Manchester United have reopened their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League after beating Aston Villa 4-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The Red Devils took the lead from the penalty spot, with Wayne Rooney converting a spot-kick after seven minutes, before Danny Welbeck double the hosts’ advantage before the interval.
Rooney grabbed his second after 73 minutes to end the game as a contest, whilst Nani scored late on to seal the victory.
Sir Alex Ferguson was happy with his team after the game, and knows that they are close to winning their 20th Premier League title.
“I thought that was one of our better performances for a while,” the Scot told Sky Sports after the game.
“There could be twists and turns in the title race yet but I think the name of the game now is for us to enjoy ourselves, play with the expression we did today and hopefully we’ll be alright.
“My experience tells me that there’s always something’s going to bite you on the bum so hopefully we can avoid that.
“The name of the game is not to drop any more points,” he stated.
Ashley Young was fouled by Ciaran Clark for United’s opener, and Ferguson believes the referee was right to award a penalty.
“I think he played for the penalty. If the player decides to put his foot in and doesn’t stay on his own feet and read the situation then he’s fallen into that you know.
“He’s definitely taken him but I think it was a dramatic fall and I think that he maybe over did the fall but it was a penalty, there was no doubt about that.
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“And I don’t think he can have any compliant because he has actually taken him,” he concluded.
Turn on a football related programme this weekend and you can expect to find a former player having his say about the sport we all love. With Robbie Savage working for the BBC and ESPN, Gary Neville for SKY and former Arsenal defenders, Lee Dixon and Martin Keown both on the BBC, the question has to be asked why football pundits must be formers players who were the most irritating of their time?
The simple answer is that we appear to live in a world where people who are most controversial succeed and these former players who have already established a reputation in the game use this to grind out a career in media after they have retired. By deliberately being controversial they guarantee a reaction from a viewer or reader, something that outside of football, comedians like Frankie Boyle and shock writers like Richard Littlejohn have realised to their advantage
With the added competition that showing football has, I think the media organisations like BBC and Sky are competing against each other to find the most controversial pundit who will ensure people tune into their coverage and not their rivals. The problem for footballers who are have a decent reputation in the game is that they struggle to gain controversy. A fine example is BBC pundit Alan Shearer who just seems to states the obvious every week on MOTD to everyone’s general annoyance and also Steve Claridge who does quite similar on the Football League Show. From the reaction when these two are on our screens it is obvious that football fans do not want to watch dullards discussing football and would rather someone who can keep them entertained, whether that is through intensive football knowledge or by making controversial statements that these supporters react to.
Gary Neville has been one of football most controversial and divisive figures for years during his illustrious playing career at Old Trafford. When Sky appointed him a pundit at the start of the new season they knew what they doing as Neville is never short of an opinion or two. I have actually been surprised by Neville’s intelligent and amiable punditry so far and he actually seems to think about the game. While soon to be dancer, Robbie Savage clearly has a bright future in the media profession as after hanging up his boots last season he won the Sony DAB Rising Star Award for his work on BBC Radio Five Live. Although I was not his biggest fan as a player he has carried through the controversial aspects of his game into his media career and he can certainly bring extra life to a mundane phone call during his 606 show. I actually think Lee Dixon is one of the best pundits around, his views on the MOTD2 sofa are normally well-thought out and balanced but he still maintains the ability to entertain, he is someone that pundits in better jobs like Shearer could learn from.
I think these newly retired players are freshening up the football media landscape after it had stagnated in recent year with many pundits who had been out of the game for many years falling out of touch with the game. Some of these younger pundits were involved in the game just last seasons so will have some idea what the manager is saying at half time or what players think of a certain referee, so their words carry more weight. This new breed of football pundit in the competitive world of football looks to continue and if this trend does carry as as it has I wouldn’t at all surprised to see in the future, pundits Joey Barton and El Hadj Diouf discussing the game on a Saturday night.
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Chelsea threw away a three-goal lead against Manchester United on Sunday, as the Premier League champions showed their resolve to get a 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge.
A Jonny Evans own goal after good work by Daniel Sturridge gave The Blues a 1-0 lead at half time, before a stunning volley from Juan Mata doubled their lead in the first minute of the second period.
Three points looked all by guaranteed when a David Luiz header took a deflection off Rio Ferdinand and beat David De Gea in the United goal, putting Chelsea three goals to the good.
However Sir Alex Ferguson’s men fought back courageously, with two Wayne Rooney penalties getting them within touching distance, and substitute Javier Hernandez heading home the equaliser with six minutes remaining.
Villa Boas was clearly frustrated by dropping two points, and questioned Howard Webb’s decision-making process in the second half.
“Of course, it’s not easy to take. A game where we were very positive and had the initiative for most of it,” the Portuguese coach told Sky Sports.
“It’s a massive recovery for United. It’ll feel like a win for them, of course. We had it in our hands and let it slip.
“There were some strange decisions today though. At Old Trafford we lost two goals that were offside and I see Sir Alex speaking about the linesman just after they recall him.
“These things just keep happening. The first one is a penalty and I agree with it. The second is very, very unlucky.
“I’m not sure if Howard is trying to compensate for something,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, despite staring defeat in the face, Ferguson feels that his side should have taken all three points and were the better team throughout.
“We had two penalties in the second half which were justified. I think we could have had four penalties.
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“It’s two points dropped to be honest with you. We played ever so well apart from the period directly after half-time when we lost two goals. I thought we were by far the better team,” he defied.
The result means United are two points adrift of cross-town rivals Manchester City at the Premier League summit, whilst Chelsea move a point closer to Tottenham in third for the time being.
Manchester United have, for much of the last twenty years, been at the head of the pack as far as English football is concerned. Whether it’s in terms of performance on the pitch, the establishment of the first dedicated club television channel in the shape of mutv, or the way the club has been marketed in the far East, United have been out in front.
When the Glazer family took over the club in 2005 many peopled questioned the wisdom of the deal. For a start, the Glazer’s didn’t have the cash to buy the club up front, and relied heavily on lending from hedge funds and other financial institutions that charged high interest rates.
Then there was the problem that the family didn’t know a huge amount about football, and Chelsea’s big spending was raising the bar for the kind of resources that owners were expected to put into the club.
The result was a certain section of supporters setting up a new club ‘FC United of Manchester,’ whilst supporters in Old Trafford protested by wearing scarves in the club’s original colours of gold and green.
In the last year or so, despite the selling of Christiano Ronaldo, United have continued to enjoy incredible success on the field, and reported strong figures off it. Some of the most controversial debts have been paid down with another first for an English football club: a bond issue on the open markets that raised £500m.
The Glazer’s have always argued that they knew what they were doing and that the club was fundamentally undervalued. The ‘Red Knights’ group tried to buy the club, but refused to offer the amount the Glazer’s wanted as they value the club at around £1.7m. The family is now going to sell from 25 to 30% of the club on the Singapore stock exchange, in the hope of raising between £400 and £600m.
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This sum would, presumably, pay off the club’s debts, although the previous bond issue will be expensive to pay off early. The main thing concerning the fans is that there’s no guarantee that the money would be used to solely deal with United’s debt and put them back on the straight and narrow. The Glazer’s are notoriously secretive about both theirs, and the clubs, finances.
At the end of the day, the most important thing for fans is that United continue to perform well on the pitch, and with Ferguson still going strong and significant investments being made in the squad in the summer, the signs look good for as far as further silverware is concerned. More importantly for other clubs, who are always looking to raise new revenue, United’s Singapore IPO could set a precedent for big clubs around the world.
Arsenal’s came from behind to defeat League Two side Shrewsbury at the Emirates stadium. A James Colins header after 16 minutes gave the away side the lead following a Mark Wright effort that had earlier struck a post. Left-back, Keiran Gibbs, restored parity for the Gunners with a headed effort to level the scores before half-time, before new signings Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Yossi Benayoun scored their first goals for the club to see Arsenal through to round 4.
Michael Owen celebrated his first appearance of the season by bagging a brace against Leeds. The Manchester United striker was leading the line in a side characterised by experience and youth at Elland Road. His first came after a quarter-of-an-hour following fine work by Park Ji-Sung and Dimitar Berbatov, before an emphatic second, drilling the ball home at an angle from just inside the Leeds area. Ryan Giggs’ deflected shot sealed the victory in first-half injury-time to send the Red Devils through.
In arguably the game of round 3, Newcastle overcame Steve McClaren’s Nottingham Forest in a 7-goal thriller that was eventually settled in extra-time. Peter Lovenkrands had twice put the Toon ahead but each goal was cancelled out immediately, first by Findley and then Derbyshire in the second-half. Danny Simpson gave the away side the lead not long in to extra-time before Marcus Tudgay provided a third equaliser of the night for Forest. The tie seemed to be destined for penalties before Fabricio Coloccini headed home the winning goal after 122 minutes.
In other scores, Tottenham debutant Massimo Luongo missed the decisive penalty in Spurs’ shootout defeat at Stoke. After a dull 120 minutes of goalless football, the game sprang to life in an enthralling penalty shootout, with the home side eventually emerging triumphant 7-6.
Bolton won 2-0 at Aston Villa in the night’s only other all-Premiership fixture with second-half goals from Chris Eagles and Gael Kakuta. Aldershot came from behind to earn their first appearance in the fourth round of the Carling Cup by beating Rochdale 2-1. Blackburn Rovers withheld a late rally from Leyton Orient thanks to a first Rovers goal for Simon Vukcevic providing the difference in a 3-2 win.
Kieran Trippier and Andre Amougou helped Burnley come from behind to secure a place in the last 16 at the expense of MK Dons. Crystal Palace eased past Middlesbrough. A 2-1 score-line at Selhurst Park enough to put Boro’s League win at Palace last Saturday in to the back of Palace fans’ minds. But the biggest winners of the night were Wolves who smashed 5 past hapless Millwall to erase a bad Premiership showing against QPR at the weekend. George Elokobi, perhaps the biggest culprit in Wolves’ early capitulation in that game, was amongst the scorers last night to secure an easy progression for Mick McCarthy’s team.
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We are all aware of Fernando Torres’ recent and rapid decline at Chelsea, but the 27 year-old still has plenty of time to prove he can reproduce the form that made him such a popular figure at Anfield and such a universally feared striker. The Spaniard isn’t the only player to have performed so impressively before trailing off towards the end of his twenties, and of course Michael Owen springs to mind.
However, what about the players who were shunned, neglected and left to queue at the job centre during their teens and early twenties, before forging outstanding careers later on? There are a number of players we admire today who were never really given an opportunity until extremely late on in to their careers, and here is a list of ten famous players who blossomed late…
If you can think of any I have missed out, please feel free to leave suggestions and comments below…
Click on Ian Wright below to see the top 10 players that took a while to blossom
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Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp is ready to take his place on the White Hart Lane bench, and looks set to return to football in his side’s game against Aston Villa on Monday.
The ageing coach underwent surgery to unblock two coronary arteries before the international break, and has not been present at Spurs’ last games against Rubin Kazan and Fulham.
However with Redknapp feeling better, first team coach Joe Jordan has admitted that the manager may be involved against Villa.
“It will depend on his conversation with the medical people, but he’s feeling good, he’s sounding good and I would think there’s a possibility he’ll be back for the Aston Villa game. Maybe he’ll pop in during the lead-up to that game, but that will depend on medical advice,” Jordan told The Telegraph.
“In our last game against Fulham I don’t think it will have done him good sitting there watching the television for the last 20 minutes.
“This time around I think he would like to be in the position where, if he’s at the stadium he will be on the bench making decisions and being involved. Against Fulham it would have been torture watching the game and not making substitutions or decisions. He will have suffered a lot more.
“He’s been in contact with people at the club, but with respect to what’s happened, we’ve left him alone and haven’t been on to him unless it was really important. The last thing he needs is for someone to be on the phone constantly so it has not been the case,” he concluded.
Tottenham will look to make it eight wins from nine games against Alex McLeish’s men, and will be buoyed on if Redknapp does return.
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After just two wins from 13 games and £25million worth of summer additions not making any impact on the Sunderland side, Steve Bruce was sacked by the Black Cats last week. Martin O’Neill was quickly appointed Bruce’s successor and there could be a huge change in the form at the Stadium of Light if O’Neill’s managerial history is anything to go by.
Sunderland sit just one point and one place above the relegation zone after another defeat on Sunday to relegation rivals Wolves. Bruce had failed to replace outgoing strikers Kenwyne Jones, Darren Bent and Asamoah Gyan over the past year even though 12 new faces arrived at Wearside this summer. All areas of the team were added to but that failed to make a positive reaction in camp and a new era has now begun for the underachieving Black Cats.
New signings Nicklas Bendtner, Connor Wickham and Dong-Won Ji have failed to produce goals and Blackpool’s player of the year last season David Vaughan and former Birmingham City midfielder Craig Gardner have struggled to cement a place in the side. Defensively a group of Manchester United rejects seem to make up the back four and they have struggled to show any real defensive qualities up until now.
However, in O’Neill Sunderland have a top manager with an excellent record and I can see them climbing up the league significantly from now onwards. Some kind fixtures including games against Blackburn, QPR and Wigan on the horizon, I would fully expect possible maximum points from them key games.
O’Neill’s enthusiastic approach to the game and positive tactics, with out-and-out wingers and pacey strikers a tradition in his sides, along with big, powerful defences such as the one he left behind at Aston Villa.
The Black Cats’ bitter rivals Newcastle United enjoyed a superb start to their season under Alan Pardew and sat third just two weeks ago. A few bad, tough fixtures in a row and the Magpies have slipped to sixth after their 3-0 defeat at home to Chelsea on Saturday. They have scored one goal from open play in their last three games and have conceded seven. Yes they have had some tough games but there is now more pressure on them to break their winless streak at the weekend.
Pardew has some serious injury problems with Fabio Coloccini and Steven Taylor set for spells on the sidelines and Hatem Ben Arfa and Cheick Tiote struggling to get back to full fitness. With goals perhaps drying up and defensive problems, could we see Newcastle take a tumble down the league ladder in the coming weeks.
A large, talented squad at Sunderland could start to pick up points on the road and at home with a new manager and a new mentality it seems Newcastle are unfortunate that injuries have hit at the wrong time. Sunderland’s season starts now in the eyes of O’Neill and they must begin five wins behind their rivals in the North East. Expect attendances to rise at the Stadium of Light and some positive signings in the January transfer window to affect the team immediately.
Can Sunderland catch Newcastle this season? Yes I think so, but Pardew’s team are in the driving seat. O’Neill will certainly be pushing his squad up the table but how far can they get?
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With the promotion of Brighton, Southampton and Peterborough, who were some of the division’s top spenders and the relegation of Preston, Sheffield United and Scunthorpe who all look to be in transition period, League One certainly looks the weakest it has for many a year so it is the perfect opportunity for a perennial challenger to finally make the step up to the Championship.
Promotion
Huddersfield Town were incredibly unlucky not to achieve automatic promotion last year and only a long unbeaten run by Southampton prevented them before the disappointment of the playoff final defeat. This time round Lee Clarke’s men are rightly favourites as they have all the right attributes to get out of the division however after losing key men in Pilkington, Peltier and Kilbane, it will be interesting to see if they are as consistent this season. I think Preston North End with Phil Brown in charge, who has Premier League experience, have the potential to return to the Championship and I expect them to do the best out of the relegated teams. Their end of season form was much improved despite the inevitable relegation and I believe they have a very capable squad for the division, making them strong contenders.
Playoff Contenders
Charlton are tipped to have a big season but I think they may be a bit overrated with some un-inspiring signings. They will surely be an improved side with all the new arrivals but I am not sure if Chris Powell is the man to take them back to the Championship. However I can see the Addicks challenging for the top six near the end of the season. Havign both Sheffield clubs in the third tier of English football is a rare sight and they will be looking to make the playoffs at least. Wednesday are not going to be the best team to watch under Gary Megson but if the style of football achieves promotion their fans won’t to mind. They should be contenders come the end of the season but need to find a goalscorer first. Over the city at Bramall Lane, Danny Wilson may have faced a lot of stick after taking the job but if he can take them back at the first time of asking the early animosity will be forgotten. They will be looking to use their excellent youth team to help them achieve after getting rid a number of expensive players and a place in the playoffs at the end of the season should be within their grasp.
Outsiders
Fellow relegated side Scunthorpe looked a different outfit under Alan Knill at the end of last season but it wasn’t enough to save them. A summer of departures has followed and a limited budget has meant only a few new signings to replace them. However if they can find a 20 goal a season man and sort their leaky defence, they will have enough quality to challenge for a play-off berth. Brentford look a good shot for playoffs under former Man City striker Uwe Rosler. The signing of League Two top goal scorer Clayton Donaldson is just one of their impressive captures this summer and pre-season results have been encouraging with the Bees looking like a team on the up. MK Dons under Karl Robinson enhanced as the season went on and if they continue this improvement they have the squad to sustain a challenge for the playoffs again despite the loss of key man Peter Leven.
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Dark Horses
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Current League Two Champions, Chesterfield could be this year’s surprise package after playing some fantastic football last year. John Sherdian looks to be a very capable manager and they could well make a challenge for the playoffs although the loss of Craig Davies may affect their charge up the divisions.
Let me know your thoughts on my predictions and what you think of the upcoming League Two season also look out for the teams who will be trying to avoid relegation tomorrow. Follow me on twitter @aidanmccartney for more Football League debate.
They say if it aint broke, then don’t fix it but I’m going to try and attempt to get my hammer and screwdriver out with the Premier League’s current archaic relegation system. As we all know, over recent years the ‘top four’ has expanded to what is regarded as the ‘big six’ with the fourteen other Premier League clubs struggling to match the elite both on the field of play and financially off it also. Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish has previously stated that clubs such as his own are now struggling to cope in terms of wages and revenue with the new breed of ‘super clubs’ out there. With the ‘big six’ usually near the top end of the table in any order, the rest of the clubs are fairly evenly matched on their day and the competitiveness of the promoted clubs this term serves to suggest that the jump from the Championship to the Premier League isn’t as big as first publicised; simply requiring effort, desire and careful guidance.
So if the jump from tier two to top flight isn’t that big, then why can’t there be a restructuring of the old and historic relegation system? Championship clubs have proved they can cut it in the big time. The bottom three go down at the end of the season. Simple. The worst three teams suffer for their bad form over the endurance of a campaign. But what if the 18th placed Premier League side had to play off with the 3rd placed Championship side in an end of season relegation play off?
The German Bundesliga currently operates with this system and the Dutch Eredivisie negotiates this ruling also, with the slight difference that two top flight teams in Holland have to do battle with two second tier sides instead. Not only would more excitement stem from a one off game but clubs in the Premier League would strive even more to avoid a hazardous one off game, and clubs in the Championship would strive even more to clamber into third position, for a chance to achieve promotion. Perhaps we would see greater competitiveness as a general pattern. The current Championship play-off system is a very exciting one, but you do feel it is a waste of hope and time for the sides that fail to reach the final of it.
It is my opinion that the so-called ‘late surger’ or sixth placed side often has the momentum to topple the sides immediately ahead of them, distorting the points tallies which may be significantly greater for the third, fourth and fifth sides at the end of a campaign. All of the clubs know the pitfalls of the playoffs already, but I think whilst play off glory may be joyous for whoever wins, the other teams’ exploits over a course of a season are cruelly taken away and unrewarded. Therefore, if the third place side hierarchically had to do battle with the 18th placed Premier League side, this type of play off would be far more fair and reasonable.
Of course, if the Premier League were far superior to the Championship then redemption for the 18th placed side would almost be guaranteed and widespread criticism would be received for such a system. However, in a metaphorical ‘relegation play-off game’ it would be an interesting experiment as the lack of morale and heads down nature of the Premier League team verses the hopeful and upbeat nature of the Championship side would make for what could be considered an even and keenly-fought contest. Not only would we gauge a realistic outlook of how close the respective tiers are but we would see a shift in attitude in this country that play-offs can be implemented at the bottom of the table as effectively as they are placed at the top.
Whilst critics may point to the argument that we’d see lesser quality in the Premier League if the Championship side were victorious in the one off game, they only have to be reminded that 18 of the 24 current Championship sides have tasted Premier League action before, and it is the acclaim of managers everywhere that England’s second tier is one of the most competitive and hardest to negotiate.
Last year’s final day in the Premier League was exciting (and gruelling) for the teams involved at the basement of the division, but by implementing a relegation play off there would be a far more systematic element as to how clubs rise and fall. For example if Terry Connor’s Wolves clambered to 18th position from their current position, this could be considered a success and a chance to survive, hence greater excitement and drama surrounding an 18th placed finished as opposed to the swift reality of dropping out of the division at present.
Perhaps these concepts may seem like meddling and tampering with an already astute system, but adopting such a system would spark even more excitement into an already enthralling division, rightly considered the best in the world.
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What do you think of this idea? Are we too rigid in this country towards change or should I be taking a lay down? Follow me @ http://twitter.com/Taylor_Will1989