Spurs 0 Arsenal 0; West Ham 0 Utd 1

An uninspiring day in the Premiership sees Manchester United return to the top after a Ryan Giggs second-half effort. West Ham played quite well but were never going to score although they have a good nucleus to push on under Mr Zola and become a decent team.

Arsenal’s trip to Spurs saw Adebayor pop a hamstring and Eboue become the 72nd red card in Wenger’s Arsenal tenure. The man is a first-class idiot, kicking out and then acting as if the referee’s a drunk for sending him off. The game petered out after the red card from an enjoyable contest into a bit of a nothing game, with Luka Modric guilty of a miss at the death that would have provided welcome relief for the Spurs fans.
Spurs remain in a precarious position, while Arsenal have ruled themselves out of the title chase for this season, they may focus on the Champions League now the elusive Holy Grail for Wenger after Barcelona beat them a few years back. Could even spell the end for Wenger and the core of his team. They will struggle to get fourth on their current form and with injuries and suspensions playing their part, it’s looking like a bleak finish to the Premiership season for the men in red.
United won’t be stopped this year, with home games against Fulham and Blackburn next, two or three trophies look extremely likely to wing their way back to the Old Trafford trophy cabinet. Remaining tricky games against Arsenal, Man City and Liverpool will all be at home and with the likes of Evra and Rooney still to come back, and the meanest defence in history, United could have this wrapped up sooner than we all thought a month ago, with Inter Milan to provide a sterner test than their average week domestically…..

Not Keane enough?

You have to feel sorry for Robbie Keane.
Sure, he has earned another generous signing-on fee for a few months inactivity at Liverpool. Sure, you hated him every time he did the bow and arrow, roly poly, I’m an asshole goal celebration.  And yes, he does have an accent that suggests he might mess you up for looking at his bird.
But at least he seems to love his football. And he seemed to love Liverpool. And yet the two couldn’t be reconciled, either because Rafa Benitez never fancied him to fit in and was prepared to leave him on the bench as a power play in his contract struggles, or because Irish players seem to have been cursed at the club since Graeme Souness took over in the not-to-be-spoken about era of the 90s.

Hee has the right kwall-ities and ees a very good profethional no?

Keane tried his heart out, he ran and ran, as he has always done. He scored tidy finishes and that cracker against Arsenal. And he would have scored more had he been alowed to play more.But the sings were always there. On his debut for Liverpool, getting the chance to play for his boyhood club in the Champions League away at Standard Liege, Liverpool were huffing and puffing at 0-0. An away goal is seen as crucial in the Champions League, albeit Liverpool are the one club that seem to turn 0-0s into aggregate wins with ease. With 67 minutes on the clock, Keane’s time was up and Steven Gerrard awaited to renew his potent partnership with Torres.

The following match against Sunderland, on his league debut with the scores tied at 0-0 and 76 minutes on the clock, Nabil El Zhar readied himself and Keane was withdrawn. Torres would score the winner just minutes later and the tone for Keane’s Liverpool career was set. The match winners were Torres and Gerrard. They were Benitez’s luxury, the ones who he’d leave on because they had that spark to win the game. Keane never fitted into the luxury bracket.

Premiership: Full Steam Ahead

Ah the FA Cup, the romance, the giant-killing. Literally. Mr Kanu and Crouch (all 13-14 feet of them; hence the clever giantkilling reference – get it? Ah…..) were among the Portsmouth team who cantered to a defeat at home to Swansea. 2-0 and the holders are out while the likes of Aston Villa, West Brom and Arsenal will have to do it all again after being held to draws by ‘weaker opposition’.  Manchester United and Chelsea will have been thrilled to see their three rivals held, after Liverpool’s draw with Everton, and now attention turns to an important week in the Premiership….

Tuesday:

• Sunderland V Fulham
• West Brom V Man Utd – highlights of Man Utd V Spurs below -
• Tottenham V Stoke
• Portsmouth V Aston Villa (Sky Sports 2 – 8pm)

These fixtures will all be of significance for teams in varying degrees of form. League leaders Man Utd were comfortable winners over Spurs at the weekend despite falling behind early in the game.  Of greater importance to Alex Ferguson is the mounting injury list which claimed the impressive Fabio Da Silva and the less impressive Danny Wellbeck (already beginning to look like Utd’s answer to Nicholas Bendtner) at the weekend. With the likes of Ferdinand, Evans, Brown and Saha already out, Utd’s back line will again see Neville and Vidic paired at the back. This means that Darren Fletcher will drop to right back. While most people will look at this fixture and say Utd are bankers, West Brom like to play a bit of football. What they lack in talent they make up for in attitude and I fancy them to at least run United close tomorrow night. Tony Mowbray will see this as a crucial game with the relegation battle set to feature anything up to 14 teams at present. A win over Utd would likely take the Baggies, who’ve take nine points from their last 15, out of the relegation area and would set the team up for survival with buckets of confidence going into the weekend clash with freefalling Hull.

Johnny Evans (left) joins Wayne Rooney (centre) on the sidelines as Edwin Van Der Saar (right) looks on and Cristiano Ronaldo (far left) goes down under the car's challenge

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Sunderland (no wins in four) entertain Fulham (no wins in three). Another six pointer, with Fulham only five points above the relegation area despite their recent impressive run. Sunderland have lost Chimbonda (back to Spurs) and are clinging on to star striker Kenwyne Jones despite Spragia’s boast that the club would not be selling players in January. Fulham still look good, and if not good, solid and with Andy Johnson beginning to get a few goals, will fancy their chances at the Stadium of Fright.

I fancy another surprise at Fratton Park. It takes a brave man to bet on Portsmouth but having signed Pele today (18-year-old lad from Portugal, not legend to all erectile dysfunction sufferers) as well as solid players in Pennant and Mullins, coupled with Ashley Young’s suspension for Villa, Martin O’Neill’s men may be running out of legs. I hate that expression. Villa look tired,. There you go, bit better. Despite fielding a full-strengt side, Villa were held by Doncaster at the weekend and a trip to Portsmouth won’t look too enticing just a few days later. With Wigan, Blackburn, Chelsea, a replay against Doncaster and a trip to CSKA Moscow in the UEFA Cup within the next four weeks, it’ll be a bruising month for Villa and may see them slip behind the Premiership contenders, starting with a win for Tony Adams’ men tomorrow.

Ashley Young was getting sick of sitting on the sidelines

Carling Cup Final

                    

Chelsea meet Tottenham at Wembley today as Juande Ramos and Avram Grant look to earn their first trophy for their respective clubs.
Chelsea are most people’s favourites, however Ramos has a terrific record in cup finals having won the last two UEFA Cups with Sevilla, while Grant has yet to experience that level of pressure in a cup final.
The big debate surrounds whether or not John Terry will start the game. As club captain it would be expected that he would, however Avram Grant has done nothing to quell the rumours of Alex patnering Carvalho at the back for the Blues.
For Spurs, Ledley King is desperate to be fit however his lack of match practise may count against him.
Spurs’ defence is the big question-mark on their chances of winning the cup with Didier Drogba having scored in cup finals against Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal.
Despite all this the game is likely to be an entertaining one. Spurs play with a reckless abandon at times, while Chelsea are used to winning and the likes of Anelka and Cole are in great form going into the game. Likewise Keane and Jenas for Spurs, who I just fancy to nick it, possibly in extra-time.

Prediction: Spurs 3 Chelsea 2

It’s looking like King Woody for Spurs

Jonathan Woodgate has joined Tottenham from Middlesbrough for a fee of £7 million tonight. Woodgate will form a new partnership with Ledley King at the back for Ramos’s team. Michael Dawson will fill in for whichever of the two is injured on any given day. The prospective signing of Gilberto should, by rights, mean the end of Paschal Chimbonda’s Spurs days, however Kevin Keegan has stated he is not interested in signing the French right-back who recently expressed an interest in a move up North because “it’s all about the money”. Quite.

Mohammed Sissoko should be having a glass of water with Juve’s top honchos as we speak having completed a medical at the Italian giants today. Juventus will part with between £8-9 million for the Mali International who is currently on duty at the African Nations. Liverpool fans will be praying that Juve don’t discover he hasn’t been able to see properly for the last year or so since getting a kick in the face and temporary blindness in one eye….or at least with the number of stray passes, we assume he’s still suffering from the effects.

Spurs through to Wembley

Congratulations to Spurs who thoroughly dismantled Arsenal tonight, winning by five goals to one in a one-sided game. Had Spurs not withdrawn Keane and Berbatov just past the hour mark as well as Lennon later on, the game could have ended in further embarassment for Arsene Wenger’s men.

Spurs chased and harried and tackled like their lives depended on it. A mystery surrounds Gilberto Silva’s form for Arsenal. While the Brazilian can point to a lack of opportunities this season as an underlying reason for his dip in form – the fact remains that he was one of the best midfielders in the Premiership last year. Tonight he looked like he didn’t care and his poor tackling was at fault for two of the five goals.

The Carling Cup can be proud tonight, the celebrations of the Spurs players and the dejection of the Arsenal players showed how much the competition meant. A final awaits in Wembley for Spurs. Meanwhile, tonight’s game is one of many this season that have put the FA Cup to shame. The Carling Cup has brought up some cracking cup ties again this season and tonight’s game was no exception. While the FA Cup has brought many shocks this season, a game like tonight shows there’s no substitute for class….and the Carling Cup is beginning to outshine its illustrious neighbour….

WE LOVE CHRISTMAS! (Derbys galore!)

Don’t you just love Christmas?

 This weekend’s action kicks off at 12.45 with a traditional cracker: Arsenal V Spurs.
Spurs have shown promising signs recently of becoming a football team again, they’ll need to keep their discipline though because as we saw during the week, playing against a ten-man Arsenal team can be tough, playing with ten of your own is just suicide.
Spurs welcome back captain Robbie Keane which means Jermaine Defoe will be back in the familiar surroundings of the dugout. Didier Zakora starts a 3-game ban, Steed Malbranque doesn’t. Where’s the justice in that?

  Cesc Fabregas should have seen red for his nasty foul on Ashley Cole in last week’s game against Chelsea. He didn’t though and unfortunately for Spurs, he’ll take his place in the team. Van Persie is also fit to start and should be amongst the goals as he’s been a bit quiet since his return without looking 100 percent match-fit.

This game is generally very entertaining and with both teams looking to kick-start a successful Christmas campaign, fingers crossed we’ll see a few goals. Prediction: Score Draw.

                                      

 (Cannavaro V Zambrotta. We’re backing the lad with the muscles – Cannavaro)

Sunday sees El Classico: Real Madrid V Barcelona. Messi is out for Barcelona so we won’t be treated to a repeat of his famous hat-trick last year. Speculation is also rife that Ronaldinho won’t start. However, to be honest, he probably will. Giovanni dos Santos has been in top form but ‘Diny has to be included as he has a good record in the Classico encounters in his time there. Thierry Henry, if passed fit, renews rivalry with Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Expect lots of hugs and pats on the ass and both of them to get on the score sheet. Samuel Eto’o may be the preferred choice after the Cameroon hit-man has exploded back onto the scene since recovering from injury, grabbing a brace in last weeks 3-0 win over Valencia.

As with Spurs-Arsenal, this one is always worth a look. Not simply because of the players involved (although it’s a little exciting to see them all on one pitch), also because of the fact that the fans simply hate each other. And the players have been known to get a little testy too. With Real Madrid currently on top, Barca need the win. A win for Madrid would leave Raul and co sitting pretty, seven points clear of their rivals, a far cry from last year when they trailed for most of the early season. Kick-off is at 6p (GMT).

                                                  

(Kaka miserably fails to bring sexy back)

 Onto Serie A now where the Milan derby also takes place this weekend. Possibly not one to stimulate as much in recent years as the players are probably doped up and betting on each other while the referee has presumably got himself a nice brown envelope to spend as he sees fit once everything goes to plan.

Hopefully all that rubbish is a thing of the past though and 83,500 screaming fans will certainly get the pulses racing. Not to mention the volatile characters on both teams. Ok on Inter’s team. Ibrahimovic is expected to return after being rested midweek. Inter are, technically, the home team and they start the game a massive 22 points clear of their fierce rivals. AC Milan’s home form has been particularly bad this season although technically they are the away team so you never know…..

AC need the win despite the fact that Inter are already too far ahead. Defeat and te pressure on Carlo Ancelotti will increase and Jose Mourinho may find himself back in a job. Kick-off there is at 2pm (GMT).

And finally we leave you with a picture or two we just stumbled upon. Happy Christmas.

  

(Francesco Totti’s wife. Yes but is he happy though…….yes, yes I think he is)

Carling Cup Quarter Finals. Reaction and Preview.

After Everton’s last-minute winner over West Ham last week, Arsenal and Spurs joined the Merseyside club in progressing to the semi-finals last night.

Spurs took an early lead through Jermaine Defoe who was substituted soon after following Didier Zakora’s straight red card.

Zakora’s dismissal was harsh and Defoe was furious with the decision, expressing his anger by berating the fourth official as he left the pitch.

Steed Malbranque was the beneficiary of Zakora’s straight red. Had Steve Bennett not shown the red card on that occasion he almost certainly would have minutes later as Malbranque committed a far worse foul close to the left-hand touchline.

Ramos is gone too….wonder where he’s going?

Juande Ramos has stepped down as manager of Sevilla tonight. Spurs and Martin Jol parted company yesterday. You do the math…..

Jol’s gone too….

Martin Jol has resigned as manager of Tottenham tonight according to reports. Martin Tyler announced that he had been made aware that Jol resigned before the game at home to Sevilla, which Spurs lost by two goals to one. Jol, who has been in charge since 2004, was a popular figure amongst fans and the media and will be sorely missed in the Premiership. Though ITV4 claimed the resignation was offered before the game, football websites are reporting it was tendered after the game with the truth likely to be revealed later tonight. After the final whistle, having seen his Spurs team lose for the second time in four days, Jol shook hands with the Getafe coaching staff before disappearing down the tunnel with the Spurs fans’ boos ringing in his ears.
Clive Allen is expected to be named as stand-in coach for Sunday’s game with Spurs, while Sevilla coach Juan Ramos will be heavily linked with the vacant position, with some reports linking Leeds’ no.2 Gus Poyet as a potential assistant to the Sevilla coach, should he take charge.