This Weekend's Fixtures (18/19/20 Aug).

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Friday, 18th August 2023
Nottingham Forest v Sheffield United, 19:45

Saturday, 19th August 2023
Fulham v Brentford, 15:00
Liverpool v Bournemouth, 15:00
Luton Town P-P Burnley
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Brighton & Hove Albion, 15:00
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United, 17:30 https://i.imgur.com/htwHZ0c.jpg
Manchester City v Newcastle United, 20:00 https://i.imgur.com/tM2pRxb.png

Sunday, 20th August 2023
Aston Villa v Everton, 14:00 https://i.imgur.com/htwHZ0c.jpg
West Ham United v Chelsea, 16:30 https://i.imgur.com/htwHZ0c.jpg

Monday, 21st August 2023
Crystal Palace v Arsenal, 20:00 https://i.imgur.com/htwHZ0c.jpg



Forest 1-0 Sheffield United, Awoniyi.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Pub effort from me for now

Forest 1-0 Sheffield United, Awoniyi.

Reckon he will attract a bit of attention in January, think he scored a few back end of last season as well

[McNamara That Ghost...]

He did, six in a row for Forest now I think?

He's good, I'd prefer Toney personally but I am sure someone else will want him near the top of the table.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Oh and edited in the matches now.

I have no idea why this game is on tonight when it isn't being televised. At least not over here.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Oh and edited in the matches now.

I have no idea why this game is on tonight when it isn't being televised. At least not over here.

Oh is it not? That is a bit strange

Maybe there’s some local reason why it’s the case, Sheffield and Nottingham are less than fifty miles from each other. Maybe there’s going to be road works done on the M1 tomorrow or something

[HCZ_Reborn]

Sheffield United equalise early on in the second half. Hamer

And Kane has scored his first goal for Die Bayern

[HCZ_Reborn]

Chris Wood gets what looks to be late winner for Forest 2-1

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Sheffield United still pointless.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Sheffield United still pointless.

I’m not sure their fans would agree with you :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Fulham: Leno; Tete, Diop, Ream, Robinson; Reed, Lukic, Pereira; Wilson, Jimenez, De Cordova-Reid.
Subs: Rodak, Bassey, Cairney, Adama, Rodrigo Muniz, Willian, Palhinha, Mbabu, Carlos Vinicius.

Brentford: Flekken; Hickey, Collins, Pinnock, Henry; Jensen, Norgaard, Janelt; Mbeumo, Schade, Wissa.
Subs: Strakosha, Dasilva, Zanka, Onyeka, Ajer, Lewis-Potter, Damsgaard, Roerslev, Yarmolyuk.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Wolves: Sa, Nelson Semedo, Dawson, Kilman, Ait-Nouri, Neto, Joao Gomes, Lemina, Nunes, Fabio Silva, Matheus Cunha.
Subs: Bentley, Doherty, Traore, Hwang, Bueno, Kalajdzic, Sarabia, Toti, Hodge.

Brighton: Steele, Milner, Webster, Dunk, Estupinan, Gross, Gilmour, March, Enciso, Mitoma, Welbeck.
Subs: Verbruggen, Julio, Dahoud, Pedro, Lallana, Adingra, Ferguson, Van Hecke, Veltman.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Liverpool: Alisson, Robertson, Van Dijk, Konate, Alexander-Arnold, Gakpo, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Diaz, Jota, Salah.
Subs: Kelleher, Gomez, Tsimikas, Matip, Endo, Elliott, Doak, Bajcetic, Nunez.

Bournemouth: Neto, Kerkez, Senesi, Zabarnyi, Aarons, Billing, Rothwell, Anthony, Christie, Semenyo, Solanke.
Subs: Radu, Mepham, Hill, Kelly, Traore, Kilkenny, Kluivert, Moore, Brooks.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Hmmm some interesting games. How will Fulham cope without the goals of Mitrovic….just as how will Brentford cope without Ivan Toney. That’s got score draw written all over it for me

Can Wolves actually get the goals that their overall play merited on Monday at Old Trafford. If not you’d expect comfortable Brighton win, if Cunha can net possible draw or home win. I’m going to stick my neck out and say home win…Brighton might have thrashed Luton, but could be suspect defensively


Finally Liverpool vs Bournemouth, will Liverpool’s lack of protection for their centre backs seem them vulnerable against Bournemouth?. Possibly but I’m guessing they will be able to overwhelm the Cherries in attack. Home win

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Disallowed goal for Bournemouth already.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Disallowed goal for Bournemouth already.

And now they have scored :lol:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Kiss of death from me

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Liverpool 0-1 Bournemouth, Semenyo!

[HCZ_Reborn]

Wolves also score but rightly chalked off for offside

[McNamara That Ghost...]

I posted that a minute ago or at least thought I did but it never went through.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Liverpool seem like they're in trouble with this midfield.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Liverpool seem like they're in trouble with this midfield.

TAA useless as a central midfielder, who’d have thought it.

Just because he can’t defend doesn’t mean you put him in midfield. We didn’t do that with Ainsley

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Van Dijk heads on to the bar!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Alisson has lost his mind.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Alisson has lost his mind.

Lucky to get away with that. Not that it was more than a yellow but if he hadn’t fouled him, Guy would have had open goal to tap into

[HCZ_Reborn]

Wolves 0-1 Brighton Mitoma

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Wolves 0-1 Brighton, Mitoma!

[HCZ_Reborn]

Wolves 0-1 Brighton, Mitoma!

Mitoma just runs inside from the left flank midway inside the wolves half and just keeps going and scores

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Classic Mitoma.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Diaz equalises for Liverpool

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Liverpool 1-1 Bournemouth, Diaz!

[HCZ_Reborn]

Liverpool 1-1 Bournemouth, Dias!

Another lovely goal, misplaced pass deflects into his path, flicks it up with his boot and volleys into the net

[HCZ_Reborn]

Wolves continuing the spirit with which they played United. Creating good chances and fluffing them

[HCZ_Reborn]

Salah puts Liverpool in front

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Lucky for Salah

[HCZ_Reborn]

Saved pel and scores the rebound

[HCZ_Reborn]

Wissa scores for Brentford at Fulham

[McNamara That Ghost...]

I like Wissa and Mbuemo.

[Mac76]

Wissa and Salah are both in my FPL team although it's annoying that Salah has been docked points for 'missing' a pel (for which read 'had it saved') that fucking rule really annoys me, it's totally wrong when a player gets docked points when a goalie does his job ffs

[HCZ_Reborn]

Wissa and Salah are both in my FPL team although it's annoying that Salah has been docked points for 'missing' a pel (for which read 'had it saved') that fucking rule really annoys me, it's totally wrong when a player gets docked points when a goalie does his job ffs

Wait by that logic do you think every scored penalty is a goalkeeping error?

[HCZ_Reborn]

Plus think how I feel. I have Alisson as my goalkeeper and the poor fucker went into a state of psychosis in the first half

[Mac76]

Wait by that logic do you think every scored penalty is a goalkeeping error?

No it's a goal by the scorer, obvs, but if the keeper saves it then it's good work by them, yes ok it might be sometimes a weak pel but it's still a save, tbh even if the striker misses the target, it's a double hit, your player has failed to get the goal points and then is ALSO docked points

Totally unfair :angry:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Wolves 0-2 Brighton, Estupinan!

[HCZ_Reborn]

No it's a goal by the scorer, obvs, but if the keeper saves it then it's good work by them, yes ok it might be sometimes a weak pel but it's still a save, tbh even if the striker misses the target, it's a double hit, your player has failed to get the goal points and then is ALSO docked points

Totally unfair :angry:

Nah

If you miss from 12 yards doesn’t matter if it’s saved or you find Row Z, you’ve goofed.

Yes there are phenomenal penalty saves but they aren’t the norm, and you can’t really expect a fantasy football algorithm to factor that in.

Even with great saves, the penalty taker has made it possible by either not hitting with another power, hitting straight at the keeper or telegraphing where they are going to put it.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Brentford’s away kit is a visceral assault on the eyes

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Wolves 0-3 Brighton, March. Wow.

[Mac76]

Nah

If you miss from 12 yards doesn’t matter if it’s saved or you find Row Z, you’ve goofed.

Yes there are phenomenal penalty saves but they aren’t the norm, and you can’t really expect a fantasy football algorithm to factor that in.

Even with great saves, the penalty taker has made it possible by either not hitting with another power, hitting straight at the keeper or telegraphing where they are going to put it.

Whatever, as i say you are already penalised because the player doesn't score so you don't get the goal points, so why dock further points?

[HCZ_Reborn]

Wolves 0-3 Brighton, March. Wow.

4-0 now

[HCZ_Reborn]

Whatever, as i say you are already penalised because the player doesn't score so you don't get the goal points, so why dock further points?

Because if you’re a goalscorer (which penalty takers usually are) and you’ve failed to do your primary job when you’ve had the chance handed to you on a plate, it’s pretty much like a defender conceding a penalty.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

0-4 :wacko:

[HCZ_Reborn]

0-4 :wacko:

That’s my fault for predicting Wolves win. They’re going down.

Plus I’m still a bit salty with Brighton for beating us 3-0. The annoying thing is I swapped out Timber for Estupinian but I did it after the deadline…so I won’t get the points for him scoring, but the dozy bugger will probably get red carded next week.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

MacAllister sent off!

[HCZ_Reborn]

MacAllister sent off!

Did Ramsey ever get sent off for us? I can’t remember. Probably helped us if he did

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Wolves 1-4 Brighton!

[HCZ_Reborn]

Wolves 1-4 Brighton!

The fight back is on!!! :haha:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Did Ramsey ever get sent off for us? I can’t remember. Probably helped us if he did

Jota scores to prove that their Ramsey getting sent off, is a bonus to them :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Liverpool 3-1 Bournemouth, Jota.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Ream (wait is that an actual name?) sent off for Fulham

[HCZ_Reborn]

And also a pel, which Mbeumo scores

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Pel to Brentford!

[HCZ_Reborn]

Neto can’t hold onto anything

[HCZ_Reborn]

Jota scores to prove that their Ramsey getting sent off, is a bonus to them :haha:

Speaking of Ramsey, the actual Ramsey and not his South American twin has scored for Cardiff at Leicester

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Tottenham: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Sarr, Bissouma, Kulusevski, Maddison, Son, Richarlison.
Subs: Forster, Sanchez, Emerson Royal, Perisic, Davies, Skipp Hojbjerg, Lo Celso, Solomon.

Man Utd: Onana, Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Martinez, Shaw, Casemiro, Antony, Bruno Fernandes, Mount, Garnacho, Rashford.
Subs: Henderson, Vitek, Lindelof, Pellistri, Dalot, McTominay, Eriksen, Sancho, Martial.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Fulham 0-3 Brentford, Mbuemo with his second!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Good save from Vicario.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Sarr shot saved!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

What a miss from Fernandes!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Antony booked. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Fernandes booked also!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Porro smashed the woodwork!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Sarr's shot went off Shaw and on to the post just after Porro's strike hit the bar.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Spuds 1-0 Man Utd, Sarr.

Man Utd. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Antony hits the post! :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Pel to Tottenham?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Great save from Vicario off Casemiro's header.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Ten Hag. :lol:

The real Fraudiola.

[Mac76]

I'm glad you find it so amusing that Spuds are winning... :angry:

[HCZ_Reborn]

I'm glad you find it so amusing that Spuds are winning... :angry:

Who cares? Neither of these sides look top four. Both of these teams lack goals, United should have been ahead. And spurs should have put the game to bed second half. That it’s still in the balance reflects poorly on both these teams

When these two play, I normally hope for a draw

[HCZ_Reborn]

Casemiro needs to go on a diet and be put through the bleep test

[HCZ_Reborn]

Oh…now Spurs have secured the points. I’m a real jinx today :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

2-0 Davies.

Man Utd. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Martinez OG in fact. :lol:

[Mac76]

Who cares? Neither of these sides look top four. Both of these teams lack goals, United should have been ahead. And spurs should have put the game to bed second half. That it’s still in the balance reflects poorly on both these teams

When these two play, I normally hope for a draw

if you're an Arsenal fan you always want Spuds to lose, but I guess someone who doesn't even know how to write out a football fixture can't be expected to know that...

[HCZ_Reborn]

Martinez OG in fact. :lol:

Couldn’t happen to a more deserving player

[HCZ_Reborn]

if you're an Arsenal fan you always want Spuds to lose, but I guess someone who doesn't even know how to write out a football fixture can't be expected to know that...

I thought I was the WUM :lol:

Did you want Spurs to lose, when these sides played in May 1999?

[Letters]

I'm glad you find it so amusing that Spuds are winning... :angry:

I think this is a day when I’d prefer a draw or, ideally, a meteor hitting the stadium, but I can live with pointing and laughing at the loser either way.

[Mac76]

I thought I was the WUM :lol:

Did you want Spurs to lose, when these sides played in May 1999?

well actually yes I wanted Spuds to lose, however I reluctantly had to see that a win would be preferable on that occasion :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

2-0 FT.

Ten Hag. :haha:

[Marc Overmars]

Felt Spurs would win this. United are pretty useless away from home against the better sides.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Man City: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol, Rodri, Kovacic, Foden, Alvarez, Haaland, Grealish
Subs: Ortega, Phillips, Ake, Gomez, Perrone, Bobb, Palmer, Lewis McAtee

Newcastle: Pope, Trippier. Schar, Botman, Burn, Tonali, Guimaraes, Joelinton, Almiron, Isak, Gordon.
Subs: Dubravaka, Lascelles, Wilson, Ritchie, Targett, Barnes, Livramento, Anderson, Longstaff.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Haaland. :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Nasty one from Gordon on Ruben Dias.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-0 Alvarez, great strike.

[HCZ_Reborn]

1-0 Alvarez, great strike.


It is but I think the angle and height makes it saveable for Pope

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Haaland scuffs it wide.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Haaland shot but fairly easy for Pope.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Man City 1-0 Newcastle, FT.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Villa 1-0 Everton, McGinn currently

[McNamara That Ghost...]

So reckless from Pickford, wipes Watkins out.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Villa 2-0 Everton, Douglas Luiz!

[Mac76]

Villa 2-0 Everton, Douglas Luiz!

Damn I sold him after GW1 :(

[Letters]

Looks like Everton will continue to circle the drain.
The turd that just won’t flush.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

4-0 Duran.

You surely can't be around the relegation zone for a third season in a row and stay up.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Bailey got the third.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Archer off for Coutinho.

Another ACL for them?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

West Ham 1-0 Chelsea, Aguerd!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Jackson was wiped out but was offside anyway. Apparently.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Come on you Ammers!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

West Ham 1-1 Chelsea, Chukwuemeka. Pure vibing if that's how you spell his name.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Enzo pelanty saved!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Antonio hammers it in, 2-1!

:haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Chilwell off, Caicedo on.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Second yellow for Aguerd, sent off!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Mudryk. :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Gallagher off, Madueke on.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Antonio off, Fornals on.

[Mac76]

I knew Ward-Prowse would do well at another club - two assists today - good purchase by West Ham

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Sanchez keeps Chelsea in it, saving with his feet from Fornals.

Awful from Caicedo.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Areola saves from Madueke's deflected shot!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Pelanty to West Ham! Caicedo giving it away. :haha:

Caicedo has been awful since coming on.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

West Ham 3-1 Chelsea, Paqueta!

:haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

West Ham 3-1 Chelsea, FT!

Poch. :lol:

1 point out of six. Revolution. :bow:

[Globalgunner]

I knew Ward-Prowse would do well at another club - two assists today - good purchase by West Ham

Excellent player. We should have bought him instead of the frankly pointless Havertz

[HCZ_Reborn]

Excellent player. We should have bought him instead of the frankly pointless Havertz

Fuck right off with that :lol: Don’t get me wrong, shouldn’t have bought Havertz. But a 29 year old journeyman like Ward-Prowse?

He’s a good signing for West Ham because that’s his level

[Marc Overmars]

You know how low standards have dropped at Chelsea when they were giving themselves a pat on the back last week for fighting back to earn a point at home.

[Mac76]

Perhaps all those people who said we should get Ponce as our manager might now realise he's full of cack

[HCZ_Reborn]

I don’t know, I don’t think it’s possible for a manager to succeed at Chelsea at the moment, the owner is a lunatic. A lot of those young players they’ve bought may well come good but a lot of them won’t and that’s ridiculous amount of money thrown into the wind. Poch clearly did a good job at Spurs, is he a top, top coach? No but he’s decent. The game was in many ways similar to spurs vs United yesterday. United dominated Spurs in that first half but couldn’t get a goal and that absolute ring piece Fernandes has the nerve to demand the referee apologise for not awarding what would have been a harsh penalty when that thug Martinez was far more lucky not to concede one for United second half.

If you haven’t got the players to get you goals it doesn’t matter how good a coach you are.

I did consider Pochetinno as coach when Good Ebening was slung out. But more of an afterthought than anything. That and I wasn’t that impressed with who we were linked with, the favourite was Nuno (fuck that) for a few days. I wasn’t on GW at that time but I think on balance I thought it was right to bring in Arteta. I was actually quite a fan of his for first six months…fa cup win was more than I expected.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Fuck right off with that :lol: Don’t get me wrong, shouldn’t have bought Havertz. But a 29 year old journeyman like Ward-Prowse?

He’s a good signing for West Ham because that’s his level

You need to try to get over your obsession with ageing especially when it comes to building a winning squad, IMO its so wrong on so many levels. I mean think about it, in over 30 years of EPL football only Sir Alex has been able to mould babes into Champions, and everyone else has tried project youth, except Citeh of course, which could be one of Peps secret in dominating for so long....but that's another story.

Anyway back to this weekend, both Madison and Ward-Prowse are looking like great signings for their respective clubs , just like Trossard and Jorginho have been among the best business Arteta has done so far. Would I have taken them over Kai, well hell yeah, buts thats not saying much as I (and it seems you to) would have taken a 100 or so players over him.

Chelsea really got one over both of us (Man U included) with young talent like Kai and Mount, but its great to see that they're still struggling to create an identity with all this new blood they've spunked out on....I mean they are undoubtedly talented players, but theirs no spirit at all in this Chelsea side which is quite unusual. Who knows, maybe if they'd balanced things out and went for a few older more experienced signings they could conjure the Chavski of yesteryears we are all got use to from the late 90s till Mourinho et al.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

I don’t know, I don’t think it’s possible for a manager to succeed at Chelsea at the moment, the owner is a lunatic. A lot of those young players they’ve bought may well come good but a lot of them won’t and that’s ridiculous amount of money thrown into the wind.
Ah, I see you do recognise it, strange then to see you usually criticise a quality player for being "old" before looking at their other attributes.

[HCZ_Reborn]

You need to try to get over your obsession with ageing especially when it comes to building a winning squad, IMO its so wrong on so many levels. I mean think about it, in over 30 years of EPL football only Sir Alex has been able to mould babes into Champions, and everyone else has tried project youth, except Citeh of course, which could be one of Peps secret in dominating for so long....but that's another story.

Anyway back to this weekend, both Madison and Ward-Prowse are looking like great signings for their respective clubs , just like Trossard and Jorginho have been among the best business Arteta has done so far. Would I have taken them over Kai, well hell yeah, buts thats not saying much as I (and it seems you to) would have taken a 100 or so players over him.

Chelsea really got one over both of us (Man U included) with young talent like Kai and Mount, but its great to see that they're still struggling to create an identity with all this new blood they've spunked out on....I mean they are undoubtedly talented players, but theirs no spirit at all in this Chelsea side which is quite unusual. Who knows, maybe if they'd balanced things out and went for a few older more experienced signings they could conjure the Chavski of yesteryears we are all got use to from the late 90s till Mourinho et al.


With some exceptions I genuinely don’t think there’s much to be gained by signing an outfield player who is over the age of 25 especially one who hasn’t played for a big club.
Trossard for all his technical ability has not come good for us in terms of goals, he is guilty just as other players are guilty of laying passes on for others rather than taking shots on himself, in some ways that’s fair because he’s got a good assist rate but on other occasions it means the chance has gone. Jorginho is essentially a sticking plaster player, 12 million for a player for 18 months who can plug gaps from the bench and who we know will leave for nothing is a reasonable value.
But look at United with Casemiro, they’ve most likely got one good season out of him…he looks finished now.
But this is besides the point, anyone who thinks Ward-Prowse is of Arsenal standard whatever his age probably should be wondering what game they think they are watching. He’s a decent dead ball player of that there’s no doubt, but we need mobile players.
He’s found his level at West Ham like I say.

As for Havertz, I don’t get the signing but it’s hard to say Chelsea got one over on us. I don’t think it was necessarily their intent to sell him. There’s obviously something in him that Arteta sees…that the rest of us can’t. Well saying that he’s technically good, but I just think money could have been better spent buying either a striker or another midfielder. If we wanted a player with a bit of experience, Frank Kessié who is now in Saudi Arabia is someone we could have gone for

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Fair enough, but just to point out that "over 25 rule" would have robbed us of seeing the likes of Wright, Bergkamp, Petit, Sol, Arshavin, Carzola, Sanchez or currently even Partey if it was taken seriously...though Bergkamp, Alexis and Partey did play for big teams so they'd probably qualify under your exceptions.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Fair enough, but just to point out that "over 25 rule" would have robbed us of seeing the likes of Wright, Bergkamp, Petit, Sol, Arshavin, Carzola, Sanchez or currently even Partey if it was taken seriously...though Bergkamp, Alexis and Partey did play for big teams so they'd probably qualify under your exceptions.

It’s more about the money in the game now where I do think you need to consider resell value and wages.

But yeah you’d want players over 25 to be the exception rather than the rule.