Stevo985 Posted January 8, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted January 8, 2013 I think there were limitations to that rule, something like you had to be under a certain age or it had to be a foreign club. Not sure though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Rings a bell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 Holy poop, 0-2 to Swansea at SB....If we get a result in the return leg, and Swansea holds on, this thing is wide open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted January 10, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted January 10, 2013 Apart from the typos/thinkos, this isn't a bad article/blog entry Are you ready for a Swansea City-Bradford City meeting at Wembley? We’re not there yet, but after the last two day’s League Cup results, the matchup looks probable. Bradford City took a 3-1 lead out of Tuesday’s leg one with Aston Villa while Swans pulled of a 2-0 upset at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. With both semifinals at their halfway marks, the underdogs are on course to complete their improbable runs. The stunning thing about fourth-tier Bradford City was not that they took a two-goal lead out of the first leg. They were the better side. Aston Villa is a Premier League team which, while struggling at the top level, should have no problem at least holding their ground over an initial 90 minutes. Yet the same Villa we’ve seen try to play themselves into the Championship showed up on Tuesday. Goals by Nahki Wells and Rory McArdle had Bradford up two after 77 minutes, and while an Andres Wiemann goal seemed to salvage a workable road deficit, Carl McHugh’s late tally restored Bradford’s 3-1 lead. As embarrassing as the result is, it’s not unworkable. Bradford are still a League Two side, albeit a decent one. Aston Villa are still a far superior Premier League side, albeit a bad one. Villa should be able to post a lopsided result in their home leg, but having won only once in their last six (beating a Championship side in the FA Cup), it’s foolish to assume too much from Paul Lambert’s team. We’re getting to the point where Villa may have to make a change. If Paul Lambert can’t get his team past a League Two side, it doesn’t speak well for his ability to accomplish the ultimate goal: Surviving the Premier League. Yet this team may have gone through too many coaching changes since Martin O’Neill left at the beginning of the 2010-11 season. Kevin MacDonald, Gerard Houllier, Gary McAllister, Alex McLeish, Paul Lambert – I’m including the caretakers just to underscore how many different faces players like Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ciaran Clark have had to take instructions from over the last two-plus years. Add in O’Neill (who was still around in the fall of `10) and that’s six different men prodding the underachieving squad. Will adding a seventh name to the list really solve the problem? Take Chelsea, for example. As you may have heard (ad nauseam over the past three months), the European champions changed managers earlier this season. Out went Roberto Di Matteo, himself a mid-season replacement the previous season, and in came Rafa Benítez. Results have been mixed. While the Chelsea ended 2012 on a four-game winning streak, they began the year with a home loss to QPR. After an impressive FA Cup win at Southampton this weekend, the Blues lost at home today, 2-0 to Swansea City. Chelsea looked very good in the first half but still went into intermission down a goal after a defensive mistake by Branislav Ivanovic allowed Michu to put Swans in front. In the second half, another Ivanovic mistake let Danny Graham double Swans’ lead, Swansea taking a 2-0 win out of Stamford Bridge. It was a strange game because Chelsea didn’t play that bad, particularly after Demba Ba came on for Fernando Torres. He had a goal waved off for offsides and drew a yellow card when he was judged to have drove when trying to round the keeper. But he was influential, and Chelsea were close to getting on the board. Yet with a team that has Chelsea’s talents, there shouldn’t be the need for asterisks – the rationalizing for poor results in terms of a progress this group should never have had to make. This inconsistent world they inhabit under Rafa Benítez is inexplicable. Whatever Chelsea is doing to succeed against Aston Villa and Southampton needs to be harnessed and implemented against QPR and Swansea. Obviously, that’s easier said than done. Chelsea’s not the first inconsistent team ever, but the challenge remains the same. How does Benítez get them to be good Chelsea more often? He doesn’t know. He’s only been on the job a couple of months. Perhaps he’ll eventually find out, but by the time he does, his team may be out of the League Cup and further mired in a fight for a Champions League spot. There’s also the chance they’ll be headed to Wembley. When Chelsea goes to the Liberty Stadium for their second leg, they may play like the team that crushed Saints at St. Marys. And if they do, they’ll eliminate Swansea, move on to the final, and hope Dr. Hyde shows up against Bradford (or Villa). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted January 10, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted January 10, 2013 Off topic, but I disagree with people saying Bradford were the better side. They clearly weren't. They wanted it more and they took their chances better than us (mainly due to our diabolical defending) but they weren't the better team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 (edited) They were not the better side, we should have been out of sight in the first half. Like you said, we did not take our chances and we paid the price for that. Bradford were more clinical in front of goal, at least we have the second leg to make it up. Edited January 10, 2013 by AVFCforever1991 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 I didn't hear too much booing from the Chelsea fans when they were smashing us 8-0 or Southampton 5-1 last week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 thought the Di Matteo chants after 2nd goal was pathetic. Hardly Rafa fault Ivanovic had 2 moments of madness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 Was pretty pathetic from the Chelsea fans to start chanting "One Di Matteo" as soon as Swansea's second went in. You couldn't really pin last night's result on Rafa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 They're clutching at whatever straws they can find to get him out of there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Czechlad Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 Chelsea fans are such morons. Benitez cannot be blamed for those two silly errors. He has come into a club that has so many issues and doing well. He is keeping them in a champions league spot which is really all the fans should expect this season. Benitez knew that the fans would not take to him well and he is more than likely just holding the spot for another manager and yet he is still trying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HalfTimePost Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 Wouldnt surprise me if Rafa was chosen to be disliked. Cause then if he does well and Abramovich wants him gone, he can do so without backlash from the fans. Where as when Di Matteo was hired and did well he couldnt exactly not give him the job after winning the cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Paper talk today of an £18m per year deal for Pep to go to Chelsea (I assume in the summer). Utter madeness, even for Roman. I like Pep, and hope he does well but this is a new team in a new country. He might struggle to hit the ground running and if so he'll be hounded out leaving RA with a MEGA payoff. He'd be far better kissing and making up with Jose and offering him big money. At least he'd know what he was getting in to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 yeah I dont personally think Pep will succeed in his next challenge (I dont rate him as this great manager/guru) which is being more than likely going to be Bayern Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islingtonclaret Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Hazard's in trouble now. What a bellend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islingtonclaret Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I see Chelsea's offical twitter account has posted "Has football gone mad? Hazard is sent off for kicking the ball under a ball boy attempting to smother the ball rather than return it." I look forward to their apology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVHVS26RBeM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted January 23, 2013 Moderator Share Posted January 23, 2013 It doesn't look particularly clear to me that one. I can't see him getting into too much trouble for it - be interesting to see if there are any other angles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 (edited) What was the red card for? It's either ungentlemanly conduct or violent conduct. Hazard is clearly in the wrong over the incident, in trying to get the ball back really quickly he actually slows the ball boy down, but I'm not sure what the repercussions will be. Another angle. You might argue that Hazard pushed the lad to the ground and then booted him in the ribs. He certainly hindered the ballboy by putting his hands on the ballboys back while the ballboy was bending over to pick the ball up. Edited January 23, 2013 by The_Rev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 Well Ashley Cole got away with shooting that work experience kid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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