Feeling The Pain In The Carling Cup
So much for Bradford being the team to pull the upset in the Carling Cup second round. West Brom pretty much sent the city the message that they should stick to rugby demolishing and demoralizing them 4-1.
However, the day was not without a couple of major surprises. Portsmouth pretty much maintained their Premiership form, practically beating themselves. Jamie Ashdown had the goal that tied the match at 2-2 go off of his backside after it ricocheted off the post (in a move that will now forever be known here as a Tony Warner now that it's happened twice) before Gillingham (current 20th in League One) scored an extra time winner to advance to the third round 3-2.
But I guess that's not a major surprise.
The Spurs loss to Grimsby Town 1-0 on the other hand is Earth shattering (and, well, were I a Tottenham supporter, I wouldn't want to respond to this entry, would I?). Poor Robbie Keane. All week after he scored the tying goal against Aston Villa, he's been asking for a start. From all reports, he didn't play badly but it can't look good for any of the bench players (and there weren't many as Tottenham really fielded a strong lineup) who broke in for this match.
The only other two Premiership or Colaship sides that "crashed out" were Southampton who lost to League Two's Mansfield, and Plymouth who lost to Barnet. But Argyle is barely registering a heartbeat in the Colaship so can we even really count them?
Funny thing about Mansfield. If the season ended today, they'd be in the Conference next year. Their manager just quit and they are the lowest ranked (because the BBC loves to combine all the tables when talking about Cup ties) team left in the competition.
There were other Colaship sides to bid adieu to their Carling Cup hopes but they all went out to other Colaship teams (or in the case of Sheffield Wednesday, a Premiership team). Wolverhampton, Coventry, and Luton all met their unlucky fate head on. Each of them lost by one goal to their equals Watford, Crystal Palace, and Reading respectively.
Sheffield United needed penalty kicks to beat Shrewsbury but at the end of the day, at least the league leaders are still alive. The same can not be said for most other teams at their level. It's not a good year to be a Coca Cola Championship team in the Carling Cup. The survivors from the 24 team league are (in order of current league standings): Sheffield United (1st), Reading (2nd), Watford (3rd), Leeds United (7th), Cardiff (12th), Crystal Palace (14th), Leicester (15th), Norwich (17th), Millwall (22nd), and Burnley (23rd).
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It seems as though it's inevitable that the United States will be paired with Italy in some way at the 2006 World Cup (as the two countries seem to be running into each other at every tournament they play recently). Though if they can turn up a result like the baby baby Yanks did today against their Italian counterparts, it might not be so bad.
The United States U-17s are 2-0-0 at their championships in Peru beating Italy today 3-1. I know absolutely nothing about this level of play, but I'll be a flag waving, chest bumping kind of guy and shout about it to the world anyhow. :)
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And in today's "feel the pain" story, Reuters has a pleasant link about Argentina and Manchester United defender Gabriel Heinze.
Be thankful because this link is a little further below the belt than the last couple.
Or, I guess you can just count the Tottenham link above as falling under the same category if you're not big on the squint factor.
However, the day was not without a couple of major surprises. Portsmouth pretty much maintained their Premiership form, practically beating themselves. Jamie Ashdown had the goal that tied the match at 2-2 go off of his backside after it ricocheted off the post (in a move that will now forever be known here as a Tony Warner now that it's happened twice) before Gillingham (current 20th in League One) scored an extra time winner to advance to the third round 3-2.
But I guess that's not a major surprise.
The Spurs loss to Grimsby Town 1-0 on the other hand is Earth shattering (and, well, were I a Tottenham supporter, I wouldn't want to respond to this entry, would I?). Poor Robbie Keane. All week after he scored the tying goal against Aston Villa, he's been asking for a start. From all reports, he didn't play badly but it can't look good for any of the bench players (and there weren't many as Tottenham really fielded a strong lineup) who broke in for this match.
The only other two Premiership or Colaship sides that "crashed out" were Southampton who lost to League Two's Mansfield, and Plymouth who lost to Barnet. But Argyle is barely registering a heartbeat in the Colaship so can we even really count them?
Funny thing about Mansfield. If the season ended today, they'd be in the Conference next year. Their manager just quit and they are the lowest ranked (because the BBC loves to combine all the tables when talking about Cup ties) team left in the competition.
There were other Colaship sides to bid adieu to their Carling Cup hopes but they all went out to other Colaship teams (or in the case of Sheffield Wednesday, a Premiership team). Wolverhampton, Coventry, and Luton all met their unlucky fate head on. Each of them lost by one goal to their equals Watford, Crystal Palace, and Reading respectively.
Sheffield United needed penalty kicks to beat Shrewsbury but at the end of the day, at least the league leaders are still alive. The same can not be said for most other teams at their level. It's not a good year to be a Coca Cola Championship team in the Carling Cup. The survivors from the 24 team league are (in order of current league standings): Sheffield United (1st), Reading (2nd), Watford (3rd), Leeds United (7th), Cardiff (12th), Crystal Palace (14th), Leicester (15th), Norwich (17th), Millwall (22nd), and Burnley (23rd).
---
It seems as though it's inevitable that the United States will be paired with Italy in some way at the 2006 World Cup (as the two countries seem to be running into each other at every tournament they play recently). Though if they can turn up a result like the baby baby Yanks did today against their Italian counterparts, it might not be so bad.
The United States U-17s are 2-0-0 at their championships in Peru beating Italy today 3-1. I know absolutely nothing about this level of play, but I'll be a flag waving, chest bumping kind of guy and shout about it to the world anyhow. :)
---
And in today's "feel the pain" story, Reuters has a pleasant link about Argentina and Manchester United defender Gabriel Heinze.
Be thankful because this link is a little further below the belt than the last couple.
Or, I guess you can just count the Tottenham link above as falling under the same category if you're not big on the squint factor.
posted by incendiarymind at 8:15 PM
2 Comments:
I think that I'm allowed to talk now that Man City has lost as well.
Jol really let into the team in the press yesterday. I don't see Stuey Pearce doing the same.
Besides, my number 1 team, Yeovil, also lost. McBride saved you from losing yours. ;)
I knew the second that the my Mancurians lost, you'd be more vocal. :)
Manchester City has a history of this sort of thing so Pearce is probably taking it as par for the course and is concentrating on winning the league. ;)
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