All posts by h79snht.top

My columns seem to be as sporadic as Arsenal’s form so far. So I’ll be polite and cognisant enough to request your forgiveness in advance for my impending hypocrisies.

However, it is extremely difficult to bask in the glory of Sunday’s unexpected and ill-timed victory without highlighting some extraordinary events that took place on the fastest growing area for unsolved mysteries, the Emirates football pitch.

Championship winners Newcastle gave the impression the chairman received inspiration for youth development from the early 90′s film California Man when they came to town. Featuring a thawed out caveman in a forward position, whose instructions were to idly slump around the penalty area hoping Joey Barton (whose party tricks include stubbing lit cigars in people’s eyes as the midfielder himself has admitted to) could land the ball on his hairy head. The Geordies returned from the capital with all three points. We have seen newly promoted West Brom turn up and make us look like Premier League newcomers, and given that a team, who remained undefeated throughout the course of a season and were then dubbed ‘The Invincibles’, the unthinkable happened on the 20th of November when Spurs stole a victory from the jaws of defeat, you could understand why this team may be alluded to as ‘The Unmentionables’.

The laws of science and theories of logic continued to be defied on the 105 x 68 metre long lawn with the players unable to defeat Leeds, yet shocking current La Liga champions Barcelona. More recently, three consecutive draws at our home ground against varied opposition would have Sherlock Holmes scratching his head and wishing to return to his bee farm.

Many journalists and pundits claim to have the answers to all of these mysterious events, but their ripostes are as inaccurate as they are somnolent.

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Sunday afternoon saw the world’s first live broadcast of a spirit possession as Arsene Wenger sent on Andrey Arshavin inhabited by the ghost of Andy Linighan. Where exactly did those half a dozen, precisely timed, sliding tackles come from?

This season I have half expected to wake up in the morning and sit down for breakfast only to be rudely interrupted by the Russian’s mug-shot on my milk carton. He’s been missing for such a long period. Between our qualified Fashion Designer, Gael Clichy, and any number of midfield players, a mini Bermuda Triangle had started to appear in Islington. Having gone missing for so long some conspiracy theorists claim that these players will turn up in countries such as Italy and Spain after the summer wearing the colours of other clubs, although they are eternally grateful for Arsenal’s role in their personal development, it is time they moved on to win trophies.

It’s an underwhelming, and ultimately, an exasperating feeling that is becoming all too familiar to Gooners worldwide. Despite this, any talk of overhauling the squad are at least premature and more probably further from the truth than Szczesny’s kicks are further from a red shirt. Until any activity occurs and we have some evidence disclosed, all this talk is that of Apocalyptic folk reading from ancient and unidentified Maya text ignoring previous attestation and instead living for crisis.

So while Mulder and Scully would have hours of fun studying a montage of Arsenal’s very own X-Files, and former professionals will continue to get paid for recycling the same tiring blurbs, would it surprise anyone if we were in the same position next year?

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I’m not sure what my point is in all of this. I know I had one to begin with but once I get going, what starts as a well planned piece, very quickly deteriorates into a one sided ramble. Something goes wrong between my brain producing thoughts and those ideas being processed in Notepad. I guess it’s another case for the crew of Fringe. Till next time…

Article courtesy of Gavin Connolly at Gunnersphere

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Almost every Aston Villa fan would have accepted at the start of this campaign that a high league finish was going to be a major challenge this season. Whilst cup success was partnered by decent performances in the league under Martin O’Neill the comparative lack of strength in depth through the Villa squad was always going to hamper attempts to break into the upper echelons on the division.

That said, just how laboured Villa have looked at times this season has shocked many, particularly as this weekend’s battle at the DW stadium has the look of a relegation six pointer about it.

Wigan have stopped shipping goals in the fashion they did earlier on in the campaign, however they have struggled to score enough themselves to pull away from an incredibly tight relegation battle.

Both sides, Villa in particular, will be eyeing the coming weeks with a certain sense of dread, particularly with a series of season defining fixtures on the horizon. Gerard Houllier is desperate to supplement his inexperienced squad with some proven match winners, and the current soft-centred Villa defence may well gift Wigan a pre-Christmas point.

Prediction: 1-1

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You can get odds of 5/1 on a 1-1 draw

With all the foreign superstars scattered among Premiership clubs it’s refreshing to see young British footballers being thrust into first team action throughout the league. There’s no better baptism than having the opportunity to pit your wits against the likes of Gerrard, Terry, Vidic and Fabregas. It’s exactly what a young professional needs in his quest for a successful career. More and more gifted young players are coming off the academy conveyor belts throughout the league and, as far as Newcastle United are concerned, the latest addition to this trend is Shane Ferguson.

Ferguson, now a full Northern Ireland international, started his career at his hometown club Derry City, before joining Newcastle’s youth academy in 2007 as a 16 year old. Ferguson made his first team debut last August in a League Cup encounter with Accrington Stanley. He has only featured four more times since then, most recently as an impressive substitute in place of Jose Enrique against Everton and Stoke. With the Spaniard’s participation in the impending fixture with Wolves in doubt Ferguson could yet be called into action for the crunch clash on Saturday. Once more, Enrique’s future at the club is currently in limbo amidst rumours he is waiting until the Magpies assure their Premiership status before entering negotiations on a new contract. It is also rumoured that Kenny Daglish is monitoring Enrique’s situation; Ferguson’s time may well be nigh.

Regardless if Ferguson steps into any potential breach left by Enrique this summer, going on his latest cameo performances he appears to have the ability to materialise into a fan’s favourite in the North East. Ferguson produced the only real memorable moment of any significance as far as Toon fans were concerned in the 4-0 drubbing at The Britannia. He announced himself to the Geordie faithful with a superb dribble in which he deceived three Stoke players before placing his shot into the grateful arms of Asmir Begovic. If the young Irishman can reproduce moments of magic of that ilk on a regular basis then his prospective future in the famous black and white stripes appears bright.

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Former Newcastle left back John Beresford was part of Kevin Keegan’s entertainers in the ’90s and he knows the attributes required to be a success at St James’ Park. In an interview with The Evening Chronicle Beresford was optimistic about Ferguson’s potential. He was quoted as saying “Shane’s got pace and movement, he works the ball and likes to take people on, one-on-one. With all of that at his disposal I think he could go a lot further in the game.” Whether or not you rate Beresford’s opinion as credible or not is a matter of choice, but what is true is that Ferguson has caught the eye on Tyneside recently and he may well be one to look out for.

Newcastle’s academy isn’t distinguished with producing an array of stars, and when placed alongside academies such as West Ham’s and Manchester United’s it is outshone. Andy Carroll, Shola Ameobi and Steven Taylor are the only notable products of the academy in the last decade that I can recollect, this isn’t a great return and one the club may well need to address. So does the early promise shown by Ferguson represent a change to this habit? Well that remains to be seen. Ferguson has only represented the first team on five occasions so we can only speculate on whether or not he will progress into a first team regular.

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In my opinion the early promise of one player isn’t enough evidence to suggest that there is a high calibre of top quality youngsters waiting in the wings at Newcastle. Nor does it confirm or deny that Shane Ferguson will have a bright future at the club, or indeed in the game. What is evident is that the youngster has raised a few eyebrows on Tyneside with his performances and any future he has in the game is down to his own hard work, commitment and desire.

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Real Sociedad’s hopes of a European berth have taken another blow after they fell 2-1 at Deportivo La Coruna in Monday’s lone La Liga match.Sociedad have taken just one point from their past three league outings, following a 1-1 draw at home with Levante and a 4-1 loss at Espanyol, and came undone at the hands of an improved Deportivo at the Riazor, who stretched their unbeaten run in La Liga to six fixtures.Substitute striker Riki, who was introduced in the 13th minute to replace the injured Nouioui Lassad, looked lively in the first half and produced a brilliant finish to put Deportivo ahead in the 41st minute.Diego Colotto nodded a free kick towards Riki near the penalty spot, and the Tunisian turned and fired an acrobatic volley beyond Sociedad custodian Claudio Bravo.There was more pain to come in the second half as Adrian stretched the hosts’ lead in the 57th minute, the former Spain Under-21 international threading his shot through Bravo’s legs after being put into the clear by Michel’s sublime through ball.Socieded forward Imanol Agirretxe kept the contest lively by pulling a goal back for the visitors in the 65th minute, but their efforts to find an equaliser were thwarted by Deportivo goalkeeper Aranzubia.Deportivo rise to 13th on the table, four points clear of the drop zone with 11 games left in the season, while Sociedad remain ninth and five points adrift of the Europa League places.

The mid-70s were a simpler, care free, less responsible time. Much so for me as I’d failed to be born yet, an excuse for irresponsibility which unfortunately doesn’t work nearly as well now. For those that had been however the joy of moustaches, the Nolan Sisters and football hooliganism awaited. Manchester United had been relegated, Brian Clough had spent 44 days at Leeds, Liverpool’s relentless era of dominance was about to begin and George Best had left English football to play for the Jewish Guild in apartheid South Africa for reasons absolutely no one understands even now. If you lived in America however, the glitz and glamour of swinging sixties football was coming to your shores in the form of the North American Soccer League.

The USA’s first attempt to lure the great and the good of World football to a succession of preposterously monikered clubs was in part a bizarre failure, but in part a surreal success, most notably in the caliber of stars it attracted. Johan Cruyff, Gerd Muller, George Best, Eusebio, Gordon Banks, Johan Neeskens, Alan Ball, Peter Beardsley, Geoff Hurst and many others graced the league during it’s 16 year tenure, and none more notably than at the New York Cosmos, where the likes of Carlos Alberto, Franz Beckenbauer and most famously Pele, spurred them on to five “Soccer Bowl” titles (though not all with that prestigious line up.)

Mostly due to Pele’s involvement, the Cosmos became a relatively famous name in football, playing to a regular crowd of over 45,000 at their peak in a strip designed by Ralph Lauren. However the success of the NASL never quite matched that of its flagship side. Whilst the Cosmos sold out Giants stadium’s 73,000 capacity for their 1978 championship victory, the league itself never averaged over 15,000. When the League collapsed in 1983, the Cosmos moved to the Indoor Leagues, but soon disbanded completely.

However general manager G.Peppe Pinton – who sounds like the kind of man that runs a malt liquor business and never takes his cowboy hat off – continued to run the club’s youth camps (which they’d begun in ‘77 as an attempt to move the side – and the league – away from it’s reliance on ageing foreign stars) and operated them under the Cosmos name. Despite several post MLS attempts by clubs in the New York area to resurrect the name – specifically by the MetroStars and Red Bulls, who are actually the same club, which is admittedly confusing, but the nature of American sports franchises – Pinton held fast and refused, believing they simply wouldn’t respect the legacy of the name. Or perhaps change it to something else at the behest of a soft drink peddler a season later.

In 2009 however, a ragtag group of English businessmen, which included Tottenham’s former vice Chairman, Liverpool’s former CEO and David Beckham’s personal manager and a former England masseuse, managed to secure the rights from Pinton with a view to resurrecting the club wholesale. In August 2010 Pele was announced as the club’s honorary president and the reboot was made official. To further strengthen the historical link his 70s Cosmos strike partner and NASL all time top scorer Giorgio Chinaglia was named as International ambassador, a role that might prove problematic for Chinaglia, considering he’s currently hiding out in the States from an Italian arrest warrant for fiddling Lazio shares.

Fast-forward six months and nothing much had emerged from camp Cosmos. Until Wednesday that is, when in the true spirit of their original galactico incarnation, they appointed Eric Cantona as Director of Soccer in a blaze of slightly ironic publicity, and announced their goal to enter the MLS in 2013 (the earliest a new franchise – which would be the 20th – could potentially join under MLS rules.)

King Eric’s return to football has long been heralded by the kind of idiotic fans who think the playing traits of their former heroes are in any way indicative of their managerial skills, but the man himself has always been rather aloof on the subject. Cantona retired in 1997 to spend more time pondering existential matters with a beard and occasionally popping up in films but said recently that it’d need something “extraordinary” to rekindle his love for the game. Putting aside all my deeply cynical instincts, it’s possible that this could be it. In his statement on the club website – aside a gloriously regal picture of him posing gallicaly on a throne – he’s claimed the opportunity presents itself as a “kind of mix between football and art” and a “wonderful project…beautifully made.” He continues by saying that “In addition to my artistic engagements, I will do everything that I can to help us find our way to regain the number 1 position in the United States, and then for us to become one of the best clubs in the world over the coming years.”

Despite the rather obvious comic potential of his closing argument, one does tend to wonder what these “artistic engagements” may be. Have they promised to let him re-design the club logo? Will he be painting player portraits? Is he going to be making some kind of surrealist avant garde documentary film on the nature of resurrection to be played in an as yet to be built cubist club museum? Who knows, but part of his remit does include player recruitment, so this grande projet d’art most likely consists of his assembly of the world’s most beautiful football team, which knowing Cantona may well extend to a few ballerinas, circus gymnasts and experimental performance artists to boot.

So this is how the Cosmos have re-introduced themselves to the 21st century, as a galactico team with a legacy. There are even rumblings that Beckham himself, free from his Galaxy contract by 2012, will join the circus that already includes his personal manager and boyhood mentor. Florentino Perez would be proud. But would G. Peppe Pinton? Ironically the one thing the Cosmos were trying to distance themselves from at the time of their extinction is the one thing that’s brought them back.

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If King Eric can learn anything from his time at Manchester United, it’s how well the kids who grew up around him looked after the house after he’d gone, and how well they continue to – in the form of Giggs and Scholes – two decades later. He, and they, and we should hope, for the sake of the Cosmos themselves, and any hope they have of standing the test of time as a lasting brand, let alone one of the “biggest clubs in the world”, that there’s more Pinton than Perez in the resurrection of this once iconic club.

You can follow Oscar on Twitter here http://twitter.com/oscarpyejeary where you can claim to have known him before he becomes rich and famous ….and then claim to have known him when he was rich and famous before he becomes bloated, big headed, drug addled and washed up….And then you can throw stuff at him and say “you’ve changed man”

Harry Redknapp has stated that Luka Modric will not be going anywhere in the January transfer window, and that his potential deal to move to Chelsea is dead.

The Stamford Bridge outfit made a number of bids for the Croatia international in the summer, with the playmaker speaking of his preference to leave White Hart Lane.

Despite this, due to Spurs’ good run of form, Redknapp believes that Modric no longer wants to move to Chelsea.

“I don’t expect Luka to want to go anywhere. I think the Chelsea deal is dead,” he told reporters at a press conference.

“He’s happy here. I don’t know where he’s at with his contract talks with the chairman, but I’m sure they’ll get something done.

“I don’t see there being a problem with Luka. No matter what Chelsea offer, he isn’t going. Not a chance.

“This is a good club. This is a club building a new stadium, a new training ground. It’s a club that’s going places.

“They’re both good clubs. We’ve closed the gap, definitely, on Arsenal and Chelsea from where we were. We’re now up there trying to finish above Arsenal for the second time in the Premier League.

“The potential is great, we sell out every week. We’ve got good players. I would love to see us perhaps make one big signing. That would really send out a message too,” he concluded.

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Tottenham and Chelsea meet at White Hart Lane tonight.

By Gareth McKnight

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Benoit Assou-Ekotto scored a rare goal as Tottenham swept past Everton at White Hart Lane to move just three points behind league leaders Manchester City and put themselves firmly in the title race.

Harry Redknapp’s side also drew level on points with second place Manchester United after goals in each half from Aaron Lennon and Benoit Assou-Ekotto saw them ease to victory over the Toffees. It was a third consecutive defeat for David Moyes’ men who haven’t picked up a point since Boxing Day and saw their European ambitions take a further hit. Despite providing a few early scares they were unable to fully trouble Spurs who took control once Lennon opened the scoring 10 minutes before time before Benoit-Assou Ekotto wrapped up the points just after the hour. The game was initially supposed to take place on the opening day of the season only to be postponed due to the London riots and the away side threatened to upset the established order by threatening early on.

A poor clearance from Younes Kaboul fell to Louis Saha but the Frenchman could only shoot off target before the home side started to dominate with Emmanuel Adebayor missing a number of chances. The on-loan Manchester City striker shot over from close range and could only toe poke wide after the ball fell to him following Assou-Ekotto’s cross. Luka Modric and Jake Livermore, in for the injured Scott Parker, ran the show in midfield with their passing a moving proving too much for Everton in the first half. Rafael Van Der Vaart also proved too hot to handle and went close to opening the scoring curling over before Lennon broke the deadlock on 35 minutes. Collecting a diagonal pass from Assou-Ekotto the winger beat Leighton Baines before shooting left footed past Tim Howard.

The hosts continued their dominance after the break and Gareth Bale came close to doubling their lead with a marauding run down the left only to see his shot saved by Howard. At the other end Saha found himself presented with another chance seeing his near post effort deflected wide from Baines’ cross before Marouane Fellaini headed over as the Toffees threatened to nick an equaliser. However just as they looked like getting back into the game Spurs struck a real hammer blow with Assou-Ekotto scoring the all important second goal to seal victory. With no options on either side of him the Cameroonian left back took aim from distance drilling the ball into the net from 30-yards to ensure the hosts moved to within three points of top spot. Adebayor and Bale then wasted chances to increase Tottenham’s lead before Royston Drenthe saw his appeals for a late penalty turned down by referee Martin Atkinson.

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Football is of course a game of opinions. We rate players differently, we rate games differently, and we have hugely different perspectives on managers. You have to accept that not everyone will agree with you, it’s a broad church and all that, and it partly makes the game what it is.

But sometimes, you just begin to lose faith in those around you. Sometimes you begin to wonder why you bother.

There has been a groundswell of opinion in (some parts of) the media in the last few weeks that Roberto Mancini was under pressure, with his job at risk, after having a bad fortnight. A week may be a long time in politics, two of them in football can often feel like a lifetime when the knives are out.

Many ridiculous viewpoints have developed over the past year – the main one being the feeling that having spent (very) big we should now sweep all before us aside – this is clearly drivel, as no signings guarantee you success, and many of our signings were not made for short-term gain. Balotelli, Boateng, Kolarov, Silva etc are here to play now, but to develop also – part of their transfer fees is for potential, not for current status. Of all City’s big summer signings, only Yaya Toure is over 24. And needless to say, players often need time to settle – a big price tag does not change that, a fact some struggle to comprehend.

While 34 years of incompetence have given me a certain amount of patience and trust that the good times are going to come at some point soon, our sudden wealth seems to have the reverse effect on some of the City faithful. They seem to expect glory now. Anything less is unacceptable.

The other piece of tripe regularly wheeled out amongst a minority of City fans is that we should get Mourinho in. Or maybe Hiddink, or another random name, who would obviously come, because it’s that simple. We approach Real Madrid, and they gracefully accept we want their manager, and Mourinho thinks about it before quickly realising that City is the only place for him.

That’s the problem usually when certain fans want a manager out – they either have no credible suggestion for a better replacement, or their suggestions are so unrealistic they don’t merit discussion. And let’s face it, if any team could destroy Mourinho’s reputation, the smart money would be on City. He’d end up in a care home, sat in a rocking chair staring vacantly out of a window, muttering under his breath about the time he won the Champions League.

Of course, spending money does raise expectations – that is a given – we should be improving. But the fact is we are – at time of writing we are 4th, 3 points clear of 5th. But no amount of money allows you to go directly to Go. Real Madrid went out of the Champions League in the 2nd round 6 years on the trot. All the money in the world couldn’t get them a league title in recent years. This isn’t an excuse for City to underperform, but to reiterate the point that irrelevant of how much money we spend, City’s growth will be slow and gradual – you cannot build a title-winning team overnight.

There was barely a City fan at the start of the season who thought we would challenge for the title – that’s next year, providing we meet our clear target this year – getting 4th or above. That’s what Mancini will, and should be, judged on. And please don’t suggest that he thinks we’ll win the title because he said just that in an earlier press conference – what do you expect him to say?! No, we’ve got no chance?!

The pro-Hughes camp in the national press have repeatedly reported the fact that Mancini has no more points than Hughes had last year at this stage. Of course this is irrelevant as Hughes wasn’t sacked this time last year – he was sacked just before Christmas after a seemingly endless run of poor draws and a shocking defeat at Spurs, and more to the point, Mancini is the owners’ appointment. They also never mention the points per game average, which is much higher for Mancini. Hughes has won four of his last twenty-four premiership games – make of that what you will.

And then there was the Manchester derby. And the calls for Mancini to go got stronger. Being a glass half-full kinda guy I am always happy not to lose to United – it’s in my genetic make-up. Others weren’t so happy though – the predictable criticisms of “spent £300m and can’t even attack” rang out from City and non-City fans alike.

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Apart from the fact it was a single game, this vitriol partly developed due to another single, steaming turd-like lie that has been allowed to develop over the past year – namely that United are a spent force.

You know, the team currently second in the league, four points behind the team widely expected to walk away with the league this season. You know the team that hasn’t lost a game this season. That spent force. The team that miraculously dragged itself off its collective sick-bed to somehow play 90 minutes football on Wednesday.

The team that will no doubt compete for the league again, get to the latter stages of the Champions League, and maybe pick up a domestic cup as well – this is a team that is a spent force. And many City fans believe this – say it enough times and it becomes fact to them, irrelevant of the evidence.

Of course this is not the strongest United team of the Ferguson era. The Glazer debt has hampered their spending and opportunities to strengthen the team. But to think that they are already a spent force is laughable, and ignorant. Sorry City fans, they’re not going anywhere.

But no, many believed that United were “there for the taking”. That if we had attacked them all match, we would have ripped them to shreds. As I said, laughable.

But the idiots who want Mancini out not only disappoint me, they anger me – I wish they would sod off and support another club, to be perfectly honest. Because let’s face it, if it wasn’t Mancini, it would be someone else. These people are there at every match – every little pocket of the ground has at least one of them. Criticising the team for every misplaced pass, shouting abuse, and of course offering their own expert tactical analysis, because as we all know they could do a far better job themselves. They always have a set scapegoat (or two, or three) as well, who can do no right however well he might play.

Of course no manager is above criticism, and nor is any player. Mancini isn’t perfect, far from it, and has made mistakes. The team has not gelled properly yet, some of the players have been more successful than others, some games have brought disappointing performances. But this blog is not really about that.

I’m not interested in how long it took Ferguson to win something at United, how Mourinho turns around any team instantly, how much we have spent, how many defensive midfielders we have, Mancini’s record against that of Hughes, how much merit his Inter titles had, blah blah blah.

There is only one stat that really needs quoting. Since Alex Ferguson took over the reins at Old Trafford, Manchester City have had 18 (eighteen) managers.

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Jimmy Frizzell, Mel Machin, Tony Book, Howard Kendall, Peter Reid, Tony Book (again), Brian Horton, Alan Ball, Asa Hartford, Steve Coppell, Phil Neal, Frank Clark, Joe Royle, Kevin Keegan, Stuart Pearce, Sven-Goran Eriksson, Mark Hughes and of course Roberto Mancini.

Just For Men could make a fortune out of those guys.

After every dismissal, the fans thought the next appointment would be the one that would help City turn a corner, push on, bring in some silverware.

Every manager failed to being in some silverware (pre-season games don’t count, sadly).

All I am interested in is that for just once, my football club learns from its history, and finally decides to stick with a manager, and doesn’t make another regretful decision based on our constant policy of having a short-term outlook because of a media-led campaign and a few pathetic whingers on football message boards.  Not that the board have shown the slightest hint of getting rid of Mancini – but if certain journalists and keyboard warriors had their way, he’d be gone tomorrow.

It’s just a shame we can’t do the same with some of our fans. The fans that want our manager to go whilst our team sits in fourth place in the table. Any City fan, irrelevant of their opinion of Mancini, should not want another manager dismissed. Unfortunately, it is those people that always seem to make the most noise. As the stadium announcer says after revealing the crowd each match – thanks for your tremendous support.

Written By Howard Hockin

Under-fire Blackburn manager Steve Kean has stated that he was happy with the 1-1 draw his side recorded against Fulham on Sunday, and feels the performance could be a springboard to better results.

The Ewood Park outfit had lost all three opening Premier League fixtures, but a gutsy effort at Craven Cottage saw the Lancashire team get their first point of the season.

“We played a lot of good stuff and dealt with the Fulham threat. We’ve got confidence in abundance, we have spirit and togetherness,” he told Sky Sports.

“The speculation doesn’t affect me, honestly. I have the dressing room and the backing of the owners. If the fans stay with us, we’ll see many away performances like that where we win more than one point.

“I’m sure if the fans stay with us we’ll finish in the top half,” he concluded.

Fulham boss Martin Jol was not happy with the draw however, and felt his side should have won the game.

“I felt we deserved more today. We are playing at home and we didn’t succeed. We know we have to win our home games and we didn’t today,” he admitted.

The Dutch coach felt that his side lacked a killer instinct in front of goal to finish off Blackburn, and has stated his team have work to do to eradicate this.

“In the second half we put a lot of pressure on them and we had a lot of opportunities, but we were not efficient enough. We got plenty of crosses in, but they defended well.

“We lack some creativity. What you would say in England is the cutting edge and that’s a nice phrase,” he stated.

Despite the point Blackburn are still bottom of the pile, whilst a slow start for Fulham sees them in the relegation places also, as they sit in 18th position.

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Newcastle carried on their impressive start to the Premier League season with a comprehensive 3-1 victory at St James’ Park.

Demba Ba was the hero with a hat-trick in what was a relatively comfortable afternoon for Alan Pardew’s men as Blackburn rarely threatened to upset the Magpies throughout.

Steve Kean went into this game confident after last week’s impressive victory at Ewood Park, however his Rovers side never got going and their defence was the victim of their own downfall. Demba Ba time after time found himself with acres of space in and around the area and the Senegal striker could have added a few more to his name this afternoon.

The first came via a run by Leon Best who centred for Ba who spun round and smashed it past Robinson. The Rovers defence was in generous mood and when they failed to clear Steven Taylor’s headed centre Ba got ahead of the flapping Rovers keeper. Hoilett gave Blackburn a lifeline against the run of play, but the result never seemed in doubt given the dominance of the home side.

The second half was played out in much the same vein and Demba Ba finally completed his hat trick after more sloppy play in the Rovers backline. Alan Pardew was disappointed that Newcastle didn’t make their dominance pay with more goals, although I am sure he is secretly delighted at the result and the performance of his Magpies side.

Are you in the money tonight? Have you become a millionaire? The Results are in…

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