FA Cup

[747man]

My Semi Finalists...........( Forecast )......Bolton,Man Utd,Stoke City,& Man City.....

NOW ....... a real prediction from an expert .

FA cup semis ........... Arsenal , Bolton , Stoke , Man city .

FINAL ..........Arsenal v Man city

Winners .......Man city........... Manchinis only silverware enuff to save his job., with Arsenal going on to win the Premier league (sorry Bob).

More seriously Scunny to get relegated and drift off into footballinh oblivian...... and Emerton manager David Moles wife to have a baby that looks like Felaini.

Remember you heard it here first from the footballing guru mr mash.

The REAL GURU Got ALL 4 Correct, Did'nt I EAT yer heart out,Mashed........ Scunny for the BIG Drop Now......

[Zidane]

Shame that United v City is not the Final,I suppose,but it does give the fans of Bolton and Stoke their chance of glory.
I bet stokiebaz has been on the phone to the ticket office at the Brittania Stadium already.......

[BobHelm]

I didn't see any of the games live, but have now seen highlights of all & 80% of the Man U v Arsenal match.

Arsenal were all over United for nearly the entire game - except where it mattered, in front of goal.
Little Pea is starting to look a real find. If United could find a world class traditional centre forward then I think Rooney could go (the sulky one could go tomorrow anyway ).
Admittedly United had some midfield injury problems but when Giggs & Scholes are still the best 2 available (injuries or not) then it is well past getting the cheque book out time.
Nani....just not consistent enough
Anderson - I still have high hopes for, but just seems injured as often as fit
Valencia - The one player who could be a real star now he is back..
With van der Sar retiring someone needs a very large cheque book & I do not think the Gs fit that bill.

I saw the goals from the Bolton v Brum game....what some cracking examples of centre forward play by the Kevins - Phillips & Davies. The equaliser to bring it to two all was a thing of delight. Davies continues to make himself just about the most difficult centre forward to play against in the Premiership. I can see why Daniel Sturridge is enjoying his loan there & it is a real pity that he is cup tied for Bolton's chances...

[Galee]

The way the semi final draw has come out it more than likely means that the team that finishes 6th in the league will not qualify for the Europa League the following year. Bad news for Liverpool. Their best bet is to win this years Europa Cup.

Maybe Torres knew something they didn't.

[BobHelm]

Well this is it...normally I would have said 'to decide who gets to Wembley' but as the Semis are both played there I guess that I can't..
Still have the feeling that (given where the 4 semi-finalists comes from) Birmingham or Newcastle might have been a little more sensible transport wise...

Saturday, 16 April 2011
Man City v Man Utd, SF,

Sunday, 17 April 2011
Bolton v Stoke, SF, 16:00

[martynsnowman]

Well this is it...normally I would have said 'to decide who gets to Wembley' but as the Semis are both played there I guess that I can't..
Still have the feeling that (given where the 4 semi-finalists comes from) Birmingham or Newcastle might have been a little more sensible transport wise...

Saturday, 16 April 2011
Man City v Man Utd, SF,

Sunday, 17 April 2011
Bolton v Stoke, SF, 16:00

bob , do you know what time the 2 manchesters kick off ????

[trubrit]

5.15 GMT so 11.15pm here in Udon .

[BobHelm]

Sorry Martyn.

Yes the rather strange time of 17:15 BST - so 11:15 Thai time.
Can hardly be to aid movement through the Capital as there is only (no insult intended Hammers fans, I mean numbers wise ) a West Ham v Villa game on in the Premiership at 3.00.
I suppose that it could be so not to clash with the massive Palace v Scunthorpe game in the Championship...

[pienmash]

Quite correct Bob , Scunthorpe have taken ALL their ticket allocation for the palace game , so 18 supporters will be there including the driver.......... thoust sarcasm doth amuse one mr Helm.

[Galee]

The travel arrangements for the Man City fans is a logistical nightmare. London is choker block this weekend with other sporting events. On the other hand the majority of Man Utd supporters only have to get on a tube train.

[BobHelm]

On the other hand the majority of Man Utd supporters only have to get on a tube train.

Tut. tut Galee, do I spot resentment & jealousy that nearly 70,000 of them manage to do that at Old Trafford for every home game?? :-" :-"

[Galee]

On the other hand the majority of Man Utd supporters only have to get on a tube train.

Tut. tut Galee, do I spot resentment & jealousy that nearly 70,000 of them manage to do that at Old Trafford for every home game?? :-" :-"

You know me Bob, always up for a bit of friendly banter with my United mates.
The reason they get 70,000 is that 20,000 prawn sandwich munchers fly up from the Surrey stockbroker belt. Must admit Utd have a big advantage having their stadium on an Industrial Estate. Plenty of room for expansion. No such easy solution in central London.

[BobHelm]

Ah, now you have hit on the major difference between supporters of teams from the North West & North East and those supporting London clubs...
Those in the North will go to see their team no matter where they play (Trafford is not Manchester central) those in London will change teams rather than cross the road....

[BobHelm]

Just to finally put this hoary old rumour to bed some real facts...

the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester had an estimated population of 2,600,100

Accountancy firm and sports industry consultants Deloitte estimate that Manchester United has 75 million fans worldwide, while other estimates put this figure closer to 333 million.

So it is pretty obvious that some of its' supporters would have to come from somewhere other than Manchester as they got their 50% of them years ago...

As far as Chelsea are concerned vacant sites are actually available in the immediate vicinity..
Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Battersea Power Station & Chelsea Barracks to name but 3...Maybe the accountants have decided that 40,000 is about the gate limit anyway?? :-"

[Galee]

the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester had an estimated population of 2,600,100

2,600,000 support Man City. :-"

[BobHelm]

Ah, I suspect that you have no fact to back that claim....
The only facts that I can find concerning whether fans are 'real' or just glory hunters came up with this table complied by wheresthematch.com in 2008.

Here is the top 10 most supported clubs (in percentage)
1. Liverpool – 14.3
2. Manchester United – 11.8
3. Tottenham Hotspur – 9.7
4. Arsenal – 9.6
5. Newcastle United – 5.8
6. Manchester City – 5.3
7. West Ham United – 4.9
8. Aston Villa – 4.4
9. Chelsea FC – 3.6
10. Everton FC – 3.1

Interestedly enough Chelsea topped Manchester United on another poll...
When asked the question...
"Which team do you most dislike in the Barclays Premiership?"
Chelsea came 1st. with 33% saying them..
United (despite claims you will often see opposite) could only manage 2nd. with 29%...

[johnty.]

M/U reputed to have the biggest following of all football clubs,maybe true or false? but not all supporters of any team actually live near to their teams ground....some even live on the other side of the world :-" :-" :-"

[Galee]

As far as Chelsea are concerned vacant sites are actually available in the immediate vicinity..
Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Battersea Power Station & Chelsea Barracks to name but 3...Maybe the accountants have decided that 40,000 is about the gate limit anyway?? :-"

Cost per sq yard of building land on an out of town Industrial Estate, 1 pound.
Cost per sq yard of building land in prime location in central London, 100 pounds.

[BobHelm]

Which is equally true for the prime site that the club would be selling in Stamford Bridge.

As the owner has spent £600 million in the last 7 years trying to buy success you would have thought he could have forked out a few quid for a half decent ground to fit all the 'Jonny come lately' new supporters in...

[nkstan]

M/U reputed to have the biggest following of all football clubs,maybe true or false? but not all supporters of any team actually live near to their teams ground....some even live on the other side of the world :-" :-" :-"

HeeHee,I do!Go Man Utd. =D> =D> =D> =D>
I'm not so surprised to see Chelsea so far down the list,even though it has been great to see some great players on the team.I just could not get myself to support a Russian!maybe there are more like me!