Final Thoughts on Weekend Football (September 22-23)

You can read my views on the latest goings on at Manchester United here

Are there some serious problems at Manchester City: I know that is a little bit dramatic considering the season has barely started and the fact that they are the Champions, but I think most would find it hard to disagree with the fact that Manchester City are not passing the 'eye test' and are not playing as well as they were for much of last season.

They are conceding far too many goals at the moment and I do wonder if the Roberto Mancini-Brian Marwood spat over the lack of transfer activity in the Summer window has had an impact on the squad.

Maybe the players at the club don't think the manager has faith in them (hence desperate for reinforcements) and the discord could have led to the disjointed performances they have had.

It's not really a time to panic for City as they are still well in touch with the leaders and they remain unbeaten in the Premier League, but it is definitely something to keep an eye on with a tough game at Craven Cottage next on their fixture list.


Reading's poor start to the campaign: At the start of the season, I said Reading may have the best opportunity of the three promoted sides to stay in the Premier League this season, even though West Ham United had the more experience, but it has been tough for them so far.

The side moved to the bottom of the table following a 1-0 loss at West Brom on Saturday, but it is the manner of the defeats to them and previously Tottenham Hotspur that has to be a big worry.

Brian McDermott said as much following the defeat on Saturday that his side are not doing the things that got them back into the Premier League.

Reading need to get a positive result on the board to turn the momentum around, otherwise it could be a really long season for them. The one saving grace is the new owners that have promised transfer funds in January so Reading need to make sure they are at least in touch with the safety zone in the Premier League by the time we reach that stage of the season.


West Brom have been very impressive: I wrote in my season preview for the Premier League that I thought West Brom could be in danger of relegation after losing Roy Hodgson to England and I believed they might be the surprise candidate to be fighting at the wrong end of the table.

I am not too big to admit I may have been wrong as they have been very impressive in the early goings- even when I thought the bubble may have burst with a 3-0 loss at Fulham, West Brom bounced back and hammered Reading 1-0 (could have won much easier if they had taken their chances).

Steve Clarke has got the side playing very well and confidence is high after wins over the likes of Liverpool and Everton and they may just be capable of finishing in the top half of the table and compound my season expectations.


The poisonous atmosphere at Ewood Park could cost Blackburn Rovers a promotion spot: Even though the side were top of the table and had made a positive start to life in the Championship, the Blackburn Rovers fans have been itching to get on Steve Kean's back and they found their chance in a 1-2 home loss to Middlesbrough.

This kind of atmosphere at home makes it extremely tough for the players and despite winning three in a row to open the season, the performances have been much more convincing away from Ewood Park.

The rumours suggest that Kean wasn't far away from being removed as manager over the weekend and it might be in the best interest of the club if he is taken away so the fans can support the side.

My belief is the Venky's have kept him on as they know he will take the brunt of the abuse- once Kean is gone, the fans are sure to turn their attentions to the owners who have been nothing but an embarrassment to the club ever since they took over and promised signings of the calibre of David Beckham and called the Champions League a minimum target when sacking Sam Allardyce.

Sometimes you just reap what you sow and that is the case for Blackburn.


Talking about poison, no one deserves the treatment Mark Halsey got: I think Mark Halsey probably made the wrong decision when sending off Jonjo Shelvey against Manchester United, but those morons who 'tweeted' him wishing he gets cancer should be utterly ashamed of themselves.

Halsey suffered from throat cancer a couple of years ago but thankfully recovered and it is utterly shameful that people think wishing those kind of things on him is 'just' because of a football match.

I've never understood why people think racially abusing people or wishing horrific things like cancer with messages on Twitter is a 'normal' thing to do, yet it seems that some spend their entire time simply doing just that.

More importantly, after all the talk about Hillsborough and the desire to end vile chants, these incidents should show how the minority still act and how difficult it will be to clamp down on such things at football matches when we can't on the social media site.

Final Thoughts on Weekend Football (September 14-17)

This is a little later than I usually plan it, but between work and actually looking at potential picks, it has been tough to do any sooner.

It was great to have the Premier League and domestic football back in action this week as I am not really a fan of the international breaks and feel there are too many qualifiers, especially with some of the weaker nations being so irrelevant that I think changes should be made to how qualification goes about.

Honestly, I feel the lower Ranked nations should have to go through some sort of 'pre-qualification' before being pitted against the likes of Germany and Spain, even if Georgia showed real heart in a close loss to the Spanish team in the last set of games.

My thoughts on Manchester United in the latest United Corner can be found here

Oh well, here are my Final Thoughts on last weekend:


Arsenal are genuine title contenders?: If you picked up a newspaper (or read an online publication as is the norm these days), you would have noticed a lot of people tipping Arsenal as title contenders following their wins over Liverpool and Southampton in the League.

I know you are only as good as your last performance in this new social networking World, but people have completely forgotten their two draws with Sunderland and Stoke City and are perhaps jumping the gun a little bit.

Arsenal are always likely to put in big performances from time to time with the possession football they play- if everything clicks on the day, they will blitz teams as they did against Southampton, while the win at Liverpool was impressive against perhaps an 'over-rated' side.

I like Santi Cazorla as he looks a real player while Lukas Podolski has made a good start to the season, but before I am ready to call them real contenders, I want to see how they do against the bigger and better Premier League clubs.

It seems the fixture compute has been kind to those thoughts as Arsenal play Manchester City at the Etihad and then host Chelsea in back to back weeks- win those games and I'll say they are title contenders.


Have Southampton come up a season too soon?: Following on from the Arsenal thoughts, it is only fair to think about Southampton and wonder if they have come up too fast following their back to back promotions.

Norwich City were successful in keeping their place in the Premier League when they managed that feat last season, but I think the playing styles of the teams are distinctly different- Southampton like to get the ball down and play while Norwich were a little more direct in their approach and I think the latter style can be a little tougher to get used to for Premier League teams rather than a style where teams look to play you off the park.

However, it would be rash to think Southampton are going doomed on four games, those coming against Manchester City, Wigan Athletic, Manchester United and Arsenal.

The most disappointing result would have been the Wigan loss at home, but they had leads against both Manchester clubs and everything just seemed to go wrong in their game against Arsenal. Southampton play Aston Villa next at St Mary's and it is conceivable they can win that and bring some real positive vibes back into the club.

It will be wise to review Southampton's situation in a months time after they play the likes of Villa, Everton, Fulham and West Ham in the League, although the rumours are that the owners have already got the knives ready to give Nigel Adkins the chop.


Manchester City's home form is going to be crucial again: Manchester City won 18 of their 19 home games last season, drawing the other, and that ultimately secured them the Premier League title and this season has the makings of another where they need to secure a huge amount of points at home to retain their title.

Of course, the Champions will normally have a very strong record at home, but City's away day struggles are very much under the radar at the moment. The dropped points at Stoke City over the weekend means they have won just 12 of their last 30 away games in the Premier League and that will put additional pressure on them winning their home games to make up for it.

This has largely been ignored as they have won some big games at Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United but it is something to consider, especially for those that love backing the short priced 'big name' favourite away from home on your coupons.


Time to bring in goal-line technology: We have to get a rush on goal-line technology as Everton became the latest club to have a clear goal not given in their match against Newcastle United.

The tests are being done and the Premier League are insistent that they will get the technology out sooner rather than later, but there is too much money involved these days on those decisions and it needs to be there.

To be honest, the official that missed the ball going over the line also ruled out another goal when incorrectly ruling Maruoane Fellaini offside, so maybe he has some explaining to do this week.


Blackburn Rovers have a great chance to bounce back to the Premier League immediately: The Championship is a tough Division to get out of as so many teams can beat others on their day, but Blackburn Rovers look to have the best squad in the League and they look like a team that can bounce back to the Premier League at the first attempt.

The likes of Jordan Rhodes and Nuno Gomes look capable of getting the goals to fire them to promotion and the pressure is decreasing on Steve Kean with every passing game.

They have moved to the top of the Championship with a 3-5 win at Bristol City and they do look capable of staying there or thereabouts for much of the season.