Rob Styles Demoted to League Two for a Weekend

From the Daily Telegraph's website:

"A week after officiating at Blackburn's Premier League game against leaders Manchester United, referee Rob Styles will be in charge of Saturday's League Two match between Shrewsbury Town and Chester City.

Styles turned down two United penalty appeals and cautioned Wayne Rooney when he complained about a challenge by Steven Reid.

The Premier League would say only that referees' supremo Keith Hackett had 19 referees to choose from for 10 Premier League games each weekend, but it does appear a huge drop in status for a man regarded as one of England's senior referees.

Last month Styles was criticised over a penalty he awarded to Birmingham and in August he was sanctioned following his performance in Liverpool's game at home to Chelsea."

This is why the higher-ups in the Premier League, particularly Keith Hackett, are nothing more than a joke. This is why there's a major problem in England in terms of respecting the referees.

As the article says, there are going to be nine eligible referees every week who don't work a Premiership game. No one makes a big deal about it when a referee isn't picked, unless it's a form of punishment for poor performance in a previous game.

My question is this: Why embarrass the referees by making disciplinary action public? If Keith Hackett didn't want to assign Rob Styles to a Premiership game this weekend, that's fine; there are nine other guys waiting to step in, and he quietly could've sat Styles down and chosen a replacement.

Styles is very experienced and has been around the block a few times. He doesn't need to subjected to the relative humiliation of working a League Two match, and he doesn't gain anything by doing it. Like I said, if Hackett didn't want to select Styles, then he should've just given him the weekend off altogether.

All this does, and we've seen it before with other referees (Mark Clattenburg earlier in the season sticks out to me), is gives players and managers more ammunition to criticize the referees and treat them without respect. It's obvious that Hackett doesn't have the backs of his officials, and demoting them to lower-league duty just chops their authority off at the knees when they get back to the Premiership.

Congratulations to West Bromwich Albion

Math has never been my strong point, at least not since 6th grade. Once I started taking pre-algebra the next year, I just knew I was in trouble for the rest of my school days.

I believe, however, that my math is correct in this scenario. If West Brom, currently on top of the Coca-Cola Championship with 77 points after 44 games, gains two or more points in their last two games, or if third-place Hull City fails to win both of their remaining games, the Baggies will be assured of automatic promotion to the Premier League for next season.

Realistically, West Brom only needs one more point to move up to England's top flight. That one point would give them 78, and even if Hull City was to win their last two games (which would put them on 78 as well), W.B.A. would have a far superior goal differential and that's the first tiebreaker in England.

If you're wondering, West Brom's final two matches are against 21st place Southampton (at home), and at QPR, who are in 14th, so their chances to pick up a point or two are obviously pretty good.

Stoke City, in second place, has 75 points right now. The Potters' position isn't quite as secure but is still strong; their goal differential is five goals worse than that of Hull, but they do have a three point advantage and games against two teams in 20th place or lower. They seem like a good bet to join West Brom in the Premiership next year.

The playoff spots are still up for grabs and will go down to the last day of the season. We have an idea of who the four teams competing for that one last berth to the Premiership will be -- Hull, Bristol City (who was on top of the Championship only a couple weeks ago), Watford, and Crystal Palace -- but a victory for Wolverhampton over Cardiff today would complicate things. Only four points separate teams 3-6 and obviously, you want to finish in either 3rd or 4th to gain the "home-field advantage" in the two-leg playoff semifinals.

I did a post about the Championship recently, talking about the parity in the league and how exciting and heart-pounding it was for fans. While I don't think any of the teams who come up to the Premiership next season will be able to stay up, you still have to give them a lot of credit for making it out of this league this season. Every game is a fight, every game is a battle for three points and every point you can get is so valuable. That's not the case in the Premiership, where some teams basically packed it in for the season in February. I've enjoyed this race in the Championship, and wish more people in the mainstream media would pay attention to it.

Full-Time Thoughts--Liverpool vs. Chelsea

• The second half was a much better 45 minutes of soccer to watch. Both teams went after it, particularly early in the half, and the game was played at a faster tempo.

• Didier Drogba is so ridiculously disinterested in playing for Chelsea that it’s a joke. If I was Avram Grant, I would consider suspending him for the rest of the season and just telling him to stay away from the team. Drogba seems to be a cancer to Chelsea FC right now. He is less than half the player he was under Mourinho.

• Kalou in for Joe Cole seemed to have been a bit of a pointless change. I understand that Cole had had a quiet game up until that point, but he is Chelsea’s most creative attacking player and can provide things that no one else on that team can. One moment of brilliance and Cole could’ve equalized for the Blues, and you can’t say the same about Kalou.

• Frank Lampard didn’t seem to fully be into this game. He was there in body, obviously, but he seemed to be a couple steps off the pace and I don’t think his mind was completely focused on playing Liverpool. After being with his sick mother for a while though, you can’t have expected a wonder game from him either.

• Rafa Benitez clearly outmanaged his counterpart, Avram Grant, tonight. Grant was hesitant to pull the trigger on any attacking moves, and Benitez stood pat and didn’t bring on an extra defender, which in turn likely would’ve brought an immediate countermove from Grant and invited more pressure onto the Reds’ back line. Grant brought Anelka on in the 85th minute, way too late. A guy like Anelka typically needs five minutes or more just to get acquainted with the flow of the game, and Grant was asking too much of him to contribute something in that short a period of time. Grant also took off his best player on the night, Michael Ballack, for some unknown reason.

• Liverpool was harshly done by the officials. Chelsea got the benefit of almost every close call; Drogba went down at every chance he got and usually won a free kick, Chelsea clearly was offside on two or three occasions and it wasn’t spotted, and Liverpool had a great shout for a penalty after Michael Ballack appeared to play the ball with his arm in the box midway through the second half.

• Chelsea really lacked that spark of creativity necessary to steal a true goal at Anfield. Ballack was their best player, as I said, but didn’t seriously ever test Reina. I’m still unsure why he was replaced.

• Just how important were Fernando Torres’ two great chances that weren’t finished? The second was only a minute before Riise’s unfortunate own-goal, and going 2-0 up would’ve finished the game for good.

• In the end, 1-1 obviously is a flattering scoreline to Chelsea. The Blues were outplayed virtually all game and only a lucky own-goal at the death rescued them. Chelsea now has the advantage heading back to the Bridge next week, but Liverpool has to be encouraged by their own performance today. Take nothing away from Chelsea though; they had fate on their side tonight, and that can’t be underestimated.

Halftime Thoughts--Liverpool vs. Chelsea

• I miss Tommy Smyth and Derek Rae on the call. I’m assuming they’ll be working the Manchester United-Barcelona game tomorrow, but I’m not sure why they couldn’t do this game as well…

• The first shot on goal came nearly eight minutes in, and it was a relatively slow dribbler from Steven Gerrard. One shot in eight minutes, and a low-quality shot at that, isn’t exactly a good sign of things to come.

• Chelsea dominated possession in the first ten minutes, with Liverpool content to sit back and not waste energy chasing the ball around.

• Dirk Kuyt, of all players, had the best chance in the first quarter of an hour. Chelsea has looked absolutely woeful going forward thus far, relying on set pieces to pump balls into the box.

• Liverpool had the better of the second ten minutes, no question.

• Once again, Drogba just doesn’t look motivated to play, which is inexcusable seeing as this is a Champions League semifinal. Drogba won’t be at the Bridge next season, and has had a poor first half today.

• Good opportunity for Joe Cole right on 18 minutes; that obviously would’ve been an invaluable away goal for the Blues. A few inches taller and he may have connected with that slide.

• A second chance for Cole in the 21st minute went begging…that was a weak, weak stab at the ball. Get up, young man!

• Glad to see Tom Hicks in attendance today. The man shouldn’t be frightened off by the Scousers; he owns the club, he has every right to watch his team play. Surprised he and Gillett haven’t gone at it yet though!

• No penalty on the Drogba/Carragher incident in the 29th minute. Ball first, then man is legal; the referee made the correct decision.

• Lovely through ball from Gerrard to Torres in the 31st minute, good save from Cech, but Torres really should’ve done better and put Liverpool up 1-0. Best chance of the game went wasted.

• Another weak effort from Gerrard two minutes later; he’s certainly capable of pulling one out of the magic hat as we all know, but hasn’t come close yet today.

• Kuyt with the goal?!? Kuyt? We all know he works harder than anyone, but he doesn’t have much in the way of natural talent. Cool, cool finish though; must’ve made a guy like Torres proud.

• They said it would be like watching paint dry or grass grow, and aside from a few brief moments, they were right. Both teams are tactically sound and don’t give much away. Liverpool-1, Chelsea-0 – in all honestly, a fair scoreline.

Stay Tuned...

Make sure you check back here at halftime, and again at full-time, of today's Champions League semifinal first leg at Anfield. As I did in both games of the Liverpool-Arsenal tie, I'll have my halftime and post-match thoughts for you to undoubtedly pick apart.

For those of you want to see attractive, free-flowing soccer, this isn't the game for you. It's going to be a grind-it-out, slow-moving affair, with the winner likely only needing one goal to prevail.

My prediction: Liverpool-1, Chelsea-0, with a late goal from Fernando Torres the only thing separating the two sides. In next Wednesday’s return leg at Stamford Bridge, I’ve got a 1-1 draw, which, of course, would be enough for Liverpool to advance to their third Champions League final in four years.

And The Winner Is...

Two weeks ago, I announced the five nominees for my Premiership Manager of the Year award. Amongst the five were a Scotsman (David Moyes), an Irishman (Roy Keane), a gentleman from Northern Ireland (Martin O'Neill), a Spaniard (Juande Ramos), and a voyeur...excuse me, a Frenchman (Arsene Wenger).

That list was then narrowed down to three "semifinalists", as I dropped Ramos and Wenger from contention. The original plan was to name the winner two days later, but as you all know, I made a change and delayed the announcement until today, when two more rounds of games were played. As far as the winner goes, I really saw all I needed to see this weekend.

Don't get me wrong, I think each of these three managers have done a terrific job at their respective clubs this season. One of them has stood out above the rest, however, and so without further ado, here he is, my 2007-2008 Manager of the Year:

Drumroll please...

It's Aston Villa's Martin O'Neill!

I chose this specific picture of O'Neill because I think it is a great representation of the type of manager he is. We saw it after each of his team's five goals yesterday against Birmingham, this is a guy who is a players' coach and his team absolutely loves playing for him.

You can tell a lot about a manager by observing what he does after his team scores a goal; Sir Alex Ferguson has the same, exuberant celebration every time, Steve Bruce hops around a lot, Arsene Wenger pumps his fist a few times, Kevin Keegan leaps out of the dugout when Newcastle bags one, and they're all good, good managers. On the other side of the coin, you have guys like Rafa Benitez and Avram Grant, who seem almost disappointed when their their sides put one on the board. By no means are those two men bad managers, but again, it's telling that a high player turnover rate either has been or will be a constant in their tenure.

O'Neill takes it to a whole other level. He's the only manager from what I can tell who actually wears cleats on the sideline, showing his solidarity with the players. He jumps seemingly four or five feet off the ground when Villa scores, races down the touchline, and then runs back again.

"OK, that's fine, but what has O'Neill actually done to deserve this award?"

Well, I'll tell you. He has one of the smallest, if not the smallest, first team rosters in the Premiership. Only 16 field players have started a league game for the Villains this season and of those 16, nine have started 20 matches or more in the Premiership and 12 have started ten or more.

He also has one of the youngest first team rosters in the league. I joke all the time that he basically has half of England's U-21 team but the reality is, these are now players who are on the verge of the senior national team based on their performances this season, my man Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor chief among them.

Villa finished in 11th place last year and have a legitimate chance to wind up 5th this season. They've already improved on their 2006-2007 win total (11) by five, with three games left to play. A victory at Everton this weekend and the Birmingham-based club will almost assuredly be playing in Europe next season, either the Intertoto Cup to get into the UEFA Cup or straight into the continent's second-tier club tournament.

You also can't underemphasize Villa's two wins over Birmingham in the Second City Derby this year, and the 5-1 victory yesterday was a complete thrashing. Any time you can beat your hated rivals twice in one season, that's an accomplishment, no matter where either team sits in the standings.

O'Neill has shown an ability to make tactical adjustments on the fly, something that is key in a manager. His recent formational switch to a 4-3-3 has helped to net 15 goals in Villa's last three games. Villa's reputation as a set-piece monster also comes straight from the manager, who oversees that in training every day. Sure, it helps to have great aerial threats like John Carew, Olof Mellberg, and Martin Laursen, and a couple of fantastic dead-ball takers in Ashley Young and Gareth Barry, but success and execution still has to start from the manager.

Martin O'Neill, ladies and gentlemen, my 2007-2008 Premiership Manager of the Year.

For those who are interested, I had Moyes in second and Keane winning the Bronze.

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.

Willie Nelson Makes an Appearance on "I'm on Setanta Sports"

Also on the newest episode, more of Wazza and his hilarious Scouse accent, and The Special One continues to insult Sven.

Setanta keeps finding a way to make this funny every week, so I can't complain.

Tévez's Tally Saves Title

You just knew it was coming, didn't you?

Anyone watching the last 25-30 minutes of the Blackburn-Manchester United game today just knew that the Red Devils were going to pull some magic out of the hat. Brad Friedel made several outstanding saves to keep Rovers ahead, but they only delayed the inevitable.

United were huffing and puffing, and unlike the Big Bad Wolf, were able to blow the house down. Blackburn were inviting pressure onto themselves, settling to sit 9 men behind the ball and hoofing it up to Jason Roberts to escape danger. That was probably the worst thing Mark Hughes' team could do, because Manchester United were eventually going to find a way to break down the defense and score. Much like the "prevent" defense in football here, the only thing Blackburn did was "prevent" themselves from winning by playing so deep.

It happened on a late corner kick, but Carlos Tévez's redirection of a Paul Scholes header (which, by the way, looked to be going in) found the back of the net and left Friedel standing helpless on his line.

The Argentine striker's goal levelled the match at 1-1, where it would finish, and gave United a hugely significant point in the standings. United now are ahead of second place Chelsea by three points heading into the two clubs' massive showdown at Stamford Bridge next weekend. Even if Chelsea was to win that game, and all the impetus will be on them to do so, they'll still be behind United on goal differential.

In short, you could argue that Tevez's 13th goal of the season clinched what would be the the second consecutive league title for Sir Alex Ferguson's squad. A draw would seem the most likely result in West London next week, but even with a loss, United would still be on top. Their last two games -- home to West Ham, @ Wigan -- should be six points gained and that would be enough to win the league no matter what Chelsea does in their remaining schedule.

Tomorrow's Upset Special

Tomorrow's six-game slate certainly isn't the most attractive we've seen this season, especially not before closer inspection. When you really look at it though, there should be a couple of good games and I'm going to go on the record in one of them and say that Fulham will take points against Liverpool.

Part of me wants to take the safe route and predict a draw. You know what, though? Screw that. I'm going to lay it on the line right now; Fulham will BEAT Liverpool at Craven Cottage tomorrow. You heard me correctly. Fulham. Win. Over Liverpool.

Why? For several reasons:

1. The Cottagers have everything to play for -- Premiership survival. Liverpool has..well..nothing to play for. With Everton's loss to Chelsea yesterday, Liverpool is basically assured of 4th place and the final Champions League spot that comes with it. Don't underestimate the motivation of a desperate team against a team just playing out the string in the league.

2. Liverpool has their Champions League semifinal first leg on Tuesday. Make no mistake, that is the one thing driving Liverpool FC. Rafa is already known for his squad rotation system, and I just can't see guys like Torres, Gerrard, and either Mascherano or Alonso playing much tomorrow for fear of injury. Without that opposition spine right down the middle and with their team fully healthy, Fulham may have an advantage.

3. Remember last year's game at Craven Cottage between these two teams? It was a very similar situation; Fulham needed points and Liverpool was only competing for the Champions League. Benitez fielded a much-weakened team to rest his stars and Fulham got the victory.

4. Liverpool's fans -- will they travel down to West London? It's a long trip to the other end of England to likely see a less-than-full-strength Reds team. Even if the Scousers do make the journey, Fulham's fans are definitely going to outnumber them in that smaller stadium and Craven Cottage will undoubtedly be sold out.

Prediction: Fulham-2, Liverpool-1

Fabio Capello Press Conference

OK, OK, it's not a real press conference from the new England manager. Still, it's good for a few laughs.

Avram Grant At His Finest

It's no secret that the Prince of Darkness, Avram Grant, is not a pleasant man to talk to. He's a guy who wears all black all the time, and when Chelsea plays during the day, I'm surprised that he even comes out of the dark tunnel to manage. He has no personality whatsoever. None. Zero.

It's no coincidence that there's going to be a mass exodus of players from Chelsea during the summer, and that most of them will follow their former manager, the charismatic, articulate José Mourinho, to whichever club he takes charge of. Not only is Mourinho a masterful tactician, something that Grant certainly is not, he's a joy to play for. His presence attracts the media in hordes and takes the pressure off the players. Mourinho will stand up and answer questions and make jokes while doing so.

Grant, on the other hand? Well, take a look at the following interview from ESPNsoccernet's Richard Jolly after Chelsea's 1-0 victory at Everton yesterday:

A deserved win Avram?
Grant said: 'Yes.'

What particularly pleased you about the performance?
'I'm pleased.'

What in particular pleased you?
After an eight second delay: 'I don't know.'

Is it a relief to win here?
'Yes.'

You seem lost for words by the performance. Are you more satisfied with the performance or the victory?
'Both.'

You seem distracted. Do you have a problem?
'No problem.'

Is there an issue?
'No. I'm ok. I have nothing to say.'

Do you have a message for the Chelsea fans?
'You represent the Chelsea fans?'

They must believe you are still in the title race, do you have a message for them?
'No message.'

Does this result mean you are back in it now?
'I don't know.'

How many steps have you climbed to undertake this press conference?
'I don't know.'

You seem less voluble than usual. Is it because of Sky TV moving the game to a Thursday?
'Maybe it's because of you. I don't know. I am ok.'

You are saying that you don't know if you are still in the title race?
'No.' Is it easier to say nothing Avram?
'I don't what to answer. It is a good question. I don't know what to answer.'

Is this because of Sky?
'No. Sky is ok. I enjoy watching them.'

Is it a protest against newspapers?
'No. Why?'

Why else would you come in and refuse to answer our questions?
'I answer every question.'

You are two points behind Manchester United and you don't know if you are still in the title race?
'No.'

Have you told the players that you don't know if you are back in the title race?
'What I tell the players is something else. You want me to tell you what I say to the players?'

We just want you to answer the question really. Are you in the title race?
'I don't know.'

Would you not like to gain some positive publicity for the result rather than this bizarre silence?
'I'm sorry. You can write whatever you want and I can answer what I want.'

Do you feel under pressure to deliver a trophy. Is that the reason for the monosyllabic answers?
'No.'

Are you upset? Do you feel you have been misrepresented?
'Maybe I have said because it is a bad season.'

Did Michael Essien faint?
'He had some problems, but he is ok.'

Michael Ballack?
'Injured.'

What's his problem?
'Ask the doctor.'

He's not here Avram.
'Well call him then.'

Have you ever played the yes/no game Avram?
.....

What an absolute disgrace!! This man is a joke. He's an embarrassment.

His team just won at Goodison Park, a tough place to play, and kept their slim title hopes alive. Their game against Manchester United next weekend will actually mean something now, and the Red Devils won't be able to officially clinch the title at Stamford Bridge.

You wouldn't know it by listening to this interview. Sure, the media have been putting pressure on Grant this season. What else does he expect, walking into the manager's position at one of England's most successful clubs in recent history without the proper qualifications? The media is doing their job. Writing stories and criticism is what they're paid to do, just like Avram Grant is paid to manage Chelsea FC, and hopefully to lead them to trophies.

Just because he hasn't held up his end of the bargain doesn't give him a right to give a little hissy-fit like he did to Richard Jolly. This interview makes Grant look like an ignorant, selfish baby.

In comparison, David Moyes, Everton's manager, was gracious and took the time to man up and talk about his team's defeat. It's not as if Everton has nothing to play for either; this is a team who has hit a rough patch recently and could miss out on UEFA Cup qualification if they keep failing to gain points. Moyes didn't whine and moan that his side lost.

Grant needs to grow up. It's looking increasingly likely that he won't be at Chelsea next year, at least not in the capacity of manager, and to be honest, he should appreciate and thank Roman Abramovich for giving him this opportunity to begin with. As I said, Grant doesn't have the credentials or club experience to be put in such a high-profile position in the first place, and interviews like this just make him look that much worse.

Cardiff City Granted European "Approval"...

...if the Bluebirds win the FA Cup final on May 17. The FA's professional game board has given their go-ahead, and now the main FA board and UEFA, which had already discussed giving Cardiff a wild card berth into the UEFA Cup, will make the final decision next week.

Remember, all of this talk will go for naught if Cardiff doesn't beat Portsmouth at Wembley, and let's make no mistake about it, the Premier League side is the clear favorite.

We've seen crazier things happen (Barnsley, cough cough) though, and I've been pushing for Cardiff to get into Europe's second-tier club competition ever since the possibility became realistic. There was debate about whether or not they'd be allowed to do so, as current FA rules don't permit Welsh teams to represent England in Europe, but that was such a red-tape issue that it was a disgrace to the game.

I don't think there's any question that if Cardiff does win the FA Cup final, they'll have played their way into the UEFA Cup and fully deserve to be there. As I said in my last post about this subject, there are other cases of teams based outside of the geographic boundaries of whatever domestic league they play in while still representing that other country in Europe. In the case of FC Vaduz, a team that plays in the Swiss Challenge League, they represent Liechtenstein in Europe as they're from that country and win their league cup almost every year.

If there's precedent, which there is, you can't legitimately argue that it shouldn't be allowed to happen in this specific instance.

Manchester City Wins FA Youth Cup

We talk a lot about the senior version of the world's oldest domestic tournament, but the FA Youth Cup goes largely unnoticed in the media and I don't think that's a good thing.

More and more, the big teams in England are importing their players from overseas or buying already established or up-and-coming stars from smaller clubs within Britain. There is less of a focus placed on youth academies and developing homegrown players. To them, it's a question of why waste time and money to run a successful youth system, where not of all the kids pan out to become good players, when you could spend those same resources to bring in already proven commodities?

Even when those teams do have quality young players, the majority of them were snatched away from their hometown clubs anyway, and those smaller teams have little choice but to take the transfer fee and use it to cover operating costs and pay salaries.

Example? 16-year old striker Luke Freeman joined now-League One side Gillingham when he was 11. Freeman was born in Dartford, in the northwest corner of Kent, where Gillingham is located. He became their youngest first team player ever, and the youngest player in FA Cup history, when he came on as a sub in an FA Cup game at 15. After spending a little over four years with his hometown team, Freeman was sold to Arsenal in January of this year for about $400,000, still at just 15 years of age. He had broken through to the first team at Gillingham, but now is stuck in the Arsenal academy and could very well likely never play a senior game for the Gunners. As a League One team, $400,000 for Gillingham is a big deal, and they had little choice but to sell the kid off.

The same general thing applies to Theo Walcott, who moved from Southampton to Arsenal as a 16-year old for a possible $24 million, with $10 million of that guaranteed up front. Walcott has struggled to maintain a place in the Arsenal first team, and it looks like he'll have to move to further his career as a player. What choice did Southampton have but to take that money? As a lower-league team, anything in the millions range for a player is like manna from heaven.

The same general thing also applies to a guy like Scott Sinclair, who was born in Bath, 13 miles southeast of Bristol. Sinclair joined Bristol Rovers at the age of 9 and made his first team debut at 15 in the 2004-2005 season. He only made two senior appearances with the club before Chelsea controversially gobbled him up in July 2005 for $400,000 guaranteed, with an additional $1.5 million in possible clauses based on goals and appearances still to come, and has only played in four Premiership games for the Blues since. He's been loaned out to four different lower-league clubs since moving to Stamford Bridge, and will probably never be a regular first-teamer in West London, at least not for Chelsea. Why did Bristol Rovers sell him? They had to; money talked.

In the media, all we hear about are those big teams, so no one really pays attention to clubs like Middlesbrough, who is known for producing good young players, and Aston Villa, and Manchester City, who I'll get to in a bit, and West Ham, who is starting to come on again after producing outstanding talent in the early years of this decade. The job that these smaller Premiership clubs have done to remain competitive in the league while still putting an emphasis on developing homegrown players is fantastic.

Anyway....The FA Youth Cup has been around since the 1952-1953 season, when it was known as the FA Youth Challenge Cup. Manchester United has won it nine times, the most of any English club, but only twice in the last 14 years. Crosstown rivals Manchester City won it yesterday after beating Chelsea 3-1 in the second leg and 4-2 on aggregate. City's academy graduates in recent years include outstanding young players like Nedum Onouha, Stephen Ireland, Daniel Sturridge, Michael Johnson, and best of all, Micah Richards.

It's good to see a premium placed on developing youngsters from an early age and sticking with them. I've read Steven Gerrard's autobiography and in it, he talks a lot about the appreciation he has, as a homegrown player, for his youth coaches like Dave Shannon, Steve Heighway, and Hughie McAuley, guys who do a lot of great work that flies under the radar because it isn't with the senior team. The book provides a lot of insight into the life of a young kid in the system and is a fascinating read. Gerrard, Michael Owen, and Jamie Carragher are all graduates of Melwood, and now Kirkby, and look at what those three players have accomplished in their careers.

As I said, it was great to hear that City won yesterday because it gives validation to the philosophy of youth development more so than it would have if Chelsea would've won. It’s a system seen in professional baseball here in the US and has worked wonders over the years for major league teams that just don’t have the money to buy the best available talent, so they develop it over time through their minor league affiliates. Not everyone can be the Yankees or the Red Sox; not everyone can be Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Liverpool. Some teams have to rely on homegrown players and when they're successful, you have to give them a round of applause and appreciate their patience and mindset.

Podcast Possibilities

So, I've been writing this blog for almost a year now and I think it's about time that I sort of upped the ante a little bit. Posting daily (or as close to daily) like I do is great and I love doing it, but I know that you all may be tiring of me, right?

That's ok, my feelings aren't hurt. I'm a big boy; I can handle it.

In all seriousness though, I feel like bringing a guest on for a short podcast/interview/conversation every now and then would be a fresh, new aspect and upgrade to this site.

I'm trying to grow English Soccer Talk and get some more exposure for it, and one way to do that certainly is by making it more interactive with the readers. As a part of that, I'm interested in your opinions concerning this new plan of mine. Should I try and contact some individuals for a 20-30 minute show, maybe once or twice a week? If so, who would you like to hear? Obviously I can't just get in touch with Cristiano Ronaldo or Alan Parry or gentlemen of that stature, but I do think it's possible to still get some well-known figures on for a bit of a chat.

Let me know what you guys are thinking, either through leaving a comment or sending me an E-mail at bills2189@hotmail.com. In the meantime, I'm going to reach out to a couple friends of mine and see what I can come up with.

As I said, I want this site to grow. There are plenty of blogs out there about the Premiership, but not nearly as many of them that can also give you some quality conversation with other people who love this game. That's my ultimate goal, and I'm hoping that you can help in achieving it. After all, you're the ones who come to the site and read what I have to say, so I owe you something in return.

Give me a couple names and I'll see what I can do. I'm going to try and work a little magic here, but I need you guys to help me out and point me in the right direction.

2008 Big Ten/ACC Challenge

The slate of games for next year's annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge was released today and I have to be honest, there's only a couple of big-time matchups and I'm fairly disappointed. In past years, there have been four or five different games that were truly must-see TV early in the season, but that won't be the case this time around.

Exact dates, TV schedules, and tipoff times have yet to be determined, but once again, this event will take place in early December.

The ACC has dominated their midwestern brethren over the years, going 9-0 as a conference with their member schools posting a combined 56-30 record. Duke is 9-0 as a team, best in the ACC; they'll pay a visit to West Lafayette, Indiana and Purdue next year. The Boilermakers are just 2-5 in this competition and the Big Ten has only one team, Michigan State, that has posted a winning record so far.

Tom Izzo's squads are 5-3 in their eight games and will host a North Carolina team fresh off another Final Four appearance. Surprisingly, UNC is only 4-5 overall in this competition, and this game in East Lansing is the other must-watch game for fans.

As far as my boys, the Michigan Wolverines, go, they'll head down south to take on Maryland in College Park. Gary Williams' team had a disappointing 2007-2008 season, which ended in the NIT, and lost a few key players from that squad. With Michigan on the rise and Maryland on a downward trend, this is a game Michigan could steal on the road.

Here's the complete list of games (Big Ten team in bold):

Purdue vs. Duke
Michigan State vs. UNC
Virginia Tech vs. Wisconsin
Miami (FL) vs. Ohio State
Illinois vs. Clemson
Minnesota vs. Virginia
Boston College vs. Iowa
Georgia Tech vs. Penn State
Wake Forest vs. Indiana
Northwestern vs. Florida State
Maryland vs. Michigan

Update (Wednesday, April 15): The dates have, in fact, been confirmed for each of the 11 Big Ten/ACC Challenge games. The event opens on Monday, December 1 with one game (Virginia Tech-Wisconsin), and will see five games contested on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

Here's what we know so far, with tipoff times and TV networks yet to be determined:

Dec. 1: VA Tech-Wisconsin
Dec. 2: Miami (FL)-Ohio State, Illinois-Clemson, Purdue-Duke, Minnesota-UVA, BC-Iowa
Dec. 3: Maryland-Michigan, Wake Forest-Indiana, Georgia Tech-Penn State, Michigan State-UNC (at Ford Field in Detroit, not East Lansing as previously indicated), Northwestern-Florida State

Steve Bruce..Give the Man Some Love

When Steve Bruce left Birmingham City to take over as manager at Wigan in late November, many people questioned both the man himself and his new club.

"What was Dave Whelan thinking in hiring Steve Bruce? He's rubbish."

"Steve, why would you leave a club in the relegation battle just to join another club in the same predicament?"

I'll tell you what, folks, Steve Bruce is not a bad manager. I'm not saying this just because Wigan ended Chelsea's title hopes yesterday, either. Check the archives; I've been high on this guy since I first started watching the Premiership two seasons ago, when Birmingham was relegated. Bruce took them back up the next season, and although I predicted Birmingham would go down again this year, it wasn't because of the manager.

When he left for Wigan, I wrote an article about it and in that post, I said that his departure "really hurts Birmingham's chances of staying in the Premiership as Bruce is a quality manager whose players love playing for him." I talked about how Wigan, as a squad comprised largely of veteran, experienced players, had legitimate hopes to stay up because Bruce was the right guy to harness that experience and get the best out of what he had.

He supports his players in public and never throws them under the bus in the media. He takes the blame when his team doesn't get a result and gives the players credit when they do walk away with points.

This is a guy who, like Sam Allardyce, can grind and grind away and at the end of 90 minutes, can get out with a point or even steal a victory. Remember, Bruce has two draws at Anfield this season (one with Birmingham, one with Wigan), a draw against Arsenal, and now a draw against Chelsea. He's won the games he's needed to win, including a 2-0 victory against his former team 10 days ago.

Since Bruce's arrival at the JJB, Wigan is 9-6-10 in all competitions. I'll admit, that record doesn't look like anything special by itself, fair enough. When you look at what he has to work with, though, you do have to be impressed with where Wigan is right now. In 15th place, the Latics are safe and are just two points short of leaping into 13th.

Yes, there is a lot of experience on the roster, but there really isn't too much in the way of talent. When your goalscoring leader is Marcus Bent, yes, Marcus Bent, and he only has seven league goals, you have to admire the job Steve Bruce has done. A whopping 23 players have started a Premiership game this season and two others have appeared solely off the bench. Ryan Taylor, arguably Wigan's best player, rarely actually is on the field because he's always injured.

It's about time that more people started appreciating Brucey as a manager. He's not flashy and his teams don't always play an attractive style, but at the end of the day, all you can ask for is results and that's what Bruce can give you.

Remembering the Hillsborough Disaster

Nineteen years ago on this date, 94 people, all Liverpool fans, were crushed and died at Hillsbrough Stadium before an FA Cup semifinal match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. Two more people died from their injuries later on and 766 other supporters were injured, with around 300 of those needing to go to the hospital.

If you have a chance today, take a moment and say a prayer for the victims of this tragedy, their families, and everyone affected by what happened in Sheffield.

Wazza Finally Speaks on "I'm on Setanta Sports"

On the newest episode of "I'm on Setanta Sports", Rooney speaks Scouse, the "Voyeur" is caught like a rat, and The Special One is still fantastic.

Tiers of Leagues in Europe

In recent weeks and months, there's been some discussion on two of the sources for soccer news I check routinely -- Clever Football and the World Soccer Daily podcast -- about the tiers of leagues in Europe and where, if at all, MLS would fit in.

Personally, I think that particular debate shouldn't even be had; it's like comparing apples to oranges.

MLS, of course, has a salary cap in place, plays a different schedule than most of the European leagues, and is based in a country where its teams are in cities that aren't really in close geographic proximity. This affects travel time and style of travel, two factors that don't play any role whatsoever in Europe. The style of play, too, is different; MLS is a highly Latin-influenced league that plays at a slower, more possession-oriented tempo. Playing games in the middle of summer and dealing with the oppressive heat that can be found in many MLS cities is another contributing reason to the tempo, and again, that doesn't happen to as large of a degree in Europe.

If all things and variables were equal, which they aren't and likely won't ever be, I'd say that the best MLS teams (New England, Houston, DC United, and Chivas USA) would battle to stay out of the relegation zone in the Premiership, fight for a playoff spot in the Championship, and contend for a UEFA Cup spot in the SPL. The worst teams (Toronto FC, Real Salt Lake, LA Galaxy) would struggle to stay afloat in the Championship, and maybe finish mid-table in League One. I am by no means an expert on MLS and to be honest, don't pay much attention to the league until closer to the playoffs, so those are just broad, perhaps slightly misinformed opinions of comparing MLS teams to teams in Britain. Again, all things would be equal in those scenarios.

However, we can have a valid, legitimate discussion about the tiers of leagues in Europe. The prevailing notion is that three leagues -- the Premiership, Serie A, and La Liga -- are by themselves at the top end. Doesn't really take a genius to come up with that.

After "Tier 1", though, things start to get interesting. There are 49 different top domestic leagues recognized by UEFA outside of the three already mentioned, some of them more established than others.

In coming up with the groups that you'll see in a minute, I considered a couple of things:

1. What is the OVERALL STRENGTH of the league? Yes, Rangers and Celtic are solid teams and are capable of making a run in the UEFA Cup and/or Champions League every year. Aside from them, though, the Scottish Premier League really is not much to brag about and I'd go as far as to say that it's a weak league. I want to see leagues that are realistically at least four or five teams deep.

2. How successful are the league's top teams in Europe? I know what I just said about leagues having more than just one or two good teams. If that's the case, though, I want to see those teams progress far in Europe. I want to see relatively lower-level leagues still able to send their champion or runner-up (or third place, however many teams a league gets into Europe) and have those teams do something against their peers on the continent. The French league (Ligue 1) is fine, but it seems like teams like Lyon, Marseille, Lille, and others get bounced out of European competition early every year. How can I take a league seriously if the best they have to offer doesn't stack up against teams of generally equal reputation and stature?

So, here's the rough grouping system of top-flight domestic leagues I came up with, by country. The order in which the country are listed isn't important; that is, I'm not saying that the Premiership is a better league than La Liga, or that La Liga is better than Serie A.

Tier 1: England, Spain, Italy
Tier 2: Germany, Holland, Portugal, France
Tier 3: Russia, Sweden, Turkey, Scotland, Norway, Belgium
Tier 4: Croatia, Serbia, Greece, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Israel
Tier 5: Slovakia, Slovenia, Austria, Finland, Ireland, Wales, Romania, Bulgaria, Denmark
Tier 6: Hungary, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Belarus, Poland
Tier 7: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herezgovina, Cyprus, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, FYR of Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, San Marino

Feel free to disagree..I'm sure you will.

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.

PFA Award Nominees Released

The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) has named their candidates for their Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards.

No problem here with the nominees for Player of the Year, but I definitely take exception with a couple of the possibilities for Young Player of the Year. More on that in a bit.

Player of the Year (club):

Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, last year’s PFA Player of the Year)
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
David James (Portsmouth)
Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)
Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal)

Young Player of the Year: (club)

C. Ronaldo (last year’s PFA Young Player of the Year)
Torres
Fabregas
Micah Richards (Manchester City)
Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa)

First off, it was nice to see someone from outside the “Big Four” represented in the finalists for Player of the Year. David James has had an outstanding season in goal for Portsmouth and has been the best keeper in the league, bar none. There’s a reason that Fabio Capello has made him England’s number one at the moment, even at Jam-O’s age.

As I said, I have no issue with any of the six players on that list. They all deserve to be there, although if Ronaldo doesn’t win close to unanimously, it would be a joke. He’s had a truly once-in-a-lifetime year for the Red Devils.

The Young Player of the Year nominees, however, is where I do have a problem. It’s not so much the fact that three players (Fabregas, Torres, and Ronaldo) are in the running for both awards; yes, I would rather see this honor be completely exclusive and separate from the Player of the Year, but I can live with the current alternative. Again, Ronaldo should win nearly unanimously, though Torres will get some votes as well.

It’s the definition of a “Young Player” that has me irked. To be eligible to win under the PFA’s definition, a player has to be under 23 years of age at the start of the season. Newsflash: 23 is not young in soccer; almost every single Premiership team has multiple players from ages 21-23 that feature regularly. If you’re going to give this award based strictly on age, it should be for players under 21.

Personally, I think two factors should go into it. One of them, obviously, is being 21 or younger, and the second is a maximum of 38 Premiership games (a full season) played. I understand that Fabregas is only 20, but he’s been playing in the league for Arsenal since he was 17 and has appeared in 135 league matches for the Gunners.

Give me a break. He’s young in age, but certainly not in experience.

Torres is now 24 years old, come on.

You get the point. This award should be more for a breakout-type young player, a guy who splashed on the scene out of the blue. Theo Walcott, for example, would be a perfect candidate to win this honor. He couldn’t get a game last season, but has played some hugely important minutes for Arsene Wenger this year and has really contributed. He's not even on this list though, which is ridiculous.

With the PFA’s list of nominees for both awards, then, here are my 1st-3rd place winners:

Player of the Year:

1. C. Ronaldo
2. Torres
3. James

Young Player of the Year:

1. C. Ronaldo
2. Torres
3. Young

Manager of the Year--Semifinalists

First off, I want to let everyone know that I'm going to make a bit of a change in this Premiership "Manager of the Year" award procedure.

Instead of naming my personal winner on Friday as previously planned, I'm going to wait and do it on the 21st. Two more rounds of games will have been played by that point, and hopefully there will be some more clarity as to where teams will finish up in the table. Right now, things are fairly jumbled up and although they may stay that way, I think we'll still have a better, more concrete idea in two weeks' time.

However, I was still able to cut down the original list of five "quarterfinalists", Wenger, Moyes, Ramos, O'Neill, and Keane, to three. One of them was a pretty obvious choice to drop, and the other went down to the wire with one of the three who I kept in the running. It was like splitting hairs, but I went with my gut.

On Monday, the qualifications for each manager were laid out for everyone to see and there's no point in repeating them for the three who are still in the running. Instead, I'll tell you why I dropped the two gentlemen that I did.

So, without further ado, the "semifinalists". Drumroll please...

David Moyes (Everton)
Roy Keane (Sunderland)
Martin O'Neill (Aston Villa)

As for Monsieur Wenger and Señor Ramos, don't get me wrong, they're both very good managers and have done good things with their respective clubs this season.

However, as manager of a "Big Four" side, Wenger has to be held to a higher standard than bosses of the other 16 teams. Arsenal's elimination from the Champions League yesterday by Liverpool essentially put the final nail in the coffin of another trophyless season for the Gunners. To many fans, that's unacceptable. When you basically have a 1-in-4 chance of winning English competitions (and there are three of them), you need to get the job done in at least one. Yes, this year, Spurs won the Carling Cup and either Cardiff City or Portsmouth will win the FA Cup, but this is not a typical season.

I think Wenger has a fantastic squad of up-and-coming players and the team will contend for big things in the future, but he made a fatal mistake, in my opinion, in not bringing much in the way of reinforcement to the Emirates either last summer or in the January transfer window. Wenger overestimated the ability of his players to slog through a long season; it's something that they really haven't done before. Arsenal FC has a ton of money to spend and Wenger basically has a blank check to go out and get whoever he wants, but he opted to stand pat with the team that he had and it's coming back to bite him.

Injuries have plagued Arsenal this season, and I understand that, but every team has injuries. The Gunners just don't have enough depth to recover from them and that has to be attributed to the person who brings players in, Wenger.

For Juande Ramos, let's not forget that Spurs finished 5th last season and were picked by many to break into the top four this year. Spurs were in shambles early in the season under Martin Jol and while Ramos has more than turned that around and won a Carling Cup, he also has an incredible amount of talent on his roster.

I do give him a lot of credit for outcoaching Avram Grant in the Carling Cup final, but one of his goalscorers in that game, Dimitar Berbatov, is good enough to feature for Chelsea and the other, center back Jonathan Woodgate, has played for a world power in Real Madrid, albeit briefly.

Ramos also hasn't been able to fix the defensive issues that hampered this team under Jol, and if you can't defend in professional soccer, you won't get far. It's just that simple. Ramos has been at Spurs long enough now where one would think the defense would be tougher to break down and the system of play would be geared more towards helping out the back line, but that hasn't been the case.

As I said, check back on the 21st to see my choice for Manager of the Year.

Big Win for Portsmouth

Amidst all the Champions League hype yesterday, Portsmouth’s 1-0 away victory at West Ham, keeping their hopes of finishing in 5th place alive, more than sailed under the radar and I would be remiss to not talk about it and its ramifications a little bit.

England killer Niko Kranjčar scored on a terrific effort from just outside the penalty area in the 61st minute for his fifth goal of the year. David James made four saves to preserve another clean sheet, Portsmouth’s 21st of the season. The win was the team’s 9th in their last 11 games in all competitions.

West Ham had their chances, numerous chances actually, but just couldn’t finish. They had seven corner kicks; Portsmouth had four. They had the slight edge in possession, although I don’t find that stat to be particularly useful anyway. They had, obviously, the advantage of playing at Upton Park, where they’ve beaten the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool this seaon.

This is a team that is playing out the string now and aside from pride and for some, perhaps a place on next season’s roster, there’s just not much to compete for. The Hammers are in 10th place and have looked fairly lethargic over the past few weeks. Their spot in the standings appears nearly locked in as Tottenham, five points behind in 11th place, isn’t playing well either, and I can’t see West Ham climbing any higher.

This post is about Portsmouth, though, and I really can’t overemphasize how significant this win was for the South Coast side. With five league games still remaining, Pompey now trails Everton for that automatic berth into the UEFA Cup by four points. This would become moot, of course, if Portsmouth beats Cardiff in the FA Cup final on May 17 to play their way into Europe, but you can’t assume that that will happen.

Portsmouth has a much easier schedule heading down the stretch, with games (in order) against Newcastle, at a struggling Manchester City, against Blackburn, at Middlesbrough, and against Fulham to finish up the season. By comparison, Everton still has to play Chelsea (home), Aston Villa (home), who still has a chance to finish 5th, and Arsenal (away). The Toffees also have to pay a visit to Birmingham City this weekend, and a home date with Newcastle rounds off their year.

Although Portsmouth is behind by four points in the standings, it’s really a five point gap because Everton has the superior goal differential (+22 to +14). With that said, Portsmouth can definitely pad their total against the lesser quality of their opposition, while Everton will probably lose a few goals from that +22 figure.

Great win for Portsmouth yesterday. Their current deficit is more manageable than it would’ve been without that victory, particularly if West Ham would’ve knocked them off and left Portsmouth with nothing. In that case, the gap still would’ve been 7 points and it would’ve taken three out of the last five games to make that up. Look for the difference to be down to 2 points after this weekend, because I can see Everton only getting a draw at Birmingham and Portsmouth should beat Newcastle at Fratton Park. If both results come to pass, game on.

Wayne Rooney Solves Rubik's Cube and Sings in "I'm on Setanta Sports"

Not only does Wazza score goals routinely for one of the biggest clubs in the world and have a beautiful girlfriend, he can figure out a Rubik's Cube in no time at all and sing like Ronan Tynan. Oh, and juggle a ball at the same time. Oh yeah, and do everything blindfolded.

In the words of his manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, there was never any doubting the quality of the boy.

He is fantastic.

Full-Time Thoughts--Liverpool vs. Arsenal (Second Leg)

It's over at Anfield, and as predicted here before the quarterfinal round started, Liverpool has advanced after winning 3-2 tonight. Captain Steven Gerrard stepped up and converted the game-winning penalty just minutes after Arsenal had equalized at 2-2 through Adebayor, who was set up nicely after a terrific solo run by Theo Walcott. That scoreline obviously would've sent the Gunners through on the away goals rule, but a justly awarded spot kick quashed any momentum and good feelings that the North London side had earned back.

Ryan Babel coolly finished a breakaway to seal the deal in stoppage time, and full credit has to be given to Liverpool FC for fighting back the way they did.

Arsenal has to be commended as well for overcoming their 2-1 deficit and when the Togolese striker levelled the match, it looked for all the world like his team would progress.

It was not to be for Arsene Wenger's team though. Liverpool will meet Chelsea, a 3-2 aggregate winner over Turkish club Fenerbahçe, in the semifinals for the third time in four years, but I'll have more on that as we get closer to the tie. The first leg is scheduled for Tuesday, April 22.

We were treated to a fabulous game today. In truth, I think Liverpool had the better of things all match long and if either of those teams were going to win, it was going to be the Reds. Arsenal didn't look the same after Mathieu Flamini had to be taken off due to injury right before the first half ended, whereas Liverpool got stronger as time went on.

I’m curious to hear what Monsieur Wenger has to say about the penalty decision so close to full-time. To me, it wasn’t even that close. Babel was hauled down from behind and could’ve fallen several strides before he actually went down, and I respect the fact that he didn’t dive.

Congratulations to Liverpool on the victory and credit to Arsenal for making this such a good game. The Gunners had their chances and didn’t take them. In the end, that will haunt them more than anything.

Halftime Thoughts--Liverpool vs. Arsenal (Second Leg)

I'm typing this as sort of a live blog as the game goes on, so yes, there are a few contradictions but soccer is a game that can change very quickly.

• Clever stuff from Derek Rae right before kickoff...“most anticipated end to a trilogy since Return of the Jedi.” Quality.

• Good to see Peter Crouch rewarded for his great game last weekend with a start today. Yes, it changed the shape that Liverpool has been successful with recently, but Crouch deserved a run-out. Rumors of a slight knock for Babel also played into Benitez’s decision.

• VERY shaky first few minutes for Liverpool; if only Arsenal could’ve stayed onside and shown some composure, the Gunners could’ve had a precious early away goal sooner than they got one.

• Gerrard is playing wide left in name only. He’s roaming a fair bit, which is fine because Alonso and Mascherano are back there to clean everything up.

• Reina should’ve saved Diaby’s goal. Diaby struck it very well, but Reina needed to get more of his body behind the ball, preferably a hand, and at least deflect it somewhere else. No excuse for getting beat at the near post.

• Adebayor is running Hyypia ragged. Can’t understand why Hyypia is even starting; Carragher matches up better against Adebayor physically and Steve Finnan is a natural right back.

• Correct decision in not awarding Liverpool a penalty when Kuyt went down in the box midway through the half. Arsenal didn’t get a close call last week; Liverpool wasn't going to get one this week.

• Hyypia’s goal means he’ll probably be at Liverpool until he’s 57 years old. Might as well hand him a long-term contract right now. Just joking, of course, but he’s been a loyal servant to the club and although he’s lost more than a step defensively, his goal today was hugely significant.

• Losing Flamini is a big blow for Arsenal. Gilberto gives the Gunners basically nothing going forward and has shown his age this season. He’s not nearly as quick as he used to be and while he is certainly experienced, Liverpool can exploit him if they’re patient enough with the ball.

Cardiff City Should Be Allowed into the UEFA Cup

I'm not sure what the issue is here. There shouldn't even be any debate about it; if Cardiff City becomes eligible for the UEFA Cup based on winning the FA Cup, the Bluebirds should play in Europe. If Portsmouth qualifies for the UEFA Cup through their final league position, which is possible, that would give Cardiff a berth as well because they've reached the FA Cup final.

I don't care that geographically, Cardiff is a city in Wales. They play in an English-based domestic league, the Coca-Cola Championship. They don't compete in any Welsh competitions and haven't for a while.

FC Vaduz is based in Lichtenstein, but have qualified for European competition while playing in Switzerland's second division and winning the Lichtenstein Cup seemingly every year. AS Monaco is located, obviously, in Monaco, but they play in France's top flight and reached the Champions League final in 2004. Derry City plays their home games in Northern Ireland, but are part of the Irish league and have played in Europe as an Irish team.

Here in America, the Toronto Blue Jays (MLB), Toronto Raptors (NBA), Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens, and Calgary Flames (all NHL) all are located in Canadian cities and play in American-based major professional sporting leagues, and there are countless other examples of this at the minor league and junior levels as well. If those teams reach the playoffs or win their respective leagues' championships, it's not like those accomplishments don't count because they're not American teams; they count the exact same.

Don't tell me that because the city of Cardiff isn't in England, their club can't represent England in the UEFA Cup. That's nonsense.

As usual, the English FA has taken a moronic stance towards this matter:

"Our position remains unchanged and should Cardiff win the FA Cup this season they would not be chosen as the FA's nomination for European competition.

Cardiff enter into English domestic competitions on this understanding and they are fully aware of the rules and regulations under which they take part.

These rules remain the same and there would be no scope for Cardiff, or any of the other Welsh clubs in the English system, to qualify for Europe as England's representative."

OK, fine. I understand that Cardiff, and other Welsh teams playing in England like Swansea and Wrexham, originally had some sort of verbal agreement and understanding that they couldn't play in Europe as a representative from England. That can surely be modified or altered in some way. Cardiff earned their way to the FA Cup final, and tradition, practice, red-tape, and geography were standing in their way.

Not so fast. I also don't applaud UEFA president Michel Platini very often, but I absolutely will for his recent commments concering this situation. Platini wants to look into giving Cardiff a "wild card" entry into the FA Cup if necessary, which is fair.

Again, this becomes a moot point if Cardiff doesn't win the FA Cup or Portsmouth doesn't qualify for the UEFA Cup automatically through league position. I hope the Bluebirds do end up playing in Europe though, because not only do I want to see egg all over the FA's face, but it's a true underdog story that deserves a storybook ending.

John Collins Set to Take Over at Fulham

According to the Times Online, and you can read it for yourself at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article3701789.ece, former Hibernian manager and Everton and Fulham (amongst others) player John Collins will begin talks with ownership later this week, with a formal announcement to be made if/when Fulham get relegated.

Current boss Roy Hodgson would head upstairs to become director of football. The Cottagers would like to keep him around for his experience in the game and could benefit from the contacts he's made across Europe during his managerial career.

Collins did a good job at Hibs, leading them to their first trophy in 16 years after beating Kilmarnock to win the Scottish League Cup in March of last year. There were strong rumors and talk about dressing room mutinies and uneasiness in the relationship between Collins and his players, but he was 23-15-16 in his 54-game SPL tenure and that's a solid record in a league annually dominated by Rangers and Celtic.

If you’ll remember, he also was in the running to take over at Craven Cottage when Lawrie Sanchez was fired right around Christmastime, but chairman Mohamed Al-Fayed believed that the club needed a battle-tested manager to guide his team out of the drop zone and into safety.

At 40 years of age, Collins is relatively young for a manager and marks a stark contrast to the calm, stoic figure that has been Roy Hodgson. If Fulham were to be relegated, Collins' energy and passion would really need to be harnessed and used in a positive way; as I recently wrote, the 24-team Championship is built on parity and there isn't much between clubs. Every game is a fight and each point is crucial in the race for promotion.

On the surface, this seems like it would be a good move for Fulham. They're a team that I have a soft spot for and if Collins is the man to bring them back up, that'd be a great story.

Manager of the Year

Out of the 20 managers currently in charge of Premiership teams, I’ve narrowed the list down to five for my personal “Manager of the Year” award for the 2007-2008 season. I’ll trim it down further to three on Wednesday, and announce the winner here on Friday. Your comments and feedback are definitely welcome; if you’re a fan of a particular team and/or manager, let me know why you think your guy should win. If I didn’t include someone who you wanted to see amongst the “quarterfinalists”, take me to task for it and tell me why I made a mistake.

The five candidates are in no particular order; I haven’t yet determined my “semifinalists” and winner:

1. Roy Keane (Sunderland): After taking charge early in the season last year at Sunderland and proceding to win the Coca-Cola Championship, Keane has led the Black Cats to almost certain safety in England’s top flight this campaign. Many people believed that Sunderland, as is the case with most Championship teams that come up to the Premiership these days, would go straight back down, but that doesn’t appear like it will happen. His team has defied expectations and this is a man who, despite a well-earned reputation as a fiery player during his day, has been calm, level-headed, and optimistic all year, even when things weren’t going well.

When you look at his roster, there is only one player, striker Kenwyne Jones, who could possibly earn significant playing time at a bigger club, but Keane has molded this patchwork group together and he’s got his team in 13th place right now. An impressive road victory at Aston Villa is probably the signature win of the season, but triumphs in North East derbies against Newcastle and Middlesbrough in a couple weeks’ time would be huge for Keane and Sunderland.

2. Juande Ramos (Tottenham): Ramos inherited a team that was in the relegation zone and was really suffering both from fitness issues and player apathy. He’s turned that around and then some, beating London rivals Chelsea to win the Carling Cup, which represented Spurs’ first trophy in nine years, and reaching the Round of 16 in the UEFA Cup before being eliminated on penalties by PSV Eindhoven.

Spurs have also gradually climbed up the league table into 11th place, and are only five points behind West Ham. With the start that this team had, a top-10 finish looked nearly impossible but Ramos has created a new era and mentality at Tottenham. His players have said that Ramos’ strict focus on fitness and diet, two things not really valued in English culture, has really had a huge impact, and aside from that one blip after the winning the Carling Cup final in which some of his players were caught drunk in public by the media, it’s a team with a completely different outlook than the one they had under Martin Jol, who had taken them as far as he could.

Yes, the talent has been there in the form of guys like Berbatov, Keane, Lennon, Jenas, and others, but it takes a special manager to harness that talent and turn it into success on the field, especially since he has a roster full of players that have been extremely moody and inconsistent in the past.

3. Martin O’Neill (Aston Villa): O’Neill has done incredible things with the England U-21’s…excuse me, Aston Villa, and has a team that will further develop and contend for a Champions League spot in the future. With that said, they’re in 7th place at present and have already exceeded last season’s win total (11) by three so far this year with five games still to play, and are definitely going to improve on last year’s 11th place finish.

What’s remarkable about O’Neill is that he’s been successful with the Birmingham-based club without spending a whole lot of money (although he has apparently been given a sizable war chest to spend this summer), and has one of the smallest (in number, not size) first team rosters in the Premiership. Only 16 field players have started a league game for the Villains this season and of those 16, nine have started 20 or more matches in the Premiership and 12 have started over ten or more games.

With all that said, I think the most telling thing about O’Neill and how much he means to his team can be shown when one of his players scores a goal. O’Neill jumps for joy nearly 26 feet off the ground and is the first to run to the touchline to hug, high-five, and celebrate with his players. He praises them in public and will support them to the end, but is also the first to criticize them a little bit when necessary and push for the extra gear that he knows these young players have.

4. David Moyes (Everton): The Scotsman and his team operate in the shadow of city rivals Liverpool, but Moyes has done a fantastic job with the Toffees this season and they could make another appearance in the UEFA Cup next year if the standings end up the way they currently are. They reached the Round of 16 this season before bowing out to Fiorentina in penalties, and got to the semifinals of the Carling Cup before losing to Chelsea.

Moyes has guided his team through injury problems (Leighton Baines, Tim Cahill, Mikel Arteta, etc.), and extended absences due to the African Cup of Nations (Joseph Yobo, Yakubu, and Steven Pienaar). This is another squad with some very serviceable, useful players, but no one that would really feature for any bigger teams in Europe, and Moyes has done very well to get the best out of them. The club’s eight road wins are tied for the third-most in the league.

Upcoming games against Chelsea, Arsenal, and Aston Villa will be huge for Everton and their quest to remain in 5th place, but you can count on Moyes having his team prepared and ready to play.

5. Arsène Wenger (Arsenal): Although it looks like Arsenal will fall short in both the Premiership title hunt and Champions League, one can’t discount what Wenger has been able to get out of a largely inexperienced team. There are some older, veteran players on the roster, but not all of them play significant minutes and it’s no secret that the Gunners’ fate hinges on their young guns.

Wenger has been criticized by many, myself included, for coddling his team in the media and never calling anyone on his roster out, but he knows exactly what he’s doing and the puppet strings are in the right hands with the Frenchman. This is a team that had legitimate aspirations for a double earlier in the season, and yes, perhaps it was a bit of a flash in the pan, but Wenger has kept his team more than competitive all season. They haven’t lost yet at the Emirates and have only been beaten twice in the league this year, which shows a lot of discipline and hard work, and that can be attributed directly to the players’ respect and desire to play for Wenger.

As I said, this list will be cut to three on Wednesday. Did I miss someone? I don’t think so, but if you think I did, let me know; I want to hear you.