20 years of the FA Premier League - Part 4

2007/08

PREMIERSHIP title no.10 arrived for Manchester United on the final day of the season and in fitting fashion too.  Ryan Giggs, who had featured and scored in every Premier League campaign, came off the bench to score the second goal in a 2-0 success at Wigan Athletic.  They held off Chelsea’s challenge, as the Blues drew 1-1 at home to Bolton Wanderers.  More agony faced the West Londoners in the Champions League final; beaten by United on penalties in the Moscow showpiece, which led to Avram Grant’s sacking.  Both established frontrunners had sluggish starts to the season.  The Red Devils failed to win any of their first three matches, while Jose Mourinho resigned from Chelsea in mid-September following some dodgy results and more pressure on transfers from the interfering Roman Abramovich.  For a long while, it looked like the youngsters from Arsenal were going to get over the finish line.  Despite losing Thierry Henry in the summer to Barcelona, the Gunners strolled into an advantage as big as seven points at one stage.  However, a horrific double leg fracture for Croatian striker Eduardo seconds into the match with Birmingham City on February 22 totally derailed their challenge.  Arsene Wenger made some poisonous comments about Birmingham centre-back Martin Taylor, who made the accidental challenge on Eduardo and William Gallas furious reaction to a late penalty for the home side didn’t go down well either.  Arsenal fell away in the final two months, and ultimately slipped to third, but only four points behind the champions.  Chelsea kept piling on the pressure, helped by a crucial 2-1 win over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on April 26, but the form of Cristiano Ronaldo was pivotal to Man Utd’s success.  Ronaldo scored a remarkable 42 goals in all competitions, 31 of these in the Premiership.  They kept their noses infront all the way to the final day win at the JJB Stadium.  Liverpool finished fourth, but had a new hero in Fernando Torres to cheer on.  ‘El Nino,’ scored 24 Premiership goals in his debut season.  At the bottom of the league, Derby County became the first side to be relegated at the end of March and ended up with the worst points tally ever.  They won just one game all season; 1-0 at home to Newcastle United in September.  Under Roy Hodgson, Fulham managed the great escape, with four wins in their last five matches.  Danny Murphy headed a dramatic late winner at Portsmouth on the final weekend, with his winner sending both Reading and Birmingham City down to the Championship, despite both relegated clubs winning big on the final day. 

CHAMPIONS: Manchester United, 2^nd: Chelsea 3^rd: Arsenal, 4^th: Liverpool 5^th: Everton, 6^th: Aston Villa, 7^th: Blackburn Rovers, 8^th; Portsmouth, 9^th: Manchester City, 10^th: West Ham United

RELEGATED: Reading, Birmingham City, Derby County

BIGGEST WIN: Middlesbrough 8-1 Manchester City (11 May 2008)

HIGHEST SCORING GAMES: Portsmouth 7-4 Reading (30 September 2007), Tottenham Hotspur 6-4 Reading (29 December 2007), Middlesbrough 8-1 Manchester City (11 May 2008)

SCORERS: Ronaldo (Manchester United) 31, Adebayor (Arsenal) 24, Torres (Liverpool) 24, Santa Cruz (Blackburn) 19, Berbatov (Tottenham) 15, Yakubu (Everton) 15, Benjani (Portsmouth & Manchester City) 15, Keane (Tottenham) 15, Tevez (Manchester United) 14, Carew (Aston Villa) 13, Rooney (Manchester United) 12, Defoe (Tottenham & Portsmouth) 12, Gerrard (Liverpool) 11

2008/09

FOR the second time in Premiership history, Manchester United managed to win three successive league titles.  A 0-0 draw at home to Arsenal on the final Saturday of the season was enough to see them over the finishing line.  They were pushed all the way by a much-improved Liverpool side, who recorded their highest ever Premiership points tally on the way to second spot.  Rafa Benitez would lookback on some silly home draws against the likes of Stoke City, Hull City and Fulham which ultimately cost them the title.  Liverpool lost only two games all season (away at Tottenham and Middlesbrough), and held a five point lead at the turn of the year, but a succession of draws in January gave Manchester United the chance to overhaul the lead the Reds had built-up.  Benitez ranted about United’s record of arguing with referees, which made the battle between the two clubs even more personal.  The deciding results were three games in April.  After losing 1-4 at home to Liverpool at Old Trafford, then 2-0 at Fulham the following week, United needed a stoppage time winner from teenager Federico Macheda to beat a fading Aston Villa side 3-2 at the beginning of the month.  A fortnight later, Liverpool dropped points in a pulsating 4-4 draw with Arsenal, in which Andrei Arshavin scored all four goals for the visitors in a stunning individual performance.  Four days later, inspired by Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Carlos Tevez, Manchester United stormed back from 2-0 down to beat Tottenham 5-2 at Old Trafford.  Later results didn’t matter and it was a special title for United, as they equalled Liverpool’s record of 18 league championships.  Chelsea struggled for most of the season and sacked the unpopular Luis Felipe Scolari in February, following a dismal draw at home to Hull City.  Guus Hiddink took temporary charge and improved results helped the men from West London finish third and win the FA Cup.  On transfer deadline day, Manchester City got bought by the Abu Dhabi United group, turning them into one of the richest football clubs in the world.  Although they only finished mid-table this campaign, they showed the flexible wealth by persuading temperamental Robinho to join from Real Madrid in a new British transfer record deal; £32.5million.  It was a terrible season on Tyneside, as Sunderland only just survived, while both Newcastle United and Middlesbrough were relegated.  Newcastle’s demise came under four managers, and not even club legend Alan Shearer could save the club from the drop.  Newcastle’s final day relegation meant despite winning only one of their last 17 matches, Hull City survived.  Cue Phil Brown’s horrific singing!  Tottenham sacked Juande Ramos after only managing two points in their first eight games, but Harry Redknapp left Portsmouth to steer the club to eighth, behind Fulham, who managed seventh and their best ever finish in the top flight.    

CHAMPIONS: Manchester United, 2^nd: Liverpool 3^rd: Chelsea, 4^th: Arsenal 5^th: Everton, 6^th: Aston Villa, 7^th: Fulham, 8^th; Tottenham, 9^th: West Ham United, 10^th: Manchester City

RELEGATED: Newcastle United, Middlesbrough, West Brom

BIGGEST WIN: Manchester City 6-0 Portsmouth (21 September 2008)

HIGHEST SCORING GAMES: Arsenal 4-4 Tottenham Hotspur (29 October 2008), Liverpool 4-4 Arsenal (21 April 2009), Manchester United 5-2 Tottenham Hotspur (25 April 2009)

SCORERS: Anelka (Chelsea) 19, Ronaldo (Manchester United) 18, Gerrard (Liverpool) 16, Robinho (Manchester City) 14, Torres (Liverpool) 14, Rooney (Manchester United) 12, Kuyt (Liverpool) 12, Lampard (Chelsea) 12, Agbonlahor (Aston Villa) 12, Bent (Tottenham) 12, Davies (Bolton) 12, Van Persie (Arsenal) 11, Carew (Aston Villa) 11, Fuller (Stoke City) 11, Crouch (Portsmouth) 11

2009/10

THE world of football was rocked by Cristiano Ronaldo’s record transfer fee departure from Manchester United to Real Madrid for £80million before the start of the season.  The game also lost the great Sir Bobby Robson, who passed away after a long, brave fight with cancer in July.  Manchester City continued to flex their muscles in the transfer market, bringing in Gareth Barry, Joleon Lescott, Emmanuel Adebayor and controversially, Carlos Tevez in the summer.  Mark Hughes was sacked in December, after a run of eight successive Premiership draws, a new record.  Roberto Mancini was installed as new boss, but City lost out on a Champions League spot, following a 0-1 loss at home to rivals Tottenham in the final week of the season.  Tottenham finished in the lucrative position ahead of City, Aston Villa and Liverpool, who finished in their worst position in the league since 1999.  Rafa Benitez parted company with the club the following summer.  Once again, Arsenal’s title challenge faded in the closing stages of the season, which included a dramatic collapse away to Wigan Athletic in mid-April.  2-0 up with ten minutes to go at the DW Stadium, the Gunners somehow lost 3-2; a result which kept Wigan in the Premiership.  Burnley, Hull City and Portsmouth were the three clubs who were relegated at the end of the season.  Despite beating Manchester United in their first home Premiership match at Turf Moor, the Clarets lost manager Owen Coyle to Bolton Wanderers in the New Year in acrimonious circumstances.  With it was a loss of form, which saw them, condemned to the drop at the end of April.  It was even worse for Portsmouth, as their financial mess unravelled during the season.  In February, Pompey became the first club in the history of this era to enter administration and hence earn themselves a nine point deduction.  For Avram Grant, it was mission impossible and he went to West Ham United at the end of the season; once the Hammers board decided to crush Gianfranco Zola’s morale and dismiss him.  Another side that impressed in the season were Birmingham City.  Under Alex McLeish, the side went on the longest unbeaten run of the season, which stood at 12 games between late October and the end of January.  The Blues finished a commendable ninth.  At the top of the table, it was Chelsea and Manchester United who once again took the title battle down to the final day of the season.  Carlo Ancelotti’s side were one point clear at the start of play and ultimately didn’t have to worry about matters.  The Blues crushed Wigan 8-0 at Stamford Bridge, with Didier Drogba hitting a hat-trick to secure himself the Golden Boot.  It meant Manchester United had to settle for runners-up spot, despite a 4-0 trouncing of Stoke City at Old Trafford.  For the third time in Premiership history, in Ancelotti’s first season and with over 100 goals too, Chelsea became Premiership champions.  

CHAMPIONS: Chelsea, 2^nd: Manchester United 3^rd: Arsenal, 4^th: Tottenham 5^th: Manchester City, 6^th: Aston Villa, 7^th: Liverpool, 8^th; Everton, 9^th: Birmingham City, 10^th: Blackburn Rovers

RELEGATED: Burnley, Hull City, Portsmouth

BIGGEST WIN: Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan Athletic (22 November 2009)

HIGHEST SCORING GAMES: Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan Athletic (22 November 2009), Chelsea 7-2 Sunderland (18 January 2010), Chelsea 8-0 Wigan Athletic (9 May 2010)

SCORERS: Drogba (Chelsea) 29, Rooney (Manchester United) 26, Bent (Sunderland) 24, Tevez (Manchester City) 23, Lampard (Chelsea) 22, Defoe (Tottenham) 18, Torres (Liverpool) 18, Fabregas (Arsenal) 15, Adebayor (Manchester City) 14, Agbonlahor (Aston Villa) 13, Saha (Everton) 13, Malouda (Chelsea) 12, Berbatov (Manchester United) 12, Anelka (Chelsea) 11

2010/11

WAYNE Rooney had a largely troubled season, but his 76^th minute penalty on May 14 earnt Manchester United a 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers; good enough for United’s 19^th league title, overtaking Liverpool’s long-standing record.  They did it, despite only winning five games away from home all season, with the lowest points tally to win the league since 1997/98.  However, only newly promoted West Brom managed to take a point from Old Trafford all season in the league.  Despite finishing second, Chelsea sacked Carlo Ancelotti at the end of the season, after a fairly unconvincing campaign.  For long periods, it was Arsenal who became Manchester United’s closest challengers, but once again, they screwed up dramatically in the run-in.  Wenger’s side were knocked out of three cup competitions in 11 days, threw away a 4-0 lead to draw 4-4 at Newcastle in February and only two wins in their last ten league matches saw them drop to fourth and out of the automatic Champions League qualifying spots.  This meant that despite uncertainty about the future of Carlos Tevez, Manchester City stole third place, their best ever Premiership finish.  Tevez ended joint top scorer with Dimitar Berbatov for the season, and to cap things off for Roberto Mancini’s side, they won the FA Cup too.  It was a miserable season for Liverpool, who looked like they were going to be in a relegation battle in mid-season.  Roy Hodgson was sacked after an unhappy six months in the job, Fernando Torres was sold to Chelsea on deadline day for a record £50million and unpopular owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks had to sell the club in October despite numerous attempts to stop the process.  Kenny Dalglish returned to the dugout and guided the Reds to sixth place, including memorable late season wins over both Manchester clubs.  He also signed Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez, but ultimately, the Reds missed out on Europe for the first time since 2000.  Hodgson eventually turned up at West Brom in February and proved that his management skills still were up to scratch, by easing the Baggies comfortably away from a relegation scrap into a solid 11^th place finish.  Respected Sky Sports presenters Richard Keys and Andy Gray were shamed in a sexism row over women in football.  They made off-air sexist comments about West Ham chief executive Karen Brady and female line assistant Sian Massey before the televised Wolves v Liverpool game in January.  Further damming video revelations in the week forthcoming saw Gray sacked and Keys resigning in disgrace.  Also having a disgraceful season were West Ham United, who treated Avram Grant badly all season.  They looked a liability throughout and despite Scott Parker’s heroic efforts, a 3-2 defeat at Wigan Athletic on the penultimate weekend sent the Hammers down.  Grant’s humiliation was complete when he sacked just an hour after the match.  On ‘Survival Sunday,’ five clubs still might end up being relegated.  Blackburn Rovers new Indian owners had made a catastrophic mistake by sacking Sam Allardyce in December, with the club in comfortable mid-table security!  Although they were in the race for the drop, a wonderful first half at Wolves saw them 3-0 up at half-time and secure of any relegation threat.  It put Wolves right in the mire, despite Mick McCarthy’s team winning at Anfield and beating Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United at Molineux during the campaign.  Blackpool had entertained all neutrals throughout the season, with their flowing attack or nothing football.  They did take a surprising 2-1 lead at Manchester United on the last day, but their poor defensive record cost them and a 4-2 loss meant Ian Holloway’s brave Tangerines joined West Ham in relegation misery.  For a long duration of the campaign, Wigan Athletic looked destined for the drop, but put together a strong end to the season which saw them unbeaten in their last five matches.  A Hugo Rodallega header beat Stoke City at the Britannia to keep Roberto Martinez’s side up against the odds.  This left Birmingham City in huge peril.  Although they won the Carling Cup, two wins in their last eleven matches had seen Alex McLeish’s side slip into the relegation battle.  Ultimately, a late Stephen Hunt goal, which pulled Wolves back to a 2-3 defeat against Blackburn, combined with an even later Roman Pavyluchenko strike for Tottenham against Birmingham sent McLeish’s men down and kept Wolves in the league, on the most incredible final day in the league’s history.  However, despite being unconvincing at times, it was Manchester United’s season once again and a fitting way for Paul Scholes and Edwin van der Sar to bow out of the game, as both retired after the Champions League final defeat to Barcelona at Wembley.

CHAMPIONS: Manchester United, 2^nd: Chelsea 3^rd: Manchester City, 4^th: Arsenal 5^th: Tottenham, 6^th: Liverpool, 7^th: Everton, 8^th; Fulham, 9^th: Aston Villa, 10^th: Sunderland

RELEGATED: Birmingham City, Blackpool, West Ham United

BIGGEST WIN: Manchester United 7-1 Blackburn Rovers (27 November 2010)

HIGHEST SCORING GAMES: Manchester United 7-1 Blackburn Rovers (27 November 2010), Newcastle United 4-4 Arsenal (5 February 2011), Everton 5-3 Blackpool (5 February 2011)

SCORERS: Berbatov (Manchester United) 20, Tevez (Manchester City) 20, Van Persie (Arsenal) 18, Bent (Sunderland & Aston Villa) 17, Odemwingie (West Brom) 15, Hernandez (Manchester United) 13, Kuyt (Liverpool) 13, Van der Vaart (Tottenham) 13, Carroll (Newcastle & Liverpool) 13, Malouda (Chelsea) 13, Campbell (Blackpool) 13, Drogba (Chelsea) 12, Dempsey (Fulham) 12

2011/12 (Table & scorers after three matches)

THE 20^th season has begun with the two Manchester clubs looking unstoppable.  Manchester United handed Arsenal their biggest defeat in Premiership history, with an 8-2 mauling at Old Trafford.  Only hours earlier, Manchester City thumped Tottenham 5-1 at White Hart Lane, with Edin Dzeko scoring four goals.  Under Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool spent big to acquire Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing to the club in the summer.  The good times seem to be coming back to Anfield, with two wins in three games, including an impressive success away at Arsenal, with Luis Suarez looking like the natural replacement for Fernando Torres.  Torres’s new club Chelsea have a new gaffer, as Andre Vilas-Boas arrived in the summer.  They have looked unconvincing so far, but have signed youngster Romelu Lukaku and Valencia playmaker Juan Manuel Mata and kept pace with the leading contenders.  Wolves, Stoke City, Aston Villa and Wigan Athletic have all made solid starts too, remaining unbeaten but with Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri gone, plus numerous suspensions and injuries, Arsenal are contemplating life in the bottom four.  However, there is plenty of time to go in what is turning out to be a special season already.

1^st: Manchester United, 2^nd: Manchester City 3^rd: Liverpool, 4^th: Chelsea 5^th: Wolves 6^th: Newcastle United, 7^th: Aston Villa, 8^th; Wigan Athletic, 9^th: Stoke City, 10^th: Bolton Wanderers

IN BOTTOM THREE: West Brom, Blackburn Rovers, Tottenham Hotspur

BIGGEST WIN: Manchester United 8-2 Arsenal (28 August 2011)

SCORERS: Dzeko (Manchester City) 6, Rooney (Manchester United) 5, Aguero (Manchester City) 3, Young (Manchester United) 3, Klasnic (Bolton) 3, Best (Newcastle) 2, Long (West Brom) 2, Suarez (Liverpool) 2, Silva (Manchester City) 2

2011 UEFA Champions League final - Brilliant Barca down United dream

CONVINCING: Barcelona's players celebrate with the European Cup

BARCELONA turned on the style last Saturday, overcoming Manchester United 3-1 at Wembley Stadium to regain the UEFA Champions League.  It is a third title in six years for the La Liga champions, who now are equal holders for the most Champions League’s (three, with bitter arch rivals Real Madrid).  After the match, Pepe Guardiola confirmed he would be staying with the Catalans for another season, and on the evidence of this performance, he would have been crazy to think about leaving the Nou Camp.  Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, who have made everyone look ordinary in the Premiership this season, were made to look distinctively average by Barcelona’s fearsome attack, which would have anyone quaking in their boots. 

      Like the 2009 final encounter between the sides in Rome, it was the English champions who started the stronger.  Javier Mascherano, playing as an emergency centre-back, seemed uncertain against Wayne Rooney in the opening exchanges.  Ferguson had shocked Dimitar Berbatov by leaving his top scorer this season out of the squad, which will raise serious questions over the Bulgarian’s long-term future at Old Trafford.  From the 15^th minute onwards, Barcelona started launching raid after raid on Edwin van der Sar’s goal.  Only some desperate defending from Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand kept the scoreline at 0-0 until the 27^th minute.  Xavi was given the freedom of the Wembley pitch, and played in Pedro, who stayed cool under a late attempted block from Vidic to beat Van der Sar, in his farewell football appearance.

HOPE: Given to United by Rooney, but it was a false dawn

     If anyone questioned the resolve of Manchester United, then the response was fantastic.  Barcelona carelessly gave possession away from a cheap throw-in and Rooney combined superbly with the off-colour Ryan Giggs to produce a stunning strike from the edge of the area, which left Victor Valdes with no chance.  Finally, Rooney had been able to produce on the biggest stage of all, after his peripheral roles in the 2008 and 2009 Champions League finals.  With the scoreline at 1-1 at half-time, the game was firmly in the balance.  What happened after the break highlighted the gulfing class between the two teams.

      Ten minutes into the second half, and with the United defence rocking, and Van der Sar having to be at his best to deny Daniel Alves, Messi seized his moment.  He stepped away from Ferdinand, and fizzled a shot which an unsighted Van der Sar couldn’t keep out.  The Dutchman will be disappointed to have not done better, but Messi wasn’t complaining.  That was the Argentine’s 53^rd goal of a staggering season.  With Darren Fletcher sill nursing a stomach bug, and Michael Owen not quite having the ultimate killer instinct he used to have at Liverpool, Ferguson’s substitute options were limited.  His only main weapon was Nani.  The dynamic Portuguese winger came on in the 68^th minute for the injured Fabio, and made an immediate telling impact.  Sadly, it was the wrong kind of impact.

      Nani gave away the ball on the edge of his own area, and a deadly Barcelona attack was never going to not punish this careless act of possession.  David Villa producing another beautiful goal, curling a shot in that gave Van der Sar no hope of keeping his attempt out.  That was that, Barcelona had completed the ultimate football performance.  There was time for Paul Scholes to make a brief cameo before he announced his retirement from the game today, and for Nani to create a late moment of panic for the untroubled Valdes.  However, this was undoubtedly Barcelona’s night, Barcelona’s season and Barcelona’s best performance ever.

     There was a nice touch at the end of the game.  Club captain Carlos Puyol allowed left-back Eric Abidal the chance to lift the European Cup.  Abidal had undergone life-saving liver surgery just 70 days ago!  His comeback to lift football’s greatest club competition prize is a story full of emotion and miracles.  For United, it isn’t the end of the world, but Ferguson knows he must come back next season, with a stronger and better squad, otherwise Barcelona will dominate European club football again.  There could be no complaints in the greatest final performance since AC Milan’s 4-0 demolition of Barcelona themselves in the 1994 final.  The class of Barcelona 2011 is quite possibly the greatest team to have graced the game.  They thoroughly deserve to be champions for such a special occasion and on this evidence, Guardiola has the ability to produce a side that can dominate European football for the next decade.

FA Barclays Premiership Report (14th - 15th May)

RECORDS and hearts were broken in the penultimate weekend of the Premiership season, which saw Manchester City’s FA Cup win against Stoke City pale into almost total insignificance.

United make it 19

PROOF: Yes, they are champions, AGAIN!

Manchester United made it 19 English league titles, overtaking Liverpool long-standing record with a nervy 1-1 draw at Ewood Park against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday lunchtime.  Sir Alex Ferguson took a risk in resting Edwin van der Sar for Thomas Kuszczak and Kuszczak looked totally indecisive in the first half.  He was partly to blame for Rovers opener, which was fired in by Brett Emerton on 20 minutes.  You could tell it was going to be United’s day when Martin Olsson’s header hit the post in the second half.  With 17 minutes remaining and the one point required to clinch the title still deserting them, Javier Hernandez went on a game breaking run.  The Mexican was brought down by Paul Robinson and after some consultation with his linesman; Phil Dowd rightly gave the penalty.  Wayne Rooney kept his cool and scored the penalty.  The full-time whistle bought an element of relief, but more delight as the new champions were crowned.  When Sir Alex first came to Old Trafford in November 1986, the record stood at 18-7 Liverpool.  So, this is no doubt, one of the finest achievement every in the history of football.  It is a 12^th Premiership title in 19 seasons and that also means 12 titles for the amazing Ryan Giggs.  There is no doubt that this team lacks the class and qualities of previous title winning teams, particularly those of 1999 and 2008.  However, you don’t win the title by accident.  Hernandez’s goals, Rooney’s return to form, Vidic and Ferdinand’s partnership at the back, Nani’s radical improvement, the experience of Giggs and Van der Sar all have played their part in this title.  They may only have won five away matches all season, but 17 wins from 18 at Old Trafford have set the stone for another title-winning season.  Plus, think of all the comebacks this season; 2-0 down at Aston Villa in November, 2-0 down at Blackpool in January and 2-0 down at West Ham in April and they turned no points into seven.  That makes the difference between a good side and a championship winning team.  Congratulations to all the players and staff at Manchester United for achieving this piece of history.

Bye-bye West Ham

DISMISSED: Avram Grant gets the sinking feeling at Wigan

In a dramatic and frenetic game at the DW Stadium on Sunday, West Ham’s six-year stay in the Premier League was ended by another second half capitulation.  At half-time against rivals in distress, Wigan, the Hammers were coasting at 2-0 up, courtesy of two headers from Demba Ba.  However, defending that would even shame a pub team saw Wigan turnaround the deficit to win 3-2 and keep alive their hopes of beating the drop alive.  This was the final straw for the West Ham board and manager Avram Grant was sacked shortly after relegation was confirmed.  Charles N’Zogbia was superb for the home side, scoring twice.  The winner came in the fourth minute of stoppage time.  Conor Sammon also netted his first goal in English football, which turned the atmosphere around in the stadium, from one of misery to one of joy.  A win at beaten FA Cup finalists Stoke next Sunday could keep Wigan in the top flight.  For West Ham, the search begins for a new manager, with former England coach Steve McLaren already ruling himself out of the running.  Expect a host of their top players like Scott Parker, Robert Green, Matthew Upson and co to be at alternative clubs next season.   

Birmingham dragged into the mire

Carling Cup winners Birmingham City are now only above the drop zone on goal difference.  They face Tottenham on Sunday knowing that a heavy defeat could seal their fate.  Alex McLeish could only look on in horror, as his side produced a terrible performance at home to Europa League-bound Fulham.  Norwegian Brede Hangeland scored twice to seal a comfortable 2-0 win for Fulham at St. Andrews, only their third away success of the season.  Had Fulham taken all of their chances, they could have won this game by a cricket score, such was their domination.  Even goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer nearly scored from his own goal kick!  Saturday’s results really hurt Birmingham, as Blackpool and Wolves both collected valuable victories.  In a ding-dong match at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool edged out Bolton Wanderers 4-3.  Charlie Adam netted the winner in a seven-goal thriller.  In the North East, Mick McCarthy finally won a match at the Stadium of Light in the Premiership, at the 20^th attempt of asking (he won none as Sunderland boss in 2003, 2005 & 2006!).  Jody Craddock, Steven Fletcher and George Elokobi scored the goals in a 3-1 win at Sunderland.  With Blackburn still in the mix too, it is two sides from five who will drop out of the Premiership come 6pm on Sunday evening.

Spurs move into pole position & the rest of the action

DIPPING: Van der Vaart's precise effort had Spurs on their way

The Europa League showdown at Anfield went Tottenham’s way.  Harry Redknapp’s side beat a lethargic Liverpool 2-0, to move one point clear in fifth spot.  Tottenham know that beating Birmingham on Sunday will guarantee them European football next season, and leave Liverpool out of a continental competition for the first time since 2000.  A brilliant goal from Rafael van der Vaart had the visitors infront on eight minutes.  Luka Modric banged home a second half penalty, which shouldn’t have been given as John Flanagan barged over Steven Pienaar outside the penalty area.  It didn’t even look like much of a foul to be honest.  However, Liverpool looked flat and suffered a deserved first home defeat of 2011.  It is Tottenham’s first league win at Anfield since August 1993.  Chelsea wrapped up the runners-up position at the weekend, despite only managing a 2-2 draw against a battling Newcastle United side at home.  Branislav Ivanovic gave Chelsea the lead inside two minutes; a good volley from Frank Lampard’s corner.  Newcastle’s first equaliser came fortuitously, as Ryan Taylor’s free-kick was deflected in wickedly by his own player, in the form of Jonas Gutierrez.  A dreadful second half only livened up in the last seven minutes.  It looked like Alex had won the game, when the centre-back met Lampard’s free-kick to head home.  However, Fernando Torres stood around in the penalty area and allowed his marker, Steven Taylor to nod home in stoppage time and earn the Magpies a deserved point.

In the other games, Arsenal’s home season ended with another dreary performance.  The summer break can’t come quick enough for the Gunners, who lost 2-1 at home to Aston Villa.  Darren Bent scored both goals for the visitors.  At the Hawthorns, West Brom overcame Everton 1-0, courtesy of an early goal from Yusuf Mulumbu.  Diniyar Bilyadetinov was harshly sent off for the Toffees and David Moyes was so incensed, he decided that no Everton representative should speak to the media after the match.  It is West Brom’s first Premier League clean sheet since August.

I will be back next week with a round-up of the final Sunday of the season, plus a comprehensive review on the entire Premiership season.  It is Survival Sunday for Blackburn Rovers, Wolves, Birmingham City, Blackpool and Wigan Athletic.

  

UEFA Champions League Semi-Finals, 1st Leg - Favourites on course

MANCHESTER United and Barcelona look all set to stage the 2011 UEFA Champions League final at Wembley Stadium on May 28.  This is after both team’s earnt crucial and almost match-winning advantages in the first legs of the two Champions League semi-finals.

     Goals from Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney in Gelsenkirchen saw Manchester United canter to a 2-0 win away from home, at Schalke 04.  United completely dominated the match from start-to-finish, which clearly must show how bad Inter Milan are, if Schalke (10^th in the Bundesliga) can dismantle them in the quarter-finals.  In fact, had it not been for a man-of-the-match performance from German no.1 Manuel Neuer, Sir Alex Ferguson’s team could have won by a cricket score.  The second leg at Old Trafford should be nothing more than a formality on Wednesday.

OFF: Pepe looks astounded at his dismissal from 'El Classico'

     24 hours later, we saw the ridiculous and the sublime in the latest ‘El Classico’ saga at the Bernabeau.  The contest between Real Madrid and Barcelona seemed more akin to a wrestling match, rather than a football game.  However, it should be the brilliance of Lionel Messi which is remembered, as Barca take a 2-0 advantage back to the Nou Camp for a bruising second leg tomorrow night.  Three players were sent off, though one of those was only on the pitch.  Barcelona’s reserve goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto saw red, for being the main figure in an unsavoury touchline brawl as the players disappeared for half-time.  In the second half, Pepe became the fourth Real Madrid player to see the red card in an ‘El Classico’ game this season.  His challenge on Dani Alves was late and high, but only warranted a yellow card.  Alves’s spectacular acrobatics and the number of Barcelona players crowing the inadequate referee from Germany, Wolfgang Stark, sealed Pepe’s fate.  In fact, why don’t we give Alves a gold medal for his somersaults, rolling antics!  He is an unsporting player if there ever was one; such a shame for his undoubted talent.  Seconds later, Jose Mourinho had too much to say to the UEFA officials and was promptly sent away from the touchline and locked behind a security gate.  Mourinho’s bitter post-match press conference might land him in further hot water with the authorities and when you start blaming UNICEF for your defeat; then this suggest that Mourinho is a very sore loser.

     Enough of the bickering, let’s remember Messi’s genius, which lit up this drab and silly semi-final.  He escaped the attentions of Xabi Alonso to finish off Ibrahim Afellay’s cross with fifteen minutes remaining, giving Barcelona the crucial away goal.  Ten minutes later, Messi went on a weaving run; leaving four defenders for dead and slotting past Iker Casillas to score one of the greatest goals ever seen in Champions League history.  Can anyone stop Messi?  Well, he’s Manchester United’s problem now!  The second legs this week are nothing more than playing through the motions now.

UEFA Champions League Quarter-Finals, 1st Leg review - All over bar the shouting

THE midweek games in the UEFA Champions League produced plenty of goals and saw three out of the four ties virtually settled, with the second legs still to come.

CRUCIAL: Rooney scores the only goal at the Bridge on Wednesday

    The one tie that remains in the balance is the all-England affair, although it is advantage Manchester United after the first leg at Stamford Bridge.  Wayne Rooney can’t seem to stay out of the headlines at the moment.  This time, he did so for the right reasons.  Rooney struck the winner in United’s 1-0 success at Chelsea, to earn the Red Devils their first win in West London since April 2002.  The only goal came in the 23^rd minute.  Michael Carrick picked out Ryan Giggs with a beautifully-placed long ball.  Giggs made Jose Boswinga look silly, and by skipping easily around the back of the Portuguese defender, his pass told Rooney how to finish the silky move.  Duly, Rooney delivered and this time, he kept his celebrations to a far more dignified manner.  Chelsea struggled all night and seemed to lack the fight they should have shown, considering this is their only trophy chance this year.  Fernando Torres still looks bereft of confidence and although Patrice Evra produced a goal line to deny Frank Lampard and Ramires was denied a certain stoppage time penalty, there could be no complaints over the final outcome.  It sets up Tuesday’s second leg at Old Trafford perfectly.

DIFFICULT: Crouch's red card was a real letdown in Madrid

     However, Tottenham’s chances of progressing further look impossible, after suffering pure misery in Madrid.  From the moment Aaron Lennon was withdrawn at the last minute with a throat infection, Tottenham’s night went from bad to worse, eventually losing 4-0 in the Bernabeau.  Manchester City loanee Emmanuel Adebayor headed Real Madrid infront in the fourth minute, although Luka Modric could have dealt with the contact better on the line.  Ten minutes later, Peter Crouch got himself stupidly dismissed after two crude challenges on Marcelo.  Marcelo’s reaction to the red card was disgusting, but Crouch’s behaviour couldn’t be defended either, despite receiving some sympathy from Jose Mourinho.  A second header from Adebayor shortly after the restart had Madrid in control and as the game wore on; their movement on the ball was simply too much for a tiring Spurs outfit.  A beautiful strike from Angel di Maria painted a very grim picture with 18 minutes to go, and there was time for Cristiano Ronaldo to notch a fourth, producing the terminal blow.  Surely, Real won’t need to worry about the second leg this coming Wednesday at White Hart Lane.

     Another tie that is as good as over is the Barcelona v Shakhtar Donetsk quarter-final.  From the moment Andreas Iniesta walked through the Ukrainian defence in the second minute, the gulfing class was evident.  Barcelona won 5-1 through goals from Daniel Alves, Gerard Pique, Seydou Keita and Xavi.  At the San Siro, the draw seemed to favour Inter Milan, but they were stunned by Schalke 04, who inflicted a 5-2 loss on the defending champions.  Dejan Stankovic produced a brilliant strike in the first minute, his speculative effort from 55 yards leave Manuel Neuer rather red-faced.  Afterwards, Schalke ran riot, as their great character won through.  Some will be wondering why they are limping around in the mid-table region of the Bundesliga.  Amongst the dismantling of Inter was a 70^th Champions League goal for the incredible Raul.  Cristian Chivu, who had been sent off in last week’s Milan derby, was dismissed for two yellows in this match too. 

     Real Madrid, Barcelona and Schalke 04 are all but through to the semi-finals, but the English quarter-final remains right in the balance.  The football world’s attention switches to Old Trafford for a belting second leg this week.

FA Barclays Premiership Report (2nd - 3rd April)

ANOTHER weekend of rollercoaster action in the Premiership, which saw the battle at the bottom tighten up even more and the championship head firmly into Manchester United’s control.

RANT: Wayne Rooney's moment of madness infront of the cameras

     Manchester United put in a championship winning performance in the second half at Upton Park.  They turned around a 2-0 half-time deficit at West Ham, to win 4-2.  However, their comeback didn’t dominate the headlines.  Instead, it was the disgraceful behaviour of Wayne Rooney, which left him with a two-match ban and condemnation from many within the game.  Rooney scored a tremendous hat-trick, with the third coming from the penalty spot.  However, he then proceeded to swear into the Sky Sports TV camera, with a rant that can’t be broadcasted on this site in case young children are reading.  It was disgusting, uncalled for and the ban is fully justified, because it is about time that footballers were punished for their foul-mouthed actions.  If Rooney is a role model for football, the game has got some serious questioning to do.  On the funny side, at least the TV camera highlighted his basic language limitations!

     Aside from Rooney’s rant, it was a satisfying weekend for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, as he could sit back and watch his closest challengers drop points.  Chelsea’s slim mathematical hopes died at the Britannia Stadium, as they were held to a 1-1 draw by gritty Stoke City.  A brilliant early solo goal from Jonathan Walters extinguished Chelsea’s faint dreams of a title miracle, despite a classic equaliser from Didier Drogba.  The result marked Stoke’s first Premiership point against Chelsea, at the sixth attempt of asking.  On a painful day at the Emirates, two more priceless points were dropped by Arsenal.  They were lacklustre against Blackburn Rovers, who deserved their hard-fought 0-0 stalemate.  Arsenal did have chances, but they were scarce to say the least.  The flashpoint of the match was a reckless lunge on Laurent Koscieny, which led to Steven N’Zonzi being sent off.  Arsenal now languish seven points behind, with a game in hand.  It isn’t over yet, but the Fat Lady is starting to clear her throat ready for the celebrations at Old Trafford.

ROUT: Yaya Toure completes Manchester City's demolition of Sunderland

     At the bottom of the table, results tightened up so much, that only seven points cover the entire bottom half.  Sunderland’s freefall continued, as they slipped to a horrifying 5-0 loss at a rampant Manchester City.  The Black Cats have now lost six of their last seven matches.  City were emphatic, and easily put in their best performance of the Premiership season on Sunday, tightening their grip on a Champions League qualification berth for next season.  Adam Johnson returned to the team for the first time since January and an excellent finish gave Simon Mignolet no chance in the 9^th minute.  From then on, the result was in little doubt.  Carlos Tevez, David Silva, Patrick Vieira and Yaya Toure added their names to the scoresheet, despite Mignolet’s best efforts.  The young Belgian had a good game actually and couldn’t stop any of the goals.  Perhaps Sunderland’s iffy defending needs to be looked at extensively in training this week.  One win in 11 matches has also left Blackpool perilously close to the drop zone.  Ian Holloway’s side have now been installed as bookies favourites to be relegated after a 3-0 loss at Fulham.  Two goals from Bobby Zamora and a tap-in by the Nigerian Dickson Etuhu moved Fulham into the top half of the table and almost Premiership safety.  Blackpool looked a beaten team at Craven Cottage from the outset, which must concern Holloway, as the belief seems to have been sucked out of his team.     

RESPECT: All smiles before kick-off, but Hodgson got the better of Dalglish

     Revenge is the best dish served for Roy Hodgson, as he put one over his former employers Liverpool at the Hawthorns.  West Brom’s 2-1 win gives them some breathing space and moves the Baggies closer to mid-table than the bottom three.  There were plenty of chances in this match, before Martin Skrtel headed Liverpool infront.  Two Chris Brunt penalties, one in the 87^th minute took WBA away from safety and all but buried Liverpool’s chances of playing in European competition next season.  There were thrills and spills aplenty in a four goal cracker on Merseyside between Everton and Aston Villa.  The 2-2 draw keeps Villa in the thick of the relegation scrap.  Leon Osman gave Everton a half-time lead, but Darren Bent scored twice to have the visitors infront.  This came either side of a Jermaine Beckford shot, which hit the crossbar, crossed the line and wasn’t given.  Where the goal-line technology?  Oh wait, FIFA decided to ban snoods instead!  Seven minutes from time and a questionable foul on Phil Jagielka gave Leighton Baines the chance to make it 2-2 from the penalty spot.

     Birmingham climbed out of the relegation zone, as they made up for their FA Cup quarter-final exit last month against Bolton.  Kevin Phillips made a rare start and scored the opener in the 2-1 win; Birmingham’s first triumph since their Carling Cup success at the end of February.  Craig Gardner doubled the lead and Alex McLeish had Ben Foster to thank for keeping his side infront.  Foster was in great form again, producing a series of fantastic saves, which limited Bolton to a sole consolation, courtesy of Johan Elmander.  At St. James Park, Newcastle all but secured Premiership football next season, as they tore apart Wolves, winning 4-1.  Kevin Nolan, Shola Ameobi, Peter Lovenkrands and Jonas Gutierrez were on target for the Magpies.  Finally, a lacklustre game at the DW Stadium saw Wigan and Tottenham play out a 0-0 draw.  It is a vital point for Wigan in their fight against the drop, but more points dropped by Tottenham, who are starting to feel the pace of a long season in Europe and the Premiership.  It will take a mighty effort for Harry Redknapp’s men to be in the Champions League again next season.

     With no more international interruptions, the Premiership is now running till the end on a week-to-week basis.  Whilst it is too close to call to predict who will stay up and who won’t, don’t be surprised to see the bookies begin to pay out on another title success for Manchester United.

FA Cup 6th Round Review - And now, only four remain

FOUR teams now remain in the quest for FA Cup glory this season.  Bolton Wanderers, Manchester United, Stoke City and Manchester City can all look forward to a Wembley trip for the semi-finals next month, but who will have a second visit in May.

DYING: Lee Chung Young earns Bolton a rare semi-final

     Bolton Wanderers became the first side through to the semi-finals, after securing a last gasp 3-2 win over Carling Cup winners Birmingham City at St. Andrews.  Twice, Birmingham fought back from falling behind, but Lee Chung-Young’s header in the dying stages earnt Bolton a semi-final in this competition for the first time since 2000.  Bolton have been the better side in the Premiership this season, but were made to work very hard by a Birmingham team that has been decimated by injuries and fatigue since their League Cup triumph a fortnight ago.  Johan Elmander had Wanderers infront after ten minutes, before Cameron Jerome’s delightful volley had the home side back on terms.  Curtis Davies daft foul on his namesake Kevin allowed Bolton the chance to get back ahead, which the striker didn’t waste from the penalty spot.  With ten minutes to go, Kevin Phillips produced a quality volley with the instinct to goal that he has shown throughout his amazing career, before Davies beat Jean Beausejour to head a free-kick across the box and allow Korean Lee to nod in from close range to settle a pulsating tie.

     The standout tie was the meeting of the Premiership top two on Saturday night.  However, it turned out to be a comfortable 2-0 success for Manchester United against Arsenal at Old Trafford.  The Gunners had plenty of crafty build-up play and produced several good opportunities.  Edwin van der Sar being named man of the match highlights the fact that Arsenal looked better going forward.  However, Wenger’s men couldn’t provide the final touch, which is starting to become a very familiar story.  Brazilian left-back Fabio steered Manchester United infront on 25 minutes, turning in from close range once his twin Rafael had been denied by the valiant Manuel Almunia.  Wayne Rooney looked somewhere near his best and the striker sealed the match as a contest five minutes into the second half, as Arsenal failed to deal with a trademark United counter-attack.  Wenger’s mood wouldn’t be helped by a nasty collision between Bakary Sagna and Johan Djourou in their desperate attempts to stop Javier Hernandez score a third.  Djourou came off worse; the Swiss defender out for the remainder of the season with a fractured shoulder.  Arsenal are now a wounded club, knocked out of three competitions in the space of a fortnight and are likely to end up without a trophy AGAIN!  For Sir Alex Ferguson, a repeat of that historic treble in 1999 is still potentially on the cards.

HOBBLED: Piquionne limps off as the Hammers lose at Stoke

     Stoke City made their first FA Cup semi-final in 39 years, edging out West Ham United 2-1 in the game of the weekend.  It was a tie full of controversy, and Avram Grant has since been charged by the FA for improper conduct.  This followed his comments about the referee Mike Jones, who it must be said, had a terrible game.  Stoke’s formula one was to score from a long throw-in and this they achieved in the eighth minute.  Rory Delap’s throw-in found the head of Robert Huth who powered Stoke infront.  In a nine-year career, Huth had scored only seven goals before this season, but he has eight in this season alone.  The Hammers equaliser was very controversial on the half hour mark.  Thomas Hitzlsperger’s wonderful diagonal ball found Frederic Piquionne, who controlled the ball with his arm.  Accidentally or not, the goal should have been ruled out.  Piquionne did well to finish with the ball in the net, but a collision with Danny Pugh finished his afternoon prematurely.  Tony Pulis was furious with the decision, but 18 seconds into the second half, parity was restored.  Matthew Etherington went down under the minimalist of contact from Scott Parker and Jones amazingly gave a penalty!  Justice was done as the excellent Robert Green saved Etherington’s penalty.  On the hour mark, Danny Higginbotham’s fierce free-kick took a deflection off Parker and just crossed the line before Green could keep it out.  Ultimately, it settled the tie, although Stoke survived a late penalty claim and Matthew Upson rattled the crossbar with a bullet of a header.  No glory for Grant this year in his specialist subject, and now, only a tense battle to beat the drop faces West Ham. 

     They may not be playing their best football of the season, but Manchester City has a habit to juggle out results on a regular basis.  They secured the final semi-final berth, at the expense of Championship play-off contenders Reading.  Reading’s resistance was broken in the final fifteen minutes as David Silva’s corner was powered in by Micah Richards.  It was Richards’s third goal of the season and it finally found a way past Alex McCarthy.  He produced several top-class stops to keep City out for long periods. 

     All that means we have a semi-final weekend of Manchester City v Manchester United and Bolton Wanderers v Stoke City on April 17 and April 18.  Wembley has arrived for the last four, but who will be feeling the joy and pain.  The countdown to the semi-finals has begun . . .  

Men behaving badly in the beautiful game

LAST week was a bad week for the game of football.  The beautiful game was dragged through the mud by a series of unprofessional events which soured its image spectacularly.  Touchline brawls, tunnel punch-ups, unpunished elbows and gun incidents; the game made the headlines for completely the wrong reasons.

Saturday

INNOCENCE: Rooney protests the incident, and gets away scot-free

Nine minutes into the match between Wigan Athletic and Manchester United and Wayne Rooney throws an elbow into the back of James McCarthy’s head.  It is an act of thuggish behaviour from Rooney, who still has to justify many for earning £250,000 a week.  Remarkably, referee Mark Clattenburg seemed to share a joke with Rooney about the incident and only gave Wigan a free-kick for the incident.  In his match report, Clattenburg believed that he had dealt with the incident in a calm and professional manner, meaning that the FA couldn’t punish Rooney further until strict FIFA guidelines.  Once again, Wayne Rooney sets a poor example for those who idolise him.

Sunday

Twenty-four hours after the Rooney saga and it is another England team-mate who faces the wrath and condemnation for his actions.  The News of the World break the story that Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole carried an air rifle into the club’s training ground and ‘accidentally’ shot a 21-year old work placement student.  Carlo Ancelotti insists he is still in control with events at the club, but how can this be deemed acceptable.  The club are believed to have fined Cole the maximum two weeks wages for this bizarre and frankly, unforgiveable behaviour.  If Chelsea had been serious, a suspension invoked by the club would have got the message across.

Monday

Stoke City and West Brom have played out a drab 1-1 draw in the Barclays Premiership and Jonas Olsson is angry when he attempts to shake the hand of a Stoke player.  The player, reportedly Dean Whitehead refuses to accept Olsson’s reconciliation attempt, which suggests of some previous bad blood.  In his rage, Olsson punches a picture in the Britannia Stadium tunnel afterwards.  Tony Pulis is furious and insists that disciplinary action should be taken.  Roy Hodgson apologises on Olsson’s behalf, but once again, a stance has not been set out by the club in question.

Tuesday

A pivotal clash in the Premiership title race sees Chelsea beat Manchester United 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.  However, it is Sir Alex Ferguson’s behaviour that is called into question.  Ferguson is incensed at the appointment of Martin Atkinson as referee for this match.  He questions Atkinson’s ability as a referee and insists the game was bound to be unfair.  In the match itself, Chelsea’s winner came from a dubious penalty decision, whilst Nemanja Vidic was sent off and David Luiz avoided a red card for two blatant trips on Rooney.  The FA charge Ferguson with improper conduct and rather than most accepting the charge, Sir Alex has decided to contest the decision, which could lead to an extended ban from the touchline.  Although I personally thought Atkinson had a poor game and made some incorrect calls, there was no need for Ferguson’s outburst and I hope the FA throw the book at him.

Wednesday

UGLY: Neil Lennon and Ally McCoist have to be pulled apart

North of the Border and Celtic entertain Rangers in a fifth round Scottish Cup replay.  It is already the fifth time that these giants of the Scottish game have met this season and the fireworks explode on a bruising and shameful night for the history of the Old Firm Derby.  Three Rangers players; Steven Whittaker, Majid Bougherra and El-Hadji Diouf are all sent off.  Whittaker and Bougherra for fouls that are more expected in a wrestling ring, not a soccer pitch.  Diouf was dismissed after the full-time whistle for an outburst at the referee.  He then evaded police to throw his shirt into the Rangers crowd.  The Senegalese also had an ugly clash with Celtic boss Neil Lennon on the touchline during the match and was goaded all night by the Celtic fans.  This leads back to a spitting incident whilst playing for Liverpool in a 2003 UEFA Cup tie at Parkhead.  At full-time, Lennon and Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist attempt to stage their own version of ‘Big Fight Live!’  They have to be pulled apart by both benches.  With over 30 fans arrested too, it’s a grim night and leads to calls for significant disciplinary action from the SFA, even from the Scottish Parliament.  The whole incident is a complete fracas and distasteful for many.  Oh and there was a football match, which Celtic won 1-0.

Thursday

Manchester City suspend Kolo Toure after the FA confirm that the Ivorian defender failed a routine drugs test following the Manchester derby last month.  Toure is an integral part of the City team and was club captain at Eastlands last season.  It is thought that the club received the news before Wednesday’s 3-0 FA Cup fifth round romp of Aston Villa, hence why Toure didn’t play.  Toure, who played for Arsenal between 2002-2009 is believed to have taken a weight loss tablet, which his wife is on.  Arsene Wenger, who still has regular contact with Toure confirmed at his pre-weekend conference on Friday that Toure takes it, as he is concerned about his weight on a regular basis.  When playing for Sheffield United, Paddy Kenny did something similar and got a nine-month ban for his actions.  If a B sample comes back positive, Toure could face upto two years out of the game, effectively ending his career in England and tarnishing all of his great memories in this country.  Once again, strong action has to be taken, so the message gets across that cheats simply don’t prosper.

For football, it has been a forgettable week.  For many lovers of the game, we all hope this was an unfortunate week and just a nasty sequence of events, but it is understandable why those who don’t follow the game question the worth of today’s footballers and their excessive wage demands.

It is now time for the politics to end, and for the worldwide and national governing bodies to get together and stamp out this kind of childish behaviour which ruins a sport most of us love for the majority.

FA Barclays Premiership Report (26th - 28th February)

LAST weekend saw frosty handshakes between managers, star-studded footballers getting away with blatant elbows and crucial results at both end of the Premiership table.  Consequently, it felt like a typical weekend then.

BOILING: DJ Campbell lost the plot and saw red at Molineux

     The performance of last weekend came from Mick McCarthy’s Wolves, as they thrashed sorry Blackpool 4-0 at Molineux.  The result was to be overshadowed by the news of Dean Richards’s tragic death.  Richards, a huge favourite at Wolves will be sorely missed by everyone in the game.  His old club put in a performance that would have made him proud.  DJ Campbell certainly didn’t make Ian Holloway very proud, losing his rag completely in an unnecessary spat with Richard Stearman.  He raised his hands into Stearman’s face, and deservedly saw red for his actions.  Matt Jarvis already had the home side infront after just three minutes and from that moment on, there only ever looked like one winner.  Only the heroics of Tangerines goalkeeper Richard Kingston kept the scoreline past a cricket battering.  Jamie O’Hara’s second goal of an impressive week sealed the final outcome, before Sylvain Ebanks-Blake added some gloss onto the final scoreline, with two late strikes.  Quite frankly, Blackpool played rubbish from start to finish, and need to stop the alarming slide.  Thank goodness they had beaten Tottenham in midweek before this Molineux mauling.

     Fellow relegation rivals West Ham United put in an excellent performance too, outplaying Liverpool at Upton Park to win 3-1 on Sunday afternoon.  The heartbeat of the Hammers side, Scott Parker led by example again, scoring the first on 22 minutes with a beautifully placed shot tantalisingly out of Pepe Reina’s reach.  West Ham deserved a 2-0 lead for their first half dominance and they got it just before half-time, as Demba Ba headed home Gary O’Neil’s cross.  Despite being on a run of seven unbeaten matches, Liverpool got outmuscled all day on the East End, which shows that Kenny Dalglish still has work to do.  They got back into the game with five minutes to go, through Luis Suarez clever skill, which bamboozled Parker and squaring the ball for West Ham old boy Glen Johnson to tap-in from close range.  Any hopes of a late revival were ended by Carlton Cole.  Only on the pitch for a minute, he robbed Martin Skrtel and powered a shot inside Reina’s near post to lift the Hammers off the bottom of the table.  They are only now behind Wolves on goal difference.

     However, it is West Brom who still is just outside the bottom three, after they rescued a late 1-1 draw at Stoke City on Monday night.  Poor marking at a corner allowed Rory Delap to power the Potters infront early in the second half.  It was a dismal match, completely bereft of quality, but the Albion didn’t give up and got their rewards with three minutes to go.  Carlos Vela was the forgotten man at Arsenal, but his second goal in successive games earnt the Baggies a very valuable point.

     The real losers of the weekend ended up being Wigan Athletic.  A 4-0 home loss to Manchester United not only took United four points clear at the top, but dumped Roberto Martinez’s team to the bottom of the Barclays Premiership for the first time since the second weekend of the campaign.  The talking point of the match was Wayne Rooney throwing an elbow into the back of James McCarthy in the opening exchanges.  The incident was foolish, but referee Mark Clattenburg somehow missed it and seemed to share a joke with Rooney over the incident to add insult to injury.  Rooney has gone unpunished by the FA for his childish actions.  Wigan fans made an early dash home, after witnessing some suicidal defending all day, which allowed Javier Hernandez to continue his scoring spree with two more strike.  The Mexican youngster now has an impressive 13 goals in his debut season at Old Trafford.  Rooney tapped in a third and there was even time for Fabio to score his first ever goal for the Red Devils.  On this evidence, Wigan will find it very difficult to beat the drop this time around.         

FROSTY: Hughes and Mancini won't exchange Christmas cards this year

     Manchester City’s outside hopes of the title were all but ended in a forgettable 1-1 draw with Fulham at Eastlands.  A rather frosty handshake between Mark Hughes and Roberto Mancini, simmering the pot from Hughes’s controversial departure from City in December 2009 was the highlight.  Sparky’s first return since his sacking saw his team fight hard and deserve their point.  Andy Johnson’s swept ball across the box found Damien Duff, who beat Joe Hart three minutes into the second half.  This cancelled out a wonderful first half strike from the temperamental Mario Balotelli for the home side.

     Elsewhere in the Premier League and 37-year old Robert Pires stole the show in Aston Villa’s impressive 4-1 demolition of Blackburn Rovers.  The Frenchman rolled back the years with a vintage display of sheer quality and class.  Ashley Young scored twice and Stewart Downing once, as both looked like they are beginning to return to their best form at a crucial time of the season.  On a difficult week for him with the earthquake in New Zealand, Ryan Nelsen compounded Rovers misery with a late red card.  Ryan Taylor also saw red in Newcastle’s 1-1 draw with Bolton Wanderers at St. James Park.  Daniel Sturridge scored his fourth goal in four games, wiping out the Magpies advantage, given to them by ex-Bolton favourite Kevin Nolan.  At Goodison Park, Jermaine Beckford scored two first half goals to help Everton record a 2-0 win over Sunderland.  The result wiped the smile off Steve Bruce’s face, 24 hours after he’d signed a new contract with the Black Cats.  It leaves Sunderland on a depressing run of four successive Premiership defeats.

     As March is now here, the time for grave mistakes is over.  The 2010/11 Premiership season is approaching its final furlong.  The question is who has the stamina and strength to deliver in the final two months of this gripping campaign. 

FA Barclays Premiership Report (12th - 14th February)

VALENTINES weekend in the Barclays Premiership provided the fans with a breathtaking goal, the title race narrowing to a two-horse race and another dramatic collapse.  Sadly, it didn’t quite live up to the drama of the previous weekend’s antics.

SPECIAL: Rooney heads away to celebrate after the magic moment

After the dud match at Eastlands in November, there were doubts that the second Manchester derby of the season would form a similar affair.  Ultimately, the neutral fans wouldn’t end up being disappointed.  On the weekend of love, there was never going to be an ounce of good feeling and sparks certainly flew between Manchester United and Manchester City.  In the end, it took a belter of a goal from Wayne Rooney to separate the teams, and bury City’s fading chances of a title challenge.  David Silva missed a glaring early chance for the visitors, and he was made to pay for this, as United hit the front shortly before half-time.  Nani was found by a lovely Ryan Giggs pass, which cut out Pablo Zabaleta.  The ever-improving Portuguese winger finished coolly.  City improved after the break and got a deserved equaliser, even if it was fortunate.  Substitute Edin Dzeko’s shot deflected wickedly off Silva and left Edwin van der Sar stranded.  A point apiece would have been the fair outcome, but a special goal from Rooney changed that; a goal worthy enough to win a title, let alone a match.  Nani’s cross may have deflected off Zabaleta, but Rooney’s fantastic improvising couldn’t be faulted.  His overhead kick was simply breathtaking.  Eight points clear of their Manchester rivals, Sir Alex Ferguson only now needs to worry about one team in the Premier League.

That team are his old adversaries from North London, in the shape of Arsenal.  The Gunners had been humiliated at Newcastle seven days earlier, letting a four goal lead slip.  However, they comfortably saw off Wolves 2-0 at the Emirates.  It was an Arsenal onslaught, as even Mick McCarthy admitted afterwards that his team had been ‘completely spanked.’  Robin van Persie continued his rich vein of scoring form, netting twice.  Had it not been for an inspired goalkeeping performance from Wayne Hennessey, the scoreline could have been an absolute avalanche.  The result keeps Arsenal within four points of Manchester United and warms them up nicely for the Champions League showdown tomorrow night with Barcelona.

CONTROL: Jerome Thomas extended Albion's lead, but they didn't hold on

Down at the foot of the table, West Brom did an ‘Arsenal’ and threw away a massive lead and two costly points with it.  New manage Roy Hodgson could only watch on as Albion stormed into a 3-0 lead, only to be pegged back to a 3-3 stalemate with West Ham United.  It was a day for defences to forget.  Both teams’ backlines looked as shaky as the coalition government’s spending cuts!  With First Team Coach Michael Appleton in charge, West Brom charged into their handsome lead inside of half an hour, courtesy of a first of the season for Scot Graham Dorrans, Jerome Thomas and a shoddy own goal from Winston Reid.  After the break, the roles were reversed, as the Hammers took the attacking route and the Baggies; the shocking defensive route.  Spirited by a emotional Scott Parker half-time speech, West Ham looked full of confidence in the second half.  Demba Ba scored twice on his Premiership debut and Carlton Cole scrambled a goal home too.  On the evidence of these defensive displays, don’t be too surprised if both played their football next season in the npower championship.

With Wolves losing and West Brom and West Ham drawing, Wigan had the chance to gain some ground, and they produced a strong performance at Anfield, to hold Liverpool to a 1-1 draw.  Raul Meireles continued his hot streak, scoring his fifth goal in six games to give the Reds the lead; chasing their first five wins in a row streak for over two years.  However, Kenny Dalglish’s troops looked jaded after the break and despite Luis Suarez hitting the woodwork twice on his full home debut, Wigan deserved their point.  Steve Gohouri was fractionally offside, when he turned in Charles N’Zogbia’s cross from close range, but Wigan got their just desserts, showing some qualities that had simply been missing on the road for most matches this season.

Tottenham claimed back the initiative in the race for fourth spot and the final Champions League qualification spot, courtesy of a hard-fought 2-1 win at Sunderland on Saturday evening.  Like Wigan, this result showed Spurs newly-found spirited qualities.  This was a match they didn’t play well in, but would have almost certainly lost two seasons ago.  When William Gallas decided to walk off and change his boots, Asamoah Gyan took advantage of the extra space to score beautifully.  Gallas might need a new sponsor after this gaffe!  Tottenham equalised through Michael Dawson’s header, his first of the season, although Craig Gordon should have done a lot better in dealing with the effort on goal.  Tottenham’s winner was through another Croatian cracker from Nico Kranjcar, his second in successive matches.

SAVE: Petr Cech keeps Dempsey out to spare Chelsea's blushes

Tottenham are now a point ahead of Chelsea in the table, after Carlo Ancelotti’s Blues stumbled to another faltering result; a 0-0 draw with West London rivals Fulham last night.  Fernando Torres started again and once more, looked totally out-of-depth.  The Spaniard was subbed with 20 minutes to play and replaced by Didier Drogba, overlooked from the start by Ancelotti.  Chelsea can even consider fortune to claim a point, as David Luiz made a clumsy challenge and conceded a penalty in time added on.  Luckily for the Blues, Petr Cech rescued them, saving Clint Dempsey’s poor spot kick.

Everton’s stuttering season continued with a 2-0 reverse at Bolton on Sunday afternoon.  Whilst the result keeps Bolton in a healthy 8^th, Everton now loom only three points above the drop zone and their players, whom looked well below standard at the Reebok, need to realise that they are in a relegation battle.  Bolton took the lead on nine minutes, as Gary Cahill’s header deflected off Johnny Heitinga’s chest and left Tim Howard motionless.  Despite Everton threatening for periods, David Moyes men could only muster three attempts on goal in the whole match, and to his fury, they conceded a soft second as Danny Sturridge found room in a crowded penalty area to finish the game.  For the Chelsea loanee, he now has three goals in three matches, and is surely not far off England recognition from Fabio Capello.

In the other weekend matches, Blackpool stopped their losing rot, drawing 1-1 at home to Aston Villa.  Gabby Agbonlahor hit the net for the visitors on the 10^th minute, from a classic Villa breakaway.  Elliot Grandin equalised for Blackpool; the Tangerines 11^th goal from a corner in the league this season.  In the second half, Jean Makoun got a straight red card for bringing down DJ Campbell.  Birmingham City and Stoke City produced a poor advertisement for the Premiership at St. Andrews, but it was Birmingham smiling at full-time, producing a last-gasp 1-0 win.  Asmir Begovic spilled David Bentley’s hopeful shot, and Nikola Zigic headed home with 30 seconds of time remaining to settle this very drab affair.  Finally, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United cancelled each other out in a goalless stalemate at Ewood Park.  Peter Lovenkrands and Roque Santa Cruz came closest for the two teams; both hitting the post during the match.

All in all, this weekend lacked the drama and goals from the previous crazy weekend, but it was another decisive weekend and it belongs to a moment of magic from Wayne Rooney.  What a shame he doesn’t produce it for England on a regular basis then!