Well that’s that then…

The English 2011/2012 football season is officially over!  I feel quite deflated actually, which admittedly was totally expected, as I felt this way at the end of the last season.

What a spectacular finish to the season though, which just goes to show that you cannot count the proverbial chickens until the last whistle has blown.  It was awesome to watch the two sets of Manchester fans’ reactions to things as the games went on – I think each of them were more concerned about the other team’s game than they were their own.  I felt quite sure that QPR were going to pull off a miracle for United, despite only having ten men on the field.  I didn’t watch that game, but apparently City were woeful right up until the very last minute.  I think that Aguero must hold godlike status for City fans all around the world at this point.

So there you have it… Manchester City have won the title for the first time in 44 years.  I would rather it had been Sunderland or Arsenal, but that wasn’t to be.  Next season could be a whole different set of circumstances and I am hoping like mad that Martin O’Neill will work his magic, be given enough money and use the time to settle down properly and build a footballing force to be reckoned with.  I KNOW that he can do it!

Here is a look at the league table as it ended up…

I was hoping that Sunderland would at least make no. 10, but sadly it was not to be.  I believe that they totally ran out of steam towards the end of the season, and also had a number of key players injured.  As I said before, next season is going to be sooooo exciting!

Spare a thought for the teams that were relegated… Wolves, Blackburn and Bolton.  I would far rather have seen QPR, Stoke and Aston Villa go down, but sadly I don’t have magical powers.  Good luck to the relegated teams, in the Championship, and also good luck to the teams who will be replacing them in the Premier League next season.  It’s going to be a cracking season and I can’t wait!

Own goals

Is there anything more horrendous in the footballing world than this?  Well yes, of course, the diving antics of people like Tiote, Suarez and Drogba are probably worse because they are premeditated, but honestly… is there anything more soul-destroying for a team and indeed the player responsible, than an own goal?  I can imagine he must feel crushed and embarrassed beyond belief – I would certainly want the world to end at that precise moment, or at the very least for a crater to open up magically under my feet, transporting me to Australia where I might continue my life under an assumed identity!

Imagine how someone like Richard Dunne must feel?  He holds the dubious title of “Most prolific scorer of own goals”, that being 9.  He is followed closely by Jamie Carragher who apparently has 7 to his name.  I wonder if they are trying to outdo each other?  Admittedly any defender is always going to run the risk of scoring own goals, purely because of the very nature of their positions.  I just find it hard to understand how these two gentleman have managed to score so many.  In Dunne’s favour is the fact that he has scored 11 proper goals, where Carragher has only scored 3.

I thought that I would gather together a collection of funny/brilliant/outstanding own goals from various football leagues for your enjoyment.  I am hardly in a position to rank them at all, so I will merely upload them here for you to decide for yourself.  Enjoy…

Here’s a nice compilation of own goals…

It’s a beautiful game… even when it’s awful!

The Stylist Magazine Fair Game Campaign

Rachel Yankey of Arsenal Ladies and England (117 caps)

I thought I should draw some attention to Stylist’s Fair Game Campaign to give women’s sport and women in sport a fairer deal. They say: “Fed up with the marginalisation of female sportswomen and female only sport, Stylist is tackling sports sexism head on with Fair Game: fighting for equal sponsorship, funding and awareness of women’s sports.”

Stylist has always been a magazine I have admired; the content is very decent, its growth has been astonishing over the past few years and it’s free. Now this campaign has given them further kudos in my book, because how often do you see this issue raised in other women’s magazines?

They’ve even been to see the Deputy PM about it, so they mean business. Their aims of the campaign are to:

• Act as a matchmaker, uniting sporting talent with business talent so that British businesses, in particular British businesswomen, get excited about supporting emerging female sports stars.

• Raise the profile of female sportswomen at every level, as well as the businesses which sponsor them.

• Increase press coverage of female sports stars.

• Make sure there are a proportionate number of women on the shortlist for BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year.

It’s unclear how exactly they are going to do it yet, more details should be revealed soon. One of Team GB’s biggest stars Jess Ennis is behind it, which is huge. She is the epitome of female sporting brilliance and her endorsement should give the campaign some clout, especially with the Games generating more buzz.

What drew my attention to this whole campaign in the first place was Stylist’s article about sexism in football, which is a pretty hot topic here on EotD with Polly’s blog post drawing attention first to the plight of the Women’s Professional Soccer League. I’m glad that attention is being drawn to it, but it’s still dwarfed in comparison to coverage of men’s sport.

So, Stylist, we’re going to keep an eye on what you’re planning and we’re fully behind you. Let’s hope some progress can be made this year.

Fernando Torres

 

Sigh… where to start!  A lady that I know on twitter once suggested that it would be nice if the cameramen at any Chelsea football games were instructed to keep their cameras aimed solely at him throughout the entire game.  I agreed with her whole-heartedly!

Fernando and I have actually met, and by “met” I do mean in the stalkerish sense of the word!    During the 2010 World Cup here in South Africa, my daughters and I did a lot of frantic driving around to try and get to see some of the teams in person.  We struck gold with the Spanish team (incredible if you consider that they went on to win the tournament – probably as a result of meeting us, but I digress… )!  We got a tip-off from one of the security personnel outside one of the hotels used by the teams, that the Spanish team were staying at another more prestigious hotel.  Naturally we sped off there immediately and managed to sweet-talk our way onto the property (for a first attempt at stalking, I was damn proud of the employment of feminine wiles that I exhibited on that day! ).

We parked the car and nonchalantly sauntered up to the entrance of the hotel where the bus was parked.  There were a few other people also gathering, so we were by no means the only stalkers.  The excitement was palpable… Iker Casillas, Fernando Torres, Cesc Fabregas and a bunch of other sexy Spaniards were within metres of us!  One of the Spanish PR ladies came out and handed out some signed pictures of Casillas, which I thought was a lovely gesture. 

When the team started to come out of the hotel, there was definitely a bit of screaming and name-calling, etc… I can’t say that I participated or not… It’s possible, but I can’t be sure.   They were really nice – ESPECIALLY Torres.  I was so impressed with his down-to-earth demeanour and friendly disposition.  Some of the players just ignored all of us and got straight onto the bus.  He looked at us and smiled and blushed a little too.  We moved to the side so that the bus could drive past us, and luck would have it that Fernando was at the window of his seat.  I waved at him and he smiled and gave me a thumbs up.  SWOOOOON!!!  My daughter was filming them, so she has it on video – it was brilliant, and that, my friends, was my “moment” with Fernando Torres!

Needless to say, despite the fact that he plays for Chelsea (apologies to Chelsea fans, but I don’t like them at all), I have felt so sad for Fernando about his lack of form up until recently.  How amazing it has been to see him over the last week or so finally come back to life.  It’s like he’s all of a sudden on fire, and I found myself Wooo-hooing and getting all excited over his fabulous goals this weekend.  A hat-trick?  From Fernando Torres?  Who would have thought it possible a couple of months ago!  It’s brilliant though and I am so pleased for him (I’m wondering if Sunderland might put in a cheeky bid for him somewhere in the not too distant future!).

I’m led to wonder why he has suddenly just burst into life again?  How is this possible?  Where was all this hiding?  It’s much like the Wigan performance of late?  My immediate thoughts on them are WHAT???  A journalist that I follow on twitter put it very well when he said that “I think Wigan have been hustling us all season.”.  When a player or a team have consistently behaved in a certain way, you come to rely on that and treat it as the norm.  For them to suddenly make a complete about turn and start performing brilliantly, it is quite unbelievable.  It challenges all our beliefs and understandings of the way things are supposed to be.

I for one, am thrilled that Wigan are playing the role of “giant-killers” and I sincerely hope that they stay in the Premier league – they most certainly deserve to.  As for Fernando Torres I hope that he continues to grow in confidence and stature, but that he not display his brilliance when playing against Sunderland… ever…!

Top 10 best goals I’ve seen live

Yesterday Match of the Day ran their ‘best goals ever’ competition, and it got me thinking. Of course I remember Paolo Di Canio’s exquisite volley for West Ham in 2000, but I wasn’t watching the match live. I was actually watching Soccer Saturday when that happened and everyone in the studio almost internally combusted.

Great goals are much more memorable, and much more special, when you see them live. The shock, amazement, and (most of the time) joy just hits you and for a few blissful seconds you can’t think about anything else other than the genius you’ve just witnessed.

So here are my favourite goals that I’ve seen live (most of them on TV, one I was at the actual match). Forgive me that most of them are Liverpool goals, but what do you expect.

10. Ray Parlour, Arsenal v Chelsea, FA Cup Final, 2002

What I love the most about this is that I was listening to the celebrity commentary on Sky, and Tim Lovejoy said “it’s okay, it’s only Ray Parlour”…then bam!  Hilarious.

9. Michael Owen, England v Argentina, World Cup 1998

I used to be in love with this boy (I was 11, ok) and I went crazy when he scored this. What a night for him. England still managed to balls it up though.

8. Ryan Giggs, Manchester United v Arsenal, FA Cup Semi Final replay 1999

I wanted Arsenal to win, but when Giggs did this I knew United would go on to win everything that year. It’s just awesome. I wish he didn’t go and expose his chest hair though.

7. Fernando Torres, Liverpool v Blackburn, FA Premier League, 2009

He would have been higher on the list if he wasn’t such a traitor.

6. Steve McManaman, Liverpool v Celtic, UEFA Cup, 1997

I’ll never forget this goal, ever. It’s just amazing. I think my mom was genuinely worried for my mental health, the way I was jumping around after this.

5. Thierry Henry, Arsenal v Manchester United, FA Premier League, 2000

This is just genius.

4. Steve McManaman, Arsenal v Liverpool, FA Premier League, 1997

I was so nervous before this game, I was convinced Arsenal were going to thump us (they did go on to win the double that year) but then Stevie Mac came up with this.

3. Steven Gerrard, Liverpool v Manchester United, FA Premier League, 2001

Another one which made my mom question my mental health. Scoring a goal like that against your biggest rivals when you’re nowhere near on par with them is pretty special though.

2. Steven Gerrard, Aston Villa v Liverpool, FA Premier League, 2007

This was the one I saw at the match itself. Unfortunately I was sitting with Villa fans, so couldn’t really celebrate. But wow.

1. Steven Gerrard, Liverpool v Olympiakos, UEFA Champions League 2004

Of course, it had to be. He scored in the final too and that could be deemed a more important goal, but he literally saved us from being knocked out with this and in such spectacular style.

(In case you’re wondering, I would have included Gerrard’s wonder goal v West Ham in the FA Cup final 2006, except I didn’t watch the game. Unfortunately I was working).

So there they are. Of course I’ve seen thousands of better and more important goals scored, but these are the ones that have lodged themselves in my memory.

What are your favourite live goals? Don’t give me 10, it takes too long.

Goal-line technology

Yes that’s right… I’m wading into the fray with my two cents worth on this controversial subject!  I have been saying for a long time (and I am one of millions, apparently) that goal-line technology should be used in all major football games.  It should have been developed and implemented years ago, but yet FIFA still drag their heels about it!!  Why?  What on earth could be holding them back from bringing this beautiful game into the 21st century?  Most other major sports have been using the available technology for many years, and in my opinion it has taken nothing away from the sports – in fact I believe that it has enhanced the game for the viewer, and we are, after all, the main reason that these games take place in the first place.

I had a peek at the Wikipedia entry about GLT and this is what they have to say (I can’t be certain of the accuracy of their information, so don’t quote me on this please )…

In association football, goal-line technology is a proposed technology currently in testing stages, which determines when the ball has completely crossed goal line, assisting the referee in calling a goal or not.  So far FIFA, football’s governing body, has resisted goal-line technology as well as other proposed ideas such as instant replay and adding extra officials.  FIFA officials do not want the game of football to lose the element of human error or the continuity of the game.  However, in the wake of recent controversial calls made in both the FA Premier League and the 2010 World Cup FIFA is now testing potential candidates for goal line technology.  Nine systems are currently being tested in stadiums across Europe.  A series of tests will be run until March 2012 that will test for accuracy under different scenarios and settings, such as illumination, speed of the ball, and different angles of trajectory.  With multiple systems in testing stages there is competition.  If multiple systems meet the criteria and pass the testing stages they will become licensed products by the IFAB (International Football Association Board) and they will be available on the market for different leagues or teams to buy.  If FIFA allows goal-line technology it could be applied by the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Now, excuse my ignorance, but isn’t it already April 2012?  I haven’t heard anything further about any systems that might have met with approval from FIFA.  All I have heard is more instances where the technology could have helped ensure the correct outcome of a game.  The recent debacle of a game between Chelsea and Wigan is a glaring example of how useless some referees / assistant referees are.  One wonders whether they have to submit to regular eye tests, because even a partially sighted person could have seen that Branislav Ivanovic was a good couple of yards offsides before he scored for Chelsea!

The event that really made me angry, and started me thinking about the lunacy that FIFA perpetuates by keeping GLT from the sport (among other things that they do wrong, mind you) was the Suarez incident in the 2010 World Cup.  This is the summary by Wikipedia…

In a quarter final match against Ghana, Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez handled the ball to prevent a last minute Ghana goal.  Suárez was shown a red card and Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan missed the resulting penalty spot kick.  Ghana subsequently lost the match 4-2 in the penalty shootout. 

Not only that, but if I remember correctly, Suarez was standing inside the goal when he handled the ball, which in my opinion means that it was a goal!!!  If that goal had been given, there would have been no need for a penalty, nor the subsequent penalty shootout at the end of the game.  What a waste of time, and an incorrect result.  Who knows – Ghana could have gone further in the tournament and might well have won the entire thing.  Obviously I am being extravagant with my thoughts here, but anything is possible – it’s a funny old game.  My point is though, that Ghana were robbed, as have many other teams been over the years.  There are a lot of dedicated fans who spend a lot of their hard-earned money on watching and enjoying football – they deserve to have it be a fair sport.

It would be remiss of me not to include some criticisms of the proposed technology (with thanks again to Wikipedia)…

While advocates for goal-line technology maintain that it would significantly reduce refereeing errors during play, there are also criticisms of the technology. Much of the criticism comes from within FIFA itself including FIFA president Sepp Blatter.  Apart from the criticisms revolving around the technical aspects of the two proposed technologies, critics point out that such technology would impact on the human element of the game and remove the enjoyment of debating mistakes.  Sepp Blatter has been quoted as saying “Other sports regularly change the laws of the game to react to the new technology. … We don’t do it and this makes the fascination and the popularity of football”.

A study suggested that in the 2010-11 Premier League season “errors took place nearly 30% of the time that video replays could help prevent”, however many people criticize instant replay with regards to football, claiming that instant replay would interrupt the flow of the game and take away possible plays. Other critics believe it would be prohibitively expensive to implement the technology at all levels of the game and particularly for smaller/poorer football associations.  FIFA officials have expressed a preference for ‘better refereeing’ as well as more match officials over implementing the technology. Advocates in turn cite the many examples of incorrect goal-line decisions deciding important games and point out that the technology has improved much since the initial trials carried out by FIFA.  Advocates contend that any extra help for the referee should outweigh arguments that it would lead to non-uniform rules (since not all football associations would be able to implement it).

I can understand these criticisms, but I think that largely it’s just a bunch of stuffy old men who are clinging to archaic ideals about things “remaining as they always have been”.  Get out of your comfort zones and realise that enough is enough now – this game is being ruined by human error and it needs to stop.  The teams, players, managers and supporters will adapt to whatever changes are made and within no time at all everyone will be saying “Good heavens, do you remember what it was like before they introduced Goal Line Technology… can’t imagine football without it now!!”

Get on with it FIFA – it’s time you earned your fatcat salaries and used your influence to make football better and, ultimately a fair game!

Sexism in Football

Last week I watched the BBC documentary Sexism in Football? presented by one of the most familiar females in the sport, Gabby Logan. With input from the likes of Karren Brady and Jacqui Oatley, the programme highlighted how difficult it used to be for women to be respected in and around the sport. And how difficult it still is.

Sian Massey

Incidents such as the behaviour of Richard Keys and Andy Gray were referred to regularly as pivotal moments in giving women more recognition in what is undoubtedly a man’s game. The former presenters’ attitude towards Karren Brady, female assistant referee Sian Massey and female colleagues at Sky made my blood boil all over again. The sacking of Keys and Gray was a watershed but there is still a long way to go.

A few weeks ago I was thrilled to be chosen as a finalist in The Guardian’s ‘Who Wants to be an MBM-er?‘ competition at their HQ. It was an amazing experience and one I will never forget – I felt at home straightaway, despite being the only woman in the final. Scratch that – I was the only woman in the sports desk that Sunday.

Actually, I saw one woman. I think she was carrying files around.

Now I am not calling The Guardian sexist at all. After watching the BBC documentary and from my own experience, I really do think it’s a case of not enough women wanting to be involved.  This could be for several reasons:

• They simply don’t give a flying crap about football. Fair enough.
• They do like football but don’t fancy themselves as journalists. Fine. They’re probably involved in some other capacity.
• There are women out there who want to be in sports journalism but aren’t good enough/haven’t tried/are discouraged by the ‘glass ceiling’.

So, what is it? I really want to know. I was not at all surprised that I was the only woman in the final. I do wonder though if there were any other female entrants.

Are they put off by the Andy Grays and Richard Keys of this world? Do they think the glass ceiling is even thicker because it is a man’s game? Are they intimidated by all the men? When I was at the Guardian HQ, I didn’t feel out of place at all despite being a woman and half the height of everyone else (probably because it was my ambition to get there one day) but could some women be intimidated by so much testosterone?

If they are, it’s like any other industry. Almost every other industry used to be dominated by men, until they weren’t. Football is just another one of those; it’s just taking longer.

But the attitude of women needs to change. Men, in general, really aren’t bothered if you’re a woman in a sport desk. It’s all in our heads. Of course there are the prickish minority but they can be weeded out if we speak up. One moment during the Sexism in Football? show where I found myself shouting at the TV was Watford FC’s Media Relations Officer Jackie Bass saying that she is ‘one of the lads’ and that’s why she is so accepted in her working environment.

She shouldn’t have to turn herself into ‘one of the lads’ to work in football! 

It’s like having James, one of the sewing machinists from Mary Portas’s Bottom Line, saying he was ‘one of the girls’. It just wouldn’t happen and it shouldn’t happen the other way around.

We women need to take the same attitude as Karren Brady and Sian Massey. Work hard, prove yourself, be yourself, and try not to be intimidated by the industry or what other people say. Then maybe one day gender will become less and less significant in this sport.

It’s a dark, dark day…

Woeful… absolutely woeful!  That’s the only accurate word that I could think of to describe Sunderland’s performance last night against Everton!  With the exception of Simon Mignolet, every member of that team were useless.  They messed about as if it was just a fun Sunday in the park with their mates – they didn’t seem to care at all that this was the last hurdle before an FA Cup semi-final clash!  It was there for the taking, but they just didn’t want it enough.

Admittedly they must be exhausted – so many games in such a short period of time is bound to drain a team.  Although that said, Lee Cattermole and Stephane Sessegnon haven’t played for a bit thanks to suspensions, so they should have been fresh as daisies!  Everton ran rings around us – they  made us look amateur, and it was extremely embarrassing.  I couldn’t even put the blame for the result on Lee Probert (much as he irritates the life out of me) - we just weren’t even close to being good enough and Everton took full advantage of that fact and made us pay.

As I said before though, Simon Mignolet does deserve praise for his performance - as one of my friends put it “If it weren’t for him, it would have been a cricket score”.  We can’t expect him to play alone though, can we… let alone have his own team members making things harder for him!!

Some of my wonderful friends have very kindly let me copy their comments on our awesome forum www.blackcatchat.info … many thanks to you lovely people!

3 terrible performances in a month – Blackburn and WBA away and last night against Everton. Is this a stark reminder that MoN has worked miracles in his brief time here so far? We were so utterly hopeless in all three of the matches I’ve mentioned that it was painful to watch, especially last night.

Where does everyone think we have to improve in the summer? Our midfield were overran throughout last night, with Larsson and Gardener particularly poor in my opinion. We need someone who can grab the game by the scruff of the neck when we’re playing that badly, Cattermole (for all his huff and bluster) isn’t that player because he doesn’t play football when he has the ball. Look at how Fellaini ran the midfield by keeping it simple but having that physical edge to his game too. We looked toothless up front again too, they marked Sessegnon out the game and we had no answer to that.

Three tough games coming up now in the league so there’s a bit of pressure on the players for the first time since MoN arrived. I hope they are all up to it. – Anthony Morrow

I’ve been considering this all night & while we weren’t brilliant I don’t think we were as bad as some are making out… we have a paper thin squad, beset with injuries & our route to the QF’s was replays aplenty. I don’t think it was that we didn’t turn up I just think some of our players are running on empty at the moment, and like I said on FB last night if anyone had suggested to any of us after the Wigan game in November that we’d be at a QF replay after beating Man City & Liverpool in the PL we would have rightly thought them mental!!

We’ve moaned for years that we haven’t had a decent cup run, well we got one & it’s been fun, with additions to the squad there’s no reason at all that we can’t do it again next year (though next year the part timers who turned on the team after the first goal can bugger off please, if you want to moan do it at the final whistle… until then get behind the bloody team you glory hunting idiots!!).

Keep the faith chaps, remember in the 15 & 19 pt seasons this is the kind of season we would have killed for!   Onwards & upwards. -  Jo Snee

If, at the start of the season, let alone when we were in the depths of footballing drossery, in the later stages of Mr Bruce’s rule, we had been offered a cup quarter final and 9th place in the league come the end of the season, there aren’t many Sunderland supporters who wouldn’t have jumped at the offer. Martin O’Neill has worked wonders, real genuine wonders with the squad he has, but he did warn us very early on that spirit would only take us so far. I think we now all know how far that is, more or less exactly.

We have had 3 poor losses, all against the same thing. Spirit can overcome a lot of things, but when confronted with a team with just as much of it as we have, it fades in the light and other factors come into play. All three teams who have beaten us have been Sunderland incarnate, in spirit at least. Last night we got what we deserved. We were matched or even bettered in spirit and our team was too thin on talent to compete.

For me the defence was pathetic. Bardsley had a poor game by his standards, but was just about OK. Bridge did not do much wrong for me. In the middle, Turner had a poor game possibly as a result of playing alongside the worst central defender to pull on a striped shirt ever. Whatever the question was, Kyrgiakos or whatever his name is, isn’t the answer. Sorry but he is hopeless. Without Ming the Merciless in goal performing heroics, we would have been swamped, because our loanee was allowing trouble to occur all over the danger area. It must be the ultimate humiliation for a centre half to be subbed for a 5foot 7inch midfielder, but that was the deserved fate of Sotirios Kyrgiakos.

In midfield, despite Mr Bruce buying a job lot of slightly used second hand midfielders, packing our squad with them in fact, we lack the class to be genuinely competitive. Sorry Gardner, Larsson and Vaughan, but you are squad players at best. Larsson’s famous delivery of cross, corner or free kick has deserted him to some extent. He has no pace and needs to play high up the pitch to be in a position to receive the ball and fire in a cross more or less straight away as he cannot run with the ball and take on defenders. This is just too limiting for a winger which is where he is being played. Gardner and Vaughan lack any creativity as far as I can see and neither got the ball to Larsson in his advanced position often enough. Cattermole is, and I know this is a controversial opinion, the one true spark of genuine class in our midfield, but it is marred by a poor, poor temperament. It is also defensive class and he does not have any creative spark.

That, I think leaves Bendtner, McLean and Sess. Bendtner just isn’t good enough. He doesn’t carry the threat up front that is needed. He can do most things fairly competently, but none of them really well. He doesn’t compete physically enough, he doesn’t react fast enough, he doesn’t have a great first touch and he doesn’t have what is described by the pundits as an eye for goal. Worst of all he lacks positional awareness and is often found wandering around, lost, on the wings. Sess, isn’t getting any help at all. The midfield isn’t good enough to give it and McLean isn’t in a position to help at the moment. Last night Sess was overwhelmed by a defence that wasn’t tested by the balls he was given or the options he had. Fifty percent of the balls he got were with his back to goal taken on his chest. A sizeable percentage were received back in his own half and almost never did he find himself attacking as part of a gang with passing options available to him. The result of this was that he was always forced to hold on to the ball too long and eventually a wall of blue defenders dispossessed him. He was always attended by a gang of Everton defenders and was only ever once one on one. McLean was man marked throughout the whole game by two Evertonians. My abiding memory of the game will be of him getting the ball and running at a pair of blue shirts. He was always going to get short commons from that situation and he and Sess had frustrating nights and the team suffered.

We had players missing, Colback and Richardson, O’Shea and Brown and others. A better option than Kyrgiakos in the centre at the back would have –probably– stopped both Everton’s goals. Colback in midfield, whilst not providing any more attacking flair than Gardner, would have been far more mobile and adventurous. Richardson, bombing up the wing from full back in support of McLean would have lessened McLean’s load and stressed the Everton defence, possibly to the breaking point that could have resulted in a goal, that the actual team looked incapable of scoring under any circumstances.

What does next season hold. Promise is what. I think that there will not be wholesale changes, but some class will be added where needed. Centre Forward is the place most obviously in need and some attacking flair down the right wing and through the middle. Three, four or five players at most. – Nigel Nicholson

Oh well… what’s done is done and there’s always next season.  Let’s hope that when Martin O’Neill has had a decent amount of time with the team (it’s still early days) we’ll continue our onwards and upwards movement – we really do have so much to be grateful for when you consider how things might have been…

The Premier League is hotting up methinks…

Things are getting a little tense in the Premier League at the moment… results are not going the way most people would have imagined them to, a couple of months ago. Who would have thought that Liverpool and certain other teams would be battling so much – Aston Villa as a prime example. Even Chelsea are not where they normally would be at this point in the season.

As for Liverpool, I have no idea what’s happened to them – they seemed to be having a super run of form and then ever since the Suarez debacle they seem to have lost focus and consequently… points. Obviously these two things may be totally unrelated, but I can’t help thinking that the upheaval (as well as having Suarez missing for 8 games) is the reason for this malaise.

Here is the league table as it stands now… I wonder how much different it will be at the end of the season?

 

Sunderland v QPR

What a fabulous game for Sunderland fans!! James McClean started things off with a wonderful cross into Niklas Bendtner, who headed it into the net for their first goal. McClean then went on to score the second after a deflection off the posts, and Stephane Sessegnon took them up to 3 with a confident shot past Paddy Kenny. QPR’s Taye Taiwo ruined Sunderland’s chances of a clean sheet with a fantastic free kick, but it was too little, too late. A good win for Sunderland and another boost to their confidence levels in the run-up to the FA Cup replay against Everton which is sure to cause a few nervous moments among players and supporters alike!

Arsenal v Aston Villa

Another exciting game, with some fantastic play by Arsenal. When they are on form, they are a thing of beauty to watch – their passing, footwork and ball skills are outstanding and they make everything look effortless. The Gunners have strengthened their hold on third place, which is fantastic considering the way they started the season – I’m sure their supporters still shudder at the thought. I was very happy for Keiran Gibbs who scored his first Premier League goal – the look on his face was priceless. I also have to make special mention of one of my favourite players – Alex Song. The man is so good at what he does, and the kicks that he puts into the box for the strikers are most often absolutely perfect. This weekend’s effort was a prime example. He kicked that ball so precisely that it landed perfectly on Theo Walcott’s foot, enabling him to touch it once and then blast it home! Perfection!! A fantastic result against a Villa team that were hardly in the match, in my opinion.

Liverpool v Wigan

This was a major surprise for me – with the way that Wigan have languished in the bottom three for most of the season, I would not have expected them to get 3 points off Liverpool. Wigan took the lead after Maloney scored from the penalty spot but Liverpool equalised in the beginning of the second half. It wasn’t going to be their day though, as Gary Caldwell netted an unlikely winner to give Wigan a shock victory at Anfield. A sad day for Liverpool supporters everywhere, I’m sure.

That’s all the football I was able to watch this weekend. I’m quite intrigued by the ding-dong battle that’s going on at the top of the table – I have a feeling that the derby game between United and City is going to decide who ultimately takes home the trophy this season, with my money being on United. I’m certainly looking forward to the games to come and especially the FA Cup replay between Sunderland and Everton… Ha’way the lads!!!

Fabrice Muamba

I’m sure we’re not alone here at edge of the d in expressing our gratitude that Fabrice Muamba is making a recovery after his sudden collapse at the weekend.

Things like this always put football into perspective. I was watching the game at the time and the scenes were heart wrenching, but the swift action of the medical team saved Muamba’s life.

We hope he makes a full recovery and gets back to doing what he loves. Get well soon, Fabrice.