Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois – Yes, a keeper on the losing side. But think about it. The lad has had nothing to do since White Hart Lane, but he still did well to keep the score down to two when Palace came along with their good performance. His name may be hard to spell (I wonder if
GOALKEEPER Victor Valdes – Didn’t do a thing while at United, yet plays against them and helps them win. Jose’s teams 9th game in seven days didn’t seem to hurt them. And with agent Valdes in the opposition goal they were onto a winner. DEFENDERS Craig Dawson – They say doing the same thing over
GOALKEEPER Darren Randolph – You have to feel for the guy. I mean, he saves one penalty and sees another almost hit the corner flag yet he lets in 3. I’ve put him in because I like taking the mick out of West Ham. DEFENDERS John Stones – To be fair even I could
This week the Chinese Super League Transfer Window slammed shut, because as we all know transfer windows never close quietly. One name to be linked with a big money move to the CSL is none other than the world’s most frustrating striker Andy Carroll. Yes, big Andy was offered the chance to go to China
The 2016-2017 version of the FA Cup has exposed the flaws in the tournament that may have been hidden in the past. No financial incentive The financial benefit of promotion is too great for many clubs to take the competition seriously. If you have the opportunity to compete for promotion to the next level,
So the big question for me this week is; ‘What actually happens on a mid-season training break?’ Warm weather, some time away from the limelight, bonding as a team, or drunken nights and days spent around the pool whilst arguing with each other who is best at FIFA? How many teams can actually say their
Sightings of the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot and The Abominable Snowman have all been reportedly spotted over the decades, add to that the uncertainty of whether the Moon landings truly existed and you start to build a catalogue of elaborate hoaxes that have gone on to be debunked. Well I can now exclusively reveal another
Another day has passed and yet another couple of moves to China have transpired. The Far East really is trying to make a name for themselves, so who are the lucky few this week? Well, both are indeed exceptionally strange transfers. The first, Brazilian midfielder Hernanes, and the second – much closer to home –
There is a movement in football at the moment. A big movement. A big man movement. Peter Crouch has just notched up his century of Premier League goals. Andy Carroll looks on the verge of an England recall and Fernando Llorente has been forced to confess he is “happy” at Swansea because of links with
Gabriel Jesus is a football writer’s dream. I mean sure he’s obviously an extremely talented youngster, scoring three goals and assisting two while managing to keep Sergio Aguero out of the team is impressive but truly his name is the best thing about the Brazilian. We’ve had plenty of footballers with the first name of
Flicking through the news reels this evening I have to admit ladies and gents I was struggling to get any material for Tales, an early night was on the cards for me as you couldn’t top off the Adebayor story for ridiculous storylines. That was until I read the story of Ross McCormack’s transfer from
After a scintillating 4th Round, the FA Cup has reached the last 16 and the teams are now just two wins away from Wembley. Before discussing the draw itself, I noticed there was a lot of grumbling over the weekend about how the FA Cup has lost its magic. I was sceptical at first but
So as you are most probably aware (Sky don’t exactly hesitate to remind us) Deadline Day is coming. A day in which the spending of millions of pounds on people who can kick a football good is celebrated. Thankfully for us Sky are on hand to bring in the updates as teams scramble to bring
Is Joleon Lescott joining Sunderland during a relegation scrap the most Lescott thing to do or the most Sunderland thing to do? The legendary Lescott has been re-united with former manager David Moyes, and is now at the perfect age to be a Sunderland defender. At 34, he has won two Premier League titles and
In case you haven’t noticed Leicester have not been putting in the best title defence this season. In fact, if you look at it closely they are on course to put up an even worse title defence than Chelsea managed last season. If you recall they finished an alarmingly underwhelming 10th. While I’m sure Leicester
Back in September, when Jordan Henderson’s shot curled and dipped beyond the outstretched paw of Thibaut Courtois, the world was left as stunned and as wide eyed as Marko Grujic. The goal simply defined the term “top bins”. Every Liverpool fan took to Twitter to call off the Goal of the Season competition, because they
Oh, so Dimitri was the problem after all was he? Who would have thought it, that with West Ham’s star man refusing to play that the Hammers would suddenly look like a team completely at home at the London Stadium and put in the kind of performance that had even the most fervent Big Sam
Tell you what, Carlton is going to have to knock it one hell of a long way for Graham Taylor to see it now. Allow to me step down from the tongue-in-cheek momentarily. Graham Taylor was doing high tempo, pressing football way before any of our continental friends brought it to the Premier League. He
So Hull have gone more left field than Robert Snodgrass hugging the touchline at the KCOM Stadium. Yes, the name they pulled out of the managerial hat was Marco Silva. A wise choice, I am sure. If in doubt, appoint a man that was once sacked for not wearing the right suit. This will end
“New Year, new me” said a million and one people a couple of days back. Not Arsene Wenger, oh no. Arsenal’s manager is still living in a totally different time and believes that the way to get the best out of Aaron Ramsey is to stick him on the wing. Well, I must say I
So Manchester United were a matter of minutes plus a Michael Carrick ice-cream away from a terrible end to 2016. But on the birthday of Sir Alex United rose once more to notch up their fifth straight win. They were in 6th place when this run of victories commenced and now they are happy grazing
Watford started their match with Big Sam’s Palace as if they were still sleeping off the effects of the Christmas sherry. Palace deservedly led before the first important notes were scribbled in Allardyce’s notepad. “Never let him take another penalty” was double underlined as Benteke casually missed from the spot, leaving the stable door open
As January approaches and writers everywhere prepare their ‘January Sales’ headlines, we take a look at what each club might be up to in January. AFC Bournemouth Looking to become an established league club, Eddie Howe has done his bid to be the next Arsenal manager no harm by doing the impossible and making
Antonio Conte knows he cannot rely on Diego Costa to get through the rest of the season without injury or suspension so Chelsea are to reject loan offers for Batshuayi . As a bonus, if Costa does in fact manage to play every match between now and the end of the season Batshuayi will still
So December is the new November for Arsenal. Last Sunday morning they topped the table and now, eight short days later, they are nine points off the top. Pre-match City reversed their shirts in a way that made me wonder whether Gundogan had died. It turned out he was only injured. Imagine if Arsenal had