Angry fans
HI LIAM, I am writing to express my annoyance about some of the comments made by âDonal Vâ last week.
First of all with our club riddled with debt and owned by a set of gimps we simply just didnât have enough resources on the night (a real predator striker and central defender) to cope with Milan who had rested most of their players the previous weekend.
We simply didnât have that luxury and with chasing three trophies at the time, it is bound to have an effect on such a small squad. Of course, you Donal, being a top red, knew all this already . . .
However I am baffled when you commented âThank God that Roy Keane is gone from such mediocrityâ. What exactly do you mean by this? Playing the best attacking football in the Premiership, scoring more goals than any other team and winning the league constitutes âmediocreâ, does it? Christ, some people you just canât please.
Lastly, why do you single out Ronaldo in your letter? Rooney and Carrick were poor as well and yet you (and others) just canât wait to criticise a player who has been awesome for us this season. REMEMBER he is only 21. To judge him now would be an utter joke.
That is all.......
Oh yes one more thing . . . CHAMPIONS
Aye, but not Champions of Europe â which may explain why, when it comes to the art of Red-baiting, Fergie is in a different class to Donal V.
TEVEZ gets seven goals in ten games and keeps West Ham up. Yet hereâs a player whose arrival in the Premiership was shrouded in mystery and who was ineligible to play. Itâs totally wrong.
NO wonder Eggert Magnusson gave a big man-hug to Kia Joorabchian. His dodgy deal has kept West Ham in the Premiership and earned them a bonus of 35m euros for next season. And the outlay has been a 7.5m euros fine. Thereâs something rotten in the state of Iceland.
YOUâVE got to feel sorry for Neil Warnock. Heâs been an interesting character in the Premiership this season and I always looked forward to his post-match comments. Still, Keano will be a good substitute.
WHAT IS it about Premier League chairman that they want to turn the end of the season into Jarndyce v Jarndyce? Sure, the Tevez deal was wrong and West Ham probably should have been deducted at least two points, but that doesnât excuse the failings of the likes of Wigan who have been dismal and who only got into the top division by dint of their chairmanâs spending power. Do you remember when they were called the âChelsea of the Championship?â
ISNâT Dave Whelan the last man to be climbing onto the moral high ground? Wasnât it his company that were fined a couple of years ago for over-charging supporters for replica shirts?
WHATEVER the legal ramifications of the final day of the season I canât be the only one who thought it was a cracker. Tense until the very last minute. In fact itâs been the best Premiership I can remember at top and bottom. All those wasted column inches about the death of football eh? Now all we need is for the âmiddling twoâ (thatâs Liverpool and Arsenal, 21 points behind the leaders) to up their game and make a decent fist of it next season against the big two.
For a fair summation of the Premiership season that was in it, have our final Letter Of The Week prize, Tony. As for the controversy surrounding West Ham, if the Premier League want to get in touch with me I have in my possession a couple of spare asterisks which I found in a skip outside the eircom League offices in Merrion Square. Could come in handy yet. Incidentally, that bit in Patrick Gleesonâs letter about Eggert hugging Kia â is this what they mean by a âdodgy geyserâ?
AFTER all that bluster by Ferguson I thought the selection of his team on Sunday was a disgrace, and an insult to the likes of Wigan and Sheffield United. Itâs typical of him to try to claim the moral high ground with his statements about âpicking a strong sideâ and then do exactly the opposite.
Red Card for hypocrisy to the knight of the realm
I AM getting brassed off with Benitez playing under-strength teams all the time, except in the Champions League. Most clubs do it on the last game of the season but heâs been at it for months now. Itâs the one blemish on Liverpoolâs reputation and it is not fair to the other clubs fighting relegation or chasing European places. Can we take the Premiership seriously next season please? Itâs the competition that supporters want to win more than any other and we havenât had a look at it for 18 years now.
LIVERPOOL (and Arsenal) have both been 20 points off the Premiership pace this season. Unless Liverpool beat AC Milan (and I fear they canât be that lucky twice) they will end the season empty-handed. This isnât good enough.
Liverpool have consistently played under-strength teams and this is nothing to be proud of. After the euphoria of yet another win on penalties we need to take a long hard look at ourselves this summer.
And I donât doubt that Milan will make that look even longer and harder before that.
AFTER a season of ABC (Anyone But Chelsea) I can guarantee that now United and their smug fans have lifted the title, normal service will be resumed in 2007/08 and it will be back to ABU.
Any takers for ABCAU?
I WAS amused to hear Alex Ferguson being given valuable Sky TV time to rant and rave about the tackle by Mikkel on Chris Eagles (clear red card, could have been a serious injury etc) and I waited to hear similar comments and condemnation about the ridiculous Wes Brown tackle on Sinclair which broke the 18-year-oldâs metatarsal in his first full game, and which also earned Brown a yellow card.
Nothing from Ferguson, nothing from the Sky commentators afterwards or the next morning?
Will be interesting to see if United play Brown at Wembley. They may find that Chelseaâs players have got longer memories.
This being the last Angry Fans of the year and, in honour also, of the retirement of Mr Graham Poll, we would like to break with tradition and award our old friend Cork Blue not one, not two but three yellow cards. And speaking of the great man himself
SO, Graham Poll (I wonât include the words of the song about him as this is a family newspaper) is departing from the game. Are the services of The Thing From Tring any loss to football (other than for controversy value)? I donât think so.
GRAHAM POLL â I will always be grateful to him for letting Thierry take that quick free kick while Gudjohnsen was still organising the wall. One of the funniest things in years.
But not as funny, surely, as the tabloid headline which marked the refâs premature exit from the World Cup last summer: âFOOL POLLâS COMING HOMEâ.
