The Swans will be spending Christmas in a nice warm playoff spot.  You never know what to expect from a team with a new manager at the helm, but luckily Sheffield Wednesday were as bad as everyone hoped and Swansea bled a professional victory from a home side who look like genuine relegation contenders.  Darren Pratley scored twice and Leon Britton was nowhere to be seen as the Swans never really looked under too much pressure after taking an early lead.

Once again team selection will have raised a few eyebrows – Paulo Sousa seemingly preparing his men for a life without Leon Britton by leaving the talisman at home using the much maligned Jordi Lopez from the start.  Cardiff City’s lovely new ground may not be able to put a game on in cold conditions but there were no such problems for rusty old Hillbsborough, and the hardy travelling Jacks didn’t have to wait long for the Swans to warm them up with an excellent goal in the first five minutes.  Gorka Pintado showed great touch and vision to loop the ball over the home defence and with the offside trap beaten Pratley controlled beautifully to slot past the goalkeeper for his third of the season.

He didn’t have to wait too long for his fourth.  Despite a token and seemingly half-hearted fightback from Wednesday which produced no real scares, Swansea put together an expertly crafted second which effectively killed the game off before half time.  There was so much to admire about this goal – Orlandi showing some genuine “Trequarterista” invention and quality in releasing Nathan Dyer on the left of the box, the little winger’s first time cross to the centre circle and Pratley’s precise volley all being moments to savour, but perhaps the most satisfying thing was to see two midfielder making runs into the box – Van Der Gun was also hovering – something we haven’t seen enough this season.

It’s easy to suspect that Swansea’s second was pretty much the “perfect” Paulo Sousa goal.  Neat passing leading to a short cross and a midfielder making a late run into the box to sweep the ball into the net. 

The hosts didn’t exactly come out fighting in the second half so much as determined to at least retain as much possession as possible.  a couple of half chances came their way but Swans were content to sit back on their lead and allow Sheffield Wednesday to toil away while clearly remaining the inferior in terms of playing talent on the field.  A good win from what could have been a potential banana skin.

Wednesday: Lee Grant, Tommy Spurr, Lewis Buxton (Frank Simek, 54′), Darren Purse (C), Marcus Tudgay, Sean McAllister (Francis Jeffers, 46′), Darren Potter, Mark Beevers, James O’Connor, Leon Clarke, Jermaine Johnson (Luke Varney, 69′).

Not Used: Richards Hinds, Etienne Esajas, Richard O’Donnell, Tom Soares.

Swans: Dorus de Vries; Angel Rangel, Ashley Williams, Alan Tate (C), Fede Bessone; Jordi Lopez (Albert Serran, 84′), Andrea Orlandi, Darren Pratley, Nathan Dyer (Tom Butler, 74′), Cedric van der Gun; Gorka Pintado (Guillem Bauza, 89′).

Not Used: David Cornell (GK), Lee Trundle, Joe Allen, David Cotterill.

Attendance: 18,329 Away: 407

Referee: O Langford (West Midlands)

It’s amazing what can happen during a week in sport.

Three Championship managers sacked, one of which, Brendan Rogers from my own Reading, has been coming and hasn’t come a second too soon. Of the others, Jim Magilton at QPR and Brian Laws at Sheffield Wednesday, it would take the most optimistic of commentators to have given the former much hope of holding his position. You simply can’t headbut a player and expect to continue, he had to go and they have moved swiftly to replace him with Paul Hart, a good appointment in my opinion. I only hope that Reading take the time they need to make the next appointment the right one – it’s absolutely vital for us.

What else happened that caught my eye? Well, Manchester United lose at home to Villa and then get hammered at Fulham. Liverpool go from bad to worse, losing at home to top-four rivals Arsenal and then go down 2-0 at Portsmouth. It’s quite incredible that Liverpool are now level on points with Birmingham, but that the Blues have a game in hand. Remarkable.

That’s just a handful of what has apparently been a very busy week in football. With the festive period getting underway and then the drama that is the January transfer window, there should be no shortage of action in the coming weeks.

But for now, time to sit down with a Christmas coffee and Love Actually. What more could a man want to kick off the festive season?!

Coventry striker Freddy Eastwood leads the way in this week’s Coca-Cola Championship Actim Index. Eastwood – restored to his favoured attacking role after spending much of the season on the wing – notched a hat-trick to help the Sky Blues to a 3-2 victory over fellow strugglers Peterborough at the weekend. Although Coventry were beaten 2-0 by leaders Newcastle three days earlier, Eastwood was still able to claim a whopping total of 61 points for his week’s efforts. Eastwood is joined in the Team of the Week by Coventry defenders Leon Barnett and Stephen Wright, who claimed 27 and 25 points respectively.

Following heavy defeats to Bristol City and Nottingham Forest, Leicester got back to winning ways at the weekend with a 3-0 triumph over Sheffield Wednesday. The victory over the Owls was inspired by midfielder Andy King, who scored twice after Steve Howard had opened the scoring at the Walkers Stadium. King’s two goals helped him to a total of 52 points for the week and also lifted him into the top 100 in the overall standings.

Sheffield United are one of the form sides in the Championship at the moment and they maintained their good form with two creditable results at Bramall Lane this week. A goalless draw with high-flying Nottingham Forest was followed by a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace and the two goalscorers in that game – Lee Williamson and Stephen Quinn - have both been rewarded with places in the Team of the Week. Williamson collected 36 points for his efforts during the week, despite not starting in the draw with Forest. Quinn, meanwhile, picked up an even more impressive 43 points and now sits in 70th position overall.

Ipswich’s Gareth McAuley is the week’s highest-scoring defender after helping Roy Keane’s side to four points from their two league games. McAuley was part of the backline that shut out Peterborough in a goalless draw at Portman Road in midweek. He also figured in Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Blackpool - a result which boosts the club’s survival hopes. As a result, the Northern Ireland international earned 35 points, three less than Tractor Boys team-mate Jon Stead, who is also named in the Team of the Week.

Kevin Nolan could be handed an opportunity to extend his lead at the top of the Actim Index after nearest rival Peter Whittingham picked up an injury in Cardiff’s victory over Middlesbrough. Whittingham limped out of the 1-0 win at the Riverside Stadium with a groin problem and could now face a spell on the sidelines. The former Aston Villa man is just 19 points behind Nolan in the overall standings, with Watford striker Danny Graham a further 63 points back in third.

Preston goalkeeper Andy Lonergan has recently been linked with a move to the Premier League and he continued his impressive form with consecutive clean sheets this week. Lonergan managed to avoid conceding in home games against Derby and Plymouth and collected 24 points for his efforts. He is the leading keeper in this week’s Index and now lies in 38th position in the overall standings.

View the latest Actim Index >

As a long-suffering Sheffield Wednesday supporter it isn’t often you get two bits of good news for the club in one day.

First, and the most exciting bit is that Hillsborough will host World Cup matches if England wins the bid for the 2018 World Cup.  Of course, that’s a huge if, but it’s really good news for the city.  Although a pessimist, I had an expectation that Sheffield, and Hillsborough in particular, would be included.  After all, to not include England’s fourth largest city, the home of Sheffield’s oldest football club and oldest ground and the place where the modern rules of football were invented, would have seemed odd.  Mind you, including Milton Keynes in the bid at the expense of Leicester, Hull and Derby does show that tradition can only carry you so far.  I was less confident of Hillsborough winning out over Bramall Lane, but hoped that its tradition of hosting international matches and its continuing status as the city’s biggest ground, would overcome the problems that, compared to Bramall Lane, it hasn’t had investment for years and in recent times Sheffield United (deep breath) has been the best club in the city.  By 2018, much of the planned investment in the city centre should have been completed with Sevenstone finally opening, the markets moved to The Moor and the redevelopment of the old markets and the riverside, and so Sheffield will be looking good.  It should be an exciting time.

The second bit of good news is that Sheffield Wednesday are expecting to announce a £20million investment in the club.  Now we’ve been here before and I still have doubts about how reliable any big investors will be if things get difficult, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.  Chairman Lee Strafford has done a lot for the confidence of the club’s fans – he’s a genuine supporter and is a local boy from a nearby council estate who then went on to sell PlusNet ,the company he built up, to BT for £67million.  But the club’s poor performance and now the departure of Brian Laws hasn’t exactly helped things recently.  If he can now get the investment that will turn Wednesday back in to one of this country’s biggest football clubs, then he will be a very popular man indeed.  Well, at least he will be in the Wednesday half of the city.

 SWFC finally bit the bullet, and parted company with Brian Laws yesterday…..

 It was coming….   but with little money, who can you attract ??

names in the frame are Steve Cotterill, Nigel Worthington, George Burley…..

 For me…   No thanks.

  Sean Mc, give him a month see how he goes, maybe the blooding of a few academy players, may re-vitalise the team,

 The only way is up….

  The future is bright, the future is blue and white !

Leicester City 3:0 Sheffield Wednesday

City ended a bad week on a high note with a convincing 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday at Filbert Way on Saturday…

Nigel Pearson made four changes: Fryatt, Howard, Dyer and Berner coming in for Gallagher, Waghorn, McGivern and N’Guessan.
But for Wellens and Weale this was the side who won the third division title last season, and Howard soon invoked memories of 2008-09 powering home a header from a Fryatt chip in the 8th minute for his first goal of the season.
This was a huge confidence booster for City, and dented the fragile spirits of a Wednesday side on a run of eight games without a win.
Tudgay went close with an overhead kick in a rare Owls attack; then Wednesday keeper Grant produced a fine save to deny Fryatt, but the home crowd didn’t have to wait long to celebrate another goal.
Some smart footwork on the edge of the area from Fryatt led to a chance for King who beat Grant with a precise shot to double City’s lead in the 24th minute.  
Oakley then caught a volley perfectly but Grant managed to parry the fierce shot away.
In the 36th minute under-fire Owls boss Brian Laws made a double substitution. There were boos from the vistors’ corner as he withrew, Johnson, one of the few Wednesday players to have threatened City’s back line. 
After the break Fryatt and Oakley both went close, before Wednesday almost pulled a goal back. Weale came rushing out to the edge of his area but was left stranded as McAllister beat him to the ball; fortunately for the City keeper, Morrison had come charging back to clear McAllister’s shot off the line.
That was Wednesday’s best chance, and City made it 3-0 in the 73rd minute to put the result beyond doubt.
A good cross from substitute MicGivern from the left was turned back by Fryatt into the path of King who firmly side-footed the ball into the top right hand corner. 
Although the oppostion looked pretty poor, it was a good end to a terrible week for City, who regained a place in the play-off frame.
It also begged the question, are last year’s side still the best option?

Leicester: Weale, Brown, Berner (McGivern 60), Hobbs, Morrison, King, Dyer (Gallagher 75), Oakley, Wellens, Fryatt, Howard (Kermorgant 81). Subs Not Used: Logan, N’Guessan, Adams, Neilson.
Wednesday: Grant, Purse, Buxton, Spurr, Beevers, Johnson (Soares 36), Potter (Gray 36), McAllister, O’Connor, Tudgay, Clarke (Varney 62). Subs Not Used: Hinds, Esajas, O’Donnell, Feeney.

 Referee: C Boyeson (East Yorkshire).  Attendance: 22,236.

The last time Sheffield Wednesday visited the Walkers Stadium, in April last year, they hammered the last but one nail into our third division coffin. Although Iain Hume put City into the lead early on, goals from Slusarski, Watson and Clarke gave Wednesday a comfortable victory.
If you can bear it, here are some images from that dreadful afternoon…

Nottingham Forest striker Robert Earnshaw leads the way in this week’s Championship Actim Index following his hat-trick against local rivals Leicester. Earnshaw’s three goals helped Billy Davies’ side to an impressive 5-1 victory at the City Ground and also earned the Wales forward a bumper haul of 59 points. The diminutive 28-year-old is no stranger to scoring three goals in a match, having previously notched a hat-trick in all four divisions of English football, both domestic cup competitions and an international match.

Reading have been struggling at the wrong end of the table this season but Brendan Rodgers’ men have three representatives in the team of the week after their 2-0 win at fellow strugglers Sheffield Wednesday. Grzegorz Rasiak and Kalifa Cisse were on target at Hillsborough and are joined in this week’s leading XI by goalkeeper Adam Federici. Rasiak was the Royals’ top-scorer with a hefty total of 47, while Cisse and Federici collected 37 and 24 points respectively for their efforts.

Scunthorpe’s defenders showed their steely side in a 1-0 home victory over Coventry. Two of the Iron’s backline have been rewarded with spots in the team of the week following their determined display. Marcus Williams led the way with an Actim score of 25 while team-mate David Mirfin claimed 24 points. However, Scunthorpe’s highest-placed player in the overall standings is Gary Hooper, who is up to 59th after scoring the goal which sunk Chris Coleman’s side.

Newcastle midfielder Kevin Nolan has seen his lead at the top of the overall standings cut to 40 points. Nolan failed to add to his tally of 390 points after he was sent off for two bookable offences in the 2-0 triumph over Watford at St James’ Park. Second-placed Peter Whittingham, meanwhile, picked up 24 points for his efforts in Cardiff’s 1-0 win against Preston. Middlesbrough winger Adam Johnson remains in third position, ahead of Watford forward Danny Graham and Coventry striker Leon Best.

Doncaster registered their first away win of the season – and arguably the result of the weekend – with a 3-0 success at Crystal Palace. Surprisingly, Rovers do not have any representatives in the team of the week. But the three goalscorers at Selhurst Park (Billy Sharp, Martin Woods and James Hayter) are all among the top 20 points scorers. Sharp was the pick of the Doncaster bunch with 38 points while Woods and Hayter also achieved impressive scores of 33 and 31 respectively.

Middlesbrough will be hoping to surge up the Coca-Cola Championship table over the festive period and two of their players have made significant strides in the overall Actim standings as a result of their 5-1 win at QPR. Leroy Lita hit the target twice at Loftus Road and his 42-point haul lifts him 20 places to 23rd. Gary O’Neil was another Boro player on target and jumps 33 places to 39th after collecting 39 points.

View the latest Actim Index >

So it seems lightning does strike twice, albeit ten months apart. In February Rovers recorded their first ever league win over Sheffield Wednesday with a 1-0 victory courtesy of a headed goal from an in-form striker. Tonight, at the next point of asking, they achieved their second ever league triumph over Wednesday winning 1-0 courtesy of a headed goal from an in-form striker. Tonight could go down as the night that Billy Sharp effectively took the place of Paul Heffernan

In the run up to this fixture Brian Laws future as Sheffield Wednesday boss was being brought into question so readily that for the first time since the creation of the internet, anyone Googling ’under pressure’ would not have been taken to Queen and David Bowie, but to a picture of a pensive looking Laws. An improved performance form the Owls in this fixture, despite the defeat, has preserved Law’s role as manager at Hillsborough; to paraphrase many a Rovers fan tonight, if that was deemed a suitable improvement then they must have been bloody awful in recent weeks.

Sean O’Driscoll described this match as ‘dour’ in his post match interviews and given that he himself was once infamously described in When Saturday Comes as having ‘the appearance of a man who looks like he’s just been told his dog has three weeks left to live’ then you can understand how little of a classic encounter this fixture was. Sheffield Wednesday came to the Keepmoat to shut Rovers down and stop them playing their favoured flowing football. To be fair they did just that, but for all the attacking potential this gave them in return they as well have just remained on the team coach and parked it in the penalty area.

It took twenty-nine minutes of tedium before the game finally threw up a chance of note. Jamie Coppinger won the ball on the right and played it in field to Billy Sharp and he laid it off for John Oster. The midfielder moved the ball onto Dean Shiels who took a touch to control before hitting a curling effort with his right foot from the edge of the area that went just wide of the far post. More of the game was being played in the Rovers half, though Wednesday themselves were unable to threaten Neil Sullivan’s goal, but for a long-range strike from Darren Potter.

Into the last five minutes of the half and the game showed minimal signs of life; a decent cross from Coppinger was cleared out for a corner by the Wednesday defence, whilst a Martin Woods free-kick was struck straight at visiting ‘keeper Lee Grant. Just before the break Wednesday had the best chance of either side to open the scoring as Leon Clarke was released into the area; he jinked past Jason Shackell with a neat drop of the shoulder but his left foot strike was poor and rolled harmlessly across goal.

The early efforts of the second half went Wednesday’s way, firstly as Jermaine Johnson lashed an effort just wide from twenty-five yards and secondly as Marcus Tudgay hit a shot over Sullivan’s crossbar. It wasn’t until after the hour mark that Rovers finally began to threaten the South Stand goal; James O’Connor heading over as he threw himself at a Dean Shiels corner.

Doncaster’s football had not been up to much throughout the game but twelve minutes from time they finally strung a number of passes together on the right and the result was to be the game’s only goal. James Chambers received the ball from Sharp and then fed Simon Gillett on the right and the midfielder’s first time cross was headed home by Sharp from eight yards to put Rovers 1-0 ahead. Wednesday pushed to the end for an equaliser as you would expect, but a volley over the bar from Mark Beevers in stoppage time was as close as they came.

A poor game all round, but for us that matters not a bit. After watching Rovers run rings round sides only to be beaten by a soft goal on numerous occasions in recent seasons it is actually a pleasant experience to see your team win ugly. The difference between the two sides tonight was quite simple’ Rovers had Billy Sharp and Sheffield Wednesday did not. Sharp was the one man who looked likely to pounce on an opportune moment to break the deadlock and he did just that. His fourth goal in four consecutive games means Rovers continue to edge up the Championship table.

Doncaster Rovers line-up (4-2-2-2): Neil Sullivan; James Chambers, Jason Shackell, James O’Connor, Gareth Roberts; John Oster (Sam Hird), Martin Woods (Simon Gillett); Jamie Coppinger, Dean Shiels (Mark Wilson); James Hayter, Billy Sharp

subs not used: Ben Smith, Byron Webster, John Spicer, Lewis Guy

booked: Jason Shackell, James O’Connor, James Chambers

Sheffield Wednesday line-up (4-5-1): Lee Grant; Lewis Buxton, Mark Beevers, Darren Purse, Tommy Spurr; Marcus Tudgay, Darren Potter, James O’Connor (Tom Soares), Sean McAllister, Jermaine Johnson (Etienne Esajas); Leon Clarke (Luke Varney)

subs not used: Frank Simek, Richard O’Donnell, Michael Gray, Warren Feeney

booked: Darren Potter, Darren Purse, Leon Clarke

With Liverpool’s loss of form regularly deemed a ‘crisis’ by the media whilst the plight of clubs such as Chester City are comparatively ignored it can be hard to maintain a sense of perspective in relation to English football. But whether your glass is half full or the halfest emptiest glassiest glass in the world, its fair to say that Brian Laws brings Sheffield Wednesday to the Keepmoat Stadium tonight as a man under significant pressure. A large number of messagboards, websites and other sources are suggesting that a win for Rovers tonight will see Laws shown the door at Hillsborough. With that much suspense in the air I suspect that Laws’ own thoughts have today been drowned out by a steady crescendo of the theme music to Requiem for a Dream.

The reason for Brian Laws perilous position within his technical area is a run of poor form which has seen Sheffield Wednesday slump to 21st position in the Championship. Wednesday have drawn two and lost five of their last seven fixtures stirring unrest amongst the club’s followers as they approach tonight’s South Yorkshire derby. A defeat to TheLikesOfDoncaster Rovers (to be give us our full Championship name) could well be the final nail in Brian Laws’ Hillsborough coffin.

Rovers conversely come into tonight’s fixture with renewed optimism after an up and down run of performances in their last three games. Fantastic against Queens Park Rangers then woeful at Nottingham Forest, Rovers rediscovered their clinical edge in a 3-0 victory of Crystal Palace on Saturday to quash ludicrous suggestions that it was time for Sean O’Driscoll to go, as quickly as they appeared.

For the first time in a long time Rovers come into a league fixture against Sheffield Wednesday in a loftier position than their opponents. The 1-0 win on Valentines Day this year secured with a header from Paul Heffernan was Rovers first ever league victory over he Owls, and the smart money tonight is suggesting the second ever victory could well follow at the first time of asking. Rovers can do without complacency though as beating the teams around them has proved a particular stumbling block of the club’s recent years.

Team News

The Rovers Medical room is currently a barren tundra-like region with all significant life at the club out on the training ground. Although all unavailable through injury Sean McDaid, Steve Brooker, Brian Stock and Quinton Fortune are all at least now mobile. And so for once Sean O’Driscoll will not be forced to change his line-up and may stick with the side featuring makeshift centre-half James O’Connor which won convincingly at Selhurst Park.

According to the BBC Brian Laws will be without Tommy Miller who has a hamstring problem and Francis Jeffers suffering from a foot injury. Other than that the Wednesday manager has a full squad at his disposal and is expected to make changes after the recent poor run. The official Sheffield Wednesday website states that Laws will “delay naming his side until the eleventh hour”, but given that kick-off is at quarter to the eighth hour it would be surprising if this tactic panned out.

Predicted Rovers Line-up

(4-3-2-1) Neil Sullivan; James Chambers, James O’ Connor, Jason Shackell, Gareth Roberts; John Oster, Simon Gillett, Martin Woods; Jamie Coppinger, Dean Shiels; Billy Sharp

subs: Ben Smith, Byron Webster, Sam Hird, James  Hayter, Lewis Guy, John Spicer, Paul Heffernan

Travelling to the Game

Though you’ll find little of help on the official Rovers website away fans can get a wealth of information on Doncaster’s ground from us by clicking on the ‘Keepmoat Stadium’ tab at the top of the page. On there, Sheffield Wednesday fans will find not only directions and parking advice for those travelling by car but also directions (both on foot and via public transport) from Doncaster station. Suggested matchday pubs and advice on where to collect tickets can also be found here.

Match Coverage

Sadly the infamous Viva Rovers twitter feed is restricted to second-hand coverage of tonight’s game so we may not be the best bet for up to the minute information for this fixture. However you can still keep tabs on us either by following @vivarovers on twitter or checking the Twitter Update box at the right of this page. Alternatively you have a couple of other options at your disposal. BBC Radio Sheffield are covering the game live as you would hope, but unfortunately this doesn’t include their online output. For live audible internet coverage your best bet is probably Rovers Player (formerly Rovers World) which features the ever delightful Paul Mayfield.

West Brom have been known as a yo-yo club in recent years given their inability to stay in the Barclays Premier League for a sustained period of time and the ease in which they return to the top tier from the Coca-Cola Championship. And they are doing nothing to shirk off that tag this season as Roberto Di Matteo is masterminding yet another promotion to the Premier League and they did their cause no harm last week with a 4-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough. That win sees them dominate the Actim Team of the Week with no less than five players in there. Scott Carson, Jerome Thomas, Graham Dorrans, Chris Brunt and Simon Cox all contributed to the win and have been rewarded accordingly.

Darius Henderson will have been a popular name in the Blackwell household after the striker’s exploits in the 3-2 win over Bristol City eased some of the pressure on Blades boss Kevin. The former Watford man bagged a hat-trick at Ashton Gate to seal the points, and it included an injury-time winner after Sheffield United had squandered a 2-0 lead. His performance in sealing United’s first away win in six games sees Henderson as the leading points scorer of the week with an impressive 65 points. That haul also sees him climb 34 places and he now sits just 11th in the overall index. That is the fourth best individual tally of the season, with Michael Chopra still leading the way with 88.

Nose bleeds may have been rife in Newcastle this season as fans come to terms with a place towards the top end of a table for the first time in some considerable years and Kevin Nolan may be suffering a similar problem as he continues to top the overall index. He has been an outstanding performer for Chris Hughton’s men this term and sits 64 points clear of Cardiff midfielder Peter Whittingham in second placed. Middlesbrough’s Adam Johnson, Watford’s Danny Graham and Coventry’s Leon Best make up the top five.

Crystal Palace players may be having a difficult time of it after it emerged their wages have been delayed, but they put in an impressive performance to beat Watford 3-0 to extend their unbeaten run to six games. That win saw highly-rated Victor Moses and Danny Butterfield make the Team of the Week, which is made up with the five Baggies players, Newcastle’s Fabricio Coloccini, Nottingham Forest’s Wes Morgan and Coventry’s Richard Wood completing the select XI.

The Championship often gets a reputation for it’s all-action physical nature where the ethos of most teams is to get the ball from the defence to attack as quickly as possible. There are a few exceptions to the rule, with Swansea, Doncaster, Scunthorpe and West Brom all playing an entertaining brand of passing football. And there are players who do not just hoof the ball at the earliest opportunity to prove this. Derby’s Robbie Savage leads the way with 279 completed passes and he is closely followed by Nottingham Forest’s Paul McKenna, who has 250 to his name.

Another thing that cannot be levelled at the Championship is that is does not provide a stamping ground for home grown players to ply their trade at a decent level. There are inevitably plenty of foreigners in the league with players hailing from Sierra Leone, Brazil, Congo, Jamaica and Chile. However, all but four of the top 40 ranked players hail from either England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales or the Republic of Ireland.

View the latest Actim Index >

What a week it has been for Watford strikers Heidar Helguson and Danny Graham. Not only did they help the Hornets to a 3-0 victory against Scunthorpe, but the duo also made major strides in the Actim Index. Helguson`s brace earned him the highest score of the week – 52 points – and moved him up 116 places to 184th overall, while Graham posted the third highest score for a striker, with his 39 points moving him up two places to sit third in the rankings.

Kevin Nolan is trying his best to single-handedly get Newcastle back into the Premier League at the first time of asking. The former Bolton midfielder scored his ninth goal of the season in Monday`s 1-0 win at Preston - not the first time his goals have proved crucial for the Magpies. His decisive strike against North End helped him to 40 points – the second best for a midfielder this week – and kept him at the top of the Actim Index.

Middlesbrough winger Adam Johnson moved into second place overall with a score of 16 points for the week, while Cardiff schemer Peter Whittingham dropped to fourth and Bristol City striker Nicky Maynard slipped to fifth place in the Actim rankings.

Darren Ambrose is enjoying his best season in years with Crystal Palace, and as a result is making steady progress up the Actim Index standings. Ambrose scored his 11th goal of an electric campaign to help the Eagles take a point against Coventry, but that strike was his fifth in as many matches. He earned 38 points for the week and moved up 19 places to break into the top 20 at 19th.

Dean Shiels` impressive form continued last weekend as he scored his fourth goal in five games to help Doncaster to a 2-0 win against QPR. The Northern Ireland international`s display earned him 48 points and a place alongside Watford`s Helguson in the Team of the Week attack.

Mark Bunn (23 points), who saved a penalty in Sheffield United`s 1-0 win at home to Peterborough, is the goalkeeper in the Team of the Week, while his Blades team-mate Chris Morgan (28) is in defence alongside Swansea`s Federico Bessone (39), Carl Dickinson of Barnsley (34) and Tommy Spurr of Sheffield Wednesday (25 points). West Brom`s Chris Brunt posted the highest score of the weekend for a midfielder – 47 – and he is joined in the Team of the Week by Nolan, Ambrose and Reading`s Jobi McAnuff (36 points). Helguson and Shiels form the strike partnership.

View the latest Actim Index >

El 9-1 del Tottenham al Wigan ya forma parte de las grandes goleadas de la historia de la Premier League. Hoy recordamos otras.

Manchester United 9 – Ipswich Town 0

Marzo 1995

Andy Cole se convirtió en el gran protagonista de la mayor goleada de la historia de la Premier League. El delantero anotó cinco goles en un encuentro en el que también vieron puerta Mark Hughes, en dos ocasiones, Paul Ince y Roy Keane. Los ‘Red Devils’ acabaron la temporada en segunda posición, por detrás del Blackburn Rovers, y el Ipswich cerró la tabla.

Newcastle 8 – Sheffield Wednesday 0

Septiembre 1999

Alan Shearer no quiso ser menos que Andy Cole y también marcó cinco goles (dos de penalty) en el roto de las ‘Hurracas’ al Sheffield Wednesday. Un avance de lo que sería la temporada para los ‘Blades’, que perdieron la categoría, mientras que los de Bobby Robson cerraron la campaña en la zona media. Aaron Hughes, Kieron Dyer y Gary Speed también participaron activamente de la goleada.

Nottingham Forest 1 – Manchester United 8

Febrero 1999

El United ha protagonizado el mayor triunfo de la historia de la Premier en casa y a domicilio. Los de Alex Ferguson pasaron por encima del Nottingham Forest en el mismísimo City Ground con un Ole Gunnar Solskjaer que marcó cuatro goles saliendo desde el banquillo en sustitución de Dwight Yorke en el minuto 72’. ‘El Asesino Con Cara de Niño’ anotó sus tantos en poco más de diez minutos. Para los ‘Red Devils’ también mojaron por partida doble el de Trinidad y Tobago y Andy Cole.

Arsenal 7 – Everton 0

Mayo 2005

En una memorable noche de Dennis Bergkamp, los ‘Gunners’ pasaron por encima del Everton en el viejo Highbury. El holandés marcó el sexto en una oda al fútbol colectivo en la que participaron Robin Van Persie (8’), Robert Pires (12’ y 50’), Patrick Vieira (37’), Edu (70’) y Mathieu Flamini (85’).

Blackburn Rovers 7 – Nottingham Forest 0

Noviembre 1995

El campeón de 1995 finalizó la temporada en la séptima plaza pero regaló a sus aficionados otra goleada histórica de la mano de Alan Shearer, que enchufó un hat-trick. Lars Bohinen (2), Mike Newell y Graeme Le Saux también superaron la meta del ‘Forest’.

Manchester United 7 – Barnsley 0

Octubre 1997

Otro recital de fútbol de los ‘Red Devils’ con hat-trick de Andy Cole y goles de Ryan Giggs (2), Paul Scholes y Karel Poborsky. El United cerró la temporada a un punto del Arsenal y los ‘Tykes’ en segunda.

Arsenal 7 – Middlesbrough 0

Enero 2006

Si un año antes fue Bergkamp, ante el ‘Boro’ el protagonista de la goleada del Arsenal fue Thierry Henry. El galo marcó tres tantos en una fiesta que también tuvo como invitados a Philippe Senderos, Robert Pires, Gilberto Silva y Aleksandr Hleb.

Thank you to OurWednesday.com for the headline, ( I borrowed it)  the new community website for Sheffield Wednesday fans,

 I have been thinking about this in terms of football, and also sport in general,

What MAKES you support or follow a certain team?

Where you live, a certain player, runs in the family, glory hunter, team shirt, name etc etc etc

I follow a team with arguably one of the oddest names in British football, Sheffield Wednesday, my dad has followed them all his life, and I remember my first game against Crystal palace in 1981.

And I never looked back…….

though often looked down, when relegation loomed !!

I have only known 2 people change “loyalties” to a football team, and one of those was because he moved to another city.

And do you follow a second team , ? Almost all football fans seem to have a “second”, and the same for foreign teams. !

what makes you so “dye in the wool” for a certain team?

Thanks for the service, but you were a little too greedy,

I don’t blame you trying to get more money,

but you know the clubs position with the debt etc.

Is coventry a bigger vehicle to get you to the premiership ?? 

no.

neither was Ipswich.

and unfortunately you may miss us, more than we miss you.

So thanks and good luck……  but no one player is bigger than the club !

Found this list online, here, and thought it was interesting. Good for Spurs and Villa fans at least.

The list is correct as of 17/11/09.

Top 20 Teams For Producing England Internationals (all time):

1. Aston Villa – 68
2. Tottenham – 62
3. Everton – 59
4. Liverpool – 58
5. Man United – 57
6. Arsenal – 54
7. Blackburn – 48
8= Man City, West Brom – 42
10= Chelsea, Sheff Wed – 41
12. Nottingham Forest – 37
13. Derby – 36
14= Sheffield United, West Ham – 35
16= Newcastle, Wolves 33
18. Leeds – 30
19. Middlesbrough – 29
20= Bolton / Southampton – 26

Darren Pratley was the toast of Swansea after his match-winning double in the South Wales against Cardiff last weekend. The former Fulham midfielder showed why Swans boss Paul Sousa rates his so highly, opening his goalscoring account for the season with two clinical finishes and scoring 53 points in the Actim Championship Index in the process. The Londoner has only made seven appearances for the in-form Swans due to injury, but he looked to be getting back to his best as the Bluebirds’ wings were clipped by a Swansea side who are unbeaten in 10 Championship games. Pratley’s exploits ensured he moved up a whopping 112 places in the Actim Index and although he is way down in 194th place overall, the combative midfielder is certainly one to watch.

Blackpool defender Alex Baptiste was a major mover in the Actim Index as the Tangerines thrashed Scunthorpe 4-1 to move up to fifth in the Championship table. Boss Ian Holloway put his faith in Baptiste to be a rock at the heart of his defence and the big centre-half has not let him down.The former Mansfield man scored his third goal of the season against the Iron and bagged 45 points for the week to move up 21 places to 16th in the Index. As well as chipping in with a few goals, the 23-year-old has been solid at the back, winning 52 tackles and making 21 interceptions. Baptiste was joined in the Actim team of the week by team-mates Ian Evatt and Charlie Adam, who were also on the scoresheet against Nigel Adkins’ side.

Rob Hulse was Derby’s hero as they secured a much-needed victory against Coventry on Friday night and the striker matched Baptiste’s tally of 45 Actim points for the week. The former Sheffield United frontman produced two clinical finishes as the Rams came from behind to beat Chris Coleman’s side and it would be no surprise to see him shoot up the Actim Index. Hulse has been one of a host of Derby players in the treatment room this season, but he looked to be nearing full fitness against the Sky Blues and his 45-point haul was his biggest of the season. The other striker included in the Actim team of the week was Rory Fallon after his striker gave Plymouth a 2-1 win over Doncaster which moved them out of the bottom three. The former Swansea man moved up 64 places to 107th in the Index after registering 36 points for Paul Sturrock’s Pilgrims.

Kevin Nolan still leads the way in the Actim Championship Index after playing his part in Newcastle’s 3-1 win over Peterborough. The former Bolton man is 31 points ahead of Cardiff midfielder Peter Whittingham after adding another 19 points to make his overall tally 335 points. Nolan has seven goals and three assists to his name this season and has completed 180 passes for the Championship leaders. QPR’s flying winger Wayne Routledge is a new addition to the top 10 in the Index, moving up five places to seventh. Routledge has more assists than any other player in the Championship, setting up eight goals for Jim Magilton’s side.

Newcastle’s Steve Harper remains the leading goalkeeper in the Actim Championship Index. The 34-year-old Magpies custodian has made 81 saves for Chris Hughton’s side and he moved up one place this week to 13th place. Scott Carson is the next highest keeper but the West Brom number one is 15 places and 21 points behind Harper. But it was Crystal Palace keeper Julian Speroni who made the team of the week after another impressive display in the 1-0 win over Middlesbrough. The Argentine was recently hailed by Palace boss Neil Warnock as the best keeper in the country and he was once against outstanding against Boro. Speroni is 58th in the Index and moved up 44 places this week after picking up 24 points against Gordon Strachan’s side.

Jay Simpson is a striker in form at the moment and the on-loan QPR man is making strides in the Championship Index. The Arsenal youngster has scored four goals in his last six games for Rangers and was on target in the 2-1 win at Sheffield Wednesday. Simpson escalated 26 places in the Index to 27th following his performance against the Owls and scored 31 points at Hillsborough. He has now notched seven goals for the Hoops and is developing into a key performer for the Londoners, who look to be a good bet for a play-off place.

View the latest Actim Index >

What you missed while Darth Vader was being made into a cathedral gargoyle…

• Third tier Alcorcón lost 1-0 to Real Madrid yesterday in the second leg of the Copa del Rey; due to their 4-0 win two weeks ago they’ll still advance to the next round over the nine-time champions. This doesn’t phase Florentino Pérez, however: “Our dream is to build a spectacular team but it would not be a failure if we didn’t win a title.” What his exact definition of “failure” is has yet to be determined, but losing to a club worth about 1% of your transfer budget apparently doesn’t qualify.
• David Ngog isn’t a cheat…says David Ngog’s agent.
• Roman Pavlyuchenko will insist that he be allowed to leave Tottenham when he sits down with Harry Redknapp after the international break.
• Robinho is apparently unhappy at Manchester City because they got rid of all their Brazilians and wants out of town; however, he apparently isn’t going to Barcelona, who’re fresh out of cash for the transfer.
• Congratulations to the Suwon Bluewings, your new Korean Cup winners.
• Didier Drogba’s withdrawn from the Côte d’Ivoire national team’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers due to injury.
• China’s not messing around about sorting out their national team anymore. They should maybe consider bringing in Bob Bradley to sort them out…?
• Aston Villa defender Luke Young has retired from international football.
• Peter Crouch has vowed to stop clubbing so that Fabio Capello won’t drop him from the national team. The sacrifices these guys make for sport stun me.
• Sheffield Wednesday boss Brian Laws believes that it’s only a matter of time before a Premier League club goes bankruptLALALALALIVERPOOLCAN’THEARYOU!

So I had the priviledge, or me dad did or buying me a ticket for Sheffield Wednesday, Vs QPR on Saturday £24 to see the ref win !!

 I KNOW we ALL blame the ref, !

I KNOW we ALL think the ref is biased.

BUT THIS GUY WAS !!!

 How he could miss 3 hand balls, ( 2 blatant penalties) and a string of countless fouls , is Beyond me !!

 Ok so we didn’t get out of the traps for 20 mins, but when we did finally find some confidence, we outplayed them,

 Then an unlucky injury to Simek, and a BAD substitution of JJ, and the game plan collapsed, the last 20mins you could see QPR were going to win,

it may turn out to be a LONG season yet !!

Grzegorz Rasiak eased the pressure on boss Brendan Rodgers with a brace in Reading`s 3-1 victory at Coventry and the Polish striker’s exploits ensured he was the leading points scorer for the week in the Actim Championship Index. The former Tottenham forward scored in the first minute and added the crucial third goal for the Royals to pick up a total of 51 points and move up 118 places in the Actim Index to 226th. Rasiak had only scored one goal in the Championship before his double at the Ricoh Arena and Rodgers will be looking for more of the same if his side are to move away from the relegation zone.

Matty Fryatt was once again Leicester’s match-winner in their clash at QPR and the prolific striker’s double at Loftus Road has resulted in him moving into the top 10 in the Actim Championship Index. The pacey predator scored both goals in a 2-1 victory as the Foxes maintained their impressive start to the season and he also amassed 47 points for the week to move up 10 places to seventh in the Index. The former Walsall man has scored nine Championship goals this season from 25 shots on target for Nigel Pearson’s side.

Newcastle midfielder Kevin Nolan still leads the way in the Actim Index with 300 points for the season. However, the former Bolton man had one of his least profitable weeks, having registered only 15 points in the Magpies’ 1-0 victory against Sheffield United. In-form Cardiff midfielder Peter Whittingham is hot on Nolan’s heels in second place despite also having a poor week in terms of Actim points, picking up just 10 in Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest. Sought-after Middlesbrough winger Adam Johnson is in third place, while Bristol City striker Nicky Maynard moved up to fourth after scoring his ninth Championship goal of the campaign in the Robins’ 1-1 draw with Sheffield Wednesday.

West Brom defender Jonas Olsson was included in the Actim Championship Team of the Week after scoring and playing his part in keeping a clean sheet in the Baggies’ 5-0 thrashing of Watford. The Swede scored 36 points against the Hornets and has now scored three goals for the season, as well being solid at the back for Roberto Di Matteo’s side having made 29 clearances, 17 interceptions and winning 33 tackles and he moved up 11 places to 11th in the Index. Olsson’s team-mate Gianni Zuiverloon was also in the Team of the Week after scoring 38 points for the week, with the Dutchman also on the scoresheet against Watford.

Swansea are one of the form sides in the Championship at the moment and their Dutch forward Cedric Van der Gun made the Team of the Week after scoring his first goal in English football in the 2-0 win at Scunthorpe. The Swans are now unbeaten in nine Championship games and former Ajax man Van der Gun, who scored 35 points for the week, looks like being a key player if Paulo Sousa’s side are to push for promotion. In the overall Index, Ashley Williams is the Welsh side’s leading performer and the big defender, who is ranked 23rd overall, has won 62 tackles and played a major role in ensuring Swansea have conceded only two goals in their last nine league matches.

View the latest Actim Index >

Newcastle returned to winning ways after back-to-back defeats with a late victory over Doncaster last week. That 2-1 win came courtesy of Kevin Nolan’s 18-yard strike and his performance in that win earned him enough points to climb to the top of the overall Actim Index, overtaking Michael Chopra who drops to fourth.

The week’s best performer was Cardiff midfielder Peter Whittingham, who scored a hat-trick for his side in the thrilling 4-3 win over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. That performance earns him the highest score of the week with a mammoth 73, which is the second best individual score of the season, behind Cardiff team-mate Chopra. He obviously takes his place in the Team of the Week and moves up seven places to second in the overall Index.

Watford had a fantastic time against Sheffield Wednesday, beating them 4-1 in the televised clash last Friday, and four of their players have forced their way into the Team of the Week as a result. Defenders Jon Harley and Adrian Mariappa, Arsenal loanee Henri Lansbury and Manchester United loanee Tom Cleverley all take their place in the select XI. The team is completed by Peterborough’s Joe Lewis and George Boyd, Coventry’s Ben Turner, Preston’s Billy Jones, Derby’s Robbie Savage and Cardiff duo Whittingham and Jay Bothroyd.

Managers can often be heard in post-match interviews saying the Coca-Cola Championship is a long season and there are plenty of games. And they would be right, as the players are already racking up the minutes on the pitch. Three players are sharing the most amount of time on the pitch and they are all from the same club. Nottingham Forest trio Chris Gunter, Wes Morgan and Lee Camp have all spent 1367 minutes sweating blood and tears for Billy Davies’ men this term. Meanwhile, Derby duo Stephen Bywater and Dean Moxey have been positively lazy, with just 1366 minutes of game-time. It must be something in the East Midlands water.

Famous for being lobbed from the halfway line for THAT goal by David Beckham and for almost denying England a route to Euro 2000 when he played for Scotland in the play-off, Neil Sullivan is still plugging away and this season, at the age of 39, he is the oldest player in the Coca-Cola Championship. Derby veteran Paul Dickov and QPR coach Gareth Ainsworth are the oldest outfield players to grace the pitch this term, aged 36. At the other end of the scale, Ipswich’s Connor Wickham is having a baptism of fire to his career, but he is adapting well at Portman Road and has played over 300 minutes, despite just being 16.

It was a great week for Nathan Ellington as his last-minute equaliser for Watford against Ipswich not only saw him score his first goal of the season, but also saw him climb a gargantuan 197 places up the Index. He still loiters well down the rankings in 409th, but it was an impressive week nonetheless. That is not something Crystal Palace’s Nick Carle can say as his Index score of -7 sees him slip a rather embarrassing 104 places in the overall standings.

View the latest Actim Index >

I go into schools quite a lot; two days a week on contract, supply teaching around the Scottish Borders and to talk about writing children’s stories. In every case I’m sure the thing that sticks in the minds of the children is my little pencil.

I’d better explain. I have done my fair share of refereeing schools soccer and often the scores would reach rugby proportions (12-7 in one mud fest) and so a pencil and paper was necessary to keep tally. The pencils I used were the stubs left over when children could no longer hold them well enough to produce the beautiful script they desired (!!!) and thus small enough to fit into my back pocket without doing mischief should I sit down – What does a mathematician do if he has constipation? Gets a pencil and works it out! – Anyway, the habit stuck and I now invariably carry a small pencil and a folded sheet of paper in my trouser pocket. But now I use them for making notes of ideas or information that might be useful in my writing… or for my wife to amend her shopping lists. The children are fascinated by them and some have even taken to carrying their own; though writing on the school toilet wall might be more in mind than planning the next Harry Potter.

My train journeys to Sheffield to watch the wonderful Wednesday are a great source of character ideas: The chocolate lady mentioned in my previous blog. The wild women of Newcastle on their way home from a boozy afternoon in York. The boy/girl with the hundreds of razor slice scars on her/his arms who was so patient and helpful to his/her obnoxious little brother when he couldn’t manage to build a plastic robot. The journey home is best as when darkness falls the subjects are reflected in the carriage windows and I can watch without them knowing; except for the wild women who took it in turns to sit on my knee… Every trip seems to be a new story with its own set of characters and my little pencil avidly notes them all for future use.

And so my tooth scarred stubs of pencils continue to delight both me and the children of Berwickshire. Little things please little minds eh?

http://www.swfc.co.uk/page/News/0,,10304~1838622,00.html

Praise for an initiative that could be easily adopted by all football clubs.

The future is bright, the future is blue and white !!

Ugh… A good weekend for some, perhaps. As always, only the big games – ’cause no one gives a hoot how Sheffield Wednesday did (sorry, Sheffielders).

Football:

Vidic looks how United feels.

Liverpool 2-0 Manchester Utd – On friday night I sat in a pub with a friend of mine, who nursed his pint as he mourned his team’s downward spiral. He is, of course, a Liverpool fan. I told him not to worry – that they’d beat MUFC this weekend and they’d bounce back. I’m not sure exactly how much either of us believed what I was saying, but sure enough, the game rolled around and Liverpool came out on top at Anfield. The Scousers would survive a second minute scare when Wayne Rooney found the back of the net (only to be disallowed for offside) and would go ahead in the 65th minute thanks to a classy finish from Fernando Torres. Nemanja Vidic and Javier Mascherano would both be sent off in the dying minutes of the match and it would be the Frenchman David Ngog who would seal United’s fate in stopagge time, finding the net on 96′. So all you sad-eyed Scousers, rejoice! You’re back to winning – for now. And Rafa, Gillette and Hicks – you can breathe again too.

Chelsea 5-0 Blackburn – Rovers fans will not be rejoicing this weekend. Gaël Givet opened the scoring in Saturday’s match by deflecting Nicolas Anelka’s shot into the back of his own net on 20′. That would hold the Blues until the half, but on 48′ Didier Drogba won a spot kick for his side and Frank Lampard (despite a returning Joe Cole wanting it oh so badly) converted to double Chelsea’s lead. From that point on, the floodgates were opened: within the next 15 minutes Michael Essien buried another of his rare but famed long range efforts, Lampard bagged his brace, and Didier Drogba brought Chelsea’s tally to 5. Blackburn were completely overrun by the home side, who obviously wanted to show that last week’s defeat to Aston Villa was not a sign of futher weakness. Joe Cole also made a fantastic appearance, his first in the Premiership this year, running the visitors ragged and creating all sorts of chances for his side. In their last two fixtures the Blues have 9 goals for and 0 against. Not bad Carletto, not bad.

Arsenal 2-2 West Ham – Despite Arsene Wenger’s claim that the Gunners will pick up at least one trophy this year, his side were unable to pick up full points against cross-town rivals West Ham this weekend. First half goals from Robin van Persie and William Gallas looked like they might be enough to see the Gooners take full points, but late strikes from Carlton Cole and Italian substitute Alessandro Diamanti saw Gianfranco Zola’s side make a marvelous comeback – despite the sending off of Hammer midfielder Scott Parker. Seems like the trophies are still a long way away, Wenger.

Futbol:

Real's hopes rest upon this man's delicate ankles.

Real Madrid 0-0 Sporting de Gijon - Sans-CR9 Madrid were unable to bounce back from their midweek loss to AC Milan and gain a positive result domestically this weekend. Los Merengues were held to a draw at El Molinón by the midtable side, who were kept afloat largely through the heroic efforts of their netminder, Juan Pablo. Kaká once again failed to impress in the white shirt, and Manuel Pellegrini’s side dropped points in La Liga for only the second time this season to fall three points short of Barcelona. Not the result Los Blancos were looking for – one can only imagine that just about everyone involved in that club is virtually counting down the days until their most expensive signing is fit again. But not I!

Villareal 2-1 Malaga – Unlike his current side, Manuel Pellegrini’s former squad were able to bounce back after a midweek European defeat to Rome’s other team and grab their first domestic win of the season. El Submarino Amarillo took the lead on 27′ thanks to the Brazilian Nilmar, only for Malaga’s Luque to equalize in the dying seconds of the first half. However, it wouldn’t take long after the break to restore that lead, as defender Capdevila found the back of the net on 54′ – his goal would be enough to see the home side grab all 3 points and that much-needed first victory. Finally, something (however little) to celebrate at El Madrigal.

Barcelona 6-1 Real Zaragoza – Unlike their arch-rivals, Barcelona showed that they weren’t too worried about their midweek loss to Rubin Kazan with a 6-goal thrashing of Real Zaragoza. Bullies. Seydou Keita bagged a treble, Zlatan Ibrahimovic bagged a brace and Lionel Messi bagged one of his own in a comfortable victory for the Catalan side. Jorge López pulled one back for his side on 77′, but it was little more than consolation as the Blaugrana ran rampant in the Camp Nou. I suppose the rest of us have now been warned…

Calcio:

Pictured: Milan's best player.

AC Milan 2-1 Chievo Verona - In keeping with the theme of last-gasp comebacks and goal-scoring defenders, AC Milan were able to grab their second straight Serie A win after Alessandro Nesta, of all people, scored twice in the last 10 minutes of the match to earn his club all 3 points against the Flying Donkeys. Nesta’s heroic efforts cancelled out the 7th minute lead which Giampiero Pinzi had afforded his side and which had stood for the better part of the match. It seems that Leonardo’s men are finally finding their legs to stand on after a more-than-shaky start to the season this year – it’s about time, Rossoneri; it’s about time.

Inter 2-1 Catania - i Nerazzurri were able to reassert their position atop Serie A with a comfortable win over a struggling Sicilian side at the San Siro on Saturday (ooh, alliterative!). Catania fell behind early in the game as first-half goals from Sulley Muntari and Wesley Sneijder seemed to put the match well out of reach. However, their lead would be halved when keeper Julio Cesar erred and was forced to give up a penalty on 83′; which Giuseppe Mascara duly converted. Though Catania would pour forward after that in hopes of finding their equalizer, Inter afforded no clear-cut chances to their visitors and were able to secure victory, reasserting themselves atop the Serie A table after being usurped earlier that day. Speaking of which…

Sampdoria 4-1 Bologna – Call it the Antonio Cassano show. Call it the Daniele Mannini show. Call it whatever you want, but know that Sampdoria mean business. Sure, Bologna are relegation fodder and aren’t exactly the stiffest test Serie A have to offer, but then, neither are Catania. The visitors wasted no time, with Giampaolo Pazzini scoring on 7′, Daniele Mannini adding two of his own, and Reto Ziegler rounding it out to 4-0 within the next 30 minutes. Marco Di Vaio, easily Bologna’s best player, picked up a red card early on – however Pablo Osvaldo would find a late consolation goal for the home side. Though Fanantonio didn’t get his name on the scoresheet, he had a hand in two of his side’s goals and his creativity was, as ever, the driving force behind Sampdoria’s potent attack. After Saturday’s blowout, i Blucerchiati enjoyed a short time at the summit of Italian calcio, before Inter reasserted themselves later that afternoon. Another seriously impressive performance from the upstart side from Genova – the only question that remains is just how long they can keep this up.

That about sums it up.

Livorno 1-0 AS Roma - I have only one thing to say: this team needs to learn how to play without Totti. After last weekend’s loss to Milan and the midweek draw at Fulham, it appears that Claudio Ranieri’s honeymoon with AS Roma has come to an abrupt end. The team is now forced to face a harsh reality: Totti is out and they are expected to win anyways. Livorno are absolute bottom of the table and they just sacked their coach – today was Serse Cosmi’s debut as manager of the struggling side. For i Giallorossi to lose to this side at the Olimpico is nothing short of disastrous and the 1-goal lead afforded to the visitors by Francesco Tavano should have been easily overcome. Jérémy Menez and Mirko Vucinic proved ineffectual up front and while Daniele De Rossi looked solid while defending, perhaps it should be he who steps up to provide an offensive threat in the absence of Er Pupone. Of course, I’m being ridiculous – one of DDR’s problems is that he already tries to do too much at once. Stefano Guberti once again looked strong, bringing immediate life to the side after he replaced Menez at the half, and even Julio Baptista was thrown into the match in a last-ditch effort to quiet the boos resounding throughout the Olimpico. In the end, nothing worked and i Lupi are left to ponder another defeat to another weaker side. We need to snap out of this and fast.

Bari 2-0 Lazio – Misery loves company. Luckily for Romanisti, Laziali know little else. We weren’t the only team (not even the only team in Rome) to face defeat against a newly-promoted side this weekend – Lazio’s winless streak extends to 7 games as they were defeated handily by i Galletti, who put in a mighty performance at the Stadio San Nicola this evening. Bari went ahead on only 11′ thanks to Paulo Barreto, though they wouldn’t improve upon that lead until the second half, when Riccardo Meggiorini ran onto a ball from Vitaly Kutuzov and shot top corner on 69′. Lazio struggled throughout the manage and did not look capable of bringing themselves back into it – their fate was sealed with just 7 minutes to go when substitute Ousmane Dabo was sent off. Hey Romanisti, at least we’re not Lazio!

Juventus 1-0 Siena – Today Juve once again failed to live up to their billing of Scudetto contenders. With Livorno’s victory over you-know-who, Siena sit absolute rock-bottom in Serie A – yet it took La Vecchia Signora 72 minutes to break down the home side. It would be Brazilian hitman Amauri who finally found the back of the net for a side that doesn’t look nearly good enough to mount a proper Scudetto challenge. All in all, not impressive fare from Ciro Ferrara’s men, but I’m sure they’ll happily take home the 3 points.

Fußball:

Bayern München 2-1 Eintracht – Die Roten were spared embarrassment after a pair of late goals made up for the concession of a surprise lead. Though Louis van Gaal’s side were the more dangerous looking out of the gate, neither side were able to capitalize upon their first-half chances (ever-reliable Luca Toni struck woodwork yet again) and it would be the visiting side who would take the lead on 60′ at the Allianz-Arena when Alexander Meier cut behind Phillip Lahm and finished coolly. It would be substitutions that made the difference for Bayern, with the not-quite-fit Arjen Robben coming on to tap home the equalizer on 70′ and defenseman Daniel Van Buyten sealing victory on 88′ after being subbed on for the struggling Toni. The last-gasp victory should go a ways towards erasing midweek memories of Bordeaux and sees Bayern take 5th place in the Bundesliga.

Henri Lansbury celebrates for Watford

Despite an unappetising fixture on paper, last night Watford (horrible home record) and Sheffield Wednesday (horrible away record) put on a show The Championship could be proud of (less so Wednesday who were deflated early by a couple of 50/50 decisions from the officials).

Malky Mackay’s young squad is finding its rhythm this season in no small part thanks to Tom Cleverly (on loan from Manchester United) and Henri Lansbury (on loan from Arsenal). It was the latter whose star shone brightest at Vicarage Road last night with the footwork, vision and confidence of an Arsenal first-teamer. Henri played on loan in League One last season, helping Scunthorpe to the play-offs at the first time of asking, unfortunately he missed the final with a foot injury but did manage to shake it off for the Arsenal youth FA Cup Final when a side lead by himself, Jay-Emmanuel Thomas (currently on loan at Blackpool), Jack Wilshire and Francois Coquelin (expect him to grace the Premier League before season’s end) pummeled an underdeveloped Liverpool side into oblivion in front of some 20,000 at The Emirates Stadium.

An aura of class surrounded Lansbury last night as Wednesday grew weary at his presence, he began to find it easy to draw space and ultimately supply the killer touch; two top quality finishes and a fantastic assist topped off a fantastic evening for the North-of-London side. His and Cleverly’s loan-spells come to an end at Christmas and if Watford are to have a chance of the play-offs this season he’ll need to protect them from burn-out and hope Wenger and Fergie do him a solid by letting them stay until May (Wenger’s the more likely with Watford’s training ground a stones throw from London Colney).

TOP DIVISION

Champions League and Europa League fixtures have rendered the greatest kick-off time in the world somewhat flaccid this afternoon.

Sunderland at Birmingham should be a spicy meatball with Bruce taking a performing team back to St Andrews where he found himself a little mistreated (although I think he learned a lot from that period and righted a lot of wrongs in his approach, certainly the media, but also to other managers). Darren Bent will be hoping to continue his fine run of form with a winner in what’s shaping up to be a tight affair in the West Midlands. Despite investment, Phillips remains Blues’ greatest goal threat to my eye, but Chucho can unleash his clear potential at any moment…still waiting though.

Burnley will be hoping to scare a growing Wigan side into an away defeat at Turfmoor today, Martinez’s side must find consistency if they’re to draw themselves away from the bottom seven in the early stages of the season.

Chelsea host Blackburn, who will have nothing to lose (scoring two goals at The Emirates and still being humiliated shows there’s not an inch given that isn’t taken away with gusto in the top-four). The West-London side’s form has been erratic so far, looking unplayable at their best and clueless at their worst, problems in the Ancelotti family may work in their favour as the Italian’s influence may be proving a little Scolari-esque with the dropping of Carvalho and the insistence on starting Deco proving potentally ominous signs.

Paul Hart will see a trip to Hull as the best and probably last chance of saving his job before the new owners at Portsmouth get rightly pissed-off and give him his marching orders. The steady improvement in the Pompey side over the last few weeks should see the South-Coast side pick up the away win against Phil Brown’s clueless side. A lack of biting edge in the final third could well prove their undoing though. If they’re to claim the much needed three-points, Dindane’s going to have to concentrate when it’s time to pull the trigger.

Spurs will continue their fine start to the season (remember their start last season? What a difference a twitchy con-man can make) at home to Stoke today. Despite Tony Pulis’ men performing fantastically in the league already this season, I wouldn’t expect them to collect any points today. Still; it’s worth noting the comfort with which Stoke sit in the Premier League this season, a worthy and settled addition to the top division, if they snatched a draw I wouldn’t be surprised but I can’t really see it.

Wolves host Villa in the early kick-off (twenty minutes in fact. I’d better hurry-up). Villa will see the local derby as an opportunity to improve on their shocking tally of just twenty-two shots on target all season. The opportunity to sit in the top four, if only for a twenty-seven or so hours may prove daunting to a Villa side that last season failed to match their expectations when Saturday came.

PREMIER LEAGUE

Birmingham-1 Sunderland-2

Burnley-1 Wigan-0

Chelsea-2 Blackburn-0

Hull-1 Portsmouth-2

Tottenham-2 Stoke-0

Wolves-1 Aston Villa-3

THE CHAMPIONSHIP

Barnsley-1 Bristol City-2

Coventry-1 West Brom-1

Crystal Palace-1 Nottingham Forest-1

Derby-0 QPR-2

Newcastle-3 Doncaster-0

Peterborough-1 Scunthorpe-1

Plymouth-1 Ipswich-2

Preston-2 Middlesbrough-1

Sheffield United-3 Cardiff-2

Swansea-1 Blackpool-2

MY LEAGUE ONE AND LEAGUE TWO FIXTURES CAN BE FOUND HERE