After a disastrous run that saw the club slide down into the relegation zone, Roy Keane left saying that he could take the team no further. (Other than further into the relegation zone that is!)
Since he left, the temporary boss Ricky Sbragia has seen the team lose to an injury time goal at Old Trafford and then win by four goals twice in a row. Saturday saw Sunderland win 4-1 at the Premier League’s surprise club, Hull.
They are certainly the ‘Hot team’ this week, although Roy Keane must be wondering just why they couldn’t, or wouldn’t, produce the goods for him.
It is impossible to look anywhere other than at Manchester City for this award this week. Last weekend they lost at home to Everton, in midweek they were humiliated in Europe and then yesterday they lost to the league’s bottom club West Brom who hadn’t won a game for three months.
It doesn’t get much worse than that and the world’s richest club’s owners will not stand long for a bottom three position. It could just be that by the time you read this, we could be talking about managerless Manchester City.
OK, I know he didn’t play in the Premier League this week but I have just got to give this award to Manchester United keeper Edwin Van Der Sar. He was quite exceptional in United’s club world cup final yesterday and showed just why Sir Alex Ferguson has extended his goalkeeper’s contract for another year.
I’m sorry to give this to Ross Turnbull of Middlesbrough again. It is a shame but it is also a fact that Turnbull is just not quite good enough to be a Premier League goalkeeper.
He is a decent shot stopper but keepers at the very top have to be more than that. I hope he goes on to prove me very wrong, but I just don’t think he is.
Newcastle United’s defence has for many years been the butt of jokes. It has rarely been the strong point of their team.
This season twenty-two year old Sebastien Bassong has worked his way into Joe Kinnear’s side and has started to look like the real deal. His partnership with Fabricio Coloccini looks strong and against Tottenham yesterday, Bassong was excellent.
It is a commonly held belief that managers and coaches can make players slightly better or slightly worse than they actually are, but that they can’t make a good player into a bad player or vice-versa.
If that is the case then what the hell has Mark Hughes done with Richard Dunne. He was exceptional last season and featured in many people’s Premier League team of the year.
This season and again yesterday, he looks more like Titus Bramble than the Richard Dunne we have come to know and love! He has got a mistake in him that didn’t seem to be there last season.
Fulham’s Jimmy Bullard has made the England squad this season quite deservedly. He is an excellent player and an all round good bloke! He plays with a big smile on his face and he likes a laugh. He quite clearly loves playing football.
There is much talk over the fact that he might be leaving Fulham. They must do all they can to keep him. He is instrumental in turning them from relegation strugglers to comfortable mid-table.
I have never thought of Middlesbrough’s Julio Arca as being a nasty or spiteful player in any way. I have no doubt that he has not got a malicious bone in his body. Having said that, the tackle he put in on Fulham’s Andrew Johnson on Saturday was nothing short of scandalous.
How the referee felt the foul was worth only a yellow card and not a red is only explicable to him. The problem is that as the referee saw the incident and acted upon it, the FA will say that they can take no retrospective action.
It was a potentially leg breaking tackle and Arca should be given a three game ban.
West Brom have had a real problem scoring goals this season. That is the main reason they are looking up at the rest of the league.
I appreciate that they won’t come up against many more generous defences than the current Manchester City back four who are a shadow of what they should be, but striker Roman Bednar looked to be a real handful yesterday.
His goal was well deserved and capped an excellent display by the Czech international.
I used to be a big fan of Darius Vassell. His electric pace and his eye for goal made him an exciting player to watch.
The Darius Vassell I watched for Manchester City yesterday was a different player. He looked as though his best days may be a long way behind him.
In all truth, he looked pretty clueless. Could it be that at the age of just twenty-eight he may be well on the way down?
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