Glory Glory Man Utd!

Manchester City's plans for world domination might have to wait a little longer...in fact their plan for domination of Manchester will have to wait a little longer after tonight's fabulous Carling Cup second leg defeat at Old Trafford.

A great footballing rivalry inadvertently created a great advert for the mostly ignored Carling Cup, the second cup competition in England after the FA Cup.  Man Utd will now go on to face Aston Villa in the final at Wembley on 28 February, while Man City will see how much they can spend in the next 4 days before the transfer window closes!

Man Utd manager Sir Alex Ferguson on tonight's win...

"It's a derby game and you like to win them. There was a lot of spice and at the end there was a special kind of celebration. We stayed patient and looked a threat when we stepped it up. I thought Wayne Rooney produced a world-class performance tonight, he played better than he did on Saturday when he scored four goals. Phenomenal."  

A lot was made of Carlos Tevez and his return to Old Trafford; again he played like a man with something to prove, but at the end of the day, this recently amended poster says it all...

Get a full wrap up of the match here...

More evidence...

This isn't a personal crusade, but I've just come across more evidence to back up my dislike for Manchester City striker Craig Bellamy...(see yesterday's post!) and it's not because he's Welsh...some of my best friends are Welsh, as indeed was my mother!  

But take a look at this incident from September last year...outrageous! 

Players you love to hate!

While watching the Man Utd v Manchester City derby today, it struck me how much I really dislike Man City striker Craig Bellamy. There's no real reason for it; I've never met the man, he may be delightful in person (although I doubt it) but there's just something about the way he plays, carries himself and behaves on the football pitch that makes want to punch him in the face! And I'm not a violent man!

Others of the same ilk include Lee Bowyer, Robbie Savage, Didier Drogba, Steven Gerrard, Joey Barton...I'm sure there's more...but it's late and it's been a long day...I'd value your views/contributions to the list though...

Anyway, on a slightly related note, I was searching You Tube to see if someone had done this job for me, and came across this slightly crazy ESPN Top 10 list of NHL players you love to hate - never heard of any of them (not being a NHL fan) but these guys would give you a real reason to dislike them - take a look at some of these hits! 

Who's your money on?

So the gig must be up for Rafa Benitez at Liverpool. The TV pundits are all weighing in, as are most media types (and bloggers!), that this must be his last season in charge of the famous old club. As I suggested here on Mostly Balls earlier this week - http://mostlyballs.blogspot.com/2010/01/is-this-end-for-rafa.html - his job is hanging by a thread. He may be gone as soon as next week if they don't get a win this weekend, but if he lasts the season, there can be little doubt that he won't be at the helm of The Reds next August when the new season comes around.

In this interesting article from ESPN Soccernet, they debate his likely successor...?  Who's your money on? My crisp $1 bill is placed firmly on Guus Hiddink. Dalglish would be a backward step; I think Mourinho is biding his time to be Sir Alex Ferguson's successor at Utd; Klinsmann won't trade LA for Liverpool (would you?); O'Neill is on a mission at Villa and Rijkaard, well maybe he's an outsider...perhaps 50 cents on him. 

Who's your money on? The Anfield Contenders...

Run and Gun offense back in the news...

An update to the NBA story I blogged about 10 days ago; here's a link to that blog if you didn't see it...

http://mostlyballs.blogspot.com/2010/01/wizards-work-on-shooting-percentage.html

It seems that the superstar 'favoritism' I alluded to doesn't appear to be the case after all. Gilbert Arenas has been suspended by the league, is now facing felony gun charges and faces having his huge $$$ contract voided by the Washington Wizards.

Perhaps being an NBA player doesn't make you above the law after all...

Is this the end for Rafa?

I don't have much time today, but I couldn't resist this quick thought... Is this the end of the road for Liverpool Manager Rafa Benitez? After another lacklustre performance from his multi-million Pound team, the Reds were dumped out of the FA Cup by lowly Reading FC today.

So following an abysmal EPL season, failing to qualify for the latter rounds of the Champions League, and now losing to a lower division team in the FA Cup, surely the patience of the American owners' of this once proud Football Club must be wearing thin...

This defeat is reminiscent of a famous game at Anfield in 1994 (video below) in which lowly Bristol City sent mighty Liverpool out of the FA Cup; that defeat saw the end of then Liverpool Manager Graeme Souness. I was lucky enough to be at that game, supporting my local team at the time, the mighty Bristol City! 

So what money on Rafa being gone before the end of January? And if so, who's next in the hot seat?

Read the BBC match report Liverpool 1 - Reading 2

The Cards rock!

Possibly the greatest ever game of NFL football was played this evening; the greatest number of points ever scored in one play off game - 96. The most touchdowns ever scored in one play-off game - 13. This game had everything.

For the first quarter it looked like a Cardinals blow-out; then we had a come back from the Green Bay Packers, then like a couple of heavy-weight boxers they traded blows until the game was tied at 45-45. Arizona then get the ball one more time and drive it down the field for a simple 34 yard field goal to win the game with 14 seconds left, and the kicker, Neil Rackers misses it.

Overtime. The Packers win the coin toss and get the ball first - and as the winner in overtime is usually the team that wins the coin toss, bad news for AZ. But one minute into the extra 15, the AZ defence suddenly wakes up and strips the ball from the Packers QB to run it in for a touchdown and the win - 51-45 - beautiful!  

A short and sweet description, but watch the highlights for yourself! Breathless!

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d815a5f0c/NFL-GameDay-Packers-vs-Cardinals-highlights