Player of the Weekend

After no goal in eight games, Emmanuel Adebayor struck back with a vengeance on Saturday evening. Spurs were expected to beat Newcastle but not in the fashion that they eventually did. The Togo forward was involved in every goal at White Hart Lane, providing assists for Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Niko Kranjcar and Louis Saha, twice. He completed a brilliant display by netting himself to round off the scoring.

Goal of the Weekend

Not many would have predicted Bolton against Wigan to produce the goal of the weekend. However, Mark Davies equaliser was something to behold. Having controlled David N’Gog’s flick on, which is the most generous way of describing the ball hitting the Frenchman’s back, the ex-Wolves midfielder produced a stunning finish into the top left hand corner despite a despairing dive from Ali Al-Habsi. The goal though will be of little consolation to Davies or Bolton who were dragged further into the relegation mire.

Save of the Weekend

Time and again, Michel Vorm has come to the rescue of the Swansea defence this season. Although he was unable to prevent them from suffering only their second home defeat of the season, the save he produced from Kyle Naughton’s rasping drive was world class. The Spurs loanee’s shot was tipped onto the bar in spectacular fashion by Vorm, who will surely be in demand over the summer. Don’t mention that to Swansea fans though.

And now for something a little different…

You may be aware of an unusual trend which is starting to emerge every time Aaron Ramsey scores for Arsenal. On the last four occasions he has netted, a famous world figure has died soon after.

Last year having grabbed the winner against Manchester United, Osama Bin Laden died the next day. Steve Jobs passed away three days after the Welsh Captain’s strike in the North London Derby whilst Colonel Gaddafi was the next to perish after the midfielder’s goal against  Marseille. On Sunday morning, it was announced Whitney Houston had died – a day after Aaron Ramsey’s equaliser at the Stadium of Light.

So, any world figures reading this column, take particular caution the next time Ramsey scores for the Gunners!

For more Premier League musings, follow @arhindtutt

Some sections of the Wolves support have been calling for the head of McCarthy for some time and yesterday’s defeat appears to have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for Chairman Steve Morgan, who himself visited the dressing room only the other week to let the players know what he thought of their performance after a 3-0 home defeat against Liverpool.

Wolves have decided that given recent results that a change is needed ahead of the final 13 games to ensure that the club can retain their Premier League status:

“The Board took the difficult decision to terminate Mick’s contract after a run of form which has seen Wolves pick up only 14 points in the last 22 League games, after a promising start to the season, culminating in yesterday’s 5-1 defeat at home to West Bromwich Albion.

“Terry Connor will take charge of team training in the interim until a new manager is appointed.

“The Board would like to place on record their sincere thanks and appreciation to Mick McCarthy and he leaves with the very best wishes of everyone connected to the club.” (Daily Mail)

Wolves have two weeks to find themselves a new replacement, as they have no FA Cup game this weekend.

So whether it’s team mates coming to blows, the paparazzi snapping players boozing it up or just stupid and bizarre actions, they make it onto the list. What didn’t make it was the England WAGS from the 2006 World Cup, they reportedly distracted the players during the tournament and although it wasn’t the players misbehaving themselves, they nearly made it into the top ten. Also, quite a few people recommended Cristiano Ronaldo photographed in speedo’s as a criminal activity, but again it failed to make the ten below…..

Click on Gazza below to see the Top TEN!

Compiled by Matt Freebody

Kenny Dalglish excused the treatment of Evra as fine – after all, he was regularly booed as a player, so what’s the difference?

Really it’s about time managers stopped the siege mentality and stopped defending their club’s every action. By defending the club this usually means the players’ actions and the fans’ actions. It seems obvious they won’t criticise the owners- that wouldn’t be a good career move, as Alex Ferguson knows well enough.

When considering  examples of when defending your club goes too far, Dalglish’s conduct over Suarez is  an obvious choice.

Despite Liverpool’s anger over proceedings, surely everyone realised it was time to move on once Suarez returned to action. But not Dalglish, who had to mention the injustice of it all once more in a press conference. The problem with Dalglish is that he is a fan of the club he manages – it runs through his blood, and which of us is happy with criticising the actions of our club when the club is under attack? No, we adopt a siege mentality, and back our team to the hilt.

It seems clear that managers are loath to criticise fans, whatever they do. Even Steve Kean can’t bring himself to do it much. Fans could throw bags of faeces onto the pitch and the manager would probably claim it was a protest at national toilet facilities. Burn down the souvenir store? That’s a term of endearment in Dundee. Now it seems that just being related to the alleged victim of a racial insult is now a crime, and thus appropriate for a “lively” reception from opposition fans. Needless to say, Andre Villas-Boas passed off Rio Ferdinand‘s treatment as normal.

Villas-Boas said: “You don’t expect opposing fans to cheer your players.” He added: “This is a normal situation in the Premier League.” To be fair to Villas-Boas though he did admit such actions were wrong, which was good to hear.
“You have to condemn it when there is discriminatory, aggressive behaviour.”

Managers are loathe to criticise their players either, not surprising considering what delicate souls they tend to be. Hence, managers will regularly critics the actions of opposition players whilst defending identical actions of their own (if they saw it), no doubt adding that the other team’s player was looking for it, and got his player sent off.

Managers rely on the support of the fans of course, so won’t be keen to get on their wrong side. But do they not realise that they may gain more respect from many of their fans of they were honest? Plenty of Chelsea fans would have been disappointed by the booing of Rio Ferdinand, in the same way that many Liverpool fans found the booing of Evra distasteful. Wouldn’t they appreciate their manager saying so?

Part of the problem is, as we saw with Suarez, is that the fans’ behaviour is often shaped by the actions of their club’s hierarchy. This may only make matters worse. And with the modern phenomena of social media, fans have a gateway to the players, to continue their odious behaviour. Thus only yesterday, Manchester City‘s Micah Richards deleted his Twitter account, having finally had enough of racial abuse on the social network. This is a problem that clearly hasn’t gone away as we had hoped. Away from the experiences of Richards and back to Suarez (who it must be reiterated was never accused of being racist), I accept that Liverpool football club and their fans could not accept a ban based not on proof but merely probability, and that they feel aggrieved, and I realise they cannot predict the consequence of all of their actions, but they should realise that keeping the issue bubbling under the surface is only making matters worse, and brings the worst out in a minority of fans. Sometimes you have to accept your fate, and move on.

And as Manchester United and Liverpool go into battle once more, another problem is that of obscene chants, which also begs the question – could clubs do more? If managers spoke out about Munich, Hillsborough or various other songs, could it make a difference? I know clubs have made moves behind the scenes to try and improve matters, but could a more up-front policy bear dividends? Or would they continue nevertheless?

Of course when it comes to criticising their own, not all managers bite their lip. As the pressure tells on Arsene Wenger, he has turned recently on some of the most vociferous fans. The likes of Mick McCarthy too have criticised supporters. I’m all for it. Us fans are generally idiots, happy to dole it out before acting shocked should we get it back, be it off a player or a manager with nothing to lose. But lose the suppor tof the fans, and your days as a manager are numbered. It’s no wonder most managers keep their thoughts to themselves. They’d probably have plenty to say if they could.

As a nation, we think ourselves superior to much of the world in many respects – a progressive, multicultural, well-mannered country that shakes its head and expresses horror at the action of fans and clubs in other countries, where for example the incidents of racism are as common as a swallow dive in the penalty area. Recent events show we aren’t there yet – we still have our problems, be it racism, common abuse, or just acting with decorum and in the right way. Those that represent our clubs have got a duty to help stop those that act appallingly, and occasionally that must involve criticising your own. We’d all be better off for it.

“Bad News is that I’m out for 6-9months with my Knee Gd News is that I will therefore have all the time in my hands to be doin #frimmyfacts”

Indeed, although football fans everywhere will be inundated with further editions of #frimmyfacts over the coming months, the 20-year-olds on field presence will be truly missed by both Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

If anything, Frimpong will have too much spare time on his hands now to groom his Twitter following, after suffering a recurrence of the anterior cruciate ligament injury which has this time transpired in his right knee.

Following Frimpong’s nine month lay-off in 2010 where the injury hampered his left knee, should Arsenal fans be concerned over their latest talented youngsters long-term fitness?

Well, he may be the joker of the Arsenal and since Wolves dressing rooms, but Emmanuel Frimpong’s latest injury setback is no laughing matter. The midfielder missed the entire 2010/11 season after receiving the injury in the early stages of the campaign. Indeed, we may have all been made aware of Frimpong’s powerful style a season sooner, had the injury not occurred.

It is a massive shame for all connected with Arsenal and Wolves whereby he impressed making Mick McCarthy’s starting line-up in all five of the Premier League games since he agreed to join on the very last day of 2011.

Much similar to Jack Wilshere’s loan move to Bolton in January 2010, Arsene Wenger was hoping that valuable Premier League experience would prove pivotal in the early stages of Frimpong’s career also.

Current first-choice holding midfielder Alex Song too achieved success via the route of signing on loan for a struggling Premier League outfit when he joined Charlton in 2007.

It seemed apparent that Frimpong was just the latest Gunners youngster to sample Arsene Wenger’s tried and tested loan passage through to the Arsenal first team reckoning.

The Arsenal Official Website read that

‘Emmanuel will see specialists in London over the next few days before having surgery and starting a programme of rehabilitation’.

In the long-term, Arsenal fans might be worried that Frimpong won’t be able to shake his injury nightmare away much like the metatarsal fractures that have reared their ugly ahead upon Wayne Rooney over the years.

Frimpong has forged a reputation as a strong athlete who doesn’t shy away from the physical side of the game. Indeed, he received a red card on his full Arsenal debut in the home defeat to Liverpool earlier this season.

Being a defensive minded midfielder and a #DENCH strong athlete of sorts, Frimpong wholehearted approach will mean he will always be susceptible to picking up knocks and Arsenal fans will wait and wonder as to whether his long-term career will be blighted by injuries, or whether these are just unfortunate incidences at the start of a fulfilling career.

Arsenal fans everywhere will wish both Frimpong and the also sidelined Wilshere the speediest of recoveries as the club maintains their push for a place in the Premier League’s top four.

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A lot of new grounds have bought into this idea but what if clubs could only sell the rights if the buyer reflects them.

Click on the Sports Direct Arena to see some of the best endorsement opportunities for clubs around the country.

The 20-year-old is on loan at Molineux from Arsenal, but picked up an injury against QPR on Saturday, and had to be replaced in the first half of his side’s 2-1 win.

Mick McCarthy’s men have confirmed that extent of the knock, and wished Frimpong all the best in his recovery.

“Emmanuel Frimpong has ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in Saturday’s Barclays Premier League game at QPR,” a statement on the club’s official website reads.

“Frimpong, on loan at Molineux until the end of the season, will now see specialists in London over the next few days before having surgery and starting a programme of rehabilitation.

“The midfielder, who suffered the same injury to his left knee in 2010, had made an impressive start to his temporary spell at Wolves, catching the eye during his five appearances in gold and black.

“Frimpong is expected to be out for a number of months and will therefore miss the remainder of this season.

“Everyone at Wolves would like to thank the midfielder for his efforts whilst at the club and join Arsenal in wishing him a swift recovery,” it concluded.

By Gareth McKnight

The standard of football between the two divisions has improved vastly over the last several seasons and this season sees the quality of the Championship as good as it ever has been. In defence of these players, there is of course a higher standard of football despite the dip in margin. For example, strikers are up against better teams and while they might have got 10 chances per game in the Football League, they may only get the odd few in the Prem.

So what unfortunate ten make my top ten list of players who are Championship rather than Premier League quality? Find out below…

Click on Routledge below to see the Top TEN

Game of the Weekend

Sometimes games involving the top four fail to live up to the preceding hype. Manchester United’s visit to Chelsea on Sunday cannot be included in that category though. The six goal thriller at Stamford Bridge demonstrated English football at its’ passionate best. Criticism is occasionally aimed at the style of play in the Premier League in that every piece of play must contribute to a goal scoring move. In this case, it only added to what was a thrilling spectacle, if you’re not a Chelsea fan that is. For Manchester United an inspirational comeback. When fans of the Red Devils do eventually calm down, they may be frustrated that they lost ground on Manchester City though.

Player of the Weekend

It is a worrying prospect for Arsenal fans to consider their team without Robin van Persie Yet again he provided a telling contribution against a weak Blackburn side effortlessly thrashed by the imperious Gunners on Saturday. A hat trick for the Dutchman is hardly a special occasion these days but it took him to 22 goals for the season. Gooners will be hoping he can fire Arsenal into the top four places otherwise they risk losing their star forward in the summer.

Goal of the Weekend

Over the course of the season Juan Mata has proved to be a dangerous attacking force. He showed that once again with a stunning volley against Manchester United. The technique he displayed to smash the ball into the roof of the net was sublime.

However, what added to the quality of the strike was the cross supplied by Fernando Torres. He may not be having much luck in front of the goal but the Spaniard’s ball into his fellow countryman was pinpoint.

Save of the Weekend

When Bobby Zamora netted for QPR early on against Wolves, Mick McCarthy must have feared the worst. However, Djibril Cissé’s sending off changed the dynamic of the game. Having turned the match on it’s head through goals from Matt Jarvis and Kevin Doyle, Wolves had Wayne Hennessey to thank for making sure they took three points back to the West Midlands.

His late finger-tip save from Adel Taarabt’s rising effort proved vital. The 25-year-old Welshamn narrowly edges out David De Gea’s stop from Juan Mata’s curling free kick. The Spanish ‘keeper has received plenty of criticism but he must be applauded for ensuring United’s impressive comeback was kept intact.

Honourable Mention: David De Gea

Quote of the Weekend

Settle down children, its story time with Mick McCarthy! After Djibril Cissé’s sending off on Saturday, the Wolves boss recounts an old tale in his post match interview.

“The rules are you can’t grab anyone by the face now and push them in the throat . Was it a sending off in my day? No, was it heck.”

If you say so Mick.  When men were men etc.

For more on the Premier League, follow @arhindtutt

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Bullard’s antics got me thinking about other footballers and managers who had put their football club in a extremely embarrassing position with their actions off the pitch.

Bullard is certainly not the first and won’t be the last football personality to make the headlines for their alledged drinking. Many others have had extra-marital affairs to the detriment to their career in football but we hear less about these now because of the rise of injunctions that prevent publishing details of these affairs. However we normally get to hear about them eventually, isn’t that right Mr Giggs?

Click on Bullard below to see the Top Ten

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