The Pieman's Blog for Friday, 30 January

This is probably the best Manchester United squad of all time. They have won the World Club championship and are still in four other competitions. They defend their European Champions League title against Inter-Milan in the knock-out stages next month; they are two points clear in the defence of the Premier League; United are in the Carling Cup final and in the fifth round of the FA Cup. We marvel at their attack and mid-field but it is the United defence that catches the eye at present. 11 PL matches without conceding a goal. Wow! That is a Premier League record and means it’s been 1032 minutes since United conceded a goal!

Meanwhile Liverpool draw again - their 9th PL draw of the season and five of those have been at Anfield. This time it’s away at Wigan. Manager Rafa Benitez is too cautious. He wants to get out and smell the Pukka Pies a bit more! The Robbie Keane saga is sad and drawn out. Time for the little Irishman to move or be moved on. He can play, that is for sure but there are clearly problems at Liverpool.

Chelsea are making hard work of it in 3rd spot but their 2 nil home win over struggling Middlesbrough puts them back on course. It’s only their 4th win from the last 10 matches. They are not as good as they were and just as Liverpool rely on Steven Gerrard so Chelsea need Frank Lampard. He has now scored 6 times in the last 8 goals and his set piece crosses like Gerrard are match winners as well.

Aston Villa and their talented team are a revelation this season. Their captain Gareth Barry has been a terrific player for some time but they have produced the counter attacking pace of Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor. Now he has added Emile Heskey.
This could be the best transfer deadline signing, at least at £3.5 million it should prove to be the best value for money. Villa have a smaller squad than the so-called big four but they have not had to make many changes to their starting line-up. However, since John Carew was injured Villa have not had a real target man. This increases their chances of finishing in the top four and securing a place in next season's European Champions League.
Villa are now five points ahead of Arsenal. The gap would be bigger if Arsenal had not scored no less than six times in stoppage time this season. Arsenal have had several key injuries this season but have been a pale version of what we expect from manager Arsene Wenger. However, do not discount them from fourth spot just yet. Villa have been the team of the season. Martin O'Neill is an outstanding manager. But Villa fans who talk about being Champions this season: Get real! They’re a long way behind Manchester United.

A word about Everton. They are doing so well without a recognised striker at present. Tim Cahill has been outstanding and leaps to headers like a salmon. West Ham unbeaten in six matches - our Premier League matches - are improving all the while under manager Gianfranco Zola. Attractive to watch but Zola will be relieved to get past the transfer deadline without losing any more players.

Carlton Cole has scored 5 goals in five games for the Hammers, the first West Ham player to do so since Tony Cottee 23 years ago.

At the bottom Portsmouth are sliding into real trouble as are Newcastle. Under Tony Adams as manager Portsmouth have played 20, won 4, drawn 7 lost 9. November 30th was their last Premier League win! Newcastle since Christmas have played 7, won 0, lost 5, drawn 2 and now have lost Michael Owen (6 weeks) and Joey Barton(10) through injuries. It’s looking bad.

In the Championship Reading beat leaders Wolves while Birmingham scraped home 1-nil. Wolves and Reading occupy the two automatic promotion places with Birmingham third. There is a long way to go but I fancy the current top two to make it.

Did they really say this?
"It's not easy, that's why it is difficult." ANDY GRAY
"It is a lot harder when you are 4-1 down then when you are 4-1 up." KEVIN KEEGAN
"Alonso missed a Champions League game when his wife was giving birth to his girlfriend." JASON CUNDY
"Harry Redknapp has had an up and down season on and off the pitch but he's had a fantastic season." ALAN HANSEN
"Well. Statistics are there to be broken." SKY SPORTS NEWS
"And of course, this afternoon it's the second half of the Arsenal/Liverpool trilogy" TALKSPORT
"He wants to go back to France and you can't get nearer to France than Plymouth." PAUL WALKER

Listen to my new song with the Piegirls and let me know what you think. My new show with Tom Ross is up and running. Let’s have your emails and texts. My next show will be with you on Friday, February 6. Fair play mate!

The Pieman's Blog for Tuesday, 20 January

Spurs were lucky to overcome plucky Championship team Burnley in the second leg of the Carling Cup semi-final. Spurs were fortunate to be 4-1 from the first leg in London. Brilliant Burnley led 3 nil in the return at Turf Moor against an out of form and sorts Spurs to take the tie into extra time. If there had been no more scoring in that extra half hour then Burnley would have reached the final on the away goals rule. But fair play to Spurs, they scored twice in the very last two minutes and will now play Manchester United in the Carling Cup final on Sunday March 1. United suffered four more injuries in overcoming another Championship club Derby County and are now missing nine top players. United are still firing for four trophies - the Carling Cup; they head the Premier League as defending Champions, are in the knock-out stages in the defence of their European Champions League title and ironically meet Spurs in the FA Cup fourth round at Old Trafford. Spurs manager says that because his club face serious relegation threats and because they are now in the Carling Cup final this FA Cup tie is secondary in their priorities which suggests he will rest some players. It’s a certain home win for United who are unbeaten at Old Trafford this season.

Manchester City make the lottery look redundant. They could stock the nation with Pukka Pies for a year except that the real Pieman couldn't make them quick enough! £100 million package for Kaka (still waiting), £18 million for Nigel de Jong, defensive mid-fielder from Hamburg (train arriving) and £14 million on 29 year old Craig Bellamy from West Ham (train at the platform). The Arab owner is seriously wedged up. Fair play mate. He needs to be. City manager Mark Hughes wants 27 year old striker Roque Santa Cruz from his old club Blackburn, for whom Hughes paid just £3.5 million two years ago to Bayern Munich for the Paraguayan international. Now big Sam Allardyce wants £40 million for Cruz. Manchester City appear to think that the credit crunch is a new biscuit while Big Sam obviously believes that Rover(s) likes lots of biscuits! It’s all gone potty, folks. Britain and most of the world face recession and Premier League football plays the banking game. Maybe they should buy one…

Rafa has got the hump. First of all with Sir Alex Ferguson and referees and now with his own bosses over transfer and wage policies that the Liverpool manager wants to control. Senor Benitez clearly thinks he is in a powerful position to take on his governors. It’s a dangerous game for a manager who has not won the Premier League and may not do so this season. Like Phil Scolari (who says, “If I am sacked I work somewhere else”), Benitez obviously believes or knows that he would get a job somewhere else as well. And fair play mate, they both probably would!

Harry Redknapp went critical publically with his striker Darren Bent from missing an easy chance to score what would have been the winning goal for Spurs against Portsmouth, the club Harry left for White Hart Lane. Harry fumed: "Bent didn't only have part of the net to aim for but the entire net - and he puts it wide. Unbelievable. Even my missus Sandra could have scored that one! I was so frustrated. If the ball goes in it’s goodnight Portsmouth and Spurs have three points in the bag" .....staggering stuff. It was a terrible miss by Bent but managers rarely blast their own player in public, choosing instead to blame the referee and sometimes his assistants. Harry was right. It was a shocker by Darren Bent but the Sky TV pundits made Portsmouth's keeper David James man of the match.

Spurs are out of the bottom three but only on goal difference. Indeed, the bottom five clubs, Spurs, Blackburn, Middlesbrough, Stoke and West Bromwich all have 21 points. Spurs have the best goal difference and in descending order the goal difference (difference between goals scored by the team and goals conceded) Spurs are minus 6; Blackburn -11; Middlesborough -15; Stoke -16 and West Brom minus 17. West Brom's 3 consecutive home wins has put them back in range while Portsmouth (24 points); Bolton(23); Newcastle(23) and Sunderland (also 23 points)are being dragged into the relegation mire. What a season throughout the Premier League!
With 21/22 games played (depending which team at this stage) and 38 in all the Pieman's predictions are as follows: Manchester United as Champions(consistent from day one by the Pieman); Liverpool to finish second (instead of Chelsea who may be third now) and fourth spot between the most improved team of the season Aston Villa and the most disappointing Arsenal. I think Arsenal might just take that fourth spot.

Relegation? Much more difficult but I will now go for Stoke, Middlesbrough and Portsmouth. What do you think?
The Premier League is providing a lot of late goals this season - particularly winners. This recent weekend for instance Manchester United went top of the Premier League for the first time this season with a 90th minute goal by Dimitar Berbatov; Frank Lampard gave Chelsea a home win over stubborn Stoke with a 90th minute winner as well. Arsenal clinched their 3-1 win at Hull with late goals from Nasri (82 minutes) and Bendtner (86); and Gareth Barry's 80th minute penalty secured the win for ten man Aston Villa at Sunderland. Heck, you daren’t nip out for a pie or whatever in case you miss a goal near the end these days!

Good words and bad words.......good words for West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola who has come in this season, improved results and looks like losing some of his players because West Ham have money problems. Zola continues to be a good person and accommodating to all. Top man!

Bad word for the over the two foot off the ground tackles. Ashley Young (an unlikely one from Aston Villa) and Didier Digard (Middlesbrough) got red cards. It’s very dangerous and could cause career ending injuries. That certainly was not the case here but the principle is there. Both players get an automatic three matches suspension.

Liverpool blew their chance of regaining the lead in the Premier League when Everton's Tim Cahill skilfully equalised in the closing minutes at Anfield. One-one after Liverpool's captain and regular hero Steven Gerrard had put them ahead. Instead, the champions Manchester United stay top on superior goal difference and with a game in hand. That will be at home to Fulham. Liverpool, like Manchester United, are unbeaten at home in the PL but unlike Utd have drawn five of their 11 home matches. United have drawn just one. Liverpool play Everton again at home in the weekend's FA Cup but it’s the Premier League that the club and its fans have as the priority. Liverpool have not won the League for 19 years. There is still a long way to go but for a variety of reasons the Pieman cannot see them going anywhere else than Old Trafford!


What were they saying?
"He is the kind of player you only miss when he is not playing." GRAHAM TAYLOR
"Queen of the South know they've got their tails in front." MURDO MACLEOD
"He was running quicker than his legs could go." STEVE McCLAREN
"I'm always a little bit disappointed sometimes." GRAHAM TAYLOR(again!)
"Somehow his legs couldn't keep up with his body." GLENN ROEDER
"Relieved...anxious...flushed…all and superlatives come out." STEVE BRUCE
and finally..........
"And Andrew Surman wears his sleeve on his heart for Southampton." DAVE MERRINGTON

Fair play to them!

The Pieman's Blog for Monday, 12 January

The Champions Manchester United will retain their Premier League title. The Pieman has been telling everyone who has been listening since the start of the season. And come on, fair play mate, the Pieman has never wavered. I never got on this Chelsea bandwagon like the London based media. I have had my doubts about Luiz Felipe Scolari. Not about his achievements as a World Cup winner, although I would fancy my chances of managing Brazil.

No, I worried about his lack of managing any European, let alone British CLUB. I worried about his lack of English and now I worry about all the noises coming along the grapevine about what is going on. The owner Roman Abramovich stays away and was missing from Chelsea's worst defeat since the mess in Monaco five years ago. Big players are chasing and looking like shadows and even their great goalie Petr Cech doesn’t look so invincible. Their away record to be fair has been good up to Old Trafford but their home record has been very disappointing. Chelsea will not win the title this season.

Liverpool have it all to do. Rafa Benitez had this prepared attack on Sir Alex Ferguson waiting to erupt. Fergie, he said, intimitated referees and got away with it unpunished etc. Rafa was I thought out of character with time and the timing was bad, Stoke held Liverpool to a nil-nil draw (same scoreline as at Anfield earlier this season!) and now if United win their two games in hand the Champions will be back on top. Fergie's reply off the pitch: Benitez is angry and letting it out! Listen to the Pieman, folks: Fergie is the master of the mind-games. He has been at it a long time and he has won so many trophies including lots of Premier League titles that he’s in a position of strength.

Meanwhile United definitely have the best squad. They will be surprised, though, at how many points their rivals squandered while United were absent in Japan winning the World Club Championship. United have so many wonderful players throught the team and on the bench and Sir Alex has been developing more classy youngsters than his opponents.

And a quick mention of Aston Villa who continue to win matches based on the counter tack with the fantastic speed of Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor. They have used less players in their first team than the other top teams but they do have a smaller squad in terms of quality among the leading clubs. Their shrewd manager Martin O'Neill has Randy Lerner's money to spend and he will want a top striker such as Emile Heskey. What has happened to John Carew, fined for overstaying a visit to a lap-dancing club and off with a back injury? The venue was the Rocket Club. The Pieman, like Carew, has only been in the bar area! Villa's problem this season would be to lose key players like the two mentioned and the classy Gareth Barry.

Arsenal can't score many at present but they are still fifth and within striking distance (well, one win) of Villa and that fourth European Champions League spot come the end of this season.
Certainly they are healthier than their great North London rival Spurs who despite “Harry Houdini” Harry Redknapp taking them off the bottom are still in the relegation zone because they keep conceding late goals from set-pieces. Everyone tells the Pieman they will finish in the top half. I don't think so.

A volley for Fulham and Portsmouth. Their home matches were called off on Saturday because of frozen pitches. Madness. These Premier League clubs receive millions and yet these two have not got under-soil heating. Disgraceful. At the very least they could have afforded a thousand hot pukka pies to melt the ice!

Great to see David Beckham make his debut for AC Milan against Roma. At 33, Golden Balls has still got it. He has played for three huge clubs now including the biggest Manchester United and Real Madrid. When he joined LA Galaxy everyone wrote him off for England because the MSL in USA is considered mickey mouse by the rest of the football world! Now he is loaned to AC Milan I hope the England manager Fabio sees Becks play well and puts him in the England squad. Fair play David mate, you are still a star!

Finally......the things they say:
"There hasn't been a lot of quality but it's been a high quality game." STEVE CLARIDGE
"It was as clear as night is day." Commentator ALAN GREEN
"I'll bet there are eight teams in the last sixteen who won't win the competition." ANDY GRAY
"It sounds, in many people's eyes, silly." GRAHAM TAYLOR
"You can't change a team overnight in a couple of days.” MARTIN O'NEILL

"Berbatov can see things with the outside of his foot." ALVIN MARTIN
"I'm getting beyond the future now." SIR ALEX FERGUSON
"Steven Gerrard makes runs into the box better than anyone, so does Frank Lampard." JAMIE REDKNAPP
"There will be more football later but first highlights of the Scottish League Cup final." GARY NEWBON

......There will be more next week folks. Listen to my new radio show - The Pieman and his mate Tom - on this website now. There is a barney or two! Never mind Sir Alex and Rafa, you wouldn't think the Pieman and Tom were really mates!

The Pieman's Blog for 5 January

The Pieman loves the FA Cup. It can be a great leveller when little clubs can play giant killers and shocks always occur in the third round. This season’s was no exception. It was a case of the big boys sometimes having to say fair play mate.
So why does it happen? Terrible pitches, the big boys' field weaken teams or the small clubs, who even struggle at times in their own leagues, rise to the occasion and play above their ability. Sometimes the bad weather often experienced at this time of the year can play a part. In other words there are a variety of reasons including another important one-luck!
Anyway it all makes for good Cup stories and the Pieman, along with the rest of the nation, had a good chuckle at some of the results.......

The headline of course was the new richest club in the world, Manchester City losing at home to the Championship strugglers Nottingham Forest 3-0. Forest have just sacked their manager and their first goal was scored by a man called Tyson. Knock-out blow and all that (ha!ha! got it?). It leaves City’s manager Mark Hughes under huge pressure because his team are in the relegation region. Hughes is pointing fingers at his players’ performances and rightly so. Some of his big-name defenders are awful at present and one of the better players up front, Shaun Wright-Phillips, is now injured. The cheque book is coming out and they will be spending but what quality will Hughes really get at this time of year apart from signing Chelsea’s talented full back Wayne Bridge. The manager needs a Pukka pie or two to steady the ship. Meanwhile Forest’s new manager Billy Davies took control after the match...and who did Forest get in the next round draw? Derby County away, the club who sacked Billy Davies a year ago! I had to chuckle. It’s like a panto!

The fourth round draw produced a classic, and it was first out of the bag. Liverpool against their deadly local rivals Everton at Anfield. I had another chuckle! Fair play mate, what a ding-dong that will be. Pass the pies!
What about Chelsea? I had to chuckle again when League One Southend United scored a stoppage time goal at Stamford Bridge to hold the mighty home side to a 1-1 draw. Oh my goodness, and Chelsea fielded a strong side. The winners of the replay at Roots Hall will be at home to Ipswich. Good stuff!

The only giant-killing non-league act was by Torquay United who popped Championship side Blackpool out of the Cup with a one nil home win. Managerless Blackpool were without several players for different reasons but even so it was a terrific result and the South Devon team, having won the sand-castle battle, are now at home to another Championship team Coventry. Bring on the pasties and cream teas!

Kettering Town’s reward to beating another non-league team Eastwood is a home tie with Premier League Fulham. That game is bound to be on the telly. Come of you Poppies! It’s not a million miles away from Pukka Pies HQ in Leicester. Will they put Harrods in their place? (got it? Harrods owner is also the owner of Harrods, hey, it’s not so funny when you have to explain it!!)

Manchester United against Spurs is a repeat of last year except that Spurs are now managed by Harry Redknapp who last season was the boss of FA Cup winners Portsmouth who beat Manchester United on the way. Yet another of those quirky stories that the FA Cup throws up.
League one Hartlepool knocked Premier League Stoke City out of the Cup and are rewarded with another home tie in the fourth round against another Premier League team, West Ham United.

Who will win the FA Cup? Depends on pairings and a little luck. These are one-off knock-out games and any club can have a great day or an off day. For the Pieman it is Manchester United or Aston Villa. What do you think?

Have a listen to my current show with my new mate Tom Ross. We do not agree on a lot of football topics but hey that’s what football is all about. Fair play mate, it’s all about opinions. Please let’s have yours. Send us an email or text. The details are on the website.

Our new record is almost ready for release. It’s a knockout and very catchy. It’s by the Piegirls with some help from the Pieman. More details soon.
Join me on the show folks. It’s football, so fair play mate...