Give Credit Where Credit's Due

On Match Of The Day 2 on Sunday, as awful as his punditry is, Robbie Savage made a very good point that we don't give credit to the lower team when they beat the so called "Top Four". This has happened on many occasions, from when Sunderland beat Chelsea 3-0 at Stamford Bridge, to when Arsenal lost to West Brom at home 3-2. I don't think I've seen one moment where the pundit has given credit to the lower team or at least enough credit.

Ever since Chelsea, Man United, Arsenal and Liverpool were dubbed the "Top Four" it seems to everyone that they are invincible and if they lose, it's the end of the world or else it's a bad day at the office. But when has it become the case that the lower side have beaten one of the "Top Four" purely because they were the better side. The two occasions that I've mentioned, after the match Andy Gray almost insisted that it was the poor performance by one of the big four that won it for the likes of Sunderland and West Brom.

Like everyone else, I think that Sunderland just took advantage of getting a Chelsea side that are not on form, but fair play to them. Like the old saying goes  "you can only beat the side that is put out in front of you" and Sunderland did just that. I am really enjoying this Premiership season, for reasons like this. The "Top Four" can't be too casual, but sometimes they show their pure brilliance like Blackburn had to find out against Man Utd. losing 7-1.

I think with the exception of Liverpool, this perception that the "Top Four" (well I guess you can call them "Top Three") can only lose to each other and no one else, will go on for many a year. I just wish people would face the fact that they don't have to win every single match and that the other teams can play a bit of football themselves.

I would love to hear your comments that you may have.

Martin Jol Resigns As Ajax Boss. Is This Just Coincidence?

Last night, Martin Jol resigned as Ajax manager just hours after the shocking dismissal of Chris Hughton from Newcastle United. Martin Jol, 54, said that he left because the pressure on him was too high and too hard to handle. But is this just an excuse, is he next in line for the Newcastle United job? Was the the Hughton sacking planned way before the 3-1 loss away to West Brom?

I'd like to say before I go on to Martin Jol's chances of getting the Newcastle job, how much of a disgrace it is that the Newcastle owners sacked Hughton. As if the way the some of the owners treat their managers isn't ridiculous enough. After all, if it wasn't for Hughton, Newcastle wouldn't be in the top flight. Many people feared that it would be deja vu after seeing the mess that Leeds United got themselves into. But fair play to Hughton, even though he doesn't have quite the profile of some of the best managers, he delivered for the toon army.

I'm sure Martin Jol would love to come back to England, after a great time with Tottenham. Unfortunately, he couldn't emulate Harry Redknapp and get Spurs to the Champions League. Of course, it didn't help that he was missing many players due to food poisoning on the last day of the the season in a must win match against West Ham. To some extent, he has felt the way Hughton is now, miss treated by his employers after he was sacked in a unmannerly fashion by Tottenham.

Some of the bookies favourites to get the Newcastle job are Alan Pardrew, Alan Curbishley, Glen Hoddle and of course the man I'm talking about, Martin Jol. Martin Jol would seem a obvious choice for Newcastle United owners since his departure from Ajax.

I would love to hear any comments you may have on this issue.

Liverpool Are NOT a Top Four Side Anymore

I was watching Sky Sports News and their preview for the Villla and Liverpool match tonight at Anfield. As they were advertising it for tonight, I thought I heard one of the newsreaders mutter the words "This could be an important match in the chase for that top four spot". If it was Georgie Thompson I would have forgiven her but it wasn't her. I don't know if my ears were playing tricks on me or if I heard it wrong but I would just like to make it clear, as far as I'm concerned, Liverpool aren't a top four side.

If I thought my ears were mistaken, the Sky Sports website made sure my eyes weren't as they had this to say "Three points against Villa would lift the Reds back into top-four contention."

I think most Liverpool fans, not just me, would admit that Liverpool are, most likely, not going to get that coveted fourth spot this season. If you had to draw the line somewhere, I would say that the three teams that have a chance of getting Champions League football are Aston Villa, Man City and of course Tottenham. For me, it will be a similar story to last season. Aston Villa will probably be too far behind with a few weeks to go, and I honestly can't decide between my beloved Man City and Tottenham.

Of course with it being Liverpool v Villa tonight, that means a return to Anfield for old Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier. The current Villa boss enjoyed a successful time on Mersyside with the main achievement to his name being a cup treble in the 2000-01 season, winning the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup.

I'm expecting a close but entertaining game, and I have a feeling that Villa might just nick it, giving Villa and Houllier all three points. But no matter what happens tonight, for me, Liverpool still won't be able to get back into the top four.

I would love to hear any comments and predictions that you may have.

Players Of The Season.....So Far

We are coming up to the midway point of the season and I thought I might take this opportunity to point out a few players that have impressed me this season. Some you might have expected to see and others you might be surprised to see. My aim is not to pick all the superstar names such as Drogba, Malouda, Berbatov etc.

Samir Nasri- He has had to fill the shoes of Fabregas as Arsenal's main man ever since Fabregas got injured, and what a job he's done. He is already in double figures for goals and has led the Arsenal attack. I expect much more of him for the rest of the season and if he keeps it up, a PFA Player Of The Year award could be on the way to his trophy cabinet and maybe a Premiership title for Arsenal.

Gareth Bale- After a very slow start to his Spurs career, he has really impressed this season. In the Champions League and Premiership. My only negative comment would be that he isn't as consistent as he probably should be. His name is now known all over Europe after two fantastic displays against Inter Milan. He would definitely be in my Premiership XI based on current form. I'm sure Spurs regret not trying him on the left side of midfield sooner after he signed for the North London club as a left back.

Tim Cahill- My dad, who is an Everton fan, yesterday told me that he thought Cahill was Everton's player of the decade. How can you disagree with him, I know Everton haven't had the greatest selection of players in the 2000's, like for example you had Nuno Valente and Tony Hibbert. But not only has he been a great player for Everton, he has been a great player to watch in the Premiership. Yet again he hasn't failed to impress this season with some great performances and a large percentage of Everton's goals.

Rafael Van Der Vaart- I am adding the Dutchman into this category because not only has he really impressed for Tottenham but what some people tend to forget, is that he was signed on the last day of the transfer window. We all know that some foreign players struggle to find their feet in the Premiership in their first season but Van Der Vaart has flourished with some of his performances this season, most notably his game against Arsenal where he played a huge part in helping Spurs get back from 2-0 down back to 2-3 winners. Unlike Bale he has been incredibly consistent.

Other players that deserve a mention are Adam (Blackpool), Nani (Man United), Tevez (Man City) and Carroll (Newcastle United).

I would love to hear any comments that you may have.

Chelsea Fail To Capatalise While Arsenal Take Full Advantage

With Blackpool v Man United being called off due to the dreadful weather we have been getting for the past week or so, this gave Arsenal and Chelsea a perfect opportunity to make ground on the Red Devils.

Arsenal didn't miss the opportunity, but Chelsea, who haven't been themselves as of late, didn't.

Chelsea scored just before half time through a Drogba penalty after Tim Howard brought down Nicolas Anelka in side the eighteen yard box. He was lucky Distin was behind him or else it could have been a sending off for the American goalkeeper.

It was looking like they had all three points in the bag until a lapse of concentration, as the on form Leighton Baines ran past three Chelsea defenders as they could only watch the Everton left back float the ball in to the area. Cahill nodded back towards goal to set up Beckford the chance to get his second goal of the season, which he took.

I'm sure this more than made up for his last minute sitter against Sunderland to deny the Toffees the chance to bring back all three points to Merseyside.

A Nasri double was enough to secure all three points for Arsenal. We have seen in the past week or two that the Gunners look vulnerable to concede after having a comfortable lead. Fulham clawed their way back to get to 1-1 through a Diomansy Kamara goal.

It seemed to be the same old Arsenal, not capitalising on chances and end up paying the price. Arsenal had Nasri to thank for the victory after he secured the win with a 75th minute goal. The Frenchman has been player of the season for Arsenal so far and proved his excellence with two fabulous goals today.

In other matches today, Man City got back to winning ways with a 1-0 win over Bolton, while Blackburn had a comfortable victory over Wolves beating them 3-0 and Tottenham couldn't keep their winning streak going as they only managed a 1-1 against Birmingham at St.Andrews.

Arsenal are now one point ahead of United, but what is going on with Chelsea. Is it something behind the scenes?

I love to hear your comments on this topic.

"Media To Blame" Says FIFA.

Yesterday, I wrote a post saying how surprised I was that Russia and Qatar won the right to host the World Cup. I thought it had gone right down to the wire between Russia and England with Russia eventually getting the honour. But, just after I finished the post, I was then surprised to see that England only racked up two votes by FIFA.

 I thought it was a joke that England didn't get the World Cup, so I guess you know how much of a joke I think it is that they could only manage two votes. FIFA said England have the media to blame but I thought you gave the honour to the nation with best bid, and England had the best bid. Yet again, FIFA have made themselves look like tools.

This leads me to believe that BBC and "Panorama" knew what they were talking about. If you didn't see the show, it was investigating if there was any bribery by bidding nations towards the FIFA Board. I read the magazine "FourFourTwo" and in a poll, 17.1% of people said that Sepp Blatter and FIFA is the biggest problem facing football. I'd have to, to some extent, agree with that.

Sepp Blatter announced that two new nations would be hosting the World Cup. I don't know if he was saying that because that was the truth or because that was the direction FIFA were heading in, to try and give to nations that hadn't hosted a World Cup to try and promote football in that country. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, but if it is it's a bit of a joke.

You should give it to the nation that you know has the best bid and is going to put on a great show. Who better to give it to than the founders of the game, England. Why not the world champions, Spain (who were obviously bidding along side Portugal).

Instead they decide to give it to a nation that knows a bit about football but doesn't really look nice (Russia) and a nation that looks beautiful but doesn't have a clue about the game (Qatar).

I would love to hear any comments you may have.

I Don't Blame FIFA, Qatar Do Know Their Football

Earlier today, the FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced that Russia would be hosting the 2018 World Cup. I wasn't too surprised at this even though I did think England and their bidding team had just clinched it. But then he went on to announce the nation that would be hosting the 2022 World Cup and amazingly, the nation that came out of the envelope was Qatar.

"We love football","It's part of the fabric of our nation", "We have some fantastic stadia". These were a few things said in some of the bidding teams' presentation. I don't know what Qatar said but I would have loved to seen what they had on offer. Unlike most countries at the moment, they  have money. But what they don't have, are the key ingredients to hosting a World Cup. Stadia, passion for the game, knowledge of the game.

Although the line up of bidding nations for the 2022 World Cup was poor, I didn't expect FIFA to give it to Qatar. I thought USA or Australia would have been the safest bet. Do Qatar even have a league never mind a national team. Basically, it's an awful decision. The picture for this post, do you think it looks right?

Russia beat England, Belgium/Holland and Spain/Portugal to get the chance to host the 2018 World Cup. Yet again, I'm quite surprised by this decision. For me, I might be a bit biased when I say this, but England had the best bid on paper and off it. If I have enough money and decide to go over for a game, it might take me twelve hours to get to the next match. It would take that long with a good transport system, so I hope Russia don't have a bad one.

I would love to hear any comments you may have.