Christmas Fixtures - It's Getting Very Interesting!

Well, we've had those traitional Boxing day fixtures plus the Sky Sports add-ons and the Premier League is looking very interesting. I am convinced that the Championship will go to Manchester in May 2012. In recent weeks, Manchester United have emphatically done what they needed to do around this stage of the season; Fulham and Wigan have been put to the sword ruthlessly. It would be too easy to say, it's only Fulham and Wigan but you can only beat the team in front of you - ask Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal who all failed to win this week. We all know by now that Sir Alex fully understands that now, routinely, is NOT the time to fluff your lines. More importantly, his entire squad also know the script. Listening to Vincent Kompany's cheery post match interview after City's failure to beat West Brom on Boxing Day, you sense that Roberto Mancini has a lot of work to do in the dressing room. City have great individuals, but that team ethic, for me is still not quite there. The third round tie in the F.A. Cup on January 8th is now a huge game; if Manchester United manage to win that, in City's manor, the damage could be devastating. It proves to be a pivotal next few weeks. What can we say about Blackburn Rovers? It's a most extraordinary story. Blackburn were comprehensively defeated, as I predicted in the do-or-die clash against their Lancashire neighbours Bolton, then with ex-Cobbler Mark Bunn between the sticks they scrape a draw at Anfield. What is even more startling is the fact that Venky's Chairperson, Anuradha Desai, and Steve Kean, the Manager could even have the last laugh at our expense if Blackburn get ANYTHING at Old Trafford. Hands up if you REALLY thought that they could scrape a draw at Anfield! Before I go any further, I have got to say it, and you have got to agree with me, that Steve Kean has conducted himself with tremendous courage and dignity throughout this whole period. He has not ducked a single interview, given the circumstances, and I for one have to applaud him for giving us the public total access to him, at a time when he would have been justified in keeping a low profile. That said, I firmly believe that whether or not Venky's prove to be successful, they should, at the very least, have been visible at such a time as this - instead of allowing Steve Kean to be subjected alone to the hostility of the Blackburn public. That said, Blackburn did ride their luck against Liverpool and a rejuvinated Steven Gerrard, but more tellingly despite Yakubu's well taken goal against Bolton, they were a very poor side. Looking at the quality on offer in all the squads in the Premier League season, the league table is a true reflection of Blackburn's status alongside Bolton and Wigan, and they are the teams that, for me, will drop through the trap door. Warrior or no warrior, Steve Kean possesses some fine individuals at Ewood Park, and because of the situation has fostered a fabulous team spirit and work ethic; the problem is, for the sake of this campaign his playing staff, with or without new signings sadly will not work cohesively and effectively enough to survive. This experience is proving to be a real baptism of fire for Venky's whether or not they come up with the necessary cash injection in the January window; the real football business is unlike any other and the world-wide stage they craved for their business the VH Group may come at price that has further reaching consequences than any of them could have predicted...ask Gillett and Tom Hicks. The battle for Champions League places is harder to predict than I ever thought possible.I assumed that Liverpool would be comfortably in the groove and sitting in 3rd place but stutters against Fulham and Blackburn have created an uncertainty that must be bemusing Kenny Daglish. For me, Roy Carroll looks like he is taking an eternity to settle in at Anfield, and that is a worry. Elswhere, they are looking very sharp, but critical goals change matches and relieve pressure. Surely, Steven Gerrard does not have to shoulder the responsibility AGAIN! Having watched Harry Rednapp's Tottenham beat Norwich at Carrow Road, I have been asking: Can Spurs really win the Championship? the answer is emphatically no! I still think they lack that steely edge required to complete the arduous terrain of outright success. Arsenal and Spurs have swapped identities! Spurs are now seeking to score that perfect goal too often and Arsenal have got the fragile defence! Gareth Bale and Emanuel Adebayor need to regularly terrorise big-time defences like they did to Norwich this week and then the big prizes will start to slide in the direction of White Hart Lane. Dining at the top table is an acquired art and for this season, at least, learning to be a regular Champions League qualifier is the apprenticeship the club is still serving. For Arsenal, the more I see them stuttering against teams like Wolves this season, the more I believe that their season hinges on two dates Wednesday 15th February and Tuesday 6th March 2012; the matches against AC Milan in the Champions League. How they fare against that team, which will not feature Carlos Tevez, as he is cup-tied, could determine the dynamics of their season. Robert Van Persie is the main man, but is starting to feel the pressure of responsibilty for scoring goals. Theo Walcott, great winger that he is, is not as prolific as many of us hoped he would be and we seem to waiting for an eternity for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to fulfill the potential that we keep reading about. Arsenal's fire needs to burn brightly in these high profile fixtures or their last big box-office player will leave for foreign shores and then the team will enter a phase of not having stellar players; and that for anyone connected with Arsenal is unthinkable. Remember, they are still waiting to win their first trophy at the Emirates Stadium; who would have thought that all those years ago when they left Highbury. Think on... Chelsea are the latest team to concern me. I watch a Fulham forward glide past Ashley Cole this week as though he was standing still! Father time is very cruel, it just simmed up for me why despite a multitude of talents, they are not challenging for the title. Andre Villas-Boas now needs to be brave and discreetly ease out the dying wood from the team. Daniel Sturridge is now looking the part as the future, Torres sadly, it seems cannot find that rich vein of form to ignite his Chelsea existence but he does have Champions League football to focus upon, and they may just help him. Most of us belive that the Champions League title will return to Spain, but a victory over Napoli could give new belief to an ageing but very talented team. Apart from a fixture against Manchester United at the end of January 2012, Chelsea have a run of five fairly winnable games leading into the European fixture. They as a squad know the terrain well and could prove, like Arsenal to have a surprise or two in store for us football followers in the New Year. Alan Pardew has quietly done a fabulous job with Newcastle this season. I can't help thinking that had he managed to keep Andy Carroll, they might even be in the top four now. Bolton are not a great side right now, but their demolition of the Trotters on Boxing Day had the hallmark of a very confident and successful outfit. I may, commitments allowing, venture to St James' Park for their fixture with Manchester United on Wednesday January 3rd 2012 because that will be a real test of their collatoral progress and the visit of the champions is still the biggest fixture on every team's callendar. I'm just brushing up my singing of 'Blaydon Races' for the pre-match sing-a-long!! Of the others in the Premiership pack, I am thrilled to see Martin O'Neil back in the hot-seat at Sunderland. I met Tony Cottee, an ex-Everton, Leicester and England striker - now working for Sky Sports - at a dinner recently, and he genuinely beamed when I asked him about his time under O'Neil at Leicester. He was happy to bore me about Martin's special talent for man-management that will transform the Wearsiders; I just hope they back up the big man with a transfer fund. With my side Middlesbrough looking strong to return to the top flight, three flourishing North-East teams will revitalise a region that has suffered more than most during the recession. Aston Villa and Alex McLeish just cannot get started can they! Is it money? Should they have gone with Mark Hughes after all? I cannot fathom it, but not just Birmingham but the Midlands needs a successful club and Stoke City was not the team that sprang to mind but Tony Pulis has got the midas touch in the region. The Brittania Stadium in Stoke has the kind of atmosphere, most teams' fans can only dream about; it only holds 30,000 but when the away team walks out of the tunnel it feels like Galatasaray, the intensity of the noise feels like the Nou Camp at Barcelona. The Premier League needs communities like the Potteries to have successful clubs like this one; that's why the Blackburn situation saddens me so much. Another proper local club Q.P.R. are starting to feel the heat a little, and desperately need a victory. If Neil Warnock and the boys in West London do not scratch out a few wins, they could slip back down at Wigan's expense. Roberto Martinez is such a talented boss but the town of Wigan's soul is in Rugby League and geographically, they are surrounded by so many big-time neighbours within a one hour drive that I fear that they will drop never to return again, sooner than later. The Baggies have quickly stabilised well under Roy Hodgson, Everton will always be OK because David Moyes is a genius and Swansea have quickly cottoned onto the fact that winning points first and friends second is the route to Premiership stability. Brendan Rogers and Paul Lambert at Norwich are fine managers whose teams have also sustained an impressive big match discipline required for the stern test of this great league. Big Mick McCarthy's lads are wonderfully creative and fluid but lack that ruthless streak to turn the dominance of their scintillating pressing game into winning goals. I do sense that if Mick could entice Fernando Torres to the Black Country, then his team would fly up the table, but then I have always been a dreamer! The world is a harsher place these days. As a black person, I must speak up about the two race cases in the media. Suarez is rightly guilty; a precedent has now been set and all the players now know the score...move on! The John Terry situation bothers me because I think there is an hidden agenda regarding him; somebody highly placed has decided he needs to be humiliated and the Criminal Prosecution Service have decided to run with it! Do I think he is a racist, no! But, discretion is an art he needs to start learning, and fast! Beckham mis-behaved in Spain, but fortunately he was abroad at the time and had a Engalnd manager in Sven, who himself had a colourful CV in that department, but to his credit his PR ativities are slick in the ambassadorial sense. JT could learn a lot here. I hope that common sense will prevail and the case runs out of steam. Let's be honest here, of course Britain has Racism issues, but the footballers and sporting stars, of colour, that I have been fortunate to meet and converse with off the record would rather be here than anywhere else in the world on this one! That very definitely goes for the Maestro too!!! Subject closed. Well the presents are finally bought, the edible treats are being consumed, to tolerate the avalanche of visitors, the football has been a wonderful escape. There's nothing like the busy Christmas period to keep a football nut like me frothing at the mouth once again. Happy new Year for 2012, stay safe, keep following the Blog. Hold tight, it's gonna be another fascinatingly good one to be a football fan!