Manchester City ran riot in the second half at Ewood Park scoring four goals and sending the pressure on Blackburn boss Steve Kean up to critical levels.
The Rovers boss could do nothing as his side fell apart after the restart as Roberto Mancini’s men swept them aside to keep their unbeaten start to the season alive after Tuesday’s Champions League nightmare in Munich. Adam Johnson opened the floodgates breaking the deadlock 10 minutes after half time before Mario Balotelli, Samir Nasri and Stevan Savic added three more to the Citizens within touching distance of neighbours United at the Premier League summit. As for the home side they sit a point and a place of the bottom with fans becoming increasingly worried that their team could be playing Championship football this time next season. They certainly played like a second tier side as City quickly got into the rhythm hardly giving their hosts a sniff across the 90 minutes.
With Carlos Tevez’s midweek spat with the club to overshadow preparations for the game Sergio Aguero limping off with a groin injury during the first period Mancini will be delighted with his players as they strolled to yet another high scoring win. In truth they offered little in the first forty five with Mario Balotelli looking the most likely to shooting over the bar before curling the ball narrowly wide. Those two chances sandwiched a marvellous piece of defending from James Milner with the midfielder putting in a superb block to deny Yakubu from opening the scoring.
Thats about as good as it got for Rovers as City came out after the restart intent on going home with all three points in their back pocket. An increase in tempo was too much for the hosts and it was no surprise when Johnson curled a terrific shot into the top corner to give City the lead. That opened the floodgates and Balotelli doubled their advantage three minutes later darting in front of Scott Dann to volley Nasri’s cross past Paul Robinson. The Frenchman, who had earlier replaced injury victim Aguero, then got on the scoresheet himself thumping the ball home via a deflection from Jason Lowe after a swift counter attack. They weren’t finished there with Savic nodding his first goal in City blue with a minute left on the clock to round off yet another impressive win and leave Kean wondering what to do next.
Get over to Goaldash and check your numbers to see what you might have won!
In the face of criticism and adversity, real winners emerge, and that is exactly what Frank Lampard has done this week, responding to being dropped with four goals in two games, and a man of the match performance at a stadium that has served both himself and his club so well in the past.
Both Chelsea fans and players have a special affection towards the Reebok stadium, having sealed two titles there, and through Lampard goals ironically enough. As the fates or rather the fixture list allowed, the game in one of their most successful grounds came at an opportune time, with Chelsea and Lampard needing solid performances to answer their critics.
The only player from a Chelsea perspective who may be a little disappointed today is Petr Cech , who conceded for the first time ever in the Reebok, yet overall it was as good a performance from Chelsea as it was bad from Bolton , who having lost Jussi Jaaskalinen before the match looked in sixes and sevens at the back, with the reserve keeper making error after error.
It was also a good day at the office for former Bolton loanee Daniel Sturridge , who scored twice, and showed his respect for the club who gave him regular games by celebrating minimally for both goals. The in-form Chelsea striker certainly lived up to the glowing assessment made by Owen Coyle before the game, and justified the decision of AVB to start with him up front, leaving another former Bolton player, Nicholas Anelka on the bench.
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In defence, Terry looked as solid as ever, yet question marks remain over David Luiz, who certainly has more than enough quality on the ball – obviously being a Brazilian we would expect nothing less – but still takes more than the necessary risks in a defensive capacity. It has been said more than once that the player may be more comfortable as a holding midfielder than a centre back, yet AVB seems to be set on partnering him with the ever present John Terry at the back.
It will not go unnoticed for Chelsea fans that when their £50 million pound man Torres is suspended, they manage to score five goals and win with swagger, and Torres will be more than a little concerned to see the combination which brought Chelsea so much success in Lampard and Drogba linking up so well today. If this continues, the Spaniard may well see himself relegated to the bench for the huge match against Arsenal when he is finally eligible to play again.
Although they remain rock bottom in the table, things are not as bad as they may seem on paper for Bolton, who have had more than a couple of difficult fixtures recently having played United, Arsenal and Chelsea, and will look to rapidly gain points this month, with a trip to the DW stadium and also a home game against a very shaky Sunderland. It seems vital for Coyle to get Jussi back as soon as possible, with Bogdan looking in no way able to cope with the rigors of the Premier League.
Chelsea and Lampard meanwhile look to have more than answered their critics, and with discipline issues at City and injury woes at Old Trafford, look to be more than back in the race for the title – not that they would have ever counted themselves out of it.
Article courtesy of Rebecca Knight from This is Futbol
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Every season, after 3 or 4 games, fans and journalists alike begin to make judgements on the sort of season teams are going to have. It is the natural inclination of every football supporter.
Yet, all too often those judgements are premature. Take Wolves for example, who began the season with 7 points from their first 3 games. Confidence spread throughout fans and Mick McCarthy was widely praised. Since, they have lost 5 on the bounce and that early season optimism has turned into negativity.
Now, as the nights draw in and after 8 games, a far better judgement of a team’s season so far is possible, with perhaps the happiest of all fans in the Premier League those of Newcastle United. With the departures of Andy Carroll, Joey Barton and Kevin Nolan, it was predicted that the club would struggle this season.
However, the club remain unbeaten, beat local rivals Sunderland and look to have well balanced and settled starting 11.
Indeed, the team has remained unchanged for the last 4 league games, a rare occurrence in today’s game so highly reliant on squad rotation. Tim Krul has excelled in goal, while Steven Taylor and captain Fabricio Collocini give the team a solid defensive foundation.
It is in midfield that the team look strongest, a wonderful balance of defence and attack supplied by Cheik Tiote and Yohan Cabaye, with great width being supplied by Gabriel Obertan and Jonas Gutierrez. Up front, the confident duo of Demba Ba and Leon Best have 8 goals between them and look capable of consistently scoring goals for the club.
It is now that Alan Pardew will find out the real strength of the squad, in such a competitive league the modern game is now undoubtedly a squad one and the Newcastle boss will need to give other player’s game time as the season goes on.
Pardew must not become complacent regarding the team’s progress under his management, if he does that progress will stall. The size of the club gives Newcastle a great platform to consistently finish in the upper echelons of the league, something that will be possible if Pardew thinks long term in the next transfer window.
The lack of experience amongst the squad may well catch up with the club as the season progresses, with the fans likely to now expect a top half finish as the bare minimum, a couple of signings in January would not go amiss.
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If Pardew strengthens the squad, while at the same time allowing the likes of Dan Gosling and Danny Guthrie to get game time later in the season, the long term prospects of the football club look very healthy indeed.
Comment below and follow me on Twitter @CamHumphries for cutting edge debate regarding all things sport.
No matter who the manager, or how big or small the club is, it is inevitable that at some point during the season of 38 games, the manager or fans will complain about the fixture list and state it is clearly biased or in favour of their rivals.
Already this season in the Premier League, we have already had Roberto Mancini, manager of league leaders City complain about the fact he feels most of their fixtures after Champions league games are tough away matches, whereas the other three clubs also in Europe’s premier competition do not face such tough matches. Conspiracy he cried.
Mourinho, when he was manger at Chelsea, complained that not only did the FA make it more difficult for English clubs in the Champions league due to being uncooperative when it came to switching fixtures around, but that Arsenal were always afforded more favourable games than Chelsea at key times of the season – Chelsea were treated like the ‘devil’ the Special One said.
Of course, United are often the ones people pick out as having more favourable fixtures than any other Premier League side – home matches on Boxing day and New year, playing a bottom half side on the last day of the season etc. Even so this has not stopped Fergie from having a customary moan about various things fixture related, claiming his team get ‘cheated’ by the supposedly computer generated list, and after the 2009/2010 season stated that ‘I’m not saying what they do down there, but next year we will be sending someone down to see how it happens I can assure you.’ This was before facing 4 games in 16 days when competing for the quadruple.
So how do these fixtures actually come to pass? Is it really a coincidence that on Fergie’s 25th anniversary weekend United play Sunderland – who are not only managed by a former United player and firm favourite of Fergie, but also have what seems to be half the former United squad on their books.
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The FA will tell you that the randomly generated fixture list is most certainly not fixed, with many considerations being taken into place before the fixtures are compiled – for example teams such as City and United will not play home games on the same weekend, not to mention the vast amount of European fixtures than need to be accommodated– yet most fans will feel the fixture list is questionable at times.
It is remarkable how teams who are challenging for the title will often begin their campaign at home or against a promoted side, not to mention the fact the top six often seem to see a remarkable amount of each other firstly around the October / November time and then again in April / May.
How Sky Sports must love the Premier League fixture computer, as for a random little device, it is remarkably lucky when it comes to setting up the fixtures each season for a brilliant run in over key times in the season – not to mention the ‘Super Sunday’ coincidences.
It is not just English fixtures that come under scrutiny however, the Champions League throws up a remarkable amount of ties that seem to be a case of coincidence? I think not. For example – Mourinho going back to Porto straight after leaving for Chelsea, then Chelsea at Inter etc.
The ‘sentimental’ ties always seem to appear, and a betting man would be wise to place their house, wife and kids on the fact that after the debacle of last season, Real and Barca will not draw each other under any circumstances until the final. Funny how it works like that really. Either God has a massive sense of humour or draws for competitions and fixture lists are not as impartial as governing bodies would like to have us believe.
No matter what the fixture, in reality a team of real quality will manage to win the matches put in front of them no matter what, and for a fixture list to be truly random, even more complaints would be levelled at the FA.
Certain factors such as other European fixtures and teams in close proximity playing away on alternative weekends are things that can’t really be ignored – but when does this list stop? The question of to what extent this should be allowed to affect the ‘computer generated fixtures’ is a valid one, and some people I am sure would prefer a completely random list, whereas others would want all considerations factored in.
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Yes teams and managers will always complain that the fixture list is unfair, and whilst the FA would reply with the answer that not everyone can be pleased all the time and it is just luck of the draw, it might be time for the smaller teams to start getting some of this ‘luck!’
Chelsea eased the pressure on manager Andre Villas-Boas after inflicting Newcastle’s first home defeat of the season with a comfortable 3-0 win at St James’ Park.
Goals from Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and Daniel Sturridge saw off a spirited display from the Magpies who will feel the visitors should have had a man sent off after David Luiz hauled down Demba Ba in the early stages. The Brazilian was shown a yellow card by referee Mike Dean and it proved to be a game changer as the home side struggled to find a way through the Blues back four. Alan Pardew’s men did hit the woodwork three times but also had keeper Tim Krul to thank for a series of impressive saves including Frank Lampards first half penalty. The win was only Chelsea’s fourth in 10 games and saw them leapfrog Newcastle into the Premier League top four to ease the pressure on Villas-Boas’ shoulders. It could have been so different had Luiz been shown a red after bringing down Ba just outside the area as the Senegal striker made tracks for goal. Despite being the last man referee Dean opted to brandish a yellow card much to the displeasure of Pardew and the Geordie public.
From that moment on Chelsea took control and should have been four up by half time had Daniel Sturridge not wasted a host of chances after catching left back Ryan Taylor out of position on more than one occasion with Krul denying him with a series of smart stops. The Dutch goalkeeper would really earn his stripes on 13 minutes diving low to his left to save Frank Lampards penalty after Yohan Cabaye had tripped Sturridge in the area. Still the West London onslaught continued and it was only a matter of time before they took the lead with Drogba meeting Juan Mata’s cross to power the ball past Krul. On the balance of play it was well deserved although Newcastle should have equalised just moments later with Ba seeing his header from Danny Guthrie’s cross hit the post with Petr Cech beaten. They took that momentum into the second period with Shola Ameobi coming on for the ineffective Hatem Ben Arfa and it proved to be an inspired change as they went in search of an equaliser.
Ameobi did well to win a corner that saw Ba meet Cabayes whipped corner with a powerful header only to see the ball bounce agonisingly off the bar before being hacked away as Chelsea went on the counter. Sturridge’s pace saw him stride up field catching the home defence napping before squaring for Ramires who was denied brilliantly by Krul from 10 yards. That halt the home side in their efforts to level the game and Ameobi almost produced a moment of divine brilliance picking the ball up 25-yards from goal before cracking a stunning left foot drive that smashed off the post. Brother Sammy Ameobi was then introduced as a substitute with 20 minutes left and the 19-year-old came within a whisker of restoring parity only to see his volley cleared off the line after Chelsea failed to clear a corner. Those missed chances would prove to be vital as the Blues killed the game off in the last five minutes. Firstly substitute Kalou cooly slotted past Krul after being teed up by Fernando Torres before Sturridge got the goal he deserves cutting in from the right and finishing accurately from the edge of the area.
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Rangers midfielder Steven Davis is set for a return to Aston Villa in January as Alex McLeish looks to strengthen his options going into the second half of the season, according to The Sun.
The Northern Irish international has been a key player for club and country over the past four years but McLeish believes the Glasgow club could accept a cut price £2million bid as their financial situation worsens.
Davis joined Villa as a 16-year-old and enjoyed five years at the club before moving to Fulham for £4million in 2007, but left just 22-appearences later. The 26-year-olds boyhood club, Rangers, then took the midfielder for £3million and he has gone on to make over 150 appearances for the Ibrox club.
McLeish is desperate to strengthen his underachieving Villa side that have won just four games from 15 this season since his arrival in the summer from arch-rivals Birmingham City. The Midlands club have failed to replace the outgoing Ashley Young, Stewart Downing and Nigel Reo-Coker from the summer and Davis would be the perfect addition to the lacklustre Villains.
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Fringe players such as Stiliyan Petrov, Carlos Cuellar and Stephen Ireland could be on their way in January as the new Villa boss looks to reshuffle his pack to win over the disapproving Villa fans.
Norwich have signed Leeds United captain Jonny Howson for an undisclosed fee, the club have announced.
The midfielder moves to Carrow Road on a three-and-a-half year contract, and will wear the No.24 shirt for The Canaries.
Howson, an England under-21 international, was the Elland Road outfit’s youngest skipper since Billy Bremner, but his contract with The Championship club was expiring, forcing Simon Grayson to sell.
New boss Paul Lambert is delighted to have brought the prospect to his side, and feels Howson can add something to the Norwich midfield.
“I think he has been brilliant for Leeds – how he has played but also being their captain brings its own demands. It’s a fantastic club, Leeds,” the Scottish coach told the club’s official website.
“I think he can add goals to our midfield, which I think we need, and he can do that. He’ll get better as a player the higher the level he goes up. If he does that and everything goes well, he’ll be a great player for us.”
Howson is over the moon with his move, and is glad to be given the opportunity to play in the English top flight.
“It’s been no secret that my ambition is to play in the Premiership and that’s why we never got round to sorting the contract because we don’t know where Leeds United are going to be.
“I’m going to a great club, they are flying high, doing ever so well, and they have a great team that we’ve been close to here over the past couple of seasons, and they have a great manager as well,” he concluded.
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Howson is currently out of action with a knee injury, but is expected to be available for his new team in coming weeks.
Everton travel to the Midlands looking to bounce back from their defeat at Tottenham on Wednesday by beating mid-table Aston Villa.
Alex McLeish’s side stuttered over the festive period winning only two of their six games and sliding to 13th in their table. Whilst their victory over Bolton in early December was expected their success against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge turned a lot of heads in the top flight with some seeing it as a potential turning point for Villa. However they followed up that performance with defeat against Swansea at Villa Park to maintain their inconsistent form. Their impressive win West London highlighted the capabilities of the Villa squad with Stephen Ireland, in particular, proving to be a shining light over Christmas. The midfielder has endured a tough time since his move from Manchester City at the end of last season but his attitude and performance in recent weeks have been encouraging. Villa will need him to be at his playmaking best as they continue to dream of a European finish to the season. For that to happen they’ll need to improve a home record that has seen them lose five times on their own turf.
David Moyes injury hit squad will be hoping to inflict more misery on Villa supporters by taking a much needed three points back home to Merseyside. Injuries have decimated Everton over the last couple of weeks with key players Phil Jagielka and Leon Osman missing from the trip to the Midlands. Defeat at Tottenham on Wednesday night left the Toffees just outside the top half although their ambitions of European football look all but over after losing in North London. Their inability to covert chances into goals cost them once again at White Hart Lane although supporters will be encouraged by the performance of Landon Donovan. The on-loan American was arguably their star performer against Spurs and will be desperate to open his Everton account soon rather than later with his temporary stay at Goodison Park running out in March. He’ll be determined to ensure the Toffees don’t incur a fourth consecutive defeat at Villa Park as their European dream continues to fade away.
Aston Villa 13th : 23 points
Last six: L W D L L W
Team news: James Collins and Carlos Cuellar are both out along with Emile Heskey but Shay Given could return in goal after recovering from a hamstring injury.
Key Player: Gabriel Agbonlahor
Whilst Villa have struggled to be consistent this season Agbonlahor has managed to maintain his level of performance to become a key player for Alex McLeish’s men. His pace down the flanks could prove useful against an injury hit Everton side.
Everton 11th : 24 points
Last six: L L L W D W D
Team news:
Key Player: Sylvain Distin
With captain Phil Jagielka likely to miss this game defensive responsibitlies will shift over to Distin. The Frenchman has been exception for Everton this season and will need to be at his best to keep out Villa’s attacking threats.
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PREDICTION
Villa have won only three times at home this season but will be spoiling after defeat to Swansea in their last outing. Everton continue to flirt with the top half but their injury hit squad may find two games in the space of 72 hours too much to handle.
I know what you’re thinking. No it’s not ‘at the end of the day’, ‘without a shadow of a doubt’ or ‘the team are in a period of transition’. The latest statement to be countlessly banded about the chasms of the beautiful game is ‘lost in translation’ and surrounds that ever-so controversial tool which is Twitter. Whilst we may be able to easily decode the boo boo’s as made by home-based players on the world wide web such as Darren Bent, Sam Deering and Ravel Morrison, when foreign stars take to their keypads, they always have the excuse that their comments were indeed ‘lost in translation’ or misinterpreted incorrectly.
If you ask me, and Sam Allardyce for that matter, Twitter is indeed a dangerous tool for any player, British or not, in that the lack of regulation means in a densely politically correct society, the pitfalls for misquoting a topic are endless.
Chelsea’s David Luiz was the latest Premier League star to take to Twitter this week denying he meant any association between his comments surrounding respecting the manager and Frank Lampard’s dropping to the Blues bench in recent months.
He was quick to utter on Thursday night;
‘This is media,Frank know me,and I never said about him!’ I said generaly! I only talked about coaches and players in general. Always CFC’
Whilst you may have realised that the cavalier centre back couldn’t spell ‘generally’ correctly and that he doesn’t leave gaps after his commas, you may have also found a sarcastic reference to the media in this country.
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Of course with Twitter available to mass populaces and with more citizen journalists around than at any other stage in history, the players should really know better than to get tangled up in pointless debates surrounding potential conflicts in the team camp.
If Luiz really secretly did aim a pot shot at Lampard relating to his vociferous disapproval at being dropped, then surely it would have been better to keep his mouth shut and not turn a flippant comment into a potentially damaging issue surrounding the club and its inconsistent push for Champions League football next term.
Arguably as careless as one of his raids up the pitch, Luiz is just the latest player who seemingly has been ‘lost in translation’. Should we let him off this time?
Well, another controversial figure in Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez was also ‘lost in translation’ after his SkySports interview following that infamous refusal to come on from the substitutes bench in Munich earlier this term.
Tevez’ agent Kia Joorabchian stated
‘Carlos does speak English but it is not good enough to host a full-blown interview. Both questions were interpreted incorrectly and both Carlos’ answers were interpreted incorrectly’
Yet another case of the translation issue. Whilst it must be contended that the players are new to this county and their mastery of the language may not be as good as Eidur Gudjohnsen’s, it seems to be the first defence jumped to that the players were misquoted. What’s more likely is that the players simply may have been ‘found out’ or the tongue just slipped.
If you follow Jack Wilshere or Joey Barton, you know as well as I do, that they fill their time away from the pitch by grooming their fanbase with insightful references to leisure pursuits, the latest games or if you are Barton; quotes belonging to George Orwell. There is a clear sense of immediacy with their keypad tapping’s and they aren’t thinking of any potential consequences just like you are I when we reach to fill that blank, yet ever-so attractive status or ‘what’s happening’ bar.
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What is indeed happening is that players are at times forgetting their professional responsibility. Whilst entitled to their free speech, players should be smarter when commenting on issues relating to their club. Twitter is a media gold mine and the next story is never a million miles away. If you trawl through the player’s pages’ surely one of them has slipped in something a bit juicy and media-worthy?
So let us return to David Luiz and his Twitter innocence. Maybe he was misquoted this time. Sensationalism in the press is never likely to cease. But let this be a lesson to the Brazilian and potential misquoted players everywhere. You won’t be ‘lost in translation’ forever and it is only a matter of time before the Twitter curse may come to bite again
Is the ‘lost in translation’ excuse too readily executed? Is Twitter potentially dangerous to club PR? Follow me @ http://twitter.com/Taylor_Will1989
Sandwiched directly between Promo and Prompt in the dictionary is a word that is totally prohibited in my house, I am sure you are aware of this word.
My beloved Swindon Town are sitting on top of the Npower League 2 table, who would have thought that after losing 3 of the first 4 games this season this would have transpired. Simply amazing. Never have I felt such pride in supporting Swindon Town. Paolo Di Canio has been such an inspiring character so far this season, catalysing our push for (insert forbidden word here).
Fans are now turning up at the County Ground expecting a result, confident in knowing that we have the depth and quality to achieve this. Disappointment seldom occurs, but rather than dwelling on missed opportunities, the lads are working hard and looking forward to the next game.
Paolo (Manager Of The Month), Benson (Player Of The Month), Richie (League 2 Player Of The Year), and the club winning Programme and Family club of the year is very inspiring. Not only does this demonstrate quality and class within League 2 but also that the club is moving forward in the right direction.
Looking Forward…
After bouncing back from defeat to local rivals Oxford United with back to back wins, Swindon now face a Crewe side unbeaten in 6 games under boss Steve Davis. Crewe are certainly contenders for the play-offs especially with teams above them dropping vital points at this pivotal stage of the season, and with young Nick Powell showing maturity beyond his years with 11 league goals this season, Swindon keeper Wes Foderingham will be kept busy.
With just one defeat in 14, Swindon will be eager to increase distance from the chasing pack. A win for Swindon will no doubt increase their chances of (insert forbidden word here). This week Swindon acquired the services of on loan midfielder Lee Holmes from Southampton. Holmes said: “It’s great to be back at Swindon and I can’t wait to get going again. They are such exciting times ahead here.” Lee has a lot to live up to, as his previous appearances for the Robins were impressive on his loan spell in 2004.
With another game right around the corner (2nd Place Torquay currently) on Tuesday night, a good result on Saturday will relieve some pressure on Swindon, with their 7 point advantage over The Gulls.
Further Forward…
It is just over a week or so until 30,000 Robins descend on the notorious Wembley Stadium. For me, receiving my tickets on Monday made the event even more realistic. I remember the play-off final against Millwall in 2010 and coming away from the match so miserable, not only did we lack passion but the desire to succeed. This time is different: great team togetherness, a passionate manager and a belief that we can achieve anything.
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Let’s hope the pitch is as smooth as silk and for goodness sake, no bobbles please…
By Swindon Town blogger Craig Kendall. You can follow him on Twitter @engoism.