Wolves vs West Ham 15th August 2009 - Match Report

Wolves 0: West Ham 2

Despite starting well and being cheered on by a great home crowd, Wolves went down to West Ham at Molineux. Mark Noble scored in the first half and a Matthew Upson header ended the contest in the second half, although prior to this header Mick McCarthy's men did threaten to equalise through a couple of fine long range efforts from Nenad Milijas.

Stoke vs Burnley 15th August 2009 Match Report

Stoke 2: Burnley 0

Premiership new boys Wolves and Burnley both experienced a baptism of fire and went down 2:0 today. Stoke City scored from 2 set pieces, with Ryan Shawcross nodding in Liam Lawrence's free-kick and the unfortunate Stephen Jordan glancing a trademark Rory Delap throw-in into his own net to put Stoke 2-0 up. Burnley fans can however take some comfort that their team, who were playing their first top flight footie for 33 years, significantly improved after half time and Wade Elliott came close to scoring.

Portsmouth vs Fulham 15th August 2009 Match Report

Portsmouth 0: Fulham 1

Fulham, who last season finished in their highest ever place, continued this run of form as Clint Dempsey's shot deflected in off Bobby Zamora to earn them a 1:0 victory over Portsmouth. To be fair to Pompey, despite a difficult summer with key players leaving and a proposed takeover yet to be finalised, the team started brightly and did challenge Fulham throughout. The fans will however be anxious for the takeover to be completed and for funds to be made available to Paul Hart asap.

Aston Villa vs Wigan 15th August 2009 Match Report

Aston Villa 0: Wigan 2

Aston Villa, who started so full of promise last season, were so poor today against Wigan that they were booed by their own fans. Hugo Rodallega scored a stunning first goal and Jason Koumas the second to give Roberto Martinez a victorious first game as manager of the Latics.

Chelsea vs Hull 15th August 2009

Chelsea 2: Hull 1

As the bookies would have predicted Chelsea also ended the day victorious with a 2:1 win over Hull; however Phil Brown's men pushed the Blues hard and would have gone in with at least a share of the spoils if Didier Drogba hadn't spoilt the party. Hull's new signing Stephen Hunt overcame the jeers from the Chelsea fans (as a Reading player his clash with Cech resulted in a fractured skull for the keeper) and put the Tigers ahead after 28 minutes. Drogba then levelled and the Ivory Coast international went on to score the winner in injury time after a controversial 6 minutes had been added.

Bolton vs Sunderland 15th August 2009 Match Report

Bolton 0: Sunderland 1

Sunderland finished the day victorious under new manager Steve Bruce. The club's record signing Darren Bent repaid Bruce's belief in him and scored after 5 minutes at the Reebok. This is a happy start for Bent, who never really settled at Spurs, and a good start for the Mackems who only finished 2 places above the drop zone last season. Bolton did put up a spirited display in the second half, but unfortunately this was too little, too late.

Blackburn vs Man City 15th August 2009 Match Report

Blackburn 0: Man City 2

Man City also started the season with a bang after putting 2 past Blackburn. Adebayor, one of City's summer signings, opened the scoring after just 3 minutes and Tevez, one of the other debutants, almost joined him on the scoresheet but in the end it was Ireland who consolidated the win with a second goal. City have therefore passed the first test and come away with 3 points, which was vital after spending £100M in the summer. However the game was not entirely one way and Sam Allardyce's team did threaten at times, demanding an excellent save from Given to prevent Blackburn scoring an equaliser at 1:0. Based on this display, if City are going to break into the top 4, they will need to dig even deeper into their new owners' pockets and bolster their defence further.

Everton vs Arsenal 15th August 2009 - Match report

Everton 1 - Arsenal 6

Arsenal have ended the first day of the season as they started it - top of the premiership table. However although their starting position was purely alphabetical, their current lead is well deserved after putting 6 goals past a dire Everton. Arsenal fans will be happy that new boy Thomas Vermaelen scored on his debut, doubling a lead set up by Denilson. Gallas scored the third goal,Fabregas scrored a brace and Eduardo also hit the back of the net. Everton's only reply came from Saha in injury time, when the Gooners had effectively already started packing up for their triumphant return back to London. It is difficult to see how Moyes can take any positives from the Toffee's woeful display and impossible to see how this result could persuade Joleon Lescott to withdraw his transfer request.

Lescott to write to Everton board

Joleon Lescott will be writing to Bill Kenwright putting in a transfer request to join Manchester City.

You've got to admire David Moyes' determination to protect what he has built at Everton. Joleon Lescott has improved so much at Goodison Park and selling him would almost definitely reduce their chances of pushing for top 4/5 Premier League status.

Lescott wants to move. Many football fans always say 'If he wants to leave then let him'. My view is that the manager needs to balance that with the player's personality. If Moyes thinks that Lescott will be a professional and give his all, then force him to stay. After all, from a club's perspective isn't this precisely why we have contracts?

RIP Bobby Robson 1933-2009

Bobby Robson was a true gentleman and man of football. His defiance and spirited fight against cancer typified his attitude in life that he applied so well to professional football. What better an example of this than the World Cup 1990. With our wonderful media truly on Robson's back, our troops went out to Italy with a manager who would always back his players. When a player had a bad spell or couldn't find the net, he was the one always on their side and had a superb way of bringing the right players in and out at the right time to get results. He also liked his sides to play attacking football with flare. Always favouring attacking wing play giving his teams width, Bobby Robson's managerial career was incredible and everywhere he went he was liked and respected. From Ipswich to PSV to Newcastle at club level this was a true legend of football that will be missed in the football world. Personally, Bobby Robson was my favourite England manager because he had 2 World Cups where England were very competitive in Mexico '86 and Italia '90. Alex Ferguson always says there are too many outspoken journalists talking about something they don't really know enough about. As did Brian Clough. For me, one of the best examples of this was the build up to England getting to the semi-finals against Germany in 1990. The media criticised Bobby's men of being defensive and negative. However that team had a fit Paul Gascoigne in and a super sharp Gary Lineker which meant that any team could be threatened with super attacking quality.

Bobby Robson - we all will miss you, thanks for some legendary footballing memories.