Monday, March 23, 2009

UF Quick Throw: Rooney Gets a Slap on the Wrist

Apropos of the Fan's Attic post yesterday, England's greatest hope Wayne "Chav" Rooney has escaped further punishment from the FA because he didn't curse at Phil Dowd (?). However, Rooney will still miss Man U's game against Villa, and he was issued a formal warning about not punching corner flags. Respec'!!

[Sky Sports]

13 comments:

The Fan's Attic said...

If it had been the real Dirk Kuyt and not England's Dirk Kuyt, there would have been a 3-match ban. Although, we all know the real Dirk Kuyt is a much classier person.

Unknown said...

Was there any doubt?

EbullientFatalist said...

Is the FA now going to unleash a "Respect the Respect" campaign?

And I cosign with everything said before me.

BackBergtt said...

EPL Talk sighs in relief.

30f said...

I would express my disgust over this weak ass ruling or over the way that not one but TWO stalwarts of Ingerland reveal their inner babies, but ...

Fulham beat Manchester United!!!

Oh, and the Cottagers are over 40 points. FORTY points means not going down or even white knuckling it into May.

Over the last year (okay 15 months) has there been a more successful manager that Hodgson? He started last New Years and kept Fulham up then and has them on the verge of playing their reserves in next season's Uefa/Europa/League/Cup. Impressive, no?

BurgerBrother said...

30f:

Quite impressive. And not only has Hodgson been successful, he's been a class act. His interviews are always honest, humble, and well, just - refreshing.

I'm no Fulham fan but there is not an ounce of hate in my body for Hodgson or his boys. Really good stuff from Craven Cottage this year. Big ups.

EbullientFatalist said...

@30f, Ibra: Agree. What Hodgson has done is phenomenal. Manager of the Year?

30f said...

@andrew - Yeah, in my self-centered book, Hodgson is the manager of the year. Bruce at Wigan is another option. Zola?

Formerly hot but now faded MOTY prospects would be MON at Villa and Browned at Hull.

Side note - how many Uefa League spots are there gonna be (besides 5th and 6th) by the end of the season? I think there will be one more for the FA Cup spot (since one of the top six is winning the FA Cup this year). Is that correct? And maybe one more for the ridunkulous 'fair play' deal?

Spectator said...

Yup, three spots for what used to be called the UEFA Cup and is now going to be the Europa Cup. One spot automatically, one spot because Man U won the League Cup, and one spot because a top six team will win the FA Cup (in theory Everton could win the FA Cup and drop out of top six but highly unlikely). And yeah, it sounds like England might get another spot under the fair play thing, which would go to Fulham based on current form.

Or, as Bobby McMahon said a couple weeks ago, which teams will get the right to send out a weakened squad and crash out of Europe?

30f said...

@Spec -

I believe I made the same joke above. Which would make me the second funniest jokester in Winnipeg.

phil said...

30f, what Fulham did was wonderful, and Hodgson has done a bang-up job as manager there, but what Moyes has done at Everton this season, keeping them top 10 despite not having any forwards until the January window, is simply amazing. He's my MOY, for sure.

30f said...

@phil -

Agreed, I forgot about Moyes. The way Everton has hung together minus Arteta is a testament to the kind of job he is doing. That being said, you will notice I qualified my pick as being made through white-colored glasses.

The top candidates (this year or even most years) seem likely to be anyone who gets their team to the Uefa cup spots. The top four are locked down and none of those managers gets much credit - they are all *expected* to be where they are, no excuses. I will say, breaking the little 'rule' I just stated, that Rafa deserves a look if Liverpool does the highly unlikely and wins the league.

jjf3 said...

when I first got into footie, I just assumed that the "ManU/SAF get treated differently by refs and the FA" stuff was just sour grapes brought on by their long-term success. I've seen plenty of individuals in sports get treated differently, but rarely seen entire teams get treated as if they were special. And there is no longer any question in my mind that ManU have. I'd argue that the "Big 4" generally get kinder treatment than the lesser lights, but ManU's entire team seems to always get treated like Michael Jordan. That said, the last two games make me wonder if the FA has directed the refs to get a little more serious about treating them equally. Other than Ronaldo not being carded for constant dissent, petulance, and general douchiness this weekend, Vidic's red last week (at OT, no less), and 2 reds this weekend imply that maybe the worm has finally turned...

On the MOY topic, granting that its still too early, but right now its Hodgson and Moyes, with Rafa in the argument if 'Pool can pull off the league title. I'd probably lean toward Moyes, but let's see what happens in the run-in. That loss at Pompey is not a good sign - maybe the thin resources have finally been stretched too far, ala Villa...