Goals Galore, The Twat Referee and the Shaughnessy Affair

Well welcome back.

Firstly I must apologise whole-heartedly for the sincere lack of activity on my blog since early November. The pressure had obviously got to me to produce exemplary quality in football blogging week in week out and I am pleased to report I am now fully rejuvenated after undergoing the necessary psychiatric treatment.

So what have we missed? A fair bit actually. Harry Redknapp's self-proclaimed title challenge has hit the rocks, managers have been sacked left, right and centre and two sexist bigots have lost their jobs with Sky.
(I've also bought an Arsenal home shirt with 27 EBOUE on the back).

Right we might as well get Saturday over with then. Newcastle United produced an astonishing comeback at St James's Park which saw a team recover a four goal deficit for the first time in Premier League history. Ironically the draw saw Arsenal move one point nearer to the top of the league after Wolves produced a fine workman-like display to (finally) beat an abjectly mediocre Manchester United side on the day who I think will probably agree that this defeat was always going to be 'when' rather than 'if'.

In many ways the afternoon epitomised why we absolutely adore the Premier League. 41 goals at an average over 5 goals per game summed up the tempo, passion, quality and of course we won't forget some horrible defending and sub-standard refereeing from the league that lies so close to our hearts.

Unfortunately from our point of view it was a second half to forget. It will feel to the boys like not just a loss but maybe two or three losses and this is compounded with the injury to the excellent Johan Djourou (at 4-0 coincidentally) who has been a revelation similar to the impact that Vermaelen had last year.

I was a bit astounded at the disappearance of Mr Dowd after Cheik Tiote's wonder strike but I was later informed he'd actually started the pile up on top of the Ivorian midfielder that ensued after the goal.

Now before we move on to the Phil Dowd lambasting I want to make it one hundred percent clear that I am not one to go out and castigate referees willy-nilly as I have huge respect for how difficult the job is. In fact I will often take out my dismay of bad refereeing decisions on particular poor individual performances (normally Denilson) but fact-of-the matter is Dowd bottled it.

Perhaps this was the aftermath of the whole Moyes-Fabregas midweek witch-hunt which apparently should have resulted in Cesc seeing red for his comments at half time, (although Gary Neville calling the ref a cunt results in 7 minutes of injury time)- convenient.

I'm not going to bang on about particular mistakes because they're all there to see, one of the penalties was particularly laughable, as was The Pole in the Goal's booking, but to cut a long story short I hope Dowd gets hit by a lorry.

Fantastic result for the Toon incidentally which will see them comfortably survive now I think. They're a huge club and belong in the Premier League. Fair play to them.

OptimistDom time now.
Would United still have lost after seeing Arsenal win 4 or 5-0?
Maybe not.
Will the team bounce back against Wolves and Stoke at home?
Probably.
Do United have to play The Death of Football, Chelsea twice and Liverpool and Arsenal away?
Yes.

Summary: Point gained.

I do love being a Gooner for this very reason. I genuinely don't believe there is even a team in League Two capable of letting a 4-0 lead slip in half an hour, it truly is almost laughable and sooner we replace that geriatric French muppet at centre back (Not the half Polish one) I will sleep all the more easily.

In local news midfielder Michael Shaughnessy of David Collett Hall is apparently considering retirement from further IMS fixtures. Although no statement has been officially released it appears that the industrious playmaker may be attempting to create more time for his studies.

Friend and team-mate Joseph Berry told This Week In English Football that he was "bitterly disappointed to hear about Michael's sudden retirement. It's surprising as he's had a decent season, but we respect his wishes." 

This will be the second player from the mid-table side to retire from the game this season after Joseph Hicks also departed in October 2010 after he was linked with his schoolboy heroes Leyton Orient who have put together a sparkling FA cup run and will face Arsenal in the 5th round.

We await full confirmation on Shaughnessy's decision.

It's good to be back anyway.

Ciao!

No buses! Unbelievable Jeff!

Another extremely interesting week for English football as the fixtures begin to rack up with Cup, League and European commitments all on the agenda.

I was reminded politely last week by a colleague that the title of my blog is 'This Week In English Football' and therefore should not include endeavours from the Eredivisie; (although I thought PSV's 10-0 win was noteworthy) so this weeks blog will be purely focused on English football.

Right first things first, FUNNIEST goal ever on Saturday with Nani slotting the ball home from 12 yards in the most farcical circumstances I've ever seen. (Under 9s Mr Gomes: play to the whistle). Mr Clattenberg was very quick to wave the Tottenham players away from the situation although conveniently Rio Ferdinand was able to offer the Assistant Referee the latest version of the Lamborghini Mercialago before he spoke to Mr Clattenberg. Goal stands, 2-0. Game Over.

The flapping of Harry Redknapp's bacon chops in the aftermath provided further entertainment as Spurs fell five points behind the greatest team in the Solar System.

Alexandre Dimitri Song Billong headed home his fourth goal of the season (O'Connell's shirt was subsequently removed as he went dancing around the house) as the unstoppable Gunners recorded their fifth straight win in all competitions.

The defeat to Shakhtar in midweek could also perhaps galvanize the Gunners into a better performance on Sunday as they take on Newcastle; fresh off their 5-1 demolition of Sunderland.

In an unbelievable turn of events, The Football League Show on Saturday (correct me if I'm wrong) provided a total of ZERO buses/coaches throughout the programme. The BBC declined to comment on the sudden drought as the company failed to broadcast a bus on its programme for the first time since taking over from the infamously terrible counterpart show on ITV several years back. Many of us will be praying that tomorrow night some sanity will be restored.

Of course we'll also have the trials and tribulations of the 1st round of the FA Cup to contend with. The stand out fixture for me has to be an all Kent clash at Priestfield as Gillingham take on non-league Dover. Big pressure on the League Two side.

If anyone is indeed hitting the clubs tonight for some alcohol induced endeavours I would highly recommend forming some sort of drinking game out of the horror-show blog 'Claridge Kicks Off' in which I would recommend drinking every time Claridge fails to put together a coherent sentence or slurs his words. (This game is not for the feint hearted).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/steveclaridge/2010/11/claridge_kicks_off_1.html

Best of luck to everyone involved in any football-related activity this weekend.

PS. Dom O'Connell will not be held responsible for any casualties during any 'Steve Claridge'-related drinking games.

The Difficult Second Blog: Citizen's Erased

"I think with eleven against eleven we would have won this game"


Maybe you should ask yourself, Mr Mancini, why you didn't have eleven.


In terms of stupidity it's right up there with Karl Pilkington. Dedryck Boyata, bless, has single-handedly destroyed City's afternoon in a incomprehensible split second.


On a near perfect afternoon in the pub for myself, the Gooners went on to trounce 'The Death of Football' in a comfortable 3-0 win that sees us climb to second in the table.


Favourite moments for me included Yaya Toure inexplicably passing the ball out for a corner (200k per week well spent methinks) and Nicky Bendtner's sublime finish on 88 minutes after being the victim of a tirade of abuse from the Liverpool fan behind me since being brought on. Funny was an understatement.


In Championship news, if you haven't already seen it, then I highly advise you to take five minutes out of your day to witness Lewis McGugan's Dom O'Connell-like strike from 35 yards against Ipswich. He's made two blogs in a row now, outstanding form.


In the Eredivisie (Holland), Feyenoord have insisted to stick by their coach despite conceding eight (yes 8) second half goals in a 10-0 defeat by PSV on Sunday. Genuinely thought my iPhone had broken...It's been long since the days that Robin van Persie played for that club.


The Football League Show once again provided sufficient entertainment but was a slight let down with only 4 buses being televised throughout the programme. On a normal basis the numbers can rise to 9 or 10 as the players step off the coach after a standard commute from say Portsmouth to Hull. Needless to say I lost the sweepstakes; hoping for a higher number next week.


In other news, it seems as if I have now attracted a rival blog!
Stephen Prior (Age 18) has released a new instalment of 'My Depressing Week as a Football League Fan' that has started extremely positively (even has nicer colours than mine). Check it out at 

http://palaceonenildown.blogspot.com/

Hoping for another win from Nicklas Bendtner's Barmy Army on Wednesday night as the Gooners take the long trip to St James's Park in the Carling Cup. 

Perhaps 90 minutes for the Danish Wonderkid? Who has recently returned from long-term injury.

The Pilot Blog

Rooney, Rooney, Rooney, Rooney.
Anyone else sick of this over-dramatised soap opera that bombards the back pages day after day?
Anyway for those of you living in North Korea or oblivious to the tabloid press; Wayne Rooney in a bizarre U-Turn has signed a new 5-year deal with Manchester United today, after in no uncertain terms, expressed his desire to leave the club.
For me it's obvious what will happen now. The fickle, half Norwich City supporting, Londoners that call themselves Man United fans will jump straight back on the bandwagon as Rooney nets a brace on his glorious return in 3-weeks from 'injury', and this farcical episode will be put to bed. Suddenly Rooney will be 'back on form' and a national hero once more with the debarcle of South Africa also forgotten.
Undoubtedly this will get re-opened in January anyway, as contracts no longer seem to mean anything; the soap opera continues....

On to more concerning matters; the Mighty Super Invincible Wonder-Team take on Man City away on Sunday in a huge game which could play a decisive role in deciding who might challenge Chelsea this year.
I'd probably take a draw to be fair; as long as Emmanuel Adebayor suffers a horrible injury. (Should have saved your two-footer for this week Jack Wilshere)


In Championship news, this Tuesday I witnessed an absolute drab match at the City Ground as Lewis McGugan's fifth goal in his last six games secured all three points for Forest. 
The game was also compromised by four buffoons sitting in front of us who decided it was hot enough to remove their shirts in the freezing wind (rugby twats). I guess that's what happens when Forest decide to sell student tickets for £2.


Anyway, looking forward to the weekend's football, although Match of the Day could be compromised due to Live Wrestling in the Student's Union Saturday night. As long as I'm back for the Football League Show Dance I'll be happy.