Not a great week for referees.

It seems to be a reoccurring theme but their were some disgusting (to quote a premier league manager) refereeing decisions this weekend.

After Michael Oliver showed some real bravery to give a penalty for Swansea against Stoke for a foul in the area by Shawcross on Bony whilst awaiting a corner, he then ruined all the good work of getting a decision spot on by giving a penalty for a dive in the opposing area later in the game which Swansea manager Gary Monk was rightly furious about when asked about it at the end of the game.  Yet again a poor refereeing decision has altered the game and Swansea who were 1-0  up to that point and in charge ended up losing 2-1.

If that was a poor piece of refereeing then the decision of Andre Mariner not to send off Southampton keeper Fraser Forster and award Sunderland a penalty, when the England keeper came rushing out of his goal and clattered Scottish striker Steven Fletcher, after the black cats forward had knocked the ball past the on rushing keeper was nothing but scandalous.  Mariner in his infinite wisdom gave a goal kick.  The score in this game at the time was 2-0 to the Saints, the final score was 8-0.  Would a sending off and penalty at that point made any difference to the outcome of the game?  Maybe, but one thing is for sure it wouldn't have ended 8-0 with the Saints down to 10 men.

All these pale into insignificance though as the worst decision of the weekend happened in league 1 in the Saturday evening game live on Sky between Bradford City and Sheffield United.  Referee Simon Hooper decided that Rory Mcardle's challenge on Stefan Scougal was a fair one and lets be fair he was only about 5 yards away.

http://youtu.be/Jek8YqV3P0w

Luckily for the Blades this didn't cost them as they run out 2-0 winners.

Anyway the referees involved in these decisions and all the other dodgy ones that I haven't mentioned this weekend won't face any recriminations for their actions, however Gary Monk will no doubt face a punishment after someone from the media stuck a microphone in his face straight after the game and he told the truth.  That's justice for you!  What a load of old bollocks!!

That's enough moaning lets get back to the football.


Chelsea and Manchester City continued their rampage at the top of the table and just behined in 3rd place is Southampton after their  8-0 win against Sunderland.  West Ham hit the dizzy heights of 4th place after their 3-1 win over Burnley at Turf Moor.

Sergio Aguero scored all four goals in City's 4-1 win over Spurs, in fact he should have had five as he missed a penalty and then managed to miss the rebound with an audacious scissor kick.  It looks like all his injury worries of last season and during the world cup are in the past and he is beginning to hit some irresistible form.

Scissor kick.

Chelsea march on even without Diego Costa as they beat Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park 2-1 Fabregas scored the pick of the goals when he started and finished off a fantastic one touch passing move goal.

Southampton's new shining star Graziano Pelle scored a brace in their record breaking 8-0 win over Sunderland whilst 3 headed goals from Messrs Sakho, Valencia and Cole was enough for the happy Hammers at Burnley.

Alan Pardew kept his life support machine on for at least another week with Newcastle's first win of the season at home to Leicester.  Everton got a well overdue win against Villa and somehow a very poor Liverpool performance yielded 3 points at Loftus  Road against 'Arry's QPR.  Somehow the Reds came away with maximum points when even 1 would have been generous in this game.  Unfortunately for Redknapp and his much improved team their efforts were rewarded with absolutely nothing, however they should take heart from the performance and look to build on it.  Harry Redknapp in his after game match press conference said that his team were punished for their naivety he also eluded to the fact that Adel Tarabt was a fat lazy bastard who couldn't be arsed.  Those weren't his exact words but I think that was what he meant.

'Arry reckons he loves pies more.

Man United finished off this round of Premier league games with a trip to the Hawthorns.  It looked like it was going to be an uncomfortable night for the Red Devils when the Baggies took the lead through Stephane Sessegnon in the 8th minute.  It was a top finish after a great lay off from Liverpool loanee Andre Wisdom.

Man Utd Equalised early in the second half when Fellani  (remeber him) who had come on as sub scored his first goal for United after good show of strength and a very good finish.  Man Utd were on top in the second half but a breakaway lead to Berahino putting the home team ahead.  Daley Blind scored United's second equaliser and the points were shared.  I have to say that I was very impressed with WBA's style of football, a team I had as firm favourites to go down this season.  I reckon if they can carry on like this they will be a hard team to beat, especially at home.

Fellani was overjoyed to score his first Man Utd  goal.

In the Championship Watford went top of the table after a 3-0 away win at Hillsborough against Sheffield Wednesday.  Forest slipped to a surprise defeat to Cardiff and dropped to 5th in the table.  Norwich also got a shock as they lost to Fulham.  Derby are second after their 3-0  win away to Reading and Middlesboro sit in 3rd after a 2-1 win over Brighton.  Blackpool stay bottom Bolton stay second bottom despite winning and Birmingham drop to 20th, Birmingham's latest defeat to Bolton was too much for the board and lee Clark lost his job as manager.

Lee Clark didn't take his dismissal from Birmingham very well.

League 1, and Bristol City stay at the top after an impressive 3-1 away win at Coventry, Peterborough stay second and Swindon despite drawing with Yeovil are in third.  Walsall, Port Vale, Scunthorpe and Crewe are the bottom 4.  In league 2 Wycombe are top of the league after a win against AFC Wimbledon, with Bury 2 points behined them, Burton stay 3rd despite a shock defeat at home to Morecambe, Luton are 4th and Tranmere are at the foot of the football league for the first time in nearly 30 years.

Goal of the week:

Southampton's first goal against Sunderland on Saturday.
Santiago Vergini hits an unstoppable curling volley in to the roof of the net, unfortunately for Vergini it was in his own net.  What a hit.

Have it!!

Too much passion or just irresponsibility?

Last weekend Daggers pulled off a bit of a shock result with an away win against in form Accrington Stanley.  New signing and former waiter Ade Yusuff came off the bench at the start of  the second half to score a brace and cancel out Stanley's first half lead and guarantee an unlikely 3 points for the Daggers.  The former Wagamama employee who reported left his job and took a pay cut to join the Daggers and realise his dream of becoming a professional footballer took his two goals well and gave the team the cutting edge that they had lacked in the first half.  It certainly looks as if the Daggers have found another rough diamond who certainly could become a big star in the future.  Yusuff is a very strong lad who is not easy to knock off the ball, he has good pace and certainly has no problem getting a shot away, he could be a very important player for the Daggers this season, he reminds in some ways of former Dagger Josh Scott, but maybe Ade is a bit more skillful.

Ade Yusuff opens his Daggers account.

After a good away win it was back home this week for a showdown with Newport County at Victoria Road.  The Daggers home form recently has been pretty poor and they would have been looking to put in a decent performance and hopefully get a second win on the bounce in front of their home fans.

Wayne Burnett had decisions to make before this game, after such an impressive performance from the 20 year old Ade Yusuff in the last game he was looking to get a start.  Due to a slight injury Daggers main striker Jamie Cureton was dropped to the bench and Yusuff took his place as the front man in a 442 cum 451 formation with winger Ashley Chambers playing off him as a second striker.

Obviously no one knew the reason for Cureton's drop to the bench before the game and there were some confused looks among the home supporters when the line ups were read out.

The Daggers started the game quite well and as in most home games looked the dominant force, George Porter had the best chance of the game when he was put through by Ashley Hemmings only to see his effort hit the wrong side of the net.  Yet again the Daggers went into the half time break as the better team but without a goal to show for it.  Newport had offered very little and Dagenham's formation was holding up quite well with Ade Yusuff working hard trying to carve out chances.

In the second half Newport came closest to scoring when they hit a post, to be fair though that was one of only a handful chances the visitors had, Daggers were still dominating the game and then just after the hour mark the first controversial decision of the game was made.  Ade Yusuff picked up the ball on the edge of the box and ran in to the area were he was blatantly tripped, the referee who was only 5 yards away decided this was not worthy over a penalty despite the protests of the players and the howls of the crowd.  This ref was certainly not a homer.  Just after the 70th minute came the long awaited arrival of Jamie Cureton from the bench.  Within a couple of minutes JC was involved and his presence and intelligent play was already causing the Welsh team problems.  Then came the big talking point of the game just before the 80th minute a clash between the two number 8's in midfield, Abu Ogogo the Daggers captain appeared to be pulled to the ground by Newport's Lee Minshull, there was a bit of tussle on the floor between the two before Ogogo got up and Menshull started rolling about like he had been shot in the face.  The Dagger skipper then had to be restrained by his team mates has he headed toward the Newport player.  The players eventually calmed down and Abu was sent off for a straight red card offence, I am not sure if it was for the foul if there was a foul by Ogogo or if it was for his behaviour after the foul was given.  If the decision was for the foul then it is just wrong and the Daggers should appeal but if it is for his actions afterwards then he aint got a leg to stand on.  I for one was disgusted with his attitude after the foul was given, I understand he was pissed off but the man has a responsibility as the club captain and he just acted like a petulant little kid looking for a fight in the playground.

Too much passion or  just irresponsibility.

After the sending off the Daggers continued to press, Jamie Cureton hitting the bar and then following up with a great effort that was somehow tipped over from the Newport keeper, but it wasn't to be Dagenham's day as in the 90th minute Chris Zebroski rose highest in the box above the Daggers defence and headed home an unlikely winner for the away team.

Another home game another home defeat, although it was a game we should have never ever lost, Daggers were the best team and regardless of whether the sending off was right or wrong they should have had a penalty and without the intervention of Joe Day the Newport stopper it could have been an easy win.

The Daggers now move on to a Tuesday night and an away game against former manager John Still and his in form Luton Town. It is going to be a tough game to get anything out of but you never know.  The daggers will probably be without 3 of their 5 first team midfielders on the understanding they don't appeal Abu's red card.  It could end up being a blessing in disguise as Wayne Burnett will now have to make changes to personnel and probably formation.  He may have to play a 442 formation with Yusuff and Cureton together up front.  You never know Burnett may just stumble across the winning formula, because I really don't think we are that far off, at times on Saturday we played some good stuff.  Hopefully with Labadie and Abu out Billy Bingham can finally get a run in the midfield and show just what a quality midfielder he really is.

Lets hope it is Billy's time to shine.

 Lets see if we can  get one over on Johnny Still, Luke Wilkinson, Scott Griffiths and Paul Benson and get a shock win at Kenilworth Road.

Come on you Daggers!!

European Championships Round Up.

Its been a busy old week for International football what with shock results and even more shocking behaviour taking place on the pitch.

No, nothing to see here!!

Just like the football league show on the BBC I am going to completely forget that there was any League football on over the past weekend even though there were more members of the football league playing then weren't, 48 league teams were in action over the weekend and only 24 championship teams didn't play, so just like the BBC I'll just ignore it took place.

The home nations and Eire have all had good starts to their European qualifying campaigns, none more so than Northern Ireland who sit proudly at the top of Group F after winning all 3 of their opening games.  Goals from Kyle Lafferty and Jamie Ward were enough on Tuesday night to give the Irish an impressive win over former European champions Greece, moreover it was the first time they had ever beaten the Greeks, so to do it in the Greeks own backyard makes all the more impressive.

Northern Ireland are on fire.

Scotland and Eire are both in group D and yes D certainly does stand for death in this instance as thanks to an unlikely win for Poland over Germany the group has been thrown wide open and with only 2 teams guaranteed to progress with a 3rd team going through as best runners up, what looked like a great chance for both to qualify suddenly looks a lot harder.  Germany have been less than convincing so far in this campaign but you cannot imagine they will not qualify, although they sit in 4th place below Scotland, Eire and Poland.  After seeing the Republic of Ireland tear little Gibraltar to pieces and then get an incredible away draw with Germany I expect Eire to qualify automatically probably with Germany which would mean a battle between Scotland and Poland for the last position.  Gordon Strachan has got his team playing good football and they should be higher up the table based on their performances, but the reality is that they will need to grind out some results in this qualifying campaign and hope they can do enough to get through.  The signs are starting to look a bit ominous for the Scots and it might take a shock result against Germany or Eire to give them any chance.  Hopefully they will both qualify but even if they don't this group is by far the most exciting to watch, and I am sure there are more twists and turns to come.

Wales sit on top of group B after 3 games a 2-1 win over Cyprus means they have 2 wins and a draw.  Chris Coleman must feel that this is the Welsh's big chance to qualify for a major tournament it would be an amazing achievement as it would be first time since 1958.  I still can't believe that I have never seen Wales in a major tournament considiring the great players they have had over the years.  Your Ian Ruish's, your Ryan Giggs's, your John Toshacks, your Leighton James's, your Gary Speeds and your Vinny Joneses.  It would certainly would only be fair that Gareth Bale gets to play on the biggest stage as he really is their Roy of the Rovers, don't get me wrong I am not saying that Wales are a one man team but without him in their line up they are at a similar level as a top league 1 team that are always challenging but with him they become more of a Premier league team that sit quite comfortably above the relegation places every season.  I really hope that they can keep up their fine form and more importantly keep Bale in their line up.

Wales legend Leighton James.

England kicked off the first of their qualifiers with a pretty straight forward 5-0 win against minnows San Marino, Wayne Rooney scored a penalty that gave him his 42nd England goal and then on Sunday afternoon he added his 43rd goal with the winning free kick against the mighty Estonia.  I know you can only beat what is front of you but England really made hard work of it, ok we got the points we needed but come on there is just no excitement watching England.  We really seem to struggle against any team lately, I mean it wasn't as if Estonia put everyone behined the ball it was just every chance we created was spurned.  It is so lucky that we have such an easy group because against anyone with a bit of nouse we would surely struggle.  Our biggest test is now going to come against Slovenia, I reckon they will cause us some problems.  At the moment I don't think we would beat any of the other home nations based on what I have seen from qualifying so far.  Lets hope we can improve and start putting some of these teams away with a bit more conviction, surely that is not too much to ask.

Rooney nets number 43

The biggest story of the week was when there was nearly a full scale riot on the pitch between fans and players of Serbia and Alabania the game was eventually abandoned.  Away fans had not been allowed in to this game so as to try and stop any unrest, unfortunately a drone carrying a flag got into the ground and it caused a massive fracas on the pitch.  The thing is I don't want to get in to politics and all the stuff that goes on between these countries, but surely UEFA abd FIFA should be aware and their must be ways to keep these teams apart in qualifying, I mean they can do it in the Champions league.  Sometimes there are bigger things than football and common sense should just prevail surely.

I didn't order a chair mate!!

If Poland's win over Germany was a shock then surely the biggest shock of this whole campaign is Icelands 2-0 win over World Cup Semi Finalists Holland.  Only a few months Van Persie, Robben and the like were scaring the world's defences and now they sit 3rd in Grroup A having only won 1 game from three with Iceland and the Czech's above them,  the saving grace is that this group doesn't have anyone else in it really other than the top 3.  Although if Turkey could regain some form then an away trip there could put the Netherlands in some trouble, but to be fair just like England, Holland don't really have to do too much to qualify.

Sneijder says.  What the Fuck!!

Another Jeckyll and Hyde performance costs Daggers.

Daggers came into their Friday night match against Exeter City on the back of a good 2-0 win over York City.  The hope around Victoria road was that the Daggers could pick up from where they left off and start to put a decent run of results together in the process.

The Daggers started this game on the front foot, and Jamie Cureton in particular was pulling the strings as is becoming par for the course lately and it was the diminutive striker who gave Dagenham the lead with a trademark finish on 11 minutes.  Daggers were on top for the most part of the first half, playing some nice stuff on the floor, Cureton involved in all that was good.   The former Exeter man nearly doubled daggers lead against his old club but his effort just went past the far post.  The daggers lead 1-0 at half time and all was looking good for a second home victory on the bounce.

Cureton scores again.

The second half and The Grecians began quickly as the Daggers would have expected, normally when a team is behind at half time they come out fighting and for a good 10-15 minutes the leading team need to be strong and soak up the pressure for a bit, but not in this game Daggers had gone from being totally the dominate team to being completely under the cosh, as the game wore on the Daggers began to retreat more and more into their own half, creating hardly anything in attack and struggling to string two passes together as they reverted to going long at every opportunity.  Panic had certainly started to set in and with the panic came the sloppy mistakes, the same old mistakes that keep rearing their ugly head, the ones that have always cost the Daggers dearly in the past.  As the pressure increased and the panic intensified the Daggers started to pick up silly bookings and give away silly fouls in silly areas.  Somehow after receiving 6 bookings from former Premier league referee Keith Stroud (who was shocking by the way) and giving over position all over the place miraculously the home team still lead the contest.  Then in the 8oth minute the pressure finally told when Alex Nicholls who appeared to be going out wide was fouled in the area by Matt Partridge.  The resulting penalty was put away and from that moment on there was only going to be one winner, and in injury time it came, Aaron Davies headed home and the capitulation was complete.

How can a team be in total control for 40-45 minutes of a game and then just completely not turn up for the second half, to be fair if Cureton scores his chance in the first half and we go 2-0 up it is game over and even at 1-1 Doidge had a chance that if it had gone in may well have taken the wind out of the visitors sails, but for whatever reason this didn't happen and our Jeckyll and Hyde performances just continue.

Another Jeckyll and Hyde performance.

I can't put my finger on why this keeps happening but I am sure it is not due to the quality of the players we have at the moment, maybe it is a mental thing, I am afraid I don't have the answers and I just hope that Wayne Burnett does.

 My friend Dr Monkatron had an interesting theory though which I thought was inspired.  He suggested that when we were under the cosh and losing all the key battles why not play a few little mind games, why not get our Olympic high jumper Dalton Grant to run up and down the touch line as if warming up jumping up and pretending to head the ball.  Now if I was an opposition defender and I saw out of the corner my eye some really tall skinny bloke jumping about twenty foot in the air I don't think i could get the thought out of my head, just imagine if one of those defenders is distracted even for a split second, with the quick brain of Cureton it could make all the difference.   I personally thought it was a great idea as long of course as he didn't start "Fosbury Flopping" all over the gaff.

Get out there and warm up Dalton.

The positives from this game other than Cureton, has to be that at least we have seen that we are capable of playing football and pressurising teams albeit for one half, but surely do that at some point is better than not doing it at all.

Last night saw the Daggers take on Leyton Orient in the JPT this fixture is one we always seem to win, although as I walked over to Viccy road I couldn't say I was brimming with confidence.  The fact that I wasn't optimistic about our chances meant I would probably enjoy the game a bit more as I didn't expect nothing so anything positive would be a bonus.

The first positives of the night were that Billy Bingham a midfielder I rate as our best passer of the ball was back in the starting line up, also back was Scott Doe and up front was Christian Doidge.  Another positive was that we played two up top it was just a shame that Cureton didn't play up along side Doidge but at the age of 39 it was always a game he was going to sit out.

Leyton Orient are a far better side than the last time we payed against them, they finished last season nearly getting promotion to the championship, and even though they rested a few of their players it was a very strong side they put out and the gulf in class was obvious to spot within the opening 15 minutes.  Orient are a well drilled, strong and disciplined side who can knock the ball about.  Although this was going to always be a tough game it was the perfect game for Wayne Burnett to test his tactical nous and see for himself how far he has come as a manager.

It took only 5 minutes for the O's to take the lead and in a first half that the East Londoners dominated and where the home sides chances were always going to be at a premium.  It was going to take a bit of something special to even get a goal in this game but other than a tidy turn and show of pace from Ade Yusuff  which resulted in a shot going over the bar their wasn't really anything else to write home about.  Billy Bingham had a good game though and he played a couple of Joe Colesque type 30-40 yard passes right into his team mates feet.  Doidge showed he could win the ball in the air  and put in a decent shift and Bradley Goldberg showed glimpses of good movement in the limited time he had.  On the negative side captain Abu Ogogo was very poor.  Abu is a strange one for me and I think I may be in the minority when I say I don't really see what he gives us in midfield, he has all the will in the world but really what actual attributes does he have as a midfielder, he scores goals now and again but when he doesn't score he doesn't really offer much, it seems he takes too many touches he doesn't talk, he isn't a great tackler and he isn't very good at passing.  He reminds me a bit of  how Glenn Southam was at the end of his time for us.  People will probably shoot me down in flames but I just have never got the hype about him, I have always thought there were better midfielders in this team that offer more.  As a right back he is the best we have ever had but as a midfielder he is way down the pecking order.

Anyway the game finished 2-0 to Orient both goals coming from Jay Simpson, who alongside Darius Henderson caused us problems all night long.

My biggest gripes about last night would be the way that one of our former players, and not just a player, a player who in our brief stay in league 1 was probably our best player Romain Vincelot was abused by some of our supporters.  Yes he fouled one of our players, but he used to foul players when he played for us but for someone to call him a French C***  for being fouled and it was a blatant foul sums up why I think some of our supporters need to take a long hard look at themselves.  The treatment he got from that minority was just in my opinion disgusting.

Some supporters weren't too happy to see Vincelot.

My other bug bear has nothing to do with the game it is the PA system at the ground.  What is the point of making announcements when you can't understand what the fuck the bloke is saying, he sounds like a cross between Norman Collier and someone with a bath plug stuck in his throat.  Maybe it is just the bloke to blame for that and not the PA, but after a big campaign to get the walkout music changed there seems no point when you can barely hear it through the sound system we have and then it gets talked over and then faded in and out.  Completely pointless you may as well have the team walking out to fucking YMCA for all it matters.

Hep, hup,buck buck.
Sort the PA out Collier.

I can't say I am that bothered we are out of the trophy as I think it is a stupid competition with stupid rules.  A competition were you have to have 7 or so players in the squad who were in the squad in the last league game and only 5 substitutes, and of course it regional so you play the same team every year with absolutely no chance of reaching a final if you are a club like us.  In a time where the FA are moaning that not enough English youngsters come through the ranks surely the sensible thing would be to let teams field whoever they want and have 7 subs if  7 subs can be named and surely this would give those youngsters a chance in competitive football that would help their development.  Top teams can field whoever they like in the League cup but when it comes down to the teams in the harder leagues with the more fixtures and the smaller squads the FA impose ridiculous rules.  If they made it a proper cup then a couple of season's ago we could have been playing Wolves or Sheffield Wednesday at home instead of Colchester or bloody Peteborough yet again.  The argument is that because it is midweek then making it regional may increase attendance, so what take a chance you could pull a big tie, granted we could end up with Hartlepool but at least we would have a chance of progressing.

Anyway on to the next and hopefully Wayne and the boys can learn from the last 2 games and give us a performance away to Accrington on Saturday.

Come on you Daggers!!
 

Wenger wants fistycuffs, Falcao gets off the mark and Blackpool finally win.

Go on Wenger!!

Sunday's early kick off saw a clash of the titans.  It was a London derby between the former unbeatables of Arsenal and the quite probable unbeatable elect of Chelsea.  Chelsea may have won this game 2-0 but the this game will be remembered not just for Diego Costa scoring yet another goal from yet another Cesc Fabregas assist but for an ugly incident involving the two managers after a rash challenge from Chelsea's centre back Gary Cahill on Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez.  The foul was a nasty one and should have resulted in a red card for the England man.  Instead Martin Atkinson the man in the middle decided the foul was only worthy of a yellow card, this sparked a mini brawl between the 2 managers as Wenger waded into Jose's technical area and started pushing the blues boss about a bit.  The scuffle was broke up by thje 4th official John Moss, who I was surprised not see spray some invisible spray into the Arsenal managers eyes as he did in the first game of the season on Carzola. The truth is it was only a bit of handbags between the two of them but I wouldn't be surprised if Mourinho had made a comment about the challenge that wound the Arsenal boss up.  As much of a good manager Jose is he don't half get on your tits.  I found myself shouting at the telly "go on Wenger give him a clump".  As it was it ended pretty much as quickly as it started and the game carried on.  The thing is if the ref had got the decision right in the first place it don't happen, also what doesn't happen is later in the game Danny Wellbeck doesn't two foot lunge a player out of frustration, and because the ref had only booked Cahill he then has to only yellow card Wellbeck, because if he sends him off it might all kick off again.  Well done Mr Atkinson don't enforce the rules just do what you think is best.

An unhappy 'Arry returns to Upton Park!!

Also on Sunday West Ham took on QPR in another London derby.  'Arry Redknapp returned to his former stomping ground with his team at the bottom of the table and it was looking very much was going to change after this game, West Ham's recent decent form and home advantage made them firm favourites with the bookies before kick off in this game.  And so it was to prove, other than a 10-15 minute spell in the second half the Hammers dominated this match and maybe should have won the game by more than the 2-0 margin which they finally did.  West Ham played pretty much within themselves in this game as QPR looked a very poor side.  As much as Redknapp is well respected at the club surely it won't be long before the owner and the fans start getting a bit pissed off with how the season is going and surely the pressure is going to tell on unhappy 'Arry.  I feel sorry for Harry he shouldn't even be at QPR he should be by rights the England manager.  It is the perfect job for a man like him, you can't tell me that Roy Hodgson was the FA's first choice, no they wanted Redknapp the nation wanted Redknapp but all because that greedy bastard Levy at Spurs wasn't willing to let him go the FA decided they wanted to look as if they knew their arse from their elbow and acted quickly instead of waiting.  In the end Harry ends up getting the boot at Spurs and Hodgson gets the England job.  The thing is 'Arry did well to get Rangers back up to the premier league but they just can't compete, they just don't seem to be able to do it.  Their defence is shocking, they seem to have too many individuals in the midfield and forward positions and they just don't seem to play as a team.  With or without Harry Redknapp this is going to be a hard old season for the R's and they are probably happy to have the International break.

Manchester United got a home victory against a struggling Everton side this weekend.  Di Maria scored again and Falcao got his first goal for the club.  David De Gea was in fine form for the Red Devils making some very important saves including first half penalty stop from Leighton Baines.

Liverpool got a win at home to a resurgent West Brom, Villa went down to a 2-0 defeat to Man City, Newcastle took a bit of the mounting pressure off manager Alan Pardew when the snatched a draw against Swansea courtesy of another 2 goals from Papiss Cisse, Sunderland sunk the Potters 3-1 and Hull beat Palace 2-0.

In the Championship Blackpool eventually got their first win of the season, when the managed to pull off a shock result beating Cardiff 1-0.  Norwich stay top of the league with Nottingham Forest in second, Watford are 3rd as only goal difference separates the top 3.  Blackpool's win takes them off the bottom and Bolton drop to the foot of the table after a 2-1 defeat at home to Bournemouth.

Relief  as Blackpool get their first win of the season!!

League 1 and Bristol City stay top but almost out of nowhere come Swindon Town into second spot after an impressive 2-1 win away to managerless Leyton Orient.   Another defeat for Crewe leaves them still rock bottom of the league.

Bury continue in top spot after 2-0 win over Tranmere in league 2 Wycombe and Burton are just behind despite both only managing to draw at the weekend, Southend in 4th succumbed to yet another defeat from their so called bogey team Morecambe.   Hartlepool sit at the bottom after Carlisle beat them 3-0 and rose above the Pools in the league.   Luton are up to 7th with a good win away to Stevenage.


Goal of the week:

Ramone sawyers goal against Bristol City for Walsall in League 1.  The Saddlers number 10 finishes off a nice passing move with an unstoppable curling shot into the top corner.

Save of the week:

Keiren Westwood pulled off a string of stops for Sheffield Wednesday against Leeds , the best of which was his finger tipped save from Rodolph Austin.

The premier league and Championship now takes a break for a week as England face the might of San Marino and Estonia in the European Qualifiers, so I will see you on the other side.

Come on England!!

18 Years And Counting For Wenger.

Arsene Wenger has been in charge of Arsenal for 18 years this week, 18 years!!  It seems like only yesterday when he rocked up at Highbury looking like an eccentric professor with his funny looking hair and big round glasses.  Obviously it doesn't feel like yesterday as I am no longer 24 years old and more to the point Breakfast at Tiffany's by Deep Blue Something isn't still at number one.

It was a mixed week for Arsene and his Arsenal boys though last week they started with a 2-1 defeat in the League Cup to Southampton, then at the weekend they drew with their North London rivals Spurs at home and last night in their second champions league game they defeated Galatasaray 4-1 with new signing Danny Welbeck scoring a hat trick.  It was the former Man United strikers first career hat trick and his 6th goal in four games for club and country, he is certainly starting to look a decent acquisition for the Gunners.

In other Champions league matches Liverpool continued their bumbling start with a a defeat to Basel, add that to their less than convincing win over Ludogorets a couple of weeks ago and their return to the the big European stage may not be a very long one.  Liverpool also played in a local Derby at the weekend and they had victory snatched away from them when a last minute Phil Jagielka thunder blaster stole a point for Everton.  Man City drew with Roma and Chelsea beat Sporting Lisbon 1-0 away.

Wayne Rooney made the headlines again this week for all the wrong reasons, he had put Man Utd 1-0 up against West Ham at Old Trafford only to be later sent off for a reckless kick out at Stewart Downing.  It was only at the start of the season when the player himself and his managers for both club and country who incidentally both named him captain had all commented on his coming of age and new found maturity.   Rooney is a great player but at the end of the day he will always have that red mist moment when he will do something so ridiculous it will leave you scratching your head.  He will always be an angry young man, and when he grows up he will be an angry old man.

Alan Pardew's grip on his managerial role at Newcastle seems to get looser and looser as the weeks go on.  Another league defeat on Monday night against a Stoke side who it has to be said are no great shakes themselves has left Pardew with a lot of work on to save himself.  The Potters came away with a 1-0 win courtesy of a Peter Crouch header in  a poor game played out by two poor teams.  The Toon hardly had a chance in the game and when they eventually did create a goal scoring opportunity Jack Colbaek somehow managed to hit the woodwork when it seemed easier to leave the old onion bag bulging.  Will the game away to Swansea be the final nail in the already much pitted Pardew coffin.

Not looking good for Pardew.

If  Newcastle are having a poor start to the season then in contrast Southampton are having an absolute stonking start.  After what seemed to be a mass exodus of players leaving St Mary's this close season and the departure of their manager Mauricio Pochettino to Spurs many would have had The Saints as one of the favourites to go down, but instead new boss Ronald Koeman has got the South Coast club playing some nice attractive stuff and more importantly they are picking up results and sit proudly and deservedly in second place in the league   I always remember Southampton as a team which always brought youngsters through their academy and I have memories of the team they had during the early to mid eighties.  I used to look forward to seeing them on Match of the Day, maybe it was their Rank Xerox kit or it might just have been the players, it would have been about the time when Kevin Keegan joined them and they had the likes of Steve Moran, Steve Williams and David Armstrong in their ranks.  I remember King Kevin scoring an overhead kick once from just inside the box, only for it to be disallowed due to David Armstrong being offside, great memories.  Good luck to them and I hope they can keep up this good and entertaining style of football.

This would have been given today!!

In the Championship Norwich stay top with Forest just behind them, Derby are in 4th place after a 2-0 away win at struggling Bolton.  The Rams are starting to hit form and with the way Steve Maclaren's team play this should be an ominous sight as they close to within a point of the Canaries at the top of the league.

League 1 and Bristol City still lead the way Peterborough are in second still but are now 5 points off the leaders despite a 1-0 win over Fleetwood, whilst Scunthorpe and Crewe continue to struggle at the wrong end of the table.

Burton returned to the top of league 2 leapfrogging Bury who somewhat surprisingly lost to Exeter, John Still's Luton won again this time at home to Oxford and rise to 10th, meanwhile defeat for Morecambe sees them drop to 6th and despite winning at the weekend against Tranmere Carlisle stay in 24th place.

Goal of the week:
 Most people would say that Jagielka's goal against Liverpool but my choice would be Graziano Pelle's overhead kick for Southampton against QPR.  He tees himself up nicely before performing an unstoppable acrobatic volley.

Great goal from Pelle.

Save of the Week:
Liam Connells point blank stop from Spennymoors Liam Henderson for Dunston UTS in the FA cup.
Former Watford youngster Henderson is played through with just the keeper to beat it looks like a forgone conclusion but the Dunston stopper saves bravely at point blank range.