Author Archives: Phil McThomas

Is anyone else starting to get a little nervous for the Man City “project”? I was thrilled by the way the team were playing for the first two months of the season.  They were incisive, dashing, and had a swagger … Continue reading →

For two weeks in a row now, glaring penalty calls have been missed in the early Saturday EPL game.  Wolves’ striker Kevin Doyle was fouled twice, by my count, when through on goal, and last week it was Villa’s Agbonlahor … Continue reading →

I won’t go into a great deal of prologue on the Gael Kakuta / Chelsea transfer ban situation - see here and here for related stories. Am I alone in thinking the solution proposed by Football (with a big F) stinks?  … Continue reading →

Stoke City this week completed the double-signing of Robert Huth and Tuncay Sanli from Middlesbrough.  As a Boro fan, I thought I’d run the rule over what these additions will mean to the Potters.  I can see ups and downs … Continue reading →

TweetBeat takes the pulse of fan opinion and reaction – the emotional, the insightful and the trivial.  But mostly trivial though. Let’s start with a comment from the BBC Sport’s chief football writer, Phil McNulty, which induced varying opinions from … Continue reading →

TweetBeat takes the pulse of fan opinion and reaction – the emotional, the insightful and the trivial.  But mostly trivial though. Celtic v Arsenal – Before the game: digitalsnowtwit: Hoping for a good result for Arsenal tonight. Celtic at home … Continue reading →

Without a lot of herald or press coverage, UEFA announced at the start of the week that there will be five referees on the pitch for all Europa League matches next season.  An additional pair of eyes will be stationed … Continue reading →

This is not a post to moan about a referee getting a decision wrong.  Rather, this particular incident got me wondering, “How is that supposed to work then?”  Maybe you have the answer… It’s been reasonably well accepted that Arsenal’s … Continue reading →

Did everyone spot Nemanja Vidic’s contribution to Manchester United’s third goal against Chelsea on Sunday?  The tactic, reminiscent of basketball’s pick-and-roll, has been creeping into Premier League play over the course of this season.  Sunday’s example was the most blatant to date … Continue reading →

Manchester City are, we’re told, the world’s richest football club.  They harbor ambitions of winning…well…everything that Manchester United just won in the last 12 months.  But where’s the beef?  The players that City are buying – or trying to buy … Continue reading →

Middlesbrough may not be achieving much these days in terms of league position, but one thing they can take pride in is the rate they are churning out local young Premier League players. Boro regularly feature at least four local … Continue reading →

The Riverside will witness something interesting five minutes before the kick-off of this Tees-Wear derby.  Indeed, it could be one of the pivotal moments in the Teessiders’ up-but-mostly-down season. Will Stuart Downing be walking out in red along with his … Continue reading →

I enjoyed the West Ham / Blackburn game today, as a neutral.  There were goals, some red blooded tackling and a couple of contentious decisions to debate. The first was the own goal ‘credited’ to Samba that put Blackburn 2-0 … Continue reading →

Another week, another punt at picking some winners from the Premier League deck. First though, a little look back at last week where I didn’t get any of my three picks right.   They were all long-ish odds and I … Continue reading →