Hi and hello Football fans it's your old pal Roko the Football Guy, whats going down? I hope all is well wherever you are. Things are good here in the broom closet at Football Guy towers, due to me having no work this week I've found myself going to bed later and later at night and waking up..... You've guessed it, later and later, which can be a good thing..... But when it's a nice day like it is today and you are walking up at 2pm it kind of make you want to hang yourself, but not in the Justin Fashanu way.

Last night was good for me though as I finally beat the bookies!!! It seemed like an age had passed since I last one some money from those scumbags. I had a £10 treble on England, Spain and Bosnia all winning..... Funnily enough it was Bosnia who gave me the least trouble beating Belgium at home 2-1 (although Belgium's goal came right at the end), it was Spain and England who made me wait till the death, with both scoring their winners in the last five minutes and in fact Spain's winner came in the 93rd minute against Turkey (Hahaha, How does it feel now Turkey? Not nice when teams scum you late on is it?!?!?! HAHAHAHA). So anyway, I'm looking at about £60 profit which will do me quite nicely, I might even have a Pims later by the river...... Or not..... Pims is shit.

England

I said yesterday that I thought Ukraine were a poor team and that England should beat them comfortably...... Well I still think Ukraine are a poor team who tactically played England right and made England look like a team with no creativity, unless it was a set piece.

I also think England got a lot of help from the officials last night, I would love to hear the ref's explanation on why Gareth Barry was not sent off and Ukraine awarded a penalty?

I'd also like to hear why Rooney was not at least give a yellow card for that horrible follow through tackle in the second half? Please don't give me that bullshit about how he got the ball, I was a dangerous tackle that could have broke the guys leg, I believe in the rules it states that a dangerous tackle will result in the minimum on a booking and anyone who thinks it was not dangerous is a fool, basically that means if I was a player every time I went to clear the ball and a opposition player was within kicking distance I would  follow through and kick him as hard as I could every time and say "oh ref, I get the ball though, didn't mean to kick the guy in the kneecap".

Before I talk about the winning goal, I'd like to point out that I love David Beckham, I also love winning money (this goal won me my bet) but I HATE INJUSTICE!!!!!!

Beckham conned the ref into winning a free kick by basically running into a guy who didn't move to block him, nut was standing still and Beck's run in to him and to make matters worse JT scores from the resulting free kick from an offside position......... Now as I said, I love winning money, BUT I HATE INJUSTICE!!!! Great nod back by Stevie G though, might well win Football Guy's player of the Year.

Scotland

Well done to Scotland for getting the three points they needed last night, It was not pretty but they did enough.

The problem I think they will have in the end though will be that it looks as though whoever comes second in that group might well be the 9th best second placed team and therefore miss out on a playoff spot.

Harsh, but I think it might be so.

Rep of Ireland

Well done too to Ireland who picked up a BIG point in Italy.

I watched extended highlights of that match last night and it almost sent me to sleep, but hey, a point in Italy is a point well won and keeps the Irish in a good position to challenge the Italians for top spot in the group.

I would not count out Bulgaria just yet though, they have yet to lose and have a game in hand which if they win would put them just two points behind the Irish and Ireland needing to go to Sofia at some point too.

Northern Ireland

Another good result for the "Fighting" Northern Irish has them at the summit of Group Three.

Their problem in the end I fear will be their away form which is like a mirror opposite of their home form..... Shit.

They have a one point lead over Slovakia (who won in Prague last night) and the Slovakian's have two games in hand.

I wish them all the best, but I fear it will all end in tears.

Wales 

Wales are a poo team and I don't want to waste my time talking about them.

To talk about their chances of qualifying for the World Cup would be like talking about the chances of surviving AIDS.

Other Blogs

Read a interesting article about why Sepp Blatter and Michel Paltini hate English Football on the blog "Let's talk about Cesc baby".

I implore you all to check it out and weight in to the discussion.

So until tomorrow Football Fans,

Take care

Football Guy 

Hi and hello Football fans, it's your old pal Roko the Football Guy, whats going down? I hope all is well wherever you are. Things have been moved around in the broom closet here at Football Guy Towers, due to me having no work this week I was driving myself crazy yesterday trying to stave off chronic boredom, so I reconfigured the lay out of the broom closet and now have a little extra space to be bored in........ Woohoo........ I've also developed a nasty little sore throat which as long as in stays just a sore throat will be dealt with just fine.

Return of the king

Now, if only I was as good as my good friends the Sportboys at photoshop, I could have knocked up a little pic of Big Al as Aragorn from Lord of the Rings...... Unfortunately I have better things to do with my time (like re-arranging the layout of the broom closet).

I always though Big Al was putting off becoming Newcastle manager because he was smart enough to realize he'd probably be shit and tarnish his rep on Tyneside.

So now with him finally getting the job (until the end of the season) have I changed my mind? Not one little bit!

You see, for me I think Big Al see's this as a no lose situation as there are only two things that can happen from here to the end of the season.

Newcastle go down

Oh well, I came in and tried my best but the team was crap and I didn't have enough time to change that.

Big Al rep is still intact as no one from the Toon Army would blame him for Newcastle going down as they were crap and looking like going down when Big Al arrived....... No lose.

Newcastle stay up

Look at me, the savior, swooping in to rescue the club from it's darkest hour in many a year!

If Big Al keeps Newcastle up he becomes an either bigger legend and everyone is happy...... Well apart from Stoke or Hull...... Big Win.

So you see, Big Al has nothing to lose here, go down and nobody will blame you, stay up and you become bigger than Jesus. 

*Note - Big Al in Newcastle is already on par with JC in Newcastle, this would push him over the top.

England v Ukraine

I watch Croatia play Ukraine in Kiev a couple of days after England beat Croatia 4-1 and I can honestly say Ukraine are a poor team.

Croatia drew 0-0 but really should have won that match easily (probably suffering from the England beating)

I fully expect England to win this one comfortably and walk away from Wembley in a commanding position.... If they were not already.

Football Guy's verdict 3-0

Italy v Rep of Ireland

Ireland blew a golden opportunity to keep pace with the World Champions in their group.

Now they will have to go through them if they are to stop them pulling away.

But who better to stop the Italians than an Italian? The Irish secret weapon might well be the man on their bench, Mr Trapattoni.

To be fair I just talking shit here as with Trapattoni or without Trapattoni Ireland are not beating Italy in Italy and I doubt they will even get a draw.

Italy are never prolific in qualifying, but always do enough and I expect them to do so tonight.

Football Guy's verdict 2-0

Northern Ireland v Slovenia

So, the "Fighting" Northern Irish got a big three points at the weekend, the question is, can the follow it up with three more tonight?

I don't see any reason why not, Slovenia are no better than Poland and I expect Northern Ireland to play better than they did on Saturday.

Having said that, I expect Slovenia to play better than Poland did as well.

Football Guy's verdict 2-1

Scotland v Iceland

Massive game for Scotland, they must put what happened in Holland behind them and concentrate on picking up a vital three points at home to a team which if they think they can qualify they should beat.

I feel pretty confident the Tartan Army will get the job done tonight....... (Big Jinx.... Sorry)

They just have to beat these teams and the rest will take care of itself.

Football Guy's verdict 2-0

Wales v Germany

Fool me once, shame on you, Fool me twice....... No chance!

I'm never backing Wales to beat anyone ever again apart from San Marino or Liechtenstein. They are just about better than them.

To be fair, Wales are just the kind of team this Germany side will pound and that's what I expect to happen.

Ballack and co are going to enjoy themselves tonight....... John Toshack will not.

Football Guy's verdict 0-3

OK peeps,my throat has got worse since started writing this and I think I off back to bed.

Take care

Football Guy

Hi and hello Football fans it's your old pal Roko the Football Guy, whats going down? I hope all is well wherever you are, things are Grey and depressing here in the broom closet at Football Guy towers.

Remember last week I mentioned that I had forgot to book my hours for work this week? (I think I mentioned it?) Anyway, I was told to call up Monday and the guys in scheduling would give me what they had left, so I called them and they gave me what they had left........ Have a guess........ If you times 0 by 0........ You get 0. Yep that's right, no work for me all week, now that might not sound like the worst thing in the world, but when you consider that I don't get paid if I don't work and that this weeks pay is a very important for me as it's the weeks pay I pay my Direct Debits with you can see why I'm feeling a little down. 

It's also the reason there was not Monday Hangover yesterday...... Well part of the reason, the other part was that it was an International weekend and that means no hangover.

So if anyone needs a handyman to maybe paint a room or fix something in their house or mow the lawn this week and is willing to pay cash in hand, by all means please do drop me a line!

Weekend Prediction Review

Since I was not battling Lawro this week and it was just for fun I felt I let myself down ny not bringing my A Game to the prediction.

If you can't remember them, take a look here.

England v Slovakia

I had 2-0 and was right....... Until England needlessly scored another two goals...... Bastards!

Good performance by England and without too much effort, Capello has shown he can beat the teams he should beat with England, the only question is, can he take them to the next level and beat the likes of Spain, Brazil or Argentina? (the latter two for me are the favorites for the 2010 World Cup as it's being held outside of Europe and a European team has never won the World Cup out of Europe).

Against Spain England got outclassed, but there is still plenty of time for Mr Capello to figure things out.

Oh yeah, big congrats to "old Becks" for becoming England's most capped outfield player, I'm sure he will add a few more to that record before it's all said and done

Northern Ireland v Poland

This game really annoyed me as Northern Ireland played like complete BUMS, but fortunately for them Poland played like dingleberries ( the pieces of poo that get stuck in your arse crack hair).

I thought the Poles would win 3-1 yet they very nearly ended up losing by that scoreline. So what went wrong? Well I didn't take in to consideration that Artur Boruc would all of a sudden become Frank Spencer and cost Poland two goals!

So well done N.I. you beat a team by playing slightly less worse than they did...... (Clap, Clap, Clap)

Rep of Ireland v Bulgaria

Silly, silly me, I wish I could have this one back. Those of you who read my weekend prediction regularly will know I'm a big stickler for trends, as in "if team A has not won at team B's ground in a long time" or something like that.

So, if you read what I wrote for my prediction for this game -

"Bulgaria are yet to win a game in these qualifiers, but then again they have not lost yet either".

Football Guy = Dumbass.

That's right, I had a trend and mentioned it, yet failed to apply it to my prediction...... What a chump..... I said 2-1 Ireland....... Not surprisingly it was 1-1.

Wales v Finland

This one I actually don't feel that bad about, I said 2-1 Wales yet it was 2-0 Finland.

Well how was I supposed to know that Wales at home could not beat the mighty Finland in a must win game for them?

I know Wales don't have that many good players, but neither do Finland! I guess Sami Hyypia can still cut it, but other than that..... They have 167 year old Jari Litmanen playing up front!!! Why didn't Wales just bring Ian Rush out of retirement? He's only 185!

Basically Wales are poo and I'm never trusting them to beat anybody at home ever again...... Sorry to those of you who took my advice on backing Wales to win the match at the bookies, but really you shouldn't blame me, blame Wales for fooling us that they were a OK football team.......

Holland v Scotland

Should have said 3-0....... Stupid 2-0..... Anyway, at least I was right about Scotland having no chance in this one.

OK peeps, will be back tomorrow with another round of International preview and more nonsense.

Till then,

Take care

Football Guy

Hi and hello Football fans, it's your old pal Roko the Football Guy, whats going down? I hope all is well wherever you are. It's been a busy morning here in the broom closet at Football Guy towers, I've been running around doing favors for people all morning (not moaning.... Was doing stuff to help friends out) and had to get my hair cut........ Now for those of you who know me and have seen me of late I can tell you my hair is as long as my beard.... If that makes sense? And with Arsenal in a good position to get through to the next round of the Champions League the CL beard looks like it will be going head to head with my head hair to see who wins the title of "Longest Hair on the Football Guy"! At the moment Paddy Power have installed my beard as 11/8 Fav with my hair coming in at 2/1...... Almost as close as the Premier league just less interesting.......

Anyway, as there is no Premiership action this week I thought id give a few predictions for the Internationals this weekend that feature the home nations.

England v Slovakia

So "Fab Fabio" decided to call up a cripple to the national team (I guess it has something to do with equal opportunities or something like that) and then surprise surprise, he get injured and will not be featuring against Slovakia after all........ Was that the most predictable thing so far in 2009? It's got to be up there with crap weather in England during summer, rain during Wimbledon and Liverpool playing Chelsea in the Champions League.... Right?

So with a much bigger game on Wednesday against Ukraine coming up midweek, I doubt Capello will give to many of the first team a real run out on Saturday, but non the less I expect a comfortable victory for England and the newspapers spouting on Sunday how England are the best team in the world.... EVER (that too should be in the most predictable things of 2009).

Football Guys verdict 2-0

Northern Ireland v Poland

Poland have already won in Ireland in the last six months..... OK , so it was the Republic, but since the Republic are a better team than the Northern that means Poland should win right?

Well things don't always work like that, just take a look at David Healy's goal scoring record from the Qualifiers for the European Championships, you'd think he was the new Van Basten....... More like the new Jason Lee.

Anyway, Poland are a solid team and I think they will have too much for Northern Ireland who, if David Healy does not score for will find it hard to find the back of the net.

Football Guys verdict 1-3

Rep of Ireland v Bulgaria

The Republic were mighty lucky to beat Georgia last time out in February at Home, A dodgy Pen and an offside goal in the last 20 minutes helped them overturn a one goal deficit.

Bulgaria are yet to win a game in these qualifiers, but then again they have not lost yet either. They will be without Dimitar Berbatov for this game which will be a big blow, not sure how good their attack will be without him.

The Irish DO have quite a decent home record (by hook or by crook) and I'm sure the fan's will be behind them, maybe even the ref too..... ;-).

Football Guys verdict 2-1

Wales v Finland

This is a must win game for the Welsh if they are to stand any chance of finishing in the top two in their group (Russia and Germany).

They will by no means be playing in front of a packed house, as reports have been coming through that only 20,000 or so of the 75,000 tickets have been sold. It's led to quite a few high profile Welsh players saying how they feel the smaller games should be played in Swansea where at least if the crowd is small the stadium will be full...... I totally agree, better to play in a packed 25,000 capacity stadium then play in front of a 1/3 full 75,000 stadium.

Having said all that I think the Welsh will find a way to get it done and I recommend anyone looking to make a little be of money this weekend to back the Welsh at 11/10 win. Good price I think.

Football Guys verdict 2-1

Holland v Scotland

I urge any member of the Tartan Army who is reading this to watch this link........... Did you watch it? I know you've seen it a thousand time before, watch it again.......... How great did that feel?

That's as close as your going to get to feeling that on Saturday.

Don't get me wrong, I would love it if Scotland managed to beat the Dutch (especially for my buddy Stew) but unfortunately I'd love it if I won the lottery too, won't happen though.

Maybe if Scotland didn't have half their team out things would be different, but maybe if I had not been such a cunt to my ex girlfriend we'd be married and have kids right now....... Get my point?

If if's and buts were candy and nuts then every day would be Christmas.

Football Guys verdict 2-0

Readers questions.

I've had a bit of flack from people commenting on the site and sending me emails about my awards preview yesterday.

All I'm saying is that the PFA and Football Writers awards are a two horse race between Vidic and Gerrard and thats why I only wrote about those two.

Yes I think Tim Cahill, Phil Jagielka, Stephen Ireland, Ryan Giggs, Robin Van Persie, Ashley Young, Gabby Agbonglahor, Mikeal Arteta, Brede Hageland, etc have had great seasons, but do you really think any of those guy will WIN either of the awards? No..... I'm not saying they don't deserve to, I'm just saying they won't win.

There......... Hope that clears a few things up.

Anyway peeps, it's been a fun week and I've noticed from by blog counter program that I have installed that many more of you are coming back (repeat readers) which is great and I thank you all very much for doing so.

I'll be back next week with more bullshit and hopefully a few jokes to go with it....... Oh yeah and Football as well!

Take care

Football Guy