Text Box: The Winners The Losers Text Box: Text Box: Text Box: Monday 15th September 2008 A Tale of Two Clubs Could it just be coincidence that the two most shambolic clubs both have shirt sponsors who’ve gone bust? Maybe, but surely the way these Premier League establishments are ran, it should have surprised no-one that they both lent their teams’ image to companies who had more gall than sense. Text Box: Links and affiliates Contact Me Text Box: Archive Text Box: SEASON 2008/09 Predictions EPL Week 4 Winners and Losers

 Where to start? Man Utd– well below par and subsequently beaten, the worst thing is that Liverpool’s play on the ball was just as bad but they just wanted it more. Newcastle are turned over at home, along with Blackburn, the difference being Blackburn were playing against a great side.

 Premier League referees– absolutely shocking consistency– namely the ’Last Man’ decisions in the Chelsea and United games– how Nemanja Vidic remained on (before a somewhat ironic dismissal for a second yellow card offence) and John Terry went, I’ll never know. The Everton game also suffered a shocking handball decision in the box– not seen as a penalty.

 Arsenal and in particular Theo Walcott and Manu Adebayor continue their good form with a resounding 4-0 away win over Blackburn. Hull City take advantage of a despondent Newcastle, with a touch of Premiership-class strategy to record a vital 2-1 win (I’m aware that Derby achieved the same feat last season).

 Chelsea overcome awful refereeing to teach Man. City a lesson. West Brom notch an impressive Premier League scalp in West Ham. Liverpool overcome an unimpressive Man Utd.

 Fulham and Everton pick up good wins, the latter to continue a good vein of form.
Text Box: Unmistakably A Fab Job Well I’m sure we all had a chuckle at the turnaround in the media after England’s surprisingly good win over Croatia in mid-week, but some pundits just don’t know when to give up do they? One “soccer-expert” in the Sunday rags had the audacity to say he expected an England win as Croatia are over-rated. They are 5th in the world, they do have a fantastic manager and are a talented side. Let’s give credit where due. Text Box: There was a fascinating article on the BBC’s website this week that highlighted the success stories of clubs ran with a ’Director of Football’- they didn’t actually come up with much domestically other than a Championship club. Of course we all know that in Europe the President of the club has a strong role in deciding what players the clubs recruit but we’re not in Spain or Italy now. I can’t say I have a preference– you can see it from both sides– two heads are better than one but then again if you were a football manager, you would expect a great deal of control over the club. Still it surely depends on who is the manager and what experience they have. Do I believe the stories the media-savvy Ashley camp are delivering almost on a weekly basis to the News of the World that Keegan wanted £200M, wanted Beckham and didn’t know anything about modern-day players? Well I bet he knows a damn sight better than Mike Ashley, having been his life-blood. West Ham on the other hand have taken a gamble with Zola– a man whose only real experience lies with the Italian Under 21s side. But a respected football luminary with a solid head on his shoulders and a likeable personality is a rarity. If given time, Zola could excel at The Irons, IF.