1. The magic and the mayhem returned to Wembley
After Saturday’s ugly scenes involving (feigns shock) Milwall fans, all eyes
were on today’s match to restore some of the stardust to a competition badly
lacking it of late. Thankfully, football fans everywhere were not to be
disappointed. Well maybe Chelsea fans, but nobody really cares about them. The
second FA Cup Semi Final was an end to end pulsating thriller filled with great
goals, superb saves and high octane drama. Ya Ya Toure treated the Chelsea
central midfield with the respect that it deserved and City dominated two
thirds of a match they should have been out of sight of. Goals though, as they
say, change games… and Chelsea produced a marvellous late flurry following
another wonderful Demba Ba strike. The match wasn’t finished there and also
featured a last ten minutes of spectacularly bad officiating just for the hell
of it. There were a couple of suspect offside calls, an unpunished rake by
Fernando Torres that was clearly a booking and one of the great “how was that
not a red card moments.” Chris Foy had a good game for 80 minutes and his
desire to let the game flow contributed hugely to such a great spectacle, but
quite how he missed Sergio Aguero drop-kicking David Luiz remains a mystery.
The Argentinian can probably expect some retrospective punishment (or not,
knowing the randomness of the FA) but either way he’ll be available to play in
a cup final that pits the muscle and the might against the minnows. Wigan may
not be able to fill half of Wembley Stadium, but a cup final appearance is a
rich reward for a club who have loyalty coursing through their veins. I’ll be
cheering for them next month, although if City attack like they did today you
fear the worst…
2. Di Canio was made for the Premier League
Say what you like about the man’s politics (and many have) Paulo Di Canio is pure, 100% box office. After a calm start to his Sunderland career the Italian exploded into life in a Tyne/Wear Derby that seemingly attempted to redefine the word “passion.” Sunderland produced a performance that was almost Norton Coin in its comparison to how they’ve played for the past 12 months, sweeping past Newcastle with some slick football and truly brilliant goals. The reaction of their manager to these goals bordered on the parody. Di Canio gurned, punched and knee slid his way onto the pitch as if Sunderland had just won the Champions League. For their fans, it was all a bit too much to take as several post match arrests indicated. For now though, they have reason to believe they can survive again in a relegation battle that throws up a new favourite team for 18th each week. Many teams that have been “too good to go down” have done just that. But at the risk of open mockery if it happens, surely… surely Newcastle are too good to go down. If this team finishes below one of Stoke, Norwich, Villa and Wigan they want whipping. If they finish below all of them they should be cast out to sea.
2. Di Canio was made for the Premier League
Say what you like about the man’s politics (and many have) Paulo Di Canio is pure, 100% box office. After a calm start to his Sunderland career the Italian exploded into life in a Tyne/Wear Derby that seemingly attempted to redefine the word “passion.” Sunderland produced a performance that was almost Norton Coin in its comparison to how they’ve played for the past 12 months, sweeping past Newcastle with some slick football and truly brilliant goals. The reaction of their manager to these goals bordered on the parody. Di Canio gurned, punched and knee slid his way onto the pitch as if Sunderland had just won the Champions League. For their fans, it was all a bit too much to take as several post match arrests indicated. For now though, they have reason to believe they can survive again in a relegation battle that throws up a new favourite team for 18th each week. Many teams that have been “too good to go down” have done just that. But at the risk of open mockery if it happens, surely… surely Newcastle are too good to go down. If this team finishes below one of Stoke, Norwich, Villa and Wigan they want whipping. If they finish below all of them they should be cast out to sea.
3. What will become of Andy Carroll
Staying with the Tyneside theme, Newcastle pony Andy Carroll has had his future questioned again this week, just as he’s returned to a little bit of form. There is a certain irony in Carroll having his best scoring run for a year at the same time as Liverpool return to not being able to hit the back of the net for love nor money, but such is football at times. Carroll has hardly set the world alight at West Ham but the gallant stallion is a much better player than people give him credit for. The trouble isn’t that he’s a bad player, it’s that he’s not a £35m player and frankly never will be. Carroll belongs at a club outside of the European spots who will occasionally punch above their weight, not be impartial to the odd cup run but largely fail to mount any sort of serious challenge for meaningful silverware. He belongs at a club like… hold on… like Liverpool. Well I’m none the wiser then. I suppose they could always just put him in a Tesco Burger.
Staying with the Tyneside theme, Newcastle pony Andy Carroll has had his future questioned again this week, just as he’s returned to a little bit of form. There is a certain irony in Carroll having his best scoring run for a year at the same time as Liverpool return to not being able to hit the back of the net for love nor money, but such is football at times. Carroll has hardly set the world alight at West Ham but the gallant stallion is a much better player than people give him credit for. The trouble isn’t that he’s a bad player, it’s that he’s not a £35m player and frankly never will be. Carroll belongs at a club outside of the European spots who will occasionally punch above their weight, not be impartial to the odd cup run but largely fail to mount any sort of serious challenge for meaningful silverware. He belongs at a club like… hold on… like Liverpool. Well I’m none the wiser then. I suppose they could always just put him in a Tesco Burger.
4. The Championship remains as exciting as ever
Sadly condemned to the graveyard Saturday night shift, the drama of the Championship continues to deliver season upon season upon season. It is a wonderful league full of talented young players (Ince), old pro’s refusing to be put out to pasture (Phillips) and managers you’d thought you’d seen the back of for good (Bruce). The real story though, is a relegation battle that makes the Premier League one look dull by comparison. Middlesbrough are in 10th spot of a league that contains 24 teams, yet they are just six points off relegation. In total a mere 7 points separates a staggering 14 teams with 4 or 5 games left to play. Sheffield Wednesday looked dead and buried two weeks ago but 3 wins out of their last 5 means they are now as close to 9th as they are the drop zone. It’s impossible to pick out two of the myriad of contenders, although Wolves and Blackburn could well be favourites to complete an unparalleled double, double drop from the Premier League to League One in successive seasons. The Championship continues to live in the shadow of its bigger brother, but spending a weekend enjoying the madness remains as enjoyably unpredictable as anything European football can offer.
5. Nobody is above a shameless plug, or indeed just begging
I’m not above anything, not least finding any possible way of insulting Liverpool in 5 easy to digest points, but will people who read this blog please start following me on twitter. I don’t like to beg, or indeed boast, but my Google hit counter tells me 130 people read my blog last week and 145 on average this year. If you’re reading this on Bread & Butter or Football Blog UK, that’s probably another 100 more. So why the hell have I only got 44 followers on twitter? Granted all I do on twitter is post this blog, insult footballers or minor celebs and make wildly inaccurate predictions… but still? At least a quarter of my followers appear to work in the sex industry? So if you’re reading this blog and have a full 20 seconds of your life to spare – please follow me. It will not change your life in almost any meaningful way. But it will change mine. Sort of.
I’m not above anything, not least finding any possible way of insulting Liverpool in 5 easy to digest points, but will people who read this blog please start following me on twitter. I don’t like to beg, or indeed boast, but my Google hit counter tells me 130 people read my blog last week and 145 on average this year. If you’re reading this on Bread & Butter or Football Blog UK, that’s probably another 100 more. So why the hell have I only got 44 followers on twitter? Granted all I do on twitter is post this blog, insult footballers or minor celebs and make wildly inaccurate predictions… but still? At least a quarter of my followers appear to work in the sex industry? So if you’re reading this blog and have a full 20 seconds of your life to spare – please follow me. It will not change your life in almost any meaningful way. But it will change mine. Sort of.
Oh and seriously who is the person in Alaska who has been
reading this blog for like 2 years? I want answers…
https://twitter.com/HinduMonkey
I don't do Twitter, but I'm reading this is in Australia, so at least your audience is far flung and global! Any sunshine yet in the UK? x
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