sport

'West Brom Could T**t Us Next Week...'

Every week, we catch up with the thoughts of the fans via our sister site at www.rivals.net - and this week we find Toffees miserable, ManYoo fans cocky and Wigan fans feeling hard done by...

ARSENAL - www.arseonline.com on a familiar Arsenal performance against West Brom...
'Arsenal dominated large parts of the game but lacked a cutting edge and clinical precision in the last third of the pitch. The visitors had not even found their rhythm before they were cut apart by a smooth interchange of passes involving Bendtner, Gael Clichy and Denilson that led to Nasri's opener.

'Theo Walcott then had a header blocked by Paul Robinson that had more than a suspicion of handball about it and William Gallas narrowly missed with the cleanest of strikes from fully 35 yards as Arsenal pushed for a second goal. We were rampant but Baggies boss Tony Mowbray saw his team maintain their shape and discipline to gradually ease their way back into the game.'

ASTON VILLA - www.holteenders.com are impressed with a 4-2 win...
'Speaking on the official site, Martin O'Neill confirmed what all fans knew. This was not a bad Manchester City side who were struggling following the UEFA defeat or the nonsense surrounding their bail skipping owner.

'Manchester City turned up to play, and they played well - in saying 4-2 is a flattering scoreline is probably an understatement being fair. On another day the score could've been easily different but we took our chances and put in a decent performance to secure the first three points of the season and put an end to our habit of 'not winning' on the opening day of the season.'

BLACKBURN - www.roversnet.co.uk is impressed with David Dunn...
'Dunn was briefed before the game that he could roam forward to see what it would produce, and it proved to be a good decision as Dunn set Rovers on their way to three points with a stunning 25 yard strike.'

CHELSEA - www.blueandwhitearmy.net is starting to think about the title...
'Deco's fellow Portuguese international Jose Bosingwa also wowed the Chelsea fans with sterling work up and down the right hand side of the pitch and Phil Scolari must surely have also enjoyed his introduction to the English game, the pictures of him watching and enjoying the goals underlining his satisfaction.

'After the game, the bookies immediately slashed Chelsea's odds for winning the title but, if they continue to perform for the rest of the season as they did in their first game, it won't be long before the bookies stop taking bets.'

EVERTON - www.whenskiesaregrey.com is dreading playing the Baggies. Yes it's that bad...
'Things were always going to be tough, because the squad is so weak, but in those circumstances you need senior players to take charge even more than usual. Not enough of them did, and in fact downright unprofessional mistakes from a couple of them undermined everyone's efforts. It's a bad sign when you are dreading the trip to one of the promoted sides, but West Brom will tw*t Everton if they play anything like that at the Hawthorns.'

FULHAM - www.toofif.com sees the same old, same old but remains optomistic...
'The old ghost of ghastly second-half performances had seemingly caught the train to Hull and the spectre reared itself over the KC gloom as Fulham went into an inexplicable second half downturn. The passing had lost its fluency, the mentality seemed geared towards a point. Hull smelt Fulham blood.

'Stupid defending by Konchesky - when a simple boot into touch would suffice late in the game - cost Fulham dearly. The fresh legs of Hull sub Fagan caught the defender dozing and the winger pickpocketed the ball and squared to another sub Caleb Folan who tapped into a gaping net for the winner.

'Very disappointng. Even the new boys will punish basic errors. After eight seasons of Premier League football, you'd think we'd know better. But let's not beat ourselves up. It's day one, AJ will undoubtedly get goals and the performance of Pantsil at right back Schwarzer in goal gives me hope yet.'

HULL CITY - hullcity.rivals.net is terrible excited...
'Who else can claim they are unbeaten at Wembley, and unbeaten in the Premier League? Nobody. Only Hull City can boast that proud claim after gaining a deserved three points from their first appearance in the world's greatest football league.'

LIVERPOOL - www.shanklygates.co.uk watchs Xabi Alonso save Liverpool...
'However, the introduction of Alonso gave the Reds a stronger foothold in the game and they soon began to dominate possession. Benayoun brought a save out of Gordon with a low shot before Gerrard dragged a shot wide of the far post.

'On 73 minutes, Keane inadvertently blocked Torres' seemingly goal bound shot after Gordon had palmed away a shot from Kuyt. The Irish international was replaced by Nabil El Zhar moments later having endured a frustrating league debut.

With ten minutes left on the clock, Alonso was close with a shot from well inside his own half that had Gordon scrambling backwards but was wide of the post. Then, on 83 minutes, Liverpool broke the deadlock when Torres collected Alonso's pass 25-yards from goal and turned before dispatching a low shot into the bottom corner to ensure the Reds got their season off with a win.'

MANCHESTER CITY - www.blueview.co.uk on a bad week getting worse...
A week to forget for Manchester City was rounded off with a somewhat predictable thumping at Aston Villa and another serious injury to Valeri Bojinov. Bojinov went down during the pre-game warm up and the initial prognosis is that he has an Achilles injury that could keep him out for up to six months.

'Elano had given City some hope, his penalty levelling at 1-1 after Carew had headed home Young's cross to give Villa the lead early in the second half. But it wasn't to be as Agbonlahor completed a seven-minute hat-trick before Corluka scored a late consolation.

'Ched Evans replaced the unfortunate Bojinov and strove manfully as he ploughed a lone furrow up front.'

MANYOO - www.uwsonline.com is not panicking at all...
'The football was bright and breezy and plenty good enough to beat Newcastle bar Shay Given, who again performed heroics and kept the scoreline to the draw Kevin Keegan wibbled they 'deserved'. I guess that's what being hit by a baseball bat does to your perception of truth and reality. Our reality check is that a side without Ronaldo and Anderson; without Tevez and Hargreaves and Nani; and without Carrick and Giggs is not going to fall short of the cutting edge required to muller a team 5-1 or 6-0. With plenty of endeavour but little end product, we did manage to equal our start to last season which of course left us English and European Champions. No need to panic just yet then.'

MIDDLESBROUGH - www.boro1876.com are impressed with the new Boro...
'We played a dangerous, attacking game as promised by Gareth Southgate and the fans were entertained. The lively Alves spurned a few opportunities and, on another day, the scoreline could have been more emphatic. 2-1 will do fine for starters though and it's three valuable points for Boro and a huge lift for the fans' morale.'

NEWCASTLE UNITED - www.talkofthetyne.com are not worried by the European champions...
'We make our way to the ground at 15.45 ready for the new season, In our seats it dawns on us that we are playing not only the Premier League champions but also the European champions. However, this doesn't dampen our enthusiasm, it only makes it better. As the two teams walk out an almighty roar from the Toon Army goes up.

With the Newcastle fans in fantastic numbers and voice the game gets under way. An edgy start from Newcastle is nearly punished on three occasions with Shay making world-class saves from Campbell, Giggs and Rooney respectably. Newcastle however weathered the storm and were soon making inroads themselves.'

PORTSMOUTH - www.pompey-fans.com says their boys were pants...
'When you read the teamsheet before the game it was evident that Chelsea had the better players in virtually every position. However, when that better team man for man also show more fight and will-to-win than their opponents then the result is a foregone conclusion. So it proved by half time. Everywhere on the field there were below par performances from the men in white - apt colours to be wearing given the nature of this surrender.'

STOKE CITY - stokecity.rivals.net tries to remain optimistic...
'The second half saw Stoke improve, but lacking a cutting edge to put Bolton back under pressure. Indeed, the hosts shut up shop and allowed Stoke the opportunity to have a go but Ricardo Fuller's injury time goal was nothing more than a consolation. It can only get better. The only way is up, right?'

WEST BROM - www.wbaunofficial.com on the problems of playing Arsenal...
'One thing we didn't want to do was concede early and this was the worse possible start, you did fear the worst as Arsenal stroked it about and we struggled to get our passing game going in the slightest. One thing I will give Arsenal credit for is how hard they work off the ball, all this talk of us having time on the ball went right out the window as even our five against their four couldn't keep the ball long enough to make much of an impact. Greening, who is the heartbeat of what we do, was not getting on the ball and seemed to want too long and consistently we we're hurried and losing possession.'

WEST HAM - www.on-the-terraces.com on a cracking start...

'West Ham were far from comfortable in the second half and Steve Bruce's side often had them under the cosh. However, it's the result that matters and if West Ham can build on today's performance and put together a number of positive results, their manager Alan Curbishley may be able to put an end to the negative speculation concerning his future at the Boleyn Ground.'

WIGAN - www.cockneylatic.co.uk says the best team doesn't always win...
'If you asked me who was playing in midfield for West Ham (the so called lovely passers of the beautiful game) I wouldn't be able to tell you who played there. The ball was punted forward more than (yes I say MORE THAN) watching a Bolton match. Ashton, even though he scored two goals, was unable to make any more headway and was taken off after injuring himself after a very wayward freekick.

'The few travelling supporters were demoralised after the first ten minutes, but at the end of the game we all said how much the team created chances.'