Interpolic

Liverpool and Chelsea both got far in Europe on the back of playing desparately pragmatic stuff. Arsenal got to the final in 2006 by winning 2 legged ties 1-0 on aggregate. Your argument only really works in favour of Man Utd imo, where Fergie really struck the balance well in his latter years. Don't kid yourself, Liverpool turned it up when they needed to under Rafa. Same with Arsenal in 2006. Our teams don't have that Premier League 6th gear to shift up into now. They both played very pragmatic stuff on their runs to the final in 05/06/07, man. I'm not doubting they were in a clearly better state then, but it wasn't on the back of playing free flowing football. Chelsea and Liverpool played 6 games against each other in that period with 3 goals in total. God, that Chelsea-Liverpool cup rivalry was so mind-numbingly boring.

I didn't know what to do when Keegan left like, had presumed he'd always be our manager. Signed a 10 year contract or something, didn't he?

I say this all the time but there was a geet funny joke going around which was "Newcastle are selling Cole" and the shite punchline was "Aye, ten pound a bag". Katie bloody Hedquist said to me that afternoon when we left school "Newcastle have sold Cole" and I was all like "Aye, ten pound a bag and you said it wrong". I was really devastated like, he was a real hero of mine when I was a kid. Still think Carroll leaving was worse though, was looking like a real world beater and could have been a Geordie number 9 for 10-15 years. That transfer showed you that football is just shite and means nowt really.

He's said in the past that he loved his football up here but didn't feel comfortable with the adulation and was homesick etc. To be fair, he hardly talks about his career full stop. Even the documentary he talked more about his family, past and his attitude etc. He's more than happy to talk about his time at Man Utd and how great him and his pal Dwight were together... I agree with you here Tooj tbh, he hasn't really said much positive about us considering how we launched his career.

If you watch that documentary it seemed like it was inevitable and Keegan was simply maximising the amount of money we could get. The 2 had fallen out. Cole said later on that Ferguson was the only manager that understood him, understanding him meaning he was quiet and stroppy but fundamentally wanted to score goals.

IIRC Keegan gave him a run of starts and he went 9 or 10 games without scoring.

Yeah mate, plus Newcastle wasn't anywhere near as multi-cultural as it is now so he would have really stood out! I enjoyed it - his record is for some reason very under-rated! 68 in 84 for us alone - unreal! She said that they'd go to the supermarket for groceries and get out 2 hours later with no groceries, having just signed autographs the whole time. The documentary itself is really worth a watch, it makes you think that Cole isn't held in quite the same regard as other good/great English strikers of the time because of his withdrawn personality, and I think they've got a point there to be honest. The guy was a superb goalscorer, second probably only to Shearer in the Premier League in terms of English strikers, but he rarely gets a mention these days. Some of his link-up play with Yorke on the documentary was a joy to watch.

I'm very surprised you'd put Ancelotti over Ferguson like, that justification is quite flaky. Ferguson lasted 25 years at one of the biggest clubs in the world because he was the best.

He went from starting every single week for 4 seasons straight to never featuring, it was a bit dodgy like.

We get it mate, you love Ancelotti. Which managers do you reckon are better in terms of 1) style and 2) results?

All 4 goals were class.

Was interesting when his wife was saying their time up in Newcastle was a nightmare. Could see what she was getting at but unfortunately it was probably edited so that no positives were put across. Can imagine it must have been difficult for them leaving the house like, everyone was mad about him.

Most infuriating game ever.

Is Januzaj really much cop? Thought at the time that people were going far too mental over him last season.

Another good goal like. Hopefully going to be a good rest of the game now.

Arsenal playing some lovely stuff so far.

Nee other posts on this page mate.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2470047/Sir-Alex-Ferguson-admits-mistake-letting-Jaap-Stam-leave-Manchester-United.html Ah, I remember now how they were pissed off about his book.

Think Ferguson said somewhere that the only one he really regretted selling was Stam?

Good ones. Obviously Pogba as well. Fuck it, Gabby's mint man.

Fergie always knew when to let a player go, he must have shown some ability at some point to get there but if Fergie is actively selling someone there's a reason for it. Should never have taken him, Butt or Smith. Can't think of many good players he let go - Stam's the best example I suppose, and maybe Beckham and Van Nistelrooy. Butt and Smith were so clearly finished.

Absolutely rinsed yourself there like, you'll be "anyone do that for me?" in no time.

http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/news/news/2014-15/mar/080315-mourinho-reaches-clean-sheet-century-in-record-time.html A thrilling accolade.

Liverpool really labouring at times this season like.