Ladyrsky46:

Tired of this silly weather disrupting everything. Was looking forward to tomorrow's match.

mojounited:

Fabio Capello: Fergie the best of all time -
"In the history of football, the best manager is Sir Alex,'' Capello said. "For such a long time he managed the team and he has changed a lot of things.
"He changed the team, he changed the players, he has been really, really good for the club. I wish him another 20 years of management at the top level.''
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/855032?cc=5739

Hats off to SAF; the greatest mind in the history of the game, albeit Cappello's comment might be debatable - I think the likes of these coaches are also there at the top:
- Del Bosque
- Sir Matt Busby
- Marcello Lippi

cou-gar:

brucey wants him for keeps, fergie won't do that! however, i want welbeck to stay there till next summer. he is developing really well out there. if we take him back in january, he is going to rot on the bench once more and his development will stall. with all the bragging mumuface does here, united have the best kids in the land.

Ladyrsky46:

Now Brucey wants him. Not going to happen. Hopefully.

mbulela1:

he will be there till the summer.it is a year loan.he and Diouf (at Blackburn).

The world's biggest sporting brand. . . . .

tkb417:

Still on this big game ish? *smh*

@Cougar
A big game is match when 2 closely matched teams are playing.

UTD and City is a big game cos of d derby thing and the pedigree of the players on d field. Moreso when both teams are challenging for the title.

mojounited:

^@cou-gar, I quite understand your perception but unfortunately, Liver[i]poop[/i] are no more and will not be in the top four until they prove themselves worthy hence, the concept to illustrate your analogy maybe defeated in this reagard. Liverpool attained the top-four status in one season and they also lost it to the likes of Hotspur and Man Shitty in one season; this shows that the table has turned - behold, the beginning of a new Era as it may no longer be the Top-Four but Top-Six, which shows that the EPL is getting stronger and more difficult to decide from get go. Have you been watching ESPN Soccernet Presspass lately Tommy Smith's Top 25 Teams currently has Spurs and City in it but no Liverpool, wonder why The new rating is based on current form - i.e. designed to kick previous acievements out of the window. . .

PS - With Money and Better coaches at the helm of things, Tottenham and City have shown more hunger and desire to be a top-four team and maintain this status more than Liverpool has for two (2) seasons and counting. It is only a matter of time before they make it permanent. In consideration. . .until such time Liverpool decide to turn the tables around, Hotspur and City games versus the previously known top-four teams is considered a big game. QED!

mojounited:

^UEFA rankings are based on match results and calculated coefficients of mostly European Cup Football from previous years (over 2-5 years) till present date; this makes up the total coefficients hence, the ranking - that is the only reason you have Liverpool in that position. Meanwhile, are you trying to tell me that if liverpool are 17th in the EPL they'd still be considered a top club - is Leeds United (one time runners up in the european cup finals) still a top club, is Nottingham Forest (2 times Former European Cup holders) still a top club

As I previously stated, Tommy's top 25 is based on current form so your argument as regards UEFA ranking is flawed; http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/data/method4/trank2010.html - From this ranking, Liverpool is currently above current UCL and FIFA Club World Cup holders, Inter can you believe that, is that based on current form . Your statement "americans know nowt about football" is laughable considering the fact that the USA National team defeated almighty Spain and almost lifted FIFA Confed cup in SA if not for Brazil's samba footy. I am well aware that Shitty and Spurs are new comers in the top four but they now have the hunger, more strength and desire to be a top-four team and maintain this status more than Liverpool presently do - Nottingham and Leeds were once top four, it was this same Liverpool that ended their reign. . .soldier come soldier go.

Not taking anything away from Liverpool but if anything, give kudos to Spurs and City for trying to keep up the pace with the big boys and, making it seem like a top-six affair these few seasons. . . 

liverpool are a top club. if man utd relegate this season, it won't take away their history and rich tradition. when juventus relegated in 06/07, it didn't stop them from being a big club. being a big club is not racing towards the summit of the table but the history and the rich tradition of that club. man city and tottenham have no history. they will not become a big club because of coming 2nd or 1st in the league. chelsea have won few league titles recently and they don't have the respect afforded to big clubs because they have no "rich" history.

thanks for buttressing my point. current form means nada. form is temporary, class is permanent. liverpool's form may be shyte but their class is far above what spurs and man city can muster in 40 years. the history behind liverpool is gargantuan. you cannot compare england's most successful club to cowboys like chelsea, man city and tottenham. liverpool can point to heysel and hillsborough. . .i doubt either chelsea or city have such. celtic is nowhere these days but they are a bigger club than tottenham or man city. it's about history not present league position so tommy smith must be on crack.

tkb417:

Still on this big game ish? *smh*
@starboard
I didn't know a team that hasn't won the title in the past cannot be termed title contenders

First time I'm hearing that. Unbelievably its coming from you.

Believe what you believe, Citey are in the league to win it. Past achievements don't count, the strength of the team today is what matters!

Wolfsburg from nowhere won the Bundesliga cos they had exciting players, same with FC Twente; should I mention Blackburn had no winning credentials when they won in the year they did apart from the fact that they had a good team

CVs don't win trophies, its the quality of the team in question that does. Ruling out Citey cos they haven't won b4 means Enyimba shdnt have won african champions league and 9ja league cos in the history of 9ja and african football, they were nothn b4 they won d first time.

Enyimba won cos they had money to attract talents and they did

Oga, u sabi your footie, I sabi mine too.

*sigh*

dayokanu:

You dint become a big club overnight or even in 5 yrs you have to pay your dues and be consistent for a much longer time.
Hull City was around the top of the table some seasons back, At that point, can we call them a top club?
At a time, Mainz was top of the BL and Bayern was towards the bottom, Can we at that point say Mainz was a bigger club

mojounited:

I didn't butter your bread abeg If you think rankings shouldn't be based on current form, why are Barcelona and Man. United who both have 3 European cups currently ranked higher than Real (9), Milan (7), Liverpool (5) Euro trophies respectively Even Chelsea and Arsenal who've not won it before are ranked higher. . .When Juventus were relegated, did you check their ranking that year

Nottingham Forest won the European Cup 2 times since God knows when and got relegated - Since Notts Forest has a rich history in European cup according to your analogy, are they still considered a big club till date Again, going by your analogy, so you want me to compare Notts history in the 60s (wey i never even born begin dey watch footy) to the current Chelsea side who's gat no "rich" history cos form is temporary and class is permanent and because Notts' gat a richer European history than Chelsea SMH!!

And please stay on point - I am not insinuating that Liverpool is no longer a top club, all I'm saying is that as liverpool became a top club and made history so are Spurs and Shitty now climbing to the top to make theirs so you can't take anything away from them. . .United are on the verge of upsurging the 18 EPL titles and ending Liverpool reign as "the most succesful club in England" - it all started in one day with Busby and continued when SAF was appointed as the gaffer till date. If you think Spurs who bit Inter Milan, UCL holders to top their group and qualify for the knockout stages is not a big club now, then there's no point debating anylonger. Spurs may make yet another history if they whoop Milan's bums in the knock out stages of the UCL come Feb.

If not for current events, would you have had history As a fan, current events are what keeps us going, if you think current form doesn't count anylonger then we can as well fold, pack up and stop watching the current games and start basing all our debates and arguments on our reach history which would make absolutely no sense whatsoever. . .