English Premier League 2011/12

[BobHelm]

Well, bit difficult to know where to stop on 'this weekend's games'.

Undoubtedly the big match is the Manchester derby on Monday night. It could, just, decide who wins the title this year. Although Citi probably have a harder final two games than United you have to think that a win on Monday would give them all the incentive they need to finish the deal.
Bit of important business to conduct at the other end of the table before getting to that though.

Bolton have a tough away match at Sunderland, although the gloss has gone out of the home sides game in the last month or so. If Bolton can capitalize on that & get any points out of the game it will be a huge weekend for them.
Wigan have the rather daunting task of hosting Newcastle. After the two at the very top this is probably as hard a game as it gets. The magpies are looking like a side who want to end the season having made an important point to the rest of the division. I don't think any favours handed out here.
Tomorrow the other two contenders for the drop both play away from home in London.
Although QPR don't have far to travel they are probably in for the harder game. Chelsea must be on a real high & probably don't want to lose a game before competing in the European Final. On the other hand none of them will want to miss out through injury either...could be some interesting team selections coming at the Bridge until season end.
Blackburn have the late game against a Spurs side that can't buy a point at the moment. I have a feeling that this will end up being a game that neither side wants to lose....could well be one for the spectators to miss, which would not have been said about a Spurs game before Christmas!!

[BobHelm]

scores.jpeg (9.02 KiB) Viewed 413 times

Well what some first half for goals, although it all calmed down a little in the second &, of course, there were successfully none at Villa Park...

Unusual with 6 Premiership games Stoke actually end up second in the list....

Everton carry on from last weekend with scoring 4 again, although a little more comfortably this time & actually winning the game.
Stoke hand the Gunners a hard earned draw but unless Spurs can get their act on the road again it probably has little bearing on the top of the table.
Bolton had a see saw game against Sunderland but manage to get another vital point out of the game. The problem is that their goal difference is so poor compared to QPR that equal points with the London side is just not good enough.
Swansea against already relegated Wolves was really a game with nothing to prove. As the home side were 3 nil up after 15 minutes it looked like Wolves were going out on a whimper. That was not to be though & for the second weekend in a row a cracking 4 all draw resulted. I gather the defenders from both sides are already on holiday in Spain before the kick off, but, so what, it is nice to see some entertainment when neither side actually has anything to gain.
The concept of providing fan entertainment is probably something not discussed at Villa Park. They managed a point which is probably all they needed in the scheme of things, but what a way to do it...I don't think many Villa fans will be looking forward to next season, even this far before it has kicked off.
Then, finally at 3pm, we have the form sides of the moment. The home (& desperate for points) got their act together again & scored 4 while stopping Newcastle from scoring at all. No mean feat. Wigan have now beaten 4 of the top 6 in recent weeks. From a situation that looked (by the fixture list) completely hopeless they are now 3 points clear of the drop zone...Unbelievable but the chances that they have generated all season they are now converting.

Norwich against Pool is not a game that fills me with anticipation, so a discussion for tomorrow I think...

[BobHelm]

Norwich 0-3 Liverpool

Suarez had a welcome return to something like form & scored all of Pools goals. He had started the season looking like one of the great additions to Premiership football but then seemed to go through a bit of a patch which culminated in his 'race war' with Evra.
I think that incident was as much to do with the football frustrations that he was by then feeling at Pool as anything else. They might have won one cup & be in the final of other but I don't think even their firmest fan would say that Liverpool are still much of a team. Man Citi might be threatening to win the Premiership with a collection of individuals but Pool just have not got the individual quality needed all over the park. Hence it falls on those individuals that are quality (& at Pool at the moment that seems to be restricted to Suarez & Gerrard) to dig the club out of a hole.

[BobHelm]

Score1.jpg (7.5 KiB) Viewed 385 times

Not much of a surprise in either game.
Chelsea went infront far too early to give themselves any chance of nerves & had the game wrapped up by half time.
Torres put on a good enough showing to maybe mean that a decent price might be obtained for him for a move back home.
QPR still have a better goal difference than those around them & vying for the drop, but as they seem incapable of getting points that might not matter.
Spurs finally got the show on the road as Arry was left off the England list of desirable managers. Given the nature of the man I am sure that it is a huge disappointment. In the longer term personal situation the FA have probably done him a huge favour.
Blackburn look destined to drop down to The Championship & I still think that QPR will still probably make up the 3. Bolton have a worse goal difference but have actually looked competitive in games of late....

[BobHelm]

Man City 1-0 Man Utd

Enough of a win to ensure that the title is now all in the hands of Citi should they want it.
Their much better goal difference means that if they win both their remaining games the title is theirs. I will be surprised if they do not. When I made my prediction that United would win by a point it was in the belief that they would struggle a draw out of this game at least or that Newcastle would do them a huge favour in the next game. While that is still possible I think it is hugely more unlikely since Wigan rather exposed the weaknesses that are in the Newcastle side if someone can get on top of them. Citi have been rather too defensively minded to be considered a great side (yet) but I can't see that he will throw it all away at this late stage by not attempting to win the game.

[Zidane]

A very disappointing display by United.Citeh deserved their win.
Couldnt fathom out the team selection.....leaving the likes of Valencia,Young and Welbeck on the bench and starting with Nani,Giggs and Park Ji Sung !!
United nead a big clearout at the end of the season starting at the top with Phelan being replaced by Queiroz.

[stattointhailand]

Don't see that it was THAT much of a suprise Zid, Fergie always plays Giggs, and PJS in the "BIG" games.

Having tried to clean my glasses several times this morning, and still find that they have a wierd "rose" tint to them, I still think the "toon" might just get something against Citeh. At CoM stadium earlier in the year every "break" went citeh's way, so perhaps we are due a couple back.
Newcastle 4 - 3 Citeh

[BobHelm]

Score1.jpg (6.84 KiB) Viewed 311 times

Both the Liverpool sides played last night with varying results.

Pool were at home & suffered the indignity of an own goal that resulted in Fulhams' first ever victory at Anfield.
Their fans will undoubtedly be hoping for a far better performance in the FA Cup final at the weekend against Chelsea.
Carling Cup & in the FA Cup final it may be but this has been a woeful season for Pool in the league. With 2 games to play they are in 8th. place & 3 points behind city rival Everton.

They (Everton) went away to Stoke & managed a draw there, which is never a bad result. Their difference at the end of the season compared to the start never fails to amaze...
Undoubtedly the dream management team is to have Arry as boss until Christmas & then let David take over until season end...

[BobHelm]

Score1.jpg (7.85 KiB) Viewed 287 times

Well Newcastle get their show well & truly on the road again. Just a match too soon for me personally though!!
It will be interesting to see what approach Citi take to the Sunday game as Newcastle seem a hard side to just contain & have 3 front men who are all in purple patches & can score a goal from absolutely nothing.
This is Chelsea back to their worst again. The worrying signs are still that the players who actually look like they might make a difference are all the 'old boys' who the boss knows must be shown the door sooner rather than later. In effect Chelsea have been running Mourinho's team ever since he left. The replacements brought in have just not improved the side. Much can be said about the reason for that but the fact remains that a huge overhaul is needed of the squad. That Di Matteo has managed to get them into both an FA Cup & European Cup final says a great deal for his inspirational skills as a manager. Whether he has the ability to spot a bargain who will benefit the squad is a whole different ball game that he will have to deal with next year if he is made the replacement manager.
Personally I fancy that the Chelsea job is similar to the Liverpool job at the moment. A very large axe is needed & a completely new squad introduced. That usually means a step backward for at least a year but the alternative is just a slow & steady drip towards mediocrity...

This was a chance for Bolton to break free of the threat of the drop. Not only did they fluff their lines they made their situation worse as they further wrecked their poor goal difference record compared to those around them.
Was it a sign of rejoicing on behalf of the Spurs players that Arry will still be their boss again next year?? Not sure but think it is probably just a sign of how poor the 6 sides at the bottom of the table can be when a side actually play football against them.

[BobHelm]

Is it just me or has this seasons' Premiership fixture list been knocked together in a rather haphazard way. It seems that now we are approaching the end of the season they are rather cramming in the games in a rather unseemly rush to get all the fixtures over.
I know that incidents like the Bolton match abandonment & its' spin offs cannot be calculated upon but I still look back & the time lost because of the Dutch International friendly, for example, as being a complete waste of playing time mid season.

So only 1 game today as the FA Cup takes precedence. Rightly so, but wouldn't the one game being played have been better off played tomorrow?? Ah no, can't miss out on the chance of some TV money from Sky who don't show the FA Cup can we....

So we get The Gunners, battling for 3rd. as an FA Cup warm up match & then, on Tuesday night Sky can play the whole FA Cup final again, live as a Premiership match!!

[stattointhailand]

And what bl**dy idiot descided to change the ko at Wembley to 5 15pm (Hello morons at the FA, we are talking about the FA CUP FINAL ..... the match that has ALWAYS been played at 3pm Saturday). Sky for once did their bit by making the Prem match an early KO to allow the Final to start on time.

[JimboPSM]

And what bl**dy idiot descided to change the ko at Wembley to 5 15pm ...

Haven't a clue which idiot - there are so many to choose from

However, thanks for the heads up on the ko time my day was already on its FA Cup Final autopilot (beer in fridge etc) for a 3.00pm ko and is now being reprogrammed for 5.15pm.

[stattointhailand]

I'm gonna look like a right plonker when I'm singing "Abide with me" all by myself at 3pm

[fogeyes]

If Chelsea win the champs league,then it's only the top 3 who qualify for for it next season as Chelsea will defend it.
Come on you reds t'nite

[BobHelm]

Arsenal 3-3 Norwich

Interesting tussle rather than an easy 3 home points that most people suspected before kick off.
That very much looked a certainty once the Gunners took the lead after just a couple of minutes. Norwich have played some nice stuff this season, but mainly at home & their form even there has dipped a bit once they hit the magic 40 points. They didn't lay down & die here though, rather the opposite. Within 10 minutes of the opener they were level & by the break they were a goal to the good. The lead didn't flatter them & they had two perfectly respectable appeals for penalties wrongly dismissed out of hand as the ref at a pretty awful first half.
The Gunners came out rather better in the second half as van Persie became the 3rd. Arsenal player (after Henrie & Wright) to score 50 Premiership goals.
Defeat for Norwich would, frankly, have been a pretty disgraceful result as their were serious reasons why maybe 3 of the Arsenal players should not have been on the pitch. The home side duly averted that issue by rather gifting Norwich at least 2 of their 3 goals with defensive errors.

Mr Wenger was apparently not a happy bunny at game end. I hope he directs his anger towards the right quarters, his side were often poor considering they are vying for 3rd. spot & were at home.
No European Cup next season & you have to feel the odds on keeping van Persie drop considerably. Arsenal without major additions & van Persie will be very fortunate to threaten top six next season!!

Adds even more interest (if possible) to the Newcastle v Citi & Villa v Spurs tomorrow...