WHAT’S HOT WHAT’S NOT
HOT MARTIN ATKINSON
A DISMAL weekend for Premier League referees was followed by one of the decisions of the season on Wednesday by Atkinson at Anfield. His ability to see that Jack Stephens’s toe touched the ball before Divock Origi fell over arguably changed the identity of one of next month’s EFL Cup finalists. A big call and Atkinson got it right.
DAVE RYDING
THEY called it on Ski Sunday. Britain’s best skier for more than 20 years has a chance of a podium finish soon, Graham Bell and Ed Leigh said sagely. The next weekend Ryding delivered, finishing second in a World Cup slalom in Kitzbuhel. An early contender for sports performance of the year.
TOMMY FLEETWOOD
THE Southport golfer thought a change of swing would take him into the top 10 last season but he was wrong. So a return to basics got him moving again and last week’s win in Abu Dhabi took him back to the fringes of the top 50.
SOULEYMANE DOUKARA
ELLAND ROAD has waited almost 22 years for a challenger to Tony Yeboah’s wonder volley against Liverpool but now it has one. So was the flashing strike by Doukara against Nottingham Forest better than Yeboah’s from all those years ago? After 30 minutes of watching replays, we say no. Just.
NOT CHEATS’ CHARTER
ANDRE MARRINER’S failure to spot a push by Kyle Walker (right) on Raheem Sterling cost Manchester City against Spurs but to say it was an example of why players often choose to go down deliberately is specious. Players do it because they are trying to cheat. That is the start and the end of that debate.
JURGEN KLOPP
LIVERPOOL will have a bright and exciting future under their German coach but his constant hectoring of officials is wearing thin. What is more, it’s counter-productive. When referees turn up at Anfield these days they see a red flag, in more ways than one.
SHORT MEMORIES
FAME can be fleeting in football so Leicester’s players should remember what Claudio Ranieri (right) did for them last season. Instead, family members of some of Leicester’s bigger stars are happy to tell people that Ranieri has lost the faith of his squad. Sad, that.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
NIGEL CLOUGH (right) has never been a fan of the way his old club are run by owner Fawaz Al-Hasawi so it will be a surprise if he agrees to return as manager. Apart from history and a fanbase, the club have nothing to commend them to anyone but the very desperate.