Weekend Review: Chelsea See Red as Refs Hit The Headlines

It seems like it's been a while since we've spoken about bad refereeing decisions affecting games, so it seems appropriate that they would all come at once on the most Super of all Sundays so far this season...

Chelsea 2-3 Manchester United - Man United finally won at Stamford Bridge in the league for the first time in 10 years but it's hard to argue with the fact that refereeing decisions influenced the game massively. United started like a house on fire and took the lead after just 4 minutes through a quick counter attack that ended with a Robin Van Persie shot hitting the post and going in off the hapless David Luiz. This was only the 3rd time United have taken the lead in their 9th Premier League game this season! Robin Van Persie scored to make it 2-0 after another lightning counter attack down the right hand side. This was his 6th goal at Stamford Bridge and according to Opta Joe he has now scored more goals there than any other visiting player in the Premier League. Chelsea took control from around the half hour mark and scored either side of half time and David De Gea deserves a lot of credit for holding Chelsea out for so long. After his first half free kick Juan Mata has now been involved in 9 goals in his last 5 league games (scoring 4, assisting 5) and he seems to be in the form of his life. Then, enter Mark Clattenburg. Branislav Ivanovic can have no complaints really for his sending off. Ashley Young was through on goal and whether it was intentional or not he clipped Young, was the last man and prevented a goal scoring opportunity. Fernando Torres' red was contentious to say the least. Depending on your allegiance you may feel it was harsh, you may not. Personally (call me biased) I didn't see any contact between Evans and Torres, but Evans did dive in and it could easily have been a foul the other way. United then scored late on through Chicharito, and again Mark Clattenburg was at the centre of controversy as Hernandez was in an offside position. Niall Quinn said 'you have to feel for Chelsea don't you?' As Man Utd and QPR fans we can tell you Niall, no you don't! In our humble opinion any club that celebrates a captain charged with racist abuse and whose fans boo the victim of said abuse and his brother - for having the audacity to be racially abused and to be related to said victim - doesn't deserve any of our sympathy whatsoever! All in all though it seems a bit of a shame that such a fantastic game had to be influenced so heavily by Mr Clattenburg. This was a massive win for United though, and shows that Chelsea aren't going to run away with the title. This makes things a lot more interesting now anyway as only 1 point separates 1st to 3rd place.

Everton 2-2 Liverpool - Earlier this pulsating Merseyside derby was also marred by a late dubious refereeing decision that prevented Luis Suarez (shame!) and Liverpool from claiming a late late victory against Everton. Suarez was clearly motivated by David Moyes' pre-match comments about the Uruguayan's propensity to dive. He was right up for it all game and showed his displeasure with those comments by diving along the ground right in front of Moyes after Leighton Baines' own goal put Liverpool ahead. Suarez had double the amount of shots of any other player on the pitch. The first half was enthralling and all the goals were scored in the first 35 minutes. Liverpool had a goal disallowed in the last minute as Suarez was adjudged (wrongly) to be in an offside position before turning the ball in from a Coates knock down. It was a feisty affair with 7 yellow cards and it almost seems like the biggest hurdle for Everton now to beat Liverpool is psychological rather than based on inequality on the pitch. Everton have all the tools to beat Liverpool and showed their quality by coming back from 2-0 down but they seemed to be a bit fearful of Liverpool's fast start leading to them not really getting started until they were 2 down. That's 3 draws on the trot for Everton and they need to start picking up wins again soon if they want to challenge for 4th position this season. Liverpool meanwhile continued their habit of only showing up for the big games - something they've continued for a couple of seasons now.

There were some big surprises in the Championship this week as Birmingham won at Leeds, Crystal Palace produced an excellent display to continue where Dougie Freedman left off as they won away at leaders Leicester whilst Millwall trounced strong starters Huddersfield.

(Brief) round-up of our sides

QPR's kamikaze performances continued this week with an 11th red cards in 47 Premier League games and  another defeat to go hand in hand with it. C's match report is here.

Crewe  and Union Berlin compounded C's misery with 0-1 defeats against very mediocre opposition (no disrespect to Yeovil Town or SC Paderborn 07 fans among our readers). Crewe were defeated by a disappointing goal scored by a defender from a set piece, whilst Union, who were five games unbeaten before the weekend, will be looking to bounce back in the DFB-Pokal (FA Cup in English money) as they play Offenbacher FC Kickers away as they gear up for the big East German derby against old enemy Dynamo Dresden next Sunday. Apparently Steve Davis is interested in bringing Ryan Lowe back to the Alexandra Stadium from MK Dons - an experienced goalscorer at this level can only be a good addition to such a young side and we hope it happens!

And finally, of course, we've glossed over Manchester United's three points at Chelsea above already.

Things we learnt this week

• The 'Bairdinho' train keeps rolling as Chris Baird scored his second goal in 2 games to equal the amount of goals he scored in his first 120 Premier League appearances.
• Were MOTD having a special on old supporters this week? Apparently there was a  centurion fan present at Arsenal and Wigan and both were honoured by their clubs, which is quite a nice touch really. We didn't even think Wigan had been going that long though?!
• Gordon Bennett that was a lot of Bennetts in the Aston Villa v Norwich game! Elliott and Ryan were both playing for Norwich, while Joe was playing for Villa. It was as if that many Bennetts on one pitch would make the universe implode so Joe got himself sent off to reduce the Bennett number by one.
• Phil Neville obviously got altitude sickness from being so high up the pitch. That's why he dived.
• Jose Fonte looks really out of his depth in the Premier League, and it appears his lack of ability is what is continuing to cost Southampton dear
• G4S security staff do have their uses, it seems. In spite of having their name dragged through the mud all Summer at the Olympics, one of their staff stepped up from being spectator to run the line in Dunfermline v Cowdenbeath after the original linesman stepped up to referee following an injury
• Oxford United - Adam Chapman joins the list of crazies football injuries of our time - playing through the pain barrier after burning his nipple with hot dairy products - proof that there is no point in crying over spilt milk!
• The Davids effect is continuing to impact on the Football League's bottom club Barnet, who recorded a first away win of the season in what has been a productive week or so since the Dutchman's arrival - that's now two wins and a draw in three games.

R's shoot themselves in the foot again as Gunners capitalise in London derby

Match Review: Arsenal 1-0 QPR

Just another routine week at QPR. Once again they looked like a half decent team that can compete at Premier League level for much of the game, only to go on and lose through being their own worst enemies.

The form book suggested that for the first time this season, Arsenal were having one of their wobbly spells where people start to question Arsene Wenger and his signings. Unexpected defeats at Norwich away and at home to Schalke will have given the R's side cause for optimism and there was genuine belief among the travelling support that they could take something back across London at 5pm on Saturday evening if they played as they had done in some of their better moments this season. And they really should have done, because Arsenal were here for the taking. And surprise, surprise, they only have themselves to blame for not doing that...

The game began with fairly even possession - not something many teams achieve against Arsenal on their own patch! But QPR's passing game has been one of the few things to take heart from this season; the midfield can push it around quite nicely at times. Most of the R's play was deliberately down the right hand side, which Hughes had clearly identified as a chink in the Arsenal armour, given Andre Santos' inability to defend and tendency to maraud into and hover in the opposition half. However, this tactic was blighted by Jose Bosingwa's dreadful delivery into the box, Bobby Zamora being in the wrong places at the wrong time and unable to win a header when he was and the general shite that Shaun Wright-Phillips produces. Quite how the latter manages to continue to be in Mark Hughes' first team plans when it is so blindingly obvious that he can't take men on, cross or shoot, is just unfathomable. 

For the home side, there was the welcome sight of Jack Wilshere on the Haemorrhoids Stadium pitch for the first time in 17 months and his every touch (some quite impressive actually) was greeted by a cheer in the otherwise library-like arena. Lukas Podolski also impressed early on with some skilful touches and powerful runs, and the Gooners did test the R's keeper on a couple of occasions. Cesar made a few nervy saves, parrying on a couple of occasions but fortunately into safe areas. All in all, it was an even and fairly uneventful first half which, given how chaotic first halves have been for QPR defensively this season, was good news. Disappointingly, though, for all their decent defending and possession, QPR hadn't carved out any clear-cut opportunities, which reaffirmed the story of their season in front of goal so far.

Despite SWP's best efforts to replicate the goal QPR conceded here last year (where he played a stray pass to Van Persie and you can guess the rest), the R's held out thanks to the heroics of a now well occupied Julio Cesar. Arsenal just didn't look like scoring and were clearly annoyed by the fact that they weren't in control (as QPR were seeing plenty of the ball, just not doing a lot with it). This frustration clearly got the better of Olivier Giroud who took out Armand Traore's bad leg with a cynical foul (I reckon he knew that he could wipe the glass man out with a tackle like that).

But then, just when the Arsenal frustration was at its peak and the game looked as though it would fizzle out for a creditable away point for the Hoops, defensive suicide was committed. I've warned in previous match reviews that Stephane Mbia looks like he has it in him to be as mental as Samba Diakite and this week my worst fears were realised when incredibly and inexplicably, after winning a free kick, he elected to kick out at Thomas Vermaelen. Unbelievable! It seems in recent weeks we've crept back into our old ways which blighted the early part of the Mark Hughes era with a series of sendings off and now we go into a crucial run of what you might call 'winnable' fixtures (well, Reading at home, Stoke away and Southampton at home is not quite as daunting as some of our early games) with injuries and suspensions we could really have done without. 

The sending off galvanised Arsenal and suddenly Rangers were under siege. Cesar was producing Houdini-esque miracles between the sticks to keep them at bay but eventually parried one shot too many to an onrushing (and offside) Mikel Arteta, who, after heading an initial effort against the bar, was on hand to tap home the rebound beyond the helpless R's custodian who hadn't had time to recover from the initial wonder-save he made. This was a poor decision by the officials but I'm sure had this one not been given, they would still have found a way through the fragile R's defence. Hughes bizarrely went on to claim that the goal changed the game, but to me it was clear that he only has one idiot to blame for the latest in a catalogue of individual errors.

Amazingly, there was still time for QPR to enjoy their best three chances of the game, two in one-on-one situations with Vito Mannone, who had had a very quiet afternoon up to now. It seems to me that the Superhoops have developed a bit of a habit of turning up the heat and actually taking risks after going a goal behind - they did so against West Ham and West Brom and attempted to do it again here. The first of the trilogy was spurned by Esteban Granero, who dragged his shot wide when all around him expected him to put the ball away after being allowed to escape the attentions of the Arsenal back line. The second was from substitute Jamie Mackie, who must have had the famous goal he scored at Derby County in 2010 on his mind as he weaved his way through the Arsenal defence, only to hit the ball straight at the onrushing Mannone. The third golden chance was an excellent free kick from Granero which had the keeper scrambling but ended up hitting the side netting. On reflection, if any of those had gone in then it would have been a deserved point, but only in the sense that Arsenal were no better than QPR on the day. 

Still, it's never dull supporting QPR and you just don't know what's going to happen next - but you can at least say with some certainty that they will press the self destruct button at some point in any given game. If you're reading Sparky, I've two things to recommend: 1) Anger management classes for the whole squad and 2) Beat Reading or you're getting the tin tack...

Man of the Match: There was one stand out performance in the QPR side here: Julio Cesar. But for his heroics at various points in the game, especially after the R's went down to ten men, the score could have been a lot higher. You still have to wonder what the hell he was thinking when he put pen to paper at Loftus Road.

Weekend Preview: Best League in the...UK?

After a week that confirmed what pretty much everyone has known for a while - the Premier League just isn't the best league in Europe any more - the Premier League is back and the top teams will be looking to bounce back after 4 of the country's representatives failed to win in Europe...

The big talking point this week has to be Man City's failure (yet again) in Europe. Roberto Mancini's record in Europe is coming under close scrutiny as his team look set to bow out at the group stages for the second year in a row, despite their wealth of riches, barring a miracle. Between 2004-08 Mancini got Inter to the Quarters (2004/05, 2005/06) and the last 16 (2006/07 and 2007/08) before he was sacked. This was despite winning the Serie A title three years in a row from 2006-2008. 2 years after he left Inter (with predominantly the same core as Mancini's team) won the Champions League under Jose Mourinho. Coincidence? City’s three fixtures in the Champions League them concede a total of 72 shots in contrast to 85 in their eight Premier League games this season. Yes, Man City have been drawn in the 'Group of Death' this year but they haven't even played well really. They have 1 point and they were extremely lucky to get that against Dortmund. The contrast in the two teams on Wednesday was remarkable and it has been well documented that the total cost of the Ajax starting XI on Wednesday was £2.75m while City's starting XI cost a measly £187.5m! They really should have been winning that game.

Aston Villa v Norwich - Saturday's early kick off will centre around the battle of Norwich and their former manager, Paul Lambert. There is seemingly a lot of ill-feeling between the two parties since their separation - Norwich are suing Lambert for breach of contract while Lambert is counter-suing Norwich for unfair dismissal looking for £2m! This week Norwich's chairman said Lambert walks out on every team he manages while Lambert suggested he hasn't spoken to the chairman, Alan Bowkett in three years (even when he was there). There has been a lack of spark for either team this season and neither has really got going. Both sides only have the one win in the league each from 8 games, and both have struggled for goals scoring less than 1 per game this season on average (both have 6 goals). Norwich have conceded over 2 goals per game this season on average (17 goals in 8 games), while Villa have let in 13 goals in 8 games. Norwich did win against Arsenal last time out and they will be hoping that result will kick start their season but it looks like being a relegation dogfight for both teams this year, and neither have been in good form. Norwich haven't won their last 6 away games, while Villa have failed to win in 17 of their last 18 league games. Both managers have a difficult job on their hands this season and you have to think a lot of both teams seasons depend on Darren Bent and Grant Holt respectively. Holt has 3 goals this season while Bent has 2 and they are the only players from either team who have scored more than 1 goal this season. You have to think this game could be the best opportunity for these teams to fill their boots and score a few, but it appears unlikely. I tend to think that Paul Lambert will thrive on this sort of pressure game. Having played at the likes of Dortmund and Celtic and winning multiple trophies he loves the big games and this is a huge game for his team, and I think the Lambert factor will win out for Villa.

Prediction: Villa 2-1 Norwich

Everton v Liverpool - Sunday's early kick off sees the return of the Merseyside derby. This game seems like it could be a difficult one to predict so I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest there will be a lot of cards. In the last 6 games between these sides there have been 26 yellow cards and 3 reds. So expect more of the same this weekend. Everton have only beaten Liverpool once in the last 6 meetings between the two teams while Liverpool have won 4 and certainly seem to have the edge on their rivals. However, Everton go into this game 8 places and 6 points above their rivals, and have only lost once this season. They have also won 6 of their last 7 home games in the league. However, as we all know the form book goes out of the window in a derby. Liverpool have a young team and the average age of their likely first XI tomorrow is 24.5 years old, whilst Everton's is 29.4 years of age. This youth could either prove to be the undoing of Liverpool or their secret weapon. The players don't look like they have been phased by anything this season but a pressure cooker atmosphere at Goodison Park in the Merseyside derby is another challenge altogether for Liverpool's players. Personally I think the game will come down to clinical finishing and Everton's 15 goals in the league versus Liverpool's 10 tells a story in itself. Liverpool need to take their chances tomorrow otherwise Everton will punish them. I'm going with the form book in this game though.

Prediction: Everton 3-1 Liverpool

Chelsea v Man Utd - Finally, the Sunday evening match is at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea take on Manchester United. Stamford Bridge always seems to be a bogey ground for United and the Reds haven't won at Stamford Bridge in the League in the last 10 games - since April 2002, and Chelsea are the only team in the history of the Premier League who have more wins than losses against United. Funnily enough though United haven't lost in their last 5 meetings against Chelsea (including the two Champions League games from United's 2011 run to the final). This should be an excellent game though and sees 1st take on 2nd in the league. This game could go a long way to showing how serious both teams title challenges are this year. Expect goals - between them these teams have scored 40 goals in the league this year and conceded 17. United are starting games this season bizarrely and seem to be giving teams head starts every game. I think this was slightly inevitable as this season seems to be purely concentrated on attacking and scoring goals with that forward line. Chelsea's forward line is almost as impressive though and it should be a high scoring affair for that reason. United have scored at least 2 goals in their last 7 Premier League games and it seems almost certain that Chelsea will score goals as United's defence seems to be leaking goals on a huge scale this year. United's philosophy this year seems to be 'we will score one more than you'. This has never really worked before (see Newcastle in 95/96) so it is intriguing to see how long this goes on.

Prediction: Chelsea 2-2 United

This weekend QPR take on an Arsenal team who have lost their last 2 games and appear to be back in the middle of a crisis again, just weeks after being the best team since Sliced Bread FC. Rangers are still without a win in the league this season and they will be hoping this is the best time to play Arsenal. However, Mark Hughes has said he fears a backlash this weekend. Rangers avoided defeat last weekend for the first time in 4 in the league and fans will be hoping this could be the start of a turnaround in fortunes, and they will take heart from Norwich's performance against the Gunners last weekend.

 Crewe beat Swindon 2-1 in midweek to record their first win in 4 in the league and they take on an in-form Yeovil team this weekend who have won their last 2 league games. Games between these two teams don't end in draws (both teams have shared 3 wins each in the last 6 games between these 2). Byron Moore got 2 in midweek for his first goals of the season and Steve Davis has challenged him to get double figures this season, so the Railwaymen will be hoping this will spur him on to have more of an impact. Yeovil are an entertaining team this season having scored 24 so far in 14 this season and conceded 21 so there should be goals and an entertaining game at Gresty Road!

Union Berlin take on SC Paderborn 07 on Sunday. Paderborn haven't won in their last 4 and Union will be hoping to build on their win over FSV Frankfurt last week. This is 11th v 10th and should be a tight affair as both teams sit on 12 points. Let's hope Union's good home form continues and they use this to their advantage!

Enjoy the weekend and we'll be back with a review of the weekend next week!

J

A score draw that should have been more

Match Review: QPR 1-1 Everton

The teams pre kick-off

Finally I bring news of a point again for QPR, an outcome which I've no doubt every Super Hoop would have taken before the game, but given the circumstances, I'm sure they are disappointed that we didn't do more to try and win the game.

For a change, it started really well! Going into the game, QPR had built up a reputation for being slow out of the blocks. Of the 17 goals they have conceded this season, seven of them were shipped  in the opening thirty minutes of games, including 4 of these in the last 3 league matches. Equally, they have an awful habit of leaving players unmarked, committing too many men going forward and leaving themselves completely exposed to pacey Premier League wingers and front lines. Considering all this, it was pretty satisfying to see the R's carry out a complete role reversal and themselves be the scorers of a goal on a swift counter attack where the opposition had over-committed going forward for a change. With less than two minutes played, an Everton corner was cleared as far as Junior Hoilett, who proceeded to run and run and run. With the last defender and goalkeeper off his line being all that was left before him, he unleashed a shot (which the keeper probably would have got) but it caught the trailing leg of Leighton Baines which completely wrong-footed Tim Howard and sent the ball on its way into the empty net. 

Everton, who had come to Loftus Road in outstanding form and flying high in the league, looked very surprised to have conceded and continued to be on the back foot for much of the half. This looked like a game where QPR would finally click, the early goal settling nerves (although clearly not those of Stephane Mbia, who on six minutes ordered the ball boy to slow down the delivery of the ball back to the pitch!) The R's were doing their usual though - showing nice touches and putting together neat passing moves only to have no end product. I can recall a Ryan Nelsen header from a corner but not a lot else in a spell of sheer dominance. No surprise then that when Everton strung a few passes together it would lead to an equaliser...

Referee Jon Moss, a headmaster on weekdays I'm told, decided that after an uneventful 30 minutes by refereeing standards, he would play the role of primary school PE teacher and become extremely whistle-happy. Jelavic went down fairly easily on a couple of occasions and Moss was quick to award free kicks as well as be very fussy about where they were taken from and how far back the wall was. One such free kick (which, I accept, was indeed a free kick) was delivered into the area for an unmarked Sylvain Distin to plant a firm header goalbound which hit the post and then ricocheted off Cesar into the net. Cesar was unlucky having made a really good save from an earlier low Jelavic drive from another set piece, but unlucky is not how I would describe the defending. Bobby Zamora and Stephane Mbia between them should have had Jagielka and Distin covered, but Zamora completely neglected his man and in truth either of them would have had a free header here. In spite of having had two weeks' international break to work with his players on ways to reduce their catalogue of defensive errors at the training ground, it seems that marking from set pieces is not top of Hughes' priority list. The longer that goes on, the longer it will continue to plague QPR this season. Not even two minutes after the equaliser it should have happened again - this time the R's defence were rescued by the crossbar. Infuriatingly, it was again Zamora's man that was allowed to get away (this time Jagielka) and he got a powerful head on the ball under no pressure whatsoever which was a lick of paint from making it 2-1. 

At half time the mutterings from the terraces were of the 'same old story'. QPR had once again dominated possession, produced some nice build up play but again had extremely limited end product. The only difference was that this time they had taken the lead first! Maybe the shot-shyness can be linked to the continued desire of Hughes to play one out and out striker up front even when at home. Zamora as a lone striker with the players we have just doesn't seem the right choice to me, and I feel that we'd work much better if it were 4-4-2. But given Cisse has been so out of sorts lately, maybe Hughes feels he is still better off playing this system, and the decision to play Hoilett had so far paid dividends - he'd looked lively and shown a willingness to run at Everton's defence, something Cisse hasn't done enough when he has been on the pitch this season.

The second half began fairly evenly with both sides looking determined to produce a performance. In the 50th minute, Samba Diakite produced an excellent run where he emerged from deep in his own half, danced past several challenges and then produced a low cross which begged for a hooped shirt to get on the end of and smash home. Sadly, the man it fell to was QPR's pet tortoise of recent weeks, Ji Sung Park. He was far too slow reacting to the intelligence of Diakite and by the time he eventually got a shot away, it was blocked by Jagielka. 

Meanwhile, challenges were getting a little more heated and the referee was getting ever fussier, blowing even for fifty-fifties. Steven Pienaar, unrecognisable after his haircut, was the first name to go into the book for a fairly nasty challenge shortly after the Park effort. He was also the second name in the book just nine minutes later for what seemed like an innocuous tussle between him and Jose Bosingwa out on the right wing. This wasn't really a surprise given the way the referee had been going about the game since early on and Pienaar appeared to have lost his rag after his booking - whilst this offence was definitely not worthy of a yellow card, he was bound to go at some point within the next ten minutes if he had escaped here. The sending off should have given QPR the impetus to go gung-ho and instead of reacting instantly to the dismissal, Hughes let the game roll on another ten minutes before making two substitutions. Managers win praise for being quick, decisive and catching the opposition off guard with their substitutions, but it was so obvious during that ten minutes what the changes were going to be that Moyes was afforded time to ready his pack for their introductions. So when in the 70th minute Djibril Cisse and Nedum Onuoha finally entered the fray in place of Zamora and Armand Traore (incidentally, Hughes was true to his word when he said Traore would only last 70 minutes!), it wasn't exactly a shock that they didn't have the intended impact on the game that they could have done. 

For the remaining twenty minutes QPR rallied but disappointingly only produced two more saves from Howard, both from good Hoilett efforts. This was the Canadian's best performance for QPR and he has clearly been told to work on getting shots out of his feet sooner, which can only be good news. But the Hoops need more than one contributor if they are to get out of the situation they are in. Taarabt had a very quiet game compared with his last two games for QPR which was disappointing but Zamora also just doesn't get involved enough in attacking play. Cisse should have come on much earlier and been instructed run at the Everton defence, who had shown on occasions in the game that they don't like being ran at. But as was the consensus at half time, there is a much simpler way of getting more contributors to attacking play - have two up front!!! Please, Sparky. Especially at home.

Free flags for all in the home ends: not condoned by ESDB football due to the fact they are associated with plastic supporters from SW6 these days. But good atmosphere builders, admittedly

Man of the match: As alluded to at times during this match report and many others, central midfield appears to be the Rs' strongest department, with Ale Faurlin only good enough for a place on the bench behind Esteban Granero and Samba Diakite, and it was the latter that stole the show in this game for QPR. He made some excellent runs, produced some cute passes and even well timed challenges in this game (apart from once, when he picked up his customary yellow card). He's still a lunatic, but a talented lunatic at that...

C

Weekend Review: Goals, goals, goals

It was a weekend to remember for the neutral as it rained goals all over the country - in fact, there was not a single goalless draw in any of the top four divisions in England this weekend! Add to that twelve red cards across the leagues and we've certainly got plenty to chew over in this review. 

Perhaps the biggest surprise in the Premier League this weekend came at Carrow Road where Norwich beat Arsenal for the first time in 20 odd years. The Canaries came flying out the traps and really got in the Gunners' faces which really unsettled them and knocked them out of their usual passing rhythm. Maybe Arsene Wenger will draw 'jetlag' from his lucky dip of excuses this week after it was revealed that the team flew from Luton to Norwich, yes, flew. Fourteen minutes from take off to landing! All to avoid a rail replacement bus. Surely somewhere in amongst all those incoming transfer fees and those sky-high season ticket prices they are able to find funding for a team bus? Norwich's performance in this game reminded me a little of Arsenal's last away league defeat - away at Loftus Road in March. The winning goal itself was somewhat fortuitous, Grant Holt tapping in after a Mannone spill (in fairness, it was another 'swerver' which many a Premier League keeper has struggled with so far this year - and the ball bounced right in front of the keeper). Santi Cazorla was pretty absent in contrast to his excellent appearances this season, and that was a big reason that Arsenal managed to have 72% possession during the game and yet not score a single goal. The strikers look like they might struggle to create chances by themselves and if Cazorla's service isn't up to scratch there doesn't appear to be much other alternative. Now we've said that though, they are shoo-ins for goalscorer bets against QPR next weekend at the Emirates.

Liverpool managed a first home win of the season against Reading but it was hardly convincing against a side you'd really expect them to beat comfortably. Raheem Sterling scored his first league goal, which feels like it has been a long time coming. The best QPR youth product in years is living up the all the hype and I've no doubt that this kid is going to be a 'top top player' (Redknapp, 2012). Yet again though we saw that rat boy Suarez can't finish to save his life for all his trickery and build up play. Liverpool just don't look like they have a goalscorer at all in their ranks and the long standing issue of not scoring or winning enough games at home looks set to continue for another year. Liverpool had a staggering 27 shots on goal during the game and yet only managed to get 7 of those efforts on target, and score from the one. Suarez had 10 shots alone in this game and yet only 1 of these efforts was on target, while Raheem Sterling had 5 shots with 3 on target. Even Glen Johnson had more shots on target than Suarez in this game (6 shots 2 on target)!  The need for a finisher is ever more apparent each week at Anfield and it does make you wonder why on earth they let Andy Carroll go out on loan? It seems like Liverpool have been missing wide men for years to provide service for the likes of Crouch and Torres yet when they finally have some exciting wingers it's strikers they lack!

In the preview I said that Chelsea hadn't impressed me so far this season and I was most definitely proved wrong in their 4-2 victory over Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Chelsea were exceptional and it is hard to look past them being the team to beat this year after their showings so far. They are still unbeaten in the league so far this year, but perhaps more impressively they are playing in a wholly un-Chelsea like style this year. Their swashbuckling style with Juan Mata as the spearhead is reaping dividends for Roberto Di Matteo. Chelsea dominated possession against last season's 4th place team and had 58% possession. They were also clinical and scored their 4 goals from just 10 shots, while Spurs scored 2 goals from 26 shots. Chelsea had a shot accuracy of 70%. Juan Mata as mentioned before was unplayable at times and he scored twice and assisted one other goal for Chelsea picking Kyle Walker's pocket before laying the goal up on a plate for Daniel Sturridge. Mata seems to be relishing his freedom this year. Last year he was the only real creative spark in a very rigid Chelsea team but this year he has Oscar and Hazard to share the burden so he has freedom to roam about and more inspiring runs and contributions from his teammates. However, Spurs probably won't be too disheartened by this loss. They were without Gareth Bale, Moussa Dembele, Scott Parker, Younes Kaboul and Benoit Assou-Ekotto - all of whom would arguably be in and around the first team when available. Their lack of depth in midfield, especially on the left, was very apparent and neither Clint Dempsey nor Gylfi Sigurdsson are wingers and both toiled there. All in all, an impressive victory for Chelsea and it is hard not to see them scoring numerous times against the leaky Man United defence.

Elsewhere in the football league it was a good weekend for Leicester City who, in spite of drawing in this particular round of fixtures, moved top of the Championship on goal difference after playing out an entertaining draw at St Andrews. This was by virtue of the fact that all the teams around them failed to pick up points. In fact, the Championship is filled with sides that have started the season consistently inconsistent and it really does look as though anyone can beat anyone in that division this year. Just six points separate the top thirteen sides and the rest of the division are only a couple of points behind that (excluding Ipswich and Peterborough, who are by no means cut adrift). Just think, Watford fans, a couple more wins to add to your three in the last four games and you'll be top of the league!

Roundup of our sides

Finally a week where we can report points gained for all of our sides! 

Chuks Aneke was the unlikely hero for Crewe as they salvaged a stoppage time equaliser to earn a 'Desmond' at the Banks's Stadium. Aneke was on hand to head in a Mathias Pogba cross to make amends for a dreadful showing at Portsmouth last weekend. 

However a first league win of the season still eludes QPR who were made to settle for a point by the ten men of Everton at Loftus Road on Sunday. C's report will be online later this week.

Man Utd beat Stoke 4-2 in an eventful game at Old Trafford on Saturday. United's games this season are becoming a bit silly and they seem to be giving opponents a head start by giving a goal away early and then seeming to start performing after 20 minutes. The attacking trio of Rooney, Van Persie and Welbeck were all superb and the two crosses by Van Persie and then Rooney for each other's goals were sublime. Just wondering: did Wayne Rooney get to keep the match ball for that hat trick or not?!

Union Berlin beat FSV Frankfurt 1-0 thanks to a Torsten Mattuschka penalty. This was a very decent win for Union at home as they won for the third time there this season. Having not won away from home yet the Stadion An Der Alten Forsterei needs to become a bit of a fortress to keep Union from being sucked towards the relegation zone. This win sees Union sit in 10th place in the league but only three points away from third bottom. Overall though a much needed win, and a move in the right direction.

What we learned this week

• If you want to please Edin Dzeko, you could do worse than calling him a super sub - we've heard he really enjoys being called that!
• Southampton's 'attack is the best form of defence' philosophy is continuing to fail at the top level. This week they shipped another four goals. That's now 24 goals shipped in eight league matches, a Premier League record. Changing goalkeeper for the third time this season didn't improve their defending one iota. 
• We think Manish Bhasin and Leroy 'Absolutely' Rosenior decided to make this week's Football League Show a love-in for Wilfried Zaha. Yes, he is in sparkling form and looks a decent shout for a move to the Premier League, but other players deserve some praise too at Palace for their excellent run!
• Chris Eagles has found his level again - not good enough for the Premier League, too good for the Championship. This weekend he notched his 6th of the season and inspired a Bolton comeback from 2-0 down at home to Brizzle City to win 3-2.
• Staying in Lancashire, Charlie Austin netted a 13th goal of a so far terrific campaign up front for Burnley, who as a team haven't exactly set the world alight either - a testament to what an achievement that is!
• £1 million Ipswich flop Jay Emmanuel-Thomas managed a first goal in 13 games but it still couldn't stop Paul Jewell's side chalking up yet another defeat, after they lost to two goals scored by another striker struggling to live up to his price-tag so far this season, £2.5 million Hull summer signing Nick Proschwitz
• 'Marvellous Marvin' Morgan went from hero to zero in thirty seconds at Fratton Park this weekend. The Shrewsbury striker scored, then was booked for a foul following the restart after his goal, only to be given a second yellow card moments later for the protest against his first booking. Madness!
• The FA Cup 1st round draw will have really given Coventry fans a harsh dose of reality - pitting them against Arlesey Town, who will no doubt miraculously find a thousand 'die hard' glory hunting fans from the street to take to the Ricoh. Hereford v Shrewsbury and the potential for Chelmsford v Colchester were further highlights of the draw
• Not particularly specific to this week, but we're hearing ever increasing use of the shout 'AWAY!' by goalkeepers in the Football League as an instruction to defenders to clear their lines when crosses come in. On Match of the Day the yell could be heard from custodians Guzan, Friedel, Begovic and Hart

Weekend Preview: Football rains supreme

After an eventful week that saw Roy Keane involved in all manner of banter to pad the England match being rained off we hope to live up to Roy's skills and review England v Poland and preview the return of the Premier League...

Tuesday night's fiasco brought one question to most fans' minds: why have a roof if you're not going to use it properly?! Surely it makes sense to pay attention to weather reports and close the roof accordingly if it's due to rain? Either that or leave the roof closed on the day of a game until shortly before kick off if the weather is alright? Anyway, the game went ahead on Wednesday afternoon and we were almost left wishing it hadn't. It was a dismal game from an England point of view. Unfortunately for Wayne Rooney, he had one of those games that seem to happen for him in an England shirt all too often. He had a passing accuracy percentage of 69% - to put that into perspective, only Joe Hart had a lower accuracy. Nonetheless, he did what strikers are there to do - he scored. More to the point he had a shot on target, which no other England player managed all game. Joe Hart has saved England and Manchester City on a number of occasions but unfortunately he made a big error in this game leading to Kamil Glik scoring a free header into an empty net. Hart rushed off his line - as Adrian Chiles put it (not that we like to give him any credit), he had made his mind up too early and was like a batsman playing the ball he wanted rather than the ball he was bowled. It's interesting that Joe Hart gets such an easy ride when he makes a mistake dealing with a cross yet foreign goalkeepers such as David De Gea are pilloried in the press if they make any kind of misjudgement when coming for a cross. Back to England though - it's worrying that they can have 58% possession in a game and yet have 5 fewer shots than their opponents - sounds rather familiar doesn't it C?! It looks set to be the same old story for England that when they meet a top quality side they will crumble yet again. They need to be more prolific in front of goal and more penetrative with their passing if they want to succeed.

Thankfully for everyone, the internationals are over (at least until November) and the Premier League is back this weekend.

This week's news has been dominated by the BBC's 'Price of Football' survey, which revealed pretty much what we already knew - C's season ticket is a rip off compared with other clubs of QPR's calibre but the Hoops' board can get away with it because of supply and demand economics, whilst Arsenal fans pay up to £1,955 to watch their team continue a run of seven seasons without a trophy. As you will know, we don't officially recognise Scottish football as a sport, but we particularly enjoyed the stat earlier this week that Montrose fans have seen their side lift more trophies in the last five years than Gooners fans have and yet they pay one tenth of the cost for their season ticket. Similarly, it is bizarrely more expensive to see Bury play than Barcelona's cheapest ticket. Joking aside though, the price of football is most definitely rocketing and attendances are continuing to decline - no coincidence seeing as we're in the midst of one of the biggest recessions for decades. But with more and more money being pumped into the game, clubs are forced to look to the fans to provide finances just so they can compete on the pitch, so I can't see the trend of rising ticket prices changing any time soon. 

Anyway, enough about all that, let's move on to this weekend's action...

Tottenham v Chelsea - The early kick off on Saturday sees the battle of Andre Villas Boas against his former employers Chelsea. Besides the inevitable sideshow that will stir up the issues between AVB and Chelsea's senior players, this is a tasty affair between 2 in form sides. Chelsea are unbeaten this season in their 7 league games and they've won their last 3 games on the trot, while Spurs are unbeaten in their last 6 league games and have won 4 in a row. Spurs haven't beaten Chelsea in the last 5 meetings between the two teams and it should be interesting to see if AVB's resurgent Tottenham are the real deal this season. Chelsea still haven't convinced us yet that they are real title contenders. They've been a strange team this season as they sit top of the league yet haven't really dazzled us yet. Gareth Bale has been on fire the last few weeks for both Spurs and Wales and it's notable Chelsea are definitely weaker on the right side of defence than on the left. Branislav Ivanovic has been good this season but it has been notable it's been going forward he's impressed rather than defensively. This game could be won or lost on that side of the pitch. AVB went through a lot of media persecution during and after his spell at Chelsea and it would actually be quite good to see him get one over the likes of Lampard and Terry who arguably forced him out of Stamford Bridge last year, then proceeded to play out of their skin for Roberto Di Matteo.

Prediction: Tottenham 2-1 Chelsea

Sunderland v Newcastle - Sunday sees the Tyne-Wear derby, as the Mackems host the Toon Army. In stark contrast to the game previewed above, this is a derby clash between two out of form sides. They only have 3 wins between them in 14 league games this season (2 for Newcastle, 1 for Sunderland). In their last 14 league games Sunderland have failed to win in 13, and 3 out of the last 6 games between these two teams have ended in draws. This game could be a tale of two strikers - one on each side. Steven Fletcher and Demba Ba have together scored 11 goals this season and Fletcher's tally of 5 goals represents 100% of Sunderland's goals this season while Demba Ba's return of 6 goals represents 75% of Newcastle's goals this season. Only 3 players from either team have scored in the league this season (Hatem Ben Arfa has Newcastle's 2 other goals) so if Ba or Fletcher aren't firing it is unlikely that their team will be firing either. Don't expect this to be a high scoring affair, and we can see this being a low scoring draw, since neither team can afford to lose.

Prediction: Sunderland 1-1 Newcastle

All four of our teams are in action this weekend after having two weeks off (or one in the case of The Railwaymen). 

In what is surely a novelty for Manchester United fans, they find themselves with a home Saturday fixture kicking off at 3pm! The Potters make the relatively short trip north to Old Trafford where they have lost on their last eight consecutive visits. But this year there's every possibility they will start with the former England first choice strike duo of Crouch and Owen. Not that that will have any material effect on the outcome of this game... 

QPR are the weekend's Super Sunday game as they take on Everton at Loftus Road. The Toffees strengthened their squad this week with the signing of one of our all time favourite Premier League players - Thomas 'Der Hammer' Hitzlsperger. Presumably they felt they needed someone who can strike a ball hard from distance after Royston Drenthe finished his loan spell at the club last summer and the club opted not to sign him (largely because he was wildly inconsistent and a bit of a loose cannon). Still, even without a player that can do that, the Blue half of Merseyside have made a fantastic start to the new season and won many plaudits for their scintillating football this season which has catapulted them to 4th in the league. In the home dressing room there should at least be some refreshed and fitter players after the two week break but in spite of having all this time, Armand 'half a game' Traore will probably end up amongst the substitutes and not on the pitch at the start where his services are so desperately required by the R's right now (Clint Hill at left back simply isn't an option and neither is Nedum Onuoha).

In an all Polish affair, Crewe travel to Warsaw's Banks's Stadium where they will fancy their chances of a result considering that the home side have lost their last two home matches. The Saddlers have a similar side to Crewe and I'm sure that Steve Davis will welcome the chance to play a game of football again this week after last week's wrestling match at Fratton Park. 

Finally across the Nordsee and a few hundred miles further east after that, Union Berlin have FSV Frankfurt at home whilst you all eat your Sunday roasts, so make sure you have a live feed on in the background. Die Jungs from Köpenick are gunning for a third successive success on home soil. 

C will be present in the Lower Loft as ever this weekend and will return with a match report early next week. We'll also have the usual weekend round-up in tow. Until then, have a good weekend and brave the rain, get out the house and go see some football!

C&J

Weekend Review: Solent Woe

Weekend Review

Not an awful lot to report from the footballing world this weekend as there were only two English divisions in action, so we've condensed this post to comprise a quick review of a couple of talking points and a match review from Fratton Park.

Tranmere survived an almighty scare as they battled back from two goals down against Yeovil to win 3-2 and extended their lead at the top of League One to seven points. Ronnie Moore is clearly loving life at the top of League One and has since commented that this is the best squad he has ever had in his managerial career. I suppose that wasn't exactly going to be difficult given he has managed Southport, Rotherham, Oldham and Tranmere in his career as a boss.

Notts County romped to an impressive 4-0 away win at Carlisle to send them into fifth. Under Keith Curle they have looked a really good side and frustrated in equal measure. The team itself looks decent, with Alan Judge, Jordan Stewart, Jeff Hughes and Jamal Campbell-Ryce all players that wouldn't look out of place in a Championship side. Perhaps this season they'll be challenging in the upper echelons of League One.

Bruno Andrade enjoyed an excellent debut for Wycombe in the JPT midweek at Portsmouth and followed this up with the only goal of the game in his League Two debut away at Fleetwood. This looks to be an inspired signing from Gareth Ainsworth who clearly knows Andrade well from his time at QPR and looks able to act as a great mentor for him, especially as he played in the same position in his playing days. C will be hopeful this early promise continues and that the loan spell takes Andrade's career to the next level after the youngster's success at youth team level for QPR.

Match Review: Portsmouth 2-0 Crewe Alexandra

Crewe Alexandra were rolled over on the road for the third time in the league this season as opponents Portsmouth bullied them off the park to go above them in the table. C&J were both in the Milton End for this one.

The once famous Fratton Park façade, no longer famous because they aren't famous any more!

One look at the two teams on the back of the programme would give any neutral the impression that this was a cup tie. The sheer gulf in class on paper was embarrassing. How can it be that a club supposedly on its knees can have a squad containing the likes of QPR legend Akos Buzsaky, Barnsley's hero of Anfield Brian Howard, former Watford and Sheffield United midfielder and free-kick specialist Lee Williamson, former Chelsea, Fulham and Burnley left back Jon Harley, and League Two's top goalscorer last season Izale McLeod?! These players are supposedly on rolling monthly contracts meaning sides could get them for free when the month is up; yet the fact no-one has done this for some players who are clearly too good for League One indicates they must be on quite high wages that the majority of teams at this level can't afford (Pompey included!).

Contrasting conditions before the match and at half time

There were a couple of hundred Crewe fans who'd made the long journey to the South coast and their spirits were immediately dampened by not just the weather, but also Portsmouth scoring after just 2 minutes. Portsmouth terrorised Kelvin Mellor on their left all game and the cross came in from that side and went all the way to the back post where on-loan Bournemouth striker Wes Thomas stole in to head home. Alex goalkeeper Alan Martin kept the side (relatively) in the game in the first half and he made a couple of saves from Thomas and Izale McLeod who were just too quick, powerful and cunning for the Crewe defenders. After the game Michael Appleton said he told the strikers to come out of the traps hard and fast and it showed.

The early pressure continued and the margin was kept at one by a string of saves from Alan Martin in the Alex goal. But it wasn't long before Pompey added a second after 14 minutes, when Wes Thomas outrageously dived over Andy Bond's half-hearted challenge in the box. Mellor again was at fault backing off Thomas allowing him to run into the box and Thomas went over on a very soft looking challenge. Watching the replay on the Football League Show there should have been no way the referee made such a soft decision. There was clear daylight between Thomas and Bond when he tumbled to the ground and Portsmouth were incredibly lucky to con the referee into giving the penalty which McLeod duly dispatched straight down the middle despite Alan Martin getting a hand on the ball.

The first half was not one for the purists and was in no real way pleasing on the eye. Steve Davis after the game described the referee's performance as 'inept' and it wasn't difficult to see why. Besides the very dubious penalty decision the first half was littered with dodgy refereeing. Mathias Pogba was brought down cynically on the edge of the box by Lubomir Michalik who conveniently forgot to move out of the way. Pogba would have been one on one with the goalkeeper yet Michalik wasn't even booked. This decision was even more baffling based on the fact that 5 yellow cards were dished out in the first half for what seemed to be increasingly niggly little fouls rather than deserved bookings. Brian Howard was then booked for a terrible challenge that went straight through AJ Leitch-Smith to get the ball that could easily have been red. Big up to the Pompey fans with their reputation as real football fans beloved by much of the media who chanted 'Let him die' after the challenge, only for AJ to be substituted and it's since been confirmed he will be out of action for a month as a result of the tackle. We, on the other hand, wish the lad a speedy recovery.

For the first twenty minutes of the second half, Pompey allowed Crewe some more time on the ball than in the first half and they stringed a succession of passing moves together without ever really threatening Mikkel Andersen in the Portsmouth goal. Pogba showed that he is a real menace when he is on the ball but was frequently picking up the ball out of position and not up front where his services were dearly required. Max Clayton was seeing a lot of the ball but also ended up giving the ball away on numerous occasions by trying to be a bit too flashy. Portsmouth's counter attacks looked dangerous and, unlike Crewe's forward forays, almost always forced corners or lead to shots on goal. Byron Moore coming on for the injured AJ Leitch-Smith actually gave Crewe fresh impetus and pace and width that hadn't been available before. Moore was a threat the entire time he was on the pitch and was arguably Crewe's man of the match along with Alan Martin.

The best entertainment for Crewe fans was reserved for the afternoon's pantomime villain, Luke Rodgers (formerly of Port Vale). He was jeered by the travelling support as he entered the stage as a substitute and just a few minutes after being given some stick by them, managed to earn his club a fine from the FA by becoming the sixth Portsmouth player in the book - his offence: continuing playing after the referee had blown for a Crewe free-kick. Well done mate, brilliant!

Towards the end, the game had stop-started sufficiently to throw Crewe off of their stride and bring Portsmouth back into the game. The home side had a handful of opportunities to extend their lead further but had they done so it would have been harsh on Crewe, who were much improved in the second half after a naive opening 45 minutes.

In summary then, we have to concur with Steve Davis' sentiments that the officials were 'poor' and 'inept', and were Portsmouth to have gone down to ten men (as they indeed should have by letter of the law after at least one of the two incidents we've spoken about), this would have been a different game. It was clear that Portsmouth boss Michael Appleton had clearly looked to bully this young Crewe side by kicking them as much as possible, as he had disgracefully hinted he would do in his pre-match press conference. We just hope that these tactics aren't more widely adopted against Crewe in League One this year, else we'll be seeing some potentially career threatening injuries to several young, talented players.

Man of the match: Although he really should have been sent off, Brian Howard was a cut above the rest in this match. He marshalled the Pompey midfield superbly and was full of energy, positive attacking play and dangerous set pieces. The Portsmouth strikers got excellent service thanks to the former Reading man's performance here and I'm sure that Championship clubs will be keeping a close eye on Howard's situation over the next few weeks.

What we learned this week

- Tom Pope's astonishing scoring run continues, that's 12 in 12 in the league now

- We've never known a Football League show commentator get as excited as at Bramall Lane on Saturday when Oldham scored a 97th minute equaliser from a hit and hope ball into the area from out wide.
- Eddie Howe had an instant impact for Bournemouth as he guided them to a 2-0 defeat at home of Leyton Orient.
- Bury suffered the luck you get when you're bottom of the league as they came back from 2-0 down to Crawley to draw level only to see their old boy Nicky Adams loop in a cross-shot to beat them 3-2 in stoppage time.   

- Edgar Davids now knows just what a job he has on his hands at Barnet - a 4-1 home defeat by Plymouth was a real baptism of fire for the Dutchman!

- Gillingham and Port Vale won big this weekend as they continued in their roles as League Two's early pacesetters

Weekend Preview: Spotlight on the Football League

I don't think it is necessary to give much attention to England v San Marino tonight, and clearly neither do you if you are reading this preview on a Friday night! So let's talk Football League.

It's been a chaotic week in England's lower divisions and the managerial merry-go-round has been in full swing. We reported to you that earlier this week that Owen Coyle had lost his job at Bolton, incredibly becoming the 8th manager to part company with their club within just eleven games of the new season having passed (ten in the Championship). Since then, we've also seen Neal Ardley appointed at AFC Wimbledon, Eddie Howe swap Burnley for Bournemouth and now Edgar Davids (yes, the guy with the goggles) pitch up at Barnet as joint head coach! The last two on that list came as real shocks - Eddie Howe has gone back to the South Coast citing family reasons and given he lost his mother earlier this year the drop down a division is understandable in these circumstances. But Dutchman Davids certainly can't say the same for Barnet! Davids, whose last notable contribution in English football was an excellent assist for QPR's Adel Taarabt whilst wearing Crystal Palace colours (he massively underhit a backpass, wish I could find it on YouTube to share with you!), has finally found a club where he has a chance of getting into the first team for the rest of his life, whilst even doing some coaching at the same time. I can't believe for one moment that he's gone to North London for financial reasons. 

That might not be the end of the managerial casualties for a while either; Aldershot's board have given Dean Holdsworth the dreaded vote of confidence as they sit in 23rd place in League Two, whilst Milan Mandaric has issued the same kind of backing for Owls chief Dave Jones, who must be an awful manager to play for.

This bizarre week in the footballing world also saw Luis Boa Morte sign for Chesterfield until January. Boa Morte, aged 35 going on 53, says there is method in his madness, explaining that he is a good friend of Spireites goalkeeping coach Mark Crossley. We can't wait for Davids vs Boa Morte in League Two - for those of you excited by this (i.e. all of you), it's 27th October at the Proact Stadium.

Tranmere go marching on at the top of League One and this weekend's visitors Yeovil don't really look like ending the Wirral club's unbeaten start. Incredibly, three of their players have scored seven goals each after just eleven games and they are just one shy of half of their points total from last season already! Andy Robinson, Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro and Owain Fon Williams are big misses for the hosts so perhaps there is some hope for the Glovers, but I can't look beyond the home side here. 

Prediction: Tranmere 2-0 Yeovil

After a solid if unspectacular start to League One life under Paolo Di Canio, Swindon find themselves in the playoff places ahead of the visit of lowly Coventry City this weekend. The Sky Blues won't be the easy game they were in the opening weeks of League One though, as they finally look to have turned the corner under the guidance of Mark Robins - they've won two of their last three games and produced an emphatic performance away at York in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy midweek. Still I expect the Robins (of the team variety) to take all three points here given the quality they have. 

Prediction: Swindon 3-1 Coventry

There aren't really any stand out fixtures in League Two this weekend, but Sky Sports have gone with Port Vale v Oxford as their prime time Monday night blockbuster. The Valiants have mustered 25 goals in their 11 league games this season so far and unsurprisingly are League Two's top scorers. Tom Pope has notched 11 of those and is currently in the most prolific form of his career. But the side from Stoke have found points harder to come by on home soil, winning just twice in five games at Vale Park this term. Oxford stopped the rot with a win over AFC Wimbledon and a draw at home to early League Two pacesetters Gillingham to end a run of six straight defeats which had had U's fans calling for Chris Wilder's head and he, too, got that dreaded vote of confidence from the board. Such is the patience level of fans, the media and board these days that a few defeats on the bounce no longer goes unnoticed and you will soon come under fire. I fancy Vale to put the pressure back on Wilder here (though surely they won't dispense of him if he loses away at the team 2nd in the table), but not without an early scare of going a goal down early on.

Prediction: Port Vale 2-1 Oxford

With just one of our regular sides in action, it would be foolish to pass on the opportunity to go and see them. C and J will be in the away end at Fratton Park this weekend to observe crippled Portsmouth host Crewe Alexandra. Both sides go into the game having found a bit of form of late, so this should be a good game. Portsmouth have assembled a team of Championship/League One quality freebies which on paper is quite a formidable side at this level. Having said that, all of their players are on monthly rolling deals so theoretically could walk away from the club at the end of the month, which probably suits the players but certainly isn't ideal as far as the fans are concerned. One such player is QPR legend Akos Buzsaky, who, presumably like his colleagues, views the opportunity at Portsmouth as a chance to put himself in the shop window for a couple of months in the hope that a bigger fish will come in at the end of one of the said months and offer him a longer term deal. How Pompey can sustain the kind of wage he was on at QPR is beyond us. All that aside, it really is a sorry state of affairs at the South Coast club and I genuinely hope that they don't go to the wall - I wouldn't wish that upon any football club, even Luton Town!  

Use the international weekend profitably and get down to support your local football league club this weekend. We'll be back early next week with a match report and a weekend review.

C&J

Gameweek 8: Things Starting To Take Shape?

Well that was an eventful weekend, and it looks like things could be starting to take shape at the top of the table...

The top 3 is now containing 3 of the 4 teams you might expect it to at the end of the season (bar Arsenal) and the likes of Everton, Tottenham and Arsenal all consolidated the theory that they will have good seasons and be in the running for the top 4 this season.

The game at the DW Stadium on Saturday was a fast-paced, attacking game with 4 goals ending in a 2-2 draw between Wigan and Everton. Wigan put in a very promising performance and there are a lot of reasons for their fans to be positive after the game, regardless of the late equaliser they conceded to their old boy Leighton Baines. Arouna Kone had an excellent game on the right of their front 3. He looked a constant thorn in Everton's side and scored the first goal (even though he was in an offside position) and laid on the second for Franco Di Santo. Kone had 2 shots and scored 1 of them and he appears to be the marksman that Wigan have missed for probably all of their years in the Premier League. He now has 3 goals and 2 assists for Wigan this season in just 7 appearances, and his presence up front seems to be aiding Franco Di Santo who has also scored 3 goals already this season in 6 games - nearly half of his tally last season (7) which he achieved in 31 games. All this positivity is curiously framed in the fact that Wigan have made one of their worst starts in the Premier League. They have equalled last years tally at this stage, have 3 points less than they did in 2010/11, and they have 4 points less than 2009/10...anyway you get the idea. I think the reason for this is this 3 at the back system that Wigan are playing with this season. A 3 at the back system always seems to need pace, which is why you wonder how Gary Caldwell gets in the middle of the 3 every week - he is one of the slowest players I've ever seen and I've never been convinced he's actually that good. Ivan Ramis has also had a pretty inauspicious start to life in the Premier League and hasn't really shown any signs that he has got the quality to succeed in the top flight. Wigan looked really susceptible to attacks down the wing against Everton and Steven Pienaar in particular ravaged their defence. Wigan aren't the first and won't be the last team to face problems up against Pienaar this season but the lack of defensive width due to their 3 system didn't help at all. Roberto Martinez appears to have gone for the mantra 'attack is the best form of defence' and it seems their setup is geared to gain results up front and hope they score more than they concede which could lead to a really interesting season for Wigan.

Bolton were the latest side to dispense of their manager, showing club legend Owen Coyle the door on Tuesday afternoon. This came as something of a surprise, because the club can't surely have been expected to win promotion at the first attempt given the sheer number of departures and lack of arrivals at the club this summer following relegation. Phil Gartside has always been one for prudence and this Summer was no different, so what exactly his expectations were of Coyle this season (he apparently set a points target)? I am not sure. It seems like the writing was on the wall since January last year. Coyle didn't seem able to inspire his players and you can only blame injuries for so long. Coyle will no doubt find himself a job again soon though; Scottish managers are a highly sought after breed right now in the English game it seems. So much so that even Steve Kean might find himself in a job again sooner rather than later!

Last season they lined up against each other in training matches at QPR, but this season DJ Campbell locked horns with Matt Connolly and Heidar Helguson in a Championship match between lowly Ipswich and table toppers (but annual bottlejobs) Cardiff City. Campbell drew first blood as he somehow managed to escape Connolly and the Cardiff keeper's attentions to guide the ball into the net Maradona style without either them or the officials noticing! The away side were victorious in the end though thanks to C's Doppelgänger Heidar Helguson tapping in from a Scott Loach howler and scoring a trademark header late on. Helgar even had time to produce one of his trademark headers at the other end of the pitch, casually crashing a header against his own bar. There's no way he didn't mean that... Ice cool from the ice man.

Roundup

We'll start with the bad news, and yet again C was on hand to witness QPR lose, this time at The Hawthorns, where comical defending and lack of attacking prowess contributed to a 3-2 defeat to the Baggies. Match report available here.

Sunday saw Manchester United record an excellent win away St James' Park (we can call it that now again thanks to wonga.com). Newcastle produced some QPR-esque marking from corners to allow Evans and Evra two quick-fire goals which effectively ended the game as a contest. Wayne Rooney relished his new role at the tip of the midfield diamond and it really seems like the pressure is off him. Last year he was the one carrying the team but now he has Robin Van Persie to share the burden and this seems to have given him a creative impetus he has lacked for a few years. Tom Cleverley in midfield also adds some dynamism that is lacking with Carrick, Scholes or Giggs.

Crewe managed back to back 2-1 wins in League and Cup with victories over Hartlepool (H) and Shrewsbury (A) on Saturday and Tuesday respectively. Mathias Pogba has a claim for the award for Worst Penalty of 2012 against Hartlepool. Even worse he took the ball from the normal penalty taker before missing it. Even worse, he took the ball from the boss' son Harry Davis who scored 4 penalties at the back end of last season!

And finally, as you learned on Friday, Union Berlin took a battling away point back from St Pauli. All in all, not a bad weekend for our sides then. Sort it out Hughes!

Things we learnt this week:

• If you want a man to take a penalty for you, you could do worse than Leighton Baines - that's 9 career penalties scored from 9 attempts.
• My word Santi Cazorla is good.
• We told you that in AFC Wimbledon's manager job specification it was compulsory to have played for the original Wimbledon, but what we didn't tell you was that Neal Ardley was the successful candidate (not Lawrie Sanchez, who will have to make do with Sky punditry as a source of pocket money)
• Clearly either the recent form of Palace, the sheer number of goals flying in at Selhurst Park or lure of cheaper seats has brought some long lost Eagles fans back. The ground looked packed out for the first time I can recall in years for their 4-3 win over Burnley. That's now 22 goals scored in SE25 in just five league games so far this season.

C&J

Another fruitless away trip

 Match Review: West Bromwich Albion 3-2 QPR

QPR (without a win) went to The Hawthorns this weekend to face West Brom (with a 100% home record and having not conceded a goal there). The omens were not good, but yet again they showed they can compete at this level... in some areas anyway.

The Superhoops were forced into one change but Hughes elected to make several others. Anton Ferdinand and Jose Bosingwa returned to the starting eleven after a few weeks off each with leg related injuries. Nedum Onuoha was dropped to the bench after a horror show against West Ham on Monday night and so the back line from left to right read Hill, Nelsen, Ferdinand, Bosingwa. Armand Traore made a welcome return to the bench but with the Senegalese man you just never know if he really is fit or not. The decision to start Hill at left back suggested not. Even so, Hill at left back was a crazy decision from Hughes. This is the Premier League. A league well renowned for pacey counter attacking teams that will punish any defensive mistake. And Clint Hill is 33 and desperately short of both pace and confidence. Surely the versatility of even an out of form Onuoha would have been a better choice for the position? West Brom's right winger must have been licking his lips at the prospect of facing Hill... With Samba Diakite suspended, QPR had a ready made loony as a replacement in Stephane Mbia, who was shifted from central defence into the position of 'tough tackling' defensive midfielder. Taarabt was rewarded for his display against the Hammers on Monday with a start and he was preferred to the also out of form Cisse, leaving Zamora playing the role as lone striker.

Standard player warm up drill photo - I never find time to take pictures during the game itself!

And from early on, the travelling R's faithful's worst fears were realised. Hill was being absolutely roasted by Shane Long who was getting in behind him every time the ball was played forward. Sure enough, on five minutes, it was 1-0 for that very reason. Oh, and crap marking by Ferdinand which left Morrison a free header. Oh, and Cesar was also poorly positioned. Far too many individuals making errors and yet another early goal conceded. Absolutely infuriating stuff because yet again it was so avoidable. 

QPR responded in kind by stringing some passes together and weathered the early storm. But the R's are their own worst enemies at the moment, and after over-committing men for a short corner routine (why do we bother with those?!), the ball was given away and there were not enough people back who could catch up with Odemwingie. He played a great ball across to Shane Long who somehow managed to sky a chance from four yards when the goal was at his mercy. 

The defensive shambles continued and at times there were two and sometimes even three going for the same ball. Park and Bosingwa were particularly guilty of overlapping each others' defensive duties, whilst I can recall one occasion where Gareth McAuley had three men marking him on a set piece who ended up just falling over one and other. The lack of communication at the back was alarming and it was only a matter of time before the 2nd goal would go in. It arrived courtesy of some comedy defending that simply isn't good enough for a Premier League team. Morrison's misplaced cross was not dealt with by Ferdinand who had nobody around him and time to calmly clear but instead he elected to try to rush his clearance, slipped and inadvertently gave the ball to Zoltan Gera. With Ferdinand arsing around on the floor, nobody was within a mile of Gera who had time to set himself, look at Cesar's position and slot in to the gaping goal. 

The R's fans' frustrations were pouring out now, and sections of the away support joined in with the home fans as they told Hughes he would be 'sacked in the morning'. The frustrations were beginning to show from the players, too. Adel Taarabt managed to catch a ball from the air before it went out for a throw and then complain at the referee for giving a free kick as a result (he was lucky not to go in the book for that) whilst Mbia was looking increasingly like he could get sent off, flying into challenges Diakite-esque. This prompted the beleaguered Clint Hill to expend some more of his limited energy and run over to try to calm Mbia down, which to his credit he did to great effect. 

But then, out of nothing, QPR were back in the game. A superbly weighted pass forward (or possibly long hopeful punt) by Granero had Adel Taarabt latch on the end of it. The man who found his mojo again on Monday night then produced a superb chest and volley combination to beat Ben Foster all ends up. "Taarabt's too good for you" sang the travelling support, but in reality he is too good for us. The only reason he is with us is because he isn't one bit a team player. And I feel the same can be said for a number of our players. West Brom, on the other hand, have no real big names but work effectively as a team, and look where they are compared with us! 

For the rest of the half, QPR, who should have taken inspiration from Taarabt's moment of brilliance, continued to look shaky. Clint Hill was clearly being targeted and forced into errors, Park continued to show he is off the boil right now and SWP and Bosingwa were just god damn awful! The rest of the midfield and attack (i.e. Granero, Taarabt and Zamora) looked OK but were very shot shy. West Brom created one further clear cut chance before the half time whistle but were thwarted thanks to some Julio Cesar heroics, as he saved when one on one with Gera. These openings were arising where the West Brom attack was getting in behind the static R's back line all half and the lack of movement was unbelievable. 

Sparky had to change it at half time and so he did, replacing the 'out of his league' Clint Hill with Armand Traore. QPR dominated possession from this point but failed to test Foster at all, their best chance being ballooned over by Granero, who again seemed to take an age to work the perfect position before trying to shoot. Whatever happened to shooting on sight? Surely Mark Hughes, as a former striker, should be preaching that in the Premier League defenders won't give you time to score the perfect goal (QPR defenders aside, that is). SWP was the only player ever in space for QPR, but perhaps WBA knew he presented no danger - he can't cross, is woeful at taking on players and is generally a waste of space. Fans have even taken to sighing when he gets on the ball! Finally he got the hook midway through the second half but in spite of cries for Junior Hoilett, it was another out of form player, Jamie Mackie, who Hughes introduced. As a consequence, QPR continued to boss proceedings but still not testing keeper. And yet again I find myself referring to the moral of my previous match reports - it is essential to score when you are on top!! No surprise then when QPR were made to pay by the Albion, who, after getting a free kick which took the sting out of the R's passing game, afforded Gonzalo Jara Reyes time to plant an accurate pass into the area which was swept home by Youssouf Mulumbu (who incidentally is better than Kaka, I'm led to believe!). 

It occured to me at this point that the lack of pace in the side is the root of our problems. Granero has skill but no pace, Park has tenacity and determination but no pace, a snail would give Zamora a decent race and Mackie and Taarabt are not desperately quick either. Our only hope for pace on the field, substitute Armand Traore, was clearly not fit enough to play here, stopping his running about five minutes after coming on. Junior Hoilett was introduced when it was late enough that Hughes recognised this but had no effect because like Granero, he waits for the most perfect of openings and consequently allows defenders time to recover. Shoot on sight for god's sake!! As the board went up for five minutes of injury time, QPR found themselves in the West Brom half and at long last, the defence were caught out and Granero had enough time to look up and produce an excellent effort to beat Foster from the edge of the area. 3-2 and with two minutes of injury time to go, the Hoops sensed an unlikely equaliser and suddenly, in the last minute of added time, they had a corner. Rangers piled men forward and when the ball was partially cleared, it bounced back into the area to an unmarked Jose Bosingwa at the back post, who summed up his and QPR's performance when he blazed over with so much time and space to do so much better. 

If ever there was a game that summed up QPR's season to date, this was it. Not enough chances created, suicidal defending, but other than that, we've actually been alright (so in conclusion, not very good then!). We've played some pretty football at times and I still have faith yet, but these individual errors and our shot-shyness are costing us dear. 

The only way is up!

Man of the match: It's only fair that I reward Adel Taarabt for a couple of good performances. He goes missing at times and did so here but so do all good attacking players, and then pop up with the goods. When he was in the game, he was QPR's shining light. I just hope he finally has found his Championship form in the Premier League, particularly since Cisse has looked so poor of late. 

C

Week 7 Preview: Big Sam v Arsene

This weekend sees the return of an old rivalry as Big Sam's Hammers will no doubt welcome Arsenal with some rather lovely hospitality...

West Ham v Arsenal - We all remember the duel of Sam Allardyce's Bolton v Arsenal don't we? And the same post match interviews from Arsene every time where he complained about Bolton's physicality? What about Nicolas Anelka's thunderbolt against his old team? Or Stelios' goal to condemn them to defeat? It always used to seem that Arsenal were just not capable of coping with Bolton and would wilt under the pressure. Well expect more of the same this weekend. Arsene Wenger has won only 2 of his 9 away games as a manager against a Sam Allardyce team (W2 D3 L4), and there is plenty of reason to believe his side will have the same problem again. However, as a side note, 3 of those victories came in succession between 2004 and 2007 so Arsenal have arguably learnt to cope better with Allardyce teams since this run. West Ham could have Andy Carroll back from the start for this game which would give them even more physicality, directness and quality than Carlton Cole provides, and he could really torment the Arsenal defence. Therefore, a lot could hinge on whether Per Mertesacker recovers from his virus in time. Arsenal have won 4 their last 4 matches against West Ham in all competitions, but that was B.A. (No not Baracus - Before Allardyce), so I don't know how much to read into that. West Ham have started the season really well and actually sit directly above Arsenal in the table, so this isn't a guaranteed three points for the Gooners. The Hammers would do well to start with Matt Jarvis after he impressed at QPR on Monday night and will be the perfect foil for Andy Carroll. Arsenal will undoubtedly miss the physical presence of Abou Diaby in midfield and they could struggle to curb Kevin Nolan's late runs into the box. All in all, I think West Ham will cause Arsenal problems and I'm going to stick my neck out and say Arsenal will struggle after playing in Europe in the week.

Prediction: West Ham 2 - 1 Arsenal

Man City v Sunderland - The early kick off on Saturday at the Emptihad sees Man City play the only team to take 4 points off of them last season in the league - Sunderland. It strikes me that there are two big questions for Saturdays game: 1) Will anyone else but Steven Fletcher score for Sunderland? And 2) Will Mancini ever realise that three at the back isn't working? City were incredibly lucky to pick up a draw against Dortmund in the week, after the German champions had 10 more shots than them (which as an away team in Europe I find amazing, since there wasn't a mismatch of quality on paper!).  The three at the back experiment on Wednesday night was pretty disastrous in my opinion; if Dortmund had put their shooting boots on it could have been 4 or 5 and Mancini seemed to realise this by abandoning the system after around 10 minutes. City's defenders just aren't pacey enough for this system and until Micah Richards comes back from injury it is impossible to see it working any time soon. Which begs the question - why fix it if it's not broken? Last year in this fixture Sunderland went 3-1 up but late goals (an uncanny knack now for City) pegged them back and earned City a 3-3 draw. But it is hard to see the Mackems repeating this scoring feat given the fact they've only scored 5 goals all season (and these have all come from Fletcher!) It is well documented that City haven't kept a clean sheet so far this season but you would expect them to focus on keeping Fletcher quiet and this will be the best chance for them to keep a clean sheet probably all season. Though it will be intriguing to see how Adam Johnson does against his old side as he surely has a point to prove. Discarded by Mancini for an apparent clash of personality, how better to show him what he missed by running riot against this dodgy defence? However, City are unbeaten in their last 32 games at home in the league and it is nigh on impossible not to see this run continuing. Expect a first clean sheet of the season for City and an easy win. The only factor that appears to be in Sunderland's favour is that City played on Wednesday evening and have only had 2 days rest before this game, while Sunderland have had 7 days rest. But given the size of City's squad, this shouldn't really be an issue.

Prediction: Man City 3-0 Sunderland

We thought we'd preview the stand out massive battle in the Football League this weekend: Crewe v Hartlepool - This is a match between 2 sides desperately out of form at the moment (and identically so at that!): they are both without a win in their last 6 games, and both have lost their last 2 league games to boot. Both sides have only scored 8 goals all season (less than 1 a game) and both have conceded at over a rate of 1 per game, so it should be an interesting encounter at the Alexandra Stadium. I can't decide whether the lack of firepower will cause a low scoring affair or the leaky defences will contribute to a goal-fest. But the fact that Crewe have only scored once in their last 4 games indicates it's unlikely the floodgates will open on their end. It is a stark contrast to the last match between these sides in August in the first round of the CoC - when Crewe ran out 5-0 winners and looked full of goals. Crewe lost 2-0 to Oldham on Tuesday, this was the first time they have lost back-to-back games since Steve Davis took over 11 months ago, so it will be a test to see how they react. Hartlepool have only won one game all season though so this is a game the Alex should be looking at winning. Max Clayton was rested for the Oldham game and Byron Moore should hopefully be fit so there are more attacking options available for Crewe, and all being well this should see them through.

Prediction: Crewe 2-1 Hartlepool

Elsewhere...

It's a battle of two relegated sides in the Championship as Blackburn host Wolves, both sides having had contrasting runs of late but find themselves as neighbours in the play-off positions in the league ladder, proof if ever you needed it that you can take virtually nothing from league positions after nine games and that it is ludicrous that managers are getting the boot based on positions in the table now. Yorkshire derbies between Leeds and Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday should keep the plods busy whilst in League Two Exeter v Port Vale looks an intriguing encounter.

Last but by no means least, onto our teams. J's Manchester United will be hoping for a more positive result than last week's surprise defeat at home to Spurs, but it doesn't get any easier for them as they head to Newcastle away. The Sports Direct Arena was the scene of United's heaviest away league defeat last season as they went down  3-0 to a Newcastle side at the top of their game. This will certainly be the biggest test of Newcastle's credentials for a repeat of last season's top six finish this time around.

C's off to the highest football league ground above sea level in England to see West Bromwich Albion take on winless QPR. The home side have played three, won three, conceded none at their Hawthorns home, so things are looking ominous. The injury situation hasn't changed for the Hoops either and they are missing Samba Diakite after his kamikaze twenty minute performance and subsequent sending off on Monday night. But we all live in hope...

Union Berlin are continuing their promising run in the German 2nd Division and we have just received confirmation that they have picked up another point away from home! This time a Torsten Mattuschka (der beste Mann) brace saw them claim a 2:2 draw at what is normally an extremely tough place to go. Admittedly, St Pauli haven't had the best of seasons so far (winning just once) but Union are notoriously travel sick, so any point away from home should be viewed as a victory! (Much like QPR!)

Enjoy the weekend's football and we'll be back with a weekend review and match review of WBA v QPR on Monday.

C&J