Fixture Fairness

SAF’s at it again. Having had a bash at the Premier League earlier in the season regarding the fixture list, he’s now come out and said it. The PL is biased against Manchester United. Why? Well because United have had to play a series of away games after travelling midweek for Champions League matches and because they’ve already been forced to travel to each of the teams who finished in the top ten last season. Now, many of you will have noticed the flip side to Ferguson’s rant – that United will therefore be at home to all of their title rivals in the second half of the season. A distinct advantage you would have thought. As yet, there’s been no word from the United boss on that one.

Gerrard’s Press

Interesting, isn’t it, how Steven Gerrard’s innocence over his night club altercation has been seemingly presumed by his employers, fans, the FA and the vast majority the press? In some ways it’s understandable. Gerrard is a decent bloke, sometimes called a model pro, who rarely gets in to any bother. His manager has put a protective arm around his shoulder and suggested that he just concentrate on football, which he did admirably away to Preston in the FA Cup at the weekend.  On the other hand, there doesn’t seem to be too many kind words or supportive gestures for the alleged victim. Weird.

Lowlights

Having knocked out or held supposedly superior opposition in the FA Cup, the supporters of Hartlepool, Nottingham Forest and Southend would have doubtless been looking forward to watching their side’s achievements on ITV’s highlights show. How they must have been disappointed. The three games totalled about 3 minutes of action between them. Instead, ITV concentrated on Forest Green v Derby, a 7 goal thriller but no shock, away wins for Everton and Liverpool and then Hull v Newcastle, an everyday Premier League game that are ten a penny. To be fair to the TV company, it’s very difficult to assess where to send your commentary teams on 3rd round day as there are just so many matches, but then again, you do need to take risks. Or at worst, change the schedule around and give those shock results top billing before the longer match highlights. Already you can hear the cries of bring back the BBC!

Confidence

It’s one thing getting the boardroom’s dreaded vote of confidence after a tough run of games in the Premier League but even worse you’d have thought after a 3 – 0 home defeat by a team a division below you and normally so bad that they’ve just got rid of their manager. But that’s the situation Man City boss Mark Hughes finds himself in this week. What’s the betting that he spends millions of his employers cash on new signings but isn’t around long enough to watch them play?

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