I had that one too! Well Man City prove money can buy you happiness... I'm glad, but not in a wholehearted kind of way, I think it was more about not wanting to see Utd win again than wanting City to win it.
Lescott - so gash..... Man City playing with Lescott in defence is like Ronnie O'Sullivan playing left-handed. Show-boating, plain and simple......!
Not to mention Milner of course. Well done to them though. What an ending to the season. And Bolton, Blackburn and Wolves all in real trouble as they get relegated - nice open Championship next year too
Yeah gonna be an interesting season next year, especially with Charlton, Sheff Weds and AN Other coming up as well. I don't see having a lot of strong teams as a bad thing though, they all beat each other and suddenly it becomes a very level playing field...
Which English strikers have had a better last few games? I'd take Carroll or Crouch, just to give you the option of pumping it long which has proven effective against some of the more technical opposition even if it is anti-football.
Not really, being ambidextrous is very useful in snooker, avoids the need of using a rest or fiddling about with your position.
Back on topic...I'm glad City won the title, even though I loathe the concept of a billionaire buying the title. Yes, that is exactly what they did, as did Chelsea before them. They don't deserve a great deal of praise at all for their accomplishment. But I detest United so I'm just relieved another team has managed to win the league.
Yeah Chelsea did it before them and Blackburn before that. The big test is what they do now, and what effect financial fair play has on them.
What I hate is Man City's wages alone is higher than the clubs entire turnover, at least when Chelsea/Blackburn and Utd at times used their money to help them win it they didn't go that overboard. Man City will never meet the fairplay regulations they simply don't have the empire that Utd have to generate the funds to support the wages alone never mind the rest.
Oh yeah I wouldn't quibble that City have taken it to a whole new level, but then the game itself have moved on neccesitating you have to spend more to buy the title (though it still took a lot of effort to win it even with all that dosh) and I certainly remember Blackburn going very much overboard, I remember when we were both in the championship together in the 90s they were literally buying players just to stop other teams getting them, or to stop other teams having them--Duncan Shearer being the classic exemple. They had a ridiculous squad of 40 or 50 professionals at one stage I recall. Will be interesting to see what City do next, they surely have to start offloading a few fringe players at least!
It's a lot more exciting when no one is running away with it, I agree. I'm hoping Huddersfield come up - if not, Sheffield United so we get the derby to go with the Blackburn/Bolton/Burnley hatefest. Man City's wages are actively preventing them from selling anyone they don't want (Bellamy, Santa Cruz, Tevez*). Anyone really see UEFA coming down on them over FFP though? Or any big side for that matter? I don't. As for England's striking options.... you've got no hope of anything whatsoever. You could finish bottom with no points. There's only one man you can really take. With Rooney out, he's the leading English forward in the country and has consistently stepped to every level from non-league to Premier League. He is captain of his team and incredibly consistent, 15 goals or more for the last 3-4 seasons. Andy Carroll had 25 minutes of glory in 18 months. Crouch is a flat-track bully. You want a big man - Grant Holt. *The worst part of City winning/buying the league is seeing that git with a medal and the trophy. Obnoxious mercenary who stands out in a league full of them.
Most every club that ever won a championship has. Money doesn't always win, and certainly doesn't every week, but in the long run it usually does. There's no justice in football, unfortunately.
And Tevez once again proves what a classy individual he is. It will be interesting to see if UEFA do come down on anyone (and it isn't just Man city, Real and Barca will be in trouble as well.) Be interesting to see who Roy takes with him striker wise, good point about Holt, I remember people suggesting Norwich would sell him once they were promoted, that he wouldn't cope with the Prem but obviously he has. Whether he's good enough to make another step up is the question, and there have been plenty of tod drawer strikers who've been found out on the International stage (Ian Wright for example) Yeah, some club will always be richer than another, and I don't think there's anything inherantly bad in that, it's just when certain clubs really can just corner the market that it causes problems. And like you say money doesn't automatically translate to success, see Derby in the 90s, Leeds a few years ago or Leicester now.