On the first red card, yes. Bu then what a crap call in sending Mastroeni marching. A yellow card, surely, but a straight red? The ref hadn't been bad up to that point (although Luca Toni is giving as good as he's getting up front), but that totally changes the complexion of the game. A lucky break by the U.S. for their goal, but you can't say it wasn't deserved. We were clearly the better side in the first half. Can't help but feeling that we'll dominate possession and then Italy will get just one more chance and put it away to take all three points.

Starting lineup has been announced: Keller; Cherundolo, Pope, Onyewu, Bocanegra; Dempsey, Reyna, Donovan, Mastroeni, Convey; McBride. While I applaud Arena for having the guts to drop Beasley and pick Dempsey, I really would have liked to see John O'Brien and Eddie Johnson find a place in the lineup. I guess we'll have to see what happens.

I'll root for any CONCACAF side but Mexico... great result, Angola!

Probably not, Eddie, and that's a good point. But I'd rather no CONCACAF team get a top seed and have FIFA divide all 32 nations into four groups (like they do for the Champions League)... at least that way, we would have been in the second group and would have gotten just one top opponent instead of two. Take Australia for instance. Yes, neekoy, it does suck to have Brazil in your group, but both Croatia and Japan are beatable opponents. I'd have traded the U.S. draw for the Australian one in a heartbeat. Of course, I readily concede that had we gotten a good draw, the whole process probably wouldn't bother me.

To be the best you have to beat the best... blah blah blah I've heard all this. No one said the U.S. were good enough to win the World Cup, neekoy; some of us realistic American fans were just hoping for an appearance in the knockout stages. Such an appearance was unlikely, to say the least, based on the draw they got. Now I really can't complain about the draw because that's all down to s*** luck. But I am perfectly justified in complaining that Mexico got seeded instead of the United State despite: (1) the U.S. finishing ahead of them in CONCACAF qualifying; (2) the U.S. advancing further in the last World Cup, including a 2-0 win over none other than the Mexicans themselves; and (3) the U.S. having a higher FIFA ranking. (Granted, nobody outside of FIFA values those ranking, and rightfully so, but apparently nobody within FIFA values them either, or they would have factored into the seeding process somehow). The one thing that could fix all of this is if FIFA seeded all of the teams for the draw, and not just the top eight, but Blatter and his cronies seemed more interested in their wonderful little plan of geographic distribution amongst the groups. Any measure of fairness went out the window with that, though I suppose that's another matter entirely.

I'll tell you who had an easier draw, jkritchey: Mexico. Opening with Iran, then Angola... in other words, having 6 points in the bag before you face the Portuguese in a somewhat meaningless game. Not that I'm bitter or anything about them getting seeded and us not.

Thank you! I've been saying the same thing since this story came out a week ago: Eddie seeks Euro move.

Well, you could be right philip. It just pisses me off that Mexico can come out flat but still win because they were gifted with a seeding and an easy group--but when the U.S. comes out flat, they get buried. No, the Czechs aren't that good, but they're certainly for real. They weren't afraid to cede the lion's share of the first half possession to the U.S., knowing that their defense would hold and they could strike on the counter. Rosicky and Nedved together on song is an awesome proposition, and if Koller and Baros can recover from injury, they have quite the potent offense. Eddie Johnson was the only one who even tried to muster any offense; he should get a start next game, and I still think he'd be a good investment for Rovers. But I digress... the point is that the U.S. came out flat, unprepared, and it cost them.

Disastrous is more like it, though I don't think any goalkeeper could have done anything about Rosicky's strike. Arena needs to bring on either Johnson, Wolff or Dempsey for Mastroeni or Pope.

It's almost time. I'm already formulating my excuse for calling in sick to work tomorrow, and I've been spending the last week trying to figure out what Arena's lineup is going to be. Let's go U.S.A.

...and maybe they'll finally sign Ronaldo, who they were oh so close to signng a little while back. As I've said before... Spuds have replaced the Big Club as my new most hated Premiership opponent.

First off, that article was clearly tongue-in-cheek. Second of all... I'm sick of having to defend the non-football fans in the United States. A large percentage of the American population just doesn't like the sport--well, let them, but don't lump the rest of us in there with them and label the entire country a "head-up-their-own-arse" land of ignorant jerks. I'd hazard a guess that baseball is the fastest-growing sport in the Western Hemisphere (i.e. almost half the world), but most of you couldn't give two craps about the sport. Does that make all of you completely ignorant as well? Oh, and regardless of whether American football is played in two countries in the world, as you say dave--doesn't that make it even more impressive that the Super Bowl gets as many worldwide fans as it does? American... it'd definitely be interesting to see those figures from rivalry weekend.

Not a bad performance in the final match against Latvia last night: a 1-0 win that could (and probably should) have been a lot more. American, I'm beginning to agree that Convey deserves a spot in the starting XI... having him on one flank and Beasley on the other gives the U.S. some real width, plus Cherundolo and Lewis who love to raid up the flanks. I'm beginning to envision a June 12th formation of: --------------------Keller-------------------- Cherundolo---Pope---Onyewu---Lewis ---------Reyna---------Mastroeni--------- --Beasley------Donovan------Convey-- -------------------McBride------------------- Subs: Hahnemann, Conrad, O'Brien, Johnson, Wolff It pains me to relegate John O'Brien to the bench; but I don't know if we can afford to start two forwards against the Czechs or Italians, and with just McBride up front, we'll need some attacking impetus in midfield. A five-man midfield including DMB, Donovan and Convey provides plenty of support for McBride, and Reyna and Mastroeni are more than capable of anchoring things and breaking up the onslaught of Rosicky and Nedved. (And if Reyna can't go, I feel more than confident slotting O'Brien in there for him). As for yesterday's match... the defense was a little shaky, but I'll feel better once Onyewu is back in the lineup. Lewis and Cherundolo will have their work cut out for them, but they've looked good thus far. Donovan yesterday--for me at least--was better than I've seen him in awhile, threading through balls to Beasley and EJ, taking people on, and tracking back defensively to disrupt some Lativan counterattacks. McBride did yeoman's work as always, and I think Johnson looked pretty good for a change as well, holding the ball up extremely well and getting himself into dangerous positions. One thing's for sure: Arena has some selection issues on his hands for the XI he'll trot out against the Czechs.

Didn't get the chance to catch the game, so thanks for the recap, rebelzero. Reyna's MRI came back negative today, so hopefully he'll be healthy when June 12th rolls around.

Have to contend some points there, Rev. First off, let's not place blame on Dickov because Souness reckoned him good enough to be our main striker. Sure he's plain and simply not good enough to be the #1 striker for a Premiership outfit, but he's an effective striker with tremendous work effort who will add something to any midtable side. And you know what? Raw ability-wise, Dickov probably isn't Premiership class (as you said, Rev)... which is certainly a testament to the effort he puts in. He is an effective Premiership striker because of that work rate. True, Rovers are on the up and the club can attract a higher quality of player now, but Dickov's yeomanlike efforts in his two years at the club have been commendable. Blame Souey for making him our main striker, but don't blame Dickov for the effort he put in in that role. All the best to the fiery little Scot.

Precisely. The vast majority of Premiership strikers have more ability, but none have a higher work rate. If Jermain Defoe had half the workrate of Paul Dickov, he certainly wouldn't be on his way out the door at Spurs right now. Thanks for the effort and commitment, Paul. Best of luck in the future.

After recent transfer rumors linking Spurs and Newcastle with everyone on our team, I think I've answered my own question. It's the arrogance that bothers me most--that's what I hate about Brum, and that's what I'll continue to hate about these two.

All right, emerton... I'll rise to the bait. Of course the rankings are skewed, but no one really cares about them anyway. I think you're going a little far calling the U.S. "very overrated"--they're a dangerous opponent and are more than capable of springing a few surprises on the more established national sides in the world. Nor would I, but had England wound up in a group with the Italians and Czechs, I think you could say the same thing. I do wish more U.S. players were playing overseas, but the advantage of it is that no one knows what to expect from the American team. Beasley and Donovan were virtual unknowns when they put in excellent tournaments in 2002, and I think you could see some real breakout players from the U.S. this time around--Dempsey in particular. Perhaps the U.S. will win its group and Australia will come in second in theirs, then we can settle this on the pitch, hmm?

Errrr... ummm, ahem, no? Good call, Tony... I had only tabulated the results for those with full tables and glanced over the other ones, so I missed that. I was kidding with the genius bit for me, but getting all three this year when it was an odd group to be sure--Seggie might indeed be a prediction genius.

I've got to say that while Group C (Argentina, Holland, Ivory Coast, Serbia) looks tough, Group E (Czech Republic, Italy, U.S., Ghana) is really the group of death is this tournament. I'm not pretentious enough to say that the U.S. is better than either the Czechs or Italians, but each of them are certainly worthy of at least a quarterfinal appearance, and one will have to be the odd man out. As rebelzero said, the U.S./Czech Republic opener on June 12th should be quite the encounter. I fancy the Italians to go through from the group (I think they're the only team other than Argentinians that can take down Brazil), so that opening match could go a long way toward shaping the tournament's direction. Incidentally, I like the Italians to win... though I'll be hoping the U.S. can take them down on the 17th.

How I love slagging off Brum. The best quote from Cunningham is, of course, the following: Yay Rovers... boo Big Club.

Good find, herbergeehh, both this and the other article. I'm a bit surprised to see Cunningham released--next year's version of the Big Club may be the most radically reshaped relegated squad since Leeds a few years ago. What was interesting in that Cameron article was this: "With Emile Heskey likely to be sold - he is a target for Blackburn Rovers and Spurs - Jerome is seen as a replacement." Heskey's name had been thrown about here--though I'd think it's a long shot at best--but Spurs having an interest in Heskey? Possibly if Mido doesn't sign? Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how the Heskey situation shapes up and whether we're involved or not.

Glad to have you on board, joey. After the U.S. I normally go for Ireland then England (my last name is O'Brien, after all), but without my Guiness-drinking brethren in the Cup I'll just be pulling for America and England. Rebelzero... I actually think I like that formation a bit better, but ideally I'd go for O'Brien (if fit) instead of Wolff and push Beasley forward. 4-3-3/4-5-1 with three capable central midfielders, McBride to play more of a lone role and Donovan and Beasley attacking from further deep like it's 2002 again. --------------------Keller-------------------- Cherundolo---Pope---Onyewu---Lewis ------Reyna---Mastroeni---O'Brien------ ----Donovan------------------Beasley---- -------------------McBride------------------- Subs: Hahnemann, Gibbs, Convey, Dempsey, Wolff I'm actually rather proud of myself with that set-up. One thing is for sure though: as you said, rebelzero, Arena will once again roll 17 to 18 players deep throughout the tournament. Other than a few irreplacable players (McBride, Donovan, Reyna) most of the squad is rather interchangeable, and Arena always gets the best out of a deep roster.

With the Premiership season over, our focus inevitably shifts to the World Cup this summer... and all this passionate debate over Rooney and Theo Walcott and Sven and McClaren has got me thinking about the U.S. and our chances for success this summer. The 23 man American squad I have to admit that I thought Twellman was a certainty over Ching, and Berhalter (despite having a stinker against Germany) would be chosen over Jimmy Conrad... but if Arena has proven anything, it's that he knows best in these types of situations. I'm also very happy that Arena took John O'Brien--despite the injuries, he's one of our top five players, so it's worth the risk. God only knows what Arena will choose to send out as his XI against the Czechs on June 12--and I'm sure that the three friendlies in two weeks' time will go a long way toward deciding that--but I think this is the lineup I'd go for: ------------------Keller---------------------- Cherundolo---Pope---Onyewu---Lewis -----------Reyna-----Mastroeni----------- Dempsey-------------------------Beasley -------------------Donovan----------------- -----------McBride--------------------------- Reyna and Mastroeni clamp down Rosicky, Nedved and the Czech counterattack, while Beasley, Lewis and Cherundolo raid up the flanks, Dempsey gets himself into goalscoring positions, and McBride's industry gives Donovan more freedom to float and create things offensively. I guess we're still a long way away and things can change... but I can't wait for everything to get started.

First of all, great work on that Neil. It makes for some pretty interesting reading, that's for sure! The results are in once again for our predictions, too (sorry it took me a few days). As last year, I want to start by looking at some of the, ahem, erroneous things we predicted at the start of the season. No offense meant by this, boys and girls, but let's check out how truly foolish we were (at least in some predictions)... 15. Birmingham - true wishful thinking would see them 18th but they are far too good for that. --philipl I fancy Pompey to do well next season, I think they could be this seasons Bolton. Mandaric has shown real ambition with the signings they've made this season, I made have a bet on them to get into the top 6 if the odds are good enough. --LeChuck 18. Wigan: Will start of slowly but go on a late charge, rather like Crystal Palace. Chimbonda and Pollitt are not exactly inspired signings however and Wigan go down. Expect Roberts/Ellington to score 15 goals between them. --rog of the rovers 5. Aston Villa: This year's surprise package. O'Leary is a good manager, and he's made some solid additions this offseason. --Yours Truly It really is a funny old game, I guess... although I have to say that this year's predictions were much closer to the actual than last year. A number of people predicted Rovers in sixth, and a few even had the top six correct in order. Obviously we're just getting better at this as we go along. Point of reference: last year's results And as for this year's results... our Wizard of Table Predicting © (alias Scotty) was at his old tricks again this year... Too right, bob... too right. 1. Scotty (36 points) 2. roversmum (39 points) 3. laughatthedingles (41 points) 4. brfc ben (42 points) 4. roverich (42 points) 4. sumps (42 points) 7. D.W. (43 points) 8. brennanboy (44 points) 8. skiporovers (44 points) 10. herbergeehh (45 points) 11. benhben (47 points) 11. krislu (47 points) 13. AussieinUK (48 points) 13. Rovers 4 life (48 points) 15. Teemu (49 points) 16. Philly Rover ® (50 points) 16. Rovermatt (50 points) 18. nellybc (51 points) 19. SouthAussieRover (52 points) 20. American (53 points) 20. americanrover (53 points) 20. Baz (53 points) 20. Tooting Rover (53 points) 24. rog of the rovers (54 points) 25. ally (55 points) 25. Sydney Rovers (55 points) 27. ffberryb77 (56 points) 27. tcj jones (56 points) 27. Threepenny Bit Foot (56 points) 30. hanks (57 points) 30. modes98 (57 points) 30. PABBY (57 points) 30. rebelzero (57 points) 34. kevinyip (58 points) 34. Texan Rover (58 points) 34. The Dart (58 points) 37. Gareth (59 points) 37. KimberlyBRFC (59 points) 37. Tango (59 points) 37. The Doctor (59 points) 41. bob fleming (61 points) 42. neekoy (62 points) 42. robbojohnno (62 points) 42. Ronin (62 points) 45. Eddie (63 points) 45. LeChuck (63 points) 45. MyTZeus (63 points) 48. Cookiemonster (64 points) 49. andy82 (66 points) 49. Blue blood (66 points) 51. bazza (67 points) 51. mattjansen (67 points) 53. Rover4ever (70 points) 53. rover6 (70 points) 55. philipl (72 points) <-- (phil, your original “stab in the dark” would have gotten you 66 points!) As a sidenote, no one in this year's crew was as genius as me last year--i.e. no one correctly predicted all three relegated sides. Anyway, that's that... let the slagging of Scotty begin, because obviously he cheats somehow!