The Dream Lives On!

Fulham is a victory at Fratton Park next weekend away from completing a great escape after their 2-0 win today over Birmingham. A trademark Brian McBride diving header to finish off a fabulous in-swinging free kick from Jimmy Bullard opened the scoring for the Cottagers, and Erik Nevland sealed it late once again to account for the final scoreline. Kasey Keller continued to prove why he’s become Roy Hodgson’s first choice in goal over Antti Niemi with the clean sheet.

Their third win in four matches propelled Fulham out of the relegation zone (for now, anyway) and into 17th place, as they have a better goal differential than Reading. Both clubs have 33 points, Birmingham is in 19th with 32 points, and obviously each of these three teams have one game to go.

As previously mentioned, Fulham's game is at a Portsmouth team playing for nothing right now except to stay healthy for the FA Cup final, Birmingham hosts Blackburn in a game that has draw written all over it, and Reading will visit Derby, who will want to bow out of the Premiership with a great performance for their fans. Bolton is playing Sunderland right now, and the Trotters also have 33 points. A victory should mean safety, but a loss would make things hairy for Gary Megson's team as they aren't going to get anything against Chelsea next weekend.

There was a terrific atmosphere at Craven Cottage for Fulham's last home game of the year. Fulham has some of the best fans in the Premiership and it showed today. You can really tell how much that team means to the supporters, and you can't say the same about other fans and teams in the league.

90 minutes left for Fulham and three points would do the trick. They are playing with so much confidence right now and I really believe they're going to get the job done at Portsmouth next week.

Fulham's Premiership Survival Battle Is Not Over Yet

Those of you who read this blog on a regular basis know of my undying hope for Fulham to stay in the Premiership. It seems like every couple weeks for the past two months, I’ve written a post saying that it’s unwise to write Fulham off, but then they go and screw up where they shouldn’t screw up and it looks like crow will become a new part of my diet at the end of the year.

I picked them to finish 13th this season and while that won’t happen, I would like to see my prediction somewhat vindicated by the Cottagers staying up. Their roster is full of Americans — Kasey Keller, Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra, Eddie Johnson, and the captain, Brian McBride — and as an American myself, I’m rooting for my fellow countrymen to get the job done each and every week. I also have a soft spot for them as an underdog, playing in the shadow of much bigger clubs in London in a small, old (but cozy and picturesque) stadium.

So yes, it’s no secret that I want Fulham to be successful.

I had a previous engagement on Saturday and wasn’t able to turn the Manchester City-Fulham game on until about the 55th minute, by which City was already up 2-0 through a couple of early goals. I watched for five or ten more minutes and wasn’t exactly thrilled by what I saw out of the West London club. At that point, I was resigned to Fulham losing, so I turned on the NFL Draft to check out who my Buffalo Bills were going to take in the 2nd Round.

I won’t lie to you. I wish I could say I was a diehard fan who watched the game until the very end, but I can’t. I wish I could say that I always knew Fulham would find a way back and get something out of that game, but again, that wouldn’t be the truth.

Watching the Everton-Aston Villa game the next afternoon, I was talking with my brother, an avid Liverpool fan, about useless strikers in the Premiership. He, of course, went on and on about Andriy Voronin and Dirk Kuyt earlier in the season. I then threw out Diomansy Kamara, who is usually a late game sub brought on by Roy Hodgson to have an immediate impact. That seems to never, ever, happen though; Kamara generally replaces David Healy and does very little when he comes into the game.

Then he told me Kamara scored twice on Saturday.

“Twice?!? Fulham lost 2-0, how’d he score twice??”

“They didn’t lose, they won 3-2.”

“No they didn’t! It was 2-0 when I turned the game off, how did they win??”

“Well, Danny Murphy put in his own rebound from a missed PK, and they got the winner from Kamara in stoppage time.”

As a Liverpool supporter, he had to mention Danny Murphy. He just had to.

When I saw the highlights on the Premier League Review Show last night, I was still stunned. Diomansy Kamara looked like a world-beater out there. He looked like a guy who had no business playing for a small club like Fulham. His two goals came from cool, cool finishes, and Murphy was composed enough to score from close range as well.

Manchester City seemed to have bossed the game, with Kasey Keller repeatedly coming up huge in net for Hodgson’s team. Then all of a sudden, boom, boom, boom, Fulham won the game and took the valuable three points.

Because of that incredible comeback, Fulham now has a chance to avoid relegation. They’re still in 19th place with 30 points, but they’re only three points away from safety and have a better goal differential than 17th-place Reading.

Next weekend, the Cottagers host Birmingham City, who are in 18th with 32 points and have lost a whopping 13 games away from home this season whilst winning just two. A victory for Fulham would potentially propel them ahead of Reading, not to mention Birmingham, because Steve Coppell’s side has a home game against Tottenham. I can’t see Reading winning that game, although a draw is very likely, but they could just as easily lose. If they don’t come away with anything and Fulham wins, Fulham would leap into 16th place heading into the last game of the season.

Now, I’ll admit, I think the Reading-Spurs game will end in a tie. That would put Reading on 34 points, one ahead of Bolton, who plays host to Sunderland next weekend. I can also see that game ending all square, so Bolton would be on 34 points as well. A Fulham victory would give the Cottagers 33 points with one game to go, and for Fulham, it’s a trip to Fratton Park against a Portsmouth team who have put all of their eggs in the FA Cup final basket. Bolton’s last game is at Chelsea, where they’ll get nothing, Reading’s is at Derby, who will be anxious to give their fans one last solid Premiership performance, and Birmingham is home to Blackburn, which has “draw” written all over it.

What does this all mean? Well, let’s say Fulham manages to get a draw at Portsmouth, Reading get beat at Derby, and Birmingham do pick up a point against Blackburn. Assuming Fulham does, in fact, take care of business and beat Birmingham, that would leave Fulham on 34 points, Reading on 34, Bolton on 34, and Birmingham on 33. Birmingham would be relegated, and it would come down to goal differential between the three tied teams. Fulham’s is currently three goals better than that of Reading, and five goals worse than that of Bolton. If it all stays the same, Reading would go down as well, leaving Fulham and Bolton in the Premiership.

Whatever happens, it’s going to be a great end to the Premiership season. I sincerely hope that Fulham can pull off the great escape and stay in England’s top flight, and yours truly will be cheering for them in each of their last two games.

Benitez Is Right To Rotate Lineup

Despite former Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock’s furious claims to the contrary last season and more whining this week, Rafa Benitez has every right to rotate his squad for a game against a relegation-threatened team.

This issue has come up in recent days because Liverpool will make the trip to St. Andrew’s and play 18th place Birmingham City tomorrow. The Reds are in the middle of their Champions League semifinal tie against Chelsea, and they’ll need to be as close to full-strength as possible heading into next Wednesday’s second leg at Stamford Bridge. Liverpool has to score there, something that has literally been impossible under Benitez’s tenure, to advance to their third CL final in four years.

Mathematically, Liverpool needs three points in their final three Premiership games to clinch 4th spot and the last Champions League berth that comes with it. Realistically, though, they already have a stranglehold on it and could probably not even earn another point for the rest of the season and still be ok.

Benitez sent out a second-string lineup at Craven Cottage and still managed to dominate a desperate Fulham team, coming out of West London with a 2-0 victory. The term “second-string” is relative, though, because Liverpool’s backups are still good enough to start for the majority of teams in the league.

This is part of the reason I don’t want to hear guys like Neil Warnock and more recently, Steve Bruce, slam Benitez for resting his stars. It’s not just Warnock and Bruce either; Benitez has had his share of critics in the media for what he’s going to do.

“It undermines the competition and integrity of the game”, they’ll say, or “It gives other teams unfair advantages”. You know what I’m talking about, the typical moaning and groaning from people with a vested interest while trying to make it sound like they have the game’s best intentions at heart.

Let me tell you something right now. That’s rubbish. It just is. It’s BS of the highest order.

Rafa Benitez doesn’t owe anyone other than Liverpool FC anything. It’s that simple. As the manager of that club, he is responsible for their best interests, whatever they may be. He is entitled to do whatever he needs to do, as long as it’s legal, obviously, to make sure that those goals are met. He doesn’t owe Steve Bruce or Neil Warnock anything. He doesn’t owe the Premier League and sentiment anything.

Benitez can play whoever he wants against Birmingham. There is strong talk that the only regular player Benitez will put out there is Jamie Carragher, and even that is no guarantee as far as from what I can tell. It seems like a fair bet that Gerrard, Torres, Alonso, Reina, Babel, Riise, Kuyt, and Mascherano all won’t play, or at least won’t start. Relatively inexperienced players like Charles Itanjie, Emiliano Insua, and Damien Plessis could all get a run-out.

You know what? Good for them. Liverpool has to come up with the goods next Wednesday, and it makes no sense for Benitez to risk his best players in a meaningless game, at least from Liverpool’s point of view. Birmingham needs points and will come out playing a physical, in-your-face style, and Benitez can’t afford for any of his players to get injured.

To his credit, Bolton boss Gary Megson has come out and said that he doesn’t care who Benitez plays against Birmingham. Bolton is in the thick of the relegation fight, and it would be understandable if Megson lashed out and urged Benitez to pick his strongest team.

Instead, he believes that “Rafa Benitez has to do what is best for Liverpool and we all have to do what is best for our own teams…The fact Liverpool can rest players and still put out that kind of side just shows the size of the squad and quality they have got.”

I applaud Megson for saying this, and he’s got it right. He also told Sky Sports News that “Rafa’s team and his selection is nothing to do with me or indeed anybody else other than Rafa and Liverpool”.

Spot-on, Mr. Megson. Spot on.

Young Makes Case for England Call-Up

Watching today’s edition of the Second City Derby, won in style 5-1 by Aston Villa, one had to have been impressed with the victors. They scored from open play and set pieces. They ran Birmingham ragged from start to finish. Ever since manager Martin O’Neill altered his team’s formation to a 4-3-3, they’ve been almost unstoppable in the league and it continued this afternoon.

The one player who appears to have benefited the most from this change is Ashley Young, who I’ve been high on ever since watching him play against Liverpool during the first weekend of the 2007-2008 season. O’Neill has given his star 22-year old, who was acquired from Watford for nearly $20 million, a free role now, instead of playing him solely on the left wing.

Make no mistake, Young was having a great season before today’s game, in which he scored twice and got an assist after swinging in a free kick to John Carew. He’s been nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award, and although he won’t win it, the acknowledgement of his play by his peers counts for a lot. He and teammate Gabby Agbonlahor, also nominated, are up against the likes of more established superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Fernando Torres.

Still, Young’s new role allows him to roam all over the field and we saw that today. He was everywhere; he scored his first goal in the center of the field, his second cutting in from the left, and his through ball that sprung Gareth Barry, who then assisted Carew for Villa’s third tally, was played on the right side. Young is up to seven goals and 17 assists in the Premiership this season.

I’ve said this so many times, this is a two-footed player with great pace, good technical ability, and is a deadly crosser of the ball, both from open play and on the set piece.

In addition to my admiration for him, which, admittedly, doesn’t count for much, you have to think England boss Fabio Capello shares the same sentiment, or at least close to it. Capello was in attendance at Villa Park today and although you couldn’t tell from his facial expressions, he undoubtedly was pleased with what he saw from Young.

Capello has a plethora of right-sided wingers to choose from — David Bentley, David Beckham, Aaron Lennon, Shaun Wright-Phillips, etc. — but really doesn’t have many options on the left aside from Stewart Downing. In my opinion, Young is a much, much better and more complete player than the Middlesbrough stalwart, and does seem like the future at that position for England.

England’s next game is Wednesday, May 28, against the US at Wembley, and then they’ll make a trip to Trinidad and Tobago four days later. Expect to see Ashley Young in the starting lineup in at least one of those friendlies, if not both. He deserves a call-up, and I think he’ll get it.

Fulham is Not Done and Dusted Yet

Amazing.

Just last week, I wrote, in effect, that if Fulham didn't beat Sunderland at Craven Cottage, their hopes for retaining a place in the Premiership were finished. Their remaining schedule didn't provide too many opportunities to pick up points, so the Cottagers absolutely needed to get a victory against a team that had been poor on the road all season.

We all know what happened; Sunderland came into London and walked out with a 3-1 victory, despite a great goal from Fulham striker David Healy. At that point, I thought Healy's team was doomed for the drop.

Not so fast. Yesterday's game against Reading was truly, in all senses of the term, a must-win affair. Fulham HAD to have all three points, no if's, and's, or but's. They played like it too, dominating the match for all 90 minutes and in the end, earned a 2-0 victory that could've eaily been 4-0 or 5-0. Brian McBride scored in the 24th minute, and Erik Nevland, one of the Scandinavian players brought in under Roy Hodgson's watch, finished it in second half stoppage time.

Sure, Reading didn't show up, but you have to give Fulham a lot of credit for taking their fate by the scruff of the neck and fighting for survival. Anything else besides a victory and the fans back in West London would've needed to get used to drinking Coca-Cola for at least a season.

Fulham will be a bit disheartened by Bolton's 1-0 win over West Ham, as the Trotters moved themselves to within two points of safety and kept their position in 18th place, two points ahead of Fulham.

With that said, though, 18th isn't Fulham's ultimate goal; 17th is, and they moved two points closer after Birmingham's home draw against Everton. Again, Fulham will feel a bit unlucky because Birmingham equalized in the 83rd minute to snatch a share of the spoils, but making up two points (instead of three) is still huge right now.

Let's take a look at the run-ins for Fulham, Birmingham, and Bolton, and we'll even throw Reading in there as well as Steve Coppell's club is only three points clear of the drop zone. These four teams are likely to fight it out until the last kick of the ball this season; I believe everyone ahead of Reading is safe and obviously Derby County has long been relegated.

Fulham (27 points): Liverpool, @ Manchester City, Birmingham, @ Portsmouth
Bolton (29): @ Middlesbrough, @ Tottenham, Sunderland, @ Chelsea
Birmingham (31): @ Aston Villa, Liverpool, @ Fulham, Blackburn
Reading (32): @ Arsenal, @ Wigan, Tottenham, @ Derby County

Clearly, the biggest game of the 16 shown here is Fulham-Birmingham at Craven Cottage. If Fulham can manage to leapfrog Bolton and, in the process, cut their deficit to two points or less when they host Birmingham on Saturday, May 3, a victory would catapult the London side out of the bottom three.

How do I see things going, you ask?

Well, I can see Fulham taking five points (draw with Liverpool and at City, victory over Birmingham), Bolton taking only one (draw with Sunderland), Birmingham only one (draw with Blackburn), and Reading three (draws at Wigan, with Spurs, and at Derby).

If those predictions stayed true, the final standings would look like this:

16. Reading (35)
T17: Birmingham (32)
Fulham (32)
19. Bolton (30)

Birmingham and Fulham would then have to be sorted out by using goal differential. At this point, it definitely favors Birmingham (-13 to Fulham's -24), but three Birmingham losses, including the one at Fulham, could turn that around. I would still say that Birmingham would win a tiebreaker, but you never know.

The last four games of the season are going to be great. This is a relegation battle that will go down to the last day and for Fulham to even make this a contest after last week's loss to Sunderland is great. As I said, I'm not sure if they climb out, but they're going to keep fighting until the end.

Arsene Wenger Wants Lifetime Ban for Taylor

In the words of José Mourinho's puppet character on "I'm On Setanta Sports", shut up, Wenger.

For those of you who haven't seen the gruesome pictures or seen video, Arsenal front man Eduardo da Silva had his left leg nearly snapped at the ankle after a sliding challenge from Birmingham defender Martin Taylor. It took nearly ten minutes for trainers and medical staff to get da Silva off the field, and all reports indicate the Croatian has a badly broken leg. It didn't exactly take a genius to come to that conclusion as anyone who has seen what happened could diagnose the injury instantly.

It would be irresponsible at this point to speculate as to how long da Silva will be out, but Arsene Wenger has said that "His injury is very, very bad. More than the season is over."

The Frenchman also said "This guy (Taylor) should never play football again. What is he doing on the football pitch?"

"I've gone along with the idea for a long time that to stop Arsenal, you have to kick Arsenal. I knew that was coming for a long time now."

Here's where I have a problem with Wenger. There is simply no way Taylor is going to get a lifetime ban, no way. There was no malice whatsoever in the challenge, no intent to injure like we've seen in the past with some of Roy Keane's attacks on opponents when he was still a player. On the match broadcast, play-by-play man Jon Champion even said he wasn't sure if Taylor should've been sent off.

Personally, I thought it was a red card and the automatic three-match ban that comes with it is deserved. Anything more than that would really be harsh on Taylor because the reality is that this was just a freak incident. It was a mis-timed, late tackle. I've seen numerous tackles similar to this one in the past that haven't even been red-carded. I think it's wrong for Wenger to call for a lifetime ban for Taylor simply based on the extent of the injury to da Silva.

It's not as if Taylor is a repeat offender and has a reputation for causing incidents like this. He showed remorse immediately after the challenge; as Birmingham boss Alex McLeish said, "Martin's distraught about the lad's injury. It's certainly not in Martin Taylor's make-up at all to commit a malicious tackle."

In the NHL, a player can be given a two-minute penalty for high-sticking if he gets his stick in an opponent's face and makes contact, but four minutes if that same incident draws blood. That's just ridiculous; you can't additionally penalize something because of a freak injury, or drawn blood in the case of hockey. It's not fair to overreact to how badly someone is hurt because of a challenge, I believe you have to look at the challenge itself in a vacuum and go from there. With that said, make no mistake. I'm not condoning what Taylor did today by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm also not condemning him for it either.

If I was Arsene Wenger, who has a well-deserved reputation for being a sore loser and a whiner, I would worry about my own team instead of Martin Taylor. Wenger's star young left back, Gaël Clichy, was directly at fault for giving up Birmingham's late equalizer through his lack of focus and poor judgment and decision-making. These two points dropped could end up being what loses the title for Arsenal, yet after the game, Wenger is talking about the opposition and not saying anything about his own team.

Taylor's fate isn't in Wenger's hands; he's just wasting his time by chipping in his own two cents about the situation. I don't want to hear this man in public anymore. He doesn’t say anything chastizing or harsh when his players, like Eboue and Flamini, go in recklessly on challenges like they’ve done in the past month or so, either nearly causing or actually causing serious injury, but when someone from another team does the same thing to a player on his team, he gets up in arms and has a fit. I’m sorry, I don’t have any time for that and it is embarrassing.

Shut up, Wenger!

A Trio of Six-Pointers

Things have been pretty busy in the soccer world recently at least as far as this site goes, what with the African Cup of Nations in full swing and the FA Cup 4th Round ties and 5th Round draw over the past few days.

Let’s not forget the bread and butter though. Premier League action heats up again with a round of midweek games, starting with four tomorrow and then five on Wednesday. Three of tomorrow’s matches are extremely, extremely important and so I wanted to give you a brief preview of what to watch for. These games are the definition of the term “six-pointers”, as each of the six teams involved are in the relegation fight and could either go three points closer to safety or three more points behind the teams they’re chasing in the battle to remain in the Premier League.

Middlesbrough (13th; 22 pts) vs. Wigan (17th; 20 pts):

This will be game #1 of the post-Jonathan Woodgate era at Middlesbrough. Say what you like about Woodgate and how injury-prone he is, but he’s a quality center-back and his presence will sorely be missed at the Riverside, especially as Boro have already conceded 37 goals this season. They’ve won just once in their last six league matches and only twice at home all season. Both Tuncay Sanli and Gary O’Neil should return to the lineup, however, and that will be a boost to Gareth Southgate’s club.

Marlon King should be set to make his debut for Wigan after recently joining the Lancashire side from Watford. King is a serviceable striker who will help Wigan up front; they’ve scored only 23 goals in as many matches this season. They’ve won just once away from the JJB this year but have earned points in five out of their last seven league games, including their sole road win at Derby. As a sidenote, this will be Wigan’s 100th match in the Premier League.

Bolton (15th; 21 pts) vs. Fulham (19th; 15 pts):

Out of the six clubs I’ve highlighted today, I think these two need a victory the most.

Bolton lack any type of scoring punch now that Nicolas Anelka has continued his nomadic ways and moved to Chelsea, and the likely signing of Aston Villa central defender Gary Cahill doesn’t address that need whatsoever. The Trotters have won just twice in their last seven league games and those wins came against Derby and Birmingham. El-Hadji Diouf and Abdoulaye Meite are both away due to African Cup of Nations duty and that doesn’t help matters at all.

One thing that does work in Bolton’s favor, however, is Fulham’s awful road form. Bolton have been solid at home this season (5-3-4) and Fulham have picked up only four points in eleven away league matches so far (0-4-7). The Cottagers actually hadn’t won away from home in the 2007 calendar year either, so Bolton should have the advantage tomorrow in that regard. Fulham will need Clint Dempsey to have a good game tomorrow if they have any hope of gaining a much-needed three points.

Sunderland (18th; 20 pts) vs. Birmingham City (16th; 20 pts):

Sunderland will head into tomorrow’s match with a much-weakened side as Michael Chopra, Danny Higginbotham, Grant Leadbitter, Ross Wallace, Kieran Richardson, Carlos Edwards, and Dickson Etuhu will all be out and each of those players has had an appreciable role with the club this season. The Black Cats have shown improvement recently with two wins in their last five league matches, including the dominant 2-0 win against Portsmouth at the Stadium of Light on January 13. Kenwyne Jones is capable of scoring every time he walks onto the field and Birmingham will likely have trouble containing him in the air.

The Blues have the most away wins (2) out of any team in the bottom seven in the Premiership and will likely hand James McFadden his first start since his recent move from Everton. Mauro Zarate has joined the club on loan as well and trust me, this kid is a star in the making. He scored the winning goal for the Argentine U-20 team in the final of last summer’s FIFA U-20 World Cup against the Czech Republic, and was the co-top scorer in the Argentine Apertura in 2006-2007 with 12 goals. Birmingham are healthy and will have every opportunity to steal a victory on the road, although they’ll have to earn it as Sunderland are 5-3-3 on home turf this season.

Jewell Joins Derby, McLeish Matriculates at Birmingham

Well, this news would matter more to me if these teams were any good.

Derby will be going down regardless; they are simply the worst Premiership team I've seen in years and Paul Jewell won't be able to save them this season.

I picked Birmingham to join Derby in the Championship next year as well, and that was with Steve Bruce at the helm, who I believe is a good manager and possibly could've kept the team up. Alex McLeish turned the fortunes of the Scottish national team around and even though they just missed out on qualifying for Euro 2008, whoever is hired as the next manager will inherit a pretty stable, solid situation and team that has a good chance to qualify for World Cup 2010. As far as McLeish goes, however, I don't think Birmingham made the right choice in hiring a guy who hasn't managed in England before, much less the Premiership, in the middle of the season. It's one to manage in Scotland and at Rangers, where success is easier to attain than it is in the Premiership, and it's another to manage a team that doesn't have the same talent level as even other squads in the bottom half of the table. If McLeish keeps Birmingham up, it'll be by the skin of their teeth and nothing more.

Steve Bruce Joins Wigan

As reported by ESPNsoccernet, Birmingham City manager Steve Bruce has signed a four-year, $16 million US contract to become Wigan's new manager. Wigan is believed to have sent $6 million US back to Birmingham as compensation.

This really hurts Birmingham's chances of staying in the Premiership after this season as Bruce is a quality manager whose players love playing for him. The squad he'll inherit at Wigan isn't exactly on the young side, so Bruce should be able to tap into that experience and get the best out of his new team in hopes to maintain their place in the top tier of English soccer.

The problem at Birmingham for Steve Bruce was the pending new ownership under Carson Yeung and uncertainty surrounding Bruce's future at the helm of Birmingham's second-best team. Bruce hadn't been given the guarantees he sought from the incoming ownership and obviously felt the security offered to him by Wigan chairman Dave Whelan was too much to pass up.

It's uncertain who will step in and guide Birmingham, at least for the short-term, because Bruce's number two with the Blues, Eric Black, will probably step into the same role at Wigan in the very near future as assistant manager.

Season Summaries--15. Birmingham City

15. Birmingham City (My preseason prediction: 19th)

If there's one team I hope can succesfully navigate the relegation battle and remain in the Premiership (other than Sunderland), it's Birmingham. Perhaps it's because Steve Bruce looks like Jay Leno and is such a nice guy, such a players' manager; perhaps it's because I like the heart and "endeavor that the lads play with", who knows.

One thing is for sure, though, and that's if Birmingham lose Steve Bruce to Wigan (as is the current rumor), the Blues won't be playing in the Premiership next season. He's got a bunch of guys on that team that love playing for him and I couldn't see any other manager coming in and getting the results and performances out of them like Bruce does. I know that their record isn't the greatest (3-2-8), but it's pretty misleading as Birmingham have been pretty unlucky this season, combined with the fact they haven't been able to close out games. Just like Sunderland, their competitiveness and how hard they play has never been in question.

Their best player this season has been Olivier Kapo, without a doubt. The Ivorian-born French international has scored a team-leading five goals from his center midfield position and really stepped up when Mikael Forssell was out injured. Forssell has two goals in 5 starts, showing the impact he can have when healthy, and after his tally against Aston Villa in the Second City derby last weekend, the Finnish striker looks to be back on form. Birmingham will need to rack up the points in December, especially in the last three games of the month (at Bolton, home to Middlesbrough and Fulham) because their first three games of January come against Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal, and it'll be that six-game stretch that defines Birmingham's season.

Premiership Preview: 20 Teams, 10 Days--20. Derby County, 19. Birmingham City

Over the next 10 days, starting from the bottom, I will preview my predicted order of finish for each of the 20 Premiership teams. I'll summarize their major transfers in and out, take a look at how their schedule sets up, and explain my reasoning for where I believe they'll end up in the table after this season.



19. Fellow Premiership returnees Birmingham City also should end the season with a return ticket to the Championship. The Blues spent only one season back in the second tier of English soccer, but manager Steve Bruce (aka Jay Leno, more on that later) will have to do a wonderful job of coaching to keep this club up.

Birmingham made a couple of solid moves this summer, including bringing in the young Dutch midfielder Daniel de Ridder and making Fabrice Muamba's loan deal from Arsenal permanent. Stuart Parnaby provides depth with his versatility at the back. Steve Bruce also appears confident that they will sign midfielder Hossam Ghaly from Tottenham by this weekend, but the move that now appears unlikely is the acquisition of Mido, also from Tottenham. The departure of DJ Campbell is the only real loss to a side that finished runners-up in the Championship last season.

If Birmingham are to have any hope for staying up, they'll need big seasons from their strikers, Cameron Jerome and Mikael Forssell. Forssell has been a disappointment since he made his loan deal from Chelsea permanent in 2005, scoring just 4 goals in 35 league games since. Jerome is a very talented young player but scored only 7 goals in 37 league games in 2006. Radhi Jaidi, a Tunisian defender, scored 6 goals in 37 league games for Birmingham by comparison, so increased production from the strikers will be vital for Birmingham.

August opens up with a bear of a match at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea is undefeated for 2+ years of league games. The rest of the month shapes up far easier for the Blues, but in September they play Bolton, Liverpool, and Manchester United in successive weeks (Bolton and Manchester Utd. at home). With the new year comes Manchester United, Arsenal, and Chelsea also in consecutive weeks, with the first two of those games away from St. Andrew's. The home stretch of games is manageable enough, and even if Birmingham can take care of business in those games, they'll still need to steal some points from games in which they'll be the heavy underdogs.

Bottom Line-Birmingham will be a lot closer to safety then they will be to 20th place, but they still will be relegated.



20. Bringing up the rear, I've got Derby County. Back in the Premiership after a five-year absence, the Rams have a tough season ahead of them. They've brought in no real players of note, though Robert Earnshaw could turn out to be a decent buy, and on top of that, they'll start the season without talented midfielder Giles Barnes. Barnes looks certain to miss the season opener at home against Portsmouth, and is highly doubtful to play in either of the two consecutive away matches after that.

September trips to Liverpool and Arsenal won't help the Rams get off to a much-needed good start, and they also play Tottenham on the road in August as well as Reading the first week of October. Everton, Newcastle, Bolton, and Portsmouth (all UEFA Cup spot contenders) make up 4 of the first 5 home games. The run-in towards the end isn't much easier, as Derby plays Manchester United and Chelsea on consecutive weekends in March and finish up with Blackburn and Reading (Blackburn away, Reading home). It looks fairly certain that Derby won't get off to a good start, and with a pretty tough schedule towards the end of the season, they'll have to make hay during the winter months to have any chance of staying in the Premiership.

Bottom Line-Derby will head back down to the Championship. No if's, and's, or but's.

New Jerseys for 2007-2008

Several teams have made changes to their uniforms for the upcoming Premiership and Football League season. Here, we'll take a brief glance at some new jerseys and I'll offer my opinions; yours are always welcome as well.

Some teams have scheduled their uniform release date for later on in the summer, though all of these dates are subject to change by the team:
Arsenal (July 7-home, August 7-away)
Chelsea (July 7-away, August 7-third)
Everton (July 12-away, September 6-third)
Liverpool (July 20-"European change")
Manchester City (August 7-away)
Manchester United (July 7-home, August 7-away)
Wigan (June 14-home, August 2-away, September 6-third)
Dates courtesy of: eplleague.blogspot.com

Blackburn Rovers unveiled two new jerseys for next season around the beginning of May. They were apparently voted on by the club's fans (I'd like to know why fans would vote for that away jersey, but I digress). The solid red away Blackburn wore last year was much more conservative, but the home jersey looks very similar. The 2007-2008 editions are a bit curvier and remind me of the jerseys which Adidas makes for the MLS teams, though Lonsdale is Blackburn's manufacturer again for next season.
Jersey designer-Lonsdale

Newcastle have released a new home jersey which they will wear up through 2009. It also looks fairly similar to last year's jersey; black and white stripes are the focal point. This is a very sleek-looking jersey, and Newcastle are marking the new era under Sam Allardyce in style.
Jersey designer-Adidas


The runners-up in the Championship intend to show up well-dressed when they make their return to the Premiership next season. Birmingham City will march into St. Andrews with a new home jersey, and hopefully for them, Steve Bruce (aka Jay Leno) will be able to solidify that club as a Premiership team to stay.
This jersey is not bad looking, but I would've liked to see a bit more blue in the middle and less white.
Jersey designer-Umbro

Liverpool's new black third jersey, worn here by John Arne Riise, is my personal favorite of all the new jerseys that have been released. I like this jersey far more than I liked the yellow one Liverpool wore this season during some away Premiership and away Champions League games, don't you agree? Adidas is also running a new campaign (http://www.adidas.com/campaigns/liverpool/content/liverpool.asp?adidas_cc=com&lfcprmid=18448104ool.asp?adidas_cc=com&lfcprmid=18448104)) that has a countdown clock which will supposedly reveal Liverpool's new away jersey on May 30, however, it's widely rumored that this jersey is white with red trim and images of it have already been leaked. Steven Gerrard is pictured modeling it to the right in fact. Well-kept secret, huh?

Jersey designers-Adidas