WHAT’S HOT WHAT’S NOT
HOT NICK POPE
BURNLEY lost their best defender Michael Keane to Everton in the summer, which meant that the early-season injury to goalkeeper Tom Heaton could have been a catastrophic blow. But the form of replacement Pope has been startling. Against Southampton last weekend, the 25-year-old wore the look of a keeper who felt he’d never be beaten. He now has four clean sheets in his last six games.
PREMIER LEAGUE REFEREES
IF you ever need convincing of just how competent our match officials are then all you have to do is watch a World Cup. On the whole, the standards are very low. Now it seems the curse of the incompetent has spread to qualifying. Ovidiu Hategan’s penalty decision in Belfast was frightening and he has form. Four years ago the Romanian (above) was investigated by UEFA for failing to stop a match during which Yaya Toure was being racially abused. Deaf as well as blind, then.
JERMAINE McGILLVARY
THE Huddersfield winger has been a bright spark in England’s modest Rugby League World Cup efforts, so happily he was cleared of biting an opponent during victory over Lebanon in Sydney. It was an unwelcome distraction for England’s tediously taciturn coach Wayne Bennett but at least it deflected attention away from just how bad his team had been against such puny opposition.
NOT STUART BROAD
THE England bowler says he hopes to ‘frustrate’ the Australian batsmen during the Ashes. I would imagine Aussie quick Mitchell Starc will have a rather different thought in his mind at the top of his run-up in Brisbane in two weeks’ time.
TOM CLEVERLEY
WATFORD’S midfielder was the fall guy from a thrilling game at Everton but one point here about his late missed penalty. Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was almost on the six-yard line when Cleverley took the kick so it should have been retaken. We have discussed this issue before in this column.
JAVIER HERNANDEZ
THE Mexican has been one of West Ham’s brighter players but the appointment of David Moyes as manager leaves him with much to prove. The two men were together at Manchester United and to suggest that their relationship was less than perfect back then would be an understatement.