Birmingham City 1 Manchester United 1 Premier League Latest

As one of only two fixtures that survived the cold snap today, lots of smug ESPN subscribers (including myself) will have enjoyed the match at St Andrews today where home team Birmingham managed to get a point against current Premier League champions Manchester United.

Snow has disrupted many industries, including football particularly in lower leagues. However Man Utd played last week in the FA Cup against Leeds and took a big knock in that game at home. Looking to bounce back today, for 30 minutes in the first half Birmingham City could hardly get a touch of the ball as the red devils were truly awesome in ther mastery of attacking football. No goals from it though. Jerome scored first against the run of play (one of my top five football clichés) with a scrappy goal coming from a corner.

In the second half after some more dominating football, it was Manchester United's turn for a scrappy goal. As the cross came in and the ball went in the net after blocked shots from both Rooney and Scholes, Rooney gingerly claimed the goal but then there was hesitation with the officials as the Birmingham players and fans piled on the pressure claiming an offside. However, it was then clear that the goal was to stand because it was actually an own goal.

Bad result for Man Utd - I think it now has to be Chelsea's to lose.

Leeds United - they've beaten the Champions - can they beat Spurs?

All across the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire there were triumphant Leeds United fans on Sunday after their incredible FA Cup upset, travelling back over the Pennines having turfed out Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United.

Leeds took 9,000 to Old Trafford, what a memorable day for those fans. The first away win against Man Utd since 1981, they now face Tottenham Hotspur - away again down at White Hart Lane.

I wonder if they can do it again - with Jermaine Beckford upfront the League One leaders are a handful...a fixture that Harry Redknapp's Spurs will definitely be weary of.

Mancini wants Robinho

Brazilian virtuoso Robinho has been linked with Barcelona for the last few months, but Mancini has publicly stated that he wants him to form part of the bigger picture at Eastlands.

Last season. Robinho had his critics for lightweight appearances away from home. For me, Robinho was a breath of fresh air in the first half of the 2008/2009 Premier League season but he's new to English football and I'm sure that under the right management he can sustain a long term future in this league and show how good he really is.

"Robinho is a fantastic player but for a big player like him, it is important to make the history of a club. I played at Sampdoria for 15 years. I wrote the history. It is important. Robinho can do that here." Mancini stated, drawing on his own player experiences and citing the level of loyalty that he demands in players.

Good start Roberto. Now you need some points!

Premier League Christmas fixtures December 2009

Barclays Premiership Christmas matches December 2009

Always a great period for drammatic football action, I'm sure that this Christmas will not dissapoint for some superb Premier League matches. What a busy time this will be for Roberto Mancini - fully expected to beat Stoke at home on Boxing Day as well as Wolves away on Monday 28th as well as sign some galacticos for his new club. In sixth, they will be trying to leap frog over Villa and Spurs to go into fourth and for me this is the area of real excitement this Christmas in the Premier League. There is the small matter of Liverpool's disastrous beginning to their 2009/2010 Premiership campaign. Benitez says that he'll get the Reds into the top four - as does Mancini - there's not enough room for them all and with Villa and Spurs doing so well we are in for a great fight for 3rd/4th.

At the top, Ancelotti's Chelsea have a tough game against in form Fulham who beat Manchester United 3-0 on the weekend. Man Utd have a home match against Wigan which you would imagine them to win, Fergie will be tough on the squad going into this so I think wigan will feel the full Old Trafford factor on the 30th. I can't see past Chelsea this year for the Premier League title. Despite missing the chance to go 6 points clear of Manchester United when the drew at Upton Park against West Ham United, they still look physically and mentally strong enough to go the whole way.

So then at the foot of the table, Portsmouth have a potentially tough Christmas, with a relegation scrap away at West Ham on Boxing Day and entertain Arsenal on the 30th. Avram Grant will be concentrating on the West Ham match as a base point to clawing Pompey out of the bottom 3.

I must say that I am surprised to see Bolton struggling in the bottom 3. Gary Megson's boys were pretty strong last season after their boss dealt well with the pressure on his shoulders. Having just beaten West Ham they would have been dissapointed that their match was postponed last night due to a frozen pitch at the JJB Stadium. THey have to continue scrapping - they face Burnley and Hull in the Christmas period so their target has to be to take 6 points. Phil Brown's Hull City seem really galvanised in their plight to remain in the Premier League - in a way playing Man Utd at this time is good (27/12/2009) because they have nothing to lose other than really taking the game to the reigning champions as they did at the end of last season when they narrowly lost 0-1 in May 2009.

Spurs have a tough Christmas - Harry Redknapp has blocked any players Christmas party and the lily whites have 2 away fixtures - both London derbies. They play Fulham away on Boxing Day which will be an interesting match and then have East London strugglers West Ham United on the 28th December.


Here are the fixtures:

Saturday, 26 December 2009
Birmingham v Chelsea, St Andrew's, 12.45pm
Burnley v Bolton, Turfmoor 2pm
Fulham v Tottenham, Craven Cottage 1pm
Liverpool v Wolverhampton, Anfield 5.30pm
Man City v Stoke, Eastlands, 3pm
Sunderland v Everton, Stadium of Light 3pm
West Ham v Portsmouth, Upton Park 1pm
Wigan v Blackburn, JJB Athletic 3pm

Sunday, 27 December 2009
Arsenal v Aston Villa, Emirates 1.30pm
Hull v Man Utd, KC Stadium 4pm

Monday, 28 December 2009
Blackburn v Sunderland, Ewood Park, 3pm
Chelsea v Fulham, Stamford Bridge, 3pm
Everton v Burnley, Goodison Park, 3pm
Stoke v Birmingham, Britannia Stadium 3pm
Tottenham v West Ham, White Hart Lane, 12.45pm
Wolverhampton v Man City, Molineaux, 7.45pm

Tuesday, 29 December 2009
Aston Villa v Liverpool, Villa Park, 7,45pm
Bolton v Hull, Reebok Stadium, 8pm

Wednesday, 30 December 2009
Man Utd v Wigan, Old Trafford, 8pm
Portsmouth v Arsenal, Fratton Park, 7.45pm

Mark Hughes gets the sack for Mancini

Bookmakers had stopped taking bets on it. The press talked about his 'last day in charge'. After their 4-3 victory over Sunderland, it was confirmed that Mark Hughes was dismissed as Manchester City manager. The statement exaplained that 2 winds from 11 matches wasn't acceptable. Obviously you need a return on investment when you spend £207 million on players but The replacement I found a bit surprising - Roberto Mancini. Potentially a great coach - but is this really a step forward for Manchester City? Certainly there was a feeling that some of the new players didn't feel comfortable with the management set up. I agree with the timing of the appointment, if you have infinite funds for players then let the new boss get his players in so that he can be properly assessed. The existing squad he has is great but I'm sure that some of the big names won't be getting their way and will leave within the next couple of transfer windows.

Good luck Roberto!

Premier League Fixtures 12th December 2009

Premier League Fixtures 12/12/2009

Lunch time match : Stoke v Wigan, Britannia Stadium 12.45pm

3 o-clockers :
Birmingham v West Ham, St Andrews 3pm
Bolton v Man City, Reebok Stadium 3pm
Burnley v Fulham, Turfmoor 3pm
Chelsea v Everton, Stamford Bridge 3pm
Hull v Blackburn, KC Stadium
Sunderland v Portsmouth, Stadium of Light 3pm
Tottenham v Wolverhampton, White Hart Lane 3pm

Tea time k/off:

Man Utd v Aston Villa, Old Trafford 5.30pm

13th December 2009 Premier League fixtures

Liverpool v Arsenal, Anfield 4pm

With the race for 3rd and 4th positions truly on in the Barclays Premier League, fixture of the weekend has to be the Sunday 4pm match - Liverpool v Arsenal. Rafa's boys have failed to quality for the next stage of the Champions League, after their 1st team being weakened by injuries to Torres and Aquilani. Both players are expected to play. The Gunners are hoping to get Eduardo and Rosicky back after injury but it could be too soon for both. My guess would be a tight, low scoring match that ends in a draw.

So what about the other contenders? Spurs have wobbled a little bit since destroying Wigan Atheltic but you would expect them to get back to winning ways against Wolves at home. Villa have the toughest challenge any Premiership team could have - away at Old Trafford. Rich boys Manchester City are away at the Reebok - always a tough one but Mark Hughes seems to be turning a corner so I'd say they'd beat Bolton.

Enjoy . . .

FA Cup 8th Dec Leeds 5 - 1 Kettering (AET) - Leeds now play Manchester United

08/12/2009 Leeds 5 - 1 Kettering (AET) FA Cup Replay

Leeds United made a meal of it, in both games in full time they missed chances to finish off non-league Kettering but last night at Elland Road they managed to hit an extra 4 goals after drawing 1-1 in full time.

So now Leeds Utd get their dream 3rd round match up with arch rivals Manchester United on Sunday 3rds January 2010 at Old Trafford.

Can Leeds beat the red devils and could this galvanise this sleeping giant into creeping back into the big time?

5th December 2009: Premiership result Man City 2 Chelsea 1

05/12/09 Manchester City 2: 1 Chelsea

In today's match Mark Hughes effectively stuck 2 fingers up at his critics as he watched his team beat Chelsea 2:1 at Eastlands. The Welshman had come under fire in recent weeks as despite the millions spent over the summer, his team seemed only able to draw and not win games. However today's result visibly lifted the team and the fans, even though it reduced the lead Chelsea have over City's great rivals Manchester United. Shay Given was the match hero after saving a last minute Lampard penalty. Adebayor was villain and then hero after knocking in an own goal afetr 8 minutes but making amends just before halftime by putting the ball in the right net. Carlos Tevez got the winner after 56 minutes. And as well as the deserved victory, Mark Hughes could also celebrate that this time his opponent shook his hand after the match.

England World Cup 2010 group C - 'The group of life'?

World Cup Draw - 04/12/2009

World Cup Group C
Algeria
England
Slovenia
USA

After England's annihilation of Croatia, Belarus, Andorra, Kazakhstan and the Ukraine you would struggle to see how Cappello's squad could possibly fail in their attempts to progress past the first stage of the World Cup 2010. Paddy Power have moved our odds from 6/1 to 11/2 after the World Cup groupings were announced, making England the third favourite, with Spain as favourites and Brazil as second favourite.

As an avid England fan I admire Capello's cool, Italian swagger stating his views on the group as 'Not so bad'. He has to be delighted. We play the USA first which in my mind is a good thing because I think at major tournaments the Americans rise to the challenge.

Spain also have a positive group H with Chile, Switzerland and Honduras. Brazil arguably have the worst group G with the Ivory Coast and Portugal in it.

World Cup draw 2010

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France

Group B: Argentina, South Korea, Nigeria, Greece

Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia

Group D: Germany, Australia, Ghana, Serbia

Group E: Netherlands, Japan, Cameroon, Denmark

Group F: Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovakia

Group G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal

Group H: Spain, Honduras, Chile, Switzerland

Carling Cup Manchester City 3 Arsenal 0 2nd December 2009

Carling Cup result Manchester City 3 Arsenal 0 02/12/2009

Mark Hughes' Manchester City took Arsenal to school last night in the carling Cup quarter finals Eastlands and was dissapointed when Gunners boss Arsene Wenger wouldn't shake the ex Man Utd striker by the hand.

Adebayor didn't seem to want to get stuck in after humiliating himself against his former club earlier in the season in the Premier League when Man City beat Arsenal 4-2. In stark contrast, Argentinian striker Carlos Tevez was tenacious as ever and scored his 9th Carling Cup goal to open the scoring in the 50th minute. In my opinion, the Arsenal back line gave Tevez too much space to cut inside, skipping easily past 3 defenders to make the right angle and then he unleashed a powerful drive from inside the box past Fabianski finding the top corner of the net.

After Wenger subsistuted Craig Eastmond for Sanchez Watt in the 67th minute but 2 minutes later Sean Wright-Phillips doubled the lead, skipping past Mikael Silvestre and hitting a solid shot into the Arsenal net.

In the 89th Weiss finished the visitors off to take Manchester City into the Carling Cup semi-final, giving Mark Hughes a great opportunity to winning some silverware in his second season at Eastlands.