Another 4-4 Draw for Chelsea, Tottenham

What a remarkable game.

This 4-4 draw was the second of its kind for both Spurs and Chelsea this season; remarkably, Aston Villa was the opponent for both London clubs in their other 4-4 game. Spurs also drew 3-3 with Fulham and beat Reading 6-4 earlier in the year, showing their knack for high-scoring contests.

Tottenham very nearly won the game today in second half injury-time, but Chelsea keeper Carlo Cudicini denied Dimitar Berbatov from close range. It was a chance on which I would've bet my house on the Bulgarian striker scoring, so luckily I couldn't make it to Vegas to place a wager.

I thought that Ashley Cole should've been sent off for that horrible challenge on Alan Hutton right before the first half ended, and somehow he walked away with only a yellow card. I'm sorry, but if you're going to give a red card to Jason Koumas for his tackle last weekend, which was a joke in itself (the red card, not the tackle), then surely Cole should've been dismissed as well, no question about it. Did I miss something, or was Hutton's shin almost snapped in half? Come on.

Not only that, but John Terry, Frank Lampard, and Didier Drogba all should've been booked for dissent after they followed referee Mike Riley for nearly 20 yards after Riley kept backing away and calling for Cole. I don't care that John Terry is the captain; you can't show up the referee like that. Lampard and Drogba certainly had no business getting in Riley's face either. All of this after the FA came out today with a "respect the referees initiative". Please!

Oh, and then Robbie Keane gets a yellow card for opening his mouth a little bit just after that? It's a joke! Keane gets a yellow card for saying something 10 yards away, and the three Chelsea players get away scot-free. Mr. Riley, take yourself and your big nose right off the soccer field and don't come back, thanks. He has no business being a Premiership referee if he's going to be as inconsistent as he was today.

With the way the game went, I think both teams will gladly take the point and live to fight another day. Chelsea really squandered an opportunity to make it a three-team title race and will now have to beat Arsenal this Sunday to get back in contention, but a point is better than nothing and that is very nearly what Chelsea got out of this match.

Manchester United took care of business against Bolton with a 2-0 victory at Old Trafford, putting the Red Devils three points up on Arsenal with eight games to go. I'll tell you right now, as long as United don't get beat by Arsenal at Old Trafford on April 13, the Premiership trophy will be heading to Manchester for the second year in a row.

Sven Goes to Afghanistan in Newest Episode of "I'm On Setanta Sports"

Yes, it is unusual. Get it?

It is also fantastic.

Can't Wait for Sunday

Not that I'm complaining, but the Premier League isn't fooling anyone. Somehow with their so-called "random" schedule, Sunday will be the second time this year that the "Big Four" will play against each other. Manchester United will host surging Liverpool at Old Trafford and Chelsea will have their chance to reel in suddenly slumping Arsenal as the Gunners head across London to Stamford Bridge.

Not only will the "Big Four" be in action on Sunday, they're the only four teams playing and it just so happens that fans across the world will be able to watch both games in their entirety, with Man U-Liverpool kicking off at 9:30 AM ET here with Chelsea-Arsenal to follow at noon.

I have no problem with this at all, believe me. None. But come on, the Premier League should at least be up front with the public that these games were scheduled like this intentionally. Don't try and tell us that everything is random and computer-generated; it insults our intelligence and no one is buying it. "Super Sunday x2" should be fun to watch and the media hype around it is well-deserved, but it reeks of an unnecessary money-grabbing ploy.

I'll be watching soccer on Sunday, but it's also that time of year...

It's time for March Madness, baby!

That's right, Sunday brings the second batch of Round of 32 games in the NCAA Tournament and for those who haven't witnessed the spectacle that is college basketball in March, trust me, it is the best, most passionate single sporting event of the year, bar none.

I fully expect you all to tune in to CBS after you're finished watching the Premiership action on Sunday for a great day of college basketball. Don't even get off your couch.

I can't wait for the weekend.

Newcastle United--England's Version of the Chicago Cubs?

Ho-hum.

Another day, another winless result for Kevin Keegan and Newcastle today as his side managed to earn a 1-1 draw at fellow bottom-feeder Birmingham City. Michael Owen's oh-so-masterful toe-poke into the back of the net levelled the score in the second half and both teams came away with a point, a point that could turn out to be valuable at the end of the season.

Let's be honest though. There is simply NO WAY that Newcastle United should be in any danger of relegation. Compared to the rest of the teams in the fight to stay up, Newcastle has more experienced, more talented players and while they are by no means a good team, they're better, at least name-wise, than the likes of Birmingham, Sunderland, Fulham, Derby, Bolton, etc.

With the start of baseball season in the US fast approaching, here's what I'm wondering: Is Newcastle really just England's version of the Chicago Cubs, perhaps the most lovable losers in American sporting history? For those who don't know, the Cubs are a Major League Baseball team and like Newcastle, it's seemingly been an eternity since they won a championship even though they've had the resources to do so and been close numerous times. Both teams have passionate, bordering on rabid, fan bases and sell out every home game, no matter how well or how poorly the team is playing and where they are in the standings.

Some quick facts about each team:

Year of Founding: Newcastle-1892; Cubs-1876
Championships Won: Newcastle-four; Cubs-two (first division titles only for Newcastle, World Series only for the Cubs)
Last Championship Won: Newcastle: 1926-1927; Cubs-1908
Stadium Capacity: Newcastle-52,387; Cubs-41,118
Percent Capacity Filled Last Season: Newcastle-97%, Cubs-98%
Average Division/League Finish in the Last 10 Seasons: Newcastle-9th (out of 20); Cubs-4th (out of 6)
"Curse" on team?: Newcastle-Yes; Cubs-Yes, Curse of the Billy Goat
Fan Nickname: Newcastle-Toon Army; Cubs-Bleacher Bums

I would argue that the Cubs have been more successful in the last five seasons, having appeared in the playoffs twice and winning two division titles (playoffs in the National League involve four of the league's 16 teams, three division winners and one wild card), while Newcastle has bowed out of both the UEFA Cup (on multiple occasions) and Champions League with barely a whimper.

What's more is that the Cubs' future looks bright with the talent they've brought in and a decent minor league system. Newcastle, on the other hand, are going in the opposite direction faster than it takes Didier Drogba to fall on the ground without contact during a game.

If you're a Newcastle fan, come on, I want to hear you. What does your club need to do to turn the corner? What are you expecting in the future?

I salute you for being a fan through the tough times; unlike many people who hop on the bandwagon of teams who routinely win like Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, and others, you've stuck with your team and will continue to support them until your dying day. Cubs fans are the same; my dad is a Chicago native and he'll root for the North Siders until he can't anymore. Neither Newcastle nor the Cubs has had much to brag about in terms of winning, especially lately, but both have that passionate fan base that is like a family. For three hours every day in the summer or for 90 minutes from August-May, these fans can go to a game and throw all of their problems and worries away and watch their team play.

Newcastle United and the Chicago Cubs. Two different sports, two very similar teams.

Preseason Predictions Revisited

Premiership teams have now played either 29 or 30 games and as we head into roughly the final quarter of the season, there's a lot to play for at the bottom, middle, and top of the table. As a neutral fan, that's all I can ask for; suspense until the very end keeps me interested and it's shaping up to be a fantastic finish.

Last summer, I did my predictions as to where I believed each team would finish the year, and now, 75% of the way through the season, seems as good of a time as any to go back and revisit those picks and compare them to how the standings look today:

My Preseason Predictions:
1. Manchester United
2. Chelsea
3. Liverpool
4. Tottenham
5. Arsenal
6. Portsmouth
7. Aston Villa
8. Everton
9. Bolton
10. Blackburn Rovers
11. Reading
12. West Ham
13. Fulham
14. Newcastle
15. Manchester City
16. Middlesbrough
17. Sunderland
18. Wigan Athletic
19. Birmingham City
20. Derby County

Current Table (if my prediction matches, that team is in bold):
1. Manchester United
2. Arsenal
3. Chelsea
4. Liverpool
5. Everton
6. Portsmouth
7. Aston Villa
8. Manchester City
9. Blackburn Rovers
10. West Ham
11. Tottenham
12. Wigan Athletic
13. Middlesbrough
14. Reading
15. Newcastle
16. Sunderland
17. Birmingham City
18. Bolton
19. Fulham
20. Derby County

Alright, 4/20 (20%) isn't too great, BUT, I've been 8/20 (40%) accurate within one place. For example, I picked Newcastle to finish in 14th but they're in 15th right now; they are one of the eight teams within one place of my predictions.

Here's your chance to let me have it, everyone. Tell me how wrong I've been, rub it in my face a little bit.

Come on, give it to me!

Americans on Display in Fulham-Everton Match

I kept hearing the Star-Spangled Banner in my head during Fulham's critical 1-0 victory over Everton today as six Americans, five of whom currently still play for the national team, took part in the game. Kasey Keller, the US all-time leader in wins and shutouts, posted another of each at the club level for Fulham and his opposite number, Tim Howard, the present and future in goal for the national team, only conceded one goal.

Who scored the goal for the Cottagers? None other than Brian McBride, the only American ever to score in more than one World Cup. McBride was replaced late in the game by another American, Clint Dempsey, who has arguably been Fulham's best player all season. McBride's goal was straight out of his personal scrapbook, a trademark header in front of the net that didn't look pretty, but got the job done.

Carlos Bocanegra also came on as a substitute for the home team and didn't acquit himself too badly, and Eddie Johnson started the game alongside McBride up front and had a few chances.

Fulham desperately needed the three points today and they got them, moving themselves to within reach of safety, something I predicted for this club before the season started. Everton, on the other hand, dropped points they couldn't afford to drop with Portsmouth and Aston Villa charging hard for 5th place behind them, and the Toffees' schedule gets considerably trickier in the next few weeks.

One thing I know is the fortunes of both Fulham and Everton depend largely on the Americans on both clubs' rosters. Tim Howard is going to have to come up big in goal for Everton, which, to be fair, he has done all season, and Fulham will be in dire need of goals down the stretch, something Johnson, McBride, and Dempsey are all capable of providing.

Michigan's Season Ends in Big Ten Quarterfinals

After a sloppy 55-47 win over Iowa yesterday in the First Round of the 2008 Big Ten Tournament, the Michigan Wolverines advanced to today's quarterfinal against Wisconsin, the 6th-ranked team in the country and the #1 seed in this tournament.

I'll be honest. I'm as big a Michigan fan as there is, but I didn't believe for a second that they'd beat the Badgers today. Unfortunately, I was right, and Wisconsin came away with an ugly 51-34 victory.

Michigan finished the season at 10-22 (5-13), which doesn't look too impressive. Trust me though, the team I saw during these final 10 or 12 games of the year was markedly improved from the team I saw during the nonconference and early conference portion of the schedule, and coach John Beilein has a lot to build from for next season.

The only useful senior he'll lose is Ron Coleman, who's been a servant to Michigan basketball for four years and played in 129 games for the Maize and Blue, which puts in the top 10 in that category in school history. Coleman is a wing player and a good shooter, but usually only contributed 6 or 7 points per game and lost his starting spot in the middle of the season.

No, the nucleus of this team will stay intact and it is led by Big Ten All-Freshman First Team and Big Ten All-Conference Second Team star Manny Harris, who averaged over 16 points per game, and sophomore forward DeShawn Sims, who was good for 12-15 points and 5-7 rebounds every night. Ekpe Udoh led the conference in blocked shots this season and is improving his offensive game rapidly, Kelvin Grady experienced his growing pains at the point guard position as a freshman and will continue to develop, and a bench that provided quality depth as the season wore on all returns as well.

Combine that with the fact that Beilein will be able to bring in his first recruiting class with kids that match his style of offense and defense and the fact that as I said already, he'll have another year to teach the current roster, things are looking up for Michigan basketball. I fully expect this team to CONTEND for (not necessarily get) a spot in the NCAA Tournament next season and I think there will be a changing of the guard of sorts in the Big Ten; Indiana, Michigan State, Minnesota, and Wisconsin should all be a little bit down, while Purdue, Michigan, and Northwestern should move up.

Pompey-Villa Looms Large Tomorrow

With all the hype surrounding the respective Champions League and UEFA Cup draws today, the Premiership seems to be flying under the radar a little bit and one game in particular tomorrow has huge implications.

Portsmouth will welcome fellow UEFA Cup spot hopeful Aston Villa to Fratton Park and the hosts are playing very well at the moment, having won five out of their last six games in all competitions. Jermain Defoe has been great for Pompey with five goals in as many league games since moving to the South Coast in January. His team is in 7th place in the league right now, just two points behind Villa, and they won 3-1 at Villa Park earlier in the season.

'Arry Redknapp is a very underrated manager in my opinion. This is a man who saved Pompey from near-certain relegation two seasons ago when he took the reins in mid-season and has compiled a 42-35-24 record in his second stint in charge at Portsmouth. While this doesn't look too impressive in itself, remember, Redknapp has had to rebuild this team and was only given significant financial backing to buy players last summer; he really had to create something out of nothing in the season and a half before and Pompey still finished 9th in '06-'07.

Similarly, Martin O'Neill hasn't had as much money to work with as he'd like at Aston Villa but has still done an impressive job this season with one of the smallest (in terms of numbers, not size) rosters in the Premiership. It's very likely that Randy Lerner, Villa's American owner, will be willing to spend more money in the summer but for now, O'Neill is winning with essentially an England U-23 roster. He's got young guys like Premiership assist leader Ashley Young, who I've been banging the drum for before it was fashionable to do so, Gabby Agbonlahor, Scott Carson, Nigel Reo-Coker, Craig Gardner, and the now-injured Curtis Davies who have all been integral pieces to the puzzle this season, mixed in with some good, useful veteran players like John Carew, Martin Laursen, and Gareth Barry.

Villa has lost only once in their last eight league games, although four of those matches have been draws. As I said earlier, they lost to Portsmouth 3-1 at home earlier in the season and really can't afford to lose again tomorrow. Pompey has the same number of ties (7) at Fratton Park as they do wins and losses at home combined, and Villa's road record is the exact same (5-7-2).

The numbers scream "draw" tomorrow, but I'm going to go with a 2-1 victory for Portsmouth, which would vault them into 6th place, six points behind Everton pending the Toffees' away match at Fulham on Sunday.

UEFA Cup Quarterfinal + Semifinal Draw

After tough, gut-wrenching exits from the UEFA Cup Round of 16 for Bolton, Tottenham, and Everton, Rangers are the only British team left in the competition. The Scottish giants will host Sporting Lisbon, who eliminated Bolton 2-1 on aggregate, on April 3 and travel to Lisbon a week later for the return leg.

Rangers also were fortunate to not be drawn into the same half of the bracket as tournament favorite Bayern Munich, who should waltz their way past Getafe and into the semifinals against the winner of the Bayer Leverkusen/Zenit St. Petersburg tie.

Complete Quarterfinal Draw (my pick to advance in bold); first leg home team listed first:

Bayer Leverkusen vs. Zenit St. Petersburg
Rangers vs. Sporting Lisbon
Bayern Munich vs. Getafe
Fiorentina vs. PSV Eindhoven

Note: All matches will be played April 3/10

Complete Semifinal Draw:

Bayern Munich/Getafe vs. Bayer Leverkusen/Zenit St. Petersburg
Rangers/Sporting Lisbon vs. Fiorentina vs. PSV Eindhoven

Note: All matches will be played April 24 and May 1

Champions League Quarterfinal + Semifinal Draw--Live

No time for intros, I'm doing homework at the moment and have class at 9 this morning, so I'm just going to list what's been drawn so far. The quarterfinal ties are scheduled to be played April 1/2 and 8/9, and the semifinal ties are scheduled to be played April 22/23 and 29/30. More analysis later.

Quarterfinal round; first leg home team listed first; Premiership teams highlighted in bold:

Arsenal vs. Liverpool
AS Roma vs. Manchester United
Schalke 04 vs. Barcelona
Fenerbahçe vs. Chelsea

Semifinal round; same things as before apply:

Arsenal/Liverpool vs. Fenerbahçe/Chelsea
Schalke 04/Barcelona vs. AS Roma/Manchester United

My Dream Champions League Quarterfinals Draw--Part 2

3. Chelsea vs. Barcelona: The Special One, Mr. Mourinho, would look at this tie with special interest as his old club, Chelsea, takes on his possible new club, Barcelona. It would certainly be a contrast of styles as the Premiership side doesn't exactly play a visually stunning brand of soccer, and Barcelona has four or five players who seem like they can score almost at will. This competition is likely the last chance for real silverware for both teams, and that sense of desperation would liven this tie up quite nicely. The winner of this tie would play the winner of...

4. Liverpool vs. Schalke: Ok, I'll admit, this isn't a dream pairing, but these are the only two teams left. Ideally, I'd like to see Liverpool play another English team in this round and have Schalke play Fenerbahçe so that one of the two underdogs could reach the semifinal, but I'd more rather see Fenerbahçe and all the English teams play the opponents I already talked about. The bonus? Well, Liverpool would likely win this tie and then the ensuing semifinal against either Chelsea or Barcelona would be quality.

Schalke are currently in 5th place in the Bundesliga and need to finish in 3rd to get back into the Champions League. Places 2-7 are separated by only seven points, so it brings up a dilemma for the German side: Do they want to go for it all in the CL this year and risk tiring out their players for the stretch run of the season, or do they want to kind of mail it in right now and put all of their efforts into simply getting back into Europe's top club competition?

As I said in Part 1, the real draw will be conducted early tomorrow morning here on the East Coast. I'll be in class until 10 but should have brief capsules for each tie before noon.

My Dream Champions League Quarterfinals Draw--Part 1

The real Champions League draw for the quarterfinals, semifinals, and final will take place tomorrow in Nyon, Switzerland, and for the first time in the competition, teams from the same group or country can be paired against each other. It's likely that we'll get a few duds and also a few exciting ties; that's just how it usually turns out. UEFA says that these draws are random, which I'm not necessarily questioning, but it seems like the same teams are always drawn against each other and things have appeared a little fishy at times...

For now though, he's my dream draw for the next round of the Champions League:

1. Arsenal-Fenerbahçe: Both teams play an attacking style and are capable of scoring multiple goals in any given game, something that can't be said about every team left at this stage in the competition. I'd be interested to see how Arsenal handles the raucous crowd in Istanbul, which is a different beast altogether than than the one they encountered at the San Siro last week. I don't doubt that the Gunners would go through in this tie, but Fenerbahçe would certainly give them a good game in Turkey and both legs would have goals in them. The winner of this tie would go on to face the winner of...

2. Manchester United-Roma: A rematch of last year's quarterfinal which Manchester United won 8-3 on aggregate, using a 7-1 thrashing at Old Trafford to overcome a 2-1 deficit from the first leg. This is a different Roma team though, and their leader, Francesco Totti, is playing out of his mind right now, and Manchester United looked pretty shaky at times against Lyon in both legs of their Round of 16 encounter. Would Roma have the firepower to overcome United? I'm not sure, and a lot would depend on how Totti performs.

Check back later for my other two dream pairings.

PK's Unkind to Spurs, Everton

Clubs from England, England, of all countries, struggling in a penalty shootout? Not surprising in the least.

Everton needed to reverse a 2-0 deficit heading into their second leg against Fiorentina at Goodison Park today and did so. Both teams had their chances late in normal time and then in extra time to win the tie but couldn't finish, and Fiorentina won the crapshoot that is PK's. All bets are off after 120 minutes, no matter who the home team is. Both goalkeepers, Sebastien Frey and Tim Howard, had very good games and each made some crucial saves, but Frey was able to parry Phil Jagielka's spot kick and Yakubu hit the post. Fiorentina converted all four of their efforts from 12 yards out to escape Liverpool and advance.

Like Everton, Spurs needed to overcome a deficit in Eindhoven as today's hosts won 1-0 at White Hart Lane in the first leg. Like Everton, Spurs were able to accomplish that. Like Everton, Spurs lost in PK's, although this shootout was more captivating. Tottenham had a chance to win the game but Jermaine Jenas' effort was saved by Eindhoven's goalkeeper, Gomes, and then Pascal Chimbonda's awful shot allowed the Dutch side to progress on penalties, 6-5.

Dick Advocaat-managed Zenit St. Petersburg continues to impress, coming from 3-1 down in the first leg and winning 2-0 today to advance on the away goals rule over Olympique Marseille.

I'll have a complete recap of the Round of 16 after the final two games tomorrow, both of which feature another British team -- Rangers in Bremen to take on Werder, and Bolton in Lisbon to take on Sporting.

West Ham Will Be MLS All-Star Team's Opponent This Summer

The Toronto Star is reporting that West Ham United, they of the wrong end of three consecutive 4-0 losses, will come to Toronto this summer and be the opponent for the MLS All-Stars. It would be the fourth straight year in which a British team has traveled across the Atlantic to play in the MLS' annual summer showcase, with the home side winning each of the previous three encounters.

BMO Field will host this game on July 28 and there isn't a better stadium and fan base in the league. Toronto FC was a pretty poor team last season and yet you couldn't tell by the crowd in the stadium; they made noise for the duration of each and every game and there was an atmosphere unlike any other in American (although of course, Toronto is in Canada) soccer.

To be honest, I'm not particularly excited about this game; I don't think West Ham are that appealing to watch and the only connection they have to the game here in America is in the form of young defender Jonathan Spector, who has made eight appearances for the US National Team.

Everton would've been the perfect opponent in my opinion; I understand that their only American is goalkeeper Tim Howard, but Howard is a much more recognizable player than Spector and the Toffees have a sizable fan base in North America, more so than West Ham.

Either way, definitely tune in to this game this summer.

Liverpool Advances to CL Quarterfinals; New College Basketball Podcast

As sure as the sun will rise and set every day, a Rafa Benitez-coached team will not give up a 2-0 lead in a Champions League tie. I've criticized Benitez's tactics in the Premier League on many occasions and will continue to do so when the situation calls for it in the future, but this man simply is built for two-legged ties and knows exactly how to get the job done in Europe.

I never once got the feeling today that Liverpool were in danger of losing to Inter Milan, even though Milan had their fair share of near-misses. Once Fernando Torres scored midway through the second half, the tie was, for all intents and purposes, over. Torres has been the best striker in the Premier League this season and without him, I'm not sure where Liverpool would be.

As far as I'm concerned, the Reds are England's best chance to win the Champions League this season; they may not be a better team than Manchester United, Arsenal, or even Chelsea, but as far as in Europe, they have the best manager in Benitez and a team full of players who have a lot of Champions League experience and the same can't be said about those other three teams.

On an unrelated note, I was asked by my good friend Kartik to come on to his Canes Rising podcast again and talk about the college basketball landscape heading into Championship Week and Selection Sunday. We'll be recording tonight and the finished product should be ready for your listening pleasure within the next couple of days, and trust me, if you're a fan of the ACC, you'll want to listen.

Sven Pimps "I'm on Setanta Sports"

This show is getting more and more unbelievable every week, but you know what, I don't care.

It is fantastic.

FA Cup Semifinal Draw

A record 731 teams set out for eternal glory in winning the 2007-2008 edition of the FA Cup and after matches since August 18 of last year, we're down to the last four remaining clubs: Portsmouth, Barnsley, West Bromwich Albion, and Cardiff City.

Bryan Robson conducted the draw for the semifinals this afternoon, with both matches to be played at Wembley during the first weekend of April:

April 5: Barnsley vs. Cardiff City
April 6: West Bromwich Albion vs. Portsmouth

A betting man would likely take Portsmouth to win this competition, something they've done only once in their long history (in 1939). However, West Brom, Pompey's opponent, just thrashed Bristol Rovers, who were the cinderella story in this year's FA Cup, 5-1 on the road.

Many people, including Chelsea captain John Terry apparently, want Barnsley to go on and win though and I have to say, after beating Liverpool and Chelsea in consecutive rounds, Barnsley certainly would deserve it. The Tykes could be due for a letdown against Cardiff after those two massive victories, so that will be an interesting game to watch.

Wigan Should Consider a Synthetic Turf Field

Watching today's game at the JJB Stadium between hosts Wigan and Arsenal, one thing was made patently obvious: That field is a disaster and shouldn't be used for Premiership games. It has gotten worse and worse as the season has gone on and it's gotten to the point where it just seems unplayable; the surface is an embarrassment to a league that is one of the top three of its kind in the world.

The field is as hard as a rock on sunny days and a mudpit on rainy days. There are vast stretches without grass. There are clearly visible remains of rugby lines from games played by rugby Super League's Wigan Warriors, who share the JJB with Wigan Athletic.

My high school soccer field was in much better shape than what I'm seeing today and have seen for large portions of the season. I've seen better elementary schoolyard fields than that as well.

What's the solution? Something many purists of the game don't want to hear and likely will criticize me for even suggesting it.

Synthetic turf.

You know what, I don't care if it isn't commonly used on soccer fields in Europe. That doesn't matter. I don't care if it isn't part of the sport's tradition; the only reason synthetic turf wasn't used back in the old days was because it hadn't been invented yet. If it had been, it would've been installed and there would be none of this debate about tradition and sentiment.

The Premier League and its member clubs have a responsibility to provide the best and most safest possible fields with the surfaces most condusive to the game. You can argue and cite studies that indicate that natural grass is safer than synthetic turf and if all things were equal, I'd agree with you. I'd rather play on grass than turf also.

But when the conditions lead to such slop like we've seen for a majority of the season at the JJB, synthetic turf simply has to be considered. It would be safer than what we're seeing now and it would allow the players to contest a game with as close to a perfect surface as possible. As I said earlier, this is one of the top, if not THE top, leagues in the world. It's inexcusable to see balls skipping around all over the place and players not being able to gain any firm footing, especially when the technology to prevent those things is out there.

UEFA announced in 2005-2006 that approved artificial surfaces were permittable in their competitions. Stadion Salzburg Wals-Siezenheim in Salzburg, Austria has an approved synthetic turf field and will have matches played on it in Euro 2008 this summer. Heracles, a Dutch Eredivisie side, has a synthetic surface in their stadium, which, like the JJB, is a multi-use ground.

The field in today's game was a joke. A joke. There are alternatives, namely in the form of synthetic turf, that just have to be considered. Soccer purists, I don't want to hear you. It's not about tradition, which I respect, it's about getting it right and providing the best possible surface for these players to compete on.

Nightmare Saturday for Chelsea, UEFA Cup Spot Contenders

What a day.

For Liverpool, who are now just two points behind Chelsea for third place in the Premiership, although Chelsea have two games in hand, today couldn't be any better. Led by Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, who have been carrying the team all year, the Reds strolled to a 3-0 win over Newcastle.

For Reading, who picked up a much-needed 2-0 victory over Manchester City and escaped the relegation zone in the process, today couldn't be any better either. The Royals now sit in 13th place in the league, which is a bit deceiving due to the small points gap between themselves and 18th place Bolton, but it's clearly a better position to be in then the one in which they came into today's match.

For a few other teams, however, today was a day they'd love to forget.

We'll start with Chelsea, who crashed out of the FA Cup in shocking fashion at now multiple giant-killers Barnsley. The FA Cup represented the last real chance for silverware for the West London club, because they're not going to win the Premiership and in my opinion are the fourth most likely team in England to win the Champions League, not even factoring in the rest of the continent. I'm not saying a third place finish in the league and deep cup/tournament runs wouldn't be respectable, but that's not acceptable to Mr. Abramovich. Avram Grant could very well be replaced in the role of manager this summer..

As refreshing as it was to see Barnsley, a lower-league side, knock off Chelsea and advance to the FA Cup Semifinals, teams like Aston Villa, Everton, Portsmouth, Manchester City, and Blackburn have to be disgusted with the way these cup competitions have gone this year. With Spurs winning the Carling Cup and no "Big Four" teams left in the FA Cup, two UEFA Cup spots (those usually given to the league's 6th and 7th place finishers) have vanished, although Portsmouth could very well make it into the UEFA Cup through their league position anyway, even though now they have to be considered the odds-on favorite to win the FA Cup.

The fight is on for 5th place in the Premiership now, and in my estimation, three teams--Aston Villa, Pompey, and Everton--have a legitimate chance to finish up the season there. Everton, of course, are currently in 5th with a five point lead on Villa and a nine point lead on Portsmouth, so it would take a poor run of games for Everton for either of those other two clubs to take that spot.

I already mentioned Liverpool's victory over Newcastle. Newcastle and losing badly seems to just go together very nicely these days..

No Posts Today

I'm heading down to the Richmond Coliseum this morning for the first two rounds of the Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball tournament, so I won't be posting for the rest of the day.

Four games today and four games tomorrow, nothing better than watching win-or-go home college basketball. It's something I wish more soccer leagues across the world would adopt; as it stands right now, a 20-team league with no playoffs uses a 38-game schedule but every game means the same. There is no extra pressure to win or lose; either way, you'll live to play another game.

Today's First Round Schedule:

Noon: #8 Hofstra vs. #9 Towson
2:30 PM: #5 William & Mary vs. #12 Georgia State
6:00 PM: #7 Delaware vs. #10 Drexel
8:30 PM: #6 Northeastern vs. #11 James Madison

My Champions League Round of 16 Predictions Update

After seven of eight ties, with Liverpool going to Inter Milan next week, here's a quick recap of my predictions:

My predictions to advance:

Liverpool (second leg still to come, currently up 2-0)
Real Madrid (eliminated by Roma, 4-2)
AC Milan (eliminated by Arsenal, 2-0)
Fenerbahçe (defeated Sevilla on PK's, 5-5)
Barcelona (defeated Celtic, 4-2)
Chelsea (defeated Olympiacos, 3-0)
Manchester United (defeated Lyon, 2-1)
Porto (eliminated on PK's by Schalke 04, 1-1)

So as it stands right now, I'm 4-7, with Liverpool looking pretty good to make me 5-8. That would be 62.5%. Not bad, not great.

If I was able to predict the outcome of every tie correctly, there would be no reason to play the games. When it gets down to the last 16 in the Champions League, it's a crapshoot and all bets are off.

Attractive Style Shouldn't Matter So Much in Soccer

Fabio Capello, as manager of Real Madrid in the 2006-2007 season, won La Liga, which was Madrid's first domestic league title in four years. One month later, he was fired. Why? Fans and club executives didn't like his defensive-minded style.

Felix Magath, as mananger of Bayern Munich from 2004-2005 until the middle of the '06-'07 season, won two Bundesliga titles, two German Cups, one German League Cup, and reached the Champions League Round of 16 (eliminated by AC Milan) and the Quarterfinals (eliminated by Chelsea). When he was fired, Munich was 10-4-5 in the league and had won Group B in the Champions League. Why was he fired? No one liked his management style, which placed a premium on discipline and hard work.

It brings up the question that I've really never heard talked about at any length.

Why does creativity matter so much?

The last time I checked, the object in a game of soccer, and this holds true in any sport, is to win. That's the bottom line. Win.

To me, it's not about how you do it, it's about doing it. You can play the most technically sound, beautiful style you want. If you don't win, it doesn't matter. At the end of the day, people remember the team that came out on top, not the team that played the most attractive game. If that team is one and the same, then that makes it even better, but playing "joga bonito" shouldn't be the be-all and end-all.

José Mourinho has been the most successful European manager this decade in my opinion, having won four league titles, a Champions League, a UEFA Cup, two Carling Cups, an FA Cup, a Portuguese Cup, and a Portuguese SuperCup. Did his teams play an aesthetically-pleasing style? Hardly. Some of Mourinho's best players have been guys who did the grunt work and received few accolades and little recognition from mainstream media for it, like Claude Makélélé.

Fabio Capello has won five Scudettos, two La Liga titles, a Champions League, a European Super Cup, four Italian Super Cups, and been to two other Champions League finals. He uses the 4-2-3-1 formation, which employs two holding midfielders and a lone striker. Definitely not what I would call creative, but it gets the job done.

One of Capello's former clubs, AC Milan, uses three defensive midfielders in Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso, and Massimo Ambrosini. What has that done for AC Milan? Just helped them win a Champions League last season and go to a final in 2004-2005.

The point is this: There are many ways to go about winning games, but it's wrong to value how you win over actually winning. It's not about looking good while doing so, it's not about pleasing the fans or club executives, it's about doing the job you're supposed to do, and that is win games and trophies. You can't ask for more than that because there is nothing more; it's unfair to put stipulations on being victorious. Playing the most attractive style doesn't always work and in fact, I'd argue that it works less often than playing a more defensive-minded formation.

Either way, the bottom line is winning, and doing whatever it takes to do so. You can't please everyone with how you do it; some people want to be entertained when they watch a game, some don't. You caan, however, please everyone by doing it.

Do or Die Time for West Ham

The race for the UEFA Cup is in full swing, with essentially six or seven teams fighting for two spots. Tottenham's triumph in the Carling Cup Final guaranteed them a place in Europe next season, something they wouldn't have achieved through their league position, but that took away the UEFA Cup berth usually handed to the league's 7th place finisher. Depending on which teams advance to the FA Cup Final, it's also possible that another UEFA Cup spot, the one generally given to the league's 6th place finisher, would vanish.

Of course, multiple Premiership teams have already applied for next summer's Intertoto Cup, which leads into the UEFA Cup qualifying rounds if the team selected progresses through. That would, for all intents and purposes, replace the UEFA Cup spot taken away by Spurs, and England could gain another spot in Europe's second-tier club competition if it remains on top of the UEFA Fair Play standings through the end of April.

With all this said, today's game between West Ham and Liverpool is big, especially for the Hammers. The East London-based club is currently in 10th place in the league table, eight points out of what would be a UEFA Cup spot if the season ended right now, but with today's game in hand.

Current Standings (4th-10th):

4. Everton (53 points, 28 games played)
5. Liverpool (50 pts., 27 GP)
6. Aston Villa (48 pts., 28 GP)
7. Blackburn Rovers (45 pts., 28 GP)
8. Manchester City (45 pts., 28 GP)
9. Portsmouth (44 pts., 28 GP)
10. West Ham (40 pts., 27 GP)

West Ham has been consistently inconsistent up to this point in the season, having beaten Manchester United and Liverpool while also losing to Wigan and Newcastle. They seem to follow every good, even great, performance with a display that can be considered abject and dismal at best.

They can't afford a showing more like the latter today. A loss and the Hammers will be hard-pressed to get back into the European fight; they'd be hanging on by a thread. To their advantage, they still have games against Villa, Blackburn, Everton, and Pompey, fellow UEFA Cup spot contenders, but they would likely need to win three of those games instead of possibly earning a point, or even worse, losing, in a couple of those games and then making hay against the rest of their schedule.

Right now, these teams are like a fast-moving train and West Ham has to find a way to get onboard or risk being left behind for good. Today's game is at Anfield, where the Hammers have not won since September 1963, so there is no time like the present to fix that. A draw wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for West Ham; they'd still be on the train, but they'd be the ones being dragged along on the tracks.

For Liverpool, this is an important game as well. Three points behind Everton for the fourth and last Champions League spot, the Reds and captain Steven Gerrard have come to terms with the fact that 4th place is what they're playing for. This is a team that will play their next three league games, including today's match, and four of their next five, at Anfield, so the opportunity to make up ground is right in front of them.

It all starts today though, and Liverpool lost at Upton Park 1-0 on January 30. They'll need to reverse that scoreline and get a win because they don't want to make things more difficult down the stretch of the league season than they have to be, particularly because one would have to say that a deep Champions League run will be a focus given their disappointing Premiership campaign.

I've got Liverpool winning 2-0, with Gerrard and Torres both scoring for the home team. We'll see what happens though; both teams should come out desperate for these three points and that should make for a good game to watch. West Ham seems to come out for the big matches, which today's game certainly is, but you just never know which Hammers team you're going to get on a given day.

Full Credit to Arsenal

The title of this post says it all.

I’ve criticized Arsenal and manager Arsene Wenger a lot recently, although there was every reason for me to do so.

Today, there’s nothing for me to do but salute the Gunners’ performance in Milan, as they beat the hosts 2-0 and advanced to the Champions League quarterfinals. This was a match that Arsenal had the better of from start to finish and while the final scoreline may be a bit flattering, there is no doubt that Arsenal deserved to win. They had more chances and created more going forward than Milan, and it’s as simple as that.

It’s time for me to eat a bit of crow and I will do so. I picked Milan to win this tie and prove that experience was more important than youth, something I still believe regardless of this result but will have to question more when the case arises again.

Great result for Arsenal and as I said, they were the better team on this day.

I would be remiss to not also salute Paolo Maldini, who played his last European match for AC Milan today. Maldini has been a great servant to the club and has played in over 1,000 competitive games for the Rossoneri, which is unheard of today. Along with Franz Beckenbauer, I believe Maldini is the best central defender in international history.

José Mourinho is Back and Joined by His Newest Signing, Sven

Two more segments of "I'm on Setanta Sports" for your viewing pleasure.

Fantastic.

Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg--TV Schedule

ESPN2:

AC Milan vs. Arsenal (Tomorrow, 2:45 PM ET)
Chelsea vs. Olympiacos (Wednesday, 2:45 PM ET)

ESPN Classic:

Barcelona vs. Celtic (Tomorrow, 5:00 PM ET, Tape-Delayed)
Real Madrid vs. Roma (Wednesday, 5:00 PM ET, Tape-Delayed)

Setanta:

Manchester United vs. Lyon (Tomorrow, 2:45 PM ET)
Sevilla vs. Fenerbahçe (Tomorrow, 6:00 PM ET, Tape-Delayed)
Schalke 04 vs. Porto (Wednesday, 11:00 PM ET, Tape-Delayed)

If you can only pick two matches to watch in these next couple days, look no further than the game at the San Siro between AC Milan and Arsenal and Sevilla's clash with Fenerbahçe, which could have a few goals in it.

Should the Premiership Have an All-Star Weekend?

This is an idea I’ve been kicking around in the back of my mind for a few weeks now, and I wanted to put it out there for discussion.

Here in the US, all of our major professional sports leagues (NHL, NBA, NFL, and MLB) have their own versions of an All-Star Game, and the NBA, MLB, and NHL all have an All-Star Weekend with festivities usually on Friday and Saturday leading up to the All-Star Game itself on Sunday. The cities hosting the events benefit from a tremendous economic boost during the weekend due to the mass influx of tourists and visitors looking to be a part of the whole showcase and experience.

There is often an extravagant halftime or pre-game musical act as well, and for those of you who haven’t seen an All-Star weekend here in the States, suffice it to say that it is an orgy of sports and entertainment crammed into a two or three-day span. Celebrity sightings are routine during these games, especially if they’re being played in a fun, desirable city like Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, etc.

Before I get to the specifics of my Premiership All-Star Weekend proposal, I want to address the logistics of hosting such an event.

1. To capitalize on financial possibilities and to accommodate the large number of fans who would want to come to this event, only stadiums with a seating capacity of at least 40,000 and are used primarily for soccer would be eligible to host the festivities.

In England, that limits us to Old Trafford, St. James Park, Wembley, Emirates Stadium, the Stadium of Light, the City of Manchester Stadium, Anfield, Stamford Bridge, Villa Park, Goodison Park, and Elland Road. I would also be in favor of playing the game elsewhere in Britain; in Scotland (Celtic Park, Hampden Park, and Ibrox), Ireland (Croke Park), and Wales (Millennium Stadium) to acknowledge the fans who support the league outside of England.

No stadium would be be permitted to host more than once in a 10-year period.

Total stadiums (at least at this point in time): 16

2. The city, stadium, and team hosting the event obviously would be responsible for hiring a sufficient amount of security, with cooperation from national governments. A weekend of this magnitude could very well bring terrorist threats and/or an increased rate of crime (both petty and serious) during the run-up to the weekend and the weekend itself. The number one priority is to keep the fans safe so that they can enjoy their experience without having to worry about their well-being, and it’s also necessary to protect the players themselves.

Now, to the weekend itself. The All-Star Game would be played on Sunday, with a “Young Stars” game on Friday night, a celebrity game on Saturday afternoon, and a skills competition to follow that night. I would schedule the festivities for the weekend immediately following the Champions League final; so this year, for example, it would be the 23rd-25th of May.

Young Stars Game: Players must be 22 or younger to be eligible for this game and can’t have been chosen to play in the “real” All-Star Game. Rosters would be comprised of 18 players, with one squad made up of players who play for clubs that finished in an odd-numbered position that season in the Premiership (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19), and the other made up of players who play for clubs that finished in an even-numbered position that year.

Each Premiership team would have at least one representative on the Young Stars rosters, with the manager of that year’s third place team coaching one side, and the manager of that year’s fourth place team coaching the other. Each Premiership team would nominate one player from their team to play, and the other eight players to fill out the roster would be selected by each Young Stars team’s manager. Unlimited substitutions, 9 vs. 9 (8 field players and a goalie), 35-minute halves.

Celebrity Game: This is where I defer to you folks in Britain. Surely there are some British celebrities–actors, singers, models, etc., who love to play soccer and played it growing up that you would love to see play under the bright lights. I don’t know of any offhand, but I’m sure you could find 20 “A-List”, “B-List”, “C-List”, whatever, who fit that description, 10 for each team. Unlimited substitutions, 8 vs. 8 (7 field players and a goalie), 20-minute halves.

This is the part of All-Star Weekend I’m flexible on; it wouldn’t kill me at all to not have this as part of the festivities.

Skills Competition: Taking a page from what the NBA and NHL do, I’d love to see a skills competition featuring Premiership players. To take part, you would have to be named to either the Young Stars Game or the All-Star Game. Two teams would be competing: the British team against the World team, with the Young Stars joining whichever of those they’d belong to.

Here’s a few of the events that I’d propose:

Fastest Man: Three heats, four players in each, two from each team, with the top two finishers from each heat advancing to a six-man final. Goal line to midfield; so depending on the stadium, it’d be anywhere from a 50-60 yard run or thereabouts. Wouldn’t you love to see just a dead sprint between speed merchants like Theo Walcott, Gabby Agbonlahor, Nedum Onouha, Aaron Lennon, and Ashley Young? I know I would.

Hardest Shot: Place the ball at the center of the top of the 18-yard box. Five players from each team, three shots each. A radar gun would be used to measure the velocity of each shot. To count, a shot has to go in the goal; I don’t care how hard you can strike a ball if it goes into Row X. Again, I’d love to see Steven Gerrard, Michael Ballack, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kolo Toure, and others just lay into a ball with no one in front of them.

Obstacle Course: This is something that could be taken straight off the training pitch. Get some cones or flags, put them close together and have the players dribble in and out. Make the players pass a 15 or 20-yard ball into a tight little space. Make them juggle the ball 20-25 times in a row, which should be no problem. Whatever. Come up with some course that challenges and incorporates the different skills it takes to be a player. Fastest time through the course wins, maybe six or eight players competing, three or four from each team.

Dribble-in Penalty Shootout: Taken from the old days of MLS, I think this would be entertaining. Five players on each team start 35 yards from goal and have five seconds to get their shot off, one team at a time. Whichever team scores the most goals wins.

All-Star Game: OK, here’s the centerpiece of the weekend. Again, two teams, the British team against the World team, or you could even do the same even and odd thing that I proposed for the Young Stars rosters. Each team would be comprised of 20 players (18 field players and two goalkeepers, with each Premiership team from that season having at least one representative so that it’s not just an Arsenal XI or a Manchester United XI. Each goalkeeper would play one half.

Same rules as always, with one exception: unlimited substitutions. The first-place team’s manager would coach one All-Star team (his choice), the second-place team’s manager would coach the other. Each coach would be responsible for picking both goalies and the ten reserves not nominated by each Premiership team. The players that the Premiership teams choose would start the game, so we’d see all 20 teams represented in the starting 22.

To incorporate the fans, perhaps each club could set something up on their website in which their fans select the one guaranteed representative.

This is a very, very rough outline of what I’d like to see one day. I don’t think anything like this would ever happen; All-Star festivities seem to be uniquely American in concept but I’d still love to see this kind of thing in the Premiership.

I’m interested in your feedback, whatever it is. Let me hear what you like in this proposal, let me hear what you’d want to change a little bit, let me hear what you wouldn’t want to see at all. Remember, the point of having an All-Star event, at least ideally, is to show off the game for the fans who love watching it, and to put on a showcase for those fans in a show of thanks and appreciation for coming out each and every week.

Keegan Gets Dreaded Vote of Confidence

Uh-oh. Newcastle chief executive Chris Mort came out and publicly backed his manager, Kevin Keegan, today, saying that Keegan is the man to turn the club around and that there is no "doubt or worry" about Newcastle's recent form.

Now that Keegan has the vote of confidence, expect him to be gone by the end of the month.

Just kidding, I think. We all joke that once the ownership backs the manager during hard times, there's a very good chance that they'll act in the contrary and get rid of him sooner rather than later. In this instance though, the manager is a legend at the club and probably has more wiggle room than most in his position.

Still, things don't look good for Keegan and Newcastle. When Keegan got back into managing after taking some time away from the game, he had to have thought Newcastle was in better shape then they really are. Sure, financially they're set, but this just isn't a good team. Aside from Steven Taylor and James Milner, there are no quality youngsters on the roster and the veteran players are perennial underachievers for the most part.

Mike Ashley will have to overpay to bring even average to above-average players in because Newcastle isn't a desirable location to play, not for the team itself or in the city.

I honestly can't see Keegan staying beyond next season and he may leave this summer. Now that he has the dreaded vote of confidence though, he could very well be gone next week.

Upset Alert

Alright, maybe this wouldn't be as big of a surprise as some people would think, but I like Aston Villa's chances to go to the Emirates and beat Arsenal on Saturday.

Martin O'Neill's young side has only lost twice on the road this season, and they gave Arsenal everything they had and more at Villa Park back on the 1st of December, although they lost 2-1. Villa is fully healthy as well, which counts a lot at this point in the year.

Arsenal aren't exactly playing too well right now as they're winless in their last three games. Emmanuel Eboue will be suspended for this match (frankly, Eboue is one of the dirtiest players in the league), and creative midfielder Tomáš Rosický is still out with a hamstring injury. There is also the question of whether or not the Gunners will be up for this game after the devastating injury to Eduardo da Silva last week.

I've got Villa returning the favor and continuing their quest for 4th place with a 2-1 victory.

Also, make sure to tune in to the Portsmouth-Everton game on Sunday. Both teams have legitimate European aspirations and the three points would be huge in a game of this significance.

Who Needs Aliadière When You Have Paddy Kenny??

Obviously not Middlesbrough, who advanced to the quarterfinals of the FA Cup yesterday thanks to an own-goal from Sheffield United goalkeeper Paddy Kenny in extra-time.

It was a harsh ending for Kenny, who had played a very good game in net for the Blades.

Jérémie Aliadière’s Ban is Ridiculous

Middlesbrough’s Jérémie Aliadière, the man with the last name that takes me 73 tries to pronounce correctly, had his red card appeal denied today on the grounds of its “frivolous” nature and his ban increased from three to four games.

This is one of the biggest farces I’ve seen all season.

I don’t subscribe to any conspiracy theories suggesting that the Premier League publicly wants the “Big Four” to finish in the top four, so I don’t believe that this is a case of Middlesbrough being harshly done by and Liverpool escaping without penalty simply because they are Middlesbrough and Liverpool.

With that said, this is simply outrageous. Aliadière should NEVER have been sent off in the first place. Sorry, the “violent conduct” section in FIFA, UEFA, and the FA’s rules dealing with this sort of thing shouldn’t apply to what Aliadière did; it should be reserved for actually striking or punching, or attempting to punch, an opponent in a malicious manner. This was nothing more than a light tap on the face, so I don’t buy the red card for a second.

Not only do I not buy the red card though, I have a problem with the way match referee Lee Mason handled the situation. First of all, Aliadière was responding to Liverpool’s Javier Mascherano putting his hand on the Frenchman’s mouth in a muzzling, shut-your-mouth-type manner. If you’re going to send Aliadière off, then surely Mascherano should’ve been dismissed as well since he instigated the whole thing to begin with.

Coaches always say that it’s not the first one that gets caught, it’s the retaliation. That certainly proved to be true in this instance.

As a referee myself, I would’ve handled the situation much differently. This is a professional game we’re talking about here, a match in one of the top leagues in the world. We’re not talking about kids, where sportsmanship and safety and all those things are more important than winning. Liverpool are battling for every point they can get to climb back into the 4th spot, and Boro need every point they can get to feel safe from relegation. Understandably, emotions were running high as Boro were frustrated that they were losing. If I would’ve been in charge, both players would’ve been called over, warned, and that’s it, end of story, let’s move on. No need to hand out cards, certainly not a red card, and especially not a red card to one player and not both. It takes two to tango, does it not?

To make matters worse, Aliadière had his already unfair suspension increased by another game. He’ll now have to sit out Boro’s next four matches, including their FA Cup Fifth Round replay and potential FA Cup quarterfinal, and that’s a big blow to that club’s attack. Aliadière doesn’t score many goals, but his pace opens up space on the field for others to run into and he’s a pretty decent passer of the ball. Meanwhile, Javier Mascherano gets off scot-free, even though the referee’s assistant had a clear view of what went on and could easily have recommended a booking for the Argentine.

Boro chief executive Keith Lamb was rightly upset at the decision, branding it “a travesty of justice.”

Lamb also said, “We are furious and totally astounded that the commission, without consultation, should consider our appeal to be frivolous. Who are they to know our minds when we made this appeal? We are appalled at the decision and the entire process. How can nameless, faceless people on a commission decide that our genuine claim for equality and justice be dealt with in such a flippant manner? It is a disgraceful comment to suggest our claim was frivolous. We agonised over it before deciding to submit a claim for wrongful dismissal.”

Good for you Mr. Lamb, you have every right to be incensed with this mockery of a ruling.

Podcast is Available

I know I mentioned this already today, but the most recent episode of the Canes Rising podcast, featuring myself and host Kartik Krishnaiyer, is actually out right now for you to listen to or download.

I didn't think it would be available until Tuesday, but once again, I've been proven wrong.

Head over to canesrising.com to download this episode directly, or go to iTunes and search "Canes Rising" in the Store, where you can subscribe to the podcast and download each show.

We'll be talking more about college basketball in the days to come as conference tournament and NCAA Tournament time is drawing near.

The Spurs Have Come Marching In

Jonathan Woodgate’s extra-time header completed an impressive comeback for Spurs as the North London club beat West London rivals Chelsea today 2-1 to win the Carling Cup.

I don’t want to focus as much on the game itself here as I want to talk about how this result was good for the Premier League as a whole. Don’t get me wrong, Tottenham deserves a lot of credit and this trophy will look great in their cabinet, but as I mentioned yesterday, it’s more important in the broader sense for the 16 teams outside the “Big Four”.

There are three major competitions to be won in England: the Premiership, the FA Cup, and the Carling Cup. Simple multiplication tells us that over the past 12 years, 36 big trophies have been on offer, not counting this year’s Carling Cup.

Guess how many of those trophies were won by “Big Four” clubs.

30.

How about over the past six years (18 trophies)?

16.

These figures work out to be astoundingly high, ridiculous percentages, especially if you’re a neutral fan like me. I want to see different teams win these competitions; it gets boring to see the same teams win over and over again just because they have more money to spend than everyone else.

Worldwide TV rights for the Premiership will be hotly contested by major corporations when they next become available after the 2009-2010 season. The Premier League needs to do a better job of distributing that revenue equally amongst its 20 teams. I would even go as far as to say that all prize money won for playing and/or advancing in the Champions League and UEFA Cup should be distributed equally amongst the 20 Premiership teams as well, rather than having the individual teams who play in European competitions pocketing all of that money for themselves like they do now. It’s a case of the rich only getting richer because the same teams are the ones playing in Europe year after year.

Competitive balance in the Premier League is essential to its growth as not only the most popular league in the world, but the top soccer league in the world as well, something it isn’t right now. You look at the fight for fourth place this season and things change every week. Teams 4-10 are separated by only seven points, and teams 4-8 by just three.

The more teams that are in the running to actually win something, the better. It allows these teams to go out and attract better players because they know they have a chance to win, and that appeals to the athlete and competitor in them. Rather than four teams monopolizing competitions, you could have anywhere close to 10 teams fighting it out for three trophies over the course of a 9/10-month season. This opens up more room for top-quality players; again, simple math tells us that the more teams involved, the more roster spots involved, and the more top-quality players who have somewhere to ply their trade rather than sitting on the bench at one of the “Big Four” clubs or playing elsewhere in Europe for less recognizable prizes.

I understand that if you’re a fan of a “Big Four” team, you like the way things are now. You essentially have a 25% chance to win any major competition in any given year, and that’s great. Let me ask you this though: If you were a fan of anyof the other 16 teams and knew your side basically had a 0% chance to win something, what motivation is there for you to really support that team, to really become a serious fan? It’s difficult to just show up to the stadium every week knowing that your team is just playing games for the sake of playing games, that they don’t have a real chance to win anything when all is said and done.

Great win for Spurs today. I’m excited to see someone break the stranglehold of the “Big Four” and I hope this becomes a continuing trend in England.

College Basketball Podcasts

Just wanted to let everyone know that if you're interested, a college basketball podcast featuring myself and host Kartik Krishnaiyer (from CSRN and US Soccer Spot) will be available for your listening pleasure within the next few days over at canesrising.com.

I was a guest on the show earlier this month and Kartik and I had a good discussion about the ACC and the Big Ten, particularly the different styles of play in both conferences and some early NCAA Tournament talk.

This weekend we'll be talking more about the ACC and the bubble teams currently making a push for the Big Dance from that conference. We'll have a chat about each of those teams' tournament résumés and examine the stretch run of regular season conference play. The focus, of course, will be on the Miami Hurricanes and their situation on the heels of impressive back-to-back home victories over Duke and Maryland.

Canesrising.com, go check it out and look for the show within the next couple of days.

Also, for more college basketball information you can always check my "Useful CBB Sites" section on the lower left side of the homepage.

Big Chance for Tottenham Tomorrow

Tomorrow's Carling Cup final at Wembley represents the first chance at meaningful silverware this year in England. The Community Shield, whose winner does get a trophy, is generally considered to be nothing more than a glorified preseason exhibition match. I think I can safely say that tomorrow's game will be anything but an exhibition, and it should be a great 90 minutes (perhaps more) of action.

Both Tottenham and Chelsea will be pushing to win this game, there's no doubt about it. Chelsea are the defending champions of the Carling Cup and will obviously want to repeat. I'm not sure how much I buy into the opinion that they have an obligation to play their best team, but manager Avram Grant likely wants to put his own stamp on the team and win his first trophy in charge of the West London club.

This game appears bigger for Tottenham though, and for good reason. The goal of the other 16 teams in the Premiership is to break the stranglehold of the "Big Four". The only way to do that is by winning these cup competitions and trying to sneak into the top four in the league like several clubs are seriously bidding to do this season.

Spurs have been a new and improved club with Juande Ramos, who replaced Martin Jol as manager in late October 2007, at the helm. The North London club is 14-8-5 in all competitions under Ramos and have undergone changes in the roster and in tactical preferences. Spurs are playing with more passion and confidence and seem hungrier to win than they had been during Jol's last few months in charge.

Tomorrow's game also represents a route into Europe for Spurs, who are unlikely to get back into the UEFA Cup through their league position this year. If they don't beat Chelsea, they'll have to win this year's UEFA Cup to earn their way back into Europe's second-tier club competition. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that winning one game is more likely than prevailing from 16 teams in a knockout tournanent.

I've got Spurs winning this game 3-2 in a victory not only for the club itself, but for every other Premiership team outside the "Big Four" as well. It's important to the competitive growth and progression of the league that someone besides Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester United win something. The fans who want to see the same four teams win year after year are in the minority. As a neutral fan, I obviously don't count myself in that group and will be rooting for Spurs tomorrow.

Satisfied With Kevin Keegan?

Kevin Keegan was hired for his second stint in charge of Newcastle on January 16. I wrote a post that day questioning that move by Magpies owner Mike Ashley, saying Keegan was nothing more than a blast from the past and that the way to move forward in the future was not by looking back to that past.

I took a lot of heat from Newcastle fans in the few days after that. The Toon Army was out in full force, telling me that Keegan was one of the best things to ever happen to their club and that he would turn their fortunes around after the Sam Allardyce debacle and be a success.

Well, the facts seem to prove otherwise, at least up to this point. I understand that it's a bit harsh to judge Keegan on a month's worth of results; he hasn't had a full transfer window to bring in his own players and was out of soccer completely for a couple of years before coming back to Tyneside. Still though, Newcastle are winless in the Premiership since Keegan has been at the helm and are just 1-2-4 in all competitions since the day he was named manager, with that win coming in a game in which Keegan wasn’t even in charge. They've dropped to 13th in the league and are only six points out of the relegation zone. They've been extremely uncompetitive and disappointing in multiple-goal losses to Arsenal, Manchester United, and Aston Villa.

I'm interested in hearing what you Newcastle fans think. Do you still believe Keegan is the guy to take you out of this rut of mediocrity? Do you want him out of there and Alan Shearer in to replace him? Do you, like me, still want to take a wait-and-see approach and see where Newcastle is at the January transfer window next season before passing judgement on Keegan?

Let me hear you.

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!

Interesting Poll Question Results

This week's poll question asked you all which Premiership team left in the Champions League did you believe had the best chance to win the whole thing.

I put out this question before the Round of 16 first legs on Tuesday and Wednesday, and half of the eight votes received came before those games. Curiously enough, no one voted for Liverpool even though they beat Inter Milan 2-0 and are clearly in the best position to advance out of their fellow "Big Four" teams.

Four people chose Manchester United, who were also my picks to win this competition. I'm beginning to rethink that a little bit because if the Red Devils are ever forced to play without Cristiano Ronaldo and/or especially Wayne Rooney, they are extremely vulnerable to defeat.

Chelsea and Arsenal got two votes each and both of these teams, particularly Arsenal, are not locks to even make the quarterfinals.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I've put a new poll question out, so take a second and vote if you could.