What you missed while gearing up for the World Porridge Championship…
- Carling Cup roundup: Wolves 5-0 Millwall, Aldershot Town 2-1 Rochdale, Arsenal 3-1 Shrewsbury Town, Burnley 2-1 MK Dons, Leeds 0-3 Manchester United, Nottingham Forest 3-4 Newcastle (aet), Aston Villa 0-2 Bolton, Stoke City 0-0 Tottenham (Stoke wins 7-6 on penalties), Blackburn 3-2 Leyton Orient, Crystal Palace 2-1 Middlesbrough.
- CONCACAF Champions League roundup: Toronto FC 1-0 Tauro, Monterrey 3-1 Comunicaciones, Seattle 0-1 Herediano.
- Manchester United striker Michael Owen scored twice in United’s win over Leeds.
- Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has asked Mike Reilly why the offsides rule doesn’t apply to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
- Chelsea striker Didier Drogba will return to the team in their Carling Cup tie against Fulham today.
- Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is pretty sure that if his team sucked as much as everyone says that they wouldn’t have been able to come from behind to beat Shrewsbury Town.
- Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish hopes that beating Brighton in the Carling Cup today will put an end to Liverpool’s poor run of form.
- Liverpool centerback Daniel Agger will miss four weeks after fracturing two ribs against Tottenham.
- Everton plan on offering a contract extension to manager David Moyes.
- Valencia manager Unai Emery hopes to stay top of the La Liga table after his match against Barcelona today.
- Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez hopes to stay at the club past the 2013 expiry date on his contract.
- Inter Milan have sacked manager Gian Piero Gasperini five games into his managerial tenure after a humiliating 3-1 loss to newly promoted Novara.
I had Gasperini being sacked in a parlay with Wenger going two weeks after him.
Hopefully, my $10 wager shan’t be wasted. If anyone’s earned it, it’s Arsene.
On a side note, I actually feel bad for Gasperini. Morrati knew precisely the tactics he used, and he still hired him. Moratti was just going for a name. Who hires a coach who plays a strict 3-4-3 when the team was built for a 4-3-1-2? He used to do this stuff all the time pre-Farsopoli, and he never got anywhere. Now, where’s he going to go? Rainieri? Good luck. He’s a runner-up. Always has been, always will be. Delio Rossi? Again, good luck. He’s a mid-table coach. Where else is he going to go? Grandpa Lippi? He’s got nowhere to go, and much like Newman, I’ll say this, “Hear me and hear me well, Moratti: The day will come. Oh yes, mark my words, Moratti – your day of reckoning is coming, when an evil wind will blow through your little playworld, and wipe that smug smile off your face, and I’ll be there, in all my glory, watching – watching as it all comes crumbling down!”
Man, do I hate Inter, and watching them crumble just makes me feel so good inside.