The Half-Time Report

Hey all, Merry Christmas. Sorry for not posting in a while been doing this. Every single team has a review and there is one of my infamous predictions below. I hope that your team gets 3 points this Christmas!

Arsenal

Or should it be Robin Van Persie FC. The Dutch striker has already scored 16 goals in the league and is the top scorer so far. He has already surpassed his total last year, although he did miss most of the beginning of the season. Without his goals this season they would have picked up 9 points and would bottom at Christmas. However that’s not the case and they are pushing for a Champion’s league place. In my opinion I don’t think they will get into forth place but you never know they might win the Champions League. Who knows?

Star Man: Robin Van Persie

Aston Villa

It has been an average start for Alex McLeish since his summer move to the club from main rivals Birmingham City. The club are currently mid-table and to be honest it is just finishing as high as they can because they are not going to get relegated nor are they going to get a place in a European competition. Their strikers have been in decent form especially Gabriel Agbonlahor who has been a threat either up front or down the wing.

Star Man: Gabriel Agbonlahor

Blackburn

Blackburn are where every club do not want to be at Christmas... last. Only one team, West Brom have avoided the drop when bottom at Christmas, during the 2004/05 season. Like I have previously mentioned, they are scoring goals but are conceding just as many, if not more. Steve Kean, the luckiest man in England, has to be the next manager to go. As soon as the chairman listens to the fans and the local media, who turned against him, he will be gone. Will it leave enough time to deal with the uphill battle they face? Maybe, but look what happened to West Ham when they stuck with Giafranco Zola.

Star Man: Yakubu

Bolton
Bolton narrowly missed being bottom at Christmas with a 2-1 win away to Blackburn. Things did start so promising for Bolton; a 4-0 win on the opening day of the season against QPR left them top of the table. However since then they have fallen dramatically and have not had a win that convincing. Things have to radically improve across the team and with the possible departure of defender Gary Cahill, in the January transfer window, make it seem a tough task to do. A task that might be the end for Owen Coyle’s two years in charge.

Star Man: Ivan Klasnic

Chelsea

I have been very optimistic about Chelsea and their potential this season. However this stopped on Saturday evening after not being able to defeat Wigan, a club in which we had scored 15 goals in our last three games. It has been tough to watch my team in recent months. We seem incapable of defending and the last goals we seem to be conceding is costing us. I have been impressed with the form of Daniel Sturridge. His loan move to Bolton last year seems to have done him good and he is making sure he stays in the starting line up ahead of Fernando Torres. Who? Of course I am joking. Defending is where we need to improve but Villas-Boas must change he tactics as they do not suit our way of playing.

Star Man: Daniel Sturridge

Everton

It's not the premier league without Everton struggling at the start of the season. Their 1-0 win against Swansea mid-week was their first clean sheet at home all season. Quite worrying for England fans as Baines and Jagielka could start in Euro 2012. They seem to be coping with the loss of Mikael Arteta who left in the summer and Osman have filled the gap well. Like Aston Villa, they have been in the premier league for nearly all the premier league seasons but have not won it. They are not going to be relegated nor pushing for a Europa League place.

Star Man: Leon Osman

Fulham

Fulham have practically played a full season as they have played over 30 games already. They were knocked out of the Europa League after conceding a late goal against Odense. They have 4 strikers capable of being in the starting line-up and perhaps that’s where the struggle has been. Zamora has reportedly fallen out with manager Martin Jol and he could leave in January. Fulham’s squad is ageing and the team hasn’t changed much since Roy Hodgson. They have to bring in fresh face to stand in for any injuries.

Star Man: Clint Dempsey

Liverpool

Kenny Daglish is working magic in Merseyside. His side are lying in 7^th place behind Arsenal. Luis Suarez has been incredible this season and has scored whenever needed. However Liverpool face 8 weeks without Suarez, who got given the punishment after being found guilty of a racist remark towards Patrice Evra. The club have appealed but there is the possibility the ban could increase which would be unfortunate for Luis Suarez who in my opinion has been given a very harsh ban. Will that ban cost them?

Star Man: Luis Suarez

Manchester City
Life in Manchester must be good but if you are a City fan it must be brilliant. It is a near perfect start with City only losing to the mighty Chelsea. They are playing sublime football that has seen them score 53 goals this season and only conceding 15. Some results include that infamous 6-1 win against United and thrashing Norwich 5-1. At this rate they will beat Chelsea record set in 2009/10 season of the most goals scored in a premier league season: 108 (I think off the top of my head). Every single player has played to their potential and I reckon the title will go to City now that they are out of the Champions League.

Star Man: Sergio Aguero

Manchester United
Manchester united won their 19^th title in May but will they be able to defend their title. I don’t think so because of all injuries that are occurring. At the moment Vidic and Fletcher have been ruled out for the season and also Jones, Anderson, Owen and Fabio are all sidelined. They are winning games but not as convincing as Manchester City as 1-0 seems to be their only result of late. Their goal difference is 11 less than city (42) and that could be a huge factor come the end of the season. Rooney has found his form that he had in the beginning of the season. One of the most memorable results of the year’s premier league had to be their 8-2 win over Arsenal.

Star Man: Wayne Rooney

Newcastle

When Newcastle signed Demba Ba from West Ham the Newcastle fans were not impressed. He struggled to make a name for himself at Upton Park and well we all know what happened to West Ham. However he has established himself to be one of the premier league stars of the season. They had been in the top 4 for ages and did not look like the team that were relegated only two years ago. Their home ground had been a fortress to them but since they renamed it from St James Park to the Sport Direct Arena they haven’t won a game there. One of the main players, Steven Taylor has been ruled out for the season and that could be costly if they are going for a Europa league place.

Star Man: Demba Ba

Norwich

What a job Paul Lambert has done! He took charge of them after they lost 7-1 to Colchester and were bottom of league 1. Now they are 9^th in the Premiership. Not only are they back in the premier league but they are picking up results against the big teams with a 1-1 draw against Liverpool. I can see them staying up this year which will be a huge achievement. Huge credit also has to go to Steve Morison. I saw him playing for Stevenage (my local team) and he was a crowd favourite. It is nice to see him also representing his national team. He has scored 5 in his last 8 games and can play alongside Grant Holt who is also finding his scoring boots.

Star Man: Steve Morison

QPR

QPR, under new chairman Tony Fernandes, have made steady progress in their first premier league campaign since 1995/96 season where they finished 19^th, they seem to be coping with the increase from championship to the top division and have picked up points against Wolves, Everton and most notably Chelsea. However they have been on the end of a thrashing when they lost to Fulham 6-0. It has to be more or less the same for QPR if they are to secure those 40 points that would likely see them safe. I saw Helguson play ages ago when he was playing for Fulham when they beat West Brom 6-1. He went quiet for a while but now he is back in the goals scoring 7 this season.

Star Man: Heidar Helguson

Stoke

Stoke seem to be able to balance their first Europa league campaign and their league progress pretty well. Their home ground has been always been hard to go to and this year is no exception with Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United failing to win there. Despite being known as a defending team, they have let in a lot of goals, whether that is to do with fatigue levels from playing in the Europa League I don’t know but they lost to Sunderland 4-0 and struggling Bolton 5-0. They should be fine in the league but I don’t think that they are aiming for a Europa league place.

Star Man: Jonathan Walters

Sunderland
It is going to be a season of two halves for Sunderland. The first half didn’t go too well with Steve Bruce and he eventually lost his job. His replacement, former Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill seems to be doing a good job. He picked up a decent 3-2 win away to QPR, a result that might have been different if they were still under the charge of Bruce. Their main target is to improve on last season which will be a lot easier with the performances of summer signings Wes Brown, Sebastian Larsson and Nicklas Bendtner. Stephane Sessegnon had a tricky start to the season even though he scored five goals in pre seasons friendlies. Though in recent games he has shown his full potential.

Star Man: Seb Larsson

Swansea

Swansea were favourites to be relegated when they beat reading in the play-off last season. The first welsh team to play in the premiership instead took to the league by storm. Most of the credit has to go to Michel Vorm who has been incredible since his move from Utrecht. Remarkably Swansea have kept the most clean sheets in the league: 8. Six of the eight are at home which shows how hard it has been for clubs playing at the Liberty Stadium. That will surely give them the confidence and the belief that they can stay in the league. Sinclair, who scored a hat-trick in the play off final, has not made a big impact in my opinion; whether the defence have taken the limelight off the forwards, perhaps. Anyway for Brendan Rogers life must be going well and they are looking like a premier league side

Star Man: Michel Vorm

Tottenham

I hate saying this but Tottenham are playing fantastic football. Their unbeaten run did end to Stoke but despite that their players still look fit and look happy to play for their respected manager Harry Redknapp. The worrying thing about Tottenham is their young talents for example Kyle Walker, Livermore, Kane and Bale. Since the opening game of the season they have had a game in hand and that is worrying me as a Chelsea fan who is hoping for at least 3^rd place. I do believe that in the long term, their Europa league exit will help them secure a top four finish and a champions league place however I this might cause a talking point but I can’t see them finishing higher than third. Whatever the outcome I just hope the finish below Chelsea.

Star Man: Gareth Bale

West Brom

West Brom are usually the yo-yo team. One minute they are in the premier league the next they have been relegated to the championship and back again in the top division. However it looks like that has ended under Roy Hodgson and they look set to permanently stay in the league, for now anyway. Shane Long, a summer singing from Reading, has settled in very quickly and proves to be very effective by scoring in the first two league games against Manchester United and Chelsea. Their defence are conceding loads and they have kept just 3 clean sheets all season against Norwich, Fulham and Wolves respectively. Anyway I am sure that they will be safe by the time May comes.

Star Man: Shane Long

Wigan

Thank goodness for Blackburn otherwise Martinez would be in the public eye more often. His Wigan side are really struggling and are probably the most inconsistent team in the league. They have won two games this season, in August and November, the worst in the league with Blackburn. They did show what they were made of by picking up two draws against two tough teams of Chelsea and Liverpool. I can see them getting relegated this season and it could be the end of Roberto Martinez’s at Wigan after 3 years in charge.

Star Man: Ali Al-Habsi

Wolves

Wolves are in their third season in the top flight but are in serious trouble of going back into the Championship. They looked set to have a good year as they collected 7 points from their first three games (Blackburn, Fulham and Aston Villa) and picked up two clean sheets in the process. However things went bad from then on and they find themselves in 17^th (the position they ended last season in) and they have conceded in every game since despite the quality of Wayne Hennessey. It is going to be a tough few months that wolves and Mick McCarthy face but they have the experience and I think they will be able to deal with the pressure.

Star Man: Wayne Hennessey

So there you have it. Each team has their own problems, some worse than others. Hopefully the next half of the season should be as exicting as the first. I leave you with my predictions for the final outcome of the season. Once again Merry Christmas

	My Prediction of the final league
1	Manchester City
2	Manchester United
3	Tottenham
4	Chelsea
5	Arsenal
6	Liverpool
7	Newcastle
8	Aston Villa
9	Stoke
10	Everton
11	Norwich
12	Fulham
13	Sunderland
14	QPR
15	West Brom
16	Swansea
17	Wolves
18	Bolton
19	Wigan
20	Blackburn

Barclays Premier League Gameweek 16

Hey everyone!! Merry Christmas (or is it too early). We are in for an exciting or nervous few weeks for football fans with the festive period proving to be more crucial than ever. Apologies in advance if my blog doesn’t get updated frequently, I am going to try and update it regularly though.

Fulham v Bolton: 1-1

I might surprise a couple of people by reviewing this first. It is a must win game for both as they are starting to fall down the table. Fulham, who on Wednesday crashed out of the Europa League, can focus on securing a league place next season, which I am sure they will do. Bolton, on the other hand, need nothing but a win something that they haven’t done in 12 attempts at the Cottage in order to not be at the bottom of the league at Christmas (I’m sure you are aware of the curse, unless you are a West Brom fan that is). Bolton have a decent chance in this game as Fulham have played over 30 games this season and are close to last year’s appearances of 43. I’m going to say a draw though as Fulham will have the home advantage.

One to watch: Clint Dempsey – wants to put his penalty miss from last weekend behind him

Blackburn v West Brom: 1-0

Surprisingly, Blackburn have scored more goals this season than Liverpool who sit in sixth place. So how comes they are struggling to win games? Simple really, look at their clean sheets. None. But what has radically changed from last season when they kept 7 clean sheets. Steve Kean, new owners, the players, the defence, the confidence. Who knows? Steve Kean’s first win was against West Brom and he is hoping that it is to happen this season as well. West Brom aren’t safe either as they are three points off the relegation zone. So many questions to ask but I can see Blackburn winning this by just the one goal.  

One to watch: Chris Samba – can he lead Blackburn’s defence to their first clean sheet this season.

Everton v Norwich: 1-1

One to watch: Grant Holt

Newcastle v Swansea: 3-2

One to watch: Demba Ba

Wolves v Stoke: 1-2

One to watch: Matthew Etherington

Wigan v Chelsea: 0-4

One to watch: Juan Mata

Aston Villa v Liverpool: 1-1

One to watch: Stiliyan Petrov

Manchester City v Arsenal: 3-1  

One to watch: Joe Hart

QPR v Manchester United: 1-3  

One to watch: Luis Nani

Tottenham v Sunderland: 3-1   

One to watch: Jermaine Defoe

Judd Trump, as I predicted, won the British championship by beating Mark Allen 10-8 in a match that produced the best out of both of them. He gets to take home £100,000, yeah that’s all in prize money. The win finished off a brilliant year for him as he became runner up in the world championship and made a name for himself. His total prize money for the year came to £350,000 or in other words Yaya Toure wage for two weeks!

Barclays Premier League Gameweek 15 Results

Hey. Starting to get a bit nervous about the Chelsea game tomorrow. I hope City don't do what they did at United. Should I be?

So unfortunately Manchester United dip in form didn't continue. Oh well! Anyway let's start with the game at Old Trafford...

Manchester United v Wolves: 4-1

Manchester United ended their mid-week blip with a convincing win against Wolves. Nani and Rooney each scored two, which closed the gap on Manchester City to two points, with City playing Chelsea on Monday. Wolves did pull one back shortly after half-time but it proved a consolation goal as Untied scored twice more. Like I mentioned in the review Rooney had to step up and perform and he did just that with a brilliant display and two well taken goals. Wolves went all out attack from the first whistle and it was probably the wrong decision from Mick McCarthy. Wolves fall further down the table and with Sunderland and Wigan both winning this weekend, the pressure much be growing. Not good to be a Wolves fan.

Stoke City v Tottenham: 2-1

Stoke City ended Tottenham’s impressive league run with a 2-1 win. Stoke took the lead after 13 minutes with Etherington finishing off a great bit of play. However from the replays it did look like Crouch handballed it in the build up. I’m sure Tottenham fans will go on about that for I while. They doubled their lead when Spurs failed to clear a long throw by Ryan Shotton and Etherington scored pounced on to the ball to score again. Adebayor’s penalty gave Tottenham hope but that was soon gone when Younes Kaboul was shown red for a second bookable offense. The refereeing was very poor, in my opinion, and has highlighted the problem once again. The result will please the clubs around Spurs more than anything but they still have a game in hand over the others which will be more important than ever.

Arsenal v Everton: 1-0

Robin van Persie scored on Arsenal’s 125th birthday to move them above Chelsea and into a Champions League spot, for the first time this year. His incredible volley, 70 minutes into the game, means that he is only 3 off Alan Shearer’s record of 36. The goal reminded me of his goal against Charlton a couple of seasons. Arsenal should have scored a lot more with Gervinho and Walcott going close but in the end got all 3 points. Take nothing away from the victory but Everton never looked likely to score and only had one shot on target the whole game. It was a special occasion with many of Arsenal’s legends visiting the stadium, but in the end it was a current legend, RVP, that wrote the headlines.  

Summed up in 10 words (or less):

Bolton v Aston Villa : 1-2 – Bolton remain bottom and lacked motivation and spirit

Liverpool v QPR: 1-0 – Suarez is in the papers for the right reason  

Norwich v Newcastle: 4-2 – Newcastle lose again and the results moves Norwich to 10th  

Swansea v Fulham: 2-0 – Vorm shows his quality with a penalty save

West Brom v Wigan: 1-2 - Wigan come back from behind to secure a vital win   

Sunderland v Blackburn: 2-1 – Larsson’s late goals earns Martin O’Neill his first win

Simply the Best:

Player of the weekend: Wayne Rooney – As I predicted, he stepped up when needed to score twice

Game of the Weekend: Stoke v Tottenham – a lot of talking points and incidents. Just what a football match should have (for fans at least)

Goal of the Weekend: Van Persie’s volley was incredible and won the game for Arsenal

Stat of the Weekend: Victor Moses scored his first goal of the season but from 46 shots

Barclays Premier League Gameweek 15

Hey again! It should be another good weekend of football. It has been a week of season ending injuries as Lucas’s, Steven Taylor’s and Vidic’s have been ruled out for the season. Bit of a European theme going on in this blog but I guess that was the biggest talking point this week.

Manchester United v Wolves: 2-1

It is always nice to see Manchester United have a dip in form, unless you’re a united fan yourself. They were beaten mid-week by Basle and they join the Europa League for the first time. Just to add insult to injury Vidic, one of their most consistent players over the years, suffered knee ligament damage and is ruled out of the rest of the season. Not only will that weaken their team, Hernandez is unavailable as he picked up an injury last weekend at Villa, which means a lot of pressure falls to Rooney, who has gone 8 games without a goal. Will he be able to end the bad run of form just when United need it? I think so. It would be interesting to see how they cope with what will be a weakened team than usual though.

One to watch: Wayne Rooney – Will he been in the media again this week, after hearing his Euro ban will go down to two matches?

Chelsea v Manchester City: 1-0

Despite beating Bayern Munich 2-0, Manchester City failed to make the top two, even with a respectable 10 points, that would have been enough in 6 of the other groups. They join their rivals, United, in the Europa league. It might be a blessing in disguise as they can concentrate on the league and other domestic cups. City have been scoring for fun this season and added another 5 last weekend at home to Norwich. However their main problem is their defence. Sounds stupid I know as they are unbeaten but their last clean sheet was on the first day of October in a 4-0 win against Blackburn. On the other hand Chelsea did make it through their champions’ league group and as group winners, surprisingly. Their league form has also improved and we have found our attacking force once again with back-to-back 3-0 wins against Newcastle and Wolves respectively. Sturridge has been on top form recently with 3 goals in consecutive league games. He should have scored more last weekend if it wasn’t for Krul. I’m looking forward to this Monday night fixture. I will let you know my reaction.

One to watch: Daniel Sturridge – he’s playing his best football in a Chelsea shirt. He started his career at City between 2006 and 2009 

Stoke City v Tottenham: 1-3

Thought I will continue the European theme that’s occurring. Stoke have already qualified for knockout stages but Tottenham have to rely on other results going their way for any chance. Putting that to one side, both sides are going well in the league with Spurs closing in on both Manchester clubs especially as with their game in hand. Stoke seem to be balancing their league and Europe pretty well and are currently in 8th place. They picked up a good result away to Everton even if it was a bit lucky (Their only two shots were from defenders). With Tottenham’s current form I can’t see any other result.   

One to watch: Emmanuel Adebayor - it's hard to choose one from the current squad. He will probably score

Arsenal v Everton: 2-0

One to watch: Robin van Persie

Bolton v Aston Villa : 0-0

One to watch: Jussi Jaaskelainen

Liverpool v QPR: 2-0

One to watch: Jordan Henderson

Norwich v Newcastle: 1-2

One to watch: Gabriel Obertan

Swansea v Fulham: 1-1

One to watch: Damien Duff

West Brom v Wigan: 3-1

One to watch: Peter Odemwingie

Sunderland v Blackburn: 2-2

One to watch: Stephane Sessegnon

Who’s Judd Trump?

If you have been watching the snooker this week, you might have noticed Englishman Judd Trump. I first noticed him in last year’s World Championship where he reached the final, only to be beaten by Higgins, 18-15. He was the second youngest finalist behind Stephen Hendry. The 22 year old is one of the rising stars in the sport and is currently ranked 7 in the world. He is currently playing the semi-finals of the UK championship, a huge improvement on last year’s performance where he was knockout by Mark Joyce. He is one frame away from beating Australian Neil Robertson, who had a similar introduction to the sport. If he gets through he will play the winner of Allen and Walden game.

Just as i finished writing that paragrpah he has done it, beating Robinson 9-7 to reach his first ever UK final.