The first Super Sunday of the Season

The second last weekend of the season and its the first genuine "Super Sunday" on Sky sports.

The exciting race to reach the Premiership and stay in the Championship will reach its climax tomorrow, and for the first time Sky's alliterative title for Sunday football will be a fitting billing.

Stoke look set to join West Brom in the automatic places. The real excitement lies in the race for 5th and 6th. Watford are in freefall,whilst Crystal Palace are charging up the table. Wolves and Ipswich will also be full of optimism, and Sheffield United will be wishing the season was just a single game longer!

Southampton appear to be everyones favourites to avoid the drop, but it is hard to see them beating a Sheffield United side wanting to give themselves every chance of stealing 6th place.

For some reason I feel Leicester will snatch at least a point at Stoke. Ian Holloway has his faults, just ask any Plymouth fans, but when it comes to rallying his troops when they are the underdogs, it is hard to think of anyone more adept in that situation.

He will certainly have his players prepared to run through brick walls to avoid relegation, and if they do stay up I'm sure he will have a great press conference up his sleeve.

Something along these lines maybe.............



Classic Holloway

Certain Dive

Show me the money!

Flamini is learning fast.

Not how to dictate play from the middle of midfield against the best teams in Europe. No, no he has been attending the Wes Brown school of how to get far more money than your limited ability deserves.

Brown has managed to secure a reported £60,000 a week as Manchester United wanted to secure his services beyond this summer. Brown has played nearly all of United's games this season, looks set to win a League winners medal and appear in a Champions League Final, and still he felt he should try to push his luck even further and threaten to leave on a free so he could sign a lucrative new contract.

Brown is undoubtedly a very good player,England international and regular for the potential champions of England and Europe. But for him to try and hold United to ransom over his new deal is a slight over estimation of his importance to the team.

With Arsenal supposedly tabling a £50,000 a week contract for Flamini, how much does he think he is actually worth?

Footballers only have a limited time in the game so yes they have every right to maximise their income while they are playing, but maybe Flamini should be showing some loyalty to a manager who has shown enough faith in him to drop the captain of Brazil to allow him to play.

Arsenal took Flamini from Marseille when he refused to sign a long-term contract with the French side after emerging from the youth team. There he exploited a loophole that allowed him to move for mere "training compensation" and was shrewd enough last year to threaten to buy out his contract and leave if Wenger did not start playing him this year.

So clearly Flamini is all about doing what is best for himself.

Maybe it is time for him be a team player and show some loyalty to a club who has given him the chance to show case his talents on the biggest stage of all.

Over rated

He may love the ball, but the ball doesn't love him!



Dirk Kuyt is not my favourite player by any stretch of the imagination.

He certainly works hard, gives his all and does a decent job on the right of Liverpool's midfield. But is that really what you want from a player who cost around £10 million?

Brought in to answer Liverpool's goal scoring problems, he has found himself having to fill the void on the wing due to the disappointing performances of Jermaine Pennant. Thats a £10 million mistake trying to hide the failures of a £7 million mistake.

And there has been Rafa moaning about not having enough money to spend....

What I do think about Kuyt is that for all his effort, his ability just lets him down to often for such an expensive purchase. He seems to be battling the ball just as much as the defender marking him in most matches.

Putting in a decent shift, covering lots of yards and closing people down is not what most football fans would define a wingers job as. It is hard to knock someone who gives so much to the team in commitment, but I just don't think this should be his main focus in games.

You can work hard in other ways. Work hard to make your run stay onside, work hard to provide a good cross, work hard to pass to feet. These things should be of most importance to an attacking player.

Personally I want a winger to make the opposition full back defend, get lots of crosses into the box and get into the box himself whenever possible. Defending should be second to all of this, especially in a team that uses two holding midfielders.

Despite popping up with some important Champions League goals, he doesn't contribute enough in the final third. With Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez scoring and creating goals every week at Old Trafford, Liverpool struggle because they have to rely on Gerrard and Torres week in, week out. People like Kuyt should be stepping up to share the burden, next season there will probably be someone else brought in to do just that.

Look ref no hands!

This weekend it appears handball is no longer an offence.

Fans of Middlesbrough and Manchester United will be cursing referring decisions that cost both sides valuable points.

United saw their title chances dealt a minor blow as they were held to a 1-1 draw by a dogged Blackburn side.

Rovers' certainly enjoyed a favourable decision from referee Rob Styles when he failed to award a penalty when a goal bound header from Michael Carrick was blocked by the arm of Brett Emerton. United had been denied penalty claims earlier in the game, but to anyone who saw this incident they will agree United should have had a spot kick.

The heroics of Brad Friedel didn't deserve to be in a losing team however,so 1-1 was a fair reflection of the game.

Middlesbrough would have earned a point against Bolton had Alan Wiley correctly awarded a penalty for Gavin McCann's handball.

Bolton will not be complaining because they have finally climbed out of the bottom 3. Hopefully they will return there very soon though because they are terrible and play a brand of football that should not be allowed in the Premiership.

All these wonderfully kept pitches to play on and they keep the ball in the air as much as possible....such a waste.

Maybe they used up all their luck when Wiley went temporarily blind, and will be able to test there long ball tactics against fellow hoof and chasers Watford in the Championship next season.

Derby Debacle

Derby County were always going to be relegated this season. Clearly they did not have the playing staff to make the step up to the Premiership, they barely had the players to get themselves out of the Championship.

What is not so clear is why the board gave Billy Davies the chance to spend some money before the season started, and then proceeded to sack him when Derby struggled to establish themselves in the early part of the season.

He signed the best players his budget could attract, but not the players that could take Derby to the next level. While the teams around them went and signed proven players, Richardson going to Sunderland for example, Derby could only add the likes of Eddie Lewis and Rob Earnshaw.

So what expectations did the board have of Billy Davies? Surely they should have been proclaiming him as their messiah because he took them to the promised land with a team that had no right to make it into the play-offs to start with.

Instead of this they sacked him not long into his first crack at Premiership management. In a strange way they have done his CV a favour as he won't have to put a relegation on it just yet. He definitely deserved better treatment than this though.

Paul Jewell has made it obvious that he does not rate the squad he has inherited, but the signings he made himself have done nothing to improve Derby's performances. Robbie Savage has done little, and well Laurent Robert has been a non-entity.

All this goes to show that the people in the most important positions in football are often the ones who know the least and make the worst decisions.

Don't even get me started on the decision makers at FIFA.....................

Jamie has changed

Redknapp hasn't shaved!!!!
He also isn't wearing his grey suit. He must be dressing down to make Peter Reid feel more comfortable sitting next to him. Not renowned for his fashion sense is Peter.

Hopefully the Chelsea game will prove to be more of a talking point than Redknapp's appearance.

After sitting through the worst game of the season on Monday, when Chelsea conspired to perform dismally and allow a hapless Wigan team to leave the Bridge with a point, it is hard to be optimistic of an all out attacking, convincing performance from Chelsea.

That game was a stark contrast to the open football at Old Trafford the day before, and is a strong reflection of the dour demeanour of Grant. He is always dressed for a funeral by the looks of him, and it looks like it will be his tenure at Chelsea that passes if his team continue to play this way.

Reid just described himself as 'no oil painting', priceless television moment.................

Stay on your feet lad!

Steven Gerrard needs to stop falling over when his Liverpool team come under pressure!

When Liverpool need a result and things aren't going well, "Captain Marvel" Gerrard turns into Bambi on Ice whenever he gets near the oppositions penalty area.

His first attempt at conning the referee against Blackburn saw him reaching out a leg to make contact with Brad Friedel when he realised the 'keeper's slide was not going to result in him making contact.

How embarassing to see one of England's top players resorting to such tactics.

Near the end of the game he took another tumble, at least this time there was some sort of challenge in his vicinity. Samba dangled out a speculative right footed tackle, but again minimal contact, if there was any, sent Gerrard head first to the deck.

Gerrard pulled a similar stunt out of the bag when Sheffield United battled for a point so bravely against Liverpool on the opening day of last season. Its happened to often for it to be an exception, he needs to stop!

The case for the prosecution Exhibit A

Super Mc

James McFadden could possibly be the best footballer in the country.

No seriously hear me out before you leave!

He obviously started the season by scoring that wonder goal for Scotland against the mighty French team, and Alex McCleish saw enough in him to bring him to Birmingham in January.

His ability is as good as anyone you will see in the Premiership, clever tricks and flicks coupled with a good goal ration and a healthy assists tally.

He also brings a great attitude to the table, not content with sitting on the bench at Everton he took the move to a team who are struggling in the league so he can play regularly.

His two goals against Arsenal, in a game marred by the horrific injury sustained by Eduardo, earned a vital point for City that could be the difference between relegation and staying in the Premier League come the end of the season.

Now he has Zarate to work with, and a fit again Forssell partnering him upfront, Birmingham look set for survival.

Commentator Change?

How about we get Sid Waddell to commentate on football?

Call me crazy but I think he is the only person who could make a boring 1-0 Chelsea win an interesting spectacle.

His ridiculous use of hyperbole and imagery makes fat men throwing arrows at a board an incredibly good watch.

Cries of " I can't beliiiieeeeveeeee my Geordie eyes' and "thats the greatest comback since Lazarus" are needed in the world of football as soon as possible.

Other classics from the Waddell wall of wonder include:

"This lad has more checkouts than Tescos."
"I don't know what he's had for breakfast but Taylor knocked the Snap, Crackle and Pop outta Bristow."
"Even Hypotenuse would have trouble working out these angles."
"He's twitching like a Frog in a Blender."
"There hasn't been this much excitement since the Romans fed the Christians to the Lions."

So imagine, if you will, Martin Tyler and Andy Gray commentating on a Bolton versus Wigan bore draw at the Reebok. Terrible game, no passing to feet, plenty of fouling and long throws and Andy Gray trying to analyse and evaluate this awful offering of football. Not a televisual feast for the audience.

Now imagine Sid Waddell describing the game. Lines like "that balls gone higher than Hendrix at Woodstock" or "Bramble is sweating like a hippo in a steam bath". No matter how poor the game, his uplifting comments will keep people watching and thoroughly entertained.

I think this has to be the way forward.

Swiss you weren't here

More useful than Phillippe?

Rafa strikes again......but I think that Wenger gave him a helping hand. Well Senderos certainly did anyway!

An Arsenal team that has been forced to play its strongest side in almost every game this season, such is their determination to win every game, did not have the fitness in them to keep up the frenetic pace set in the first 20minutes.

Perhaps Mr Wenger thought his team could gain a few goals advantage in that time and then hang on.

Perhaps that would have happened if Senderos knew how to mark at corners, and remembered to get touch tight when a striker gets the ball near the penalty area so he can not turn and shoot at goal unchallenged.

Poor Senderos and his shiny little bold head, maybe he shaves it off because he likes it that way. Or maybe he pulled it all out watching videos of himself defending?

What Benitez did get right was the inclusion of Crouch to partner Torres up front. This meant that Gallas could not double up on Torres with Senderos because of the extra body, and quality, of Crouch.

This allowed Torres to dance around the helpless Swiss defender and leave Almunia clutching at thin air.

Walcott showed once again he is a player of incredible potential, his run for Arsenal's second goal was breathtaking.

Walcott appeared to be riding on the back of a scooter while everyone else on the pitch appeared to be wading through cement trying to keep up!

Elsewhere it was nice to see Ballack open the scoring for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Undoubtedly a better player than Lampard, it is nice to see that he has had the chance to find his feet and gain a settled place in the side after a slow start.

His performances in the past few months have been much more like the Ballack who is the difference between Germany being a mediocre side, and Germany being a side that reaches the final stages of World Cups on a regular basis.

What is going on??

What is happening to football pundits??

Do they not want people to watch them??Are they bored with the game that provides their living??Do they think people are not watching them anymore??

Alan Shearer sits on the couch and is just lifeless..If he came alive on the couch half as quickly as he would come alive when the ball dropped in the oppositions penalty area Saturday evenings would be far more interesting for all of us.

Now Shearer has a lot of knowledge when it comes to football, he used to put the ball in the back of the net on a regular basis and that takes a certain intelligence. Perhaps he just doesn't possess the ability to convey his opinions to the general public in an interesting way, if that is the case someone at the Beeb needs to ask him to step aside and let someone else have a go................soon please!

Tony Adams though...................this fine ex-pro is surely never going to be asked back again. Sat opposite the ever interesting and articulate Adrian Chiles he just offered nothing as a pundit. Obviously he knows his football. England and Arsenal captain, league and cup winner, he is certainly goes down as an England great.

As a pundit however, his input is limited at best. His appearance on Sunday night's MOTD 2 is probably the first time that Lee Dixon has had to carry Tony Adams, though I'm sure Lee probably owes him a few.

Hopefully someone is going to emerge and save, or perhaps just re-invent, the art of being a pundit.

Jamie Redknapp has done his best a Sky to interest the viewer and offer insight, and Andy Gray is always good for a bit of tactical talk and hyperbole when the goals start flying in.

However we need more like them.

The thought process seems to be that an ex-pro is a neccessity because they understand the game and what is going on better than Joe public.

Is this really the case though? Because all that experience and knowledge does not result in an interesting fellow. All that know how and know idea how to articulate it is not what we need at all.

R E S P E C T

Silly Steve Bennett took a harsh stance against the petulant behaviour of the Premier League's highly paid stars this weekend by giving Mascherano his marching orders.

Mascherano was obviously the unlucky player who suffered because of 'Cashley' Cole's behaviour against Tottenham. What should not be over looked though is the number of times he gave away free kicks, despite already being on a yellow card, and the way he argued the toss everytime a decision went against him.

Xabi Alonso could see exactly what was going to happen as soon as Mascherano ran 20 yards to remonstrate with Bennett and tried to intervene. Benitez obviously did not agree with the decision, but at least he has a new reason to hide behind as his side lose to a fellow top four team again.

The fact his transfer dealings and negative play have played into his opponents hands has nothing to do with it of course.

The biggest losers in all of this though could well be Sky Sports.

With the Leauge that they advertise as the 'Worlds Best' continuing to alienate itself from fans, the people in power at Sky must be worrying because people will only continue to tune in if things change.

A cleaning up of behaviour is more than neccessary.

The F.A has indicated it is prepared to impliment a system where only a team captain can approach the referee and I would think this is a brilliant idea indeed.
If the Chelsea players had not converged on Mike Riley last week then Cole would surely have recieved his marching orders.It is only human nature to shy from making the hard decision when faced with so many aggressive people in your face. If just Terry had approached him then perhaps a different coloured card would have emerged.

The same goes for a decision the went against Chelsea when they faced Manchester United earlier in the season Here Mikel was sent off for a mistimed challenge. However if several United players had not swarmed on the referee lamenting the challenge perhaps Mikel would not have been sent from the pitch.

Certainly referees need to be stronger in the face of players trying to the referee the game for them, but it is hard not to feel sympathetic for them when 5 players are in their face arguing with every decision they make.

Pretty soon though there will be nobody watching these games, players need to remember their obligation to represent their clubs and its fans in a much more acceptable way.

Howay the Toon

Understatement of the week award goes to Michael Owen for his revelation that "confidence isn't at its best" in the Newcastle camp at the moment, and that they "need a win and the sooner the better."

Well after a home defeat of the magnitude Manchester United inflicted on the Toon Army at the weekend you wouldn't really expect confidence to be at an all time high, if you take into account they haven't won a league game since December you would expect the squad to be feeling pretty sorry for themselves indeed.

Back in December the only difference between them and relegation candidates Fulham was a last minute Joey Barton penalty, so it is safe to say that Newcastle are neither to big nor to good to go down this season.  

Owen seems to have looked down the fixture list and seen a few games that could be winnable, but the next five games include trips to Anfield and White Hart Lane. They say that winning is a habit, but so to is losing and Newcastle are going to need more than willpower to kick this one. Games against the likes of Liverpool and Spurs are not the type of games they can expect to take points from, and well the pressure that puts on fixtures with the Reading's and Sunderland's of this world could be to much for the Magpies.

Owen is due and injury as well, luckily its seems that top scorer Obefami Martins could return this weekend. He has done well to maintain his top scorer status despite two months out through international duty and injury. Says a lot for the return of "King Kev" the attacking messiah........

Apparently Martins has revealed he didn't even know who Keegan was before his re-appointment, and if you have watched his side play since his return it appears that "King Kev"  needs to remind himself exactly who he is and how he likes the game to be played. More attack please Kev, especially when your defence is as bad as it is.   

Is Our League Really That Good?

The Premier League is widely acclaimed as the best and most exciting league in the world. However, as the season unfolds this seems a very dubious label to hand to England’s top flight.

There seems to have been a huge shift to the Sam Allardyce School of pro-zone statistic fuelled football being played outside of the Premiership's top four teams. The need to put the ball in the ‘right areas’ has become far more important than patiently passing the ball and creating chances.

By the law of averages, the more times you put the ball in the penalty area the more likely it is you will force a costly mistake from your opponents. If your playing against Wigan then this is probably the way forward should Titus Bramble be playing!

With every inch of my self I hope this is not a trend that will continue though. A Premier League full of athletes who can break play up but are only capable of hopeful punts ‘into the channels’ is not one that I will keep paying Sky Sports to bring into my front room.

The prototype English player, a 6 foot tall wiry runner who is strong in the tackle and quick to shift the ball up field, is far removed from his European counterparts.

In Spain for example they do have the necessary midfield destroyers available but so to do they have an abundance of wonderfully creative talents coming through the ranks. For every Puyol or Ramos that emerges there is a Torres or a Joaquin. At Barcelona the talent that has been nurtured through the ranks includes names like Xavi, Iniesta, and most recently Bojan, Dos Santos and Lionel Messi.

All massively skilled individuals but, of the outfield players, how many would really have emerged at the highest level in England?

Iniesta and Xavi would struggle to have emerged in the Premier League. Their intricate passing and incisive through balls would be a nightmare for the manager who demands only the highest percentage ball to be played. Who needs ball retention when you can just keep chasing to win it back??

The outlook for the young Messi would be even bleaker. A young dribbling winger who can commit a player and change a game with a moment’s brilliance would be nothing more than a ‘luxury’ (just ask Mr Ginola).

Big on heart and quality but diminutive in stature, 10 minute cameos would be the most you could hope for from a player so supremely gifted.

He can keep Ronaldinho amongst the substitutes at Barca. In England though he would be not nearly as useful in the air as a Kevin Davies or Emile Heskey!