League Table Prediction (20-11) 1 of 2

Now that the transfer window has been slammed shut for a while (until January) I have had time to analyse the teams as they stand right now. With that in mind here are my predictions for the final Premiership Table:

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Michael Owen – The Future

On Wednesday night Michael Owen starred for Manchester United for the first time in the 2011-2012 season, scoring two goals in a 3 – 0 win away from home against Leeds in the Carling Cup third round.

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Michael Owen – A Tale Of What Could Have Been

Michael Owen fired us a reminder of his capabilities this week with an impressive brace of goals at Elland Road to see off an admittedly lacklustre Leeds. His record of 11 goals in 12 starts is typical of the man. What is probably airbrushed aside from these statistics is that most of those goals have come against less than solid defences – when Sir Alex Ferguson feels he can risk fielding a striker who can ressemble a passenger more often than not.

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Football through the night @ Lukaku wants CL football, Campbell loving it at Loftus and United and Arsenal target staying put

It took Massimo Moratti five competitive games into the new season to see another manager feel the full wrath of his forceful hand. Gian Piero Gasperini took over the vacant space left by Leonardo, who left for Paris St. Germain over the summer, and was a somewhat surprising choice for the trigger happy chairman. Having previously plied his trade with Crotone and Genoa, it was understandably going to be a whole other ball game when Inter came calling for the 53-year-old.

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Premiership Daily Round Up

Andre Villas-Boas admits he has spoken to chief referee Mike Riley regarding the officials performance on Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to Manchester United.

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Arsenal lacking the va-va-voom of yesteryear

“I want to be in a club that is able to win the big titles year after year,” were the words of former Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas during a recent “interview” with Sport magazine. The Spaniard denied making the comments on his Twitter account but even though the words may be fake, is there a hint of truth shrouded in the, apparent, wording of the Barcelona midfielder?

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Diary of a Sky Sports Soccer Saturday Reporter

I have to say, Leon Clarke’s hat-trick for Chesterfield against Carlisle did make me smile. My joy for Clarke had nothing to do with any personal feelings towards the on-loan striker, it was more a case of how it went down with his parent club Swindon Town.

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Dear Australia…… Your rules are rubbish!

I’ve just watched my 13 year old cousin play football for his local team the Tarmoor Tigers in Australia. I’m still astounded and shocked at what I’ve just witnessed and realise why the football here will never be there national sport! It was the quarter finals of the local cup so there was a big turnout. I’ve only recently come to Australia so was quite excited to watch him play and see what the quality was like.

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Diary Of A Sky Sports Soccer Saturday Reporter

I love my stats - all reporters love their stats. And Huddersfield vs Wycombe was packed full of fascinating ones.

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Ameobi's latest recruit

The last name of Ameobi may not be a Hollywood headline that is spotted in the limelight of the football world but its family name stand proud of their achievements, with three brothers on the football stage. Okay two Ameobi’s that we have actually heard of and that are representing their names on the back of premier league shirts. The youngest of the three brothers has recently stormed onto the stage with a whirlwind impact in Newcastle’s 2-1 victory over Scunthorpe in the Carling Cup.

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Quick: which are the top three leagues in Europe?

I think we can take it as read that you'll have said the English Premier League and Spain's La Liga, and if you keep up with Uefa coefficients, there's a very good chance you've said the German Bundesliga as well.

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Referees need to bite back

All of those decisions are excellent examples of the approach referees should take to acts of dissent: zero tolerance. But officials are still given too much space for leniency, too much leeway to decide to 'let the game flow', or, as Howard Webb would have it, 'not wanting to spoil the game'.

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Saturday Gossip & News Round Up @ Mata on “verge” of Chelsea switch, Jagielka happy at Everton, Aguero can handle pressure

Blackburn boss Steve Kean has denied having a row with El-Hadji Diouf, but does admit the controversial Senegalese international is likely to leave before the close of the transfer window.

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Thursday Round Up @ Torres a dormant star? Diary of a Sky Sports reporter, Lukaku turns to the Drog

On 31^st January 2011 the British transfer record was smashed by Chelsea, signing Fernando Torres for £50million on a five-and-a-half year contract. That same day Andy Carroll’s move from Newcastle to Liverpool for £35million made him the most expensive British footballer in the game.

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Fernando Torres – The Dormant Star

On 31^st January 2011 the British transfer record was smashed by Chelsea, signing Fernando Torres for £50million on a five-and-a-half year contract. That same day Andy Carroll’s move from Newcastle to Liverpool for £35million made him the most expensive British footballer in the game. At first glance Chelsea had signed one of the world’s most prolific goal scorers for only £15million more than Liverpool’s deal for a young unproven 22 year old striker. Carroll’s inexperience is illustrated by the fact that he had only one season of Premiership experience.

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