TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
| |||
|
| |||
| |||
|
| |||
| Boxing Day clockwatch – live! | Simon Burnton and Paolo Bandini Email your any thoughts, questions and observations to paolo.bandini@guardian.co.uk plus here is the live scoreboard for all today's matches4.59pm: West Ham look like the day's big winners, having climbed out of the relegation zone with that win over Portsmouth, though Roberto Mancini will obviously be delighted to have got his time as Manchester City manager off to a winning start and Birmingham are now 10 games unbeaten - their best run for 100 years. Right, that's it for the Clockwatch. Here's hoping you'll join me in a few moments for live coverage of Liverpool v Wolves.4.56pm: Just to confirm, then, here are all today's full-time scores in the Premier League, with just Liverpool v Wolves still to play: Birmingham 0-0 Chelsea, Burnley 1-1 Bolton, Fulham 0-0 Tottenham, Man City 2-0 Stoke, Sunderland 1-1 Everton, West Ham 2-0 Portsmouth, Wigan 1-1 Blackburn4.54pm: It ends 1-1 at the Stadium of Light as well, Marouane Fellaini's goal enough to earn Everton a point after Darren Bent had put Sunderland ahead. Manchester City, meanwhile, have beaten Stoke 2-0.4.53pm: It's full-time at the DW Stadium - Wigan 1-1 Blackburn.4.51pm: Are all these words doing your head in? Check out the best of the afternoon's action in pictures instead by clicking right here.4.48pm: Tim Rich is back with some slightly unfair stereotyping of Italian football: "Bellamy launches himself into the Mancini years with an immediate foul and then his first penalty appeal of the new era when tripped by Robert Huth - on his knees, hands outstretched, imploring the referee to award it. Mancini would appreciate that - very Serie A." I'm not sure there's really much more diving in Serie A than there is the Premier League these days, to be honest.4.47pm: Celtic look to have tied up all three points against Hamilton after Niall McGinn makes it 2-0.4.45pm: A goal! A real, honest-to-goodness goal! Marouane Fellaini swivels in the area to wallop home an equaliser for Everton after being played in by Pienaar and it's no more than the visitors deserve. Sunderland 1-1 Everton.4.43pm: Alberto Aquilani will start for Liverpool against Wolves in the afternoon's late game, which you can follow by clicking on this link as soon as this clockwatch ends.4.41pm: Everton are dominating possession against Sunderland but still struggling to create clear-cut chances. At the DW Stadium, McCarthy just dragged a shot wide for Blackburn but it's still 1-1.4.39pm: Brett Ormerod's goal makes it Derby 0-2 Blackpool in the Championship. I'd give you an update from the Premier League, only nothing's really happening.4.35pm: "The cameras linger on City chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak and chief executive Garry Cook sitting together and with Stoke's second half resistance confined thus far to a shot from James Beattie that Given wonderfully deflects into the side-netting, they can be reasonably satisfied with the way the afternoon has gone," writes our man in Manchester Tim Rich. "One difference with Hughes is that before every substitution, Mancini shows each player a series of charts, presumably pointing the way to goal, or in Craig Bellamy's case the position of the referee. Bellamy arrives to replace Robinho and is given a standing ovation by the Eastlands crowd."4.33pm: Gary Naylor has just written to point out that the standfirst above this article does invite Christmas limericks. Well, it did - I just changed it. News to me!4.31pm: Craig Bellamy is coming on for Robinho - to warm applause from the home fans - at the City of Manchester Stadium.4.29pm: It's West Brom 2-0 Peterborough following what looked like an own goal from Ryan Bennett. Assuming they can hang on to the win now, West Brom will move two points clear of Nottingham Forest in second place. They'll still be eight points behind league leaders Newcastle but hey, it's a start.4.26pm: Stoke are finally looking a little livelier against Manchester City, and Shay Given got down unbelievably quickly to deflect the ball round the post from a James Beattie effort. It would have been a lovely goal too, Beattie taking the ball down on his chest after Matthew Etherington had sent diagonal ball into the area from a free-kick, then turning and blasting it goalwards on the half-volley. From the ensuing corner Huth headed wide when he should have done better.4.23pm: And now West Brom do lead at the Hawthorns, Graham Dorrans threading the ball through for Luke Moore with a ball so clever that it even seemed to catch his team-mate unawares. Moore worked out was happening just in time to thump the ball past Joe Lewis and make it West Brom 1-0 Peterborough.4.20pm: A limerick from Gary Naylor: "On the Republic of Ireland's Steve Hunt / Phil Brown took a bit of a punt / But Steve is a dullard / Not like Jimmy Bullard / And fans think he's a bit of a front (player)"I honestly have no idea what prompted this.4.17pm: West Brom have a great opportunity to make some ground at the top of the Championship after both Newcastle and Nottingham Forest drew earlier today, but so far they're being held goalless by Peterborough at the Hawthorns.4.15pm: "Looking at his suspiciously smooth face and forehead, I'm trying to work out what Mancini has had done - full facelift, eyebags or just botox," ponders Kate via email. "He definitely plucks his eyebrows which is slightly disturbing."4.14pm: Over at Eastlands, Stoke just sent James Beattie on Mamady Sidibe. Probably a good idea - so far they've had a whopping one shot on target.4.12pm: It's Wigan 1-1 Blackburn at the DW Stadium, Hugo Rodallega heading home from a Charles N'Zogbia cross.4.11pm: John Mensah risks giving away a penalty by climbing all over Fellaini in the area.4.08pm: City almost add a third goal within seconds of the re-start with Ireland playing in Robinho, who is tackled only for the ball to fall to Petrov 12 yards out. Sorensen does fantastically to block his shot, then manages to claw the rebound off the boot of Robinho and Stoke hack it away. Middlesbrough, meanwhile, have added a third and lead Scunthorpe 3-0.4.06pm: They're about to get going again at Eastlands and Robinho is running on the spot with more enthusiasm than he normally musters for running at goal. Can we blame this on Mancini? Nope, it's just cold.4pm: Full-time at Turf Moor and it's Burnley 1-1 Bolton. That's Burnley's fourth consecutive 1-1 draw at home, and enough to move them up to 13th for the time being. Bolton are now 18th.3.56pm: Our man at Eastlands, Tim Rich, is back with his take on the second goal. "Manchester City go two up and at home to Stoke most people at most clubs would say game over but not this one," writes Tim. "Tevez is playing like a man inspired and his finish to Gareth Barry's header is committed and balletic. Robinho is displaying more visible effort than he has in the past, although a shrug of the shoulders would have summed up his contribution in the last month. The crowd at Eastlands are chanting his name and the Brazilian responds with a slice into the crowd and two dreadfully-directed corners."3.53pm: Half-time scores in the Premier League: Man City 2-0 Stoke, Sunderland 1-0 Everton, Wigan 0-1 Blackburn. They're also into injury-time at Turf Moor, where it's still Burnley 1-1 Bolton.3.50pm: Carlos Tevez extends Manchester City's lead over Stoke right on the stroke of half-time. The ball was swung into the area from the left-hand side, Gareth Barry got up to head it towards the middle of the six-yard box and Tevez, completely unmarked, managed to get his foot up close to head height to divert the ball past Thomas Sorensen with a flying volley. City have scarcely deserved it, but they lead 2-0.3.47pm: Hmm, having some technical trouble here and seem to have lost a couple of entries, but the important news (well, importantish) is that it's now half-time at Wigan, where the home side trail Blackburn 1-0. In the Championship it' s Middlesbrough 2-0 Scunthorpe and in the SPL Falkirk 0-1 Hearts.3.41pm Here's Tim Rich's take on that City goal: "Just as arch-Hughes loyalist and fellow Welshman, Craig Bellamy, was warming up from the bench, Robinho - restored to the starting line-up by Mancini, with a healthy regard for his employers' investment - provides the assist for City's first goal scored by Martin Petrov. Okay, it wasn't much of an assist - just a boot stuck out to divert Carlos Tevez's pass into the Bulgarian's path - but it is a start. Brian Kidd embraces Mancini just like he used to do to Fergie, although you assume the Italian wears a better class of aftershave."3.37pm: Incidentally, does anyone else struggle as much as I do to understand why some teams do so much better at home than they do away? I appreciate crowd noise can be a factor - but top-flight grounds in particular aren't as noisy as they used to be and teams could surely have worked out by now how best to minimise the impact of travelling on match preparation. Some of it comes down to tactics, of course, but if that's the main factor then why do people bother changing their tactics at all?3.35pm: As I type that Jaaskelainen makes a stunning one-handed save to push the ball round the post from another Nugent effort.3.34pm: Burnley are now all over Bolton at Turf Moor but it's still 1-1. That's probably how it's going to end, too - Burnley have drawn their last three games 1-1 at home.3.30pm: And it's also Wigan 0-1 Blackburn. McCarthy shows off those goalhanging tendencies we were talking of, seizing on the ball inside the six-yard box and thwacking into the top left corner.3.28pm: And now Manchester City lead Stoke 1-0. Unfortunately I don't have live footage at the moment but it was Martin Petrov with the goal and from the sounds of things he poked the ball home from close range after Robinho had missed a sitter.3.26pm: Our man at Eastlands, Tim Rich, has been on the look-out for the elusive Mark Hughes Supporters Association. "So far the number of pro-Mark Hughes demonstrations has been counted and registers zero," notes Tim. "Roberto Mancini, wrapped up in a Manchester City scarf as stylishly as anyone can wear a football scarf, was warmly applauded and but for a wonderful reaction save from Shay Given from Tuncay Sanli, City should be in the familiar position of being a goal behind against a side they have barely heard of in Abu Dhabi."3.23pm: "Turkey may be the traditional choice, but having gone the leg-of-organic-lamb-roasted-with-rosemary-and-garlic route this year, I can confidently tell you that bits of dessicated bird are very much second rate when it comes to Boxing Day toasted sandwiches," claims Jack Lee. "Or maybe your mother's just a better turkey cook than me. But more importantly, did you remember to pinch the 1/2 bottle of cheap brandy left over from the Xmas pudding to keep you warm in the MBM seat today?" Sadly not, Jack, and I do have to tell you that my mother does cook an exceptional turkey. That said any great leftover sandwich is as much about the trimmings - leftover stuffing, pigs in blankets and gravy - as the bird itself ...3.20pm: Everton haven't kept a clean sheet since September and they're not going to today because Darren Bent just thumped a header past Tim Howard.3.18pm: It's Burnley 1-1 Bolton in the 2pm kick-off at Turf Moor. The home side had been enjoying a good spell of pressure and Wade Elliott puts in the cross from the right for David Nugent to head home.3.13pm: The media are often accused of over-reacting to any given weekend's results - usually with good reason - but is it really just the media? I only ask this because after Nicholas John already asked my colleague if Premier League strikers were getting worse today and now, with three goals having been scored in the first three and a half games, I have been sent the following question by Yannis. "I've been trying to think of proper goal hangers in the Modern game," he muses. "Apart from Defoe, where have they all gone?" What do you define as a goalhanger? Off the top of my head Darren Bent, Benni McCarthy and Louis Saha all spring to mind just in the Premier League ...3.11pm: It's Middlesbrough 1-0 Scunthorpe in the Championship, after an Adam Johnson penalty and Scunthorpe have had Cliff Byrne sent off. Celtic lead Hamilton 1-0 up in Scotland.3.05pm: Yesterday I made a mistake. Leaving my mother's house at the end of a very enjoyable Christmas Day, I forgot to take any leftovers from the delicious turkey we had consumed. As a result, today I had to make do with slightly underwhelming chicken sandwich from Gregg's.If a host of Premier League managers are to be believed, Manchester City also made a mistake last week - telling Mark Hughes to do one. Their punishment is to be lumbered with Roberto Mancini - a man who has won three Serie A titles. I actually have all sorts of reservations about Mancini - I think he has a tendency to sulk and feel sorry for himself rather than come out fighting when the going gets tough - but so far the fans at Eastlands don't seem to share my concerns, the reception has been very pleasant.2.59pm: Afternoon all. It's Burnley 0-1 Bolton at half-time and kicking off right now we have Manchester City v Stoke City, Sunderland v Everton and Wigan v Blackburn. I'll be here to keep you updated on all of those games, and then as soon as that's all done I'll be jumping over to a different - but not that different page for minute-by-minute coverage of Liverpool v Wolves.2.57pm: And with that, I pass you over to Paolo Bandini who will guide you through the next few hours. Thanks for everything, it's been a blast.2.54pm: It's all over at Upton Park as well, were West Ham beat Portsmouth 2-0. Massive result that for the Hammers, obviously. They're out of the bottom three, for now at least.2.53pm: Full-time at Fulham and it's finished goalless. Tottenham's third successive clean sheet, though, which is nice for them.2.52pm: Half-time at Turf Moor and Bolton are one up, though they missed a great chance to double their lead right at the death.2.50pm: Apparently Portsmouth have been doing all the attacking, but West Ham got a free-kick on the right wing and Kovac won the header and guided the ball into the corner. That's football though, eh?2.48pm: GOAL! West Ham 2 Portsmouth 0 (Kovac, 89)2.44pm: Ten matches unbeaten for Birmingham, which is pretty awesome.2.41pm: It's all over, after six minutes of stoppage time, and Birmingham get a creditable draw against the league leaders. Chelsea had the better second-half chances, and missed an absolute sitter through Malouda, but given the two incorrect offside decisions back in the first half Blues probably deserved the point.2.37pm: Red card! Florent Malouda fouls Carr and gets a second yellow. Almost exactly the same as his first booking. Stupid, mistimed but not enormously vicious.2.36pm: Damien Johnson comes on for the last two and a bit minutes at St Andrew's, replacing Larsson.2.33pm: Goal! Burnley 0 Bolton 1 (Matthew Taylor 29). A brilliant free-kick, Iain Dowie tells me. So that's two Premier League goals so far today, one penalty and a free kick.2.32pm: "Hey simon," writes Nicholas John, "how come there are so few goals today? is it because premier league strikers are not as good as they used to be?"2.31pm: Joe Hart is bleeding from the head. The Birmingham keeper collected Carr's back-header as Didier Drogba closed in, and got a bit of a boot in the bonce. Drogba might wish to talk to his side's own goalkeeper about the ethics of an attacker allowing himself to make contact with an onrushing goalkeeper's head when they are unlikely to win the ball.2.29pm: I can't actually see the action from Craven Cottage, but Chris Kamara is watching it on my behalf and keeps blathering on about incredible saves from Tottenham's Heurelho Gomes.2.28pm: Those Roberto Mancini (and Tony Pulis) selections in full!Man City: Given, Zabaleta, Toure, Kompany, Sylvinho, De Jong, Barry, Robinho, Ireland, Petrov, Tevez. Subs: Taylor, Richards, Garrido, Vidal, Bellamy, Weiss, Boyata. Stoke: Sorensen, Wilkinson, Abdoulaye Faye, Collins, Higginbotham, Sanli, Whitehead, Diao, Whelan, Etherington, Sidibe. Subs: Simonsen, Huth, Lawrence, Beattie, Fuller, Pugh, Delap. Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire).2.27pm: "Bouaouzan may be the finest name in football," agrees Jack Lee, wisely, "but 'Bramble' is surely the most onomatopoeic." Any rivals, gang?2.26pm: Birmingham's first substitution, Fahey replacing McFadden. Then Ivanovic gets booked, and Chelsea take Lampard off for Joe Cole.2.20pm: More Premier League teams! Is Bouaouzan not the finest name in football?Wigan: Kirkland, Melchiot, Bramble, Boyce, Figueroa, N'Zogbia, Scharner, Thomas, Gomez, Scotland, Rodallega. Subs: Kingson, Amaya, Cho, Sinclair, De Ridder, McCarthy, Bouaouzan. Blackburn: Robinson, Chimbonda, Samba, Nelsen, Givet, Salgado, Nzonzi, Andrews, Hoilett, McCarthy, Di Santo. Subs: Brown, Jacobsen, Roberts, Pedersen, Diouf, Kalinic, Jones. Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).2.19pm: Another great chance for Chelsea. Belletti's pass puts Kalou through on goal, though he's running across goal. He takes the shot early, but it's a bit too close to the keeper, who saves well.2.18pm: Florent Malouda misses the best chance of the game, the ball deflecting into his path with no defenders anywhere near and the goalkeeper hopelessly out of position. He totally miskicks and the ball loops into nowhere very good.2.18pm: I'll give you Roberto Mancini's first Manchester City team as soon as I get it, but early news is that Robinho's in and Adebayor is nowhere to be seen, not even on the bench.2.17pm: I never gave you these teams. Sorry.Burnley: Jensen, Mears, Duff, Bikey, Jordan, Elliott, McDonald, Alexander, Eagles, Nugent, Steven Fletcher. Subs: Penny, Kalvenes, Gudjonsson, Edgar, Blake, Thompson, Guerrero. Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Knight, Robinson, Lee, Basham, Cohen, Taylor, Kevin Davies, Klasnic. Subs: Al Habsi, Samuel, Elmander, Gardner, Mark Davies, Ricketts, Andrew O'Brien. Referee: Chris Foy (Merseyside)2.15pm: Belletti's header from Malouda's corner deflects off Bowyer and just wide of the far post. It's actually quite a good game, this.2.10pm: ...and from the free-kick Larsson sends the ball dipping and curling towards the top corner, but Cech saves it brilliantly before landing, painfully, against the post.2.09pm: Florent Malouda wins the game's first yellow card with a late and very poorly directed attempt to tackle Benitez. So poorly directed, in fact, that he barely touched Benitez.2.07pm: Benitez cuts in from the right but his left-foot shot from 18 yards is curled onto John Terry's forehead. Birmingham retain possession, but only for as long as it takes them to clumsily pass the ball out of play.1.53pm: So one Premier League goal in the three early matches so far. They're just about to kick off again at St Andrew's. "Looking at the replay, not alone was Drogba playing Benitez onside, but he was actually behind the ball when it was played," says Paul Keane. "Given Drogba's usual behaviour of imitating life-threatening injuries, it was nice to see the ref allow play to continue, and would have been wonderfully ironic if his acting had cost Chelsea the goal." I agree, it would have been funny.1.47pm: Charlton, after 41 minutes of their home game against Swindon, have had a second man sent off. They're 1-0 up at the moment, but now down to nine men.1.36pm: Three seconds after those two minutes had elapsed, Drogba crosses from the right and Sturridge at the far post has a wonderful chance to give Chelsea the lead, but he touches it wide. And with that, the half-time whistle goes.1.35pm: We'll have two minutes of stoppage time at the end of the first half at St Andrew's. It's been a slightly niggly game, but despite having very little possession for about 25 minutes in the middle of it Birmingham will be annoyed that they aren't winning this.1.29pm: Alex lashes in a 35-yard wonderstrike which slaps the bar at great force.1.27pm: That lino's having a stinker here. Mikel and Benitez run into each other just outside the far right corner of Chelsea's penalty area. The linesman says it's a Birmingham free-kick, but the referee thinks he's wrong again and gives it to Chelsea.1.26pm: Birmingham have done excellently these last 10 minutes or so. Chelsea are hanging on at the moment.1.23pm: Goal! West ham 1-0 Portmouth West Ham take the lead with a Diamanti penalty.1.22pm: Disallowed goal at St Andrew's. Ridgewell's shot across goal looks like it was probably going wide until Benitez turns the ball in. Didier Drogba, who was lying in the penalty area pretending to be injured, was playing everyone onside really, even though he wasn't actually playing, more just lying there. But it's disallowed anyway. Bad decision, I think. The second by this linesman, both of which may well have denied Birmingham a goal.1.17pm: Now Ivanovic plays in Lampard, who has very little time and has to turn and shoot immediately. It's too close to the keeper, who pushes the ball wide. Good chance.1.14pm: Chucho Benitez is played in with a nice ball over the top. Cameron Jerome is probably offside – just – but Benitez certainly is not, yet the linesman raises his flag. He was one on one, through on goal – poor decision.1.12pm: Chelsea attack again, Malouda passes inside to Ashley Cole, bursting into the area. He's dispossessed by a good tackle but the ball breaks to Sturridge, whose first-time shot was heading right into the corner until the keeper touched it wide. Excellent save.1.11pm: And Newcastle have gone 2-1 up at Sheffield Wednesday, the referee failing to notice that Shola Ameobi was a couple of yards offside. Nice finish, mind.1.10pm: Chelsea have been on top for most of the last 10 minutes or so, with Birmingham having one effort, a 20-odd yard free-kick that Larsson slammed into the wall, but the only good chance for either side was that first-minute Cameron Jerome effort.1.08pm: Again Belletti bursts into the box for Chelsea, and this time Sturridge finds him with a deep cross. Belletti goes for the near post, and just misses – it was a very acute angle, and there wasn't really anyone for him to head it back to.1.06pm: Kevin Nolan has equalised for Newcastle at Hillsborough.1.02pm: Sheffield Wednesday have taken the lead against the Championship leaders, Newcastle, with a Luke Varney header.12.59pm: Malouda's corner finds Ivanovic, outjumping Steven Carr and flicking his header just over the bar.12.58pm: The players are lining up for the kick-off at Craven Cottage, where Harry Redknapp's decision to drop Jermain Defoe in favour of Robbie Keane is the cause of much pre-game debate.12.55pm: Early pass of the day contender from Didier Drogba, a backheel while in possession near the right touchline, facing away from goal and with two defenders in attendance, that found Belletti bursting into the penalty area. The Brazilian, however, is incapable of scoring from less than 25 yards and gets confused.12.49pm: First minute at St Andrew's, Cameron Jerome bursts onto a long hoof from defence, nods the ball on, outpaces Alex and suddenly has a brilliant scoring chance, 10 yards out and a bit to the right of goal. Cech goes down early – any shot across goal towards the far post would have gone in, but Jerome blasts towards the near post and misses it by a distance.12.48pm: Kick-off at St Andrew's. Meanwhile, the Sky Sports score ticker is reporting Arsenal's third goal against Hull. From 19 December.12.41pm: I'm sitting in the middle of two screens, one showing Sky and one ESPN. This multi-screen set-up makes me feel a little like a CTU operative, only without Jack Bauer leaning over my shoulder and telling me in a dramatic off-whisper to "do it! Now!". But it also makes me really confused, because everyone's talking at the same time.12.31pm: So Daniel Sturridge gets his first league start for Chelsea at the ground where his father, Michael, and his uncle Simon once played. Ricardo Carvalho is on the bench, with Alex taking his polace in the team. Birmingham are unchanged for the seventh game on the spin – is this some kind of record?And there's more!Fulham: Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky, Duff, Murphy, Baird, Gera, Dempsey, Zamora. Subs: Stockdale, Andrew Johnson, Nevland, Etuhu, Smalling, Greening, Kallio. Tottenham: Gomes, Corluka, Dawson, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Jenas, Palacios, Kranjcar, Keane, Crouch. Subs: Alnwick, Bale, Huddlestone, Pavlyuchenko, Modric, Defoe, King. Referee: Steve Bennett (Kent)I'll keep you up to date with the Premier League team news as we get it. Or, to be slightly more up front with you all, a few minutes after we get it...West Ham v Portsmouth West Ham: Green, Faubert, Tomkins, Upson, Ilunga, Collison, Kovac, Parker, Diamanti, Noble, Franco. Subs: Stech, Jimenez, Spector, Behrami, Da Costa, Nouble, Stanislas. Portsmouth: Begovic, Finnan, Kaboul, Ben-Haim, Hreidarsson, O'Hara, Brown, Mullins, Belhadj, Piquionne, Dindane. Subs: Ashdown, Diop, Utaka, Boateng, Kanu, Yebda, Wilson. Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire)Good afternoon world! So it's not actually Boxing Day today. Instead, it's Boxing Day on Monday. So why were the ruddy buses running so slowly today, eh? It's not even a bank blinking holiday, now is it?The bad news: because I am in here, watching Fabio Capello settle into his posh seat for the first St Stephen's Day fixture at Birmingham, I am not at my parents' house, where, due to a minor diary oversight, they are roasting up a goose. The good news: I spent Christmas Day with friends, and they roasted a goose too. And while roasted goose is pretty great, twice in 24 hours might have been a bit much. The other good news: if I weren't watching Ray Stubbs chat with Kevin Keegan and Matt Holland, I might well be browsing the Boxing Day sales online and hemorrhaging money on ludicrous tat suddenly reduced by 85% yet still, you realise once it's arrived and it's too late to do anything about it except send it back but that's a real hassle, a good 50% overpriced.Anyway, enough! Today, we feast on football! And here's your amuse bouche:Birmingham: Hart, Carr, Roger Johnson, Dann, Ridgewell, Larsson, Ferguson, Bowyer, McFadden, Jerome, Benitez. Subs: Maik Taylor, Phillips, Fahey, McSheffrey, Damien Johnson, Carsley, Vignal. Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Terry, Alex, Ashley Cole, Belletti, Mikel, Malouda, Lampard, Drogba, Sturridge. Subs: Hilario, Carvalho, Joe Cole, Ballack, Zhirkov, Paulo Ferreira, Kalou. Referee: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire).Simon will be here from noon. In the meantime, peruse our squad sheets for all of today's Premier League matches. Chelsea visit Birmingham in today's early kick-off and the papers have been full of Daniel Sturridge's assertion that he is ready to step up to the mark and solve Chelsea's striker crisis, as Nicolas Anelka is injured while Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou head to the African Cup of Nations after today's game. Sturridge has scored no goals in five games so far this season, so that's quite a big step up he'll be looking to make. At 1pm, the London derby (of sorts) kicks off between in-form Fulham and in-consistent Tottenham Hotspur, while it's a six-pointer at Upton Park as West Ham United look to build on the point gained against Chelsea by beating relegation rivals Pompey.In the 2pm kick-off, Burnley host Bolton Wanderers then at 3pm it is Manchester City v Stoke City, Sunderland v Everton and Wigan Athletic v Blackburn Rovers.Premier LeagueBirmingham CityChelseaFulhamTottenham HotspurWest Ham UnitedPortsmouthBurnleyBolton WanderersManchester CityStoke CitySunderlandEvertonWigan AthleticBlackburn RoversSimon BurntonPaolo Bandiniguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger was right to play me, says injured captain Cesc Fabregas Cesc Fabregas, the injured Arsenal captain, has said Arsène Wenger was right to play him against Aston Villa on Boxing Day. telegraph.co.uk |
Spain's best is yet to come: Torres Spain has put its shocking Confederations Cup loss to the U.S. behind it and is firmly focused on the task at hand: winning the World Cup in South Africa. cbc.ca |
The Fiver | Poisoned Chalice; and Cheering Up Liverpool's Fanbase Subscribe here for your own daily copy delivered to your inboxHART BEATThe Fiver has for some time been an advocate of the reverse-visualisation gambit, whereby openly tempting fate by saying out loud the worst possible thing that might happen means it somehow won't. For the Fiver, this means a daily routine of wandering around saying things like "no way could there ever be a beetle in my pocket", or "it would be probably be really awful to be routinely jeered and jostled by disdainful lesiure-suited youths outside Londis". Or "how unpleasant hypothetically speaking to find yourself jaded, frayed, smelling faintly of fish paste, all youthful vitality spent and increasingly prone to ranting in a way that seems angry and frightening rather than funny or in any way charming". Without which, the Fiver suspects all these things would have happened at least a bit more.It seems that Paul Hart takes a similar approach, judging by his comments on taking the QPR job only last month. "I am here until the end of the season at the moment and I am happy with that," Hart said at his unveiling in December. "As far as a poisoned chalice is concerned, it has not been deep in my thoughts," he declared, lowering a chalice from his lips and coughing violently. "Some people have said that it is like going out of the frying pan into the fire," he added, struggling to free himself from a giant flaming wicker replica of a sad-looking, long-faced manager. "This is a great club and it is privilege to be working here."And so it was until this morning when Hart left Loftus Road after just five games in charge, his second abrupt departure from a flailingly hopeless English league club in the last eight weeks, following his sacking by penniless Portsmouth. "The club would like to wish both [insert name of recently fired manager here] and [insert name of recently fired assistant manager here] good luck in the future and thank them for their hard work," droned the increasingly overworked template QPR use for announcing their managerial departures. Or at least something along those lines, the Fiver having nodded off counting up the recently departed bosses at a club which, since it got mixed up with swaggering blue-spectacled, disco-dancing, yacht-loiterer Flavio Briatore in November 2007, has been managed by John Gregory, Luigi De Canio, Iain Dowie, Paulo Sousa, Jim Magilton, Gareth Ainsworth, Steve Gallen, Marc Bircham, Hart and, now, his assistant Mick Harford.Semi-retired miserabilist Alan Curbishley is already being bandied about as next in line. And has no doubt spent most of his afternoon pacing up and down talking about how awful it would be to have a blue-spectacled yacht-swaggerer rattling the letter box and peering through the keyhole and how maybe it's time to turn off the lights and close the curtains and keep very, very quiet.QUOTE OF THE DAY"For the love of God, get your head out of your backside and have some respect for your yourself and stop acting the fool. And, just as importantly, have some respect for the club and the people that are working their nuts off to undo the damage of the prior 15 years ... we really don't need those Wednesdayites with a brain who should really know better than carrying on with the same garbage to make things even more difficult" - Sheffield Wednesday chairman Lee Strafford pulls back from the full Tom Hicks Jr just in time in this post on the Owlstalk.net forum.RAFA FACTS: PART IIThis afternoon Rafael BenÃtez read a pre-prepared statement to the media. As he nervously unfolded his piece of paper, the watching hacks awaited a momentous announcement, something serious enough to require advance planning and therefore likely to include one or, indeed, both of the phrases "I resign" and "the facts". Sweating mildly, the words started tumbling out of BenÃtez's mouth: "Before we start, some facts," he said.Facts! Facts, already, and we haven't even started yet! "The fact is we are not playing well and everyone here feels sorry for our fans." And he proceeded to announce detailed plans to make them feel better. So, quiz fans, which of the following methods does Rafa plan to use to cheer up Liverpool's fanbase?a) Giving every one of them free cake, a paper hat and 100 Tesco Clubcard points after each home defeat for the remainder of the season.b) Committing the entire first-team squad and the coaching staff to donating 50% of their wages to supporters' groups until either they win the league, or the supporters' groups are wealthy enough to buy the club, sack the lot of them and employ someone better instead, whichever is sooner.c) Publishing highlights of Manchester United's annual accounts on advertising hoardings across Merseyside.d) Producing a few frankly meaningless soundbites about how, even though the team is rubbish, has been rubbish for months and has shown no recent evidence of imminent non-rubbishness, Liverpool are suddenly about to not be rubbish any more.Go on, our puzzle-loving chums, which one was it? Well? OK, we'll tell you. Unbelievably, it was b! Not really, it was d."We know we have to improve and we have the belief we can do it," he mumbled. "How can we improve? Winning on the pitch. How can we be sure we win on the pitch? By training well," he stammered. "Everyone has to take responsibility, starting with us," he stuttered. "It is true I like to do my best every time," he grumbled. "Stoke is the most important game now and we have to prepare properly, I cannot be worried about the other things," he burbled.And so, for the Liverpool fans, there remains no good news. Their team is still rubbish. Their good players are still injured. Their manager still talks nonsense. Ryan Babel has been reduced to tweeting: "Hey people, I got some disappointing news, I m not travelling 2 Stoke.. The Boss left me out the squad. No explanation.." And they still don't have any cake.FIVER LETTERS"To every Liverpool fan I grew up with, even though I grew up in the East ruddy Midlands; to every Liverpool fan I met at university, even though you'd just come from Lowestoft, or somesuch place; to every Liverpool fan commuting in from some hole like Hatfield to your job in London: this is what it's like to support a team. Rubbish players, rubbish manager, stupid board, no cups. It's not novel, it's not interesting, the rest of us know all about it. Get over it or, alternatively, find out who's winning everything, and go and support them. That's how you chose your current team in 1980 after all, isn't it?" - Jon Millard."Re: Liverpool jumping the gun with their FA Cup fourth-round tie v Burnley message to season-ticket holders (yesterday's Fiver). My particular favourite has to be when Bradford City played Blackpool at Bloomfield Road in the second leg of the League Two play-off semi-finals. Blackpool (managed by Big Sam) were 2-0 up from the first leg at Valley Parade and were so confident of winning that they printed coach and travel arrangements for Wembley in the programme. Bradford won 3-0 on the night and, legend has it, our chairman Geoffrey Richmond rang the coach company to see if they had any cancellations for a certain Sunday in May" - Phil Hobbs."My hand slipped while reading yesterday's Fiver and I accidentally clicked on the unsubscribe option. This innocent mistake directed me to a page which declared 'Sorry, we haven't been able to serve the page you asked for', while the sidebar ran an advert for the Guardian's dating services. Is this a subtle hint for Fiver readers that if you feel ready to unsubscribe, you might also be ready to enter the world of male-female relations?" - Neil C0cker."Re: Plymouth boss Paul Mariner looking more like a scatter-brained academic than a football manager (yesterday's bits and bobs). Really? More like Mel B in Bo Selecta! surely?" - Stephen Worthy.Send your letters to the.boss@guardian.co.uk. And if you've nothing better to do you can also Tweet the Fiver now.BITS AND BOBSSpurs boss 'Arry Redknapp has denied any wrongdoing after being charged with two counts of cheating the public revenue. "It is farcical," he said.Portsmouth's inability to sign on the dotted line means David James's proposed move to Stoke City has been cancelled.Pope's O'Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor has denied the allegation that he $exually assaulted a young woman after Strathclyde police confirmed they were investigating the claim. "I'm devoting myself to clearing my name," said McGregor.Things must be bad at Blackeye Rovers dept: Sam Allardyce says he can't afford to sign Middlesbrough's Gary O'Neil.And Real Madrid midfielder Guti is desperate to leave Spain for Inter. "I would go there with open arms," he cheered, pointedly not answering speculation he could instead be off to Bolton or Tottenham.A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORSHave a bet on the men's Australian Open market and if Andy Murray wins the tournament we'll refund all losing bets. Let's hope we get a full card of Premier League action this weekend so our red card refund offer can be in full flight. Place a bet on any Premier League market and if there is a sending-off in that match we'll refund ALL losing bets.Good to see Richard Pigden and 1,056 others (yesterday's Fiver letters) picking up on our Pompey players being paid late odds. Indeed, we had a swathe of new accounts being opened in the name of Al Faraj yesterday but unfortunately it's a £100 maximum stake on this market. Check us out at https://twitter.com/Sportingbet_com for more free bet offers!STILL WANT MORE?Tom Lutz has sacrificed his Friday night to bring you live coverage of Ivory Coast v Ghana in the Africa Cup of Nations from 6.30pm. Not that he was going to do anything interesting anyway.Rob Smyth recalls half a dozen of the most memorable League Cup semi-finals in this week's Joy of Six.Ever wanted to tell Darren Fletcher to man up? Wanted to roar 'Not on my watch' in Phillip Degen's face? You are the Ref doesn't quite go that far, but still, we can all dream, eh?As the Bundesliga resumes this weekend, Raphael Honigstein is on hand with his predictions for the second half of the season.Big Sam's losing the battle at Blackeye Rovers, reports Tim Rich.And Paul Hayward reckons Kenny Dalglish could be the man to cool the mounting fury among Liverpool fans.SIGN UP TO THE FIVERWant your very own copy of our tea-timely(ish) email sent direct to your inbox for free every weekday? Click here to sign up for the Fiver today. And also, heaven forfend, if you want to unsubscribe.BUSY AND SHOCKED. IN EQUAL MEASURESBarney RonaySimon Burntonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
United's Ferdinand may face 3-game ban Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand could be banned for three games after the Football Association charged him with violent conduct for apparently elbowing an opponent. cbc.ca |