Photo by jontintinjordan

Wayne Rooney did score a remarkable goal on Saturday, that overhead kick which in his own words, “usually goes over the bar”. It made the score 2-1 and there were no more goals in this local derby. The win by Man United confirms them as most likely to win the English Premier League this season. But Wayne Rooney as ‘man of the match’ for this once-in-a-career kind-of-goal was unfair on others.

The way that Nemanja Vidic and Chris Smalling, the two Man United centre-halves, stifled danger in the box was vitally important to the result. For once Carlos Tevez did not look likely to score. The goal Man City scored was a fluke. But Rooney is an expensive star and there seems to be an irresistible force willing his confidence and therefore his goals to reappear. Where does this force come from? The media’s pressure to hype and to please us with heroes? The 75,000 spectators at Old Trafford and the world-wide fan base of Man United? His wages?

Some questions to ponder:

• Why are the players allowed to break the rules at kick-off? Starting the match, Rooney tapped the ball forward to Nani who was standing in the opponent’s half. I know everybody does it, and it is probably neater to get things going like this. but it is against the rules. At the moment of kick-off the players should be in their own half of the field.
• Gareth Barry (Man City) and Nani (Man U) wrestle their way to the goal-line simultaneously trying to preserve a likely goal-kick/force a corner. The referee or anyone else cannot pick out one of the pair as the instigator of the pushing and shoving. In any case awarding a free kick would delay the progress of the match.

There is another nonsense… taking the ball to the corner of the pitch and trying to hold possession there to play out time. Both of these recurring moments of boredom are ugly and unworthy of a game which can supply dazzling moments like Rooney’s goal. If the players cannot find an answer then there may have to be a rule implicitly insisting on playing, not delaying. A free-kick to the attacking team – the team in whose half the play is not taking place – might be necessary. It would be taken from the site of the delaying, of course. Avoiding this ‘punishment’ might smarten up the play. What does anyone else think?

• In Saturday’s match, Edin Dzeko of Man City connected with a cross from Shaun Wright-Phillips about 10 yards out from the middle of the goal in a melee of players. The ‘shot’ hit Silva on the back and went off in a completely different direction to enter the goal. Silva was credited with scoring. Not his fault, but the goal should have been credited to ‘Stan’. We need a new name on the scoresheets of football games, and this name can feature for any team at all. The name is Happenstance. You can call him ‘Stan’ for short.

Visit Vernon’s blog at http://hallsofsoccer.blogspot.com

Is anyone else starting to get a little nervous for the Man City “project”?

I was thrilled by the way the team were playing for the first two months of the season.  They were incisive, dashing, and had a swagger about them that said “we can do this”.  As sure as one swallow doesn’t make a summer, a handful of early victories doesn’t define a season.

Managers get a lot of stick for events that are far beyond their control, but in this situation, I’m going to point the finger at Mark Hughes – and here’s why:

To me, the manager’s job is to prepare their team to give them the best possible chance to win.  He can’t be held responsible for missed penalties, idiotic red cards, or heroics from the opponent’s goalie.  But when I see a team that doesn’t seem motivated and that doesn’t seem to have a plan of attack, I’m holding the manager responsible.

The four consecutive winnable games that Man City have let pass them by goes beyond bad luck or coincidence.  They’re in a rut, and it’s up to Sparky to break them out of it.  He needs to figure out who is going to drive their team to victory, and how to go about doing it.

The league table pays a false compliment to City at the moment.  I’m happy that they’re in the top-four, but they’ve lost all momentum and they won’t by worrying the likes of Man Utd or Chelsea.  Hopefully they can regain their mojo and give the old guard a serious run for their money.

Sort it out, Hughesy!

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Phil McThomas runs the one-of-a-kind football news site over at CleverFootball.com – a bit like NewsNow, but with a giant computer brain that figures out what the hot stories of the day are.  Check out the dedicated team pages – for example, all the Man City news is here.  Phil also does Twitter as @soccershout – give him a follow!

For two weeks in a row now, glaring penalty calls have been missed in the early Saturday EPL game.  Wolves’ striker Kevin Doyle was fouled twice, by my count, when through on goal, and last week it was Villa’s Agbonlahor who was being tripped in the act of shooting.  (Here are the videos for the Wolves and the Villa incidents).

What’s interesting is the commonalities: Both incidents would have demanded a red card for the offender, and they both happened very early in the game (2nd minute for Wolves, 11th minute for Villa).  (I’ll set aside the fact that in both cases, the more-fancied team was given the benefit of any doubt).

It’s my feeling that referees are loathed to call a penalty that would also result in red card that early in the game.  Whether it’s human nature or a conscious decision, I reckon they don’t want to spoil the game by making 10 v 11 for 80+ minutes.

This highlights the problem with the so-called “last man” rule.  When it’s also a penalty, the double-whammy sanction is just too severe.  In both of these cases, the defender was making a genuine attempt to tackle.  If they’re off by a fraction, should they effectively forfeit the game?  Of course not.  But that’s what the rule calls for.

There’s another problem with the “last-man” rule – it’s sometimes too lenient.  If the foul is outside the area, and it’s late in the game, then it’s hardly a deterrent at all.

Here’s how I would change things:  I’d award a penalty for any foul in a clear goalscoring opportunity, no matter where it occurs on the pitch.  To me, that’s just common sense.  I’d then leave the red-card decision up to the referee.  If it’s flagrant – a hand-ball on the line, a rugby tackle with an open-goal gaping – then send the guy off.  If it’s a legitimate attempt at a tackle, then a yellow card is sufficient.

I know tinkering with the rules is often considered heresy, but I’m just getting sick of teams getting short-changed by referees who are too timid to make the right call.

What do you think?  Crazy talk or crazy-sensible?  Let me know below.

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Phil McThomas runs the site CleverFootball.com – a super-smart football news site like no other.  You can follow him on Twitter – @SoccerShout.

I won’t go into a great deal of prologue on the Gael Kakuta / Chelsea transfer ban situation – see here and here for related stories.

Am I alone in thinking the solution proposed by Football (with a big F) stinks?  They’re talking about banning the movement of players under the age of 18.  Presumably by that age, the player has a professional contract with the team that developed them.  The developing team will get a fair price for the player when he moves to a bigger team and everyone is happy.  Or so the thinking goes.

There is too much emphasis placed on the interests of the developing club, and not enough about what would be good for the individual.  The player is making a commitment at the age of 12-14 (even earlier in some cases) that is going to bind them to a club until they’re 18.  (Even at 18, the player is still tied to the club until he is sold to another team).

What if the relationship between the player and the club goes sour?  What if the player feels the club isn’t meeting his needs?  What if the potential of the player far exceeds the quality of the club he joined?

If young footballers are better off staying at their original club, why do we have this situation where they are breaking their contracts to move to another team.

Now listen to the so-called voice of morality, Dario Gradi:

We have a situation where one of our 15-year-olds has been approached…The big clubs are stealing other people’s players…We lost a 12-year-old to Everton. He was our best 12-year-old.

He clearly sees these young lads as his property.  He refers to them as ‘ours’, and says they’ve stolen.  There is no theft without possession.

Some of the smaller clubs seem to rely on youth development to supplement their revenues.  Indeed, the above referenced article mentions “Crewe have remained afloat thanks to its rich tradition of nurturing young players”.  But what is really happening is that clubs see these kids as lottery tickets.  The ones that appear to hold no value need to be discarded at the earliest opportunity.  The winners will be converted into cash when it best suits the club.

This whole area just has a bad stench about it.

I promised you a solution, so here goes:

If you look at something I like to call “real life” (people in the football bubble will already be lost at this point), you’ll find institutions dedicated to the educational development of young poeple.  These institutions exist for no other purpose – they don’t make widgets, they just teach people how to make widgets.  They leave the widget-making to other organizations. 

The amazing this is this: these institutions hold no claim whatsoever on the students who pass through their doors.

Could the same thing work in football?

A player joins a football development college at the age of 8 or 12 or whenever they’re good enough, they can move between colleges as it benefits them (and the receiving college allows), and they graduate without any commitment to the college.

There is the question of who pays for this education.  The system differs from country to country, with the trend being toward having the individual pay for their tuition.  Given the miniscule success rate of being a professional football, I don’t see this a being a good gamble for the student-football.

Another way of financing education is through taxation.  Would any of the following work?

• A tax on the wages of professional footballers
• A tax on the revenues of professional football clubs
• A tax on the transfer activity of professional football clubs

Nobody likes taxes for sure, but if it’s a means to eradicate the exploitation of minors, surely it would be one of the more popular taxes around.

So what do we reckon?  The solution to the exploitation of minors in football, or more hogwash from the blogosphere?

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Phil McThomas runs the football news aggregator CleverFootball.com – plenty of stories about child-exploitation can currently be found in the pages for Chelsea…and Man City…and Liverpool…and Man Utd…

Photo credit: P.A. Hudson

Stoke City this week completed the double-signing of Robert Huth and Tuncay Sanli from Middlesbrough.  As a Boro fan, I thought I’d run the rule over what these additions will mean to the Potters.  I can see ups and downs in both signings.

First to Robert Huth.  I have to admit, I love him as a player.  He’s a very solid, no-nonsense kind of center-back, seemingly unflappable.  He may not have a ton of pace, but his positioning more than compensates for that.  He’s been nicknamed the Berlin Wall by the local media (with his partner, David Wheater, as the Redcar Rock).

His achillies heel is, well, his achillies heel.  And his ankle.  And his foot.  Although Huth had a good run in the back-half of last season, Huth only played in 31 Premier League games in the two-and-a-half years before that because of a series of niggles with just about everything below the knee.

Hopefully his run of fitness will continue and if it does, I think he’ll be an excellent buy for Stoke and a hit with the fans.

Tuncay is a more nuanced addition to Stoke’s squad.  Let’s face it, the team doesn’t have a great reputation for flowing counter-attacks and intricate flicks and touches – which are precisely the areas where Tuncay excels.

There are two possiblilites here though:  Tuncay might be just the kind of player to benefit from the loose balls and knocks-downs that are the by-product of an arial bombardment.  Or, Pulis might be ready to mix-up the route-one stuff for a style that’s a bit easier on the eye.  I understand that Stoke played more on the ground in the Championship and last season was more a means to an end (i.e. 12th place).

Tuncay quickly became a fan-favorite at the Riverside and the Stoke fans will appreciate the passion and commitment he displays.  Things soured a little last season – that commitment was questionable for a few months in the middle of the year, and he was the creative force in a team that only scored 28 goals.  But, like Huth, he had a good second-half to the season and a good start to this one.

As long as Tuncay isn’t a complete misfit in the Stoke gameplan, I think he’ll be another good addition to the team.

I’m sure Stoke’s biggest fear is “doing a Reading” (i.e. failing miserably after a terrific first season in the Prem) and these two signings will only help prevent history from repeating.

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About the author: Phil McThomas runs CleverFootball.com, a site that aggregates news from all over the web, just for football fans.  You can get your Stoke news and your Middlesbrough news and, well, you get the picture.

Photo credit: Wonker (Flickr)

TweetBeat takes the pulse of fan opinion and reaction – the emotional, the insightful and the trivial.  But mostly trivial though.

Let’s start with a comment from the BBC Sport’s chief football writer, Phil McNulty, which induced varying opinions from a couple of Everton fans:

philmcnulty: Time for Manchester City to make that next Joleon Lescott bid. And time for David Moyes to accept it and move on. Damaging saga for Everton.

TennyKarim: @philmcnulty why can’t man city go to Europe for better center halves and they are cheaper they don’t need all this lescott drama.

scouserachel: @philmcnulty Why exactly when the only parties who will benefit are City and Lescott? No time to buy better replacement. He’ll go nowhere.

Support for Lescott seems to be in pretty short supply on Merseyside:

manch1985: would be quite happy to see lescott rot in the reserves, well done moyes for dropping him

evertonyian: Lescott,wherever u maybe,f*** off to manchester city we hope u go there cos it will end in tears they hav’nt won a thing in fifty years

Lawrance10: RT @MCFC_headlines Joleon Lescott dropped by Everton – He’s surely on his way now? Not sure I want him anymore after Saturdays 6-1. 😉

DHWizzo: Looks like Man City are getting Lescott now. When will the madness end? ‘Run for the money – you only run for the money’.

Has the saga turned into a lose-lose for all concerned?  Some seem to think so:

thetruefootball: Lescott all but gone to City. Poor Toffees. Poor City.

Monkey_Nuts: I’m getting very tired of man city persuit of Lescott, we should give up and move on to other targets!

I’ll leave you with proof that not everything on Twitter is pure fluff.  It may not parse well, but I think we should all do a little soul-searching after reading this next one:

joemisika: Is it rite that players r getting more power, Essien forced his move to chelsea. Now Lescott wants to force his to Man City? Is it good?

Phil McThomas runs CleverFootball.com, a site that lets football fans get their news fix with the minimum amount of fuss.  Man City fans will want to keep their eye on the Man City news page.  Toffee fans can track Everton news here…if they dare.

Photo credit: Toksuede

TweetBeat takes the pulse of fan opinion and reaction – the emotional, the insightful and the trivial.  But mostly trivial though.

Celtic v Arsenal – Before the game:

digitalsnowtwit: Hoping for a good result for Arsenal tonight. Celtic at home is a mega tough task. A score draw would be a good result, away goal is key

Torexy: Work is not done, but game Celtic-Arsenal is more attractive )

ArseNole: Come on Arsenal! 2-1 to the mighty Gunners.

StrangerAeons: Anyway, #Arsenal play Celtic tonight. I’m equal parts excited, nervous, wretched and optimistic. And people say football is for morons…

bekki511: tired *yawns* hate my new maths teacher 🙁 celtic arsenal game tonight 😀

furiousmate: I’m saying Arsenal beating the Celtic 2?0 in this 1st leg match. Hopefully it’s not going to be a 0 – 0 draw…

fatsarazzi: I am thinking 3-1 to Arsenal tonight…

bigstuart68: Celtic v Arsenal, the outcome does not look good for my team especially when they trounced Everton 6-1, there might be a few tears.

pahender: Heading out for the Celtic game, playing some English team tonight…

flc: Schedule for afternoon: off to post office/ups store, lunch, do dishes, watch Arsenal thrash Celtic. Rather good if I do say so myself

firefawkes: OK who’s bright idea was it to have U2 play at Hampden at the same time as Celtic play Arsenal?

yamsta: On way to Celtic game. Traffic is terrible!

dannysniper: off to celtic park, BRING IT ON!

Celtic v Arsenal – After the game:

Ton1o: Great to see Arsenal beat the Jocks.

Kat_Myers15: In a great mood. 🙂 🙂 🙂 Can’t wait to see what Arsenal will accomplish this season. I have high hopes.

Fabby_Jess: Arsenal best Celtic ! Us English rule lol

i_am_dmg: Tic 0-2. Arsenal very good, but 2 horrid jammy goals 2 give away. That mite b the best away team performance we’ll see all season (I hope).

Madyew: Arsenal beat Celtic 2-0. First goal was Fabregas’ shot deflecting off Gallas, second was an own goal. Lucky goals, but a deserving win.

abigailxoxox: aww celtic lost…hope they win against arsenal in the next game…come on the hoops!!!

JB1888: arsenal were so lucky! other than a deflection and an own goal, boruc had nothing to do in goal!

orpheous87: Bah! I’m not a Celtic fan, but I hate, hate hateArsenal!

craigpdrury: Well done Arsenal v Celtic – outclassed the team in Green and desrved the 2-0 despite scoring two lucky goals. Rule Britannia!

cobbler1000: Arsenal need luck this year you make it you mostly earn it UnluckyCeltic but the gap tween the two countries leagues show – Strachan said!

adiarsenalfan: Celtic verminated in the first leg.

russellbf: If Celtic were to play in England, they would be West Brom under Megson. Sorry Bouys but your pants.

ColinBallantyne: If anyone is in the Celtic Park area can you have a look for the “famous atmosphere” please! Shhhhhhhh

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Phil McThomas runs CleverFootball.com, a site that lets football fans get their news fix with the minimum amount of fuss.  Check out the Arsenal news page for the latest news and blogs posts from the Celtic game.

Without a lot of herald or press coverage, UEFA announced at the start of the week that there will be five referees on the pitch for all Europa League matches next season.  An additional pair of eyes will be stationed behind each goal, focusing on incidents in and around the penalty area.

I’m 100% behind this move by Michel Platini.  The debate about video replays seems to polarize fans’ opinion, and I’m no different.  I just can’t see a workable situation that will cover the most contentious decisions in a way that doesn’t detract from the beauty of the game.

The vantage point from behind the goal will perfectly supplement the referee in the middle of the pitch.  Between them, they should be able to make better quality decisions that will make the game more fair.  The reports from the trial of the system reported fewer controversies and and reduction of holding and pushing at set-plays.

Back in the days of the Soccer Shout podcast (circa 2005-06) I was a big proponent of this approach – before it was being talked about by UEFA – so I’m going to throw a few more predictions into the ring:

• Five referees in the Premier League in the 2010-11 season.
• Five referees in (gasp!) the World Cup.

What do you guys think – about the system and my predictions?

This is not a post to moan about a referee getting a decision wrong.  Rather, this particular incident got me wondering, “How is that supposed to work then?”  Maybe you have the answer…

It’s been reasonably well accepted that Arsenal’s opener against Middlesbrough should have been flagged offside (video link).  Graham Poll on Setanta’s Football Matters thought so.  So did the Right Result website.  So did Allison Rudd on The Game podcast.

Although Nicklas Bendtner didn’t play the ball, he impeded the goalkeeper’s ability to save the shot from an offside position by running into his path at a crucial moment.  The flag stayed down though and Arsenal went on to win the game 2-0.

But here’s the thing that made me say “Hmmm”.

• The referee can see whether the player is interfering with the goalkeeper, but not whether the player is offside.
• The assistant ref can see whether the player is offside, but (possibly) not whether the player is interfering with the goalkeeper.

How can the ref and lino collaborate to make the right decision in such cases?

Should the assistant have put his flag up, even if he’s not sure whether the offside player was involved in play?  Should the referee have gone and talked with the linesman even though there was no flag?  What if play had somehow continued with Arsenal in possession, not allowing for a quick chat between the officials?

Are there any referees out there – real ones or couch referees like myself – who can help clear this up?

Did everyone spot Nemanja Vidic’s contribution to Manchester United’s third goal against Chelsea on Sunday?  The tactic, reminiscent of basketball’s pick-and-roll, has been creeping into Premier League play over the course of this season.  Sunday’s example was the most blatant to date – and it still wasn’t picked up by the referee.

As you can see from the video of the goal, the cross comes from a free-kick in the vicinity of the corner flag.  Berbatov is being man-marked by Ballack and Terry is covering Vidic.

As the kick is taken, Vidic is not looking at the ball (which is directly behind him) but instead is concentrating on impeding Ballack’s ability to cover Berbatov.

Here you see the pick in full effect.  Vidic steps into the path of Ballack after Berbatov makes his run to the near post.

Now unmarked, Berbatov has the simple task of converting from five yards out.

Allowing this sort of play by the attacking team makes scoring goals too easy.  That’s why it is against the laws of the game, and why referees must become more alert to the activity.

Manchester United were unfortunate to get pulled back by the officials for their chicanery (legal, this time) during that corner routine in the first half, so I suppose there was some sort of karma in effect here.

Incidently, while the pick-and-roll is within the rules of basketball, it requires the player making the pick (i.e. Vidic) to keep his feet still, which he doesn’t.  It also would not be allowed in the NFL, which has a sensible rule that assumes that if a player isn’t actually looking at the ball in flight, they’re probably committing a foul.

Manchester City are, we’re told, the world’s richest football club.  They harbor ambitions of winning…well…everything that Manchester United just won in the last 12 months.  But where’s the beef?  The players that City are buying – or trying to buy – are more UEFA Cup qualifiers than Champions League winners.

Exhibit 1:  Craig Bellamy.  A ‘mid-table’ player with Newcastle, Blackburn and West Ham.  A brief stint with Liverpool was unsuccessful (I had forgotten all about it!).

Exhibit 2: Wayne Bridge.  An accomplished left-back, but hardly the Roberto Carlos of his generation.

Exhibit 3:  Roque Santa Cruz.  Another firm bid that has yet to be converted.  Santa Cruz had one good season for Blackburn (last year) and one good season for Bayern Munich (which was, unfortunately, spread over the course of calendar 8 years).

Exhibit 4:  There is no Exhibit 4.  Two firm bids on hold, one left-back in the bag.

If City want to break into the top-4, they’re going to need a different calibre of player than the one they appear to be pursuing.  Sure, there are rumours of 100 million pound bids for Kaka, but they are just rumours at this point.

But why not buy Ashley Cole instead of Wayne Bridge?  Why not Torres and Rooney instead of Bellamy and Santa Cruz?

One explanation is that City’s owners are content to tread water for the rest of the season and make big changes over the summer.  Another is that they have been hit by the credit crunch, or become quickly disillusioned somehow.

What do you think is going on at City?

Middlesbrough may not be achieving much these days in terms of league position, but one thing they can take pride in is the rate they are churning out local young Premier League players. Boro regularly feature at least four local youngsters in the starting line up.  In their most recent game against Sunderland, a total of seven locals made it onto the pitch (5 starters and 2 subs).

The map above shows the 13 players from the region who have appeared in the Premier League for Boro in the last 12 months.  For reference, there is about 40 miles between the most-northern and most-southern players on the map.  On average, each player in the group is 21 years old and has 43 Premier League appearances to their name.

I’ve been trying to figure out how much the group would be worth if they were all sold today.  Lee Cattermole and James Morrison left in the summer, for a combined 5.5 million pounds.  Boro have reportedly been offered 14 million for Stewart Downing.  David Wheater, Adam Johnson, Ross Turnbull and Andrew Taylor would all command fees above or around the 3.5 million Wigan paid for Cattermole.

I think we’re looking at group that is worth at least forty million pounds in the transfer market.

The one position that Boro’s academy doesn’t seem to excel in is centre-forward.  Danny Graham was briefly in Boro’s first team squad in 2007 but after fifteen appearances and only one goal, he was released and is currently playing for Carlisle.  Tom Craddock (22, from Darlington) is the latest hope, currently on loan at Norwich where he has bagged four goals in six appearances.

Are there any other teams – whether in the Premier League or elsewhere – that can claim to match the production of Boro’s academy?

Will Stuart Downing be walking out in red along with his team mates, and if he does, how will the home crowd react?

Depending on further transfer activity, and its effect on the player’s mental state, there’s a chance Downing could be taken out of the firing line by Southgate.  The Riverside crowd can be critical at the best of times, so it may only take a misplaced pass, an overhit cross or Downing showing less than 100% commitment to turn the mood negative.

Indeed, the Riverside crowd may preempt any further action on Downing’s part and decide that his Monday morning transfer request was mutiny enough to start the jeers and boos.

On the other hand, a Ronaldo-esqe love-in, along with the red-striped rags of the Sunderland team, might fire the Middlesbrough-born player to excel and re-kindle his commitment to his current employer.

And so, Middlesbrough’s season may brighten or diminish.  Like Ronaldo, Downing has been off his best this season, but still instrumental to the heartbeat of the team.  Should he depart, or simply not give his best for the remainder of the season, Middlesbrough are surely in deep trouble.

Ricky Sbragia has also been playing defence so far in the transfer market, with El-Hadji Diouf being a target of his former-Bolton boss Sam Allardyce.  He is also still without goalkeeper Craig Gordon, with Hungarian international Marton Fulop set to continue.

[Report card via CleverFootball.com]

Sunderland will go into the tie in the better form of the two teams.  A burst of goals against Hull and West Brom propelled the Black Cats out of the relegation zone in December.  More recently, they had a satisfying FA Cup victory over Bolton last weekend.

Scoring goals has been a problem for Boro all season, one that seems to be getting worse the longer the season goes on.  They have just two to their name in the last six Premier League games.  Alfonso Alves is sure to start on Saturday and will hope to add to the goals he bagged against non-league Barrow in his last outing.

Alves is a player who thrives on service, so the Riverside crowd had better hope that Boro’s midfield – and that man Downing – are able to tee some chances up for him if they are to go home happy on Saturday.

I enjoyed the West Ham / Blackburn game today, as a neutral.  There were goals, some red blooded tackling and a couple of contentious decisions to debate.

The first was the own goal ‘credited’ to Samba that put Blackburn 2-0 down.  That Dean Ashton was in an offside position is not up for debate.  The only question was whether he was interfering with play – he didn’t touch the ball, after all.  Yet he was clearly unsettling Samba – and therefore gaining an advantage – and also blocking the view of the goalkeeper.

This got me thinking: The linesman is in the best position to judge if a player is in an offside position.  But is he in the best position to determine whether a player is interfering or gaining an advantage?  His lateral view probably doesn’t help in this regard.  The referee is on top of play and can better make this call.

So how do the officials work together to arbitrate the correct call?  The answer is that they can’t easily do this – unless that microphone system is flawless – and certain circumstances fall through the cracks of the law, as we saw today.

Matt Derbyshire’s effort being chalked off was more run of the mill.  It was a close call but Derbyshire stayed level throughout.  For my money, it should have been 2-1 to Rovers at this point, rather than the other way around.  Rough justice for Paul Ince, much to the delight of the Upton Park crowd.

First though, a little look back at last week where I didn’t get any of my three picks right.   They were all long-ish odds and I think I can count myself unlucky with two of them.  Everyone and their dog is talking how Boro deserved to get all three points at Anfield, and Bolton missed a penalty when the score was 0-0.

Forewarned is fore-armed, so on to this week:

Bolton v West Brom – Home Win (@ 5/6)

Bolton did reasonably well last week despite going down to Newcastle.  There was that penalty plus another couple of great chances spurned.  West Brom are quickly finding out how difficult this league is and I worry they are going to find themselves stranded at the foot of the table.

Sunderland v Man City – Home Win (@ 6/5)

Sunderland stood up well to Liverpool in the first week and took all three points from Spurs a week later.  Man City bounced back to best West Ham, but I wasn’t impressed  – they still took half-an-hour to score after the Hammers went down to ten men.   Back to Earth with a bump for City in the UEFA Cup on Thursday, and I’m betting on another bad result on Sunday.

Aston Villa v Liverpool – Home Win (@ 7/4)

Villa stumbled against Stoke but are still playing well.  The term Lucky Liverpool has come into the fore in the last couple of weeks.  They’ll be without Gerrard this weekend and I’m betting against the Reds getting lucky for a fourth time.  Betting against Liverpool is risky, but this price represents value.

Be lucky.

Does the following situation sound at all familiar?

You record a bunch of Premier League games on a Saturday and Sunday because you’re too busy (or too asleep) to watch the games live.  You avoid the results.  You find some time later in the day to watch one or two of the games you’ve recorded.  You sometimes end up watching a sucky game – a 0-0 draw for instance.  You look at the other results and realise that you had a much better game sitting on your recorder unwatched.

If you’re nodding you’re head right now, I created the website that will come to your rescue.

CleverFootball.com has a page that will give you a rating for each Premier League game, calculated just after the game is finished.  You can use this rating to decide which of the recorded games to watch.  You can go to CleverFootball.com/ratings safe in the knowledge that you won’t find out any scores from the games – just the ratings.

For example, you may think that Arsenal v Newcastle is going to be the pick of the games this Saturday.  But you take a look on the site and see that it only got 5/10, and against all odds, West Ham v Blackburn was rated as an 8.  As long as you recorded both games, you can switch your plans and watch the thriller from Upton Park.

This is just the first feature of the site that I’m developing.  In the future it will feature innovative news delivery, stats like you’ve never seen, and something special that will make betting on the games more enjoyable – less work and better decisions.  Sign-up for the newsletter on the site to be the first to hear about new features and get invite-only access to new parts of the site.

In one sense, Liverpool have had a perfect start to their season.  Six points from two Premier League games and successful passage into the next stage of the Champions League is the best they could have accomplished to date.  They’ve been almost-perfect at the back, conceding just one goal in 390 minutes of football.

This, of course, is painting a picture so pretty that it would make Water Lillies look like a photo of horse dung.

Liverpool have yet to face anything approaching the top class teams they’ll have to overcome if they’re to have a truely successful season.  They have yet to score a goal in the first 80 minutes of any match.  They have yet to win a game by more than a single goal.

If Liverpool are to continue to be lucky, rather than good, then their season is surely about to fall badly off the rails.  Their upcoming Premier League fixtures involve a trip to Villa Park and a visit from Manchester United.  They are also just three weeks away from the group stage of the Champions League.  Their recent success in this competition means they will be the top seed in their group, but they can still expect to face much sterner opposition than Standard Liege.

And yet, a glorious opportunity awaits if they can kick their season out of first gear.  Another two Premier League wins would see them eight points clear of Manchester United and looking down on every other team apart from, most likely, Chelsea.  A kind draw from Mr Platini would pit them against Eindhoven, Basel and, I kid you not, Anorthosis Famagusta (who, interestingly enough, are managed by former Newcastle player Timur Ketsbaia).

So which way now for Liverpool?

Newcastle v Bolton – Away Win (@ 15/4)

Newcastle did well to come away from Old Trafford with a point, and they could have had all three.  However, I saw signs of their trademark defensive shakiness on a number of occasions, enough to suggest that Keegan hasn’t got everything figured out just yet.  Bolton looked good last week against weak opposition.  I think they could pull a smash-and-grab at St James’s Park.

West Brom v Everton – Home Win (@ 8/5)

West Brom hardly got a touch last week, but against Arsenal that’s almost to be expected.  They came away with a little credit for not collapsing completely.  Everton’s close-season problems don’t need repeating, and they were enough to give Paul Ince a gentle start to his Premier League tenure.  Will they hand the three points to another rookie Premier League manager?

Liverpool v Boro (@ 15/2)

Liverpool huffed and puffed against Sunderlands last weekend and only a piece of individual skill by Torres gave the Scousers all three points.  Boro conceded a lot of possession at home, but moved the ball swiftly and with intent given the chance.  Boro have a wretched record at Anfield, but with all the distractions that Benitez has created these last couple of weeks, they might never have a better chance of pulling off what would be the upset of the weekend.

So what do you reckon?  Are these three simply lambs to the slaughter?  Where is your [currency] going this weekend?

When Boro’s defenders aren’t busy keeping Spurs’ expensively-assembled forward line at bay, they like to kick back with a little baking.

On the pitch, Pogatetz is a fierce tackler and Wheater uses his massive frame to ward off attackers.  Off the pitch, Wheater mixes the icing and Pogatetz applies it with a flat knife.

I like to think the lady in the red shirt is Wheater’s mam, but it could easily be the president of the Women’s Institute, Middlesbrough chapter.

England have been missing a rampaging forward ever since Alan Shearer retired from national duty in 2000.  Gabriel Agbonlahor has the physique, the skill and the attitude to finally replace Shearer at the center of England’s attack.

A potted history of England’s strikers since 2000:

• Michael Owen has continued to shine whenever he’s pulled on the England shirt, but his injuries have meant that it’s been impossible to depend on his presence.
• Wayne Rooney continues to promise a lot but doesn’t deliver often enough for the Three Lions (1 goal in 3 games, on average).  He is also apt to vacate the central area even when playing as a lone striker.
• Peter Crouch rarely disappoints when given a chance, but he finds himself under-utilized by manager after manager.
• A handful of ultimately unsuccessful experiments with the likes of Darius Vassell and Jermaine Defoe.

Villa’s Agbonlahor has all the raw materials to pick up where Shearer left off.  Defenders hate physically dominating strikers and direct running, areas in which Agbonlahor excels.  He is proficient with both feet, scores an equal number of tap-ins and longer shots, and is also a great header of the ball.

A look at the strikers included in the current England squad has me scratching my head at his exclusion.

• Rooney is there of course (and Owen isn’t, of course).
• Jermaine Defoe – he of 5 goals in 28 England appearances – is likely to start.
• Emile Heskey, who will be 32 by the time the next World Cup rolls around.  Without Owen, he is Yang with no Ying.
• Theo Walcott, who has fewer Premiership goals than Defoe has international goals.

Agbonlahor’s versatility is possibly his undoing.  In John Carew, Villa have a classic center forward who would struggle to play anywhere else.  Ashley Young and Agbonlahor are asked to fill-in on the flanks.  Agbonlahor, particularly, looks like he would deliver more goals if he were allowed to play more centrally.

As it is, he has scored 23 times in 76 Premier League appearances since the start of the 06-07 season, a period in which he’s only missed one league game.  Yeah, I’m looking at you, Michael Owen.