Pushing the envelope?
AREADER of this column recently alerted me to what he described as “sharp practice” by a Premier League club involving ghost injuries around the hour mark and the taking on of certain substances during the ensuing break in play. With this in mind I kept an eye on the Southampton-Everton fixture last weekend and by jove it seems he may be right.
In that fixture Stuart Armstrong went down injured in the 65th minute, at which point all the players trotted over to the touchline to take on a carbohydrate-filled energy gel, after which the Saints comfortably saw out the remaining 25 minutes of the 2-0 win.
Was this an isolated incident? Well no, it clearly wasn’t, because a deep trawl into the stats show that this was the 15th such occurrence around the hour mark in their 25 league games to date.
My own non-scientific research into their last four fixtures shows that, on average, Southampton had five on-pitch “treatments” to their four opponents’ none, zilch, nada, zero, while presumably throwing down more carbohydrates, which probably goes some way into explaining the Saints’ staying power in these games. Is this practice illegal?
Undoubtedly not, but it does show to a certain extent why Southampton are enjoying such a rich run of form at the moment, while also showcasing manager Ralph Hasenhüttl’s canniness as he searches for an edge to boost his side’s prospects against the better-funded teams.
The club they tried to bury
The best footie news of the past week or so was that Bury are back from the dead. Helped by the government, local businesses, and donations from as far afield as the United States, the famous old club is now owned lock stock and stadium by its long-suffering supporters, and the dodgy businessman who sent the club into liquidation is gone.
It will be a long road back for the Shakers, but hopefully they’ll be able to do a Wimbledon and rejoin the football league in the not too distant future. The fans of the club that brought us Colin Bell and Neville Southall deserve to have that hope.
Team of the week
Jose Sa Wolves, Aaron WanBissaka United, Eric Dier Spurs, Craig Dawson West Ham, Andy Robertson Liverpool, Emile Smith-Rowe Arsenal, Dejan Kulujevski Spurs, Harry Kane Spurs, Bukayo Saka Arsenal, Son Heung-min Spurs, Mo Salah Liverpool.
Manager: Antonio Conte Spurs – under pressure after a run of defeats, he came up with the perfect tactical display to nullify Pep Guardiola’s runaway league leaders.
Player of the week: Harry Kane Spurs – he out-passed the league’s “best” passer Kevin De Bruyne, bullied the league’s current Player of the Year Ruben Dias, and along the way scored two superb striker’s goals. For a one-season wonder Kane sure can play.
Speaking of which…
Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku had seven touches of the ball against Palace last week, one of which was the kick off. In bald financial terms that equates to £14 million per touch. (He cost Chelsea £98 million.) Hardly value for money, but then Chelsea can afford it.
This week’s games
Premier League today 2:30; Leeds vs Spurs. 5pm; Brentford vs Newcastle, Brighton vs Villa, Palace vs Burnley, United vs Watford. 7:30; Everton vs Citeh. Tomorrow 4pm; West Ham vs Wolves. 6:30; League Cup final Chelsea vs Liverpool.
Tuesday 9:45; Burnley vs Leicester. FA Cup fifth round Tuesday 9:15; Peterborough vs Citeh. 9:30; Palace vs Stoke. 9:55; Middlesbrough vs Spurs. Wednesday 9:15; Luton vs Chelsea. 9:30; Southampton vs West Ham. 10:15; Liverpool vs Norwich. Thursday 10:15; Everton vs Boreham Wood.
If you want goals then the game of the week has to be today’s lunchtime fixture at Elland Road between Leeds and Spurs. If this game doesn’t produce at least five goals I’ll be surprised. If you want FA Cup magic then Everton vs Boreham Wood on Thursday is the game to watch, as Frank Lampard’s strugglers take on the National League promotion hopefuls.
Six Nations
Today 4:15; Scotland vs France. 6:45; England vs Wales. Tomorrow 5pm; Ireland vs Italy. France are very much in the box seat having beaten Ireland last time out and I think they’ll be too much to handle for the Scots, who got lucky against England and were well beaten in a low-scoring game by the Welsh.
The last time Wales ventured out of the principality they were hammered by the Irish, but the aforementioned win against the Scots showed they have got some of their mojo back and they’ll need it against an England side playing at Twickenham for the first time this tourney.
And finally
Last week’s question: there are a few cities in England with more than one football team, but one of those has been spectacularly bad at the art of winning stuff. Which city boasts clubs with a combined 267 years of experience during which no major honours have been won, and a total of just four years of those 267 years combined have been spent in the top flight?
That city would be Bristol, which is the seventh-largest city in England by population and hosts Bristol Rovers, who were founded in 1883, and Bristol City, who started life in 1894.
It almost beggars belief that two clubs that old in a major city could have been so unsuccessful, but the facts are what they are and the Robins’ four years in Division One between 1976 and 1980 is all the two clubs have to show for their longevity.
With City currently 17th in the Championship and Rovers sitting 11th in League Two it’s hard to see success on the horizon or indeed anytime soon.
This week: how many clubs have scored a thousand goals in each of English football’s top four professional divisions?
Really finally
It was good to see the large turnout for Bill Hodgson’s funeral at Lapta on Tuesday. “Captain” Billy was well known on the west side, particularly amongst the darts and ten pin fraternity, while he was an avid Manchester City fan, having been a good amateur player in his youth.
The Jessic regular will be missed by many and commiserations go to his wife Sue. RIP Bill. (I did think about him when my beloved Spurs turned over his Citeh side last Saturday.)