When Roy Keane walked out of the Stadium of Light back in December, they had 15 points from 15 games. He'd become exasperated as his expensively recruited side simply hadn't gelled as quickly as he'd hoped and felt he couldn't inspire them from the insipid performances they'd shown, especially in his last game in charge, […]

Well its one of those strange things that football sometimes conjures up some little nugget that makes you check the facts fully before you really believe it could be true For example, Liverpool never lost when Ian Rush scored until the League Cup final of 1987 against Arsenal. 145 games Liverpool went without losing when […]

Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate has the “it” quality as a manager. Not “it” in the genius sense like Arsene Wenger or Sir Alex Ferguson. Southgate has it in the Raymond Domenech sense where he could strip naked, smear himself with his own fecal matter and reenact the Monty Python Silly Walks skit down the touchline […]

Why can't Stewart Downing show us the form that makes him such a sought after player when he pulls on the England shirt? There is no doubting that at Premier League level, Downing is one of the most dangerous and creative players in the country but after Saturdays performance against Slovakia, it's clear to see […]

Well, can things get any worse for Newcastle United than they currently are? One win in the league in 3 months, the manager still recovering from his triple heart bypass operation, crowds are falling, the caretakers pointing out, in case you've missed it, that Newcastle find themselves in a relegation battle and then today the […]

Why can everyone else see Middlesbrough's problems but Steve Gibson? Whilst his support for Southgate is edifying, it worries me that the Chairman seems so detached from the situation Boro are in by continuing to back Southgate over the evidence of results, performances and the fans. Yet by backing Southgate, Steve Gibson is in danger […]

I’ve wondered for a long time what it is that managers see in Stewart Downing, particularly England managers. Since his first call up in February 2005, Downing has been pretty much been a regular in the England squad, but why? I don’t understand how one player can have gained 22 caps without ever making an […]

It seemed like a whirlwind footballing weekend. We got confirmation that Arsenal and Liverpool are in a freefall, while Chelsea still has a long way to go if they have any hopes of closing the gap with Man United. And the Red Devils, even with a B team, showed how much depth they had against […]

On Friday, during my game previews, Sam wondered how Wigan could score? Today, Chelsea gave us an answer, complacency. For much of Wigan's trip to Stamford Bridge, it was Chelsea on the back foot. Completely against the run of play, John Terry put Chelsea ahead twenty-five minutes in. Before that, Chelsea saw Wigan have five […]

The question I am posing is looking purely at what the UEFA Cup means to clubs from the English Premier League. Judging by recent participants and how they have fared, it appears to feature very low on most Premiership clubs’ list of priorities. Before the profile of the European Cup was sufficiently raised and rebranded […]

I'm happy Guus is not as thrilled about Chelsea's 1-0 win as I am. A bit of a side bar before I get into the news tonight. Chelsea are extremely lucky they are a goal to the good heading into their Champions League second leg. For starters, I don't believe Didier Drogba's goal should have […]

Can anyone remember the last time Hull City won a Premier League game? December 6th at home to Middlesbrough was the last time. Since then, they have been very much in freefall. When Hull first arrived in the Premiership, they were tipped to go straight back down but decided to tear up the script and […]

So after Saturdays draw, it would be an honest enough opinion to think that not many of the Hammers faithful would be relishing a midweek trip to Teeside next week. After visiting the area 4 times since the 1st November, the West Ham board have made the generous gesture to pay for all fans wishing […]

The firings of Tony Adams by Portsmouth and Big Phil Scolari by Chelsea brought the total number of clubs that have changed managers this season to seven, and the number of managerial changes to eight. That turnover rate seems quite high and quickly cycling managers seldom leads to success. It would seem that managers […]

Well the rumblings of yesterday have come to fruition today, on two counts. The first happening in South America, the other happening at the Riverside. I can understand Carlos Tevez wanting his future sorted. But the situation with Manchester United seems to get crazier by the day. After firing back at Ferguson's claims of rejecting […]