Weekend review

Its been a busy old weekend of football, with many talking points and stand out action.  Here is my take on just a bit of it.

All the talk leading up to this weekend was all about the "biggest rivalry" in English football history the big match between Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfield.

Brendan Rodgers

Liverpool were coming into this game unbeaten this year, their opponents had been on a decent run of form themselves so it had all the makings of an absolute classic, lets face it the Liverpool fans were up for it, the Man Utd fans were up for it, even the Sky sports presenters couldn't contain their excitement but probably the person who was most up for it more than any other person was Steven Gerrard.  Unfortunately for Stevie G his manager Brendan Rodgers wasn't as up for it and decided that in such a big game, which undoubtedly would have suited a player like Gerrard, Rodger's however decided that a better option would be Joe Allen,  Joe Allen that amazing midfielder that has waved his magic wand in so many crucial games in the past, Joe Allen who has scored so many important goals in so many big games in the past.  So in his last ever game against Manchester United for Liverpool Stevie G starts on the bench.  After trailing by a goal to nil at half time and being bullied at home as they were by their arch rivals Rodgers realised he needed another leader on the pitch and at half time he decided to release his skipper.  Now whether it was the frustration of being dropped or whether it was just the  pent up disappointment of being dropped Gerrard cam on the pitch at the restart and promptly lasted less than a minute after he decided to stamp on Ander Herrera's leg in front of the ref and got himself sent off..  Gerrard came out after the game and apologised for his actions, Liverpool went down 2-1 and the game was won by a fantastic scissor kick effort by Juan Mata.  The thing is even if Gerarrd had started the game there is no guarantee that Liverpool would have won but I reckon the whole reason The reds had to play with 10 men for basically a whole half is down to the poor decision making of the manager more sop than the poor decision making of his high profile skipper, don't get me wrong what Stevie G did was awful but I think Brendan Rodgers should shoulder at least half the blame.

Stevie G is dismissed after less than 60 seconds

Just before the other Super Sunday game between Hull and Chelsea, Mr charisma Steve Bruce said in his interview that he was looking forward to the game and that it was great to play against the big teams and that at the moment Chelsea were one of the best in Europe.  Yep that's right Steve Bruce only just behind the last eight left in the Champions league.

Steve "Mr Charisma" Bruce

In the game between Spurs and Leicester this weekend something cropped up that my mate has been saying is wrong for many a year with the offside rule.  My mate has always said that if your offside you should be offside or one day somebody, more than likely a goalkeeper will get injured because he will come out for a ball that he didn't need to come for.  Saturday afternoon at White Hart Lane this warning that wasn't headed came true when Hugo Lloris came out and got injured  whilst closing down a Leicester striker who wasn't flagged offside until he touched the ball, the FA will say the rule was brought in to make sure there are more goals, for me it's bollocks more goals is one thing but more injuries? is that really a good thing.  It looks as though the Spurs keeper could be out for upto 6 weeks now, it's great news for reserve keeper Michel Vorm but what if Lloris's injury costs Spurs a Champions league place, oh well at least there is more goals.

Lloris should have just let it in!!

After the game Nigel Pearson the Leicester boss described the referee of this game Mike Dean as one of the most arrogant men he had ever met, and in a weekend when so many refereeing decisions were made wrong again and when there has been an outcry from all quarters about help from referee's it was interesting to hear a manager talking about how unapproachable and non- human some of these officials really are.  It has to be saiud though that Dean's decision to give a penalty for a coming together in the area between David Nugent and Danny Rose was laughable and although Pearson does like a moan I have a lot of sympathy with him after his team put in such a hard working performance and came away with nothing.

The best refereeing cock up though has to be Neil Swarbrick's mistaken identity when he sent off Gareth McAuley instead of Craig Dawson for West Brom against Man City, it was an easy mistake to make as one of the players has 23 on his shirt and one had 25.  The thing is couldn't somebody have told him.  Unlucky Mr Smallbridge.

A case of mistaken identity for referee Oliver Smallbridge.

https://youtu.be/963rvvmHdtg Nigel Pearson describes Mike Dean as arrogant.

Talking of Danny Rose, the former under 21 international has been drafted in to the England squad for their upcoming games between Lithuania and Italy due to injury to Manchester United's Luke Shaw.  I have said it before that we ate going to qualify for the European championships ayt a canter and it would have been a perfect time to try out new players who maybe haven't had a call up before and are in form for their club at the moment, instead Hodgson decides to pick the same old names so when we get to the major tournaments and we get an injury to a first choice player in a certain position we replace with someone who has either not played much for his club or has played pretty poorly for his club when he could have used the opportunity to blood in a better option in qualifying.  In the end it will be the same story we will qualify with ease and then come home after the group stages, and the FA will be scratching their heads about what is wrong with the English national team.  This is what is wrong the fact that you wont hire a manager with a pair of bollocks, and instead settle for a yes man who is a safe choice.  The FA might say well he picked Harry Kane, that was quite brave, A deaf, dumb and blind person couldn't have failed to notice what Harry Kane has done this season so he shouldn't get the credit for that.  The fact that he refuses to call up players in form like Aaron Cresswel and Ryan Bertrand, and to continue to pick the likes of  Andros Townsend and Kyle Walker and to call up Danny Rose shows his lack of ambition as an England coach.  England will not win a major tournament as long as they keep picking managers like this, this country needs a Venables type or even better a Cloughie type and until that happens we are just going to be shit.

Even Danny Rose was shocked at getting called up for England

Saturday saw what would have been Brian Clough's 80th birthaday.

This man was an absolute master when it came to management and he should have been given the England job after winning the European cup with Nottingham Forrest for the second time in 1980.  Alas he wasn't and yet still today we wonder why we haven't won anything since 1966.  In a time when it is ok apparantly to crowd referees and put pressure on them, Brian Clough will be turning in his grave.  Clough was a manager who wanted to win things the right way and within the rules of the game, unfortunately the game nowadays is more about winning at any cost, and anything goes, grown men throwing themselves to the floor and international team-mates trying to get one another sent off, football is becoming a laughing stock all round the world and it is such a shame that as a football fan I have to endure the game I love lose it's dignity.  It's such a shame that the world of football has too many overpaid, mollycoddled, spoilt, cheating players, arrogant referees and one dimensional managers.

Legend!

Even the governing bodies don't give a shit about the football, the FA do nothing too improve the game in this country because they can't, because money talks and the Premier League are what rule football in this country.  The FA don't give a fuck about grass roots football either, if they did they wouldn't have suggested such rubbish as Premier league B teams playing in the lower leagues.  The FA remind me of a business that was once run by a family and then taken over by someone who has no clue about the business they are walking into, all they have is money making ideas, when the ideas fail some other money man comes in and so it continues on and on.  The more clueless people who take over the further away becomes the solution.

The FA should be run by football people, who have been successful in the game, people who care about the sport and who want English football to succeed at all levels of the game.

The game has gone and I don't see it getting any better anytime soon.

RIP Brian Clough!!

RIP English football!!