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Roman Catholic cardinals will begin electing a new pope on 12 March, the Vatican has announced after 115 cardinals gathered for talks.

Pope Benedict XVI stepped down last month after nearly eight years in office, becoming the first pontiff to resign in 600 years.

The 85-year-old blamed his failing health for his inability to carry on.

Under the rules of the secret ballot, or conclave, cardinals will vote until one achieves a two-thirds majority.

Correspondents say no one candidate stands out as Benedict XVI's likely successor.

The vote will be preceded by Mass on Tuesday morning, with the first ballot due in the afternoon, the Vatican press office said.

Vatican staff have been preparing the Sistine Chapel, where the conclave will take place, installing the two stoves that will produce white smoke from burnt ballot papers when a new pope is elected.

The last election in 2005 took three days, and correspondents say the number of meetings this time is being seen as a reflection of the many challenges facing the Church.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21717883

[size=18pt]'Coaching Chelsea Is Very Easy' - Grant Piles Pressure On Benitez[/size]

https://u.goal.com/121600/121626hp2.jpg

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The Israeli says the resources at the disposal of the Blues means that all a manager has to do is focus on winning, but believes the Spaniard will last until the end of the season.

Avram Grant has declared managing Chelsea is easy, adding to the mounting pressure on interim boss Rafa Benitez.

The Israeli, who guided the Blues to a Champions League final defeat in 2008 during his stint, claims Benitez should be doing a better job, but does not feel the under-pressure boss will be sacked before the end of the season.

“I don’t think Rafa Benitez will be replaced any time soon,” Grant told The Sun.

“But, let me tell you something, coaching at Chelsea is very easy."

“It’s way easier than coaching West Ham, for instance, because you have a very big budget and top players to choose from. All you have to do is go after the win.”

The Israeli has been earmarked as a possible replacement for Benitez should owner Roman Abramovich feel the need to relieve the Spaniard from his duties before the end of the season, but the former Portsmouth boss is wary of a negative vibe sweeping the club.

“Things aren’t going well at Chelsea,” he added. “They have made huge investments but the mood there is not good."

“They can’t be happy when they are not challenging for the league."

“They don’t like being in the Europa League and their players are not dreaming about being in that final."

“Their motivation would have been much greater in the Champions League.”

http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/england/2013/03/08/3807723/coaching-chelsea-is-very-easy-grant-piles-pressure-on

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DP

HQ: Hmm, Kim Jong Un. His physician needs to be fired. Who gave this fat fellow codeine? Imagine his blabbing.

coogar: this is laughable!

those showdowns are always tight affairs with fine margins and even then RVP has scores his own share of goals in big games. he scored 3 goals against dortmund last season at arsenal, scored against ac milan d- do they qualify as big games?

in the penultimate season, he scored a winner against barcelona at the emirates - is that a big game? he didn't participate in 09/10 because of injuries that limited his appearances. in 08/09, he scored against man utd in the semis at the emirates - is that a big game?

This is the point I'm trying to underline;

........ United needed Van Persie’s goals more than ever against Madrid, yet he was at his most profligate. Likewise, for Arsenal, he struggled to replicate his domestic dominance in the Champions League, firing only blanks in San Siro last season having been acrimoniously dismissed at the Camp Nou a year earlier .....

Rooney's goal against Barca at Wembley is hardly regarded as a career high, but was/still being eulogized to high heavens for the ruthless manner with which he vanquished Milan 3 years ago!

Arising from the fore-going I can boldly say RVP has not proven his mettle yet in the grandest manner possible on the continent!

sayso: One woman beats all in that list and her name is not even mentioned.
[size=18pt]Benazir Bhutto[/size]

https://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/fun107.com/files/2012/08/harry-salute-e1346162474596.jpg

Wa gbayi

50calibre: if we are going to start calling people who are dead, then we might as well include INDIRA GHANDI

Mother Theresa wen come dey nko? Probably hiding in the Kremlin or somewhere in Pyonyang

coogar: that is the same van persie that bailed us out in the away games in the group stage of the same competition. working brilliantly in tandem with rooney and brushing the opposition aside. strikers don't fail in big games - the tactics get altered mostly by the managers!

can we say mata froze in last season's champions league when chelsea only managed 28% possession home and away? is that mata's fault?

Ogbeni, talking bout 'Big European Nights', I'm talking about showdowns between the who's who, and crème de la crème of the game. Ibra has been a bottler in those kinda games, so has RVP! United vs Cluj would hardly get Busby Way to hold breath in attention, not to talk of the rest of the footballing world!

RVP is just like Zlatan, setting domestic leagues alight, but freezes out on the big European nights!

https://u.goal.com/255300/255391hp2.jpg

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............ Against Real Madrid on Tuesday night, the Manchester United striker was a peripheral figure. His influence on the game came only in brief, disappointing flashes – a scuffed cross-cum-shot volley easily blocked by Sergio Ramos followed soon after by a comedy overhead kick attempt.

The miskicks at Old Trafford were unfortunate, but not as costly as his miss in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. In behind the defence, the Dutchman expertly chested the ball down and cocked his trusty left foot – mortgages across the nation would have been wagered on the ball nestling in the far corner ......

............. The 29-year-old’s misfiring outings against Los Blancos extended his worst run of form since the start of the 2010-11 season, when injury still plagued him (he didn’t play a full 90 minutes until December that year). He has scored just one goal in his last eight appearances, a period just shy of 50 days, and has failed to find the back of the net in his previous five games (his sole contribution being an assist against Norwich last Saturday) ......

.......... United needed Van Persie’s goals more than ever against Madrid, yet he was at his most profligate. Likewise, for Arsenal, he struggled to replicate his domestic dominance in the Champions League, firing only blanks in San Siro last season having been acrimoniously dismissed at the Camp Nou a year earlier.......

Debate all you want about the legitimacy of the red (a correct call IMO ), it still doesn't justify neither is it an excuse for Manure to dis-integrate and collapse like a preggo with elephantiasis in the immediate minutes. - Criminal!

Systematic and expert takedown of Manure!!!!

RuuDie: First find out the cities where the Thames and Almudena are located. . . Then check the countries both clubs are representing - perhaps then you will see a bit of correlation!

Wow! Beautiful!!!!

Metonym on point!!!! Still a lil bit far fetched though

Twualley

LWKMD @ RuuDie going poetric.

Please do educate me, what association has The Thames got to do with Manure? Help a poor geography student here.

[quote author=A-40]Loool stop pissing in the wind! Javi Martinez is money well-spent!! Easily the best defensive midfielder in Europe at the moment! You think all them clean sheets are by accident?[/quote]Sharap you alagbere fan!

If Martinez at 40 mils is money well spent, Neymar is relatively worth 100 mils too! - Chalk and Cheese.

Cleanshit ko clean urine ni
You have only kept one clean sheet in Europe this season. Bate hit you for 4 over two games!

7 goals shipped in as many games is hardly the stuff of legendary defences!

[quote author=A-40]http://www.bleacherreport.com/articles/1552537-report-bayern-munich-plot-86million-neymar-transfer-coup

These people don kolo! Maybe the guy was in a hurry and intended to type Chelsea or Man City! Someone is popping mollies it seems[/quote]Didn't you Nazi scums pay 40m or thereabout for Martinez?

Johnpaul88: Juventus are no stranger to controversy and things in that manner. They used that incident wit their coach as a veiled quest for vindication on their past troubles. They wanted to make everybody believe they and Conte are being mistreated.
You should have known that this situation and Barca's own does not relate. While one protects value the other protects image - image that is either good or bad .

Juve had not even sounded him out yet talkless of hiring him before all that poo had taken place. The resulting imbroglio was what Juve had to deal with!
They handled a very messy situation with aplomb!




Make a case for value out of your ignoble treatment of Rivaldo or throwing a pig's head at Figo!

^^^
Juve stuck with Conte during his four months ban for a 'crime' and/or 'offence' he supposedly committed while in the services of another!


Your disgraceful treatment of Rivaldo is still fresh in memories!

LastApostle: OP, did they not taught you short hand at Cambridge?
If you write this thesis as an application for a job in Nigeria...walahi talahi...you fail or do you want to threaten your interviewer job?

Product of a failed system of education!!!!!!!!

Olodostein: Until we fundamentally change our value system. Insanity continues.

Wa gbayi
https://waa.uwalumni.com/onwisconsin/summer01/Dalai_Lama_press_Davidson01.jpg

That is the crux of the matter!

[size=50pt]..........Nigeria - We are not bad people, [s]but our government is peopled by bad citizens.[/s][/size]

Only that these "bad citizens" in government rose from among the people that are "not bad"

Governance must be a wicked sorcerer, for it to have been consistently turning people that are not bad into bad citizens once they get into it since God knows when.

[size=50pt]........ be ready to get dirty to make a living here.[/size]

[size=50pt]Education is overrated[/size] - that's all!

dayokanu: Late in the first half, VDS had saved off Olics feet, a few minutes later, Olic brutally rappped Carrick and scored, Few minutes later Robben had a fierce drive saved by VDS. All those were in the first half.

Dont worry just try beat Madrid and hope to meet us. Its a reunification with our eternal biittches Manchester Uniteed

I remember he bamboozled Vibitch before he unleashed that curler!

coogar: in the second half when united gave it a go, they were nowhere to be seen!

You did not give it a go until the last 15 mins or thereabout.

rooney is not a winger - he's not even played there to cause amok but to protect rafael from the way ronaldo, ozil and di maria like to overload an opposing fullback. rooney has beaten better defenders than coentrao. madrid were shitting their pants before the game - they called rooney a demon. they were that scared of him!

It would be outrightly dis-respectful for the Madrid Camp to be yapping about how easily they'd tame Rooney nah

rooney would destroy pepe!

Pepe would own Rooney!

rafael put ribery in the back pocket all through the game. robben was also shackled until the numerical advantage that went bayern's way. it was nani and valencia that carried the day.

Perhaps we watched different games. The match I watched, Ribery consistently gave Rafael the demons before he eventually succumbed to the immense physical and mental torture by giving away a criminally unforgivable foul! Likewise, Robben embarked on numerous of his tredemark runs unchecked before he topped it with that unstoppable drive!

madrid is not one of those teams - they cannot pass the ball and they rely on counter-attacks to score goals. united don't play high-line and i fail to see how madrid can counter against this united side. their chances of scoring are from ronaldo's freekicks or a deflected shot from outside the box. they lack the trickery to break down the new improved united defence.

You said United would destroy any team should you go 'gung-ho'.

In Ozil and Alonso, they have great passers of the ball. In Ronaldo and Di Maria, they have outworldly movers of the ball, who can also deliver exquisite crosses. They are multi-dimentional in play!

Block the road to counters (an impossible task, given that you'd rather go 'gung-ho') and get bombarded with a barrage of crosses! You can also be picked apart by an Alonso or Ozil through ball!

coogar: ozil and di maria are overrated - they disappeared like fart in the 2nd half! that's fergie's tactics. rooney played as a winger thus limiting his prowess!

Ozil and Di Maria are world class in their positions! They were not as influential because you parked the bus! The few times Rooney forayed forward, he was clueless!

very easy to stop! we have watched chelsea, inter and even celtic do that successfully!

I'm sure those teams would not run outta adjectives to describe how herculean a task it is/was to stop Barca successfully.

pepe? rooney would eat pepe alive? this is not la liga where his antics are quickly swept under the carpet. if he makes any infringement, he would be off quicker than you spell his name. khedira is actually a better player than pepe. if pepe plays tomorrow - advantage united. united's nimble feet players would get pepe an early bath!

Rooney couldn't even best Coentrao, arguably the weakest player in Madrid's defence. The only player that can get one over Pepe is the intelligent Hernandez, who might not even be involved until it's too late!

united went gung-ho against them at the bernebau in the 2nd half - united created the best chances on the night. with a bit more composure, united could have easily beaten madrid 3-1.

Pepe

rafael da silva got a red card.....until he left, united were leading comfortably with 3 goals to 1. bayern were under the cosh with valencia and nani running riots in their defence. bayern won the first also so they are in a better position than madrid are. united are also stronger now than then. van persie, rooney and hernandez - no attack is better in europe!

Robben and Ribery were going bonkers as well. At no stage over the two legs were Bayern overriden by Manure. It was fire for fire, and they came out tops!
The red card excuse is by the way! Fact remains you went 'hung-ho' with Bayansh, and you got your throat slit!

the 2 finals united have played barcelona, they went gung-ho and lost. in the semi final of 2008, etoo, henry and messi failed to score a goal in 180 mins. united through carlos queiroz wrote the template on how to beat barcelona - it's a shame fergie took that template away because of his belief in attacking football. barcelona are very easy to curtail!

This is a tacit admission that if you go 'hung-ho' against certain teams, you get dis-emboweled!

coogar: united invented attacking football - this is why fergie always uses mobile wing backs and wingers.

Yet another first!
Your fullbacks are gonna have a handful with CR7, Di Maria and Ozil taking turns against them. And on evidence of the first leg, where even Rooney was more or less a fullback it's safe to say your wingers are not gonna much joy either!

barcelona that try to walk the ball ino the net? shyte at set piece, shyte at working the ball from the flanks. barca essentially play one way. one-two passes through the middle. it's easy to defend against that.

As one-way as it is, you still need at least %70 of your footballing prowess/knowledge and energy on the day stop it. Keeping them at bay is no mean feat!

welbeck räped ramos in an aerial battle - imagine what hernandez, vidic, rooney and evra would do to madrid's defence.

Throw Pepe in there as is expected tomorrow, and watch Welbeck drift and drift into oblivion! Rooney was anonymous in the first leg, chances are he'd have yet another nightmarish outing tomorrow.

we would outscore madrid if we get at them. sitting back against them makes them appear better than they look. they were taken apart in the 2nd half of that first leg. van persie's 3 gilt-edge chances and evra's counter that should have had their defender sent off.

Pepe would be back! You can begin to rue those missed chances now, cos you would not have as much joy tomorrow!
Going 'hung-ho' against them is suicidal - your best chance of progression lies in the first leg set-up/dvd!

fergie's team would tell me how we would play. all i know is if united get at any team in europe, the team would get destroyed!

You got at Bayern in 2010 to no avail! Barca has been consistently bringing you down to earth while trying to get at them.

coogar: united are better at counter attack than real madrid!

That's definitely a first!

united have a better defence than madrid.

Unproven and unsubstantiated! We've all seen how defensive Madrid can get from their Clasico square-ups against Barca!

the only strength they have over united is their midfield. we saw how they were reduced to taking shots from a distancein the first leg when they lacked the craft to break united's defence down.

You gon' be needing more of the same probably more, if you are to keep them at bay! They are fired up and brimming with much more confidence - emerging from a brace of Clasicos with victories! Also their better players got much needed rest at the weekend. Advantage Real!

they were beaten at old trafford and they would be beaten again tomorrow!

That was an insignificant win! Tomorrow is a different ball game entirely!

coogar: [s]flat 4-4-2, please.
if fergie goes 4-5-1 then i pray madrid score first. i want an open attacking football not some cagey chess game. we criminally underestimate the strength of our team and only a madrid goal can force fergie's hands to go gung-ho.[/s]

Go 'gung-ho' and get ripped apart on the counter!
Do not throw caution to the wind!

we beat them 4-3 at old trafford in 2003 with fat ronaldo, figo, raul, roberto carlos, etc.

After you had been rapéd in Castile
The same way Chelsea bamboozled Bayansh Munschit at the Bridge only for FC FollyHood to record a worthless 3 - 2 win back at the Olympic Stadium in 2005.