Rev Walker: Is this the beginning of the end for taking the knee?
Queens Park Rangers director of football Les Ferdinand says ‘enough is enough’ W ILFRIED Zaha doesn’t want to do it any more, Les Ferdinand says enough is enough, Brentford and Bournemouth have stopped doing it altogether; is this the beginning of the end for taking the knee? One can only hope so because I think we all know what the reception to the gesture would be if our grounds were full. From the forums (1) “I think that we (Arsenal) should do our bit for climate change and ask Citeh not to fly down this weekend and award them a 3-0 win” came the reply “You do realise that Arsenals shirts and stadium are sponsored by Emirates Airlines?” (2) “When Pickford took out Van Dijk in such a monstrous and criminally reckless way for the season, Liverpool should have been able to sue Everton in the courts, failing that Everton should have been obliged to loan Liverpool a replacement centre half for as long as Van Dijk is out of the game.” I think number one speaks for itself and is clearly a wind-up while number two, believe it or not, was from a Liverpool fan who was deadly serious and has been banging on about this in various forums ever since the first Merseyside derby of the season. Speaking of which Number of the week: four – the number of home defeats on the bounce for Liverpool, worst run since 1923. Team of the week Jordan Pickford Everton, Timothy Castagne Leicester, Vladimir Koufal West Ham, Craig Dawson West Ham, Gary Cahill Palace, Lucas Digne Everton, Jan Bednarek Southampton, Declan Rice West Ham, Richarlison Everton, Ademola Lookman Fulham, Harvey Barnes Leicester. Manager: Carlo Ancelotti Everton. This week’s games Premier League today 2:30; Citeh vs West Ham. 5pm; West Brom vs Brighton. 7:30; Leeds vs Villa. 10pm; Newcastle vs Wolves. Tomorrow 2pm; Palace vs Fulham, Leicester vs Arsenal. 4pm; Spurs vs Burnley. 6:30; Chelsea vs United. 9:15; Sheffield United vs Liverpool. Monday 10pm; Everton vs Southampton. Selected Championship today 2:30; Bournemouth vs Watford. 5pm; Brentford vs Stoke, Middlesbrough vs Cardiff. Tomorrow 2pm; Wycombe vs Norwich. Wednesday 9:45; Norwich vs Brentford, Watford vs Wycombe. Selected Scotland today 5pm; Celtic vs Aberdeen, Hibs vs Motherwell. Wednesday 10pm; Livingstone vs Rangers. Games to watch: just for a change the most compelling fixtures are those with relegation implications. Working on the reasonable assumption that Sheffield United and West Brom are pretty much doomed then we turn to West Brom vs Brighton, Newcastle vs Wolves, Palace vs Fulham, and Spurs vs Burnley. A month ago Fulham’s goose looked to be cooked but a revival since then has given them a puncher’s chance of avoiding the drop, and a win for them tomorrow at Palace coupled with a Newcastle loss at home to Wolves will really set the cat amongst the relegation pigeons, as well as inducing a shedload of nervous tension among the Geordie nation who, should these results transpire, will find themselves in the bottom three. Brighton have been playing a lot of entertaining footie lately but they are having a problem putting the ball in the net, as such failure to take three points at the Hawthorns will see them well and truly mired in the relegation stakes. And then there’s Burnley. Sean Dyche’s side should be in trouble but scoring just 18 goals in 25 games isn’t a recipe for success, though it must be said that Spurs, on current form, are the perfect opponents if you’re looking for a pick-me-up. In the unlikely event of all these sides winning this weekend, then attention switches to Monday and the game at Goodison Park; Southampton really shouldn’t be in this conversation at all but if results don’t go their way then three points at Everton almost becomes a must have. Six defeats and a draw in their last seven games has put them on the fringe of the relegation zone, so a win would be very much in the Saints’ best interests. Six Nations Today 4:15; Italy vs Ireland. 6:45; Wales vs England. Tomorrow 5pm; France vs Scotland. The Welsh have surprised everyone in winning their first two games but that may well be as a result of both their opponents having men sent off. England were shocking against the Scots and not much better against Italy. If this game were in a full and rabid Principality Stadium I’d go for a Welsh win, but it’s not, so I’m going for England to prevail while hopefully playing an expansive game. France are the other team with a 100 per cent record and normally I’d have no problem tipping them for the win, but Covid has reared its ugly head in the French camp so I have no idea how many of their first choice players will take the field. Italy vs Ireland – nothing to see, move on. Left, Joshua King of Bournemouth takes a knee at Vitality Stadium in July 2020 And finally Last week’s question: which current Premier League clubs have never won the FA Cup? The answer to this tale of woe is Brighton, Crystal Palace, Fulham and, surprisingly, Leicester City. I say surprisingly because the Foxes have appeared in four finals while the rest have only managed one apiece. This week: on a similar theme two clubs in League Two and one in the National League have, unlike the four Premier League clubs, won the FA Cup – name them. Being a fairly typical Brit when it comes to matters sporting I tend to favour the underdog, the only exceptions being when the underdog is playing England in any sport and Spurs in footie. But I digress; of late, thanks to being incarcerated at home, I’ve found myself watching loads of old TV shows and movies in addition to marvelous cartoons such as Loony Tunes, Tom and Jerry, etc. What does this have to do with underdogs? Well I live in hopeless hope that one day Tom will nab Jerry, Daffy will finally get one over on Bugs, Sylvester will get Tweety Pie, and Wile E Coyote will actually catch that annoying Roadrunner. And if it’s not too much to ask is there any chance I can get to see Spurs lift some silverware before I reach pensionable age?