going for it and brought on young Eddie Johnson scoring the goal to get a point for Liverpool.

Gareth Southgate's Boro came to Anfield thinking they may get something from the game but all they got was a bus ride there and back as they got hammered 5-0. A Bellamy operner started the beating and then 2 more goals came before half time both coming from Liverpool's big signing Tim Borowski. In the second half Pettigrew sent his men out to destroy Boro and that they did with Alberto Aquliani scoring another goal and then Borowski getting his hatrick in the dieing seconds.

A trip to Blackburn in the FA Cup was the last game in January and and entertaining game that was. Dirk Kuyt back from injury got right back into action by scoring the opener but that didnt count for long as Benni McCarthy scored straight after. Gonzalo Higuain then scored but yet another goal from McCarthy brought blackburn back in the game. In the second half Robbie Savage opened up the game when he scored a free kick to put blackburn ahead and that panicked Liverpool so they went for it. Kuyt and Bellamy then scored to make it look as though Liverpool were through but in the dieing seconds Shabani Nonda scored the equalizer to make it 4-4

Told you i already had this typed up !!!

[Jambo4eva]

February

Yes, another game against Blackburn but this time at Anfield and in the league not the cup. It was a good performance this time unlike the cup game where Liverpool had more leaks in defence than ever before. The game started well with Aquliani scoring against Blaburn for the second game running to take them into half time leading. In the second half Andy Todd scored an own goal after a scramble in the box from a corner. Late on in the game Gonzalo Higuain scored to make it 3-0 and get 3 points for Liverpool.

Blackburn came to Anfield 4 days later and did not fair any better. Liverpool drafted Dirk Kuyt back into the team for this game. It went well for him as he set up Stevie Gerrard after ten minutes to score the opener with Dirk Kuyt scoring the second int he 24th minute. Liverpool then enjoyed alot of posession before the interval. In the second half Eddie Johnson came on for Higuain and helped set Dirk Kuyt up for the third goal of the game. Liverpool then reverted to a 451 formation to make sure there were no late goals. Kuyt broke away on the counter attack and scored his hatrick and won the game which finished 4-0.

Hmm what to say about the trip to Villa park. It was shambolic to say the least. It started well with Riise scoring to make it 1-0 but then it went 1-1 with Carew scoring then 1-2 with Carew scoring again and then 1-3 with Carew scoring again....Later on in the game Momo sissoko scored to make it 2-3 and give Liverpool a glimmer of hope but no it was not to be. Downing scored then Pennant scored and then Carew got his fourth of the game. Luke Moore came on to add to Liverpool's woes and scored a further two goals. 8 fooking 2, Liverpool lost.

Well it was the cup again and we faced Chelsea at Anfield. Another sheeite performance from Liverpool whoch the fans did not like and let the team know it by sending boo's around the stadium right after Frank Lampard scored to put Chelsea ahead. Kuyt scored with a nice finish just before half time but chelsea felt hard done by to be going in at half time onl drawing after having so many chances. In the second half chelsea came out and took their chances with Drogba scoring and then Jamie Carragher putting the ball in his own net near the end of the gamewith Liverpool disgracefully going out the cup !

So a trip to Lyon was next and I really was not looking forward to this as Liverpools form has been so bad of late and you guessed it, we lost yet again. sidney Govoi scored the opener early on and Fred doubled the lead after just 16 minutes. Liverpool pressed on but failed to produce. Are Liverpool going bust. Is Pettigrew falling to peices.. .. .. only time will tell.

Relagation battlers Charlton came to visit Anfield which was only half full as most of the fans were outside protesting against Pettigrew as he is taring the team to pieces and not winning games, I guess with no pressure as the fans were not there the players felt at ease and Liverpools Eddie Johnson scored the first of the match straight away and 5 minutes later Dirk Kuyt doubbled the lead to Pettigrew's disbelief.Just before the second half Time Borowski made it 3-0 with a curling free kick. The second half came and went pretty fast with neither team quite playing to their best but eddie Johnson was not finished and made it 4-0 with minutes to spare. WOW we won again !!!

Pettigrew was sent by the Liverpool board on a break due to stress and will report back once he feels able to handle the pressure of this job !

[gazjuk]

Cagliari (H) Serie A

2-0

Another game at home and another expected win for Roma. It took just 5 minutes for Roma to take the lead when Ambrosini a summer signing from AC Milan got into space in the area to head in a Wilhelmsson free kick. Ambrosini made it 2 just before half time to seal victory. There was more to come from Roma who notched up there 5th straight league win.

Marseille (A) Euro cup 2nd knockout round 2nd leg

1-1

Roma take a 3 goals advantage into this game which should see them through into the next round of the cup. Roma started brightly and had the better of the chances with Van Nistelrooy having a goal in either half disallowed for offside. It was Marseille who took the lead when Cisse chased a lost cause ball into the corner, crossed to find Ribery there to finish from inside the area. Van Nistelrooy then put the game away when he headed in the vital away goal and put Roma through to the next round and I tie against Spanish side Espanyol

Lazio (A) Serie A

2-1

Away from home for Roma next and a clash against rivals Lazio in there shared Olimpico Stadium. Lazio started by far the better team and took the lead when Padev got the ball took on the defender and slotted home to make it 1-0. Roma then got an undeserved equalizer when and miss- kick by the defender left Van Nistelrooy free in the area and he made no mistake. Mexes then gave away a silly penalty and Rocchi finished from the spot to give Lazio a deserved win and put a big dent in Roma’s Title challenge.

Milan (H) Serie A

2-1

A clash again with fellow Human Manager Rouch as Roma host Milan. Roma wasted no time in taking the lead when Van Nistelrooy opened the scoring on 3 minutes. Okaka doubled there advantage soon after and the game looked as good as over. Milan was awarded a penalty in the second half but Roma held on to put a dent in Milan’s Title hopes and stopped Inter from extending there lead at the top.

Espanyol (H) Euro Qtr final 1st leg

2-2

This wasn’t going to be an easy game but one that Roma would hope to win at home if they are to go into the second leg with hope of progression. It was the away team though that took the lead when a Chica cross found Raul Tamudo in the box to head home the opener. Okaka then got the equaliser when he tapped in the rebound off a Nistelrooy shot. Roma then took the leas when Wilhelmsson put a lovely free kick into the front post and Perrotta tapped in from close. Raul Tamudo then became provider as he was played through and his cross found Peixoto to get a deserved equaliser.

Parma (H)

2-1

A slow game where neither team could get a firm hold on proceedings. Finally Roma did take holed and finished the game in 5 minutes just before the break. Twice Van Nistelrooy was played through and twice he unselfishly squared the ball to Trezeguet to tap into the empty net. Parma did get a goal back when Ferrari turned the ball into his own net. This was another deserved 3 points won by Roma.

Espanyol (A) Euro Qtr final 2nd leg

1-2

This was a game where Roma needed to score first and they did when Inzaghi’s shot was parried by the keeper and Okaka put the ball away from close. Roma made it two when Perrotta crossed in and Taddei finished on his return from injury. Raul Tamudo got a consolation goal late on but it wasn’t enough to stop Roma progressing through to the Semi finals of the Euro cup and a tie against another Spanish team Villarreal.

Messina (H) Serie A

2-0

De Rossi opened the scoring on 8 minutes with his first of the season to give Roma an early lead. Van Nistelrooy then made it two with a quality volley from inside the area to get all 3 points to the Rome team.

[Andy H]

I would host as a last resort as I also have stuff going on but would do it as we need to keep playing the game.

I think Steff should host in fairness as he and Rob ran this game.

[rouchie]

The Rossoneri Review

That old c word is coming up again for rouchie as he surveys his teams achievements this season so far, in the Italian Cup final, in the Champions League semis, but 5th in Serie A, â€Consistency†is obviously a problem yet again! Can Milan gain a semblance of that holy grail in the last few games of the season?

Milan Vs Ascoli – Sunday 15th April 2007

Milans poor league form was exemplified in the way that they struggled to win this game despit Ascoli doing everything to gift the game to the Rossoneri! Zanetti was sent off midway through the first half but Milan took until the second half to score the only goal of the game, Oliveira netting within seconds of coming on as a sub! Milan struggle to the win expected of them

Final Score : Milan 1 Ascoli 0

Milan Scorers : Oliveira (64)

Attendance : 54322

Man Of The Match: Ricardo Oliveira (Milan)

Lazio Vs Milan Wednesday 18th April 2007 – Italian Cup Final 1st Leg

The first “proper†final for a clan manager this season was when Dave lost to Chelsea in the League cup, this is the second of the season, albeit over 2 legs, the Italian Cup! First Leg at the Olimpico and Milan started positively, Oliveira put the Rossineri ahead just before the half hour mark with Gattuso netting just 5 minutes later! Gillardino slotted home shortly after the start of the second hald to give the away side a thumping 3-0 lead. Lazio compounded their own misery when a sliced clearance from Siviglia flew into their own net to give Milan a 4-0 lead to take back to the San SIro,

Final Score : Lazio 0 Milan 4

Milan Scorers : Oliveira (28) Gattuso (33) Gilardino (48) Siviglia (OG 71)

Attendance : 81180

Man Of The Match: Alberto Gillardino (Milan)

Milan Vs Inter –Sunday 22nd April 2007

Another shot at the top team but Milan are not as well placed as when they defeated Inter earlier in the season, nethertheless, Milan were still fired up for this derby game! Ibrahimovic put a dampener on the derby atmosphere though with a strike in just the 4th minute to put the league leaders ahead! Ricardo Oliveira levelled for the home side just after the quarter hour mark. Ivan Cordoba was dismissed for violent conduct on 34 minutes and Yoann Gourcuff put the Rossineri ahead with 10 minutes of the first half left only to see Maxwell level it up with just seconds to go! That was how the game remained and a share of the points was all that Milan got from 10 man Inter on a disappointing derby day

Final Score : Milan 2 Inter 2

Inter Scorers : Ibrahimovic (4) Maxwell (45)

Milan Scorers : Oliveira (17) Gourcuff (35)

Attendance : 82928

Man Of The Match: Yoann Gourcuff (Milan)

Milan Vs Barcelona – Wednesday 25th April 2007 – Champions League Semi Final Leg 1

So the semi finals of the Champions League against Steff Browning aka Esteban, Milan kick off to a fantastic start with Oliveira netting with only minutes on the clock! Unfortunately the sublime Fernando Torres netted a couple of wonderful goals to secure a healthy advantage for Barca in the return leg

Final Score : Milan 1 Barcelona 2

Barcelona Scorers : Torres (17, 51)

Milan Scorers : Oliveira (4)

Attendance : 82831

Man Of The Match: Lionel Messi (Barca)

Chievo Vs Milan – Sunday 29th April 2007

A game where Milan had a real opportunity to move up the table, playing the 5th placed team in the league but a goal less game ensured both teams stagnated, and a man of the match performance from Sicignano, the Chievo keeper, kept Milan in 6th place in Serie A

Final Score : Chievo 0 Milan 0

Attendance : 33038

Man Of The Match: Vincenzo Sicignano (Chievo)

Barcelona Vs Milan – Wednesday 2nd May 2007 – Champions Semi Final Leg 2

Ok, this was not in the script! Losing in the Champions League semi finals to fellow clan manager Steff Browning once was careless, but twice was downright shoddy! Read below for detail as I can not be arsed

Milan Scorers : Seedorf (29)

Barcelona Scorers : Eto’o (24) Saviola (65)

Attendance : 97973

Man Of The Match: Alessandro Nesta (Milan)

Milan Vs Fiorentina – Sunday 6th May 2007

A fine performance from the Rossoneri as they eased past Fiorentina with a reassuringly comfortable win Two from Gillardino and one from Bonera were enough for Milan to win this tie easily

Milan Scorers : Gillardino (20, 82) Bonera (51)

Attendance : 97973

Man Of The Match: Alessandro Nesta (Milan)

So finally out of the champions league at the semi final stage, and still indifferent in the league an Italian Cup Final win is the best route in to Europe at this stage. Fortunately a 4-0 lead n the first leg augers well for the Rossineri! 5th in he league and still some hope of securing a champions league slot via that route

[David Johnston]

The Emirates Update

With some other commitments at hand Johnston had to leave his assistant Pat Rice in charge for a few weeks, lets have a look at how he did.

Premiership

Watford 2 - 1 Arsenal

With Arsenal poor away foor it was anyones guess how this would go, but with Watford stuck in a relegation battle you would have expected more from the Gunners. And with Alonso grabbing the opener early on it looked like Arsenal just might do it, but it wasn't to be. With a penalty just before half time and the winner early in the second, Arsenal drop another 3 points.

Watford Scorers: Smith (pen 37), Kabba (57)

Arsenal scorers: Alonso (18)

Attendance: 19452

MotM: Shittu

Premiership

Arsenal 3 - 0 West Ham

Next up was another relegation battle in West Ham but this time it was at home. Another early goal for the Gunners, but this time a clean sheet and 2 second half goals were enough to give us the 3 points.

Arsenal Scorers: Baptista (12), Fabregas (50), Henry (56)

Attendance: 60391

MotM: Henry

Premiership

Liverpool 2 - 2 Arsenal

Another tricky away tie against the challengers for the title. Baptista gets Arsenal off to a terrific start. But a penalty just before half time and a goal for Kuyt bang on the whistle looked to put Liverpool in control. But top scorer Henry stepped up to grab the equaliser in the second half.

Liverpool Scorers: Bellamy (pen 42), Kuyt (45)

Arsenal scorers: Baptista (1), Henry (66)

Attendance: 45349

MotM: Carragher

Premiership

Arsenal 3 - 2 Chelsea

A huge game against Chelsea now to wrap up a run of tricky games. With Cole grabbing the opener early on and Senderos seeing red before half time, it looked to be game over. But with Henry in the team it is never over. First he makes it 1-1, before Drogba makes it 2-1. A goal after 80 minutes levels the game and a last second winner gives Arsenal the all important 3 points.

Arsenal Scorers: Henry (44, 80, 90)

Chelsea scorers: Cole (19), Drogba (66)

Attendance: 60412

MotM: Henry

Premiership

Man City 2 - 1 Arsenal

The final game in charge for Pat Rice and it was a disgrace. 2 for Vassell put City in charge and only a late consolation for Reyes made the scoreline look a little more flattering for the Gunners.

Man City Scorers: Vassell (29, 61)

Arsenal scorers: Reyes (84)

Attendance: 47945

MotM: Kleber

Premiership

Arsenal 5 - 0 Tottenham

After my trip to the FM tactics training course it was a perfect time to come back and try out what I learned against arch rivals Spurs. And the changes made were just what the Gunners needed, an absolutely outstanding performance in both halfs saw Arsenal run out 5-0 winners.

Arsenal Scorers: Henry (24), Alonso (33), Hleb (45), Gallas (84), Rosicky (90)

Attendance: 60409

MotM: Hleb

An outstanding win there, and we are now sitting 3 points clear at the top of the league with only 3 games remaining. The only bad news however is that Reyes picked up a hip injur and will be sent to a specialist for 2 months.

Premiership

Bolton 1 - 4 Arsenal

Another huge game now, with Chelsea, Man U and Liverpool all chasing the title an away win is just what we needed. And an impressive performance too. 4 goals in the first half were enough to see off Bolton.

Bolton Scorers: Barazite (12), Alonso (17), Hleb (25), Senderos (44)

Arsenal scorers: Pederson (51)

Attendance: 28402

MotM: Henry

Premiership

Arsenal 0 - 0 Middlesbrough

A chance to unofficially win the league here, a win would force Chelsea to need a huge win in the final game to win on goal difference with the Gunners currently 12 goals better off. But it starts off bad with Henry then his replacement Baptista stretchered off injured. The first half then ended at 0-0.

In the second half on-loan Porritt is shown red for Boro. And it ends at 0-0. But it doesn't matter, Chelsea lose 2-0 at Watford and Arsenal now only have to worry about an unlikely win for Liverpool in the final game with a difference of 23 goals.

Attendance: 55786

MotM: Woodgate

So there we have it, it was an up and down season but we have stumbled over the finish line and come up with the English Premier league trophy. With 1 game left the Gunners sit 3 points clear of Liverpool but 23 goals better off means that Liverpool need to come up with something special.

Its down to the final game of the season and it looks like any points will win Arsenal the trophy out right, but even a loss will probably do it.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Arsenal | | 37 | 23 | 7 | 7 | 85 | 35 | +50 | 76 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Liverpool | | 37 | 22 | 7 | 8 | 71 | 44 | +27 | 73 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Chelsea | | 37 | 21 | 9 | 7 | 66 | 30 | +36 | 72 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Man Utd | | 37 | 21 | 8 | 8 | 60 | 34 | +26 | 71 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Man City | | 37 | 17 | 11 | 9 | 44 | 31 | +13 | 62 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Aston Villa | | 37 | 17 | 6 | 14 | 61 | 48 | +13 | 57 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Everton | | 37 | 16 | 8 | 13 | 46 | 44 | +2 | 56 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Tottenham | | 37 | 13 | 16 | 8 | 45 | 39 | +6 | 55 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Reading | | 37 | 14 | 9 | 14 | 57 | 62 | -5 | 51 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Wigan | | 37 | 15 | 5 | 17 | 42 | 59 | -17 | 50 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Bolton | | 37 | 12 | 11 | 14 | 41 | 47 | -6 | 47 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Middlesbrough | | 37 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 36 | 45 | -9 | 43 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Newcastle | | 37 | 11 | 9 | 17 | 46 | 61 | -15 | 42 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Sheff Utd | | 37 | 7 | 19 | 11 | 35 | 41 | -6 | 40 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | West Ham | | 37 | 12 | 4 | 21 | 40 | 59 | -19 | 40 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Fulham | | 37 | 8 | 14 | 15 | 37 | 43 | -6 | 38 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Portsmouth | | 37 | 10 | 8 | 19 | 33 | 52 | -19 | 38 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Charlton | | 37 | 11 | 5 | 21 | 33 | 59 | -26 | 38 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Watford | | 37 | 10 | 6 | 21 | 36 | 62 | -26 | 36 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | R | Blackburn | | 37 | 8 | 9 | 20 | 39 | 58 | -19 | 33 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

The final league table will come soon, but for now here is how it stands with one game to go.

[Jambo4eva]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by David Johnston:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Arsenal | | 37 | 23 | 7 | 7 | 85 | 35 | +50 | 76 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Liverpool | | 37 | 22 | 7 | 8 | 71 | 44 | +27 | 73 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Chelsea | | 37 | 21 | 9 | 7 | 66 | 30 | +36 | 72 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Man Utd | | 37 | 21 | 8 | 8 | 60 | 34 | +26 | 71 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Man City | | 37 | 17 | 11 | 9 | 44 | 31 | +13 | 62 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Aston Villa | | 37 | 17 | 6 | 14 | 61 | 48 | +13 | 57 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Everton | | 37 | 16 | 8 | 13 | 46 | 44 | +2 | 56 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Tottenham | | 37 | 13 | 16 | 8 | 45 | 39 | +6 | 55 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Reading | | 37 | 14 | 9 | 14 | 57 | 62 | -5 | 51 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Wigan | | 37 | 15 | 5 | 17 | 42 | 59 | -17 | 50 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Bolton | | 37 | 12 | 11 | 14 | 41 | 47 | -6 | 47 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Middlesbrough | | 37 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 36 | 45 | -9 | 43 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Newcastle | | 37 | 11 | 9 | 17 | 46 | 61 | -15 | 42 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Sheff Utd | | 37 | 7 | 19 | 11 | 35 | 41 | -6 | 40 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | West Ham | | 37 | 12 | 4 | 21 | 40 | 59 | -19 | 40 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Fulham | | 37 | 8 | 14 | 15 | 37 | 43 | -6 | 38 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Portsmouth | | 37 | 10 | 8 | 19 | 33 | 52 | -19 | 38 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Charlton | | 37 | 11 | 5 | 21 | 33 | 59 | -26 | 38 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Watford | | 37 | 10 | 6 | 21 | 36 | 62 | -26 | 36 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | R | Blackburn | | 37 | 8 | 9 | 20 | 39 | 58 | -19 | 33 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I can still win the league !!!

come on liverpool !

[Jambo4eva]

While Pettigrew was away on "football business"

Everton (A) 0-2

Lyon (H) 1-1

Sheff Utd (A) 1-2

Fulham (H) 1-0

Man Utd (A) 0-2

Arsenal (H) 2-2

Wigan (A) 1-2

Reading (H) 3-1

Pettigrew returned after his short period out in April and his first game in charge was against Newcastle which was a good game where Stevie G took the lead for the Liverpudlians and then Aquliani made it 2-0 just before half time.In the second half it was a close affair and the only goal came from and corner where Momo sissoko put the ball in his own net.

Watford were visitors at Anfield now and it was Liverpool back to their rubbish performances and it started off with Danny scoring for Watford and that was the only action of the first half. In the second half Liverpool's midfield came through and set up Kuty then Johnson to put them ahead but in the dieing seconds smith stole the league from Liverpool and ruined all the dreams basically giving the title to Arsenal.

Penultimate game of the season was West Ham away and Liverpool won this game fairly comfortably with goals from Borowski and sissoko and Tevez got a consolation penalty for West Ham. Next up was Pompey and its the last game of the season.

In other news, Liverpool have announced the sensational signing of Michael Owen returning to Liverpool from Newcastle for a fee of 15 million pounds !!!

[steff]

If you lot are gonna be around over the weekend we can get this season finished if you so wish?

[Jambo4eva]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by steff:

If you lot are gonna be around over the weekend we can get this season finished if you so wish? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Steff incase you didnt get my message on MSN, Do NOT accept the Real Madrid job under any circumstances !!!!

[gazjuk]

did we end up playing any of the game over weekend? i couldnt get online yesterday went out sorry. if we did play on how did i do in the euro cup?

[steff]

nah we never got anything done, so your free to face the mighty Newcastle tonight

and is it just me or does the board look different?

[Andy H]

Good stuff so I can play my FA Cup final and lets hope I stay connected to the game tonight!!!!

Board does look different and it might be to do with the 20th of April announcement.

[gazjuk]

was just thinking that it looks slightly different but wasnt sure!

[Jambo4eva]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by gazjuk:

was just thinking that it looks slightly different but wasnt sure! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Its all green and yucky !!!

Hope everyones on sharp so we can get the season done

[gazjuk]

i will be online about half 8 latest just got to have my tea

[David Johnston]

The Emirates Update

Just one game left before the pre-season fun begins, although the title is not yet in the bag it is pretty much secured, so the game will just be a formality.

Premiership

Aston Villa 1 - 1 Arsenal

With the title already in the bag there wasn't really much need to put too much effort in to this game. The plan was simply to avoid losing by more than 20 goals. And Gallas got things off to a good start. The second half was a pretty even affair and Villa grabbed the equaliser half way through. And that's how it ended for The Gunners title victory.

Aston Villa scorers: Downing 57

Arsenal scorers: Gallas 22

Attendance: 42537

MotM: Gallas

Championies Championies

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | ECC | Arsenal | | 38 | 23 | 8 | 7 | 86 | 36 | +50 | 77 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | ECC | Liverpool | | 38 | 23 | 7 | 8 | 73 | 44 | +29 | 76 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | ECC | Chelsea | | 38 | 22 | 9 | 7 | 68 | 30 | +38 | 75 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | EC | Man Utd | | 38 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 61 | 34 | +27 | 74 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | EC | Man City | | 38 | 18 | 11 | 9 | 46 | 32 | +14 | 65 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | EC | Aston Villa | | 38 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 62 | 49 | +13 | 58 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Tottenham | | 38 | 14 | 16 | 8 | 49 | 39 | +10 | 58 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Everton | | 38 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 46 | 44 | +2 | 57 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Reading | | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 58 | 62 | -4 | 54 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Wigan | | 38 | 16 | 5 | 17 | 44 | 59 | -15 | 53 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Bolton | | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 41 | 48 | -7 | 47 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Sheff Utd | | 38 | 8 | 19 | 11 | 38 | 41 | -3 | 43 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Middlesbrough | | 38 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 36 | 47 | -11 | 43 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Newcastle | | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 46 | 65 | -19 | 42 |

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| 15th | | West Ham | | 38 | 12 | 4 | 22 | 40 | 61 | -21 | 40 |

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| 16th | | Charlton | | 38 | 11 | 6 | 21 | 33 | 59 | -26 | 39 |

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| 17th | | Fulham | | 38 | 8 | 14 | 16 | 37 | 46 | -9 | 38 |

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| 18th | R | Portsmouth | | 38 | 10 | 8 | 20 | 33 | 54 | -21 | 38 |

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| 19th | R | Watford | | 38 | 10 | 6 | 22 | 37 | 64 | -27 | 36 |

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| 20th | R | Blackburn | | 38 | 8 | 9 | 21 | 39 | 59 | -20 | 33 |

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| | | | | | | | | | | | |

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</pre>

It looks tighter than it actually was, it really was quite easy.

It is also time to dish out the awards for the season and we swept them too.

Players Player of the Year: Thierry Henry - with 33 league goals in 35 games he was the clear favourite for the prize.

Players young player of the year: Francesc Fabregas - the youngster was in top form this season with a number of goals and assists.

Manager of the year: David Johnston - another obvious choice for this one as I led the team to league victory.

English Footballer of the year: Aliaksandr Hleb - the right winger put in some impressive performances over the season with 12 assists.

Premiership top scorer: Thierry Henry - 33 goals in 35 games, 9 better off than the runner up Doyle who left to join Rob's Real Madrid.

Goal of the season: Jose Antonio Reyes - the left winger scored a stunner against Reading earlier in the season.

Well thats it for this year, next to come is pre-season transfer news, hopefully the board will sort us out with some money to improve the squad and avoid the goal drought we went through this season.

[gazjuk]

Atalanta (A) Serie A

0-3

Roma go into this game 4 points behind leaders Inter with just 6 games left. Van Nistelrooy once again got Roma off to a dream start when he got onto the end of a Chivu through ball and slotted home after just 7 minutes. Perrotta made it 2 when the defender failed to head clear and left him with an easy tap in. Roma then sealed victory on 75 minutes when Okaka’s shot was parried only as far as Trezeguet who rolled the ball into the empty net.

Villarreal (H) Euro Cup Semi Final 1st Leg

3-0

Roma was in charge of this game from the start but it took until the 28th minute before the deadlock was broken. Van Nistelrooy seemed to take the ball too far into the area to score but shot right across the keeper and put the ball into the top corner from a tight angle. Taddei made it 2 soon after when a terrible mix up in the defence from a Nistelrooy cross left Taddei unmarked to finish into an empty goal. Roma then sealed a superb victory when Taddei crossed and Debutant Munatore headed home his fist senior goal.

Torino (H) Serie A

3-1

Another 3 goals, another 3 points for Roma. This was the Van Nistelrooy show as the Roma hit man helped him to a hat trick of goals to take his tally to 35 in all competitions for Roma. His first goal came from a cross by Taddei and he headed home. This was followed by Torino’s Barone firing home a great strike from 25 yards giving the keeper no chance. Taddei then crossed to set up Van Nistelrooy and easy tap in for his second before converting from the spot when Trezeguet was fouled just inside the area.

Villarreal (A) Euro Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg

3-1

Roma take a 3 goals lead into this tie knowing that a goal in this game would mean the opponent need to score 5 to stand a chance of progressing to the final. Roma did manage the away goal they needed but only after they went 3 goals down. Nihat opened the scoring with a 20 yard strike that the keeper had no chance with. The second was from a good run and cross by Forlan who picked out Jose Maria who headed past the keeper inside the area. Nihat then put in the 3rd when he tapped in after the Roma keeper fumbled a shot from outside the area into his path. Roma’s goal came as Tavano skipped past the defender on the left and put a cross into the back post which Taddei tapped in to put Roma into the final of the Euro cup against Newcastle United at Hampden Park.

Sampdoria (A) Serie A

1-0

With Roma in the Final of the Euro cup in 10 days they need to stay focused in the league if they have a chance of clinching the Serie A league title from under Inter’s noses. With a few players rested Roma looked a shadow of there recent selves and the only surprise in the game was that it took Sampdoria till the 88th minute before Quagliarella put the ball under the keeper and all but end there chance of getting the Serie A Title this season.

Palermo (H)

2-0

Just a few days before the Euro final and after there defeat against Sampdoria it is a wonder what Roma team lines up and how they perform in this league game. Roma took the lead on 30 minutes when Ferrari got on the end of a Carvalho corner and his header was unstoppable. Van Nistelrooy got the second 7 minutes later to seal another Roma victory.

Newcastle (N) Euro Cup Final

0-1

Jenkinson has got his men to the final of the Euro cup after a disastrous Champions League campaign left them finishing 3 in the group stages. Newcastle will have there best attacking threat in Owen for this game after finishing a disappointing 14th in the Premier League. Roma started the better of the two teams and took the lead on 19 minutes when Inzaghi got a rare start tapped in at the back post after the keeper couldn’t hold a Tavano shot. Newcastle then went down to 10 men just before the bread when winger Duff elbowed a Roma defender. Newcastle started to plat with a bit more belief in the second half but with only 10 men they couldn’t find a way through the Roma defence and when Parker was also sent off for a second booking it was clear the trophy was returning to Roma for the first time since 1961.

Livorno (A) Serie A

Roma were back home in the league after there success in Europe just days before faced a Livorno side enjoying a good season. The first half started slow and it was a goal just before half time that gave Roma the lead when Van Nistelrooy crossed in and Tavano tapped in the first. Roma made it 2 minutes into the second half when Van Nistelrooy finished. Livorno’s Betani got a late goal when he got onto the end of a good ball but it was too late.

Siena (H) Serie A

1-1

Last game of the season and nothing to play for Roma Boss Jenkinson gave the young lads in his team a run out and left a lot of regulars on the bench or not even in the team. Roma still managed to dominate this game even with a weakened side. Roma took the lead on 13 minutes when De Rossi fired the ball onto the post from 25 yards and it fell nicely to the Feet of Trezeguet who made no mistake from inside the box. Roma kept on dominating the game but Siena managed to get an equalised when Marccarone reacted first to a spilled ball from Curci to tap into an empty net.

End of season report

The end of Jenkinsons first season as manager and he managed to take the club to second place in the league, as well as an impressive victory in the Euro cup. League record was P38, W24, D7, and L7. A slow start is what cost the club the title but hopefully with 12 months experience with him now Jenkinson will hope to take his team that bit further and win the Serie A title.

[Andy H]

The Manchester Mail - Hepburn struck down with mystery illness!!!!!!!!!

It has one hellva season for Utd manager Andrew Hepburn. He was first poisoned by someone thought to have been from Liverpool FC and now the new manager of Man Utd has been struck down with yet another mystery illness that kept him out for the remainder of the season. The media, thankfully know nothing about this illness and Hepburn, the club and his family have all kept quiet in the hope Hepburn returns to good health and then returns to football management in the future. He was struck down in mid January and has missed the rest of the season and everyone concerned with Man Utd has been affected by the manager's illness. It showed in their performances as Utd finished the season in fourth position but managed to win the FA Cup in Hepburn's absence. arlos Queiroz has to take all the credit for the success and Hepburn was delighted for him and the team when news reached him they had won the FA Cup. Here is a rundown of the remainder of the season............

Premiership

Man Utd v Everton - (H) Mon 1st January 2007

Utd started the new year with a draw at home to Everton and that saw then go further behind in the title race although they were already well out of it. It was another game that saw Utd miss chance after chance and they are crying out for a natural goalscorer. They went behind as they were caught on the break that saw Evra bring down Johnson. From the resulting free kick Ronaldo gave away a penalty and Andrew Johnson slotted it home with ease. It was all hands on the deck for Everton as Utd bombarded their goal and just when all hope was lost they managed to find an equaliser through Wayne Rooney to salvage a point.

Final Score - Man Utd 1 v 1 Everton

Goals - Man Utd - Rooney (82)

Goals - Everton - Johnson (pen,57)

Att - 72911

MOTM - Joseph Yobo (Everton)

FA Cup 3rd Round

Man Utd v Leicester - (H) Sat 6th January 2007

An easy win in the FA Cup for Utd as they brushed Leicester aside with ease to book their place in round four of the FA Cup. Utd rarely got out of second gear as they strolled around for most of the nnety minutes. A goal in either half was enough for Utd as Fletcher opened the scoring and then Ji-Sung Park added number two early in the second half. An easy win without using up too much energy.

Final Score - Man Utd 2 v 0 Leicester

Goals - Man Utd - Fletcher (31), Park (47)

Att - 53722

MOTM - Michael Carrick (Man Utd)

Carling Cup Semi Final 1st Leg

Man Utd v Arsenal - (H) Wed 10th January 2007

Utd were on cup duty again, this time against firece rivals Arsenal who had already beaten then at the Emirates this season. The Gunners came out on top again in this game as Utd could not live with young Cesc Fabregas. He was outstanding and the Gunners were impressive. Utd struggled to cope at times and were lucky to only be 2-0 down but then Alan Smith stepped up and grabbed what could be a very important goal for Utd. It still gives them some hope going into the second leg but Utd will have to play a lot better if they are to win this tie with the Gunners in superb form.

Final Score - Man Utd 1 v 2 Arsenal

Goals - Man Utd - Smith (82)

Goals - Arsenal - Fabregas (14), Gallas (73)

Att - 76177

MOTM - Kolo Toure (Arsenal)

Premiership

Fulham v Man Utd - (A) Sat 13th January 2007

A dull boring game at Craven Cottage as Utd again failed to take their chances and dropped more points. Fulham sat behind the ball and soaked up the Utd pressure but rarely troubled Van Der Sar. Up front Utd were misfiring in front of goal with Rooney, Ronaldo and Smith passing up great opportunities to put Utd ahead.

Final Score - Fulham 0 v 0 Man Utd

Att - 24449

MOTM - Patrice Evra (Man Utd)

During the week after the Fulham game, Hepburn was rushed to hospital for tests on this mystery illness and Carlos Queiroz had to take over all managerial duties for the remainder of the season. Here is how he got on.........................

Man Utd v Tottenham - (H) Sat 20th January 2007

Final Score - Man Utd 0 v 2 Tottenham

Arsenal v Man Utd - (A) Wed 24th January 2007 (Carling Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg)

Final Score - Arsenal 2 v 2 Man Utd

Man Utd v Reading - (H) Sat 27th January 2007

Final Score - Man Utd 3 v 0 Reading

Man Utd v Arsenal - (H) Tues 30th January 2007

Final Score - Man Utd 2 v 1 Arsenal

Man Utd v Wigan - (H) Sat 3rd February 2007

Final Score - Man Utd 2 v 0 Wigan

Man Utd v Reading - (H) Sat 10th February 2007

Final Score - Man Utd 1 v 1 Reading

Charlton v Man Utd - (A) Wed 14th February 2007

Final Score - Charlton 0 v 2 Man Utd

Man Utd v Fulham - (H) Sat 17th February 2007 (FA Cup 5th Round)

Final Score - Man Utd 1 v 0 Fulham

Man Utd v Newcastle - (H) Sat 24th February 2007

Final Score - Man Utd 2 v 2 Newcastle

Man Utd v Watford - (H) Sat 3rd March 2007

Final Score - Man Utd 2 v 0 Watford

Barnsley v Man Utd - (A) Sat 10th March 2007 (FA Cup 6th Round)

Final Score - Barnsley 1 v 3 Man Utd

West Ham v Man Utd - (A) Sat 17th March 2007

Final Score - West Ham 1 v 5 Man Utd

Man Utd v Liverpool - (H) Sat 31st March 2007

Final Score - Man Utd 2 v 0 Liverpool

Chelsea v Man Utd - (A) Sat 7th April 2007

Final Score - Chelsea 2 v 1 Man Utd

Man Utd v Man City - (H) Mon 9th April 2007

Final Score - Man Utd 2 v 0 Man City

Man Utd v West Ham - (N) Sat 14th April 2007 (FA Cup Semi Final)

Final Score - Man Utd 2 v 1 West Ham

Tottenham v Man Utd - (A) Wed 18th April 2007

Final Score - Tottenham 2 v 2 Man Utd

Man Utd v Bolton - (H) Sat 21st April 2007

Final Score - Man Utd 2 v 0 Bolton

Middlesboro v Man Utd - (A) Sat 28th Paril 2007

Final Score - Middlesboro 2 v 0 Man Utd

Man Utd v Aston Villa - (H) Sat 5th May 2007

Final Score - Man Utd 2 v 0 Aston Villa

Blackburn v Man Utd - (A) Sun 13th May 2007

Final Score - Blackburn 0 v 1 Man Utd

Man Utd v Aston Villa - (N) Sat 19th May 2007 (FA Cup Final)

Final Score - Man Utd 2 v 0 Aston Villa

So there you have it, Hepburn's first season in charge at Utd was eventful to say the least and thanks to assistant Carlos Quieroz they can celebrate at least some sliverware this season. The league was lost early on and their form in the Champions League was just absymal to say the least. Hepburn is well on the mend and should be back to take charge of this great football club for pre season training and lets hope next season is eventful for all the right reasons!!!!!!

[ChefRobGaming]

Shocking news hit the Bernabeu today as Michael Laudrup has left the club after only only 3 games after Roberto Perry was asked to join in a general manager role, Laudrup had this to say about the appointment " I dont need anyone elses help bringing glory to this fine club yet the chairman goes behind my back and hires some ex English player to help me out". This was to be his final word on the matter as he was sacked minutes after the press confrence and Roberto Perry was then given full control of team affairs.

Laudrup made 2 very odd signings before he was sacked bringing in 2 experienced keepers one in Jens Lehmann from Arsenal and the other Antti Niemi from Fulham.

Jose Mari followed them both to Real from Villarreal, so in his short spell he signed 3 players that wont even get playing time under Perry.

Stay tuned to see if the new manager can bring back glory to this fallen giant.......

[steff]

Rookie manager delivers the goods to silence critics!: Jose Gonzales: Jgonzales@marca.com

There where those who said Esteban Browning did not have what it took to be successful at Barcelona, today this reporter rams those words back down the throats of those who doubted the potential of this great young manager as Browning has now delivered not only the La Liga title but also the European cup to this great club.

Lets take a look at how he done it.

Our first match sees us head back to the 18th of February when Barcelona paid a visit to the San Manes stadium in Bilbao to face Athletic Bilbao. With many expecting Barca to crush their less glamours opponents, the pressure was really on here to get a result. Luckily for Browning his side managed it……just. Xavi gave the visitors an early lead in the 18th minute as he rattled home a free kick from 20 yards out that left Inaki Lafuente in the Athletic goal with no chance. Fernando Llorente levelled things us for Athletic in the 31st minute after being set clear by a great pass from Francisco Javier Yeste, with the Barca defenders looking statuesque Llorente blasted the ball into the top right hand corner. Things looked to be heading for a stalemate until the 86th minute when Carlos Puyol launched a brilliant ball into the box, the Athletic keeper came out to meet the ball, only the ball never arrive at him, instead the ball arrived right at the feet Samuel Eto’o who simply side stepped the onrushing Lafuente and tapped the ball into the empty net.

Athletic man Fernando Llorente was voted man of the match, quite possibly by someone who had been smoking crack as it was this reporters and everyone inside the ground opinion that Ronaldinho was by far and away the best player on the match.

After Barca’s second goal went in the fans broke into a chant of “gracias por el portero del regalo†(thank you for the gift goalkeeper) for the remainder of the game.

Next up on the 21st of February Browning would lead his side north as they ventured to the French town of Lens to face Lille in the Champions League first knockout stage. With only nine minutes of the clock Barca had taken the lead as Leo Messi’s shot deflected off Debuchy fell to Samuel Eto’o who made no mistake from five yards out. Lille’s European adventure suffered another blow in the 42nd minute as Barcelona stepped up a gear and Fernando Torres broke free of the defence and hit a fierce shot low past the helpless goalkeeper.

Lille where as good as knocked out of the competition in the 61st minute as Samuel Eto’o grabbed his second goal of the game after a 40 yard pass from Xavi sent him racing clear of the last defender. Lille will be fairly disappointed with their performance, opportunities like this one won’t come around very often for the little French side and they will be gutted they didn’t make the most of it this time around.

Two goal hero Samuel Eto’o was voted man of the match.

During match…..chanting etc……….. “¡pegarte en a lo que tu bueno, dando para arriba!†(stick to what you’re good at, giving up!). A clear reference to world war two.

Three days later Browning and his young side braced themselves for the visit of their nearest rivals this season, Valencia, The match had been billed as the game of the season but in reality it turned out to be a bit of a damp squib. David Villa opened the scoring in the 27th minute after Silva had played him in behind the Barcelona defence with a great pass. Samuel Eto’o pulled the holders level in the 37th minute after some nice interplay on the edge of the 18 yard box.

That was pretty much it, both teams seemed more than happy to settle for the draw and both sets of fans seemed happy with the result.

Barcelona’s Mexican defender Rafael Marquez was voted man of the match.

Next up was Villarreal in the Copa Del Rey quarter final second leg, with Barca carrying a comfortable 3-0 lead from the first leg there really wasn’t going to be much doubt that this result. Things got off to a good start for Barca in the 8th minute when Rafael Marquez headed the ball home from a Ronaldinho corner. The advantage was doubled in the 38th minute when Leo Messi crossed in from the right hand side, Ronaldinho was there to meet the ball and sent it goal bound with a diving header. With the aggregate score sitting at 5-0 Barcelona seemed to take their foot off the pedal in the second half of the game and Villarreal took advantage of this fact as they pulled one back in the 67th minute through Nihat. Nihat was on target again in the 75th minute after he got on the end of a low cross from Cani. Barcelona managed to shore up things at the back and quietly closed the match out to set up a place in the semi final against their hated rivals Real Madrid.

Two goal Nihat was voted man of the match.

Deprotivo where the next victims at Camp Nou as they bided to halt the run of the seemingly unstoppable Barcelona. Sadly for them it just wasn’t to be as Samuel Eto’o opened the scoring in the 5th minute, the Cameroonian international was on hand again to double the advantage in the 66th minute, leaving Deportivo with little way back into the match.

Rafael Marquez was voted man of the match.

Next up it was the turn of Lille to pay a visit to Camp Nou and like so many before them; it was also their turn to suffer a defeat on this famous ground. Ronaldinho opened the scoring the 8th minute before Samuel Eto’o doubled the advantage in the 38th minute. In the second half goals from Leo Messi (56mins) and Fernando Torres (81mins) secured a comfortable win for the defending European champions.

Samba superstar Ronaldinho was voted man of the match.

Barca paid a visit to Racing on the 11th of March and little Racing gave them a hell of a fright, try as they mighty the mighty Barcelona couldn’t break through the stubborn Racing defence. Just as things looked to be heading for the dreaded 0-0 draw Leo Messi struck in the 93rd minute from 30 yards out to secure all three points for Barcelona.

Thiago Motta was voted man of the match.

It was Gimnastic who would stand in the way of three more points things looked good for the home side in the 25th minute as Ronaldinho rattled the ball home from a Xavi cross. Gimnastic had a chance to snatch a point in the 82nd minute when they were awarded a penalty but Ariza Makukula blasted the ball over the bar.

Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes was voted man of the match.

It might have been the first of April but Barca shouldn’t have taken Zaragoza for fools in this La Liga clash as the unfancied Zaragoza side crushed them with three stunning goals coming from (Ewerthon pen 8mins and 77 mins) and Diego Milito 39mins. Balletti was also send off in the dying seconds of the game to further compound Barcelona’s misery.

Zaragoza’s Ewerthon was voted man of the match.

A few days later the side would face Lyon in the Uefa Champions League quarter final first leg and Camp Nou; this match would prove to be a tense affair as Barca had every reason to be wary of the French side who had disposed of Liverpool in the first knockout stage of the competition. Xavi opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 13th minute after some frog clattered Samuel Eto’o inside the box. Ronaldinho gave Barca their 2nd of the night in the 62nd minute.

Lyon’s Cris was voted man of the match.

Crisis at Camp Nou? Well that’s what some where shouting after this result as Barca slumped to their second straight league defeat, this time it was at the hands of Real Betis. Rafael Sobis stunned the 68,832 ground into silence with his 17th minute strike. Many had speculated that due to how early Betis had taken the lead that this would spark Barca back into life, leaving them with plenty of time to turn the game in their favour; this never happened and Betis could have won by more than the one goal.

Juanito of Betis was voted man of the match.

With form that bad it’s not the time you want to face a tricky away game against Lyon in the 2nd leg of a Champions League quarter final, but that’s exactly what Barca had ahead of them. With their 2-0 lead from the first game many Barcelona fans felt the first goal of this tie would be critical and sadly it fell Lyon’s way coming via a Sylvain Wiltord header in the 19th minute. This set up a tense remaining 70 mins as Lyon battered away at the Barcelona goal trying to level the tie, sadly for them they got hit on the break in the dying seconds of the game as Fernando Torres broke free and hammered the ball home with the clock showing 91 minutes, to secure a place in the semi finals for his side.

Lyon’s Sebastien Squiillaci was voted man of the match.

After booking a place in the semi final of Europe’s elite competition morale must have been soaring in the Barcelona camp and not many people would have fancied Atletico’s chances as Barca paid a visit to Vincete Calderon. The visitors were stung on the half hour mark Atletico’s Galletti took the ball past Carlos Puyol and laid on a lovely ball for Sergio Aguero, Aguero then turned Giovanni Van Bronckhorst inside out before firing the ball low into the bottom right hand corner sending the home fans wild. Barcelona pulled level just after the hour mark after Andres Iniesta found the run of Guy Asulin; Asulin knocked the ball towards Fernando Torres who hammered it home from close range. Atletico regained the lead in the 75th minute after Martin Petrov floated in a corner from the right hand side, Antonio Lopez out jumped Andres Iniesta to head the ball past the helpless Victor Valdes. Three minutes later Atletico found themselves two goals clear, again the goal came from another Petrov corner, this time it was Pablo who got on the end of it, Gianluca Zambrotta got up to head clear only to send the ball flying past his own goalkeeper. The rout was confirmed in the 83rd minute when Santa Cruz got into the penalty area only to be hauled down by Carlos Puyol, the referee had no hesitation in awarding the penalty kick and Peter Luccin stepped up to calmly slot the ball home.

Atletico’s Sergio Aguero was voted man of the match.

After the match the Barcelona fans that remained in the away section could he be heard chanting “estimado dios cuál en el azul era ése†(dear god what in the blue hell was that?)

If Barcelona fans thought their last result was humiliating then the next one would have left them speechless, their heroes travelled to Santiago Bernabeu to fixed bitter hated rivals Real Madrid in the Copa Del Rey semi final first leg. Things started rather well for the visitors as in the 8th minute Gianluca Zambrotta picked Fernando Torres out with his pinpoint pass, Torres found himself clear of the defence and with space in the box, he fired the ball low across the body of the keeper into the net to give Barca a dream start and his 25th goal of the season. The lead was to be short lived though has Doyle got past Zambrotta and fired in an excellent shot which Victor Valdes could only parry away, Robinho was first to the rebound and left with a tap to level the scores up in the 12th minute. Robinho grabbed his second goal of the game in the 22nd minute after David Beckham whipped in a corner from the right hand side, the samba star out jumped youngster Guy Asulin and headed the ball across the goal into the bottom corner. Things went from bad to disastrous for Barca in the 24th minute as out of nothing Renato Augusto rattled the ball into the back of the net from 25 yards out to give Real a 3-1 lead. The roof well and truly caved in the 54th minute as Mancini whipped in another corner and Robinho again out jumped Asulin, this time Robinho’s header crashed back of the bar and the ball fell to Cannavaro who was left with what was perhaps the easiest goal he’ll ever score in his career. Carlos Puyol decide to be a smart ass in the 81st minute, when with frustration clearly getting the better of him he scythed down Doyle 30 yards out, up stepped David Beckham to dispatch the kick goal wards and past Victor Valdes for Real’s fifth of the evening. By some miracle in the 88th minute Guy Asulin managed to put a cross in from the left hand side, Carlos Puyol of all people was on hand to hammer the ball home from 10 yards. But this was too little too late on behalf of Barcelona who simply did not take the chances that presented their self to them, Real Madrid on the other did and this is why they ran out 5-2 winners, a very sweet victory indeed over their most hated rivals.

Brazilian Robinho was voted man of the match after his two well taken goals.

After the match the Barcelona fans chanted “los resultados tienen gusto que te conseguirán despedido†(results like that will get you sacked) at manager Esteban Browning.

An amazing 97,965 fans packed into the Camp Nou on the 22nd of April to see Barcelona take on City Rivals Espanyol, the fans would have been praying for a good result as well as a good performance with the side facing Italian giants Milan in the semi final of the Champions League in their next match. The fans didn’t have long to wait for something to cheer about as Messi centred the ball in the 1st minute for Samuel Eto’o, the Cameroonian international made no mistake from 15 yards. A minute before half time Eto’o was on target again as Kameni in the Espanyol goal could only parry a Ronaldinho effort; Eto’o was first to the rebound for an easy tap in.

The result was put beyond all doubt in the 69th minute after Xavi picked up a loose ball 25 yards out and found Fernando Torres with an inch perfect pass, Torres then rounded the keeper and casually rolled the ball into the empty net for the third.

Espanyol lost whatever will to continue they had left at this point and Barcelona just sat back and played it safe, no doubt trying to avoid unnecessary injuries for the upcoming clash against Milan.

Samuel Eto’o was voted man of the match.

After the match the home fans could be heard chanting “es siempre bueno batir esa espuma†(it’s always good to beat that scum) a sign that after their anger of the past two week they were now back on the managers side, a fickle bunch indeed are Barcelona fans.

Next for Barca was the unenviable task of visiting the San Siro and trying to take something from on form A.C Milan. Barcelona couldn’t have wished for a worse start than this, in the 4th minute Massimo Oddo threw the ball in to Gilardino who them passed the ball out of the right for Courcuff, Rafa Marquez managed to get in the way of the attempted ball but only succeeded in sending the ball back to Oddo who quickly found the run of Ricardo Oliveira and smashed a low drive past Victor Valdes. The defending champions pulled level in the 17th minute after some classic route one football, Victor Valdes launched a high ball up the park towards Fernando Torres who found himself in the clear with space to run into, after making the edge of the box he applied the most delicate of chips to knock the ball over the on rushing Dida to level the game. Torres was then on target again in the 51st minute to give his side the lead, this time it was Ronaldinho who turned provider as he fired in a cross from the left hand side, Torres rose above his marker and headed the ball home from six yards. Barcelona were reduced to ten men in the 59th minute after Gianlucca Zambrotta cut down Gilardino who was one on one with the keeper. Despite their numerical disadvantage Barca continued to create chances and in truth could have won this match by more than two goals to one, on the flip side though they will have been thankful to come away with their lead intact after playing the last half an hour of the game with only ten men.

Argentinean kid Leo Messi was voted man of the match.

During the game the visiting fans randomly broke into chants of “el rouch ama el triunfo rojo†(Rouch loves the red win).

Next up it was a trip to Valencia to face Levante in what should have been an easy match, but given their erratic league form, nothing could be certain with this mob at the moment. Levante held their own for 77 minutes of the game before Andres Iniesta skipped past the challenge of N’Diaye and fired a wonderful 20yard shot past the statuesque keeper in the Levante goal. The result was secured in the 82minute when Samuel Eto’o grabbed his 30th goal of the season after a nice ball by Iniesta sent him clear.

Andres Iniesta was voted man of the match.

The Barca fans chanted “algún más gana y es el nuestros†(a few more wins and it is ours) talking about the fans their heroes where closing in on the title once again.

On the 2nd of May Camp Nou paid host to Milan in the second leg of the Champions Leg semi final that saw Barca 2-1 up from the first leg. 97973 fans had crammed into this massive stadium on this beautiful summers evening in an attempt to roar their heroes on to glory. The fans had something to cheer about in the 24th minute when Xavi knocked the ball ahead of Samuel Eto’o, Eto’o then used his skill to beat Nesta and fire the ball high into the top right hand corner. Five minutes later Milan levelled the game on the night after Belletti attempted a suicidal pass to Carlos Puyol on the edge of his own box, Clarence Seedorf nipped in and stole the ball and one on one with the keeper he kept his cool to lift the ball over the diving Valdes. With the match still very much in the balance Barcelona looked to make a few changes at half time as they sought to secure their place in the final, Edmilson replaced suicidal pass boy Belletti and Javier Saviola replaced Fernando Torres. It was substitute Saviola who would score the decisive goal in the game as in the 65th minute Samuel Eto’o played him a lovely pass, Saviola was able to find a yard of space to get his shot off and the ball flew past the helpless Dida.

As the final whistle sounded there where seems of mass celebration around Camp Nou as fans and players alike realised the side was now only one game from defending their European crown.

Milan captain Alessandro Nesta was voted man of the match.

The Barcelona fans chanted “salir y ahogar tus Dolores†(go and drown your sorrows) and crestfallen Milan manager Paul Rouch and unconfirmed reports are that he done exactly that with a large bottle of rum.

The Sunday proceeding the victory over Milan saw the side return to league business and this team it was Real Sociedad that where visiting Camp Nou, needing only 3 victories to secure the title it was important that the players kept their feet on the ground after the Milan game, but it seemed the players where suffering from a little bit of a hangover from their European exploits. The breakthrough came for the home side in the 44th minute after Rafael Marquez dispossessed Ion Ansotegi with a slide tackle and knocked the ball to Ronaldinho who quickly turned two defenders with his skill passed the ball into the net. Sociedad pulled level in the 53rd minute after a stunning strike from Stevanovic who noticed Victor Valdes was off his line and chipped him from 30 yards out. Just when it seemed that this game was heading for a share of the points Samuel Eto’o found himself in space in the 94th minute of the game, under pressure from the defender Eto’o kept his cool to put the ball past the onrushing keeper to wrap up another 3 points for the defending champions.

Ronaldinho was voted man of the match.

After the match chants of “cuatro más puntos harán†(four more points will do) rang around the ground.

Another ninety seven thousand fans packed Camp Nou to watch Barcelona attempt to overturn a 5-2 deficit from the first leg of this Copa Del Rey semi final against Real Madrid, they came close but just not close enough. Samuel Eto’o opened the scoring in the 49th minute after Casillas parried a Torres shot leaving him with a tap in. Fernando Torres put Barca within a single goal of their aim in the 54th minute when Samuel Eto’o picked him out with a nice pass 30 yards from goal, Torres used his skill to go past three Real Madrid defenders and hammer the ball past Casillias in the Madrid goal. Madrid managed to hold on until the end of the match to book their place in the final though, much to the disappointment of the many fans who had packed the stadium out.

Fernando Torres was voted man of the match.

After the match the Barcelona fans chanted “tan cerca con todo hasta ahora†(so near yet so far).

Now with the distraction of the cup out of the way Barca where free to concentrate on the retaining their league crown, they headed to Pamplona to face Osasuna knowing a win would pretty much guarantee them the title. After 32mins though and some suicidal defending by Carlos Puyol the defending champions found themselves one down after Pierre Achille Webo latched onto Puyol’s slack pass and rattled the ball into the back of the net, much to the fury of Puyol’s team mates and manager Esteban Browning. In the 36th minute Xavi rattled a great shot at the goal from 30 yards, Ricardo managed to fist the ball away and it fell to Fernando Torres ten yards out, Torres managed to make a bit of space for himself and get his shot off beating Ricardo all ends up.

Try as they did though Barcelona or Osasuna could not find the second goal that would have given them all three points.

Hector Font of Osasuna was voted man of the match.

After the match the Barcelona fans chanted “un triunfo puedes hacerlo más†(one more you can do it!).

Remember the 20th of May!! It was the day Barcelona retained their title under the guidance of rookie manager Esteban Browning. The match itself here was a pretty unremarkable affair which saw Barca run out 2-0 winners over a lacklustre Getafe side. The goals coming from Javier Saviola in the 18th minute and Fernando Torres in the 38th minute.

Andres Iniesta was voted man of the match.

After the game the Triumphant Esteban Browning asked the fans to put their celebrations on hold until the team had returned from Athens with the European cup.

The Barca fans chanted “desea Esteban vivo†(long live Esteban) long into the night.

The biggest match of the season for Barca would not be played at Camp Nou, in fact it would not even be played in the Spain, this match would take place in Athens Greece as Barcelona faced last season’s English champions Chelsea (they had been deposed by Arsenal a week earlier) in the final of the UEFA Champions League. It was the Spanish fans who had something to cheer about first as in the 44th minute Ronaldinho sent Javier Saviola sprinting free after a great ball over the top, Saviola moved in on goal and coolly put the ball past Petr Cech to give Barca the lead going into the break. Just as it looked like Barca would retain their title with the 1-0 win Mathieu Bodmer advanced on Victor Valdes in the 94th minute and floated the ball over the top of him to draw Chelsea level with literally the last kick of the game. Extra time came and went with neither side being able to make the breakthrough and the dreaded penalty shootout was needed to determine a winner in this one.

Salomon Kalou stepped up first for Chelsea and scored.

Fernando Torres converted Barcelona’s first penalty with ease.

Ashley Cole was next up for Chelsea but he blasted his effort high over the bar.

Ronaldinho made no mistake with Barca’s 2nd penalty.

Khalid Boulahrouz kept Chelsea in it by converting their third penalty.

Samuel Eto’o kept Barca’s lead in tact by scoring his penalty.

Didier Drogba stepped up for Chelsea’s 4th penalty and missed!

Xavi found himself only need to score his penalty to retain the European cup for his side and the Spanish international made no mistake as he showed nerves of steel to blast the ball home, sparking scenes of wild celebration around the stadium.

Ironically Chelsea penalty villain Didier Drogba was voted man of the match.

With all the celebrations that had gone on after their Champions League glory it was perhaps inevitable that Barcelona players would suffer from a slight hangover in their final league game against Celta. Celta took full advantage of this fact too as they raced to a 3-0 lead within 26minutes with the goals coming from Guayre (7mins) and Nene (14 and 26mins). Barcelona fought back in the second half though and pulled level with goals from Javier Saviola (51mins), Deco (52mins) and Andres Iniesta (70mins).

Celta’s Nene was voted man of the match.

The final La Liga table looked like this:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

Holders - Barcelona

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | C | Barcelona | | 38 | 26 | 8 | 4 | 82 | 36 | +46 | 86 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Valencia | | 38 | 25 | 9 | 4 | 59 | 23 | +36 | 84 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | R. Madrid | | 38 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 75 | 32 | +43 | 74 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Athletic | | 38 | 20 | 5 | 13 | 65 | 41 | +24 | 65 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Villarreal | | 38 | 18 | 7 | 13 | 60 | 57 | +3 | 61 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Espanyol | | 38 | 18 | 4 | 16 | 56 | 51 | +5 | 58 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Atlético | | 38 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 53 | 52 | +1 | 58 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Sevilla | | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 46 | 41 | +5 | 56 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | R. Sociedad | | 38 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 43 | 41 | +2 | 53 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Osasuna | | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 47 | 50 | -3 | 52 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Mallorca | | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 42 | 51 | -9 | 50 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Zaragoza | | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 51 | 50 | +1 | 47 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Getafe | | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 47 | 59 | -12 | 46 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Gimnàstic | | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 42 | 53 | -11 | 46 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Levante | | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 40 | 53 | -13 | 44 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Celta | | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 42 | 59 | -17 | 44 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Betis | | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 37 | 58 | -21 | 43 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | R | Racing | | 38 | 8 | 9 | 21 | 39 | 69 | -30 | 33 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | R | Deportivo | | 38 | 6 | 12 | 20 | 44 | 59 | -15 | 30 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | R | Recreativo | | 38 | 4 | 12 | 22 | 33 | 68 | -35 | 24 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

So there you have it, in his first season as manager of the mighty Barcelona Esteban Browning has delivered the Spanish Supercup, The Club World Championship, La Liga and the European cup to the fans, not a bad first season surely?

But the question on everyone’s lips is now can the boy wonder repeat this feat?

Only time will tell.

This is Jose Gonzales reporting for Marca.

[David Johnston]

You have far too much time on your hands.

[Andy H]

Lads will be on late tomorrow night I have football 9 till 10pm.

Rob I hope you make my new banner soon.

You know your doing sh!te when Steff wins everything in a clan game!!!!

[David Johnston]

Do I get a new banner too, with Premiership Champions 2007?

And maybe one for Sandy with 'Community Shield Winners 2006 - maybe next season'.

[steff]

End of season review

England

Premiership

After a close fought Premiership race this season it was Dave's Arsenal side that emerged victorious over Sandy's Liverpool. Both guys did a good job of separating Chelsea from the top spot and keeping a late challenge from Andy's Man Utd side.

The final league table looked like this:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

Holders - Arsenal

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | C | Arsenal | | 38 | 23 | 8 | 7 | 86 | 36 | +50 | 77 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Liverpool | | 38 | 23 | 7 | 8 | 73 | 44 | +29 | 76 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Chelsea | | 38 | 22 | 9 | 7 | 68 | 30 | +38 | 75 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Man Utd | | 38 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 61 | 34 | +27 | 74 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Man City | | 38 | 18 | 11 | 9 | 46 | 32 | +14 | 65 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Aston Villa | | 38 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 62 | 49 | +13 | 58 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Tottenham | | 38 | 14 | 16 | 8 | 49 | 39 | +10 | 58 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Everton | | 38 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 46 | 44 | +2 | 57 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Reading | | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 58 | 62 | -4 | 54 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Wigan | | 38 | 16 | 5 | 17 | 44 | 59 | -15 | 53 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Bolton | | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 41 | 48 | -7 | 47 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Sheff Utd | | 38 | 8 | 19 | 11 | 38 | 41 | -3 | 43 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Middlesbrough | | 38 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 36 | 47 | -11 | 43 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Newcastle | | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 46 | 65 | -19 | 42 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | West Ham | | 38 | 12 | 4 | 22 | 40 | 61 | -21 | 40 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Charlton | | 38 | 11 | 6 | 21 | 33 | 59 | -26 | 39 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Fulham | | 38 | 8 | 14 | 16 | 37 | 46 | -9 | 38 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | R | Portsmouth | | 38 | 10 | 8 | 20 | 33 | 54 | -21 | 38 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | R | Watford | | 38 | 10 | 6 | 22 | 37 | 64 | -27 | 36 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | R | Blackburn | | 38 | 8 | 9 | 21 | 39 | 59 | -20 | 33 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

Carling Cup

The final of the 2006/2007 Carling Cup would see Dave's Arsenal challenge for the first major honour of the season against London rivals Chelsea. On this day though luck was not on Dave's side as he matched Chelsea shot for shot and with neither side having made a breakthrough in the regulation 90mins the match went to extra time where Andriy Shevchenko scored the winner in the 115th minute.

FA Cup

It was another "human" manager who made it to the FA cup final, I use the term "human" because about two minutes before kick off Andy lost his connection to the game and his assistant manager was left in charge for final itself. The match seen a 2-0 win for Andy's Man Utd side with the goals coming from Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick.

Championship

The Coca Cola Championship saw Leeds secure their Premiership place for next season as they won the league by a single point from Derby who also secured an automatic promotion place. Wolves who finished 4th in the table also secured their premiership place for next season with a 2-0 win over Birmingham in the playoff final at the Millennium stadium.

The final Championship table looked like this:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

Holders - Leeds

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | C | Leeds | | 46 | 28 | 5 | 13 | 73 | 48 | +25 | 89 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | P | Derby | | 46 | 26 | 10 | 10 | 74 | 50 | +24 | 88 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Birmingham | | 46 | 23 | 8 | 15 | 73 | 57 | +16 | 77 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | P | Wolves | | 46 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 60 | 48 | +12 | 75 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | West Brom | | 46 | 22 | 5 | 19 | 69 | 65 | +4 | 71 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Cardiff | | 46 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 61 | 57 | +4 | 69 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Stoke | | 46 | 19 | 12 | 15 | 60 | 57 | +3 | 69 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Leicester | | 46 | 18 | 13 | 15 | 67 | 60 | +7 | 67 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Sunderland | | 46 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 64 | 52 | +12 | 66 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Southend | | 46 | 18 | 12 | 16 | 59 | 56 | +3 | 66 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Crystal Palace | | 46 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 51 | 52 | -1 | 66 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Hull | | 46 | 15 | 19 | 12 | 60 | 58 | +2 | 64 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Southampton | | 46 | 17 | 11 | 18 | 54 | 58 | -4 | 62 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Preston | | 46 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 51 | 49 | +2 | 61 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Ipswich | | 46 | 17 | 10 | 19 | 60 | 60 | 0 | 61 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Burnley | | 46 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 66 | 69 | -3 | 57 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Sheff Wed | | 46 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 56 | 61 | -5 | 57 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Barnsley | | 46 | 15 | 11 | 20 | 57 | 62 | -5 | 56 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Plymouth | | 46 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 64 | 76 | -12 | 54 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Luton | | 46 | 14 | 10 | 22 | 54 | 60 | -6 | 52 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 21st | | Coventry | | 46 | 14 | 10 | 22 | 44 | 61 | -17 | 52 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 22nd | R | Norwich | | 46 | 11 | 16 | 19 | 48 | 66 | -18 | 49 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 23rd | R | Colchester | | 46 | 11 | 9 | 26 | 55 | 75 | -20 | 42 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 24th | R | Q.P.R. | | 46 | 8 | 16 | 22 | 51 | 74 | -23 | 40 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

Sandy's Liverpool side also won the Community Shield with a 1-0 win over Chelsea but the game wouldn't let me go that far back and look at the match screen, so no more information on that one! (Although I could and look at his report but I'm too damn lazy)

Italy

Serie A TIM

Serie A saw inter retain their championship, Gaz's Roma side put a late challenge near the end of the season but the problem that had plagued Gaz for most of the season reared it's ugly head again, he kept losing to diddy teams that he should have easily beaten!

Rouchie's Milan side finished 3rd, with an 8 point deduction holding them back from last season's match fixing scandal it was always going to be hard for them to make up ground their city rivals.

The final Serie A table looked like this:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

Holders - Inter

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | C | Inter | | 38 | 25 | 11 | 2 | 74 | 27 | +47 | 86 |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Roma | | 38 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 67 | 28 | +39 | 79 |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Milan | | 38 | 23 | 7 | 8 | 71 | 37 | +34 | 68 |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Lazio | | 38 | 20 | 11 | 7 | 64 | 35 | +29 | 68 |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Chievo | | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 51 | 46 | +5 | 64 |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Torino | | 38 | 17 | 11 | 10 | 55 | 50 | +5 | 62 |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Sampdoria | | 38 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 46 | 40 | +6 | 62 |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Palermo | | 38 | 18 | 7 | 13 | 50 | 45 | +5 | 61 |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Parma | | 38 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 43 | 36 | +7 | 52 |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Siena | | 38 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 31 | 30 | +1 | 50 |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Livorno | | 38 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 38 | 34 | +4 | 49 |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Atalanta | | 38 | 13 | 10 | 15 | 34 | 37 | -3 | 49 |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Udinese | | 38 | 11 | 15 | 12 | 43 | 40 | +3 | 48 |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Fiorentina | | 38 | 16 | 14 | 8 | 46 | 28 | +18 | 47 |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Empoli | | 38 | 8 | 9 | 21 | 34 | 59 | -25 | 33 |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Messina | | 38 | 6 | 11 | 21 | 25 | 57 | -32 | 29 |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Catania | | 38 | 7 | 8 | 23 | 30 | 59 | -29 | 29 |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | R | Cagliari | | 38 | 5 | 10 | 23 | 26 | 63 | -37 | 25 |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | R | Ascoli | | 38 | 6 | 7 | 25 | 19 | 60 | -41 | 25 |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | R | Reggina | | 38 | 5 | 9 | 24 | 40 | 76 | -36 | 13 |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8 points deducted from Milan | | | | | | | | | | | |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3 points deducted from Lazio | | | | | | | | | | | |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11 points deducted from Reggina | | | | | | | | | | | |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15 points deducted from Fiorentina | | | | | | | | | | | |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1 point deducted from Siena | | | | | | | | | | | |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

Coppa Italia

Rouchie did manage to get his hands on some silverware in this competition, facing Lazio in the final. After 4-0 victory in the first leg he was able to have the luxuary of being able to lose the 2nd leg 2-0 and still come away with the trophy.

Gaz’s Roma side also faced Inter in the Italian Supercoppa but again the game wouldn’t let me back in to see the result in more detail, but basically he lost 2-0.

Serie B

As many people expected Juventus bounced back from their relegation after the match fixing scandal of last year with ease, only it wasn’t as champions, that honour went to Genoa who won the league by four points from Juve.

The final Serie B table looked like this:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

Holders - Genoa

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | C | Genoa | | 42 | 22 | 15 | 5 | 66 | 40 | +26 | 81 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | P | Juventus | | 42 | 26 | 8 | 8 | 64 | 32 | +32 | 77 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Bologna | | 42 | 18 | 15 | 9 | 62 | 46 | +16 | 69 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Treviso | | 42 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 56 | 44 | +12 | 68 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Verona | | 42 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 48 | 45 | +3 | 64 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | P | Piacenza | | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 62 | 46 | +16 | 64 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Napoli | | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 66 | 52 | +14 | 61 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Mantova | | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 55 | 46 | +9 | 59 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Rimini | | 42 | 14 | 16 | 12 | 46 | 41 | +5 | 58 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Pescara | | 42 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 43 | 44 | -1 | 58 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Lecce | | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 54 | 45 | +9 | 57 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Triestina | | 42 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 56 | 59 | -3 | 57 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Brescia | | 42 | 12 | 19 | 11 | 56 | 56 | 0 | 55 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Bari | | 42 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 52 | 49 | +3 | 53 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Modena | | 42 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 49 | 53 | -4 | 51 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | AlbinoLeffe | | 42 | 13 | 9 | 20 | 43 | 68 | -25 | 48 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Frosinone | | 42 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 46 | 56 | -10 | 47 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Cesena | | 42 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 46 | 55 | -9 | 47 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | R | Spezia | | 42 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 42 | 69 | -27 | 45 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | R | Vicenza | | 42 | 11 | 9 | 22 | 48 | 56 | -8 | 42 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 21st | R | Crotone | | 42 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 42 | 72 | -30 | 35 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 22nd | R | Arezzo | | 42 | 10 | 10 | 22 | 41 | 69 | -28 | 34 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1 point deducted from Pescara | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1 point deducted from Triestina | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6 points deducted from Arezzo | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9 points deducted from Juventus | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

Spain

La Liga

My Barcelona team where crowned champions of Spain this season after winning the league by four points from Valencia. Rob’s Real Madrid finished the season in 3rd a massive 10 points behind second placed Valencia after having the most inconsistent season ever.

The final table looked like this:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

Holders - Barcelona

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | C | Barcelona | | 38 | 26 | 8 | 4 | 82 | 36 | +46 | 86 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Valencia | | 38 | 25 | 9 | 4 | 59 | 23 | +36 | 84 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | R. Madrid | | 38 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 75 | 32 | +43 | 74 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Athletic | | 38 | 20 | 5 | 13 | 65 | 41 | +24 | 65 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Villarreal | | 38 | 18 | 7 | 13 | 60 | 57 | +3 | 61 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Espanyol | | 38 | 18 | 4 | 16 | 56 | 51 | +5 | 58 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Atlético | | 38 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 53 | 52 | +1 | 58 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Sevilla | | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 46 | 41 | +5 | 56 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | R. Sociedad | | 38 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 43 | 41 | +2 | 53 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Osasuna | | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 47 | 50 | -3 | 52 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Mallorca | | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 42 | 51 | -9 | 50 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Zaragoza | | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 51 | 50 | +1 | 47 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Getafe | | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 47 | 59 | -12 | 46 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Gimnàstic | | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 42 | 53 | -11 | 46 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Levante | | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 40 | 53 | -13 | 44 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Celta | | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 42 | 59 | -17 | 44 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Betis | | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 37 | 58 | -21 | 43 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | R | Racing | | 38 | 8 | 9 | 21 | 39 | 69 | -30 | 33 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | R | Deportivo | | 38 | 6 | 12 | 20 | 44 | 59 | -15 | 30 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | R | Recreativo | | 38 | 4 | 12 | 22 | 33 | 68 | -35 | 24 |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

Copa Del Rey

Real Madrid won the “cup of the king†with a 1-0 victory over Athletic. This should have been Perry’s crowning glory of the season (since he got killed in the league) but he had resigned from Real and quit the game (thinking his work commitments would keep him out of play) only to rejoin about 4 hours later deciding to “play when he can†He still isn’t getting any credit for the cup win though

Barcelona also won the Spanish Super cup over Espanyol, again game no lettie me in to have a look.

Liga BBVA

Valladolid secured their place back in the big time next season after finishing top of the pile also promoted with them where Murcia and Cadiz.

Final table etc:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

Holders - Valladolid

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | C | Valladolid | | 42 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 62 | 42 | +20 | 76 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | P | Murcia | | 42 | 19 | 16 | 7 | 65 | 48 | +17 | 73 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | P | Cádiz | | 42 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 68 | 44 | +24 | 72 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Xerez | | 42 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 69 | 53 | +16 | 72 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Las Palmas | | 42 | 19 | 10 | 13 | 49 | 43 | +6 | 67 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Sporting | | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 58 | 51 | +7 | 61 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Málaga | | 42 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 60 | 54 | +6 | 60 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Alavés | | 42 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 57 | 46 | +11 | 60 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Tenerife | | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 49 | 50 | -1 | 59 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Ciudad Murcia | | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 51 | 55 | -4 | 58 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Salamanca | | 42 | 13 | 16 | 13 | 51 | 51 | 0 | 55 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Castellón | | 42 | 16 | 7 | 19 | 50 | 56 | -6 | 55 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Almería | | 42 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 55 | 55 | 0 | 54 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Hércules | | 42 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 56 | 50 | +6 | 54 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Vecindario | | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 50 | 61 | -11 | 52 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Ponferradina | | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 55 | 60 | -5 | 49 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Elche | | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 45 | 60 | -15 | 49 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Lorca | | 42 | 10 | 19 | 13 | 52 | 57 | -5 | 49 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | R | Albacete | | 42 | 10 | 16 | 16 | 42 | 53 | -11 | 46 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | R | Numancia | | 42 | 9 | 17 | 16 | 47 | 57 | -10 | 44 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 21st | R | Ejido | | 42 | 10 | 13 | 19 | 42 | 60 | -18 | 43 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 22nd | R | Castilla | | 42 | 7 | 17 | 18 | 38 | 65 | -27 | 38 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

European Competition (and Club World Championship)

Champions League

Again it was my Barcelona side that triumphed in Europe’s premier competition, beating Chelsea in the final on penalties.

All other human manager where involved in the Champions League, here how they all got on :

Andy : Andy’s Man Utd side finished bottom of their group that consisted of Lyon, CSKA Moscow and Shakhtar, no more Europe for the rest of the season for Mr Hepburn.

Dave: Dave went out in the first knockout stage of the competition losing to PSV 2-1 on aggregate.

Gaz: Gaz finished 3rd in his group that had Barcelona (me), Olympiakos and Fenerbache. However he would go on to have an extended run in the UEFA Cup.

Rob: Rob was also knocked out in the first knockout stage as he was killed 6-3 on aggregate by English champions Chelsea.

Rouchie: The young Mr Rouch made it all the way to the semi finals where he faced a certain Barcelona side; Milan lost both the home and away legs 2-1 and went out 4-2 on agg.

Sandy: After his many bold predictions about how he would dominate at home and abroad this diddy went out in the first knockout stage losing 3-1 to Lyon, oh how we laughed.

UEFA Cup

Gaz’s moment of glory this one, after being knocked out of the Champions League and dropping into the UEFA cup he managed to go all the way, defeating Newcastle in the final 1-0.

[steff]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Andy H:

Lads will be on late tomorrow night I have football 9 till 10pm.

Rob I hope you make my new banner soon.

You know your doing sh!te when Steff wins everything in a clan game!!!! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

You'll find I had nothing to do with your failure to win the Premiership

[gazjuk]

Good report Steff

[Andy H]

Good end of season report Steff but where are the screenshots?

[steff]

At least mines on time Hepburn

[Andy H]

Yeah but I have a life you on the other hand obviously don't judging by the size of your reports and the quickness of your end of season update!

It's quality over quantity Browning too!!!

[steff]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Andy H:

Lol brilliant but damn you are bored steff!!!! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah but apparently mines are brilliant.

Your own words too!

[Andy H]

I said it was good not brilliant!!!

[steff]

I think you'll find if you look at the first page after my first report (not the intro) you will see distinctly used the word brilliant

[Andy H]

Aye that was your reports not your end of season updates, they are just good.

[gazjuk]

Just to let you know im gonna be late on tonight because Burnley are on TV so will get on as soon as thats finished.

[David Johnston]

Why? You know they are going to lose.

[Andy H]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by gazjuk:

Just to let you know im gonna be late on tonight because Burnley are on TV so will get on as soon as thats finished. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

lol a must see game there Gaz eh!!!

[rouchie]

The Rossoneri Review

With just the second leg of the Italian Cup to play (With Milan leading 4-0 from the first leg) and 3 league games left we are now in the final phase of the season. Milan are in 5th and need to win the remaining league games if they want to compete in the Champions League next season

Milan Vs Lazio – Wednesday 9th May 2007- Italian Cup Final Leg 2

Fortunately Milan had already all but completed the job of winning this trophy in the first leg at the Olimpico Stadium, as Lazio pushed to find a way back in to the game, 2 second half strikes from Lazio Man of the Match Tommasso Rocchi gave the travelling fans brief hope but the first leg lead was too much of a mountain for Lazio to overcome and Milan picked up their only trophy of the season

Final Score : Milan 0 Laziio 2 (Milan win 4-2 on aggregate)

LazioScorers : Rocchi (54, 60)

Attendance : 82919

Man Of The Match: Tommasso Rocchi (Lazio)

Empoli Vs Milan Sunday 13th May 2007

A solid performance from the Rossoneri was enough to overrun a weak Empoli side. Kaka grabbed his first goal of the season after just 2 minutes and Gillardino made it 2-0 just after the quarter hour mark. Ronaldo chipped in the third just before the 90 minutes to seal a comfortable win for Milan

Final Score : Empoli 0 Milan 3

Milan Scorers : Kaka (2) Gilardino (16) Ronaldo (89)

Attendance : 19740

Man Of The Match: Kakha Kaladze (Milan)

Milan Vs Udinese –Sunday 20th May 2007

The penultimate game of the season and Milan are occupying 4th spot on goal difference, a win is required to ensure Champions League football at the San Siro next season is a realistic target. Pirlo doesn’t hang about and slots home from 6 yards with just 6 minutes on the clock. Gillardino doubles the advantage. Udinese pull one back just before the break and the pressure mounts on Milan! The second half is a much tighter affair until, at the very death of the game a schoolboy error by the Udionese defence gifts Milan with an owngoal and serves to gift wrap the game for the home side

Final Score : Milan 3 Udinese 1

Udinese Scorers : Iaquinta (41)

Milan Scorers : Pirlo (6) Gillardino(13) Zapotocny (OG90)

Attendance : 82928

Man Of The Match: Andrea Pirlo (Milan)

Catania Vs Milan – Sunday 27th May 2007

The final game of the season and a win is required to ensure Champions League football for Milan next season. The Rossoneri started well and Gilardino put them ahead mid way through the half. Andrea Pirlo made it 2-0 just before the break and things were looking good for Milan. Catania struggled to get back in to the game and when they did finally score it was a case of too little too late and Milan coasted to the finish line at 2-1 Champions League football was secured for the next season with Milan finishing 3rd.

Final Score : Catania 1 Milan 2

Catania Scorers : Caserta (82)

Milan Scorers : Gilardino (23) Pirlo (43)

Attendance : 34920

Man Of The Match: Alberto Gilardino (Milan)

End of Season Summary

After the first season in Charge Paul Rouch can reflect on a satisfactory but not spectacular finish in the league, coming in 3rd after starting the season with an 8 point deduction, reaching the semi finals of the Champions League only to fall before the all conquering and eventual Champions League Winners Barcelona managed by fellow clan manager Steff Browning. The only real bright spot was picking up the Italian Cup, knocking out {b}Gareth Jenkinson[/b] and his Roma along the way

Top Goalscorer for the season was Fat Ron bagging 20 goals, closely followed by Totti and Gilardino with 18 each. Andrea Pirlo chipped in with 13 assist and Dida managed 6 Man of the Match Awards, whilst Nesta was the highest rated player with a disappointing 7.15 over the season, which does suggest a need for improvement in the squad! Rouch no doubt has his eye on strengthening the team with a view to pushing on to further glory in the 07-08 season

[rouchie]

The rouchie Rossoneri Review

Transfer Activityy

So a new season is upon us and Milan look to strengthen the squad that finished a disappointing 3rd last season (despite and 8 point penalty, it was still disappointing) The manager wasted no time in bringing in some fresh faces starting with the highly rated Columbian youngster Sherman Cardenas for just £600,000, to challenge for the right attaching wing position. Attacking midfielder Yildray Basturk was snapped up on a free from Berlin, as was central defender Christopher Metzelder. French wonderkid, Issiar Dia was drafted in for a very reasonable £2,400,000, and Rouch was drawn to observe that in years to come some may view this as one of his most astute signings! Espanyol keeper Carlos Idriss Kameni was signed for £7,000,000 to succeed Did between the sticks. Chelsea were foolish enough to part with Shaun Wright-Phillips for a paltry £5,750,000. A young defender who has been earmarked as a future Nesta replacement was signed for a remarkably cheap £375,000, and Dennis Boskallo can barely wait to train under his hero! The only piece of business carried out without the managers approval was the signing of Lyon’s Sidney Govou for a top heavy £7,000,000. It is fair to say that Rouch remains to be convinced on his merits.

On the other side of the transfer coin, Paolo Maldin, Cafu, Marco Borriello, Fernandino Vitofrancesco & Giusseppe Ticli were all released on free transfers while Valerio Fiori was signed by Taranto on a Bosman

Preseason Friendlies

A reasonable set of results mostly on the road for the Rossoneri!

(a) Lugano 1-0 win

(a) Celtic 0-0 Draw

(n) Benfica (Friendly Cup) 3-0 win

(n) Man Utd (Friendly Cup Final) 2-2 (Man U Win On Pens)

(a) Lecco 6-0 win

(h) Juventus 4-1 win

A satisfactory preseason and some really useful looking signings and no points deductions this season, all of these factors contribute to give Rouch no excuses for failure this time round! Keep your eyes peeled for the next instalment of the rouchie rossoneri review to see how Milan fare in the new season

[Andy H]

The Manchester Mail - We're wiping the slate clean and raring to go!!!!!

That was the battle cry this morning from Man Utd manager Andrew Hepburn as he prepares his side for the new season. Last season was unforgettable for Utd with only an FA Cup to show for their efforts and their manager suffered badly to illness and conspiracy theories but he is back and lets hope will remain in charge for the season, illness free. Hepburn was putting everything into his sides preparations and was completely hands on during pre season. He even had time to go and buy a couple of players who had been brought in to help strengthen the lightweight Utd squad.

Hepburn has managed to bring in Pedro Leon for £7.75 million from Murica. Hepburn has had rave reviews about this lad, who can operate on the right and in the middle of midfield. He is only 20 years old so with lots of youth on his side Leon can be developed into a star, or thats the thinking behind the move. He was in great form last season with Murica and Hepburn is hoping he can go up another level and compete with the best Europe has to offer.

Hepburn has also managed to secure the signature of John Fleck from Rangers for a fee of £750,000. He is only 15 years old but has been touted as the next big thing to come out of Scotland and Hepburn was impressed and had him watched a lot last season and decided to make his move. Fleck can play up front or as a left winger and is one for the future.

The joined up with their new team mates as pre season got well and truely under way. Here is how they got on in their pre season friendlies..............

Newport CO. v Man Utd - (A) Sun 8th July 2007

Final Score - Newport Co. 0 v 6 Man Utd

Connah's Quay v Man Utd - (A) Fri 13th July 2007

Final Score - Connah's Quay 0 v 12 Man Utd

Bury v Man Utd - (A) Tues 17th July 2007

Final Score - Bury 1 v 5 Man Utd

Ajax v Man Utd - (A) Wed 25th July 2007

Final Score - Ajax 1 v 3 Man Utd

Milan v Man Utd - (N) Thurs 26th July 2007

Final Score - Milan 2 v 2 Man Utd

FC Groningen v Man Utd - (A) Sat 28th July 2007

Final Score - FC Groningen 0 v 3 Man Utd

So a superb pre season for Utd and they can look forward to the new season as they seem to be in great goal scoring form and lets hope they can take this into their season as Hepburn's looks to prove the critics wrong and help Utd win more trophies this season.

[ChefRobGaming]

So with the new manager in place a few new faces where brought in to bolster the squad to challenge the mighty Barcelona for the title this season.

Transfer News

Sebastien Pocognoli signed for new affil Rennes on loan for the season.

Fernando Llorente was next to sign from Ath Bilbao for 13.25m

Asier Del Horno joins from Valencia to take over from the aging Roberto Carlos for 7m

Mauro Esposito comes in from affil Cagliari after they went down to serie b he wanted to move to a bigger club bargain at 4m

Morten Gamst Pedersen left the premiership for la liga for 7.5m

Jose Mari was sold shortly after signing for the club from Villarreal to Betis for 1.7m

Raul left his favourite club and went off to Roma for 5m

Franck Ribery probably the best signing so far for Real comes in from Marsielle for 17m

Diogo joins newly promoted Juventus for 3.8m

Guti will spend the season on loan at Betis after not impressing in pre season training

Javi Garcia joins affil Cagliari on loan for the season to bolster there poor squad

Mauro Esposito has been sent on loan for the season to affil Rennes to improve his fitness and poor finishing

Other News

Robinho was named fans player of the year and Iker Casillas finished 3rd in the European GK Of The Year Awards.

Pre Season Games

Vfb Stuttgart 1-0 Loss

Freamunde 5-0 win

VVV 2-0 win

Feyenoord 1-1 Draw

Champions League 3rd Round Qualifier 1st Leg

Real Madrid 5 Saturn 0

Attendance 55050

With the new man in charge thinks look good so far a very convincing win against the russians in this one, David Beckham who is leaving very shortly to go off to America opened the scoring after only 5mins, Then Ribery made it 2-0 on his debut after only 34mins, Robinho made it 2-0 after the restart on 47mins then young dutch superstar Huntelaar sealed the win with 2 fantastic goals on 67 and 79mins.

MOM Del Horno 9

Spanish Supercopa 1st Leg

Real Madrid 2 Barcelona 3

Attendance 75314

Esteban Browning would bring his Barcelona side to the Bernabeu for this one and the fans where treated to a superb display, Vanden Borre was shown red after only 2mins of play and Deco would score from the spot seconds after to make it 1-0, Fernando Torres made it 2-0 and Real looked down and out of it Huntelaar then got Real going with a cracking goal on 39mins then Barcelona would score again through Eto'o on 45mins to give them a 3-1 lead at half time, right from the kick off Cicinho scored to make it 3-2 and Real hadnt given up hope of stealing a 3rd but it never came and it ended 3-2 to Barcelona.

MOM Ronaldinho 9

Spanish Supercopa 2nd Leg

Barcelona 0 Real Madrid 1

Attendance 97972

Only one goal in this and it came from a unlikely goalscorer in Cicinho in the first minute of play and it ended 1-0 to Real but Barcelona would take the trophy on the away goal rule (lucky buggers).

MOM Cicinho 8

Champions League 3rd Round Qualifier @nd Leg

Saturn 2 Real Madrid 0

Attendance 7632

With the tie pretty much over Real rested alot of the big players for this one due to the long trek to Russia, and Saturn almost caused a scare Barijho made it 1-0 to Saturn on 66mins and Kalashnikov made it 2-0 with 80mins gone and thats how it stayed and Real move onto the Groups of the Champions League.

MOM Kalashnikov 7

Champions League Group D

Real Madrid

Basel

Gladbach

Fc Porto

so with the groups selected Real Madrid seem happy with the teams in there group FC Porto will be a tough game but the rest I think should be not so bad.

La Liga Season Starts

Real Madrid 3 Gimnastic 0

Attendance 68037

Huntelaar got Real off to a flying start scoring after only 7mins he then added a 2nd on 19mins before Robinho made it 3-0 on 42mins and 3points secured

MOM Huntelaar 9

Perry would then be away for a few matches due to commitments elsewhere

CL Real Madrid 2 Fc Porto 1

Liga Celta 0 Real 1

Liga Real Madrid 5 Levante 1

Liga Real Sociedad 1 Real Madrid 0

CL Gladbach 0 Real Madrid 4

Liga Real Madrid 5 Espanyol 0

CL Basel 1 Real Madrid 1

More to come from the Bernabeu so stay tuned

[David Johnston]

The Emirates Update

After a mixed first season in charge Johnston will be looking to improve on his first season Premiership win and collect some more silverware from the season to come. The first announcement to come in the pre-season is that the board have decided they should expand the stadium. An idea that was met with delight from the fans and staff alike, that was until they announced the expansion would involve adding a meagre 1650 seats. Ah well, with the prices we charge for tickets that could still mean an extra 100k per home game .

As for the transfer budget for the coming season the board have again failed to impress anyone. After stating that Johnston's lavish spending yielded no return in his first season, the board have limited the funds for this season to £4.9M. This has very much limited Johnston's plans to bring in a huge name star (Inter Milan's Adriano was one player on his shortlist, but with a price tag of around 50mil its not looking likely).

After winning the premiership last year, this year will be more about spreading the name of Arsenal around the rest of the world, and last year's dissapointing exit from the Champions League at the hands of PSV will be put behind us this year, and we will be looking for a much better result. But having said that the media have set a target of 2nd place in the league for this season. And I would be happy enough to take that, with my efforts being more concentrated on the Champions League.

Transfer News

With only £4.9M to spend this year we had to look at offloading some fringe players, and with Senderos being the preferred backup centre half the first name to go was Djourou who left to join Gaz's Roma for a fee of £5M.

This wasn't the great business deal it was intended to be, with a lack of backup defenders at the club now, Johnston used pretty much the entire transfer fee to bring in a promising young Spanish centre half from Villareal. 21 year old Cesar Arzo has joined for a fee of £3.7M.

It was widely reported that after last seasons numerous goal droughts, Johnstons main target for this season would be a new striker to replace the likes of Adebayor and Van persie who left last year. But due to the limited funds, the big names were out of reach. With Miroslav Klose signing for Liverpool during the pre-season, Mr. Pettigrew decided to offload his out-of-favour striker in the form of Djibril Cisse. For a mere £2.5M Johnston snapped him up with a backup role in mind, knowing the player is capable of banging in a few goals at the top level.

Friendly Results

Aschaffenburg 0 - 5 Arsenal (Reyes, Alonso, Baptista 2, Diaby)

Leipzig 1 - 7 Arsenal (Bendtner 2, Reyes 4, o.g.)

Dortmund 0 - 2 Arsenal (Hleb, o.g.)

Boreham Wood 0 - 5 Arsenal (Lupoli 3, Vela 2)

Shelbourne 0 - 8 Arsenal (Henry 3, Fabregas, Cisse 3, Baptista)

Only 1 goal conceded and a sackfull scored in those games, a fairly encouraging start. Most importantly to me was the various sources of goals. With 9 of the goals coming from midfield, 7 of the goals coming from the youth strikeforce (Bendtner, Lupoli, Vela) and a hattrick for newboy Cisse in his only pre-season game. But the feet must remain on the ground, as the games were against mickey mouse teams in friendlies. The real test will come soon as we face Man United in the Community Shield, a chance to steal Sandy's plastic trophy.

Some more interesting information before the season gets underway, Arsenal have announced a link with Japanese team Okayama FC in a hope to improve the clubs financial situation.

The media have placed our odds of retaining the premiership at 7-4, the favourites.

And Thierry Henry has been rewarded for his performances last season by being handed the European Striker of the year award.

[David Johnston]

The Emirates Update

Time for the season to get underway, and first up its the mickey mouse cup that formed Sandy's only silverware last season

Community Shield

Arsenal 4 - 0 Manchester United

FA cup winners last year, United looked to get their season off to a better start this year, but with star player Ronaldo out injured again, things did not look good. 2 goals in either half gave Arsenal the win that they deserved, and their first trophy of the season.

Arsenal scorers: Henry (30, 66, 92), Cisse (42)

Attendance: 89981

MotM: Henry

So trophy number 1 goes to Johnston, and a nice little hattrick for Henry to continue where he left off last year. Also a debut goal for Cisse just to make the win a bit more sweeter.

Premiership

Arsenal 3 - 0 Everton

Next up was the opening day of the league campaign and it was Everton who had the misfortune of travelling to the Emirates to get the gunner's title defence underway. A first half hattrick for Henry was marred by a rediculous sending off of Xabi Alonso, but Everton werer never able to capitalise on the extra man and Arsenal coasted to the win.

Arsenal scorers: Henry (6, 15, 42)

Sent off: Alonso (36)

Attendance: 60501

MotM: Henry

Yet another hattrick for Henry, and the man is looking for a second season of dominance.

West Ham 3 - 2 Arsenal

Our first London derby of the season and it couldn't have gone any worse. After we struggled with our away form last season it looked to have been brought under control, but obviously not. The performance today was diabolical and West Ham deservedly took the lead into the half time break. The second half was much the same as both teams matched each other with 2 goals a piece, but West Ham's first half goal was enough for the win.

West Ham scorers: Chun-Soo (8), Bednar (51), Ljunberg (57)

Arsenal scorers: Henry (54), Baptista (80)

Attendance: 35479

MotM: Upson

So the first defeat of the season and it came fairly early on, not a good sign, but lets hope it won't happen too often.

Champions League Groups

The group stage for the champions league has been drawn and one familiar name comes up for the Gunners.

Arsenal

Celtic

Olympiakos

Paris Saint-Germain

So another battle of Britain as Celtic will have to face the Gunners again. And this time they start with the trip to London.

Champions League

Arsenal 3 - 0 Celtic

Celtic had no chance of ever winning this game as they didn't get one single shot on goal (and that includes the off target shots). Arsenal on the other hand took all the chances they needed, and Henry was even able to miss a penalty but still get a goal. The referee must have felt sorry for him as he awarded him the second penalty only 5 minutes after missing the first.

Arsenal scorers: Senderos (16) Reyes (55)Henry (pen 68)

Attendance: 61157

MotM: Senderos

Premiership

Bolton 0 - 3 Arsenal

After slamming the referee for his rediculous sending off of Alonso in the opening game against Everton, Johnston was issued a touchline ban for this game. After giving Pat Rice some instructions for the game it was off to the stands to watch from the expensive seats. Pat Rice did his job well as he followed Johnston's instruction to the letter. 3 first half goals were enough to see off Bolton.

Arsenal scorers: Baptista (2), Walcott (19, 45)

Sent Off: Anelka (80)

Attendance: 28394

MotM: Arzo

A magnificent performance from the young DC Arzo there, and perhaps a chance at a prolonged run in the first team.

This years league cup will see the gunners host the toon army in the first round proper.

Premiership

Arsenal 1 - 1 Manchester United

Another game against the mighty reds so early in the season, and this time at Emirates. Going into the game looking for another convincing win, but it wasn't to be, as Man U really played as the better team for the majority of the game. The goal for the gunners on the half hour mark was really their only shot on target. And Rooney grabbed a deserved point for the Red Devils with an hour on the clock.

Arsenal scorers: Baptista (34)

Man U scorers: Rooney (59)

Attendance: 62050

MotM: León

Champions League

Olympiakos 0 - 4 Arsenal

Back to the CL and didn't I say we would concentrate more on winning this trophy than the league this season. Theo Walcott has shown some promise already this season and today he just proved he was ready. A goal after only 30 seconds got the ball rolling and 1 either side of half time gave him his first hattrick. henry grabbed the 4th.

Arsenal scorers: Walcott (1, 10, 53)Henry (14)

Attendance: 33281

MotM: Walcott

Premiership

Fulham 2 - 3 Arsenal

Another tricky little away London Derby, but this time the 3-2 scoreline was in the gunners favour. Coming from behind twice, Fulham looked to have done enough for a point but Xabi Alonso popped up in the 86th minute to give Arsenal a deserved win.

Fulham scorers: Pacheco (9), John (73)

Arsenal scorers: Henry (4, 51), Alonso (86)

Attendance: 24497

MotM: Henry

A less than convincing win their but its still 3 points, and thats all that matters.

Arsenal 2 - 0 Sheffield United

A very comfortable win today against a poor Sheffield United team. An early penalty converted by Henry was enough to put United on the back foot for the rest of the game and a second goal shortly before half time for henry was enough to ensure a comfortable second half for Arsenal.

Arsenal scorers: Henry (pen 8, 38)

Attendance: 61797

MotM: Henry

Champions League

PSG 1 - 4 Arsenal

The second of the 3 away ties in the champions league and another walkover. With 9 points out of 9, qualification top of the group is looking like a certainty already. Henry showed some more of his class in this game with yet another hattrick. Cisse added to his tally too and PSG's only goal was more of a consolation after having a man sent off.

PSG scorers: Rozehnal (67)

Arsenal scorers: Henry (34, 45, 73), Cisse (88)

Sent-off: Rothen (56)

Attendance: 48504

MotM: Henry

So what can we say about that start to the season. First off, its good to see that Henry is not going to let us down, already on an impressive tally of 16 goals in all competitions. With 5 goals for the young Theo Walcott the future is also looking bright. On the down side the loss at West Ham was very dissapointing and the home draw with Man United too. Although there is still a long way to go and I think we can be very encouraged by the performances both home and away so far, especially in the CL.

[David Johnston]

The Emirates Update

Time for the season to get underway, and first up its the mickey mouse cup that formed Sandy's only silverware last season

Community Shield

Arsenal 4 - 0 Manchester United

FA cup winners last year, United looked to get their season off to a better start this year, but with star player Ronaldo out injured again, things did not look good. 2 goals in either half gave Arsenal the win that they deserved, and their first trophy of the season.

Arsenal scorers: Henry (30, 66, 92), Cisse (42)

Attendance: 89981

MotM: Henry

So trophy number 1 goes to Johnston, and a nice little hattrick for Henry to continue where he left off last year. Also a debut goal for Cisse just to make the win a bit more sweeter.

Premiership

Arsenal 3 - 0 Everton

Next up was the opening day of the league campaign and it was Everton who had the misfortune of travelling to the Emirates to get the gunner's title defence underway. A first half hattrick for Henry was marred by a rediculous sending off of Xabi Alonso, but Everton werer never able to capitalise on the extra man and Arsenal coasted to the win.

Arsenal scorers: Henry (6, 15, 42)

Sent off: Alonso (36)

Attendance: 60501

MotM: Henry

Yet another hattrick for Henry, and the man is looking for a second season of dominance.

West Ham 3 - 2 Arsenal

Our first London derby of the season and it couldn't have gone any worse. After we struggled with our away form last season it looked to have been brought under control, but obviously not. The performance today was diabolical and West Ham deservedly took the lead into the half time break. The second half was much the same as both teams matched each other with 2 goals a piece, but West Ham's first half goal was enough for the win.

West Ham scorers: Chun-Soo (8), Bednar (51), Ljunberg (57)

Arsenal scorers: Henry (54), Baptista (80)

Attendance: 35479

MotM: Upson

So the first defeat of the season and it came fairly early on, not a good sign, but lets hope it won't happen too often.

Champions League Groups

The group stage for the champions league has been drawn and one familiar name comes up for the Gunners.

Arsenal

Celtic

Olympiakos

Paris Saint-Germain

So another battle of Britain as Celtic will have to face the Gunners again. And this time they start with the trip to London.

Champions League

Arsenal 3 - 0 Celtic

Celtic had no chance of ever winning this game as they didn't get one single shot on goal (and that includes the off target shots). Arsenal on the other hand took all the chances they needed, and Henry was even able to miss a penalty but still get a goal. The referee must have felt sorry for him as he awarded him the second penalty only 5 minutes after missing the first.

Arsenal scorers: Senderos (16) Reyes (55)Henry (pen 68)

Attendance: 61157

MotM: Senderos

Premiership

Bolton 0 - 3 Arsenal

After slamming the referee for his rediculous sending off of Alonso in the opening game against Everton, Johnston was issued a touchline ban for this game. After giving Pat Rice some instructions for the game it was off to the stands to watch from the expensive seats. Pat Rice did his job well as he followed Johnston's instruction to the letter. 3 first half goals were enough to see off Bolton.

Arsenal scorers: Baptista (2), Walcott (19, 45)

Sent Off: Anelka (80)

Attendance: 28394

MotM: Arzo

A magnificent performance from the young DC Arzo there, and perhaps a chance at a prolonged run in the first team.

This years league cup will see the gunners host the toon army in the first round proper.

Premiership

Arsenal 1 - 1 Manchester United

Another game against the mighty reds so early in the season, and this time at Emirates. Going into the game looking for another convincing win, but it wasn't to be, as Man U really played as the better team for the majority of the game. The goal for the gunners on the half hour mark was really their only shot on target. And Rooney grabbed a deserved point for the Red Devils with an hour on the clock.

Arsenal scorers: Baptista (34)

Man U scorers: Rooney (59)

Attendance: 62050

MotM: León

Champions League

Olympiakos 0 - 4 Arsenal

Back to the CL and didn't I say we would concentrate more on winning this trophy than the league this season. Theo Walcott has shown some promise already this season and today he just proved he was ready. A goal after only 30 seconds got the ball rolling and 1 either side of half time gave him his first hattrick. henry grabbed the 4th.

Arsenal scorers: Walcott (1, 10, 53)Henry (14)

Attendance: 33281

MotM: Walcott

Premiership

Fulham 2 - 3 Arsenal

Another tricky little away London Derby, but this time the 3-2 scoreline was in the gunners favour. Coming from behind twice, Fulham looked to have done enough for a point but Xabi Alonso popped up in the 86th minute to give Arsenal a deserved win.

Fulham scorers: Pacheco (9), John (73)

Arsenal scorers: Henry (4, 51), Alonso (86)

Attendance: 24497

MotM: Henry

A less than convincing win their but its still 3 points, and thats all that matters.

Arsenal 2 - 0 Sheffield United

A very comfortable win today against a poor Sheffield United team. An early penalty converted by Henry was enough to put United on the back foot for the rest of the game and a second goal shortly before half time for henry was enough to ensure a comfortable second half for Arsenal.

Arsenal scorers: Henry (pen 8, 38)

Attendance: 61797

MotM: Henry

Champions League

PSG 1 - 4 Arsenal

The second of the 3 away ties in the champions league and another walkover. With 9 points out of 9, qualification top of the group is looking like a certainty already. Henry showed some more of his class in this game with yet another hattrick. Cisse added to his tally too and PSG's only goal was more of a consolation after having a man sent off.

PSG scorers: Rozehnal (67)

Arsenal scorers: Henry (34, 45, 73), Cisse (88)

Sent-off: Rothen (56)

Attendance: 48504

MotM: Henry

So what can we say about that start to the season. First off, its good to see that Henry is not going to let us down, already on an impressive tally of 16 goals in all competitions. With 5 goals for the young Theo Walcott the future is also looking bright. On the down side the loss at West Ham was very dissapointing and the home draw with Man United too. Although there is still a long way to go and I think we can be very encouraged by the performances both home and away so far, especially in the CL.

[rouchie]

The rouchie Rossoneri Review

Season 2 is ready to kick off and the Rossoneri are aiming high, the board are insisting on the Serie A title as a minimum this season, after just picking up the Italian Cup last season, how will they fare? Read the rouchie Rossoneri Review over the coming months to get full coverage of this make or break season for our English man in Milan

Galatasaray Vs Milan – Wednesday 7th August 2007- Champions League Qualifying Round 3 Leg 1

The first competitive match of the season is one of the biggest in financial terms! A qualifying match for the big money stages of the Champions League. Milan play at a steady pace while the players ease their selves back in to the competitive fray, slowly exerting their control over the game, the steady pressure paid off just after the half hour when Andrea Pirlo put the Rossoneri ahead. Milan played out the remainder of the half protecting the precious away lead! The second half saw Nesta dismissed for a poor challenge and a few anxious glances were exchanged by the players left onfield Kakha Kaladze settled the nerves though with a finely taken strike, which Milan protected without conceding to the end and gave Milan a healthy advantage to take home for the second leg

Nesta off 54

Final Score : Galatasaray 0 Milan 2

Milan Scorers : Pirlo (34) Kaladze (79)

Attendance : 24939

Man Of The Match: Kakha Kaladze (Milan)

Milan Vs Galatasaray - Wednesday 22nd August 2007 - - Champions League Qualifying Round 3 Leg 2

The return leg was fairly predictable, with Gala trailing by 2 in the first leg they could do nothing but attack, and Milan did what comes naturally to Italian sides, they locked the shop and threw away the keys. This time with all 11 men remaining on the pitch, Gala were unable to penetrate and Milan were through to the big money rounds of the Champions League

Final Score : Milan 0 Galatasaray 0

Attendance : 52745

Man Of The Match: Cetin Servet (Galatasaray)

Inter V Milan – Saturday 25th August 2007- Super Cup Final

The Italian Charity Shield Inter were determined to put one over their rivals. A penalty in the first half for Inter which Materazzi duly converted was all that separated the two teams before the second half. Ibrahimovic doubled the advantage in the second, but 5 minutes later Milan sparked in to life and pulled one back when Andrea Pirlo slotted home. Unfortunately that was as far as Milan’s revival stretched and Inter took the honours in the seasons curtain raiser

Final Score : Inter 2 Milan 1

Inter Scorers : Materazzi (Pen 32) Ibrahimovic (63)

Milan Scorers : Pirlo (68)

Attendance : 82403

Man Of The Match: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter)

Milan Vs Dinamo Bucharest – Wednesday 5th September 2007 – Champions League Group G

A thumping game at the San Siro as Milan run rampant. Goals in the first half from Gattusso and Gilardino set the scene, Milan new boy Issiar Dia continued the scoring in the second half, and Totti added a brace to leave a bewildered Dinamo wondering what hit them as they slumped to a heavy defeat!

Final Score : Milan 5 Dinamo Bucharest 0

Milan Scorers : Gattusso (16) Gilardino (42) Dia (65) Totti (72, 84)

Attendance : 56845

Man Of The Match: Francesco Totti (Milan)

Milan Vs Parma – Sunday 16th September 2007 – Serie A

So the Serie A league finally kicks off, and with aq 5-0 win fresh in the mind, goals were expected! Unfortunately neither side read the script as they played an adventurous but ultimately scoreless game. Not the start the Rossoneri were looking for

Final Score : Milan 0 Parma 0

Attendance : 82917

Man Of The Match: Carlos Idriss Kameni (Milan)

Empoli Vs Milan – Wednesday 19th September 2007 – Serie A

After the goalless game at the San Siro, Milan took no time at all to get off the mark at Empoli with Andrea Pirlo scoring in the first 3 minutes! Totti doubled the advantage half an hour later but Empoi struck back quickly with a goal from Sapara narrowing the gap to one goal before the break. Gilardino re-established the two goal advantage in the second half only for Pozzi to peg Empoli back within a goal again. Ronaldo sealed the game for Milan late on to give the Rossoneri their first win of the season

Final Score : Empoli 2 Milan 4

Empoli Scorers : Sapara (38) Pozzi (76)

Milan Scorers : Pirlo (3) Totti (34) Gilardino (66) Ronaldo (90)

Attendance : 19811

Man Of The Match: Fabricio Coloccini (Milan)

Milan Vs Genoa – Sunday 23rd September 2007 – Serie A

Another early goal for Milan, this time netted by Fat Ron, Oliveira earned his Man of the match award grabbing his brace with goals either side of the half time whistle. A game where the Milan defence and keeper were rarely troubled as they racked up another 3 points in the league

Final Score : Milan 3 Genoa 0

Milan Scorers : Ronaldo(5) Oliveira (39, 55)

Attendance : 82943

Man Of The Match: Ricardo Oliveira (Milan)

CSKA Mosco Vs Milan – Wednesday 26th September 2007 – Champions League Group G

An astoundingly poor start in this Champions League match, 2 down with in 7 minutes of the start and unable to respond before the break! Rouch obviously had some harsh words for the players at the break because the level of their performance was significantly improved in the second half. Totti pulled one back within 10 minutes of the restart and Milan camped out in the CSKA half, but had to wait until 4 minutes in to extra time when Kameni came forward for a corner, and caused enough confusion for Colocinni to slot home and earn a valuable point away from home

Final Score : CSKA Moscow 2 Milan 2

CSKA Scorers : Rahimic (3) Gusev (Pen 7)

Milan Scorers : Totti (54) Coloccini (90)

Attendance : 36487

Man Of The Match: Fabricio Coloccini (Milan)

Lazio Vs Milan – Sunday 30th September 2007 – Serie A

Milan seem to be hitting a run of from early on this season, and Lazio were the next team to face the juggernaut 2 minutes midway through the first half decided the outcome of this match with both Gilardino and Totti scoring in that period, and Lazio unable to respond in kind, as Milan strolled to another victory

Final Score : Lazio 0 Milan 2

Milan Scorers : Gilardino(18) Totti (20)

Attendance : 78483

Man Of The Match: Fabricio Coloccini (Milan)

Milan Vs Torino – Wednesday 10th October 2007 – Serie A

Milan started poorly and Torino took advantage converting a clumsily conceded penalty on the quarter hour to take the lead! Milan levelled through Pirlo 10 minutes before the interval though and showed enough signs of their good form to suggest that Torino would not be holding any points for long in this game! Massimo Oddo got forward in the second half and scored a rare goal mid way through the half to give Milan the lead, and Issiar Dia tied the points up for Milan with their 3rd 7 minutes before the whistle and Milan March on at the top of Serie A for the first time under Rouch

Final Score : Milan 3 Torino 1

Milan Scorers : Pirlo (35) Oddo (73) Dia (83)

Torino Scorers : Rosina (Pen 15)

Attendance : 82943

Man Of The Match: Andrea Pirlo (Milan)

Milan Vs Bayern Munich – Wednesday 10th October 2007 – Champions League Group G

A fantastic European night at the San Siro as Milan lay waste to top level opposition, Bayern Munich were swept aside as Ronaldo bagged a glorious hatrick in the first half without reply. Gilardino continued the rout 1 minute in to the second, then Podolski was dismissed on 48, amd Bayern seemed to organise them selves better, or perhaps Milan eased the foot off of the pedal as no more goals were forthcoming as the Rossoneri romped home 4-0 winners

Final Score : Milan 4 Bayern Munich 0

Milan Scorers : Ronaldo (20, 29, 39) Gilardino(46)

Attendance : 68184

Man Of The Match: Ronaldo (Milan)

At the end of this session Milan sit top of Serie A, and have taken 7 points from 9 in the champions league, things are looking good for the rossoneri

[gazjuk]

Pre Season results

Leverkusen 3-0 Won

Monaco 1-0 Won

Triestina 3-0 Won

Castel di Sangro 4-0 Won

Ajax 2-0 Won

Cisco Roma 3-0 Won

Pre Season Transfer’s

In

Vucinic 7m

Pizzaro 250k

Agger 12m

Djourou 5m

Raul 5m

Guarin 3m

Out

D’Ambrosio Free

Julio Sergio Free

Cassetti Free

Pizzaro 2.5m

Barcelona (N) Euro Super Cup

3-0

With an unbeaten pre-season without conceding a goal behind then Roma went into the game full of confidence which wasn’t to be against the Catalan giants and yet again Esteban Browning Barcelona was comfortable winner. Eto’o grabbing two goals and Torres also getting in on the action.

Athletico (A) Champions Cup

1-2

Another game against Spanish opponents and this time Roma had enough quality to win and run out 2-1 winner in the absence of there intoxicated manager as well as getting both strikers off the mark in the second competitive game of the campaign. Van Nistelrooy put Roma in an early lead before Okaka made it 2 on 35 minutes. Etxeberria got a goal for Athletico just before half time but that was all the goals the game would see.

Messina (A) Serie A

1-1

Jenkinson was back in charge and hoping his team ability to see off the lesser challenges this season will lead to the capture of the Serie A title. Roma Started brightly but same as last season they just couldn’t get the goals. Substitute Trezeguet did open the scoring when new boy Guarin played him through and with only the keeper to beat made no mistake. But Roma failed to get a second and when Montiel equalised it looks as though Roma’s inability to finish weaker opponents off could be a problem again this season.

Sampdoria (H) Serie A

1-0

Roma’s first chance to show the home fans what they should be expecting from the season. A very open and entertaining game in which the Roma fans for value for there money but wont be at all satisfied with there team even though they got the important 3 points. It was a game in which Sampdoria had nothing to lose and look the most likely to score in the first half but it was a good free kick from De Rossi that got the lead for Roma. Roma looked better in the second half but still couldn’t find a second and just about did enough to get the 3 points after a shaky last 10 minutes.

Palermo (H) Serie A

2-1

A after scraping a result in the last game Roma would surely not be so forgiving this time. Guess again that’s exactly what happened they never gain control of the game and only score as a result of a penalty to take the lead before D’Alessandro got between the new defence partnership to head the fist before Diana hit a glorious strike from 25 yards to seal victory for Palermo.

Dinamo Kiev (H) Champions Cup

3-1

Second game in the group stage and with two tough games versus Liverpool to come this is a must win for Roma if they are to go one better than last season and qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions cup. Roma set out well and got the breakthrough early when a mistake by Correa sent the ball past his own keeper to gift Roma the lead. Chivu then put the game beyond doubt from the spot. Milevskiy did get a consolidation goal near the end but a good all-round performance from Roma see them maintain the 100% record in the group stages so far.

Juventus (A) Serie A

1-3

This is a tough away game and newly promoted Juventus are a team which after the recent problems shouldn’t be taken lightly and anything less than a top performance and Roma will leave losers. Roma took a deserved lead in the game on 25 minutes when Taddei shot from 30 yards was only fumbled and Trezeguet was there to finish past his former team. Carvalho put the ball into his own goal from a Del Piero cross soon after before 2 goals in 3 minutes from Van Nistelrooy and Ambrosini put Roma in front again and lead them to a well deserved 3 points.

Inter (H) Serie A

1-1

Another tough game as Roma play hosts to double league winner Inter Milan. Roma started the game slightly better and took the lead when a bad clearance by the defender gifted Trezeguet a goal. Roma did well to hold out until Adriano got onto the end of an Ibrahimovic cross to level the score and set up a tense last 10 minutes in which both teams went close but couldn’t convert their chances.

Liverpool (A) Champions Cup

1-1

To have any chance of winning the group Roma must get at least a draw against fellow human manager side Sandy’s Liverpool. Liverpool missed too many chances through out the game and Roma took lead against the run of play through Taddei who got onto the end of a cross by Carvalho. Carvalho then fouled inside the area and Gerrard scored from the spot. Liverpool went on to have more chances in the game but without being able to take advantage and a draw mean that both sides are strong favourites to progress through to the next stage.

Piacenza (A) Serie A

1-2

Another away game but one that Roma will be expected to win. With leading goal scorer Trezeguet out injured there will be a chance for one of the other strikers to get a chance to prove there worth to the team. Roma got off to the worse start when Cacia scored after just 7 minutes. Roma looked the better team and joined level when Van Nistelrooy got onto a good forward header form Agger to equalise. Brosseli got Piacenza back in front right after the break and Roma couldn’t find any way through there defence.

Chievo (H) Serie A

3-1

After a disappointing start to the season Jenkinson played about with the tactics and hope that this home game can be the turning point of Roma season. Roma did start the game well and took the lead on 12 minutes when Chivu’s cross found Carvalho who headed home from inside the area. Bogdani got an equaliser on 23 minutes which was short lived as another Chivu cross found Vucinic who tapped in unmarked. Roma sealed the victory late on when Guarin chipped the ball back from the by-line and De Rossi applied the finish.

Catania (A) Serie A

3-1

Another game in which Roma should win but you can never be sure which Roma team will make the away trips and how they will perform. Roma started the game well but feel behind when Taddei fouled in the area and Vargas scored from the spot to give Catania a shock lead on 56 minutes. Roma continues to look the better team and when Okaka got onto the end of Cerci cross there looked to be only one winner. Roma did then take the lead when Cerci himself struck the ball from 30 yards into the top corner to score his first goal of the season before Van Nistelrooy made it 3 in injury time.

Liverpool (H) Champions Cup

2-3

A tough match that could see both team progress through to the knockout stages. Roma got off to a brilliant start when Cerci took a corner and found Mexes making a run into the area and heading home after just 9 minutes. Kuyt levelled straight after when bad defending let the ball drop to Kuyt who made no mistake from inside the area. Bad clearance by Liverpool keeper Reina left De Rossi a chance from 30 yards and he made no mistake leaving the keeper stranded.

Parma (H)

2-0

After a cruel blow against Liverpool Roma had chance to give the home fans a win. Roma took the lead early on when Trezeguet intercepted a poor back pass to open the scoring. Roma continued to dominate possession and finally got a second when Chivu again crossed and Van Nistelrooy finished from close range.

Verona (H) Italian Cup 1st round 1st Leg

3-0

The cup competition gave Roma manager Jenkinson a chance to try out some of the fringe players and who look to push for a starting position. Roma dominated the game from the beginning and took the lead on 29 minutes when Guarin played the ball through for Vucinic and he slotted home. Raul then put a cross into the back post and Perrotta headed home there second of the match. Bale then crossed in for Raul to get his first goal for Roma on 56 minutes and put the game beyond Verona.

Athletic (H) Champions Cup

3-2

With Roma needing to just avoid defeat to book there place in the knockout stages of the Champion’s cup it was on the cards for a very tight game. Roma got off to a dream start when De Rossi scored after just 2 minutes. Athletic equalised just on half time when Danobeitia’s cross found Murillo to finish. Roma regained the lead when Bale crossed in and Trezeguet made no mistake from 12 yards out. Agger then missed a head which let in Aduriz to slot home past the keeper. Bale was then the provider when his cross found Okaka on the edge of the area and he skipped past the last defender before finishing past the keeper.

[rouchie]

The rouchie Rossoneri Review

With Milan scoring goals for fun at the moment, topping Serie A, and the Champions League group, Rouch would be looking for a continuation of the good form that they find themselves and to strengthen their grip on the top slots.

Palermo Vs Milan – Sunday 21st October 2007- Serie A

Palermo were not intimidated by the fantastic form of this Milan side and went about this game in an aggressive and attacking manner and were rewarded 24 minutes in when the impressive Amauri nodded home to take the lead. The pocket dynamo that is Shaun Wright-Phillips equalised for Milan just 5 minutes later, but Di Michele ensured Palermo went in to the break with the advantage when he scored with seconds of injury time remaining! The second half saw a revitalised Milan emerge and they took the game to Palermo in search of another equaliser and their positive play paid off when Francesco Totti netted just before the hour mark. The remainder of the game was fiercely contested but neither side could break the deadlock and had to be content with a share of the points

Final Score : Palermo 2 Milan 2

Palermo Scorers : Amauri (24) Di Michele (45)

Milan Scorers : Wright-Phillips (29) Totti (57)

Attendance : 24939

Man Of The Match: Carlos Idriss Kameni (Milan)

Udinese Vs Milan - Wednesday 24th October 2007 – Serie A

The perfect start in this match for Milan as Fabricio Coloccini scores wihin the first 60 seconds and leaves Udinese plans in disarray! Then another 60 seconds of defensive frailty midway through the half put the game beyond Udi, with Ronaldo and Francesco Totti both scoring in the aforementioned minute! The second half was more like an exhibition match with Milan keeping possession and taunting their opponents with the ball, and a further Totti strike adding a deserved gloss to the scoreline, 4-0 winners

Final Score : Udinese 0 Milan 4

Milan Scorers : Coloccini (1) Ronaldo (23) Totti (24, 65)

Attendance : 37818

Man Of The Match: Fabricio Coloccini (Milan)

Milan Vs Fiorentina – Sunday 28th October 2007- Serie A

Milan rode their luck in this fiercely contested match, Kaladze injured after just 11 minutes prompted a defensive reshuffle and a change in formation. 18 minutes in to the game Fat Ron added another goal to the seasons collection to give the Rossoneri the lead. Totti limped off in the second half and then another defensive shuffle was required when Nesta was dismissed leaving 10 men to defend the slender lead! The resulting penalty was saved by Kameni, earning him his man of the match award, and Milan hung on to extend the league unbeaten run

Final Score : Milan 1 Fiorentina 0

Milan Scorers : Ronaldo (18)

Attendance : 82005

Man Of The Match: Carlos Idriss Kameni (Milan)

FC Bayern Munich Vs Milan – Wednesday 31st October 2007 – Champions League Group G

A game in which Milan dominated, evidenced by the 7th minute goal from Oliveira, and looked to swing even further Milans way in the Allianz Arena when Schweinsteiger was dismissed on 14 minutes! The game then turned in the German teams favour when Craig Bellamy won and then converted a penalty 2 minutes after the red card incident to put Bayern level. One time Milan target Carlos Tevez then pushed the boundaries of improbability aside and put the Germans ahead with a well taken volley from outside the box 10 minutes before the break. Milan pushed forward but some heroic man of he match saves from Michael Rensing kept the Rossoneri at bay and earned an unlikely win for Bayern

Final Score : Bayern 2 Milan 1

Bayern Scorers : Bellamy (Pen 16) Carlos Tevez (34)

Milan Scorers : Oliveira (7)

Attendance : 56845

Man Of The Match: Michael Rensing (Bayern )

Siena Vs Milan Vs Parma – Sunday 4th November 2007 – Serie A

Back to Serie A and normal service is resumed as Siena are swept aside. 2 first half strikes from Kaka gave Milan a considerable buffer and despite Siena pulling one back when Ceccon scored, Milan never looked in danger of not winning. Pirlo wrapped up the game 10 minutes from time making it 3-1 and extending Milans unbeaten run in Serie A

Final Score : Siena 1 Milan 3

Siena Scorers : Ceccon (61)

Milan Scorers : Kaka (11, 38) Pirlo (79)

Attendance : 15624

Man Of The Match: Ronaldo (Milan)

Milan Vs Atalanta – Wednesday 7th November 2007 – Coppa Italia 1st Round Leg 1

The first leg of this cup tie played at the San SIro was a typically cagey affair and decided by a solitary strike from Fat Ron giving Milan a slender advantage to take in to the second leg

Final Score : Milan 1 Atalanta 0

Milan Scorers : Ronaldo (76)

Attendance : 80986

Man Of The Match: Carl Medjani (Atalanta)

Dinamo Bucharest Vs Milan – Wedneday 14th November 2007 – Champions League Group G

This is total football, one of those performances where every player on your team is in the zone, the beautiful game at its best as Milan tore apart Dinamo Bucharest! Ronaldo and Gilardino combining to devastating effect to net 7 goals between them and send a message to the clubs in the Champions League that this was a side that can score goals a plenty

Final Score : Dinamo Bucharest 0 Milan 7

Milan Scorers : Gilardino (6, 21, 56) Ronaldo(15, 28, 47, 67)

Attendance : 15196

Man Of The Match: Ronaldo (Milan)

So at the end of the session Milan are still top of Serie A, 4 points clear and of the Champions League group with one game to play and scoring goals for fun. How long will this fantastic run of form continue? Reading the rouchie Rossoneri Review to find out ……

[Andy H]

The Manchester Mail - The season is up and running!!!!

Utd have hit the ground running with an expolisve start to the season that has seen then get two wins out of two in the Premiership along with qualification for the Champions League after an easy demolition of Zilina. The only downer of the season so far was a humiliating 4-0 thumping at the hands of Dave Johnston's Arsenal, the league champions. They have bounced back well and have started the season in good form. Here is the latest from Old Trafford................

Champions League 3rd Round Qualifying 1st Leg

Man Utd v Zilina - (H) Wed 8th August 2007

An early start to the season for Utd after a poor season saw them have to qualify for the Champions League. They faced Zilina at Old Trafford and won with ease. It was an unlikey hero who hit the headlines in Chris Eagles, who was brought in due to injuries and he repaid the manager's faith by scoring a double in the first half. Wayne Rooney added number three early in the second half as Utd are all but through to the Champions League. Utd played some delightful football but Zilina were awful and it could have been a lot more.

Final Score - Man Utd 3 v 0 Zilina

Goals - Man Utd - Eagles (7,34), Rooney (55)

Att - 67462

MOTM - Wayne Rooney (Man Utd)

Community Shield

Arsenal v Man Utd - (N) Sun 12th August 2007

A dismal match as Thierry Henry destroyed Utd with some awesome finishing. Utd were poor and it could have been a lot worse for them had it not been for some poor Arsenal finishing and Van Der Sar making a few saves. Hepburn was not happy with his team and let them know about it at full time.

Final Score - Arsenal 4 v 0 Man Utd

Goals - Arsenal - Henry (30,pen,66,90), Cisse (43)

Att - 89981

MOTM - Thierry Henry

Premiership

Man Utd v Charlton - (H) Sat 18th August 2007

It was onto the season opener in the Premiership for Utd and it was Charlton who faced Utd at Old Trafford in what turned out to be a closer game than it should have been. Utd battered the Charlton goal for most of the first half but Scott Carson was in unstoppable form and kept Utd out. It was more of the same in the second half until Darrne Fletcher finally gave Utd a deserved lead. They stayed ahead until the eighty second minute when Darren Bent scored the equaliser much to the amazment of Utd. Charlton then tried to hold onto the draw but up stepped 19 year old Paraguan sensation Acuna to rifle home a shot to give Utd the win with three minutes to go. A deserved win but it could have and should have been a lot easier.

Final Score - Man Utd 2 v 1 Charlton

Goals - Man Utd - Fletcher (64), Acuna (87)

Goals - Charlton - Bent (82)

Att - 70095

MOTM - Carlos Javier Acuna (Man Utd)

Champions League 3rd Round Qualifying 2nd Leg

Zilina v Man Utd - (A) Wed 22nd August 2007

This was a mere formality and Utd did another professional job and were rewarded with a comfortable 3-0 win for their efforts. Zilina just could not cope with the pace and power of Ronney and Acuna who tore their defence apart at will with some brilliant play. Rooney helped himself to a double and Acuna got the other. They coasted through this match and saved their legs for more pressing matters like the game at Middlesborough in the Premiership.

Final Score - Zilian 0 v 3 Man Utd

Goals - Man Utd - Rooney (20,53), Acuna (43)

Att - 6556

MOTM - Rio Ferdinand

Premiership

Middlesborough v Man Utd - (A) Wed 29th August 2007

A tough game for Utd, who lost here last season pretty easily so Hepburn had a score to settle. It was a scrappy affair with Utd trying to play football but Boro sitting with men behind the ball trying to get a point made for some boring stuff. Utd kept plugging away and Rooney grabbed the vital opener and what proved to be the winner in the end. Pedro Leon had an eventful debut as he was actually playing pretty well but got himself sent off for a professional foul as Yakubu was bearing down on goal. The Utd fans clapped him off the pitch as they knew he had just prevented a certain equaliser!!!! Utd held on and made it two wins out of two in the Premiership.

Final Score - Middlesborough 0 v 1 Man Utd

Goals - Man Utd - Rooney (30)

Sent Off - Pedro Leon (Man Utd)

Att - 35001

MOTM - Rio Ferdinand

So a promising start to the season for Utd who go into September full of confidence that will see them start their Champions League campaign in the group stages where they will be looking for a massive improvement after last years disaster. With Acuna and Rooney up front they have a hatful of goals in them and the team seem to be playing a lot better already this season.

[Andy H]

The Manchester Mail - Into September and Utd hit top spot!!!!!

September proved to be a great month for Utd as they sit top of the Premiership for the first time in two seasons. They have made a superb start in the Champions League in what is being labelled the group of death as they have been placed with Valencia and Lazio in their group!!! They are playing some great football and Old Trafford is starting to become a happy place again with all this winning going on. Here is the latest from Old Trafford.................

Champions League Group

Man Utd v Red Star - (H) Wed 5th September 2007

After a dismal campaign last season, Utd were looking to at least win a game this year and then take it from there. Red Star came to Old Trafford looking to deny Hepburn a Champions League victory but it was not to be. Rooney and Acuna were missing for this game due to slight injuries so up stepped Louis Saha and Rossi and they provided the goods for Hepburn and Utd. A goal in either half plus complete domination of the game saw Utd secure their first win the Champions League under new gaffer Andrew Hepburn. Saha scored the opener and Rossi sealed the win with two minutes to go. Red Star offered nothing and will likely lose all their matches judging by this performance. Great start to the month for Utd.

Final Score - Man Utd 2 v 0 Red Star

Goals - Man Utd - Saha (9), Rossi (88)

Att - 67119

MOTM - Louis Saha (Man Utd)

Premiership

Man Utd v Everton - (H) Sat 15th September 2007

Utd dropped points against Everton at home last season and for most of this game it looked like it would happen again. Utd threw everything at ex Utd goalkeeper Tim Howard and he was equal to it. It looked like it was just not going to be Utd's day even with Everton down to nine men. Utd even had a goal disallowed in the closing stages but they never gave up. Hepburn threw three up front in the hope of a winner and finally it came from an unlikely source in Gabrielle Heinze but no one cared as he met Leon's cross with his head to send the Utd fans crazy!!!! It was superb stuff and deserved as they never gave up and kept playing their football.

Final Score - Man Utd 1 v 0 Everton

Goals - Man Utd - Heinze (90)

Sent Off - Tim Cahill, Tony Hibbert (Everton)

Att - 70082

MOTM - Gabrielle Heinze (Man Utd)

Premiership

Arsenal v Man Utd - (A) Sat 22nd September 2007

It was off to the Emirates next for Utd to take on Arsenal, with fresh memories of the 4-0 thrashing they gave Utd in the Community Shield. It was really a game of two halves with Arsenal playing superbly in the first half and taking the lead, only for Utd to come out in the second half and dominate proceedings and equalise through Wayen Rooney. Utd could have snatched victory as they had a couple of other great chances but were unable to take them. A huge improvement from Utd and this unbeaten run continued.

Final Score - Arsenal 1 v 1 Man Utd

Goals - Arsenal - Baptista (35)

Goals - Man Utd - Rooney (60)

Att - 62050

MOTM - Pedro Leon (Man Utd)

Champions League Group

Valencia v Man Utd - (A) Wed 26th September 2007

This game was a huge sign as to just how well Utd have started this season as they went to Spain to take on Valencia who do not lose often at home and defeat them after being behind. Utd started badly and Valencia were dominating them and Joaquin opened the scoring after only sixteen minutes. Hepburn feared the worse in this caldron of noise but Utd fought back well after a few tactical changes from Hepburn. Utd came out in the seocnd half and took the game by the scruff of the neck and played Valenica off the pitch in the second half. All of sudden Valencia could not cope with Utd at all and Pedro Leon, on his return to Spain scored the equaliser that gave Utd belief they could win this. Utd went ahead in the clsoing stages through Acuna but were immediately pegged back courtesy of a Albiol header from a corner. Utd went straight back on the attack and showed real courage to attack so late in the game. It paid off though as Acuna scored his second and Utd's third and that proved to be enough to give Utd a superb victory.

Final Score - Valencia 2 v 3 Man Utd

Goals - Valencia - Joaquin (16), Albiol (85)

Goals - Man Utd - Leon (52), Acuna (81,87)

Att - 54914

MOTM - Carlos Javier Acuna (Man Utd)

Premiership

Man Utd v Bolton - (H) Sat 29th September 2007

The feel good factor following that superb win in Valencia continued as they destroyed Bolton in what was another super performance from Utd. Utd had to thank Rooney and Acuna whose partnership up front is hotting up game by game. Acuna grabbed a double, Rooney scored once and a Nick Hunt own goal gave Utd a super win. They ended the month on a real high and could not wait until the next game.

Final Score - Man Utd 4 v 0 Bolton

Goals - Man Utd - Acuna (4,64), Rooney (40), Hunt (og,84)

Att - 92188

MOTM - Gary Neville (Man Utd)

Another great month for Utd, whose confidence is building game by game and they are in brilliant form at the moment. Lets hope October proves to be jsut as good for Utd.

[Jambo4eva]

RIP